Seeing Chen Yi's excited expression, the Great Elder chuckled.
"How about it, kid? Want to go up and practice?"
Chen Yi immediately widened his eyes and looked at the old rascal who loved watching drama unfold. What joke are you making? This Golden Rift Tiger looks to be at least four thousand years old in length, and it has the bloodline of a top-tier soul beast. Its real combat power is stronger than many ten-thousand-year soul beasts. How am I supposed to fight it with my head?
"Fourth Grandpa, you old man better not make such jokes."
"Hehe, I saw you were planning to practice with the Death Demon Spider earlier. You kid are really getting cocky. That Death Demon Spider has three thousand years of cultivation, paired with its terrifying death power. Even ordinary Soul Kings wouldn't want to mess with it, yet you planned to try. Truly ignorant of the heights of heaven and earth."
Toward the end, the Great Elder's tone became less polite, warning him: "Remember, when facing an opponent, you need not only the courage to fight to the death but also the rationality to assess the situation. The true strong who grow up are never those who act recklessly without knowing when to advance or retreat."
The strong are never those who rely on strength to look down on everything; they have their own pride and rationality. Chen Yi had made rapid progress these past few days, and a trace of arrogance had inevitably sprouted in his heart. If not restrained, this arrogance would turn into hubris.
For other disciples, the Great Elder might not say anything, because their foundations were clear, and their future limits were visible. Even if they were arrogant and conceited, someone would teach them a lesson. But Chen Yi was different—his talent was unparalleled, rare in the world; he bore a divine inheritance and was destined to reach the absolute peak. If he went astray, it would be a disaster, not a blessing.
Genius?
Those with talent are called geniuses, but only those who grow up become strong. On the Douluo Continent, there are at least eight thousand geniuses who have been played to death, if not ten thousand.
Hearing the Great Elder's serious tone, Chen Yi's heart shook. Yes, a genius who hasn't become strong is nothing—just an ant with some talent.
"This disciple understands!"
"Mm, you're teachable."
The Great Elder stroked his beard and nodded. He liked this about Chen Yi—he had a sense of proportion, knew when to advance and retreat. Even if he made a mistake, as long as it was pointed out, he would earnestly correct it. For a genius, this quality was extremely beneficial for future cultivation.
In the next moment, the Great Elder's figure gradually blurred, reappearing in front of the Golden Rift Tiger. Without extra words, a glint flashed in the Great Elder's eyes, and the sleeping Golden Rift Tiger let out a muffled groan as blood immediately spilled from its mouth.
He waved to Chen Yi in the distance, and once the latter arrived, he casually said:
"Just now, I used mental power to forcefully shatter its spirit. It won't live much longer. Go give it a quick end."
Looking at the Great Elder's calm and composed demeanor, Chen Yi's eyes sparkled with admiration. He couldn't help it—killing an enemy invisibly with a flicker of the eyes was just too cool. Although Chen Yi preferred the thrill of fist-to-fist combat, mental power was undeniably stylish.
"After we get back, I'll ask Fourth Grandpa if he can teach me some mental power techniques," Chen Yi thought secretly to himself.
His martial soul was his entire body, naturally including his brain. He hadn't thought about learning mental power usage before, mainly because he had only recently awakened his martial soul, his soul power was insufficient, and his mental strength wasn't too high. Cultivating it now would be more loss than gain.
Moreover, perhaps due to the violent genes in Chen Yi's body, compared to elegant styles, he preferred the ultimate experience of fist-to-fist brutality.
But after some time, when Chen Yi's cultivation breaks through to level 30, his mental power level would be comparable to an ordinary Soul Emperor. Then, using such techniques would be safer and more effortless.
While thinking these things, Chen Yi's hand movements were not slow. Purple-gold soul light surged on his hand, accompanied by faint crackling electricity. He indifferently glanced at the tiger on the ground, then suddenly exploded with force, slamming a palm down on the "King" mark. The Golden Rift Tiger's entire body shook and peacefully passed away in its sleep.
In the next moment, a purple soul ring gradually rose, though compared to the previous Thunder Spirit soul ring, its color was deeper, without the electric arc effects.
Chen Yi immediately activated his body martial soul, guiding the soul ring to fuse with himself. At the same time, a ferocious power surged into his body like a tide. Chen Yi's body then emitted purple-gold lightning, resonating with the soul ring's glow.
Absorbing this soul ring was clearly more difficult than the last time. The previous Thunder Spirit had been tormented by the Rich family for years, its body and mind already broken. Chen Yi had helped it find release, so absorbing its soul ring was smooth sailing. But this Golden Rift Tiger was different—it was sleeping peacefully here, and without incident, it could have lived for several more years. Then the Great Elder came and glared it to death. Who could it complain to?
Fortunately, Chen Yi's physical body had been tempered for years, enhanced by his bloodline and martial soul awakening, plus the boost from absorbing the first soul ring recently. Absorbing a four-thousand-year soul ring was still manageable.
After glancing at Chen Yi a few times, the Great Elder came to the Golden Rift Tiger's side, squatted down, and examined it closely.
"Hehehe, Golden Rift Tiger penis—this is good stuff! The Star Luo royal family's favorite delicacy. Kid, you're in for a treat."
As he spoke, he pulled out a large pot, and a kitchen knife appeared in his hand.
"Kid, you'll thank me, hahaha!"
...
When Chen Yi opened his eyes again, everything was pitch black, except for the bursts of meat aroma coming from his right. Puzzled, he looked at the Great Elder dressed in chef's attire. Good grief, if you're cooking, just cook—why are you smiling so... um, indecently?
Sensing Chen Yi's gaze, the old rascal with a sleazy smile immediately restrained it and looked at Chen Yi seriously:
"Level 26, not bad, not bad. Just entering Soul Grandmaster and already at level 26, plus being only six years old—if those geniuses from top advanced soul master academies knew, they'd probably die of shame."
Chen Yi directly surpassing level 25 was within his expectations. After all, the first soul ring was 2,300 years, the second 4,000 years—such over-spec soul ring ages were enough to push Chen Yi's soul power forward a big step. If not for the level 20 barrier neutralizing much of the first soul ring's soul power, he might have even tried for level 27.
In this era, soul masters under 20 who could break through to Soul Grandmaster had no problem reaching Soul King in the future. Reaching level 30 made them Soul Saint seeds, future pillars of various forces. Breaking through to level 40 made them peerless talents, worthy of leaving a name in the Douluo Hall.
Now, Chen Yi at six years old and level 26—this was absolutely unprecedented and unrepeatable. Standing there, claiming he had divine potential, few would disagree.
"Level 26?!"
Feeling the surging soul power in his body, Chen Yi also flashed a standard eight-tooth grin. As a top force's heir, he was very satisfied with this cultivation.
At the same time, he despised a certain golden-haired fool even more. Same innate level 20, yet ignoring good cultivation conditions to go steal some country, only breaking through to Soul Saint near age 30.
From what Chen Yi knew, the Six-Winged Angel's light and fire attributes were only comparable to ultimate, but not truly ultimate attributes, so there was no defect of slow cultivation from level 30 to 70.