Douluo Continent: This Tang San is different

Chapter 224 Phoenix City: The Phoenix Seeks Its Mate (Part 1)

Tang San, along with Xiao Wu, Guang Ling, and Lan Yinzi, walked along the way, passing through many villages and towns, and witnessing all sorts of strange martial souls.

For Xiao Wu and Lan Yinzi, most of their attention was focused on the farmland styles and architectural landscapes of different villages and towns, but for Tang San, it was about recording data on various martial souls and asking the local elders about the local history.

And what about Guangling?

She bought some unusual metal materials and everyday soul tools to study them; she was serious about it!

However, there were also troubles along the way. Because of the spread of the Mother-Child Soul Guidance Photography Sphere, people everywhere had more or less an impression of Tang San and his companions.

Out of necessity, the four of them had to cover their faces or wear veils when they walked.

"Being a celebrity is such a hassle; there are people everywhere asking for autographs." Stepping out of town, Xiao Wu took off her veil and glanced at the bright sun. "It's so hot, and with my face covered, I'm sweating buckets."

Tang San, after removing his mask, had not a drop of sweat on his face, because he had already completed the cultivation of the Jade Bone Golden Muscle Divine Treasure, and his physical body had developed its own supernatural powers, so he was naturally immune to heat and cold.

Everything has two sides. Isn't the admiration of others proof of one's own excellence?

"You'll get used to it."

Xiao Wu scoffed, "And you're talking about me? Aren't you wearing a mask yourself?"

"I'm doing this to prevent you from getting jealous," Tang San said. He knew that if he took off his mask, all the people who fawned over Xiao Wu would flock around him.

Men can sometimes be attracted to each other.

"Show-off." Xiao Wu stuck out her tongue, then jumped onto Tang San's back and said in a coquettish tone, "As my older brother, you've never carried me. I'm tired, so carry me now."

"Stop fooling around, Guangling hasn't even complained of being tired yet." Tang San, not one to tolerate such behavior, put Xiao Wu down from behind and pointed at Guangling, saying, "You're really pathetic, not even as good as Guangling."

Is it really that straight?

Lan Yinzi, who was nearby, was stunned. For a moment, she couldn't tell whether Tang San had done it on purpose or by accident.

"That's right, Sister Xiaowu, you're already a Soul King, and I'm just a Soul Master, I don't even feel tired."

Although Guangling and Xiaowu had an extremely close relationship, even sharing a bed with Tang San, she couldn't stand Xiaowu eating alone.

If Xiao Wu insists on being carried by her third brother, then she will too. If a back can only carry one person, then she can reluctantly hang on her third brother's neck and let him hold her.

(# ^. ^ #)

Seeing the three of them joking and laughing, Lan Yinzi, for some reason, felt a little jealous, as if the cabbage she had planted was going to be taken over by the two pigs.

Although I haven't fertilized this cabbage much since I planted it...

···

Three days later, Tang San and his companions arrived in Phoenix City.

Outside the city gate, there was a lush forest, mostly composed of sycamore trees with large, broad, fiery red leaves that looked as if they were on fire.

Asking passersby, I learned that the trees in this sycamore grove have been replaced by phoenix sycamores, which are covered in red leaves all year round, resembling a blazing fire, and are extremely spectacular.

"What an amazing tree! It stays red all year round."

Xiao Wu plucked a sycamore leaf, sniffed it, and could smell a faint fragrance. She then took out a medical book from her white jade belt, opened it, and found it contained leaves of various herbs.

It can be tucked inside for storage or used as a bookmark.

"These leaves have a strong life force and also contain fire element. If we study them, they should be able to be used in medicine."

Xiao Wu closed the medical book and put it back into her white jade belt.

The walls of Phoenix City are no less tall than those of Tiandou City, but they are entirely dark red.

Legend has it that this city has a history of ten thousand years. The crimson color on its city walls is not made of any special material, but rather the blood of a phoenix beast that fell ten thousand years ago, which spilled and covered the walls, forging an indestructible phoenix blood and phoenix bone.

"I've been here before," Lan Yinzi said, recalling her memories. "Every year in early April, the people of this city hold a grand event called 'Phoenix Seeking its Mate.'"

"Back then, young men and women, naive and innocent, could sing and dance in the city, and find their other half. If both were interested, they could get married under the witness of the phoenix tree in the city..."

"According to legend, if a couple's singing and dancing are exceptionally beautiful, they can attract the favor of the Phoenix God and receive his blessings."

"However, no one has ever received the blessing; it remains just a legend."

"However, the Spirit Hall once investigated the Phoenix Tree in the center of the city. It is not a plant spirit beast, but it has really lived for more than 10,000 years. Moreover, people who live nearby all year round, even if they are not spirit masters, can live to be over ninety years old."

"Therefore, Phoenix City is also a retirement home for nobles and high-ranking members of the Spirit Hall within the Heaven Dou territory."

Tang San nodded slightly, recalling how Ma Hongjun failed to inherit the God of Fire in the original story and, as a second choice, chose to become the God of Phoenix.

Perhaps the legacy of the Phoenix God resides in the phoenix tree in the center of Phoenix City.

The four entered the city and headed straight for the city center.

It was March 28th, just three days before April.

Therefore, every household in the city displays phoenix statues and lanterns at their doors, pastes phoenix patterns on their windows, or hangs red flags.

Along the way, many couples were discussing the "Phoenix Seeking Its Mate" festival three days later, and they made plans to sing and dance together then.

Some couples even kissed directly in the street to express their love for each other.

Such things are commonplace in Phoenix.

Especially in the days leading up to the "Phoenix Seeking Its Mate" festival, you can find men and women in any corner and they can be seen expressing their feelings to each other and describing their vows of eternal love.

"How could they say such things? It's so cheesy!" Xiao Wu heard a couple using sausages and bread as metaphors while reciting poetry, and she felt goosebumps rising on her skin.

As for Guangling, Tang San covered her ears and clearly told her: Children should not listen to these adult fangirl poems.

Guangling: "..."

In fact, Guangling knows everything about matters between men and women.

After all, she was born in a small village, and her house was only so big. She usually slept in the same bed with her parents. How could the little things she did be kept from her?

However, Guang Ling was still very moved by Tang San's protection.

Lan Yinzi interrupted the three of them's "clown" behavior and pointed to the Phoenix Wutong tree in the center, which was about 100 meters tall, and said, "Look, that is the legendary residence of the Phoenix God, the Phoenix Wutong tree."

The area around the Phoenix Tree is nearly a kilometer wide, covered with dark red bricks, and surrounded by a low railing, only five meters high, which an ordinary person could easily climb over.

However, the outer perimeter is patrolled by personnel from the Spirit Hall and the City Lord's Mansion to prevent unauthorized entry.

This place is only open on specific holidays; at other times, it is closed.

"Brother Eli, did you figure it out?"

Tang San concentrated his mind, but perhaps because his mental strength was still quite far from the god level, he couldn't see what was hidden in the phoenix tree. He could only feel a strange heat... But this heat could only be perceived by humans with extremely strong mental strength. Ordinary people could not detect it and at most were passively affected, their blood and qi circulated.

The reason for longevity lies in that scorching passive influence.

"Within this Phoenix Tree lies a remnant soul of the Phoenix Divine Beast." Electrox possessed divine sense and immediately perceived the origin within the Phoenix Tree. "In my view, this Phoenix Tree should have developed sentience, but due to the influence of that remnant soul of the Phoenix Divine Beast, it has been unable to transform into a soul beast."

"If it can perfectly devour and absorb that wisp of phoenix divine beast's remnant soul, it might directly become a plant soul beast with more than 900,000 years of life."

"The remnants of a god's soul are an incredible tonic for mortals."

"And a Soul Master whose Martial Soul is a phoenix or similar might have the potential to become a Phoenix God if they obtain that wisp of remnant soul."

Although the remnant soul of the phoenix was a true divine soul, higher than that of Electrox, to him, the phoenix was ultimately just a wild beast.

Besides his noble bloodline, what else can compare to him?

Not to mention that the other party only had a wisp of a soul left.

Electrolux has plenty of ways to prepare it.

For example, it can be transformed into a ghoul puppet, a type of undead.

"So, the annual 'Phoenix Seeking Phoenix' festival is actually an opportunity for that remnant soul to absorb the power of faith?" Tang San thought of a possibility.

"The power of faith?" Electrox was taken aback. He sat cross-legged in Tang San's spiritual sea, stroking the Necromancer's Staff in his hand for a while before saying in a low voice, "I almost forgot that the gods in this plane, apart from those god-king level powerhouses, seem to pay special attention to absorbing the power of faith."

"If there are any parts of Douluo Continent in your memory that can be used as a real reference, then the Trident of the Sea God on Seagod Island was probably left in the mortal world by the Sea God. Perhaps it wasn't originally intended to select a successor, but rather to be nurtured with the power of faith so that it could be upgraded to a super artifact."

"It's just that I later wanted to leave the God Realm, so I planned to leave the Trident of Poseidon behind. After all, with this experience, I can replicate it in other areas that this God Realm cannot control in the future."

"After all, that divine artifact was the materialization of the Sea God's martial soul before he became a god. For a soul master with a weapon-type martial soul, if the martial soul is broken, he can spend time and cultivation to re-condense one... Therefore, it can be inferred that if the martial soul is transformed into a divine artifact and passed on to someone else, the Sea God himself can actually condense another one, but it will consume a lot of cultivation and energy, and generally gods will not do that."

"But it's not impossible for them to abandon their own divine artifact in order to escape the realm of gods. After all, they have experience and can reforge one. Moreover, leaving the artifact to the successor can save the successor the time of re-forging the artifact, allowing the successor to more quickly grasp the power that the position of god should have."

"Tsk, this world is truly blessed."

At this point, Electrolux once again marveled at the wonders of Douluo Continent, and then answered Tang San's question: "You guessed correctly, that remnant soul did indeed absorb the power of faith at a specific time to contain its divine soul, but it is impossible to be resurrected. The power of faith is too little, and the methods used are..."

"Although I don't know exactly how to use the power of faith, I estimate that the way that remnant soul uses the power of faith is the same as the way most soul masters use soul power in a crude way—it's all about accumulating quantity."

It's no wonder Electrolux was standing on top, looking down.

Although the Douluo Continent possesses mysterious and magnificent martial souls, its methods of using soul power are akin to primitive people just learning how to tie sticks and stones together.

As for the subtlety of soul skills...

That's the effect of a soul beast's soul ring. What does that have to do with a soul master?

"Brother Tang, why don't we take advantage of the night to seize that phoenix's remnant soul? I'm confident I can refine it into a phoenix spirit and turn it into our summoned beast," Electrox suggested. "In the future, god-level powerhouses will definitely appear on this continent—Rakshasa, angels, at least two. We must be prepared."

Electrolux also read "Douluo Continent" through Tang San's memories. He can only say that currently only some of the settings can be referenced. As for the plot, apart from the appearance of angels and Rakshasa, everything else is unknown.

For the safety of Tang San and himself, hiring a god-level undead as a bodyguard is imperative.

"A bodyguard?" Tang San looked at the Phoenix Tree, but had a different thought. "I would rather the Phoenix Tree could refine that wisp of the Phoenix Divine Beast's remnant soul and become a soul beast."

Electrolux frowned, as if struck by a thought, and tentatively asked, "Nirvana?"

"To live in the face of death is Nirvana." A glint flashed in Tang San's eyes. "Compared to gaining a bodyguard, I would much rather this phoenix tree become my ninth spirit ring and spirit."

"Of course, it's just a backup plan. If a better option comes along in the future, we can switch to it."

Electrolux pondered for a moment, then nodded: "Alright, as for summoned beasts, we can just find some soul beasts or soul masters' corpses. When we go to the City of Slaughter, we can make good use of the fallen ones there."

The fallen, with hearts like demons, have transcended the realm of humanity. They can be used as material for the dead without any psychological burden.

Even if there are innocent victims, Electrolux himself wouldn't care much.

Before he died, he created an army of the dead in his quest for revenge, resulting in the deaths of countless innocent people, directly or indirectly.

"The City of Slaughter is indeed a good place to collect 'raw materials' for you." Originally, Tang San hoped that after gaining power, he would use the City of Slaughter as a gathering place for the Fallen Ones to conduct research on their psychology and physiology.

Unfortunately, plans can't keep up with changes.

Electrolux's arrival changed his future plans for Killing City...

···

"Third Brother," Xiao Wu interrupted Tang San's conversation with Electrolux, pointing to a church not far away. Above the main entrance was a phoenix statue. "Is that the Spirit Hall of Phoenix City? Why are so many people gathered around?"

Tang San saw the Spirit Hall's angel emblem beneath the phoenix statue, nodded, and said, "It is indeed the Spirit Hall, but the Spirit Hall in Phoenix City is quite unique; the phoenix emblem is actually above the Spirit Hall's emblem. Let's go take a look."

Reaching the entrance of the Spirit Hall, Tang San patted the men queuing in front of him and asked, "What are you doing here?"

The man turned around and saw that Tang San was wearing a mask. He was a little wary, but when he saw the three girls behind him, he was in a daze again. Although Xiao Wu and the others were all wearing veils, apart from Guang Ling, who was the kind of person who was pleasing to the eye, the other two, even if you only saw half of their faces, would amaze countless people.

The man said, "You must be from out of town. This is where you register for the 'Phoenix Seeks Its Mate' ball. My girlfriend and I are in line to register."

"Your girlfriend?" Tang San asked in confusion. There was a man in front of him, and this team was basically all male.

"How could I bear to let her wait in line?" the man said seriously. "I'll do this chore. The people ahead of me are in the same boat. By the way, you have three female companions with you?"

"The four of us are travelers passing through Phoenix City." Tang San smiled, not answering directly, but leading the three women past the crowd and into the hall.

"Looks like a Soul Master..." The man pondered whether he had said anything rude earlier. To ordinary people, most Soul Masters were arrogant and short-tempered people who would resort to violence at the slightest provocation.

Upon entering the Spirit Hall, Tang San removed his mask, and the local hall master, Thanos, immediately rose to greet him, bowing and saying, "Greetings, Holy Son of the Spirit Hall."

Although the Mainland Elite Tournament has ended, the recorded video of the match is still being circulated due to the influence of the Mother-Child Soul Guidance Photography Sphere.

The Spirit Hall naturally recognized Tang San's appearance.

Although many people have recently dressed up as Tang San, Xiao Wu, and others, becoming the first batch of cosplayers for Douluo Continent, it is easy for discerning people to tell the difference between the real and fake.

Not to mention, Tang San in front of him also presented the Holy Son's Token—which Bibi Dong personally granted him before he left the Spirit Hall.

"No need for formalities." Tang San waved his hand casually. "We were just passing by and came to join in the fun. Mainly, I wanted to see that Phoenix Tree."

"I'll arrange it right away!" Thanos said hastily.

"No need to alert anyone else. Isn't the Phoenix Seeking Phoenix Dance going to start in three days? Just help us register," Tang San stated his request.

"This... is nothing at all."

Thanos breathed a sigh of relief. The Holy Son was easy to talk to, and he was happy to relax, but—

"Four people?"

"I'm in a group with Guangling, and Xiaowu is in a group with Lanyinzi. There's no rule that girls can't dance with each other, right?" Tang San asked with a smile.

"There really isn't such a rule..." Thanos was somewhat speechless, but nodded in agreement.

"Why are you paired with Guangling?" Xiaowu asked, her lips pursed and cheeks puffed out, like a rabbit in a panic.

"Don't worry, we can switch dance partners later." If he didn't comfort her, Tang San felt that Xiao Wu would sneak up on him tonight and steal his precious virginity.

Xiao Wu then gave a soft hum and said, "That's more like it."

Thanos, standing to the side, secretly admired the Holy Son's shrewdness, looking utterly ashamed of himself...

···

Three days later, early April arrived.

The entire Phoenix City came alive with activity. Long tables stretched out along the streets and alleys, laden with all sorts of delicious food. All you had to do was insert a Silver Soul Coin into the coin box at the entrance of each street to get a pass, and you could enjoy all the food on that street as much as you wanted.

Tang San, Xiao Wu, Guang Ling, and Lan Yinzi randomly chose a street and enjoyed the local fine wines and delicacies. Apart from the sour smell of love all around, they were quite content.

After all, there weren't any nobles here trying to curry favor with them.

Moreover, all four of them concealed their faces in their own ways, and apart from Xiao Wu's long braid attracting some attention, no men or women came up to chat with them.

As for their eating manners, all four of them simply grabbed the food, pulled off their masks and veils, and stuffed it into their mouths, showing no trace of aristocratic elegance or poise.

In Phoenix City, most of the residents are noble children and retired high-ranking members of the Spirit Hall and their children. Even if they see that the four of them have half their faces showing and they look good, they will not approach them because of their eating habits.

Commoners and nobles were completely different circles, and in most cases, behavior was enough to determine their status and position.

However, when the "Phoenix Seeks Its Mate" festival truly begins, nobles and commoners of Phoenix City can gather together. Commoner women can dance with noblemen, and country boys can choose noblewomen to sing. Everyone is equal and enjoys themselves together.

Both men and women can refuse during the selection process, but not more than three times. If they do, they will no longer be allowed to participate in the ball.

Under the witness of the Phoenix God, on this day, everyone in Phoenix City was equal, without distinction of rank or social status.

At least, that's what Tang San heard from the propaganda.

But when the final ball actually began, Tang San was certain that even though commoners and nobles could dance in the same space, there would be very few couples of commoner boys (girls) and noble ladies (young men) holding hands and singing and laughing together.

Chapter 222 was censored, which I don't quite understand. Is "JIU·Nian`Yi`Wu`Jiao`Yu" also a sensitive word?

(End of this chapter)