Douluo: Martial Soul Research Diary

Chapter 447 Illusion and Nightmare
"Zhu Qi is a good disciple!"

Chen Xin looked over in surprise.

In the sect's newly built training ground, Zhu Jiu, Zhu Shi, and Zhu Shiyi stood in a row.

They already knew the cause of Zhu Qi's death; Zhu Qi died by Han Tao's sword, but they didn't understand the specific reasons, and they also knew that with their own strength, it was impossible for them to resist Han Tao.

"why?"

Zhu Jiu's tone was weak as she questioned him.

He chose death himself!

Han Tao took a deep breath.

The soul tool spun, and a blood-stained sword blade plunged straight into the high platform of the sect's training ground.

Beneath the illusory mirror, Zhu Qi's emotions, thoughts, and memories are displayed without reservation, yet his ideas are completely contrary to his expressions.

"Zhu Qi didn't betray me. He actually understood that; he always did."

Within the illusion, Han Tao quietly wiped away his tears.

Bury the sadness deep in your heart.

"Zhu Qi knows that if I am coerced by Tang San this time, there will be a next time, and a next time after that."

"Tang San would threaten me into submission by using the lives of Old Jack, Principal Su, Xiao Chenyu, or other people."

"He didn't want me to be threatened, and at the same time, he wanted to save you all."

Zhu Qi actually had no choice.

He died, and at the hands of his most respected master.

"I portrayed a character who would do anything for the villagers, and I also showed my ruthlessness and cruelty, because only in this way could I make Tang San understand that I would not be threatened in any way."

Chen Xin murmured to himself, "So that's how it is!"

With Zhu Qi dead, Tang San's leverage will be meaningless.

"Could he be so wishful thinking that Tang San would spare his villagers after his death?"

Han Tao gave a sad, bitter laugh: "Yes, he's just that naive."

"His youth made him underestimate that devil."

The little girl, dressed in pink and white, was as beautiful as a flower.

But at this moment, she found it difficult to meet Han Tao's gaze. Was it hatred, manipulation, or something else?
The blood-stained sword blade seems far away, yet at certain moments it feels as if it's right next to you.

“Bamboo Nine, Bamboo Ten, Bamboo Eleven”.

"This is Tang San's Mysterious Heaven Skill, and now I am handing it over to you."

The soul tool spun, and Han Tao's fingers twirled as he took it out:

A book with gold-textured pages.

Three sets of thousand-year-old Blue Silver Grass soul bones.

"What does it mean?"

Zhu Shiyi stared blankly, her lips barely moving.

“Zhu Qi is dead. I hope someone can carry on his will and move forward.”

Han Tao's tone was calm, revealing no emotion.

Ning Rongrong gently held his hand, stroking it again and again, as if trying to ease the sadness that had been lingering for so long.

Zhu Jiu pulled his two younger brothers to kneel down and perform the apprenticeship ceremony.

With an urgent and respectful tone: "Han Tao, we are willing to become your disciples!"

Han Tao turned away, ignoring him.

"Give up, I will not take you as my apprentices."

"It's impossible for me to demand that you absorb Gu Zhu's soul ring like I did with Zhu Qi. This is a goodwill left over from my master-disciple relationship with him."

Ye Lingling took the items from Han Tao's hands.

He handed over the Thousand-Year Blue Silver Soul Bone and the Mysterious Heaven Skill.

In a gentle tone: "Zhu Jiu, you currently lack soul power, so even if you obtain the Xuan Tian Gong, you cannot cultivate it. You need soul bones as the initial activation point for your soul power."

"Don't even think about the rare soul bone from the century-old Guzhu. It's something that only people with great fortune can obtain."

Chen Xin remained silent.

After a short period of theoretical study, he had come to understand the terrifying value of the Guzhu Soul Bone; one could even say that the Guzhu Martial Soul was the chosen one!
"Next, it's you!"

Han Tao turned to Xiao Wu, his gaze deep and unsettling.

The long, ancient sword stood horizontally before his chest, its terrifying power, combined with the demigod's immense strength, disturbing the ever-changing air currents of the world.

"A blood debt must be repaid with blood!"

"Let the sword's edge be stained with blood once more!"

——Crack!
—Thump!
The sword blade, rotating with his body, severed Xiao Wu's head in a sudden instant.

On its pure white body, bright red soul rings were fused together, while a void soul bone was gradually taking shape.

Han Tao did not hesitate to kill Xiao Wu, but hesitated when it came to collecting the spoils of war.

"What kind of soul bone should I choose?"

"The rabbit's legs are agile, so the leg bones seem to be more effective? Oh well, they're all the same!" With the guidance of his will, the energy containing the power of nothingness wove into shape through the structure of the left leg bone.

【The Soft-Boned Enchanting Rabbit: The Void Skull】

"Now, begin absorbing!"

Han Tao sat down cross-legged.

Just as they were preparing to draw upon the energy of the soul bone, a sudden change caught everyone off guard.

Upon hearing this, I got up and looked around.

"what's the situation?"

The vast Purple Demon Eye, a divine-grade ruler's eye, is a detail that surpasses imagination.

The long-hidden fog dissipated, allowing Han Tao to witness the reality beneath the illusion.

"It's you!"

"Long time no see, Azure Lotus Illusionary Heart Lotus Root?"

She is a magical herb that became famous for its illusory properties.

Beneath Han Tao's illusory mirror skull, her innate talent seemed slightly inferior.

"However, it's not that different!"

Rongrong chuckled softly, then asked with a puzzled look, "What are you doing here?"

"Besides, Xiao Wu is already dead. Even if you are her friend, you are too late."

Among the three members of the Bamboo Village trio, Zhu Shiyi was taciturn, and Han Tao didn't pay much attention to him either. He was actually disguised by Huanxin Ou.

She rolled her eyes: "Han Tao, you don't actually think that the villagers of Bamboo Village are strong enough to escape Tang San's pursuit, do you?"

"If it weren't for my help, would they have made it here alive?"

Han Tao nodded and asked, "Then what are you here for?"

"I want her skull!" Huanxinou revealed the truth.

Han Tao gave a soft snort.

You've been friends with Xiao Wu for so many years, all for the sake of her soul bone. So why haven't you made a move yet?

Is it fear of fate? Or concern for morality?

"Wait until I kill Xiao Wu, wait until I suffer the backlash of fate, and then you jump out and want the soul bone?"

"Aren't you dreaming too much?"

Moreover, she lacks self-awareness.

Perhaps she had stayed in the Star Dou Great Forest for far too long, and her information about Han Tao was still stuck in the past. She thought that Han Tao could be played with at will, but she didn't know that the situation had already reversed.

"Illusionary Realm: Mirror Image!"

The world's reflection cuts the sky and the ground into fragments of space.

Gravity reverses, the river flows backward, and the clouds are upside down.

Soul power surged forth, then vanished and fell away.

"what?"

"How can this be?"

Huanxin Ou was surprised.

However, she was not made of dough. She wielded the power of illusion, guiding the nightmares etched deep into her soul to merge with the illusion.

To counteract the reflection of the world in the Illusionary Mirror.

【Illusionary Realm·Nightmare】

"Is this... the illusory power of the Azure Lotus Illusionary Heart Root?"

"Are nightmares also pieces of a puzzle in an illusion?"

Han Tao looked up in surprise.

Suddenly, I remembered that Shi Nian's martial soul was Nightmare, and besides Shi Nian, Bibi Dong, the Pope of the Spirit Hall, also had a soul skill that nurtured Nightmare in the left leg bone of her Soft Bone Rabbit.

"No wonder. Even a low-level soul beast like the Soft Bone Rabbit can break through to 100,000 years."

Nothingness and nightmares are not simple.

I took a moment to focus, picked up a clean white quill pen, and wrote the ink-stained words on the paper.

Emotions are the outward manifestation of mental illusions; nightmares are the deepening of mental illusions.

Emotions and nightmares are the trajectory of mental illusions.

My illusory space is the path of a spatial illusion, and the mirror image is a replica of the illusory material based on reality.

Are the two compatible?

Han Tao turned his head away and asked.

Ning Rongrong shook her head, and Ye Lingling did the same. Their understanding of illusions was far inferior to Han Tao's.

And the ensuing doubts surged in my heart once again.

"Then, what is the meaning of nothingness?"

(End of this chapter)