Everything fell silent. Centered on Tang San's body, a red radiance expanded outward, transforming the surrounding air into pale crimson crystal that refracted countless beams of sunlight filtering through the canopy.
Not far away, a massive figure slowly materialized, its cold eyes still flickering with intense fear. It was none other than the Cave Spider Emperor.
Tang San drove his trident into the ground and covered Xiao Wu's eyes with his hand. A flash of crimson light passed through his gaze. "Shatter."
The crisp detonation rang out like a sudden burst of music—a silversmith's vessel shattering, echoing through the dense depths of Sunset Forest.
The mirror broke, and the images within it broke along with it. Seven Spirit Hall elites, including three Soul Saints, dissolved into a fine mist of blood that scattered through the air in the blink of an eye. Their strength was not insignificant, but they had been facing Thousand Hand Douluo Tang San. A Soul Ring technique of the hundred-thousand-year class, wielded by a Titled Douluo. Even another Titled Douluo would have struggled to come out on top, let alone when the gap in Soul Power was so vast.
Wiping out this Spirit Empire Soul Master squad posed no difficulty for Tang San whatsoever. After his journey to Sea God Island, Tang San had truly undergone a metamorphosis, ascending to the very apex of Soul Land's powerhouses.
The Cave Spider Emperor's body had not been ground to dust. This was not because it possessed the strength to withstand Tang San's hundred-thousand-year eighth Soul Ring technique, but rather because it could not be destroyed so thoroughly—otherwise, how would Tang San absorb its Soul Ring? Even so, this Cave Spider Emperor, whose cultivation had exceeded fifty thousand years, had been reduced to a pile of scattered fragments, all trace of life extinguished. What disappointed Tang San slightly was that despite having died in a state of extreme terror, the beast had not left behind a single Soul Bone. This only underscored how rare and precious Soul Bones truly were.
"Wait for me, Xiao Wu." Tang San sat cross-legged. With his Spirit Ocean-level mental power, the process required no great effort. Infused with the aura of his Martial Soul, he extended a gentle pulse, and a ring of black luminescence flew out from the spider's shattered remains, enveloping his body.
The Sea God's Trident brand on his forehead blazed to life. Tang San did not let his guard down, because he intended to place this Soul Ring onto the position previously occupied by his fourth Soul Ring. Sea God Douluo Bo Saixi had assured him it would not cause problems, but this was Tang San's first time attempting such a thing, so he carefully released the Light of the Sea God to guard against any mishap. At the same time, his Blue Silver Domain had already been deployed. Alongside his spreading mental power, its Myriad Manifestations effect activated—now, whether Soul Beast or human, anyone who approached within a thousand meters of Tang San would instantly feel as though they had entered a labyrinth, unable to reach his actual position no matter which direction they took.
The entire Soul Ring absorption proceeded far faster than Tang San had anticipated. His approach was correct, and with the aid of the Light of the Sea God, his body drank in the Cave Spider Emperor's Soul Ring like a great whale swallowing the sea. The deterrent aura produced by the Light of the Sea God rendered the Soul Ring—which should have thrashed violently—utterly docile. Tang San could absorb hundred-thousand-year Soul Rings without difficulty now, and he had the backing of his ninety-first-level Soul Power. The entire absorption took less than half an incense stick's time. A deep, abyss-black Soul Ring appeared around him, restoring his Blue Silver Emperor's Soul Rings to five.
When Tang San completed the absorption and rose to his feet, a puzzling sensation crossed his mind. He could clearly feel that his physical attributes had been enhanced once more. Yet when he had stripped his Soul Rings to resurrect Xiao Wu, he had felt no corresponding decline in his physical stats! Could this be a secondary amplification? Even if the five lost Soul Rings had only contributed a small fraction of his overall boost, receiving that boost again was frankly terrifying.
But Tang San was nothing if not brilliant. After only a moment's contemplation, he found the answer. In theory, when he had injected his Soul Rings into Xiao Wu, he should have suffered damage to his vital essence. Not only would the physical attribute bonuses granted by those Soul Rings have vanished, but the damage to his body should have further diminished his stats. However, Tang San possessed the extraordinary Blue Silver Emperor's Right Leg Bone. Though his body had been severely damaged, the bone's indomitable regenerative ability—stubborn as wildfire that refuses to die, relentless as spring winds that coax new growth—had been quietly repairing him over time, restoring his body to its previous peak condition. The negative consequences that should have followed the loss of his Soul Rings had been completely offset.
Bibi Dong's Undying Body skill was indeed formidable, but it operated from the angle of preventing death. The Blue Silver Emperor's Right Leg Bone, by contrast, was about restoration. It could not spare Tang San from death, but no matter how grievous his wounds, so long as he still drew breath and the bone remained intact, it could heal him back from the brink. Perhaps in absolute tier it was slightly inferior to Bibi Dong's Undying Body—the ninth Soul Ring technique of the Death Spider Emperor—but now that Tang San had reached the Titled Douluo level and could fully unleash this hundred-thousand-year Soul Bone's power, even extending its healing effects to others, the Blue Silver Emperor's Right Leg Bone actually surpassed Bibi Dong's Undying Body in practical value.
"Brother, how is it? There won't be any conflicts, right?" Xiao Wu asked with a touch of anxiety. Whether Tang San could restore his Soul Rings mattered to her even more than it did to him.
From the very moment Tang San had first risen to prominence in the Soul Master world, he had been a once-in-a-generation prodigy. Xiao Wu could not bear to see the man she loved lose his Soul Ring skills because he had saved her. After witnessing the declining state of Tang Hao—once a hero now faded by time—that feeling in her heart had only grown more intense.
Tang San smiled and drew Xiao Wu's soft figure into his embrace. "Don't worry. Everything is normal. In fact, this time I didn't lose anything—I came out ahead. Regaining all my Soul Rings from scratch will push my strength even higher. Once I've restored every last Soul Ring, even if I face Bibi Dong again, I'll have the power to fight her head-on."
Xiao Wu said, "Then let's hurry and find suitable Soul Rings for you."
Tang San nodded. "That should be easy. Give me three days at most, and I'll have all the Blue Silver Emperor's Soul Rings restored. It's only now, having reached the Titled Douluo level, that I truly understand just how enormous the advantage of a Twin Martial Soul is. For an ordinary Titled Douluo, hunting a hundred-thousand-year Soul Beast is no simple matter—they're far too rare. But hunting the next tier down? That's almost trivial. A normal Titled Douluo with that ability would gain nothing from it; their Soul Rings are already full. I'm different. I'm still missing over a dozen Soul Rings, and if I can hunt beasts at the level of the Cave Spider Emperor, then at the same Soul Power rank, I'll be far stronger than any ordinary Titled Douluo. More importantly, searching for the Soul Beasts I need in a forest is exponentially easier for me than for other Soul Masters. My Blue Silver Domain can locate them effortlessly—saving time and ensuring I find the best specimens."
Indeed, under normal circumstances, finding high-level Soul Beasts of the same species as the ones that had furnished his earlier Soul Rings would likely take an enormous amount of time. But with the Blue Silver Domain—those invisible eyes that permeated every corner of the forest—the process became vastly simpler.
Over the next three days, guided by his Blue Silver Domain and his Spirit Ocean-level mental power, Tang San located the four remaining Soul Rings he needed within Sunset Forest, a place teeming with high-level Soul Beasts. He completed all nine of the Blue Silver Emperor's Soul Rings, and the entire process proceeded without a hitch. Along the way, he also found a suitable Soul Ring for Xiao Wu.
Beasts with over fifty thousand years of cultivation were not plentiful, but they were nowhere near as scarce as hundred-thousand-year beasts. Still, after Tang San's raid, he had effectively eliminated the majority of the forest's creatures at that level. Beyond restoring the Blue Silver Emperor to nine rings, his Clear Sky Hammer had also absorbed two Soul Rings. Every single one came from beasts with over fifty thousand years of cultivation.
The reason he had not added more Soul Rings to the Clear Sky Hammer was not that Sunset Forest lacked beasts at that level, but rather that none of them were truly suitable. The Clear Sky Hammer was the most powerful attack-type weapon Martial Soul in existence, and as Tang San's second Martial Soul, it demanded careful treatment. Unlike restoring the Blue Silver Emperor's rings, every Soul Ring he placed on the Clear Sky Hammer was something he regarded with the utmost importance. True to his philosophy of better none than a poor fit, he would not strike unless the match was perfect.
Even so, once his two Martial Souls together held twelve Soul Rings, his body began to undergo another round of changes. With the Light of the Sea God facilitating the process, the amplified attributes posed no threat to his frame. The golden luminescence on his skin grew even more intense, and at night, Tang San's body would appear to glow of its own accord. Through internal perception, he discovered that his bones had also begun to develop a faint golden sheen. Somewhere deep in his awareness, he sensed that the gold now manifesting on his skin and bones bore a striking resemblance to the golden hue of the Invincible Golden Body—the skill once granted to him by Xiao Wu's Soul Bone.
The Great Master had once told him that even the Invincible Golden Body had its limits. In all of Tang San's past battles, however, no opponent had ever managed to breach that limit. Based on Tang San's own research, the threshold likely corresponded to the divide between level ninety-nine and level one hundred. Once an attacker surpassed level one hundred, the word "invincible" in the skill's name would likely become meaningless.
The changes now occurring in his body filled Tang San with a surge of excitement. He had a vague intuition that if his skin, bones, meridians, and blood could all transform into the same gold as the original Invincible Golden Body, then his body would truly become invincible. All attacks below the divine level would be rendered completely ineffective.
Furthermore, as his Soul Ring count increased, his absorption speed grew progressively faster. When he absorbed his twelfth Soul Ring, it was completed in what felt like only a few deep breaths. Though he had never encountered a single hundred-thousand-year Soul Beast in Sunset Forest, Tang San was content. If he now revealed all the Soul Rings arrayed around him, the sight alone would send most people running.
The Blue Silver Emperor's Soul Ring configuration: black, black, black, black, red, black, red, red, red. Even his first Martial Soul surpassed the Soul Ring arrangement that Bibi Dong had placed on her second.
Defeating Bibi Dong? Tang San still did not consider himself capable. But holding his own against her for a time should pose no problem. At the very least, his current strength was roughly on par with Sword Douluo Chen Xin at level ninety-seven—assuming the Sea God's Trident was taken into account. After all, from level ninety-five onward, every single level of advancement represented a doubling of cultivation. The fact that he had managed to retreat unscathed from his encounter with Bibi Dong owed much to luck, his array of specialized skills, and the domain support of two divine beasts.
At the same time, Tang San had become keenly aware of how grueling Soul Power advancement became after surpassing level ninety. He had absorbed seven Soul Rings from beasts with over fifty thousand years of cultivation, yet his Soul Power had risen by less than two levels through the boost they provided. His current Soul Power stood at ninety-two, approaching ninety-three. He estimated that without absorbing any hundred-thousand-year Soul Rings, even if the Clear Sky Hammer's Soul Rings were also fully restored, he would be fortunate to reach level ninety-four. No wonder Titled Douluo typically required a full decade to advance by a single level.
What surprised Tang San most over those three days was the bounty of Soul Bones. Beasts at the fifty-thousand-year level and above had a reasonable chance of producing Soul Bones. Counting the beast that had furnished Xiao Wu's Soul Ring, he had hunted a total of eight beasts exceeding fifty thousand years—and they had yielded two Soul Bones. One of them was a head-slot Soul Bone ideally suited to Xiao Wu. Tang San immediately had her absorb it.
After absorbing her Soul Ring and Soul Bone, Xiao Wu's true Soul Power level was finally revealed: seventy-six. Without ever receiving the top-tier reward from the first trial, achieving such a level put her on par with the rest of the Shrek Seven Devils. She had now risen to the Soul Saint rank. The Soul Bone she had absorbed was called the Spirit-Condensing Allure Skull, obtained from the Three-Eyed Phantom Fox—a nearly sixty-thousand-year beast that had furnished her seventh Soul Ring. With this Soul Bone, the allure ability of her second Soul Skill had undergone an exponential upgrade. Tang San had tested Xiao Wu's allure attack while suppressing his own mental defenses and immediately concluded that her charm effect could influence Soul Masters of every rank, including Titled Douluo—though the degree of impact would vary depending on the target's strength.
Moreover, this Soul Bone did not merely function as an evolutionary enhancement to her second Soul Skill; it also granted her an additional, highly practical ability. Combined with her Instant Teleportation and Invincible Golden Body, her battlefield survivability now surpassed even the other members of the Shrek Seven Devils, ranking second only to Tang San himself.
As for the other Soul Bone, it was unsuitable for both Tang San and Xiao Wu. Together with the one he had previously obtained from Ghost Douluo, he now had two Soul Bones in reserve. Both were intended for his companions. One suited Dai Mubai perfectly, while the other was an excellent match for Zhu Zhuqing. Soul Bones were invaluable, but their true power could only be realized when placed on the person who needed them most. As the Great Master's disciple, Tang San always kept his teacher's teachings close to heart.
"Xiao Wu, look." Standing amid the trees, Tang San smiled gently at her and gestured toward himself. He was currently manifesting the Blue Silver Emperor Martial Soul, its nine Soul Rings alternating between black and red—a visual impact of overwhelming intensity.
Just then, a layer of azure-blue radiance spilled from Tang San's body, and something extraordinary followed. The nine Soul Rings around him—each one enough to strike terror into any opponent—suddenly began to change. The transformation was one of color.
As the blue light flowed across them, all nine rings shifted to white. Under Xiao Wu's startled gaze, they turned yellow, then purple, and finally black.
The light shimmered once more, and one of the nine rings vanished. Then a second disappeared, then a third, until all nine were gone entirely—even as Tang San continued to manifest his Blue Silver Emperor Martial Soul.
"Brother, how did you do that?" Xiao Wu stared at Tang San in astonishment. She noticed that even his aura had shifted in rapid accordance with the changing rings.
Tang San withdrew his Martial Soul and laughed. "I figured it out while using the Blue Silver Domain to search through Star Dou Forest. After all these days of research, it's mostly perfected now. It's not really a domain skill—more of a practical little technique. With my mental power controlling it, it works quite well. I call it Disguise. Through alterations in the Blue Silver Domain, I can create a camouflage effect on my Soul Rings, changing their colors at will or even making them invisible to the eye. Combined with aura suppression, it becomes virtually flawless. My current Soul Ring configuration is far too conspicuous. With this disguise ability, things become much easier. Unless it's someone at Bibi Dong's level, no Titled Douluo will be able to see through it."
Xiao Wu bounded into Tang San's arms, wrapping her long legs around his waist and looping her arms around his neck. "That's a great skill! It'll definitely save us a lot of trouble."
Tang San lowered his head and pressed his lips to hers. A blush rose to Xiao Wu's cheeks, but she did not pull away. The two had been inseparable these past few days, and the storms they had weathered together had drawn their hearts into even closer harmony. Short of that final step, their intimacy was no less than that of a married couple. Of course, that last boundary was not something Xiao Wu was unwilling to cross—Tang San had chosen to save it for their wedding night. He loved Xiao Wu too deeply to allow even the slightest hint of regret in their union.
At that moment, Tang San suddenly looked up toward the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well. Xiao Wu turned at the same time. From the direction of the well, a pillar of golden light shot skyward. Every blade of Blue Silver Grass across the ground rippled gently, trembling as though seized by excitement.
"Mom succeeded!" Tang San cried out in delighted surprise. He did not set Xiao Wu down—his left hand supporting her from beneath, his right hand seizing the Sea God's Trident—and launched himself into the air. Disregarding that he was flying through a Soul Beast forest, he headed straight for the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well. High above, his formidable spiritual pressure radiated outward in full force, suppressing every Soul Beast in Sunset Forest into submission, daring not a single hostile thought.
In the blink of an eye, the mountain peak was upon them, yet the golden light still had not subsided.
An overwhelming sense of familiarity surged through Tang San, filling him with the urge to plunge into the golden radiance. It was not composed of light energy, but of an impossibly vast life force—countless motes of gold drifting and swirling.
Just as Tang San reached the summit and was about to descend into the valley, the enormous golden pillar suddenly shattered, dissolving into a shower of golden sparks that drifted outward, spreading across the depths of Sunset Forest.
As the golden motes passed through Tang San's body, he felt a tremendous wave of life force soaking into every fiber of his being. In his mind, his mother's gentle voice resonated: "My children, I thank you for your selfless sacrifice. It is because of you that I have been reborn. This light of life is my gift to you. May you evolve swiftly."
Xiao Wu did not hear the same voice, for there was no Blue Silver Emperor bloodline within her. But she, too, was captivated by the overwhelming cascade of golden light, her eyes dazzled and her spirit lost in wonder.