Douluo: I Can Choose My Own Soul Skills

Join my Patreon to be 30 chapters ahead of the webnovel releases:

patreon.com/ZeroMoney

I would appreciate your help if you could join my Patreon and support me because it would keep me motivated. 

******

Su Yuntao looked at Ye Lan's serious expression and said with concern, "Xiao Lan, be careful."

In his heart, however, Su Yuntao had already made up his mind—he couldn't let the striped tiger engage in prolonged combat with Ye Lan. In a drawn-out fight, Ye Lan's body would be exposed to the tiger's deadly claws. That was far too dangerous.

On the other side, Ye Lan gathered all his soul power and locked onto the striped tiger, letting out a thunderous roar.

ROAR!!!

While roaring like a tiger, Ye Lan stared directly at the beast with a provocative gaze.

The seven-meter-long striped tiger furrowed its brow tightly. In the face of Ye Lan's challenge, its round eyes transformed into a fierce glare, glowing with a flash of wicked golden light.

With a single pounce, the massive figure of the striped tiger streaked through the air like a shadow.

Its entire body was like a perfectly engineered combat machine. Ye Lan had no time to admire its impressive form—the tiger had already closed the fifteen-meter gap between them in a blink.

His field of vision filled with black and white, dominated by the tiger's oppressive figure. Its broad shoulders and muscular limbs seemed ready to erupt with power like a volcano. Within its paws, claws coiled like loaded spring blades, ready to explode at any moment.

Ye Lan sidestepped the brunt of the attack, pressing off the ground and narrowly gaining several meters of distance. The tiger's dual claws swiped past his face by mere inches.

Before the tiger could recover its balance upon landing, Ye Lan bent his leg and swept his body horizontally. The soul power gathered at his waist burst forth in an instant! This sweeping kick was like an autumn breeze sweeping away fallen leaves. A fan-shaped shadow slashed through the air, with the tiger's massive head directly in its path.

Thud!

With a dull boom, the striped tiger was flung to the side, as if weightless. However, its sheer body mass quickly pulled it down, and it tumbled into the weeds after just a few meters.

Su Yuntao seized the opportunity. His second soul ring lit up as he launched a series of claw strikes against the tiger's back. But the striped tiger's hide was incredibly thick—though his claws left bloody marks, they didn't cause significant bleeding.

Barely two seconds passed before the tiger shook off its daze. Feeling the searing pain across its back, it let out a guttural growl and rolled over violently.

Its powerful hind claws slashed wildly toward Su Yuntao—but he was already alert. As the tiger rolled, Su Yuntao leapt out of its attack range just in time.

The tiger's instinctive counterattack gave Ye Lan a perfect opening from behind.

He charged in and delivered a direct kick that made the striped tiger howl in pain and snap its body around for a retaliatory strike.

But before the tiger could act, Ye Lan suddenly leapt up. Using a move like Dragonfly Touches the Water, he landed squarely on the tiger's head, smashing it down into the ground.

Using the tiger's skull as a springboard, Ye Lan launched himself back, once again widening the distance.

Just as the striped tiger recovered from the stunned state and tried to leap toward Ye Lan's last landing spot—

Su Yuntao seized the tiger's massive tail and yanked it hard toward the rear!

The tiger lost its balance and fell heavily to the ground, being dragged backwards by Su Yuntao.

Deep claw marks gouged through the dirt as it flailed in resistance.

Seeing the tiger in complete disarray, Ye Lan enhanced his legs with soul power and swiftly closed the distance.

In a fluid motion, Ye Lan flipped into the air and landed firmly on the tiger's back.

Clamping his legs tightly around the tiger's waist, Ye Lan poured all his soul power into his arms!

Soul power, fully channeled—100%!!!

Ora! Ora! Ora ora! Ora! Ora ora! Ora!! Ora ora! Ora!! Ora ora! Ora!! Ora ora! Ora!! Ora ora! Ora ora ora!!!

With a flurry of explosive punches, Ye Lan unleashed a fierce barrage onto the tiger's back like a relentless storm.

In just a few seconds, Ye Lan had pummeled the back of the striped tiger's skull with dozens of furious blows.

Su Yuntao seized the moment. His yellow soul ring lit up once more, and the Lone Wolf's claws grew longer and sharper. With a powerful strike, he slashed at the tiger's neck—his claw slicing clean through its throat.

A geyser of crimson blood sprayed from the tiger's neck!

Yet Ye Lan didn't stop. He kept hammering his fists into the tiger's skull without pause. Each punch landed with a sickening thud, accompanied by the tiger's agonized roars. Blood splattered everywhere, painting the scene in red.

Slowly, the tiger's growls began to fade.

As blood poured from its throat, the striped tiger was literally beaten to death under Ye Lan's relentless fists.

"Xiao Lan, that's enough! It's already dead!" Su Yuntao called out, seeing that the tiger had stopped breathing, yet Ye Lan continued striking in a near-manic trance.

Ye Lan snapped out of it at the sound of Su Yuntao's voice. He looked down to find the tiger beneath him completely motionless, its body limp. His own figure was soaked in warm, bright-red blood.

Suddenly, a wave of nausea surged up from Ye Lan's stomach.

Hurk—!

His stomach convulsed, and he vomited up bile. Ye Lan's body felt weak and uncomfortable—this was the first time in either of his lifetimes that he had killed such a massive and majestic creature.

Su Yuntao gently patted his back. "Everyone reacts like this their first time. You'll get used to it. Honestly, I was worse than you back then. I never expected to see this side of you, Xiao Lan. You beat that tiger to death with your bare hands."

Ye Lan's pale face slowly regained some color. Though the battle had been under his control from start to finish, it was without question the most intense and dangerous fight he had ever experienced.

Throughout the encounter, Ye Lan relied mainly on kicks—specifically to maintain distance from the tiger.

Kicking had the advantage of reach, allowing him to avoid the fatal range of those deadly claws.

Though the outcome made it seem like an easy victory—Ye Lan unharmed, Su Yuntao lightly wounded, and the striped tiger dead—it had been anything but. Had the tiger landed even a single clean strike, those 20-centimeter claws could have easily gutted Ye Lan on the spot.

During the entire battle, Ye Lan's adrenaline had been spiking. Now that it was wearing off, combined with the psychological shock of killing such a beautiful, powerful creature for the first time, his body felt completely overwhelmed.

Taking a deep breath, Ye Lan suddenly noticed something—rising from the tiger's corpse was a glowing yellow soul ring.

It was the striped tiger's four-hundred-year soul ring. If Ye Lan didn't absorb it within an hour, the ring would slowly fade away.

"Xiao Lan, are you going to absorb this four-hundred-year soul ring?" Su Yuntao asked excitedly. "I've heard even most geniuses in Spirit Hall don't have first rings over three hundred years. Four hundred is extremely rare—this one must be a top-grade ring!"

"I'm not sure yet, Uncle Tao. It's an excellent ring, no doubt—but the striped tiger's attributes don't exactly complement my Blue Silver Grass. I'll take a closer look and decide," Ye Lan replied, walking over to inspect the glowing ring.

A golden-yellow circle of light shimmered before him, spinning slowly with a distinct diamond-shaped pattern.

Ye Lan stared at the ring intently, silently chanting in his heart: Soul Skill Selection.

At that moment, a virtual list appeared in his mind. Neatly arranged rows of various soul skills unfolded before him.

It seemed that as long as Ye Lan set his heart on one, the soul skill he chose would automatically become his first skill upon absorbing the ring.

Most of the listed skills were hybrid techniques derived from the fusion of Blue Silver Grass and the striped tiger—some powerful, others relatively weak.

(End of Chapter)