Chapter 12: Chapter 12: The Rasengan Unleashed – Annihilating the Thousand-Year Soul Beast
Powerful.
Unprecedentedly powerful! Feeling the explosive energy coursing through his muscles and bones, Su Chen nodded with satisfaction.
The Eight Gates Technique truly lived up to its reputation as the pinnacle of taijutsu. Even with just the Third Gate of Life open, the increase in his physical prowess was astonishing.
He had a hunch—no, a certainty—that he could now take on the Millennium Wolf Soul Beast head-on and crush it.
"It's a shame my body isn't strong enough yet," Su Chen muttered. "With my current stamina, I can only maintain the third gate for about a minute. A quick battle, then."
Despite his self-imposed time limit, a confident grin spread across his face, his teeth gleaming. His blood-red eyes locked onto the trembling wolf head, which was slowly retreating, fear visible in its beastly gaze.
"Running already? Too late," Su Chen said, his voice dripping with icy disdain.
With a light push from his toes—
Bang!!
The branch beneath him exploded into splinters as Su Chen shot forward like a green comet, shattering the air with a violent shockwave.
In an instant, he appeared in front of Ju Douluo and Ghost Douluo, the fierce winds of his movement ripping at their robes and hair. The young man's sheer speed sent the attacking wolf pack flying backward, their bodies twisted into grotesque shapes.
The wolves lay lifeless on the ground, their corpses scattered around the stunned Titled Douluos.
Su Chen gave the two elders a curt nod, as if greeting old acquaintances, and vanished once more into a streak of blue light.
Ju Douluo's hand trembled as he pointed in the direction Su Chen had disappeared. His voice quavered, barely coherent. "This... this level of power... isn't this already comparable to a soul ancestor?!"
"Can a single soul skill from a millennium soul ring boost someone from Soul Master to soul ancestor strength in one go? This is absurd!"
Ghost Douluo remained silent, his usual calm demeanor shattered. His gaze followed the boy's movements, his thoughts spiraling.
In less than two hours, this young man had upended their understanding of soul master combat multiple times. Techniques like instantaneous movement and substitution were astonishing but understandable. Yet this—this sheer physical power increase—defied everything they knew.
Not even the Martial Soul Avatar could provide this kind of leap, let alone a simple soul skill.
And this was just the beginning.
The battlefield was a storm of chaos. Dust clouds surged, muffled screams echoed, and wolves were sent flying like ragdolls.
In a mere few breaths, the once-mighty pack had been annihilated, leaving only their trembling leader, the Millennium Wolf Soul Beast. It had retreated dozens of meters, its bloodshot eyes filled with terror.
Too fast! Too strong!
In less than a few breaths, this human—a mere boy—had decimated its entire pack.
Escape. It had to escape!
Its body trembled uncontrollably, a pitiful whimper escaping its throat. But as much as it willed itself to run, its legs refused to obey.
Crack.
Su Chen casually twisted the neck of the last wolf, discarding its corpse like trash. Without sparing the floating yellow soul ring a glance, he turned his attention to the Millennium Wolf.
"What's this? Still here? I'm surprised you didn't bolt already," Su Chen remarked, his tone tinged with mockery. He nodded slightly, as if impressed by the creature's resilience.
If the wolf could understand human language, it would've cursed him to no end.
Run? Of course, it wanted to run! But its legs were too weak to move!
"In that case," Su Chen continued, his voice as cold as the grave, "I'll grant you a quick death."
He exhaled deeply, allowing the Eight Gates Technique to dissipate. The strain on his body eased, and his breathing steadied.
The Eight Gates technique was awe-inspiring but came at a steep cost. Prolonged use drained his chakra rapidly and placed immense stress on his body. Combining it with his soul skill would've amplified his power further but at the expense of halving the already short activation time.
He stretched out his right hand, his voice calm yet filled with an unsettling finality.
"Celebrate this moment. You'll be the first creature in this world to fall to this move."
Buzz!
Chakra condensed rapidly in his palm, forming a small, spinning orb of blue energy. The sheer destructive force emanating from the sphere was enough to make even the mighty Titled Douluos tense.
"What... what is that?" Ju Douluo muttered, his voice filled with disbelief.
Ghost Douluo's gaze sharpened, the intense fluctuations of the technique keeping his usually unshakable composure at bay.
Without a word, Su Chen vanished once more.
Whoosh!
When he reappeared, he was already above the Millennium Wolf, which was still desperately trying to crawl backward.
The wolf's eyes widened in despair as Su Chen drove the glowing orb downward.
Rasengan!
BOOM!!!
In the terrified, bloodshot eyes of the Millennium Wolf Soul Beast, a swirling blue sphere of light detonated with earth-shattering force. Like a blazing meteor, it ripped through the air, carving a path of destruction. Hundreds of trees were obliterated, their splinters scattering like raindrops. The ferocious impact carried the beast's body over a hundred meters, smashing into a boulder that crumbled like sand under its power.
Crack!
The sound of trees collapsing echoed through the forest, forming a hollow trench stretching for nearly a hundred meters.
"Gulp."
Ju Douluo swallowed hard, his hand trembling as he pointed at the apocalyptic scene before him. His voice quavered, disbelief etched across his face.
"This… is this the ability of a first soul ring?"
At that moment, Yue Guan's entire worldview teetered on the edge of collapse. For a Titled Douluo like him, capable of unleashing devastation on such a scale was nothing unusual—but this?
"This… this is his first soul ring?" he stammered, his elegant composure shattered.
Ghost Douluo inhaled deeply, his tone tinged with equal parts awe and disbelief. "High-speed movement, substitution abilities, an explosive leap in strength equivalent to crossing thirty levels, and an attack so destructive it can reshape the landscape. All of this… from a single soul ring."
The usually stoic Douluo's expression shifted to something bordering on reverence.
"If I hadn't seen it myself, I would've dismissed it as an outrageous tale," he muttered, his gaze never leaving the young man standing amidst the chaos.
"This isn't genius. It's beyond that."
"This boy is a monster. A true monster. Someone like him won't appear again in the next century—perhaps even longer."
He glanced sideways at Yue Guan, his voice dropping to a murmur. "Luckily, such a person belongs to the Spirit Hall. Otherwise…"
Their eyes met briefly, an unspoken tension lingering between them.
Su Chen strolled toward the two Titled Douluo, his demeanor calm as he stored the bodies of the Millennium Wolf and Black Silkworm into his spatial soul guide. Despite his composed exterior, he could sense the weight of their gazes—studying him as though he were some mythical creature.
Looks like I overdid it, he mused, a faint smirk tugging at the corner of his lips.
"Two elders, I—"
"Don't speak yet," Yue Guan interrupted, raising a trembling hand. "Let me… process this first."
The flamboyant Douluo exhaled sharply, his usually graceful bearing visibly shaken. His golden robes fluttered slightly as he stared at the young man.
Standing there in his torn clothes, Su Chen's bare upper body revealed lean, toned muscles. Yet his black eyes betrayed neither pride nor excitement—only a deep, unshakable calm.
That composure struck Yue Guan harder than the Rasengan had struck the Millennium Wolf.
What kind of monster remains this calm after killing two thousand-year soul beasts?
Ghost Douluo, still more composed than his counterpart, handed Su Chen a black robe from his storage soul guide.
"Put this on, boy. At least look presentable."
"Thank you, Elder," Su Chen replied respectfully, quickly donning the robe.
Gui Mei let out a bitter chuckle, shaking his head as if to clear it. "You've truly opened our eyes today. I doubt even the Hall Master expected this when he sent us with you."
He hesitated briefly before adding, "By the way… can you share how you managed to kill that Millennium Silkworm? The first one, I mean. Of course, if it's inconvenient—"
Su Chen shook his head with a faint smile. "It's no secret. Before I left, my father gave me a special soul guide containing his full-power attack. It's a one-time use item, and that's how I handled the silkworm."
The explanation flowed effortlessly. Su Chen had anticipated the question and prepared his response well in advance. While the attack had indeed been prearranged with Su Xiao, this answer served to downplay his own abilities and divert suspicion.
Gui Mei nodded thoughtfully, seemingly satisfied. "A one-time-use soul guide, huh? That explains it."
Such items were rare, but not unheard of in the Spirit Hall. For someone of Su Chen's lineage, it made sense.
Yue Guan, meanwhile, had finally regained his composure.
"Let's head back," he said, still casting glances at the destruction left in Su Chen's wake. "There's much to discuss when we return to Spirit Hall."
Su Chen fell into step behind the two Titled Douluo.
For now, it's enough to show a glimpse of my power, he thought to himself, a faint glint in his eyes. This is only the beginning.