The incident involving Tang San, Dai Mubai, Ma Hongjun, and Yu Xiaogang spiraling into chaos at Shrek Academy continued to grow more and more intense—but Xiao Se knew nothing about it.
And even if he did know, he would've merely laughed it off.
Because at this very moment, he had already brought the Little Doctor Fairy, Zhu Zhuqing, and Bibi Dong to the Star Dou Great Forest.
Star Dou Great Forest.
Looking at the vast, boundless forest stretching endlessly before them, Xiao Se and the others couldn't help but feel their moods lift.
Breathing in the fresh, clean air, their hearts were already filled with anticipation for how the little kitty would change after obtaining her soul ring.
Martial souls—these things that could amplify one's strength—were undeniably alluring.
Just like the little kitty herself. Back when she was only a five-star Dou Fighter, relying on the attributes of the Nether Spirit Cat, she had already been able to display combat strength comparable to that of a Great Dou Fighter. Xiao Se and the Little Doctor Fairy were both quietly full of expectation.
"So this is the largest soul beast habitat on the Douluo Continent—the Star Dou Great Forest?" the Little Doctor Fairy said with a sigh. "It's actually quite similar to the Magical Beast Mountain Range on the Dou Qi Continent. Unfortunately, because the soul power attribute here is too singular, it seems no particularly rare spiritual herbs have been born."
"Pros and cons, I suppose," Xiao Se replied with a smile. "Although soul power is single in nature, it makes up for it by being gentle and easier to refine. It's not as violent as Dou Qi. With a decent cultivation technique, early-stage cultivation speed wouldn't necessarily be slower than on the Dou Qi Continent."
As he spoke, his gaze shifted toward the little kitty beside them, who was currently absorbing her soul ring.
At her side lay a Nether Spirit Cat with a cultivation age of thirty thousand years. It shared the same origin as her martial soul and was an extremely compatible match.
Moments later, the black soul ring floating above the Nether Spirit Cat's corpse gradually dissipated. In its place, a new jet-black ring of light appeared around Zhu Zhuqing's body.
Yellow, yellow, purple, black.
That was Zhu Zhuqing's current soul ring configuration.
"Your strength has risen to three-star Great Dou Fighter—an increase of two stars. Not bad at all. How do you feel?" Xiao Se asked with a smile as he looked at her.
"I feel like I could still absorb two more soul rings," Zhu Zhuqing replied with a radiant smile.
Clearly, this result was a huge surprise for her—especially since she desperately wanted to grow stronger as quickly as possible to keep up with Xiao Se.
Xiao Se nodded slightly, showing no surprise whatsoever.
Back when he had been at nine-star Great Dou Fighter, relying on secret techniques and the power of the Demonic Sword, he had once forcibly raised his cultivation to the level of a Dou Emperor. Later, with the might of a Heavenly Flame or a mid-tier Earth-grade Dou Skill, he had even confronted Tang Ritian, whose soul power reached level ninety-five.
Although he had won that battle, it had only been thanks to the element of surprise provided by the Vast Sea Immobilization Shield.
If they had truly fought head-on, Tang Ritian would absolutely have defeated the version of Xiao Se who had barely forced himself up to the Dou Emperor level.
From that moment on, Xiao Se gained a rough comparative understanding of power levels between the Douluo Continent and the Dou Qi Continent.
A Titled Douluo was roughly equivalent to a Dou Emperor.
Some level ninety-nine soul masters could even exert strength comparable to a newly advanced Dou Sect.
As for someone like Bibi Dong—who cultivated through special techniques, forming soul power cyclones within her body, liquefying soul power, condensing soul crystals, and completing a whole series of internal transformations—a level ninety-nine Limit Douluo like her gave Xiao Se a feeling almost identical to the two guardians of the Canaan Academy Library Pavilion.
In other words, peak Dou Sect experts.
By the same logic, without considering cultivation techniques, Dou Skills, or soul skills:
Soul Douluo ≈ Dou King
Soul Saint ≈ Dou Spirit
Soul King & Soul Emperor ≈ Great Dou Fighter
Soul Ancestor & Soul Elder ≈ Dou Fighter
Soul Master & Grand Soul Master ≈ Dou Practitioner
Soul Disciple ≈ the Qi Condensation stage
(P.S. This comparison is purely based on realm levels, excluding techniques, Dou Skills, and soul skills. This is the current setting—suggestions are welcome.)
Back then, after the little kitty refined the soul power within her body at the Soul Elder realm, she had reached the Dou Fighter stage. Then, with the help of Xiao Se's pills and the Heart Flame of the Fallen Heart Flame, she broke through to Great Dou Fighter in the shortest possible time.
Now that she had broken through again, the result was hardly unexpected.
Just as Xiao Se was preparing to search for new soul beasts for the little kitty, Bibi Dong returned.
With her came three enormous black spiders, each with a human face growing on its lower abdomen. At this moment, they were trapped within a mass of black spatial energy, unable to move—completely frozen in place.
"Xiao Se," Bibi Dong said with a proud smile as she leaned in closer, "I searched around. There are only three Man-Faced Demon Spider Emperors in the Star Dou Great Forest. Two of them are just over fifty thousand years old, and one has reached seventy thousand years. That should be enough for Xian'er to raise her external soul bone to the divine level."
"Thanks for your hard work," Xiao Se said as he gently patted Bibi Dong's head. He then turned to the Little Doctor Fairy.
"Xian'er, don't rush to absorb these three Man-Faced Demon Spider Emperors just yet. Based on what I observed with Zhuqing, martial souls don't limit future cultivation. Let's first try awakening your martial soul. If it's suitable, these three might directly become your soul rings."
As he spoke, Xiao Se looked toward Bibi Dong. "Dong'er, I'll leave it to you."
"Leave it to me," Bibi Dong replied with a faint smile.
She took six strange black stones out of her storage soul tool and arranged them into a martial soul awakening formation.
"Who's going first?"
"I will," the Little Doctor Fairy said as she stepped into the formation without hesitation. "I'm also very curious about what my martial soul actually is."
"Don't resist it at all," Bibi Dong instructed.
"Mm." The Little Doctor Fairy nodded lightly, her mind relaxing completely.
As Bibi Dong injected her soul power, the awakening formation suddenly erupted with intense pale-golden light, enveloping the Little Doctor Fairy's body entirely.
Wrapped in golden radiance, she became immersed in the awakening formation.
Guided by the formation's energy, she felt as though she had entered a mysterious, indescribably warm world.
Crack!
The Little Doctor Fairy distinctly felt something inside her body shatter.
In the next instant, warm energy spread across her entire form.
As the golden light of the formation faded, the Little Doctor Fairy stood bathed in thick, dark-purple mist.
"What kind of martial soul is this? …Is it me?" she said in amazement, examining herself as she moved her body. "After possession, I do feel a lot stronger. And my poison Dou Qi is much more stable than before."
Bibi Dong pondered for a moment before speaking. "This should be an extremely rare true-body martial soul—and not just part of the body, but your entire body. That deep purple mist seems to contain terrifying poison. Even an ordinary Titled Douluo would probably die within moments after coming into contact with it."
Xiao Se smiled. "Xian'er, it looks like your martial soul is your own Woeful Poison Body—and an awakened one at that."
"Then you should try too," the Little Doctor Fairy said as she stepped out of the formation with a bright smile. "Let's see what kind of martial soul you awaken."
"Mm." Xiao Se nodded and stepped into the center of the six black stones.
Contrary to everyone's expectations, Xiao Se's martial soul awakening produced no dramatic disturbance.
The light released by the formation was nowhere near as intense as the Little Doctor Fairy's. Instead, only faint streaks of crimson light flickered around his body. The red light gradually converged toward his right hand, finally forming a small, faint red flame hovering above his palm.
"Fire?"
Including Bibi Dong, everyone present stared in stunned silence.
"Judging by the temperature alone… it doesn't seem very high," the Little Doctor Fairy said, examining it closely. She even used her soul power to probe it—but still couldn't detect anything unusual at all.
(End of Chapter)
[Get +50 Extra Chapters on - P@tr3on "RinBlaze"]
[Every 15 Power Stones = 1 Bonus Chapter Drop]
[Thanks for Reading!]