pdf-ebookys Chapter 165 The Great Ferocious Beast
Chapter 165 The Great Ferocious Beast
Chapter 165 The Ten Ferocious Beasts
Zhang Lexuan did not deliberately release her aura, but as the recognized chief disciple of the next generation in the inner academy, her words naturally attracted everyone's attention and also invisibly resolved the conflict that was about to escalate.
When Dai Huabin saw Zhang Lexuan, his momentum faltered. He could challenge Kong Tianxu, an outsider, but he would never dare to easily refute Zhang Lexuan, who had a very high reputation in the inner courtyard.
His expression changed rapidly, but Dai Huabin's anger quickly subsided, and he even managed a somewhat stiff smile: "Yes, Senior Sister Lexuan, I'll go right away."
As he was leaving, he glanced at Kong Tianxu with a hint of amusement, his eyes cold and sharp but showing little anger. In the end, he still led his group away in a dejected manner.
Zhang Lexuan then turned her gaze to Kong Tianxu and said softly with a hint of helplessness, "His name is Dai Huabin, the second son of Duke Baihu. He had committed some offenses in the academy. During the last All-Continent Advanced Soul Master Academy Battle Tournament, you severely injured his elder brother Dai Yueheng. As compensation, the academy granted him special permission to take the Inner Academy assessment ahead of schedule. His talent is indeed very good. Not long ago, he seemed to have obtained a soul bone through family channels and successfully broke through to the Soul King level and entered the Inner Academy. Perhaps that's why he's still holding a grudge."
"The double pupils of the White Tiger Dai family are indeed very distinctive." Kong Tianxu nodded slightly, indicating his understanding.
Judging from Dai Huabin's behavior, he didn't seem to be provoked at all; rather, it seemed like he had planned it all along. To say that the other party was standing up for his older brother, Dai Yueheng, would be even more absurd.
"Brother, should I go and kill them all—" Xue Di, sitting next to Kong Tianxu, suddenly tilted her head back and made a throat-slitting gesture.
Zhang Lexuan was slightly taken aback, then chuckled and said gently, "Classmate, you can't joke around like that on Poseidon Island."
Poseidon Island is the residence of the elders of Shrek Academy, and countless titled Douluo-level powerhouses reside there. She naturally took it as a joke by the Snow Empress.
She turned to look at Kong Tianxu, her curiosity intensifying, "This is—your sister?"
"I guess so, she's an adopted child." As Kong Tianxu spoke, he naturally reached out and gently grasped Xue Di's small hand, which was making a dangerous gesture. He pressed his fingertips lightly against her palm, signaling her to tone it down.
Xue Di blinked her sky-blue eyes and stopped speaking, simply leaning against Kong Tianxu in a dependent manner.
Zhang Lexuan's gaze softened slightly as she watched Kong Tianxu's natural and delicate protection of Xue Di. She keenly sensed that the relationship between these "brother and sister" seemed somewhat special, but she did not delve into it.
The experiment of fusing martial souls with Kong Tianxu failed, but she still had a good impression of him. He was much better than Dai Huabin, that arrogant nobleman who hired someone to ambush and kill his classmate.
Moreover, she could still feel a subtle attraction emanating from the other person, which kept her intrigued and wanting to explore further.
The cafeteria returned to its bustling state, but many students looked at Kong Tianxu with a more inquisitive gaze. It seemed that Kong Tianxu and Zhang Lexuan had also quietly grown closer because of this small accident.
"By the way, Senior Sister Lexuan, is the Elder Cui you mentioned our teacher today? It sounds like there will be some rather complicated theoretical courses? I thought Shrek Academy would be more focused on practical application." Kong Tianxu smoothly changed the subject.
When he asked, Zhang Lexuan was happy to explain, but her face unconsciously showed a complex expression that was a mixture of respect and distress.
"Although the academy focuses on practical combat, it also delves into advanced martial spirit theory. Although Elder Cui's cultivation level is limited to Soul Saint, he is one of the elders of the Sea God Pavilion, specializing in theoretical research. He is a very—very special teacher."
"Special?" Kong Tianxu raised an eyebrow, his interest growing. This Elder Cui only had a seventh-ring cultivation level, yet he was able to rank among the Sea God Pavilion based solely on his theoretical research. This special quality must bring him some surprises.
Sure enough, when he saw the white-haired, balding old man with a ruddy face writing four large characters for "Dao Jin" on the blackboard with his calligraphy martial spirit in the corner of the classroom, he immediately understood where Zhang Lexuan's comments came from—
"The Ten Ferocious Beasts".
Although Elder Cui was advanced in years, he was still vigorous and had bright, piercing eyes. Judging from the fluctuations in his qi and blood, he did not look like an old Soul Saint who was nearly a hundred years old.
After writing those four characters, he turned around and smiled as he swept his gaze over the crowd. Although his gaze was gentle, the group of young people, whose average age was over twenty, all lowered their heads, like first-year students entering the academy, not daring to make a sound, for fear of being called on.
"Class, last lesson we briefly learned about the concepts of Soul Cores and Super Martial Souls. This lesson will discuss the Ten Great Ferocious Beasts. Before we begin, I'd like to ask you a question: What is the Soul Power level of a 200,000-year-old Super Soul Beast?"
Seeing that he was actually asking questions, the students lowered their heads even further, even Jin Yehuan's burly figure seemed to shrink, and Zhang Lexuan also lowered her eyes and remained silent.
"Hua Bin, you tell us." The teacher, who looked like Maitreya Buddha, was obviously used to this and called on Dai Hua Bin with a smile.
Dai Huabin's cheek twitched, but he wasn't one to beat around the bush, so he simply stood up and said, "Level 95."
This is also the answer in the minds of the vast majority of inner court students. A 200,000-year-old soul beast that has broken through to the limit is comparable to a Super Douluo. However, in this Elder Cui's class, the subconscious answer is often wrong.
"Wrong! I asked about soul power level, not strength. Remember to come to the library to help organize the books after class."
Sure enough, Old Cui immediately swung his brush like a pointer, patted Dai Huabin on the shoulder with a smile, and looked around again, finding only an ostrich-like expression on his face.
Suddenly, he spotted something different among the ostriches.
"The silver-haired student by the wall, are you a new student in the inner courtyard? I've never seen you before. You can answer that question."
"Teacher, I'm an exchange student from the Sun Moon Royal Soul Master Academy," Kong Tianxu stood up, pondered for a moment, and said, "I think I should be level ninety-four."
Old Cui nodded knowingly at first, then shook his head.
It's either 95 or 94; that's not a particularly clever answer.
"Or—level ninety-three," Kong Tianxu said uncertainly.
The light in Old Cui's eyes softened. "Tell me your reasons."
Kong Tianxu pondered for a moment and said, "As we all know, soul beasts have many innate advantages over soul masters—a stronger physique, a higher reserve of soul power, and a more powerful source ability. In terms of raw strength, soul beasts of the same level are stronger than soul masters, but soul masters have achieved a reversal through their wisdom."
"So although a soul beast with 200,000 years of cultivation can already rival a Super Douluo, and some Beast Kings are even stronger than a level 95 Super Douluo, their soul power level is definitely not yet level 95. However, they are certainly not something that ordinary level 92 or 93 Title Douluos can contend with. And before the Super Douluo level, a time span of 100,000 years is enough for a soul beast to make another breakthrough. So I came to this conclusion, but I don't know if it is correct."
This conclusion was drawn by Kong Tianxu based on information from the original work and combined with Xue Di's cultivation experience. It is probably impossible for anyone else in the entire Soul Master world to find such a vivid ferocious beast as a sample, except for him.
"Yes—!" Elder Cui drawled out the words, his cheerful demeanor surprising all the inner court students.
The reason why Elder Cui's classes were so painful for the inner court students was that before each class he would ask a question that they would almost certainly answer wrong, and then he would drag them to the Sea God Pavilion library to be their assistant for a period of time, which was definitely a huge challenge to their brains.
Over the years, only one senior student in the inner academy, surnamed Wang, has been said to have answered correctly a few times. He is a soul master from the Sun Moon Empire. What makes him so special?
"But that's not right either," Old Cui continued.
To everyone's astonishment, Elder Cui walked up to Kong Tianxu, patted him on the shoulder, and gestured for him to sit down. "The correct answer is—in terms of soul power level alone, level 95 and below are all possible."
"Classmates, today we will focus on introducing the soul power level and cultivation of soul beasts."
He quickly returned to the blackboard, drew a white line of uniform thickness with a brush, and marked various colored horizontal bars at intervals.
"Normally speaking, a 100,000-year-old soul beast, when it has just condensed its soul core and cultivated to the level of 100,000 years, is equivalent to a Title Douluo who has just broken through to level 90 but has not yet obtained a soul ring."
Old Cui first drew a yellow horizontal line at the bottom, and then, without any change in the brush in his hand, the next line he drew turned purple.
"However, 100,000 years is not the end for a soul beast. If it chooses to continue cultivating, it must rely on its talent to challenge the bottleneck that could cause it to perish—the Heavenly Tribulation that it encounters once every 100,000 years. After breaking through the 100,000-year limit, a soul beast will enter a new realm. These soul beasts whose cultivation has surpassed the 100,000-year realm are called super soul beasts."
"Super soul beasts that are hundreds of thousands of years old are already terrifying, but they are far from the limit of soul beasts. After three hundred thousand years, they are given another meaning and officially enter the category of the ten most ferocious beasts."
"The tenth of the Ten Ferocious Beasts, Shadow Emperor, whose true form is a 300,000-year-old Wind God Wyvern."
"Ninth, Mountain Demon Lord, whose true form is a 330,000-year-old giant mountain demon elephant."
"Eight, the Crimson King, whose true form is a three-headed Crimson Demon Mastiff that is 360,000 years old."
"Seventh, Ice Emperor, whose true form is the 390,000-year-old Ice Jade Scorpion King."
Kong Tianxu watched intently as Elder Cui wrote furiously in the back row. This was the first time he had ever understood the information about the Ten Great Ferocious Beasts so clearly, because nine of the Ten Great Ferocious Beasts were located in the original territory of Douluo Continent, and the records of them in the Sun Moon Empire were quite vague.
"Among the super soul beasts, the ten most powerful ones known to humankind to date are collectively known as the Ten Ferocious Beasts. They are all peak existences of soul beasts with cultivation exceeding 300,000 years. The last few ranked have soul power levels of 95—the level of a human Super Douluo—which is why their strength far surpasses that of ordinary beasts."
Elder Cui shrugged helplessly. "It's strange, isn't it? Why would a 290,000-year-old soul beast be on the same level as a 300,000-year-old soul beast? And if a soul beast can break through before the Heavenly Tribulation arrives, what is the significance of the Heavenly Tribulation for it?"
The students in the inner courtyard were clearly fully engaged, listening intently. Elder Cui continued, "The key issue lies in this calamity."
"The Soul Master world once believed that the tribulations of Soul Beasts occurred according to their age. This was both a divine punishment and a blessing for Soul Beasts. After breaking through the shackles of the tribulation, they could naturally gain an opportunity to break through from it. However, as humans encountered more and more 100,000-year-old Soul Beasts, some cases sparked new controversies. For example, during a beast tide, a 290,000-year-old ferocious beast broke through from level 94 to level 95 during the battle, clearly demonstrating the Soul Power fluctuations of a Super Douluo, and then immediately encountered the tribulation."
"At the same time, according to some ancient records, there are some super soul beasts with extremely weak bloodlines who have reached the cultivation level of 100,000 years entirely by luck. Not only is their soul power level not even comparable to that of ordinary titled Douluo, but they have also never encountered any heavenly tribulation."
"This gives us a new direction. Could it be that the tribulation of soul beasts is not a double-edged sword on the path of soul beast cultivation, but simply a pure curse? It's not just a matter of years; this kind of punishment-like tribulation only appears when a certain level is reached."
Kong Tianxu's gaze sharpened. He immediately thought of the Heavenly Dream Ice Silkworm. This unique million-year-old soul beast possessed the highest cultivation level in the soul beast world, but it was very likely that it did not even have a soul core. It was not until it broke through a million years that it encountered its first and only fatal divine punishment.
The great calamity that occurs every 100,000 years is indeed a pure tribulation for the vast majority of soul beasts.
"Next is Xiong Jun, ranked sixth. Its true form is a 470,000-year-old Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear. During the beast tide a hundred years ago, after our Sea God Pavilion fought against it, we judged it to be level 96, but it was already very close to level 97. However, the strength it displayed was comparable to a Limit Douluo, far exceeding its level."
"Besides the sheer terror of the Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear race itself, this also involves the issue I mentioned in the last lesson: the inequality in realm, cultivation level, and soul power level among soul beasts."
Old Cui's pen moved swiftly, and soon more words appeared, only this time they were all black—
"Fifth, the King of Ten Thousand Demons, whose true form is a 530,000-year-old mutated demon eye tree."
"Fourth, Brigitte, whose true form is a 580,000-year-old jade swan."
"Five hundred thousand years is an extremely special threshold for soul beasts. After a soul beast breaks through five hundred thousand years, its total soul power, accumulated over a long period of time and with its own talent, is no less than that of a human Limit Douluo. Its own realm also naturally enters this category. In other words, among the ten ferocious beasts, five have reached the Limit Douluo realm."
"However, their soul power level and cultivation level have not kept up. Therefore, if they were to actually face a Limit Douluo, their chances of winning would be relatively small."
"Many students may wonder, aren't realm, cultivation level, and level the same thing? But actually, they are not. For us humans, our innate intelligence and meridian advantages allow our soul power level to increase extremely quickly. Often, the level drives the cultivation and realm to improve naturally, which is why we often confuse the three. But soul beasts are different. Their long lifespans make it relatively easy for them to accumulate the most important things, such as cultivation and soul power realm breakthroughs. Instead, these two things drive the level increase."