At the Lake of Life, Di Tian—later ranked the number one of the Ten Great Beasts—was cultivating with Bi Ji and Zi Ji.
Bi Ji heard the bear's furious roars from afar and said uneasily, "What's with the Bear Lord today? He seems angrier than usual."
"Who cares about him?" Zi Ji scoffed. "He's had these outbursts every few months for the past three years. You're not used to it yet? Probably just sensed something wrong, got all excited to see his brother, and found it wasn't him, so he's even madder. He'll calm down soon enough."
She didn't like the Bear Lord—his ambitions were too great, always coveted Di Tian's position, which annoyed her.
"No matter, ignore him and focus on cultivating," Di Tian said coolly.
He didn't believe anything serious would happen to the Bear Lord. The guy was arrogant, but his combat strength was undeniable. In the Star Dou Forest, he ranked fourth in cultivation, but even the Myriad Demon King couldn't beat him head-on, and Bi Ji wasn't a fighter. So, the Bear King was essentially the forest's number two.
To subdue the Bear Lord, even a Super Douluo of level 97 or 98 might not be enough. Di Tian hadn't sensed any powerful human soul force from the Bear Lord's direction, so he figured the bear was just having another fit alone.
Just as Di Tian thought, the Bear Lord was simply too strong. Tianlin was suffering terribly.
He hadn't managed a single attack so far, only barely defending and escaping using every trick he knew.
Besides his domains and soul bone skills, he pushed his movement techniques, defensive, speed, and illusion talismans from Shu Mountain to the limit. Even so, the Bear Lord forced him into a corner.
"This guy is ten times stronger than the Behemoth," Tianlin thought, narrowly dodging another blow with illusions and teleportation, but still coughing blood from the shockwave.
But then a voice sounded from Tianlin's body: "Nine Treasures, Nine Words—Undying Body!"
"It's here! Vast Sea Shroud, activate!" Tianlin's eyes lit up as he expanded the shield to its maximum, trapping both himself and the Bear Lord inside.
It was finally time to counterattack.
The 'Undying Body' skill wasn't Ning Fengzhi himself, of course; the god's trial required Tianlin to kill the bear alone. If Ning Fengzhi showed up, it would violate the rules.
But Tianlin had a Future Sight move, letting him preset soul skills on himself or others, or at certain places. When he saw that calendar, he came up with the idea to have Ning Fengzhi preset Undying Body on him, set to activate now.
Unfortunately, Tianlin didn't have a watch after coming to Douluo Continent, so he couldn't time it down to the minute—he just estimated, and almost messed up. Luckily, he was resilient enough to last until it triggered.
"Xiao Tian, now's your chance! Your father-in-law's soul power will keep Undying Body up for five minutes at most—don't waste it!" Skydream Ice Silkworm reminded him.
"I know, Brother Skydream. You've been sacrificing for so long, you must have mastered sealing and unsealing soul rings and bones by now?"
"Heh, of course! I can seal and unseal them anytime."
"Good, then let's begin. Unseal eighty percent of million-year soul ring and bone!" Tianlin's real reason for using Undying Body wasn't just to withstand the bear's attacks, but to guard against spirit backlash.
With Undying Body, no matter how badly his spirit was injured, he'd instantly recover.
Only eighty percent was unsealed for safety—Ning Fengzhi said Undying Body couldn't ignore god-level attacks, and a million-year spirit force was almost at that level. Tianlin worried about passing the limit.
With Tianlin's roar, his terrifying soul power alarmed even the Bear Lord. If not for the Vast Sea Shield isolating all sound and aura, other beasts would already be alerted.
"Hmph, you're tough for a human, but so what? Soul power alone isn't enough to beat me." The Bear Lord radiated a dark golden light, growling, "Darkgolden Seal!"
This was the move that sealed Skydream Ice Silkworm for twelve years. The Bear Lord seemed simple but wasn't stupid. He could see Tianlin was in an invincible state—physical attacks were useless, so it was better to seal him.
"Trying to seal me? Let's see who seals whom! Vast Sea Spirit Lock!" Tianlin countered.
The top of the Vast Sea Shield glowed blue, locking the Bear Lord in place.
This was the second skill of the Sea God's Heart—Vast Sea Spirit Lock—which could seal any enemy with less than three times the user's soul power.
At Tianlin's current level, his soul power rivaled any Super Douluo, maybe even close to Ultimate Douluo. To exceed him threefold would take a god.
"I can't move! Damn human, I'll tear you apart!" the Bear Lord raged. But in the shield, his voice couldn't escape.
"It's over, Bear Lord. Now, I'll claim your soul ring!" Tianlin looked at the Bear Lord. He didn't plan to kill it outright—absorbing a 460,000-year ring wasn't so easy.
Last time, he'd absorbed Skydream's million-year ring, and in the original, Huo Yuhao absorbed a 400,000-year ring from the Ice Jade Emperor Scorpion by sacrifice—the safest way. He'd repeat that method today.
"First, take this! Golden Flame Soul Annihilation!"
Compared to before, Tianlin's Golden Flame Soul Annihilation was now terrifying. With eighty percent of the million-year ring unsealed, even Title Douluos below level 95 might instantly die from brain burn.
Even the Bear Lord let out a pained roar. Though its body was tough, its spirit defense wasn't nearly as strong. This attack was a serious threat.