Chapter 115: The Value of Dugu Bo, Gold Crocodile Douluo's Heart Stirred
"It's fine, Your Majesty can rest assured. I will definitely fulfill the responsibilities a teacher should have."
Ning Fengzhi and Emperor Xue Ye exchanged a smile. In reality, both of them knew clearly in their hearts that the so-called imparting of knowledge and acting as a teacher was merely a qualification for Ning Fengzhi to brazenly interfere in the Crown Prince and even the fight for the imperial throne.
Although the Heaven Dou Empire was inferior to Star Luo in terms of overall strength, its sheer scale was right there; where couldn't they find a teacher if they wanted one?
This so-called title of teacher was just an excuse for the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School to take a side.
...
Majestic Soul Power enveloped Tang Shan, slowly descending in a secluded forest not far from Heaven Dou City.
After Snake Lance Douluo sat cross-legged to restore his Soul Power to a full state, he then stepped onto the main road together with Tang Shan, walking towards Heaven Dou City not far away.
Originally, with Snake Lance Douluo's profound cultivation, rushing back to Heaven Dou City from the Star Dou Great Forest would take at most a few hours. Of course, that would require him to become a flying machine that either flew or recovered Soul Power, which was truly a bit difficult for a person.
When Tang Shan and the other left the Star Dou Great Forest, it was already close to nightfall, so Snake Lance Douluo only brought him to fly for a certain distance before finding a small city to stay in, setting foot on the road back to the city again on the second day.
Flying and stopping, finally at noon the next day, the two arrived near Heaven Dou City.
On the main road, Tang Shan and Snake Lance Douluo blended into the crowd and were completely unremarkable.
The commotion behind them caught Tang Shan's attention.
Turning back instinctively, he saw a carriage driven by a short servant slowly moving towards Heaven Dou City. Wherever it passed, even without the driver chasing anyone away, many commoners instinctively retreated far away. Some ignorant commoners were dragged away by those who knew the situation while being explained what was going on.
"Senior, which Family is this?"
While Tang Shan and Snake Lance Douluo retreated amidst the general public, he asked with some curiosity.
Before Snake Lance Douluo could speak, the conversation of the people nearby answered Tang Shan's question.
"Brother, why did you drag me away? Even a great noble shouldn't be so arrogant, besides, I didn't see the insignia of any great noble or the royal Family?"
"Heh, you must have just arrived in Heaven Dou City, having not even this bit of insight. Don't you recognize the emerald green scale insignia on that carriage?"
"Please enlighten me, elder brother. I have also only been in Heaven Dou City for a period of time, and I really don't know much about this faction."
"The one sitting inside that carriage is a member of the Jade Phosphor Family. You should know the Jade Phosphor Family's Dugu Clan."
"I know this. Could it be the Dugu Clan backed by Poison Douluo? No wonder they are so arrogant and domineering."
Speaking towards the end, he instinctively lowered his voice a little.
"That's right, it's this Dugu Clan. However, they aren't being arrogant and domineering. It's just that an accident happened many years ago; that Douluo's son had his poison Qi get out of control and unfortunately died in the end. It is said that when his son's corpse was carried out back then, many commoners who instinctively approached were directly poisoned, which is why we instinctively retreat when we see the Dugu Clan's carriage."
"So it's the Dugu Clan." Tang Shan came to an understanding. No wonder these commoners were so fearful; they had obviously suffered losses before.
"As for that matter from many years ago, according to the information from the original work, rather than saying the poison Qi got out of control, it's more accurate to say he poisoned himself to death with his own poison Qi, which then overflowed out of control."
Snake Lance Douluo's subsequent reply also confirmed Tang Shan's guess: "Inside is that Poison Douluo Dugu Bo, as well as his granddaughter. In recent years, this Poison Douluo has often wandered around various major cities, and I wonder what he's up to?"
Tang Shan was thoughtful. Presumably Dugu Bo had discovered that his granddaughter, just like him, was inflicted with severe poison, and even more severely, carried it from the womb. Wandering around in various major cities should be to find a method to detoxify.
Come to think of it, counting from her age, Dugu Yan's age should be about the same as his, and she also awakened her Martial Soul a little over a year ago.
"Alright, their carriage has left, let's continue moving forward. But Tang Shan, stay further away from the Dugu Clan in the future. This Family is a bit weird, and the death of the Poison Douluo's son back then was also somewhat strange. Poison Qi getting out of control—that reason sounds a bit fake; perhaps there are some hidden stories behind it."
Snake Lance Douluo exhorted Tang Shan.
"Alright Senior, I will pay attention in the future."
Tang Shan agreed, but pondered inwardly that contact with the Dugu Clan was definitely necessary. Putting aside the fact that Dugu Bo mastered a precious land like the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, Dugu Bo himself was simply a Treasure Trove.
Although he already had a general idea about the condensation of the Martial Soul core based on the description of the trilogy, it was after all somewhat like building castles in the air. Dugu Bo, who condensed a dan bead within his own body, was a very good reference and consultation object, only that he didn't know how to establish a good relationship with him.
Amidst his thoughts, the two quickly entered Heaven Dou City.
In that instant, the oncoming hustle, bustle, and prosperity felt like a warm torrent, instantly washing over Tang Shan's entire body.
In the treacherous, law-of-the-jungle primeval World of the Star Dou Great Forest, he kept his nerves tense at all times.
At this moment, immersed in this bustling crowd where shoulders rubbed, smelling the shouts of street vendors and the aroma of food, his vigilant heart gradually calmed down.
This surging human warmth was not only a symbol of civilization, but also an intangible protection, washing away the smell of blood and wildness stained on his body bit by bit, letting him regain his sense of belonging as a "human".
Led by Snake Lance Douluo, the two quickly found the First Prince's mansion. Under the bowing gestures of the soldiers on both sides, the two walked into the spacious royal manor.
"Is His Highness in the mansion?"
Snake Lance Douluo looked at the guards at the door.
"His Highness has not gone out today."
The captain of the guard replied respectfully.
Snake Lance Douluo nodded, and then looked at Tang Shan: "Let's go report the harvest of this trip to His Highness first, as well as the existence of the Gu Yue Family."
"Alright."
Tang Shan felt a bit odd inside, hoping that the various consecrators of Spirit Hall wouldn't overthink it. Gu Yue should behave herself when the God Realm was still around, and in all probability would not have too much impact on the human World.
Walking deep along the bluestone path and turning a few corners, before reaching the core area, they saw Xue Qinghe.
He was currently sitting in the pavilion where he had communicated with Tang Shan before, browsing through an ancient book.
Seemingly sensing the gaze fixed on him, he instinctively raised his head and met Tang Shan's eyes.
"You're back. Was the Martial Soul hunting smooth?"
With a smile on his face, he took the initiative to stand up, walked out of the pavilion, and greeted the two.
"Living up to Your Highness's commission, Tang Shan has successfully absorbed the Soul Ring of that 4,900-year-old Diamond Mammoth, and obtained a rather formidable Soul skills."
Snake Lance Douluo replied with cupped hands.
"That's good, you guys sit down too. I'm quite curious about your experiences along the way; tell me about it in detail."
Meanwhile, under the shade of a large tree not far away, Gold Crocodile Douluo lying on a reclining chair slightly moved his ears and muttered to himself: "A four-thousand-nine-hundred-year-old second Soul Ring—he truly is a Genius. The age of the second Soul Ring has already surpassed Xiaoxue's. Let me see what is going on, and just how peculiar the special Qi and blood that Pufferfish mentioned really is."
Sitting up from the reclining chair, his eyes looked towards the direction where the three of them were. The next instant, Gold Crocodile Douluo's eyes instantly shot out two dazzling golden lights.
Under the perspective of that golden light, Tang Shan's body seemed to have turned into a transparent vessel. In Gold Crocodile Douluo's perception, the scene inside Tang Shan's body simply subverted his cognition of Soul Masters.
That was no longer a simple flow of Qi and blood, but a surging vitality like a vast river, and its degree of activity was not inferior in the slightest to Soul Power fluctuations of the same level.
What shocked him even more was that Tang Shan's True Body Martial Soul did not need to deliberately urge Soul Power to attach to his body like ordinary Soul Masters; instead, it seemed to be completely integrated with his flesh, bones, and Meridians, existing in an eternal state of Fusion.
Under this state, Qi and blood and Soul Power were no longer two independent Systems; they had a common core.
Both Qi and blood and Soul Power could drive the Martial Soul.
Not only that, every inch of Tang Shan's muscle contained explosive power, and every cell was breathing happily. The whole person gave Gold Crocodile Douluo a wondrous feeling of perfection without obstacles and returning to simplicity.
It was as if he himself was the Martial Soul, and perceptually, he was like a walking humanoid Vicious Beast. This combination of physical fitness and energy application had surpassed the cognition of conventional Soul Masters.
Gold Crocodile Douluo's body trembled slightly, and the armrests of the reclining chair had quietly turned into fine powder at some unknown time. He clenched his fists tightly, and amidst the oscillation of Soul Power, the space around his fists let out an unbearable moan, faintly giving birth to tiny spatial cracks beside his fists.
"The limit, I have seen the limit. Even without the lubrication of a Soul Beast's fighting instinct and combat experience, I have seen the Opportunity for the Martial Soul to sublimate once again and break through the limit. Perhaps this is my Opportunity. Internal Martial Arts, what a fine Internal Martial Arts! When Xiaoxue showed it to me before, I felt it didn't have much difference from the Self-Created Soul Skill I created when I was young, but looking at it now, I was still arrogant and conceited."
"As long as my whole body's Qi and blood control and activity level can reach half of that level of Tang Shan's, I will definitely be able to break through, ascend to the limit of Soul Masters, and achieve an unparalleled stance in the mortal World."
Forcibly calming down his somewhat excited inner self, Gold Crocodile Douluo recalled Xue Qinghe's request earlier and couldn't help laughing ruefully.
"I originally thought that giving this kid the Opportunity to absorb an External Soul Bone meant that if he could absorb it, he would owe our Hall of Worship a great favor. As a result, only now did I find out that it was our Hall of Worship that owed him a favor. Originally, I wanted to test him, but now it seems obviously redundant."
"True Body Martial Soul, right? Given the growth of his physical fitness, a ten thousand year third ring should not have much problem. However, that beast's choice seems even better, except that his physical fitness is much worse. According to my estimate, he needs at least a carrying capacity of fifty thousand years to have a chance to absorb its Soul Ring. It seems I will have to use some more methods to help him strengthen up."
"Let me think, what Heaven And Earth Treasure are there in Spirit Hall's treasury that increase physical fitness? Ten-thousand-year Dragon Manifestation Fruit, and Body Tempering Purple Ganoderma... Let me think again—"
Tang Shan had no idea that because of his Internal Martial Arts, a certain Peak Douluo had already planned out the target for his third Soul Ring. At this moment, he was still in the pavilion reporting the process of this trip to the Star Dou Great Forest together with Snake Lance Douluo.
Generally speaking, their Martial Soul hunting operation this time was quite smooth.
Although the Diamond Mammoth migrated, it also allowed Tang Shan to comprehend will by a stroke of luck. Without will, Tang Shan would have been completely unable to enter that Soul Ring and Soul skills space, so that Diamond Mammoth's running away happened at just the right time.
Finding various Soul Beasts later was also very smooth. By referencing the resonance frequency of their bodies, he created the Resonance Method that greatly saved Tang Shan's cultivation time.
Meeting Gu Yue and saving the other party later was also completely uneventful, with no life-or-death crisis. If one had to mention the only twist, it was probably the shock Snake Lance Douluo suffered when Gu Yue's "Family" arrived. Fortunately, in the end, they picked up a ten thousand year spirit bone for free. If every shock could yield such a harvest, Snake Lance Douluo might wish he could be frightened every day.
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