Douluo Continent: This Tang San is different

Chapter 177 Martial Soul Materialization

rustle!

The nine-tiered canopy of the Crimson Cloud Tree trembled, and countless crimson cloud leaves drifted down.

"Be careful, don't let those leaves fall on us." Tang San used his soul power to repel the dense, thin, blood-red cloud-like leaves. "These leaves carry an extremely strong corrosive aura, and the life force of my martial soul is repelling this corrosive aura."

Upon hearing this, everyone immediately covered themselves with a layer of soul power.

If they hadn't all undergone tree-climbing training and made some progress in controlling their soul power, they wouldn't have been able to condense a soul power cloak.

"Covering up our soul power like this takes a lot of energy out of us," Huo Wu said.

"It's alright, watch me."

Tang San raised his hand, and the Blue Silver Emperor of the Endless Grassland wrapped around everyone's waists, restoring their soul power.

Soul skills require soul rings to be used.

However, Tang San, who had already become a Soul King, had evolved his Blue Silver Emperor to an incredible level. Even without using his Soul Skills, his passive recovery ability was comparable to when he was still a Soul Master and used his first Soul Skill.

The Eight-Cornered Ice Grass and the Fiery Apricot Blossom, combined to form a 100,000-year soul ring, provided an extremely terrifying boost to the Blue Silver Emperor.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief upon sensing the soul power transmitted by the Blue Silver Emperor, as they no longer needed to worry about the depletion of their soul power.

Three minutes later, the falling leaves of the Crimson Cloud Tree stopped, and more than twenty red tentacles extended from its trunk, piercing the back of the necks of the more than twenty dried corpses.

Click!

Accompanied by the sound of bones grinding together, the more than twenty dried corpses actually stood up and roared at Tang San and the others.

"How eerie!" Ning Rongrong exclaimed. "Are they the living dead?"

"It should be called a corpse puppet." Tang San saw through its nature at a glance and reassured everyone not to panic. "Humans can control their body's movement through their thoughts by relying on the transmission of information from the brain, spine, and other parts of the nervous system. Those tentacles control their movements by manipulating their brain, brainstem, and spine."

"So, all we need to do is attack the back of their necks?" Huo Wu's third spirit ring shone, and a small golden ray of light shot from her index finger, instantly piercing the throat of one of the mummified corpses and severing its head.

pat!

The lower half of the mummified corpse collapsed, leaving only its head, which was connected by tentacles and suspended in mid-air, facing them. Its jaws opened and closed, a sight that was both eerie and comical.

"It looks... fragile?" Huo Wu asked in surprise. "My attack just now used less than one-twentieth of my soul power."

"It's simple. After all, they're all dried corpses. Their blood and soul power have been completely absorbed, so their bodies are naturally as brittle as weathered stones." Tang San raised his hand and waved his hand. Countless Blue Silver Emperors wrapped around the dried corpses, and with a slight pull, the corpses' heads separated.

For a time, more than twenty dried corpses hung on the blood-red cloud tree, their jaws moving incessantly, which was quite comical.

"So it's just a pretty face, all show and no substance." Yu Feng chuckled.

"The methods of the Fallen aren't much better," Oslo chimed in.

Tang San frowned and said, "It shouldn't be like this. Even if the cultivation of this cloud tree was forcibly enhanced by some means, it should still be at least 90,000 years old. It can't be this weak. Such an attack is even weaker than some thousand-year-old plant-type soul beasts..."

"Next, I will use my martial spirit to communicate with this cloud tree. Shi Mo, Shi Mo, Xiao Wu, Zhu Zhuqing, and Ning Rongrong, protect me."

"Light Feather and Fire Dance, you two have ranged attack capabilities. Attack the top of this cloud tree and stop Blood Sword Norman from continuing his strange actions."

"The rest of you, wait until Guangling and Huowu have launched their attacks and see if this 90,000-year-old cloud tree will retaliate. If it doesn't, then the cloud tree's soul has probably been impacted by the Blood Sword Norman's secret technique, leaving it with only instinct... Only in this way can it control this 90,000-year-old cloud tree."

"If my guess is true, then climb the tree and kill Blood Sword Norman."

"After Guangling and Huowu launched their attack, the cloud tree went berserk. We should leave immediately. A 90,000-year-old plant soul beast with tenacious vitality is not something we can easily deal with."

After saying that, Tang San put away the Endless Grassland, walked to the trunk of the Crimson Cloud Tree, placed his right hand on it, and released his Martial Soul, causing the Blue Silver Emperor to take root inside the Cloud Tree.

In an instant.

A violent spiritual force emanated from the Blue Silver Emperor and permeated it, which Tang San sensed.

This spiritual energy was frenzied, chaotic, and mixed, like an aggregate of countless living beings, but Tang San, relying on the aura of the Golden Ancient Tree, perceived its entirety—

Within the spiritual space of this cloud tree, the spirits, or rather, fragments of souls, of humans and soul beasts are mixed together, forming a bizarre spiritual energy cluster resembling Cthulhu. This cluster constantly impacts a white spiritual energy cluster, causing it to continuously dissipate and vanish.

Perhaps it won't be long before the ball of light dissipates.

Tang San immediately transmitted a ball of Blue Silver Emperor's life force to strengthen its spiritual light ball. Then, relying on the vast spiritual power of the Purple Demon Eye, he impacted that mixture of various spiritual energies.

Furthermore, after gaining the favor of that ball of white energy, Tang San's spiritual power was able to condense a corresponding physical form within the spiritual space of the cloud tree.

In his spiritual form, Tang San discovered that he could use the Blue Silver Emperor and Clear Sky Hammer martial souls. With a firm resolve, he picked up the Clear Sky Hammer, unleashed the Chaotic Cloak, and shattered the chaotic aggregates of soul fragments.

Although these fragments of the soul will reassemble after each defeat, a portion of the scattered spiritual energy will become extremely pure, as clear and transparent as crystal.

This materialized spiritual energy will actively merge into the souls of Tang San and Yun Shu, strengthening their spirits and souls.

"This is a great opportunity!" Tang San was overjoyed to realize that his spiritual power was increasing and its quality was improving. He swung the Clear Sky Hammer faster and faster.

"Boom!"

When the Chaotic Cloak Hammer Technique was stacked to eighty-one strikes, it caused the entire spiritual space of the Cloud Tree to tremble.

The Clear Sky Hammer flew from Tang San's hand, carrying a mental storm that distorted the mental space, and slammed hard into the aggregate of soul fragments.

The mixed soul fragments exploded, and hundreds and thousands of pure spiritual energy crystals scattered, surging towards Tang San and Yun Shu's souls, greatly enhancing the spiritual and soul power of the two.

"roar!"

The Haotian Hammer transformed into Jiu Hao, now with five heads. It used the five elemental powers of fire, light, wind, water, and poison to create an extremely mysterious energy pattern, which turned into a pentagram. It then condensed the soul fragments into a gray sphere, which it swallowed whole.

Immediately, Tang San also received a message: "Death, is the attribute of your next head death?"

Jiuhao affectionately nuzzled Tang San's spiritual manifestation before transforming back into the Clear Sky Hammer. The Jiuhao pattern on the hammerhead, the edges of the five heads, and the sixth head faintly visible, with its eyes being a deep gray.

Tang San, who had retrieved the Clear Sky Hammer, pondered: "Within the Throne of Divine Seal, the second head of the Bright Moon should have been of the Dark attribute, but it became of the Light attribute only after Long Haochen's blood exchange... This means that the attributes of the Nine Bright Moons can change according to external factors, as long as the most essential attribute of the ninth head is destruction."

"But why is the attribute of the second head light?"

"Could it be that Jiu Hao, reborn with a martial soul, can inherit the attribute power from his previous life?"

Tang San was quite certain that Austin Griffin possessed his own will, and his arrival in Douluo Continent was probably not as simple as a "cheat code" for a transmigrator.

After all, who would let their "cheat code" slip away from its original owner and choose another host?

It is said that Austin Griffin and the Creator God within the Throne of Gods are twins. Now that Austin Griffin has come to Douluo Continent, will the Throne of Gods, which represents eternity and creation, also descend upon Douluo Continent?

After all, in the storyline of the Divine Throne, Eternity and the Divine Throne of Creation are only temporarily recognized as masters by Long Haochen. After the problems of the Holy Demon Continent are resolved, Eternity and the Divine Throne of Creation will leave the Holy Demon Continent and wander in the universe, descending to other planes and stars, guided by fate.

Since Austin Griffin is the twin of the Creator God, their entanglement will inevitably attract each other, and it's possible that Eternity and the Throne of Creation will also come to Douluo Star.

The only question is whether it has already arrived, hidden somewhere, or is on its way...?

···

Outside, Tang San opened his eyes, full of energy.

The corpse of Blood Sword Norman had been discarded to the side, and the ten-thousand-year-old right leg bone had been dug out.

After Tang San destroyed the chaotic collection of soul fragments in the mental space, Blood Sword Norman was no longer able to effectively control Cloud Tree.

Even after the soul fragment was swallowed by Jiuhao, Blood Sword Norman suffered a backlash.

In addition, Tang San sent a message to Yun Shu, telling them not to attack Xiao Wu and the others. Huo Wu, Yu Tianheng and the others easily climbed the tree, and Yun Shu even helped them.

Although Blood Sword Norman was a Soul King, he couldn't last more than a few moves against Yu Tianheng, Xiao Wu, and others, not to mention that his spirit had been damaged by Tang San before.

"Captain, this is all your doing, isn't it?" Yu Tianheng handed over the ten-thousand-year-old right leg bone. "You must have influenced Blood Sword Norman's mind through this cloud tree, which allowed us to kill him so easily. This ten-thousand-year-old soul bone is what you deserve."

"No, I'm not suited for this soul bone." Tang San shook his head. His own 100,000-year-old Blue Silver Emperor right leg bone, which was of the same origin as the Blue Silver Emperor, was rejected by the jade bone he had cultivated. How could this 10,000-year-old soul bone be produced by a wolf-type soul beast?

However, Yu Tianheng and the others were able to resist the temptation of absorbing the soul bones, which shows they have a good mindset.

Tang San continued, "This soul bone comes from a wolf-type soul beast. The most suitable people here to absorb it are Zhu Zhuqing and Oslo. Their martial souls are the Netherworld Cat and the Ghost Leopard, respectively. They are most similar to wolves in appearance and habits, so the boost they receive from absorbing it is the strongest."

Zhu Zhuqing said in a cold tone: "I don't want it. After all, I haven't even been able to use the external soul bone perfectly and flexibly. Absorbing another soul bone, although it can enhance my physical attributes, doesn't seem to have a significant impact on my own strength. It's just giving me another soul bone skill."

Oslo also refused, saying, "I didn't put in much effort, and it wouldn't feel right for me to absorb this soul bone."

Now, everyone was speechless.

Soul bones are rare items, yet none of them want them... They all feel they might be possessed by ghosts and seeing each other's ghosts.

"In that case, let's give this soul bone to Teacher Qin Ming," Tang San suggested. "His martial soul is the Blazing Wolf, which is extremely comparable to this soul bone that fell from a wolf-type soul beast."

"Furthermore, as our team leader, Teacher Qin Ming must have made a lot of sacrifices by taking us to the Star Luo Empire and here for training. He had to talk to the Star Luo Royal Academy's teaching committee and the city lord of Baiyun City, which saved us a lot of trouble."

"What do you think of using this soul bone as a token of gratitude?"

The reason for suggesting it to Qin Ming was that Tang San hoped Qin Ming would give up the idea of ​​going to Shrek Academy again.

A piece of ancient soul bone is definitely worth its weight in gold.

Moreover, according to Tang San's investigation, this soul bone is nearly 50,000 years old, which is quite impressive. It is estimated to be the same right leg bone of the Bloodthirsty Berserk from the original work.

"I agree, after all, Teacher Qin Ming really takes good care of us." Yu Tianheng had no objection.

I agree.

Same as above.

I second that.

"This soul bone is not suitable for me."

"·····"

Qin Ming, who was observing from the shadows, was deeply moved.

"Teacher Qin Ming, you don't need to hide anymore, right? Come out, this is the gift we all gave you." Tang San called out to a cloud tree not far away.

Swish!

Qin Ming jumped down from the tree and, in a few leaps, arrived in front of Tang San and the others. He stared at the spirit bone for a long while before finally asking, "Are you really not going to absorb it? From my observation, this spirit bone is at least 40,000 years old! Even Title Douluos would fight over it!"

"We don't want it." Tang San turned around and looked at Huo Wu, Yu Tianheng and the others. Seeing that they shook their heads, he said, "Soul bones are different from soul rings. The soul skills they bring are completely unrelated to the martial soul. They are the skills of the soul beast. In this way, the type of martial soul is the same as the type of soul beast that dropped the soul bone. After absorbing it, we will get the greatest benefits."

"Teacher Qin Ming's martial soul is the Fiery Azure Wolf, and this soul bone also fell from the body of a wolf-type soul beast. It is a perfect match, like green leaves setting off a red flower."

Qin Ming naturally understood this principle, so he stopped being coy, took the ten-thousand-year-old right leg bone from Tang San's hand, sat cross-legged on the spot, and began to absorb it.

Twenty minutes later, the soul bone was completely absorbed.

Qin Ming's soul power did not increase, but his physical fitness improved. Most importantly, he obtained a soul bone skill that could increase his attack, defense, and speed by 100%.

Moreover, unlike Dai Mubai in the original work, who couldn't use other soul ring skills when using soul bone skills after absorbing this soul bone, Qin Ming doesn't have this drawback.

This is because both the Soul Bone and Qin Ming's Martial Soul, the Fiery Azure Wolf, belong to the wolf family. Even though they are not the same type of wolf, the compatibility between the two is unmatched by Dai Mubai's White Tiger Martial Soul.

"Teacher Qin Ming, how does it feel? Was the process of absorbing the soul bone very enjoyable?" Yu Feng asked curiously.

"Um... The process of absorbing the soul bone is actually not painful, but the overall enhancement that comes after absorption is really exciting." Qin Ming clenched his fist, and his hands transformed into wolf claws, emitting wisps of fire that exploded in the air.

This ancient soul bone also enhanced his control over his soul power.

"Moreover, the strengthening of my body has also made the flow of soul power within my body smoother... I have a feeling that I will be able to reach the Soul Saint level within two years."

"Congratulations, Teacher Qin Ming," Tang San said.

"This is all thanks to you guys, otherwise I wouldn't have gotten such a good soul bone." Qin Ming laughed heartily, then walked to Blood Sword Norman's side and cut off the corpse's head.

Seeing this bloody scene, Xiao Wu felt nauseous, and the others also frowned.

Although they had just killed someone, they still felt a chill and resistance to this act of "taking the lead".

Seeing this, Qin Ming wrapped Blood Sword Norman's head in a cloth and reassured everyone, saying, "This is the most convenient method. A head is enough to prove he's a Fallen One. Besides, none of you want to carry a corpse out, right?"

That is true, and no one present wanted to have the corpse of a fallen one stored in their soul storage device.

However, as Blood Sword Norman's head was completely severed, his headless corpse suddenly trembled, and then a blood-red dagger emerged from his right hand.

That's his martial spirit!

"Bang!"

Responding instinctively, Qin Ming immediately struck down with his palm, destroying the corpse of Blood Sword Norman. The scorching flames instantly ignited the body.

"Waaah~"

Black skulls made of smoke emerged from the burning corpses, resembling the wails of ghosts and emitting a foul stench.

"What is this?" Qin Ming hurriedly retreated, and the others also became wary.

Tang San was also puzzled, but his gaze noticed that the crimson color of the blood-red short sword slowly dissipated under the burning flames, turning into a silver-white color, as clear as crystal. The golden dragon patterns inside seemed to come alive, winding and turning, extremely lively.

Once the flames had burned out, Blood Sword Norman's body had turned to ashes, leaving only a crystal dagger with dragon patterns moving up and down inside.

The dragon pattern was extremely similar to the dragon pattern on Yang Long's dragon-patterned spear.

Yang Long's time travel might have indeed brought him a cheat code, but after he was killed by Blood Sword Norman, his "cheat code" was also obtained by Blood Sword Norman.

Tang San stepped forward, picked up the crystal dragon-patterned short sword, and after injecting his soul power into it, he found that the thing could transmit soul power extremely smoothly. Moreover, it gave him a feeling that anything could be cut and pierced by it.

"Isn't that the Blood Sword Norman's spirit sword?" Huo Wu exclaimed in shock. "The person is dead, yet the spirit sword can still remain in the world? Has it materialized?"

"That's certainly a possibility."

Tang San did indeed know a way to materialize his weapon spirit: becoming a god and breaking through to level 100.

The Trident of Poseidon on Poseidon Island is a divine artifact formed after Poseidon solidified his position as the Sea God and became a god, his martial soul materializing into a divine weapon.

(End of this chapter)