Douluo, my clone Groudon

Chapter 168 Cao Dezhi

The eight grotesque legs of the human-faced spider twitched in the sunlight, and purplish-black venomous mist steamed from its broken mouthparts.

With a shrill cry, its massive body suddenly disintegrated, transforming into countless firefly-like specks of spiritual energy that adhered to Gula's body.

Zhang Yangzi lay on his back on the ground, his forehead sparsely covered in sweat, his chest heaving violently as if the wind were howling: "Luckily you came, otherwise we would have been in big trouble."

He turned his head to look at Gula, his voice still trembling with the shock of surviving a disaster.

A bitter smile appeared on Wang Jinxi's pale face, his skeletally deformed right arm twisted at an eerie angle: "Three seconds later, we would have been forcibly ejected like Xie Xie."

The overexertion of his Martial Soul Fusion Skill pushed him to his limit, and he couldn't help but cast a grateful glance at Gula.

He didn't want to spend his vacation training.

Gu Yue silently retreated to the edge of the group, the silver light threads wrapped around her fingertips not yet completely dissipated.

Xu Xiaoyan skipped and hopped through the scattered stardust of spiritual energy, her pale yellow skirt brushing against the blue silver grass. She tilted her head and blinked her amber eyes, her eyelashes casting butterfly-like shadows on her porcelain-white cheeks.

"Hello everyone, I'm Xu Xiaoyan, nice to meet you all."

"Hello."

Xu Xiaoyan has a cute and delicate appearance, and her smile gives people a very well-behaved feeling. Amidst the rising and falling responses, Tang Wulin wipes his arm covered with golden scales.

He suppressed his surging blood and qi, his gaze sweeping over the corpses of soul beasts scattered on the ground: "The human-faced demon spider poisoned many soul beasts. We can't waste this spiritual energy. Let's divide it up and continue exploring. Let's not waste this rare opportunity for the riot period."

"I won't go. You guys be careful."

Gula refused to join his peers. Since entering the Spirit Ascension Platform, the Golden Ancient Tree's soul has reached a lifespan of 40,000 years. Further advancement would be too costly due to the low quality of spiritual energy on the primary Spirit Ascension Platform, which would result in excessive energy loss. It would be better to advance to the intermediate or even advanced Spirit Ascension Platform.

"Okay, see you later."

Tang Wulin nodded and left with his teammates.

After they left, as the last bit of spiritual energy merged into the soul, Gula pressed the disengagement button, and the simulator opened.

Xie Xie was curled up at the bottom of the cabin, retching. His knuckles were white from gripping the air so tightly. He looked up, his eyes bloodshot, and gave Gula a forced smile: "Thank you for avenging me."

After being killed by the Man-Faced Spider, he suffered a splitting headache and was traumatized. Seeing Gula kill the Man-Faced Spider made him feel much better.

"It's nothing, it's nothing. Just treat me to a meal sometime."

Gula jumped out of the virtual pod, stretched, greeted Wu Changkong, went to the top floor, and told Leng Yaozhu that he had taken the Dark Gold Terror Claw External Soul Bone.

Leng Yaozhu wasn't surprised: "It's normal for someone with your strength, don't worry about it."

She handed Gula a storage soul tool.

"The materials for the major powers' trade have arrived: rare herbs cultivated by the Tang Sect and rare metals from the Federation. Since you are one of our own, you are being rewarded with a resource quota within the tower. As you wish, you will take over a laboratory specifically for hybridizing soul spirits for your benefit."

"Based on the Earth Demon Bear, and fused with the bloodlines of the Mighty Vajra Bear and the Flame Lord, the laboratory believes it has a chance of success within thirty attempts."

"Excuse me, teacher."

Gula sincerely thanked them, knowing that without Leng Yaozhu as his backer, he didn't believe the Spirit Pagoda would provide resources of equal value for him to hybridize soul spirits. Even though they were all hundred- or thousand-year-old soul spirits, their bloodline level was enough to create a large number of high-level soul masters, and he guessed that Leng Yaozhu must have spoken up for him behind the scenes.

Guramo stroked the intricate soul-guiding patterns on his storage ring, secretly noting Leng Yaozhu's help to him, preparing to repay her in the future, at least to prevent her from perishing in the battle of the abyss.

Seeing Gula's serious expression, Leng Yaozhu smiled gently on her elegant face: "Once your eyes recover, the Tianhai Alliance Grand Competition will begin. Divine Craftsman Zhenhua will present the award to the champion. You can start preparing."

She knew that Gula had already mastered stable spirit forging; even a ten-year-old level five master craftsman would be moved by a divine craftsman.

"If Zhenhua wants to take on a disciple, have him talk to me."

"Okay, teacher."

Gula obediently agreed.

Leng Yaozhu regained her languid expression, and with a light wave of her hand, the entire floor-to-ceiling window turned dark: "During the holiday, I will take you to an advanced spirit-ascension platform to raise your spirit ring age to the limit. Your physical condition is very strong, and there is also a ferocious beast sacrifice at the fourth ring. Strive to make your spirit reach 90,000 years as soon as possible."

As for breaking through 100,000 years, it requires the effort and talent of the soul itself. Leng Yaozhu believes that with the bloodline of the Golden Ancient Tree, it is not difficult to complete this step.

……

Meanwhile, in a small, secret realm within the Tang Sect.

The Douluo Palace Master, Cao Dezhi, brushed his fingertips across the merciless sword blade, and frost spread spiderweb-like cracks across the bluestone ground.

He stared at the trembling, glass-like sword in the Amorous Douluo's hand. "Why did you insist on coming here... what secret could it be that makes you so cautious?"

Zang Xin shook his head. He couldn't say, so he changed the subject: "Just some insights. You'll have to experience it for yourself when you use the Martial Soul Fusion Technique."

Gula said that Zang Xin couldn't tell others about the grand plan, but he forgot that Zang Xin and Cao Dezhi, besides being demigods, also possessed a martial soul fusion skill.

When in the state of Martial Soul Fusion Skill, their minds are connected, and even Tang Hao, as the master of the plane, cannot spy on them.

At Zang Xin's insistence, Cao Dezang agreed.

The two joined forces, their ruthless and amorous swords overlapping and transforming into a brilliant silver light that soared into the sky. Layers upon layers of silver descended from the heavens, their intense emotional fluctuations covering several kilometers, forming a massive silver cocoon that created a vacuum seal.

Time and space seemed to have been ripped into a lake by pebbles. Silver-blue sword energy poured forth like moonlight, countless fragments of memory surging within its intent—the altered sacrificial pact, the dimensional will slumbering deep within the Golden Tree, the spy left behind on Douluo Star by the Sea God Tang San…

Each and every incident caused even the ruthless Douluo to experience emotional fluctuations.

"Absurd!" Cao Dezhi's sword energy surged and shattered the rocks three zhang away. His merciless sword domain condensed sword energy. "Using all living beings as chess pieces, what kind of divine strategy is this?"

For the first time, ripples appeared in his starry eyes beneath his sword-like eyebrows, and even his ruthless Dao heart, cultivated over a century, could not remain calm.

Zang Xin had already vented his anger. While the effects of the Martial Soul Fusion Skill were still active, he and Cao Dezhi communicated several times in an instant, making numerous arrangements.

"We cannot withdraw our troops. If we do not mention the threat of the Abyss, Tang Hao will see through our scheme and he will definitely instruct Harosa to attack the Tang Clan disciples, forcing us to deplete the Abyss's power."

"What a favored person of this plane! The mighty Underworld Emperor is nothing more than a black glove of the plane's master."

"The gods are not trustworthy, but we have no choice but to gamble on the plane's lord resurrecting our fallen comrades. But this is not over!"

(End of this chapter)