Douluo Continent: From Internal Martial Arts to the Law of Heaven and Earth

Hong Zhen was already used to this kind of attention, and Xue Qinghe, as the eldest prince, had seen all kinds of grand occasions. Only Tang Shan was facing so many people watching for the first time.

But whether it was because he had lived two lives or had experienced true death, Tang Shan felt no pressure at all in the face of everyone's gaze, and his expression remained calm.

Xue Qinghe glanced at Tang Shan beside him with some surprise. A seven-year-old child, yet he could remain so calm in the face of so many people's gaze. He really wanted to know how the master had cultivated such an outstanding disciple.

Hong Zhen gazed at the soldiers he had personally trained below the platform, a complex emotion flashing in his eyes before quickly returning to calm. He channeled his soul power, his voice echoing throughout the entire training ground: "Today, the First Prince has personally come to comfort my Fortress Army, and he intends to..."

After the speech, thunderous applause erupted in the training ground.

Next, it was Xue Qinghe's turn to speak. She wore a gentle smile and exuded an air of nobility as she walked. Her gaze swept over the soldiers below the stage, and she slowly began to speak: "I am Crown Prince Xue Qinghe. Today, on behalf of the Empire, I would like to express my sincerest gratitude to the soldiers stationed in Ironwall City."

As soon as she finished speaking, she bowed deeply to the soldiers below the stage.

Hong Zhen, standing to the side, twitched his brow and almost couldn't resist releasing his soul power to stop her. Sure enough, the other party had no good intentions; she started trying to win people over as soon as she stepped onto the stage, which weakened their side's momentum even further.

"I know that the military values ​​strength and respects geniuses. This Tang Shan beside me is a genius Soul Master. Today, he will challenge all the first and second-ring Soul Masters in the military. As long as someone can defeat him, I will not be stingy with the reward. The winner will receive a prize of one thousand gold Soul Coins. Everyone can sign up once, and there is no limit to the number of winners." Xue Qinghe straightened up and, without beating around the bush, stated the purpose of his trip directly.

To encourage military soul masters to participate enthusiastically, she offered exceptionally generous rewards.

Wow!

The soldiers below the stage erupted in an uproar, clearly stunned by Xue Qinghe's extravagant gesture. They knew there was no limit to the number of winners; even if there were only a few hundred, she would still have to contribute at least hundreds of thousands of gold soul coins—no small sum.

After discussing it for a while, the soldiers gradually calmed down and subconsciously turned their questioning gazes to Hong Zhen, which shows that Hong Zhen's prestige in the army was indeed extremely high.

Hong Zhen's face twitched, and he said helplessly, "The Crown Prince's words are all true. Everyone should participate enthusiastically."

The moment the words left his mouth, the entire training ground erupted in cheers. The soldiers who had been talking about sharing meals, lodging, and training with the Second Prince just moments before had completely forgotten about him. No amount of camaraderie could compare to real gold soul coins.

As for the few soldiers who remained clear-headed, they were also calculating in their minds: even if Tang Shan was really a genius, it was only a matter of time before he couldn't withstand the mental exhaustion of the relentless battle. This thousand gold soul coins was practically free.

Soon, the competition venue was cleared out again; no special ring was set up, just a flat grassy area.

Tang Shan walked to the center of the open space, his hands hanging naturally at his sides, his expression calm and composed, exuding an air of unwavering composure. His gaze swept over the soldiers surrounding him, and he asked in a calm tone, "Who wants to go first?"

"I'll go first."

A voice rang out, and a middle-aged man stepped out from the crowd. He had a resolute face and sharp eyes, and strode up to Tang Shan.

"Isn't that Captain Wang? His martial soul is a spear, and his first spirit ring is a hundred years old."

"This kid's luck is really bad. He ran into such a tough opponent right from the start."

"Hehe, once Captain Wang wins some money, we'll have to ask him to take us out for drinks."

"Don't underestimate this kid. He must have some extraordinary abilities to be able to work alongside the First Prince as a genius."

"So what if he's exceptional? How can a kid who hasn't seen much blood compare to soldiers like us who have fought our way through battle? Maybe he'll panic when Captain Wang unleashes his aura."

Tang Shan pricked up his ears, silently gathering information about his opponent, not daring to be careless in the slightest. Confidence is one thing, underestimating the enemy is another. He believed his strength was enough to dominate at the Great Soul Master stage, but if he encountered an opponent with a special martial soul and strange soul skills, he might accidentally stumble and things would not go well.

By filtering out useless information and extracting the important parts, Tangshan quickly gained a general understanding of his opponent.

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Chapter 73 A Series of Victories, Xue Qinghe's Little Thoughts (Please collect and subscribe)

"Wang Shuang, a level 15 Battle Soul Master, please give me your guidance."

The opponent on the other side took the initiative to clasp his hands in a salute, his posture exuding a sense of swiftness.

Tang Shan was somewhat surprised. Hong Zhen had just said that he was there to challenge all Soul Masters and Great Soul Masters. To put it bluntly, he was there to cause trouble. He didn't expect his first opponent to be so polite.

"Tangshan, a level 19 Battle Soul Master, let's stop here."

Since his opponent was so courteous, Tang Shan was naturally extra polite in return. As for the matter of establishing his authority that Xue Qinghe had instructed him to do before he came over, he figured that since he had just provoked the opponent like this, the person he was supposed to establish his authority for would naturally jump out on his own later.

Wang Shuang stared intently at the boy opposite him, not daring to be careless in the slightest. It was this caution that allowed him to survive time and time again on the battlefield.

He summoned his martial soul, which was an ordinary iron spear, about two meters long, with a cold, hard metallic luster. A pale yellow soul ring slowly emerged from beneath his feet, and faint soul power fluctuations quietly spread out from his body.

Tang Shan also released his martial spirit, but did not reveal his spirit rings, saving the impact for later.

The moment his martial spirit was activated, his body rapidly expanded, growing ten centimeters taller in the blink of an eye. His muscles bulged and bulged, and his explosive physique stretched his clothes taut, the fabric showing clear lines as if it would tear at any moment.

He spread his five fingers, then clenched his fist again. The crisp "crack" of his joints echoed, carrying an invisible sense of oppression that made the surrounding soldiers instinctively hold their breath.

He twisted his neck, and the sound of his joints stretching came one after another. His movements were so graceful that they resembled a strong warrior stretching his muscles and bones before battle, preparing for the power to be unleashed.

Faced with the ever-increasing pressure on Tang Shan, Wang Shuang finally couldn't hold back and took the initiative. He knew very well that if he continued to drag things out like this, he might completely lose the courage to fire his gun.

"First Soul Skill: Dual Pistols!"

With a low shout, a spear identical to his martial soul, seemingly a one-to-one copy, appeared out of thin air in his left hand. He strode forward, his body instantly accelerating, and thrust both spears toward Tang Shan's chest and throat respectively. A chilling killing intent involuntarily emanated from his body, the spear tips slicing through the air with a sharp, shrill sound.

"Showy but impractical."

The training ground had already subconsciously returned to calm. Many soldiers held their breath and stared at the battle in front of them. It was precisely because of this quiet that Tang Shan's calm evaluation clearly reached the ears of almost everyone present.

Wang Shuang's face instantly turned ashen. He unleashed all the strength he had been holding back, increasing the speed of his spears once again. The spear shadows clashed, almost forming two afterimages, making his attack several times more ferocious than before.

clap clap!

Faced with two spears aimed at his vital points, Tang Shan reacted simply and decisively. He spread his arms wide, shifted his body slightly to the side, and deftly avoided the sharp spear tips. Then, with a flick of his wrist, he precisely gripped the middle of the spear shaft, exerted force with his fingertips, and instantly imprisoned both spears completely. No matter how hard Wang Shuang tried, he could not push them forward even an inch.

Seeing his attack so easily neutralized, Wang Shuang remained calm despite his surprise. He instinctively twisted his hands, trying to shake off Tang Shan's hand, a cold smile appearing on his face: Trying to disarm someone with bare hands? Not so easy.

But the next second, his smile froze on his face. The spear in his hand seemed to be embedded in a hard wall. He couldn't twist it or even make the slightest movement. Tang Shan's hands were like two iron clamps, locking the spear firmly and not moving an inch.

"You're too weak, and your soul skills aren't very good either. You haven't even mastered using a single gun, yet you dare to use dual guns? What are you thinking?"

While commenting, Tang Shan gripped both guns with both hands, and with a sudden burst of strength, lifted Wang Shuang up. At this moment, Wang Shuang was at least three or four meters off the ground. If he fell, he wouldn't be injured, but he would definitely be disoriented.

"I concede."

Wang Shuang was quite decisive; once she realized she had no power to resist, she immediately admitted defeat.

After Tang Shan put him down, Wang Shuang looked at Tang Shan, his tone somewhat unconvinced: "I did lose this round, but what you said is wrong. Since my first soul skill is to copy the same martial soul, I should naturally fight with dual pistols. Am I supposed to practice with a single pistol? What's the point of my soul skill then?"

Tang Shan couldn't help but chuckle when he saw that the other party didn't immediately step down but instead clung to his previous words.

"Who says that awakening a Soul Skill that replicates a Martial Soul has to involve using dual pistols? You can totally use this extra spear as a throwing weapon. Judging from your spear techniques just now, your foundation wasn't bad to begin with, so I doubt your strength has increased significantly after switching to dual pistols, right?"

Tang Shan's words made Wang Shuang's expression suddenly stiffen. Just as Tang Shan said, since he switched to using dual pistols, he still couldn't beat the opponents he couldn't beat before, and he would even be suppressed by Soul Masters of the same level occasionally.

"Want to practice dual-wielding? No problem. But you have to master single-wielding until it's as easy as an extension of your limbs. Otherwise, mindless practice will only interfere with each other and you'll end up making no progress."

Tang Shan had been guiding Su Yuntao's cultivation since he was a child. Seeing his opponent's path of cultivation going astray, he couldn't help but give him some pointers and offered a few more words of advice.

Wang Shuang walked off the training platform in a daze, clearly needing a long time to digest the meaning behind Tang Shan's words.

Watching his dejected figure, Tang Shan finally suppressed the urge to complain and didn't say the most hurtful thing: He could tell that Wang Shuang was using his martial soul as an ordinary weapon. If it were him, he would have taken back his martial soul the moment it was caught and then released it again. He would never let the other party control him, much less let the other party use his martial soul as a medium to lift him up.

Soon, the next opponent stepped onto the stage and challenged Tang Shan, but was quickly defeated by him. After that, one opponent after another took to the stage, but all of them were defeated within a few rounds. The Soul Master who lasted the longest couldn't even last ten rounds. Tang Shan had never felt that defeating his opponents was so easy.

On the stands, Xue Qinghe watched as Tang Shan defeated his opponents while precisely pointing out their weaknesses. Though he remained outwardly calm, he was secretly overjoyed: That's it! He was simultaneously undermining the opponents' confidence and giving them pointers. Tang Shan was even better than he had imagined. He truly deserved to be a disciple of a master. With this approach, how could these soldiers not respect him?

Hong Zhen, who was also watching the battle from the side, grew increasingly solemn. Finally, he couldn't help but ask, "Your Highness, where did you find this prodigy, Tang Shan? His fighting skills can no longer be described as exquisite. He seems to be able to mobilize most of the power in his body with every casual strike, and each strike is comparable to the full-force strike of an ordinary person."

"That's normal. After all, his martial soul is a physical martial soul, and his ability to use his body is far beyond that of ordinary people. It's not surprising that he can do this."

Xue Qinghe responded verbally, but her heart stirred. She had almost forgotten that Tang Shan's control over his body and his manipulation of qi and blood were also exceptional. She thought that once she got to know him better, she could see if she could ask him to teach her. After all, even her two uncles said that Tang Shan's use of qi and blood was the best they had ever seen in their lives, and might even surpass Grandpa Jin'e.

"A true body martial soul? Could it be the kind of true body martial soul that the master mentioned in his martial soul theory?"

Hong Zhen looked on in astonishment.

"That's right, it's the original spirit. The master's vision is truly extraordinary. The original spirit does have its unique features."

Although Xue Qinghe hasn't yet figured out the mysteries of her original martial soul, she believes that if she doesn't know, Tang Shan definitely does. She'll just keep Hong Zhen in suspense for now.

Hong Zhen's eyes flickered for a moment, but he didn't speak again. However, his heart had already been stirred by Xue Qinghe's words: "Is it the same as a physical martial soul?"

"My name is Zhang San, my martial soul is the Mighty Monkey, and I am a level 20 soul master. I am considered the strongest one-ring soul master in our army. If you defeat me, a two-ring great soul master will challenge you next."

Tang Shan was drawn to the words of the burly man in front of him, first by the man's name, he was surprised that someone would actually give their child such a casual name;

Next is the martial soul. The Mighty Monkey is a strength-type martial soul, the same type as his own original martial soul, which finally piqued his interest in the upcoming battle.

The meaning behind those last words gave him a strange feeling that he was playing a level-based game, with Zhang San in front of him like the final boss, and defeating him would allow him to enter the second level.

"Why must I defeat you for a second-ring Soul Master to challenge me?"

Tang Shan was curious and really couldn't understand what these soldiers were thinking.

“It’s unfair for so many of us to take turns challenging you. If we send a two-ring Soul Master directly up, it would be seen as bullying the weak. If you defeat me, it means your strength has been recognized. Even if a two-ring Soul Master beats you, it won’t be considered an insult to you.”

Zhang San explained sincerely, his words revealing the straightforwardness of a soldier.

Tang Shan's lips twitched slightly. He could only say that the army of the fortified city was indeed "disciplined." If it were him, he would have directly crushed them. He was afraid that Xue Qinghe would go back on his word and not give him the promised gold soul coins.

"bring it on."

Tang Shan didn't say anything more, but waved to the burly man in front of him, a hint of expectation flashing in his eyes.

"Then watch out, first soul skill, berserk!"

Zhang San let out a low shout, and his soul power suddenly erupted. His body expanded at a visible speed, his hands quickly grew longer and thicker, his muscles bulged, and the bright yellow soul ring under his feet suddenly flashed with dazzling light. His eyes turned blood red, and his body expanded again, making him look like a furious giant ape, full of formidable power.

He stomped his feet hard on the ground, creating two shallow pits and sending pebbles flying. Using the force, he leaped several meters into the air and pounced on Tang Shan. His huge fist, accompanied by a whistling sound, descended from the sky with tremendous force, aiming straight for Tang Shan's head.

"Good timing!"

Seeing the changes in the other person's body, Tang Shan shouted loudly, his muscles and bones resonated, and his body changed again as he stretched and pulled his bones. His muscle lines became more refined, and his blood and qi surged and circulated within his body, exuding a powerful aura.

Tang Shan did not use soul skills, but relied on long-term understanding and refinement of his body to further explore the potential of his physical body. Although this state could not compare to the god-level development when using soul skills, the enhancement to his body was definitely not to be underestimated.

With his powerful blood and qi surging and circulating within his body, Tang Shan slammed his foot into the ground as his opponent's fist came crashing down from above. The ground shattered and scattered, and the surging force rose from his Yongquan acupoint, flowing down his legs, waist, abdomen, and back, finally converging on his right fist. He twisted his waist and straightened his back, unleashing a fierce and powerful "standing ground cannon" strike, directly meeting Zhang San's fist head-on.

boom!

A deafening crash of flesh against flesh rang out, and a powerful force erupted at the point where the fists met. An invisible shockwave spread outwards, causing the clothes of the surrounding soldiers to flutter and the ground beneath their feet to tremble slightly.

Feeling the force surging from the fist, Tang Shan's lips curled into an excited smile, and his blood and qi surged even more intensely.

Seeing that his attack had missed, Zhang San, in a berserk state, instinctively rolled over and used Tang Shan's fist as a fulcrum to quickly close the distance to Tang Shan. At the same time, he subconsciously raised his left leg and delivered a powerful front kick, aiming hard at Tang Shan's chest.

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Chapter 74 Defeating Zhang San, Taking the Initiative to Establish Authority

With the muscles of his thighs and calves working together, a powerful force burst forth instantly, and his foot, accompanied by a sharp whistling sound, hurtled straight toward Tangshan's chest.

Just as the shot was about to hit, Tang Shan's body suddenly underwent a strange change.

As Tang Shan exhaled deeply, his chest suddenly collapsed inward, his bones and internal organs seemingly vanishing into thin air. His entire chest cavity rapidly caved in, narrowly avoiding the powerful kick.

Whoops!