"No, you can only leave when a 100,000-year-old soul beast appears."
The four leaders gave a wry smile and nodded to indicate that they understood.
Half a month passed, and they still hadn't seen a trace of the 100,000-year-old soul beast. This made Hao Yun suspect that the two people were stalling for time.
"A 100,000-year-old soul beast has appeared!"
An excited shout rang out, and then the four leaders burst into the cabin.
"Really? Take me to see it."
After waiting for so long, Hao Yun felt like his bones were about to rust. He stretched his body and quickly walked out of the cabin.
Chapter 70 Hunting a 100,000-Year-Old Soul Beast
On the high sea, a dozen swordfish leaped about, chasing a group of century-old fish spirit beasts. Among the swordfish, one was exceptionally large, and its body pattern was distinctly different from the others.
Hao Yun, who came to check the deck, stared at the unusual swordfish for a while, then turned and asked a question.
"That's a 100,000-year-old soul beast?"
There aren't many records of soul beasts in the sea in the master's books, so Hao Yun wasn't sure if that special swordfish was a 100,000-year-old soul beast.
"That's right, we've encountered it before. It's very powerful; it can destroy a pirate ship with just a light ramming."
Hao Yun glanced at the four leaders beside him and took a deep breath.
"You wait here. If it's not 100,000 years old, then lead me to continue searching. If it is, I'll let you go."
After saying this, Hao Yun leaped into the sea and swam swiftly towards the peculiar swordfish.
A school of swordfish, which were hunting, discovered Hao Yun, a strange-looking creature. They lived in this area of the sea and rarely saw humans, so one of the swordfish made Hao Yun its prey.
Upon activating his Martial Soul, Hao Yun's four Soul Rings pulsed continuously—three black and one red. This Soul Ring configuration made the people on the pirate ship swallow hard.
A 100,000-year spirit ring is extremely rare. After all, 100,000-year spirit beasts are incredibly powerful, and even a Title Douluo wouldn't dare to claim a guaranteed victory.
The fourth leader watched as Hao Yun smashed the head of a ten-thousand-year-old swordfish with a single punch, and couldn't help but say something to the third leader beside him.
"Thank goodness we didn't make a move!"
As the third leader of the Soul Emperor, his severed limbs had long been reattached, and he began to move around on the ground a few days ago.
"Yes, let's just wait here obediently. Since he said he would let us go, as a powerful Soul Master, he shouldn't go back on his word."
As Hao Yun charged toward the 100,000-year-old soul beast, he activated his fourth soul ring, which was the first time he had ever used it.
Soul Ring Skill: Berserk, increases all attributes by 200%, lasts for ten minutes.
In order to quickly deal with this 100,000-year-old soul beast, Hao Yun also used his second soul ring to enhance his attributes.
After using the two amplification skills, Hao Yun even felt like he could punch through a planet.
It's normal to feel this way. Hao Yun's current attributes are over 20,000. If he doesn't activate his martial soul and only cultivates the Great Mighty Heavenly Dragon, he would have to cultivate to at least the ninth chapter to reach this level of attributes.
Having cultivated to the ninth chapter, Hao Yun's physical strength had reached the level of a Taiyi Golden Immortal, which would be considered a minor expert even in the prehistoric era.
Therefore, Hao Yun's current strength is enough to easily defeat even Limit Douluo. Even if a god were to come, Hao Yun could still easily beat a weaker one.
The 100,000-year-old soul beast, the Arrowfish, saw Hao Yun kill its own people. It stirred up a wave and glided quickly across the sea, its spikes aimed straight at Hao Yun's chest.
Standing on the waves, Hao Yun smiled and patiently waited for the 100,000-year-old soul beast to come to him.
As the spikes came hurtling towards him, Hao Yun reached out and grabbed them. With his other hand, he used his first skill, the Tathagata Palm, to slap down on Arrow Rain's head.
puff!
The swordfish's head looked like a smashed watermelon; its head, the size of a car, was smashed to pieces by Hao Yun.
A red, 100,000-year soul ring appeared on the swordfish's corpse in the blink of an eye.
At this moment, the surrounding swordfish horde rioted, charging towards Hao Yun one after another, seemingly seeking revenge for the 100,000-year-old swordfish.
After killing more than a dozen in succession, the remaining few swordfish gave up and disappeared into the sea.
The sea beneath Hao Yun's feet was stained red with blood, and more than a dozen black spirit rings floated on the surface of the sea. Among them, the most dazzling was the red spirit ring that had been there for 100,000 years.
The four leaders who controlled the pirate ship quickly steered the ship over and said with a look of awe.
"Sir, would you like to board the ship and absorb the soul ring?"
Hao Yun turned his head and glanced at him, then dived down to retrieve the corpse of the 100,000-year-old soul beast. Grabbing the soul beast by its tail, Hao Yun threw it onto the boat.
"You guys pull up the rest of the corpses and see if any of them have exploded soul bones."
The third and fourth leaders immediately summoned their sea spirit masters and ordered them to go into the sea to fish.
A dozen minutes later, sixteen ancient swordfish were hauled onto the boat, and Hao Yun instructed them to dissect them.
As it turned out, Hao Yun's luck wasn't that good; he didn't get a single soul bone. As for the soul beast corpses, Hao Yun indicated that they should handle them themselves.
Currently, only the corpse of a 100,000-year-old soul beast remains on the ship. Under the intense gazes of the crowd, Hao Yun casually disassembled the corpse, revealing the soul bones inside.
It is a complete torso bone, with spine, ribs, and scapula, almost a complete skeleton of a person's upper body.
The third and fourth leaders swallowed hard, a hint of greed in their eyes. This was a soul bone produced by a 100,000-year-old soul beast, and it was the most valuable torso bone.
No one who is a Soul Master can resist this temptation, Hao Yun glanced at them.
"You really want it?"
Instantly, everyone snapped to attention and shook their heads. If someone could easily kill a 100,000-year-old soul beast with their bare hands, who would want to fight them for a soul bone? That would be suicide.
After putting the soul bone into his backpack, Hao Yun sat cross-legged and began to draw the soul ring.
A blood-red 100,000-year soul ring floated in front of Hao Yun and slowly slipped onto the Chaos Demon Ape.
Normally, absorbing a 100,000-year soul ring is extremely difficult, and most people simply cannot withstand it. However, it was all calm and peaceful for Hao Yun.
Hao Yun quickly neutralized and absorbed the energy surge from the spirit ring, then began cultivating the seventh chapter of the Great Mighty Heavenly Dragon Technique.
The Great Mighty Heavenly Dragon technique becomes increasingly difficult as you progress, because once your physical strength reaches a certain level, increasing it even slightly requires a significant amount of time and resources.
Hao Yun has now reached the seventh chapter, but it's been a slow and steady process. He's already absorbed all the energy provided by the 100,000-year soul ring, and he hasn't made much progress.
As for the soul impact attached to the 100,000-year soul ring, the broken swordfish soul was killed and devoured by the Chaos Demon Ape as soon as it appeared in the sea of consciousness.
Through cultivation, Hao Yun was able to enter his sea of consciousness on his own, but he rarely went in because the feeling was too awkward, like standing in a mirror looking out.
With the spirit ring attached, Hao Yun opened his eyes. It was already dark. The pirates on the three pirate ships were all sitting cross-legged on the ground, quietly waiting for Hao Yun to wake up.
After sitting cross-legged for an entire afternoon, the pirates would have already erupted in chaos under normal circumstances. However, things were different now; their lives were in the hands of others, so it was better to behave themselves.
"You guys are pretty good. Where are all the soul beasts I hunted? Drag them out! We're having a celebration party tonight!"
The pirates, who had been sitting idly all afternoon, suddenly cheered. Some carried wine, others cooked, and the group started having a lively time.
"Congratulations, sir, on obtaining a 100,000-year soul ring!"
The two leaders huddled up to Hao Yun to share the good news, and Hao Yun laughed heartily.
"Don't worry, you'll be free after today. But there's one thing I need to remind you: I don't care if you plunder as pirates, but you can't kill innocent people indiscriminately. If I find out later, you know what will happen to you!"
Hao Yun's words made the two men feel awkward. Pirates are bound to kill, but they still responded.
Seeing their unwilling expressions, Hao Yun shook his head and didn't pay them much attention. Even if he killed them, there would still be other pirates plundering. Hao Yun didn't have time to waste with them.
Chapter 71 The Soul Master Competition Begins
After a night of revelry, the two pirate captains transported Hao out of their territory and then left.
Following the route indicated by the other party, Hao Yun controlled the large ship to move forward at full speed.
The ship sped along at breakneck speed, tossing and turning with the waves. Hao Yun actually started to enjoy the feeling; it was so exhilarating to roam the ocean. No wonder so many people wanted to be the Pirate King.
After sailing for more than ten days, Hao Yun finally reached the shore. This voyage had taken him more than half a year.
We've finally reached land. Next time we hunt spirit beasts, we should look for those on land; going to sea takes too much time.
That's why Hao Yun can survive without food. If it were someone else, they would have starved or died of thirst at sea long ago without supplies.
After towing the large ship ashore, Hao Yun controlled the soul tool to shrink and then put it into the system space backpack.
Hao Yun landed at a place that wasn't a port, and he didn't know where he was.
After spending several days, Hao Yun finally found a village. After asking around, Hao Yun discovered that he was actually in the territory of the Star Luo Empire.
Hao Yun estimated that it would take at least seven or eight days to get back to the Heavenly Dou Imperial City.
Following the villagers' directions, Hao Yun entered a town, intending to rest for a while before heading back.
After entering the city, Hao Yun was surprised to find that the Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Tournament had actually started. After resting for a night, Hao Yun quickly returned to Shrek Academy.
In this competition, Hao Yun plans to go to the Spirit Hall with the Shrek Seven Devils and take advantage of the opportunity to kill two Title Douluos and obtain a few spirit bones.
When Hao Yun rushed back to the academy, he was utterly stunned. All the students on campus were wearing shit-green school uniforms. Hao Yun was completely speechless at Flander's aesthetic sense, which was definitely different from that of normal people. Who asked him to design the school uniforms? They were just too ugly.
As soon as Hao Yun reached the academy gate, he was stopped; the gatekeeper refused to let him in.
"You don't recognize me? I'm a teacher at Shrek Academy."
The gatekeeper was a young man. He sneered. Ever since Shrek Academy made a name for itself in the Continental Soul Master Academy Tournament, there have been people of unknown identity trying to sneak into the academy.
"You call yourself a teacher? Then I'd be the principal!"
"What a hassle," Hao Yun clicked his tongue. "Go find the master, Zhao Wuji will do too. Just say Hao Yun is back."
Hao Yun was away hunting spirit beasts for more than half a year this time. He didn't stay at the New Shrek Academy for more than a few days, so it's normal that the gatekeeper didn't recognize him.
"Teacher Hao Yun! You're finally back! Did you know the Soul Master Academy Tournament has already started?"
When Xiao Wu saw Hao Yun, she grabbed Tang San and ran over to him.
"How could I not know? It was precisely because I knew the competition had started that I rushed back. Who knew the gatekeeper wouldn't recognize me? I wanted to give you a surprise."
Although the gatekeeper didn't recognize Hao Yun, he did recognize the Shrek Seven, who were prominent figures in the academy.
"I was blind to your greatness, please forgive me."
Upon hearing the doorman's apology, Hao Yun waved his hand and replied with a smile.