"I wonder about the 'me' from another timeline, heh heh... has he evolved yet?"
Bear Lord crept up beside Di Tian, grinning awkwardly as he spoke.
"You?"
The evolved Di Tian showed a slight smile and shook his head, then pointed at Xuan Ji not far away.
"Do you know what kind of soul beast it was before its advancement?"
"What soul beast?"
Bear Lord frowned slightly. If not, then not; why bring up Xuan Ji? True, that guy does have the bloodline and physique I envy—a dream, really—but...
"Wait!!!"
Bear Lord stiffened: "Don't tell me it's…"
"Speaking of which, I should actually call you 'ancestor'."
Xuan Ji smiled as he spoke.
Bear Lord: "..."
At least in another world, Di Tian made a contract with me—what about here?!!
Damn!
"Hall Master Zang, I've already done everything I can for you. I've told you the passcodes to several entrances in the Battle God Hall, even risked my position to pull out some brothers under the excuse of redeployment. You better give it your all!"
Boundless Sea Douluo Chen Xinjie soaked in a vat of nutrient liquid, his face dark.
If he'd only been hesitating before, now it was a must—to act.
Recently, the Spirit Pagoda's business with these so-called 'Beast Masters' had been making waves. Videos flooding the Federation's net made it clear: these things could absolutely change the continental balance!
If they couldn't get Eternal Heaven, they'd just have to watch powerless as the other side slowly boiled them like a frog, swallowing them up bit by bit.
After all, soul spirits as they once were no longer existed.
The Spirit Ascension Platform disappeared, and all branches of the Spirit Pagoda in the Battle God Hall had withdrawn.
It was a life or death moment.
Honestly, if not for stepping up for Long Yueyue and being brutally beaten on Su Wen's orders, Chen Xinjie would never have risked so much to ally with the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy.
Yet the death of an old flame is not easily let go (in the original: when Shrek came to him for intel on Eternal Heaven, his only condition was that Long Yueyue date him—once she agreed, he revealed everything).
"Of course, Sea God Douluo, please rest assured... I, Zang Xin, have no possibility of reconciliation with that beast anymore."
On the other end, a man in a black robe spoke low, voice full of grief and hoarseness.
"...My condolences."
Chen Xinjie's face twitched.
He didn't really... get what this was, but for now, they were all in the same boat, so he offered a word of comfort.
"It's fine. As long as the Spirit Pagoda and that guy disappear, everything else can be worked out."
Zang Xin grumbled deeply.
"Hey, don't do anything stupid," Chen Xinjie caught the odd note, frowning, "If you want to steal Eternal Heaven as a deterrent, I fully support you. But if you're thinking of smashing the Spirit Pagoda in the process... then I'll go down as a criminal in history..."
"...Don't worry, I know the stakes."
Zang Xin realized he'd let a bit too much slip and quickly covered it.
"I hope so."
Chen Xinjie forced a smile—then sighed.
Never mind. He'd soon retire from the Battle God Hall anyway, and after that, the rest could do as they pleased.
The only person he cared for all these years had gone; at worst, he could just follow her after.
"Oh, right—I heard that not long ago Qiangu Dongfeng also captured a sprite?"
Zang Xin changed the topic.
"Correct—a dragon-type sprite, ten-thousand-year-old. Supposedly the pokéball can serve as a soul spirit, or soul ring, and even if all your rings are full, it'll still replace a ring of the same cultivation."
Chen Xinjie replied blandly.
Recently, many had asked Qiangu Dongfeng over the comm channel about these beast pets.
Qiangu Dongfeng had then shown off just a little, causing many bigwigs to turn green with envy.
Zang Xin, however, had long had his soul communicator and all permissions revoked by the Federation, effectively kicked out of the group and missing any inside info.
"Hmph—enjoy being the Federation's dog..."
Zang Xin's expression turned cold as Chen Xinjie showed him the group's chat.
And En Ci, Senators, Dong Zi'an, military folk—all flatter that guy.
"Su Wen... you killed my beloved, I will kill you!!!"
In Zang Xin's eyes, madness flashed.
Su Wen held the Vast Sea Cosmic Shroud in his hand, eyes glittering.
With the God Realm swallowed by a black hole, cut off from all contact—did this mean the Sea God's position was vacant? Could he produce a new Sea God?
"Come to think of it, I still have some lingering Sea God divine force within..."
Su Wen murmured softly.
Even after giving the Sea God title to Wang Dong'er and spending days and nights together, cultivating martial soul fusion, he had absorbed considerable divine power.
"But... two of the Vast Sea Cosmic Shrouds."
Su Wen rubbed his chin, thinking.
He thought of contacting Tang San, but after a moment's hesitation he gave up—if he accidentally provoked the guy and triggered a butterfly effect, bringing Tang San storming back with the whole God Realm in tow, that'd get interesting.
Better focus on forging his battle armor for now...
Materials were never in short supply. Ten thousand years ago, both sea and land were overflowing with variety. The art of forging had not yet risen, so most metals were undiscovered treasures.
Unlike this age—almost everything was already mined out.
"Continue with Heavenly Forging."
Su Wen took a deep breath and plunged into Xuan Ji's pokéball world to begin forging with a clang.
A few days later.
"Go, Xiao Zi!"
Su Wen waved his hand. A purple bamboo shot up, absorbing every bolt of lightning in the sky. Its eyes rolled back, cheeks flushed an unhealthy red.
"Master, this time... it's too much."
"Xiao Zi can't take it all..."
"No choice. Forging several pieces at once, for efficiency. You'll have to bear with it. It's a lot, but grit your teeth!"
Su Wen sighed.
"Well, okay..."
Xiao Zi staggered back, dizzy, to digest.
Su Wen looked at the handfuls of heavenly-forged metal in his palm, satisfied. He had to finish his battle armor before achieving godhood.
Then, using the power of ascension, he could raise his battle armor to a super divine artifact. Otherwise, forging divine artifacts post-ascension would be much harder...
"But even so, this forging is too slow."
"And in the future, they'll need battle armor or weapons—shouldn't all the work fall on me, right?"
"Who's strong?"
"Xuan Ji, and... Jin'ao. Train them up; they've got the muscle. Might as well see if they can forge."
"Xuan Ji!!!"
"Master!"
In this space, a massive figure appeared, speaking respectfully.
"What are your orders, Master?"
"With that physique, not forging is a waste..."
Su Wen's eyes glinted, appraising Xuan Ji and nodding.
Xuan Ji: ???
Something felt off.
Before it could react, Su Wen tossed it a giant hammer, "Starting today, you learn forging!"
"Use your real form. It's much more fun. All future pet weapons and battle armor go to you..."
Xuan Ji: "..."
"Noooo!!!"
Xuan Ji was a quick learner. Like sending an Ultimate Douluo back to step one, it picked up forging naturally.
Not to mention its terrifying strength.
A born blacksmith.
After heavenly forging all the needed metals, Su Wen slipped off and hid in a small forging workshop, designing mechas. To fabricate them, he still had to borrow specialized equipment from the Federation's HQ—cutting and assembling heavenly-forged metals by hand was just too cumbersome.
Poor Jin'ao, meanwhile, was trapped in the pokéball, grinding forging daily.
Mocked even by Big Eye for being a model worker.
Two months flashed by.
Su Wen stretched out from his lab, full of energy. The crucial design was finished...
He wanted perfection in his battle armor, no flaws at all. Not an expert in the four-word armors, he had to go to the Federation HQ and humbly ask a master creator for pointers—studied for a month, then spent another month drawing up designs.
"Nice..."
Su Wen gazed at the blueprints, a satisfied smile on his face.
Next stop: Federal Headquarters—time to build!
Beeep beep.
Suddenly, a message came through, interrupting his thoughts.
"Mr. Su, Tang Sect's taken the bait. They're acting tonight."
"That crew's really going for the steal, huh..."
Su Wen raised his brow at Mr. Chen's blinking avatar and the text on his comm.
He chuckled.
But it made sense—he'd personally destroyed Cao Dezhi's soul, earning Tang Sect's enmity. In the original, the theft of Eternal Heaven was for obvious reasons.
If the original's half-baked excuse barely worked, so why now?
Tang Sect, of all people, resorting to theft... what was their excuse this time?
"What's up?"
Gu Yuena swayed over, eyeing Su Wen coquettishly, draped in a gauzy silk dress. She slipped onto his lap, feeding him grapes, her jade fingers teasing his lips.
"Tang Sect took the bait..."
Su Wen took the grape, lips brushing her delicate fingertip as he explained softly.
"Such a happy event—shouldn't we play a round?"
Her slender finger traced his lips, her eyes smoldered.
"One round's not enough—two!"
Su Wen grinned.
"Ah..."
A melodious cry soon rang out in the forge, half wail, half dragon's lament.
The bench rocked more than it should've ever had to bear.
"Why is it... this way?"
Tears shone in her eyes. As mighty as her dragon body was, she couldn't endure the pain of a first time.
"So what if it's unorthodox?"
Su Wen smiled.
"It hurts, though!"
Gu Yuena fumed.
"Bear with it—it'll be over soon..."
He bound her delicate hands behind her back, and with one arm lifted those heavy 'consciences', speed picking up.
Per Chen Xinjie's words, this should be the place...
Zang Xin's eyes burned—revenge close at hand.
Once he threw that thing at the Spirit Pagoda, he couldn't believe those beasts could possibly survive.
As for Shrek and Tang Sect, they might get caught in the crossfire, but compared to the Tower being wiped out, it was a small price.
A few deaths were nothing.
In fact, Shrek's plan had been to steal Eternal Heaven and use it to frighten and deter.
But Cao Dezhi was dead! DEAD!!!
He no longer cared about right or wrong—damn it, they all needed to die!
His eyes glittered with suppressed madness.
"Hall Master, only a few scattered guards..."
Zhao Song whispered, "Let's go, Boundless Sea Douluo only gave us a quarter-stick of incense's worth of time."
"Alright..."
Zang Xin drew a deep breath.
He led a small, elite group of Super Douluos, taking advantage of the distraction to slip in.
They knocked out a few guards easily.
From one guard, Zang Xin took a metal card—eyes shining brighter than ever.
Almost there!
Dezhi, I'll avenge you soon...
With the card, he opened the final security door. At the end of a dark tunnel stood an immense, weaponized soul tool—the size and shape stranger and bigger than normal tenth or even eleventh-level soul cannon shells.
One of the Federation's three remaining Class Twelve Fixed Soul Ammunition—
Eternal Heaven!
...