"That's exactly right," Ghost Douluo suddenly echoed, joining the discussion. "And in my opinion, its attack power is only secondary. The truly frightening aspect of this plant domain is its battlefield utility. This is a weapon made for war—a group battle nightmare. Once this domain is deployed, no matter how many enemy soldiers charge in, they'd be overwhelmed by an endless wave of plant tendrils. The army itself becomes meaningless."
Yunchuan blinked, realization dawning in his eyes.
Ghost Douluo was absolutely right.
The reason why conventional armies would become useless against his domain was simple: controlling the plants within it didn't consume his own soul power. Meaning the plants could attack continuously, tirelessly, endlessly.
True, the strength of each individual plant might not be much—easily torn apart by a Soul Elder—but for every one destroyed, several more would take its place. They would swarm, surround, and harass the enemy until exhaustion claimed them.
Soul masters had limited soul power.
But the domain-born plants? Limitless.
As long as enemies couldn't escape the 300-meter radius quickly, they would be battered by wave after wave. The moment a soul master ran out of strength... they were as good as dead.
This, Yunchuan realized, was the very essence of attrition warfare. Death by exhaustion.
His domain transcended personal combat—it was meant for mass destruction. On a battlefield, he could simply unleash the domain and let the plants grow rampantly. Thousands of vines, roots, and branches would rise from the ground like some natural catastrophe, tearing through enemy ranks. Unless the soldiers were all Soul Emperors or above, they wouldn't stand a chance.
And even this wasn't its final form.
Once he added soul rings to his Plant Goddess Martial Soul, the strength of the plants, the speed of their attacks—and even the size of the domain—would vastly increase.
And who knew what other abilities lay dormant?
Yunchuan was sure of one thing: he'd only scratched the surface. This domain held secrets and potential yet to be uncovered.
…
"Boom!"
A massive soul beast collapsed heavily to the ground, breathing raggedly, its life slipping away.
It was a towering golden-furred ape, over ten meters tall, built of pure muscle—a beast overflowing with raw physical power.
"Little Chuan," said Chrysanthemum Douluo as he withdrew his soul energy and let the aura blades around him fade, "this Vajra Ape is exactly ten thousand years old. It should be a perfect fit for your first soul ring."
He smiled broadly. "Absorbing a ten-thousand-year soul ring as your first one—you might just be breaking history."
"Thank you, Elder Chrysanthemum," Yunchuan replied politely, nodding as he took the long sword Bibi Dong handed him with her elegant jade fingers.
He stepped up to the dying ape, which lay sprawled on the ground, groaning lowly, inches from death.
"Sorry about this," Yunchuan murmured in his heart, then raised the sword high—
Shlkt!
The blade plunged through the beast's eye and into its brain. Blood sprayed out as the great ape spasmed violently once… and then went still.
A dark black ring of light slowly rose from the corpse.
A ten-thousand-year soul ring.
Before absorbing it, Yunchuan turned to glance back. Bibi Dong met his gaze with gentle eyes filled with pride and encouragement, while Ghost Douluo and Chrysanthemum Douluo stared intently, clearly not wanting to miss this historic scene.
Taking a deep breath, Yunchuan turned back and summoned his Supreme Clear Sky Hammer.
With a flash of golden light, the legendary little hammer appeared—its head crackling with lightning, glowing with flames, pulsing with divine light.
The moment the hammer appeared in his right hand and he grasped the shaft, a massive force yanked him downward.
He bent forward involuntarily, the hammer falling and slamming into the ground.
BOOM!!!
It wasn't just the earth that trembled—the entire Star Dou Forest seemed to quake.
Even though they had heard about it, Ghost and Chrysanthemum Douluo exchanged stunned glances as they stared at the hammer. Seeing was believing.
A golden hammer no bigger than an arm, yet just lightly hitting the ground caused a mini-earthquake! What kind of monstrous weight must it carry?!
Letting go of the shaft, Yunchuan sat down cross-legged beside the golden ape's corpse.
Calmly, he began to meditate, drawing the ten-thousand-year soul ring into himself. The dark band of soul power slowly drifted toward the radiant hammer.
By now, Bibi Dong, Ghost Douluo, and Chrysanthemum Douluo were dead silent, eyes locked on him.
With innate rank 50 soul power, there shouldn't be any risk—but he was still a child, and this was a ten-thousand-year ring. They were prepared to intervene at the first sign of danger.
That—was the real reason why Bibi Dong had brought both Elder Douluos with her.
In front of three Titled Douluo, no accident would go unhandled.
Under their watchful gaze, the ring merged gradually into the golden hammer, still sparkling with its elemental brilliance…
Then, within his meditative consciousness, Yunchuan suddenly heard a savage, violent roar—full of rage and unwillingness.
But before it could threaten him, the Supreme Clear Sky Hammer gave off a subtle pulse.
The roar stopped cold.
Yunchuan felt the beast's lingering resentment crushed like a bug. The hammer's will had simply obliterated the ten-thousand-year Vajra Ape's soul.
Once the resistance faded, the ring fused smoothly, with no further complications.
In fact, Yunchuan sensed he could have absorbed an even higher-level ring—his current body was strong enough to handle more. But it didn't matter. He was happy with this one.
Moments later, he opened his eyes—golden light flickering over them for a second—then fading back to midnight black. His whole body buzzed with power.
He could feel it clearly. This soul ring had massively enhanced his body.
"Now… I should be able to lift that hammer."
He stood, glancing at the golden hammer on the ground.
Everything inside him surged with confidence.
He stepped forward, bent over, and grabbed the handle.
Pulled.
Nothing.
His eyes narrowed. 'Still not moving?'
With a grunt, he grabbed it with both hands.
Pulled harder.
Still no luck.
It was as if the hammer had become rooted into the earth itself!
'I refuse to believe this!'
He grit his teeth. Then it hit him.
'Wait… one of the hammer's four attributes is Strength. When triggered, it enhances my physical capacity. Maybe I need to use it if I actually want to wield the hammer properly.'
Focusing, Yunchuan channeled power into the Strength attribute.
A wave of raw energy exploded inside him—wild, violent, domineering.
So much so that it overwhelmed him. His bones creaked, his blood boiled, and in the next moment—
'Damn! Too much!'
He canceled the infusion instantly.
Only then did the pressure recede. He gasped for breath, but still felt immense power stirring through his limbs.
Even that residual strength made him feel as if one punch could shatter mountains and split seas.
'Adding the soul ring amplified the hammer's attributes drastically… My body's not used to it yet!' He understood now—when he had tapped into the Strength attribute before, it hadn't felt like this.
The difference between pre–soul ring and post–soul ring was like night and day.
Even so, his confidence remained unshaken.
Hands still gripping the hammer's shaft, he took a deep breath. Power roared through his arms.
"Let's go—"
And once more, he pulled.
(End of Chapter)