Tianlin raised his right arm. Although the Bear Lord didn't provide the palm bone, at least there was the right arm bone—the second most precious of all its bones, even more valuable than a torso bone.

Only arm and palm bones could grant the Bear's strongest skill: Dark Gold Dreadclaw!

It was said to be the Bear Lord's ultimate attack, unleashed from the right palm, shooting out five claws—usable in normal or soul skill mode—capable of shredding dragons and shaking the world.

If it were a palm bone, as an external soul bone, it could grow with its owner. But Tianlin absorbed not a normal Bear, but the Bear King Lord, who had lived 460,000 years—even without growth, its power far surpassed standard one hundred thousand year skills.

The other skill of the 460,000-year soul bone was the Dark Gold Seal. If Blue Silver Aura was the ultimate group restriction, Dark Gold Seal was the strongest single-target seal, similar to Tang San's Blue Silver Emperor's ninth skill in the original.

Once sealed by this move, only someone stronger than Tianlin, using an overwhelmingly powerful attack, could break free.

But as a full Soul Sage with a martial soul avatar, Tianlin's real combat power rivaled an ordinary Titled Douluo. Against, say, Chrysanthemum Douluo, he wouldn't even need to summon Martial God; he was confident he could defeat him solo.

So, unless someone was above level 95, or had a truly powerful attack skill, if Tianlin seals them now, there's no point struggling—just wait for death.

Another great benefit of this seventh ring: after so many years, the Shu Mountain Treasure Record turned another page.

Tianlin checked—it was the Artifact Forging chapter, perfectly fitting the gold attribute ring.

"Lingfeng Sword, Blade of Spirit, Jade-Handled Dragon Chant, Soul-Fixing Sword, Collapsing Blade, Shattered Mark, Heaven Frightener, Feiwen Illuminates the Sun! All famous weapons from the Immortal Sword stories—if I could forge them in batches!" Tianlin fell deep into fantasies.

"Xiao Tian, save the daydreaming for later. We can't stay here. Let's leave quickly!" Skydream Iceworm roused Tianlin from his bliss.

He was right—this was deep in the Star Dou Forest. Having killed the Bear Lord, if any other fierce beasts found out, he'd be doomed. Even though the sacrifice was done under the Sea God's Barrier, the soul power fluctuations were so intense—who knew if any leaked?

Tianlin nodded, put away the Sea God's Barrier, and noticed it was now completely drained of power. It had chosen him just to help him through the second Asura trial.

But Tianlin didn't mind—gaining it was luck, losing it was fate. He wasn't the true Sea God's heir and wasn't qualified to control the Sea God's Heart forever.

Resolved, Tianlin prepared to leave quickly. At this moment, where the Bear Lord had been, a yellow pearl caught his eye.

This pearl could ignore the Sea God's Barrier's skills. When wrapped in the shield earlier, the pearl seemed to be excluded.

"Xiao Tian, this… this is?" Skydream was so excited it stuttered.

"Earth Spirit Pearl!!" Tianlin exclaimed. He hadn't expected one of the five great Spirit Pearls, the Earth Pearl, to be in the Bear Lord's possession.

But Tianlin was puzzled: wasn't the Bear Lord off catching Skydream at the time? It didn't compete for the Spirit Pearls.

"Oh, I remember! Among the fierce beasts in Star Dou, there were no earth-types. At first, the beasts must have fought for the other pearls, and it was easy for the Bear Lord to catch me and then go back for the pearl the others ignored. Probably to give it to its brother," Skydream realized.

The Spirit Pearls were too powerful. Even Di Tian, or his master, could only use one at a time, and only if their attribute matched. Tianlin now understood why the Bear Lord would leave the earth pearl behind.

A pleasant surprise!

Tianlin summoned the Holy Spirit Pearl. Sensing its aura, the Earth Pearl flew over and circled the Holy Spirit Pearl, as if joyfully greeting a family member.

Tianlin grabbed the Earth Pearl, smiling. "Finally found you, Earth Spirit Pearl. I think I know how to use your power—but this place is too dangerous. Come home with me first!"

As soon as he touched it, Tianlin felt the Earth Pearl, like the Holy Spirit Pearl, had already adapted to the rules of the Douluo Continent, and he instinctively knew how to use it.

"Let's go, time to head home. Taking off!" Overjoyed, Tianlin soared into the air.

Now a Soul Sage, his speed was far greater. Sword-riding, chasing the wind and moon, flying across the stars—he was like a true sword immortal.

When Douluo Continent and the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect were truly at peace, he'd take Ning Rongrong with him and travel to every corner of the world. That was the life he longed for.

…

At this moment, in the Lake of Life, Di Tian finally sensed something wrong. The Bear Lord's roars had stopped long ago. Normally, that wasn't strange—the Bear Lord often left to vent and return—but this time, Di Tian felt uneasy. Though he didn't get along with the Bear Lord, the Bear Lord was still a top powerhouse among soul beasts.

Anxious, he rushed to the Bear Lord's lair. But from the moment Tianlin trapped the Bear Lord in the Sea God's Barrier to the sacrifice's end, only a few minutes had passed.

By the time Di Tian arrived, Tianlin was already gone.

"The Bear Lord's aura is completely gone. Was it killed? But why isn't there even a corpse?" Di Tian's face darkened. He could faintly smell a human scent and the Blue Silver Emperor's aura.

The Blue Silver Emperor was already dead, sacrificed to a human. Di Tian knew this. So, anyone who could release that aura now either absorbed the Emperor's soul ring or gained its bone.

"Damn human, not satisfied with the Blue Silver Empress's sacrifice, you even dared to kill the Bear Lord. No matter where you are, I'll make you pay!" Di Tian's furious dragon roar shook the heavens and earth.

It was just the soul bone skill Tianlin had used—Blue Silver Aura, whose scent lingered. But Di Tian misunderstood, blaming some innocent soul for Tianlin's actions.

Tianlin didn't care. He was happily sword-riding, playing with the Earth Spirit Pearl. If it worked as he imagined, it would be even more precious than the Bear Lord's soul ring or bone.

Just then, the black sword mark on Tianlin's forehead flashed, and the Asura God's deep voice sounded: ["Asura's Nine Trials, Second Trial: Kill the Dark Gold Dreadclaw Bear alone to avenge Skydream Iceworm. You have exceeded the requirement; reward: 10% Asura God Affinity, now at 15%!"]

Tianlin had passed the second trial. The third trial card appeared before him.

Reading it, Tianlin saw: ["Asura's Nine Trials, Third Trial: Sect Crisis—In the coming sect calamity, destroy over 80% of the invading enemies."]

As expected of the god of slaughter, all its trials involved killing. The tasks even seemed to match Tianlin's experiences—he and Ning Fengzhi had been worrying about the sect crisis, and now the test reflected that. But compared to the second trial, this one was easier.

Because it didn't require him to do it alone—he could use the whole sect's strength. He never planned to let the sect's enemies leave anyway.