"You… you're talking nonsense! You think you're funny, don't you? Take this!"

Di Mingli bit her lip, gripped her golden dragon spear, and thrust it fiercely at Su Yu's chest.

A blazing golden light erupted from her body, flowing into the golden dragon spear, causing its brilliance to intensify.

A faint, golden dragon shadow emerged, its mouth wide open as it let out a resounding dragon roar.

Su Yu smiled faintly. With a casual motion, he thrust his spear forward, releasing a trace of the Dragon God's aura. The golden dragon spear in his hand instantly shone as brightly as the scorching sun.

The faint golden dragon shadow seemed to solidify, devouring the dragon shadow on Di Mingli's spear in one gulp.

The two spears clashed, and the power carried by them exploded in an instant. Di Mingli staggered backward over ten paces, struggling to keep her stance.

She glanced at the golden dragon spear in her hand, then at Su Yu's golden spear, her expression filled with disbelief.

In the underwater space, Gu Yuena's ethereal and noble purple eyes blinked slightly.

There was no doubt about it—this power was indeed that of the Golden Dragon Spear.

But where did Su Yu get it from?

If she remembered correctly, the Golden Dragon King should still be sealed in the God Realm.

How could Su Yu have acquired the power of the Golden Dragon King again?

Gu Yuena's eyes flickered as she recalled that Su Yu had once obtained the power of the Golden Dragon King's bloodline in the past.

And now, there was the Golden Dragon Spear.

The secrets surrounding this man were becoming more and more intriguing.

"The truth is clear now. So, Mingli, do you admit defeat?" Su Yu asked with a playful smile.

"Hmph, no way!"

Di Mingli gritted her teeth, raised her spear, and charged forward once more.

Su Yu's spear flicked, effortlessly neutralizing her attack.

"Mingli, your spear technique is too weak. That's not how you use the Golden Dragon Spear. Watch me."

"Long yearning leads to endless longing; short yearning knows no bounds."

"This thrust is called 'Longing'."

"How many emotions are stirred in one night of longing? Even the ends of the earth cannot separate us."

"The second thrust, 'Heartbreak'."

"With the universe in your grasp, you roam the world; the moon like a hook, yet hard to bid farewell."

"This thrust is called 'Romance'."

…

The shadow of the spear danced, and in Su Yu's hands, the Golden Dragon Spear transformed into a golden dragon, leaving Di Mingli with no room to fight back.

"A spear like a dragon, unmatched in the hand of a warrior; life like the Yellow Springs, never looking back."

"This thrust is called 'White Dragon'."

A white dragon shadow swept forward, and with a single thrust, Su Yu sent Di Mingli's golden dragon spear flying out of her hands.

Di Mingli froze, standing there in a daze. A wave of frustration surged in her heart as she stared blankly at Su Yu.

For a long moment, she stood still, then stomped her foot, turned around, and walked away.

But her eyes reddened, and tears began to fall like golden beads, one after another.

Although Di Mingli appeared cold and proud, seemingly strong and stubborn, her heart was soft.

Especially in front of Su Yu, she was no different from an ordinary girl.

When she felt wronged, she cried. When she was hurt, she shed tears.

"Uh..."

Su Yu was stunned, his spear mid-motion as he froze in place.

Di Mingli… was crying?

"Oh no, Mingli is crying! The young master made her cry!"

Bear Lord's booming voice rang out at the worst possible moment, loud and thunderous.

Zi Ji and the other fierce beasts exchanged strange glances.

It was a rare sight indeed to see the young master make Di Mingli cry.

"You fool, shut up! If you keep talking, no one will treat you as mute!"

Di Tian glared at Bear Lord, his gaze sharp and dangerous.

Bear Lord shrank back, lowering his head guiltily.

Su Yu's lips twitched as guilt welled up inside him.

He silently scolded himself for getting carried away.

He had always gone easy on her—why did he suddenly get so into it this time?

Now look what had happened. He made her cry and had to comfort her.

Cursing himself under his breath, Su Yu picked up the golden dragon spear and chased after Di Mingli.

"Mingli?"

"Hmph."

…

"Mingli, I didn't mean to."

"Hmph."

…

"Ahem, I might have been a bit impulsive."

"Hmph."

…

Su Yu followed behind Di Mingli for a long time, saying all sorts of consoling words.

He had no choice—after all, he had brought this upon himself.

In a moment of recklessness, he was now left to clean up the mess.

"Mingli, don't be mad, okay? I'll make you something delicious—lots and lots of delicious food."

Su Yu gently hugged Di Mingli, speaking in a soothing voice.

"Who cares?"

Di Mingli raised her delicate face, but her expression had softened significantly.

In truth, the fight with Su Yu was something she had requested—it wasn't his fault.

But seeing Su Yu's dismissive attitude toward her spear techniques and his constant showing off made her feel so aggrieved.

From childhood to now, Su Yu had never treated her that way.

Feeling wronged, she couldn't help but cry.

Now, looking back, she felt a bit ashamed, but she was too embarrassed to admit it.

"Alright, since you don't care, I won't make it then," Su Yu sighed, pretending to be disappointed.

"You wouldn't dare!"

Di Mingli raised her delicate brows, quickly turning around, only to see Su Yu's mischievous gaze. She instantly realized she had fallen for his trick. A faint blush appeared on her beautiful face.

"How could I not dare? If my dear Mingli wants to eat something, how could I not make it?" Su Yu teased.

"Stop it!"

Di Mingli, overwhelmed with shyness, raised her small fists and lightly pummeled Su Yu's chest.

Di Mingli, after all, was the incarnation of a mythical beast and possessed the Golden Dragon Martial Soul. Even her seemingly soft fists packed considerable strength.

But it was Su Yu—anyone else wouldn't have been able to handle it.

"Alright, alright, I'll stop."

Su Yu chuckled, gently pulling Di Mingli into his arms.

Leaning against his chest, with her tall figure, Di Mingli's delicate face was very close to Su Yu's.

Staring at her flawless face and her tender, cherry-like lips, Su Yu suddenly felt a surge of desire.

In Di Mingli's surprised gaze, Su Yu suddenly lowered his head and kissed her.

Di Mingli's body stiffened, her mind dazed, as though she had been enveloped in clouds and mist.

As time went on, her once-rigid body gradually relaxed, eventually going limp in Su Yu's arms.

After a long moment, their lips parted.

Di Mingli snapped out of her trance, her face flushed red. "You scoundrel!"

She let out a soft, coquettish scold and ran away as if fleeing.

Su Yu laughed heartily, his face full of joy, as he chased after her.

...

...

...

Three months later.

"Condense!"

With a soft command from Su Yu, a golden-red crystal slowly formed within his dantian.

The round, seemingly unremarkable crystal concealed explosive energy.

This was the result of Su Yu's three months of effort—condensing all the power of his qi and blood into a Qi-Blood Golden Core in his lower dantian.

The condensation of the Qi-Blood Golden Core gathered all his qi and blood energy into one place, enabling him to unleash power far beyond what he could before.

Moreover, forming the Qi-Blood Golden Core further enhanced Su Yu's physical strength and power.

At the same time, the Qi-Blood Golden Core greatly extended Su Yu's stamina in battle, making him nearly tireless.

"Finally, it's done," Su Yu exhaled softly, a sharp glint flashing in his eyes.

Clenching his fist slightly, he felt a strength far beyond what he previously possessed—a transformation in every sense.

For soul masters on the Douluo Continent, the soul core was of utmost importance.

It was said that possessing an additional soul core made a world of difference.

Su Yu's Golden Core was essentially a unique type of soul core—it could even be called a Qi-Blood Soul Core without issue.

There was no rule stating that soul cores had to follow a specific form. By leveraging the embracing-the-core concept from martial arts, Su Yu had successfully condensed a Qi-Blood Golden Core, which he believed suited him better.

A golden core, unified and harmonious, felt like an improvement over traditional soul cores.

["Ice God's Third Trial: Successfully condense the first soul core. Due to excellent performance during the trial, rewards are stacked. Ice God Affinity +15%. Current total affinity: 40%."]

A cold, grand voice echoed in Su Yu's mind.

At the moment Su Yu successfully condensed the Qi-Blood Golden Core, the Ice God's Third Trial was also naturally completed.

Su Yu's first and second Ice God trials granted him 10% and 15% affinity, respectively. With this third trial's 15%, his total Ice God Affinity now reached 40%.

And this was only the third trial.

Su Yu speculated that he might achieve 100% Ice God Affinity even before completing all nine trials.

At his current pace, it seemed entirely possible.

["Ice God's Fourth Trial issued: Win the All-Continent Elite Soul Master Sect Battle Championship."]

The familiar voice sounded again, and the Ice God's Fourth Trial was immediately announced.

"Ice God's Fourth Trial: Win the Sect Battle Championship?" Su Yu's eyes flickered.

How to put it… this trial wasn't hard—it was quite simple.

At least, compared to his first and second trials, this was nothing.

The disciples participating in this year's Sect Battle Championship were strong, but compared to him, they were nothing.

For this fourth trial, the difficulty seemed to have dropped significantly. Could it be related to the sealing of the Divine Realm?

Had the sealing of the Divine Realm caused the Ice God to lower the difficulty of the subsequent trials?

It wasn't impossible.

After all, his first and second trials had been far beyond the usual difficulty of the nine trials.

The Ice God had likely increased the difficulty at the time just to challenge him.

Perhaps now, these were the normal Ice God trials.

The Ice God had left these trials and her inheritance in the mortal world, hoping Su Yu would quickly succeed in her divine position.

Under such circumstances, she wouldn't deliberately make things harder for him.

"That old spinster isn't around anymore—things are a bit less fun now," Su Yu chuckled and shook his head.

In the past, whenever he completed a trial, he would always bicker with a certain old spinster.

An old spinster, though narrow-minded and tsundere, had to admit that she took pretty good care of him.

At the moment the Divine Realm was sealed, she decisively split part of her power and legacy, sending it to the lower realms.

This kind of bold and resolute courage was worthy of respect.

"I've owed you a favor all this time," Su Yu said with a smile, stretching lazily as his body emitted a series of popping sounds.

"I feel pretty good now."

Su Yu smiled faintly. Over the past three months, aside from condensing his blood and soul core, he had made other progress as well.

His soul power had advanced further, reaching the seventy-eighth rank of a Soul Sage.

Don't underestimate just one rank. Once you reach the Soul Sage level, increasing soul power isn't as simple as before.

Even without the influence of ultimate attributes, making quick breakthroughs is still highly challenging.

Su Yu's current progress could already be considered quite fast.

No matter how you looked at it, Su Yu was still a month or two away from turning seventeen.

At this age, with this level of soul power, while it might not be unprecedented, it was certainly unparalleled.

"I wonder just how strong I am now?"

Su Yu's expression turned thoughtful. For the most part, he had only ever estimated his strength.

He had rarely gone all out in battle.

It wasn't his fault. Either he faced opponents from the younger generation, who couldn't force him to use his full strength, or he met senior experts, against whom he was no match anyway.

This left him without a clear understanding of his true strength.

He was confident that, under the level of Super Douluo, his strength would rank among the best. At least, he felt confident he could handle Yan Shaozhe without a problem.

But without an actual fight, he couldn't say for certain.

After all, while he had managed to make Tai Tan suffer mutual injury, Tai Tan had still held back quite a bit at the time.

With a thought, Su Yu softly called out, "Uncle Di Tian."

A shadow suddenly appeared, as if it had been there all along.

"Uncle Di Tian, I need your help with something…"

Di Tian's eyes showed a hint of surprise. "Young Master, are you serious?"

"That group may be unreliable, but their strength is still noteworthy. What if they injure you…?"

"It's fine. I need opponents to test myself," Su Yu waved his hand dismissively.

After a moment of thought, Di Tian nodded. "Understood, Young Master. I'll make the arrangements."

Under Di Tian's organization, Bear Lord, Myriad Demon King, Scarlet King, Zi Ji, and other fierce beasts gathered at the Lake of Life.

"The Young Master wants to challenge us?"

"Isn't it a bit too early? The Young Master is only a Soul Sage, right?"

Bear Lord, blunt as ever, spoke his mind.

Though they all acknowledged that Su Yu would one day be invincible, they thought he was still too young to pose any real threat to them.

"The Young Master's strength isn't bad. He might even be able to contend with a hundred-thousand-year soul beast," Scarlet King said in his deep voice.

The implication was clear: Su Yu could deal with a hundred-thousand-year soul beast, but against fierce beasts like them, he still had a long way to go.

"You two can stop now. Once the Young Master unleashes his Dragon God's aura, how much strength do you think you'll have left?" Zi Ji sneered.

While Su Yu's raw power might still be lacking, the oppressive nature of his Dragon God's might was devastating to soul beasts.

Facing Su Yu, they might not even be able to exert a tenth of their full strength.

"Even if I'm suppressed, I can still crush a hundred-thousand-year soul beast," Bear Lord declared confidently, puffing out his chest.

As if joking, he added, "I'm Bear Lord, after all."

A ten-thousand-year Dark Gold Dreadclaw Bear could already challenge a hundred-thousand-year soul beast, not to mention his four-hundred-thousand-year cultivation.

If Su Yu were already a Titled Douluo, Bear Lord would immediately kneel and beg him to spare his life.

But wasn't Su Yu just a Soul Sage? He wasn't worried in the slightest.

"You think you're so great?"

"Why don't you go and fight Di Tian?" Zi Ji retorted.

Bear Lord's smug expression froze, and he snorted indignantly, "One day, I'll surpass Di Tian. Even the Young Master says I'm the future Beast King of the Star Dou Great Forest. What do you know?"

"Oh, really?"

"Well, Bear Lord, you're amazing. Come on, show me just how much your Sky-Splitting Claws have improved."

At that moment, Di Tian's calm, chilling voice suddenly rang out.

PS: Just imagine Di Mingli's appearance as young Gu Yuena with golden hair.