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

There are indeed power-type soul beasts in the far north, but most of them are mixed with a considerable amount of ice attribute, and the strength of the ice attribute is not low. Compared to the Titan Snow Demon, which combines ice and power attributes, Tang Shan felt that he would rather choose the Titan Giant Ape, which combines power and earth attributes.

Tang Shan took the information from the other party and carefully read it through. At the same time, he listened to Xue Qinghe's introduction: "A 5,500-year-old Heavenly Horned Beetle was discovered in the outer area of ​​the Star Dou Great Forest. It is a pure power-type soul beast. Although its age is 500 years higher than you require, its quality and bloodline are not outstanding. You should be able to absorb it safely."

Tang Shan quickly found information about this spirit beast in the data. The Heavenly Horned Beetle was similar to his first spirit ring, the Thousand-Pound Ant, both belonging to the insect-type spirit beasts and having similar characteristics. They were able to lift objects many times their own weight. Compared to the Thousand-Pound Ant, the Heavenly Horned Beetle had another advantage: its shell had decent defensive capabilities. However, it had no other special features.

"We can keep this one for now. If we can't find anything more suitable, we'll choose this one." Tang Shan turned to the next page, and Xue Qinghe continued, "This is the Thunder Earthquake Ox, which is considered a top-tier soul beast, only slightly inferior to the Titan Giant Ape and the Dark Gold Terror Claw Bear. However, it has three attributes, with strength as the primary attribute and lightning and earth as secondary attributes. Its lifespan is 4,100 years." "That's too many attributes." Tang Shan shook his head, directly rejecting this soul beast.

Xue Qinghe asked curiously, "Wouldn't it be better to have more attributes? It would also give you more ways to fight."

"A person's energy is limited. Rather than trying to develop various abilities in a half-hearted way, it's better to specialize in one thing." Tang Shan closed the documents in his hand, looked at Xue Qinghe, and said seriously, "For example, my original martial soul has a strength attribute, and because it is connected to the brain, it also has a certain mental attribute. For me, the existence of these two attributes is enough for me to develop and research. My teacher also said that it is better to specialize in one thing than to be a jack-of-all-trades, and to develop and improve the effect of one's own attribute to the ultimate level."

"The ultimate level?" Xue Qinghe was drawn in by Tang Shan's words and couldn't help but ask, "What is the ultimate level?"

Tangshan explained: "The so-called ultimate level, according to my teacher's understanding, means that a certain attribute has reached the true human limit to a certain extent. Once that level is reached, the ultimate attribute will have some special characteristics."

"Special characteristics?"

“That’s right.” Tang Shan nodded, combining information from the original work with his experience in Douluo Continent, and gave his own explanation: “For example, the ultimate ice can lower the temperature to an extremely low level, and can also freeze soul power, mental power and even space. Its core characteristic is absolute freezing.”

Take, for example, extreme fire. Its characteristics are absolute high temperature and powerful combustion. Its nature is that anything not of extreme nature can be used as fuel; in other words, nothing is unburnable, even water, as long as it doesn't possess extreme properties.

This was the first time Xue Qinghe had heard of such a classification and understanding of attributes, and he couldn't help but ask with some curiosity, "Then what effect would it have if you reached the ultimate power?"

Tang Shan shook his head: "There has never been a Soul Master with an Ultimate Martial Soul in history, so I don't know. In fact, it's hard to say whether there are any Soul Masters with Ultimate Martial Souls on the continent to this day. After all, my teacher discovered these characteristics in high-level Soul Beasts."

Xue Qinghe seemed thoughtful, then continued to introduce the spirit beasts to Tang Shan: "You can skip the last few pages of information. Many of them are similar to the Thunder Earthquake Bull, which are close to top-tier spirit beasts, but their strength attribute is accompanied by other attributes. Look at the last two pages, they are the Diamond Mammoth and the Sky-Supporting Giant Ape."

Some of the former have both earth and strength attributes, while others have only strength attributes. The one we discovered has only strength attributes and is 4,900 years old, making it a top-tier soul beast.

The Sky-Supporting Giant Ape, on the other hand, is a pure strength-attribute soul beast with extraordinary stamina and immense power. Although it cannot compare to the Titan Giant Ape, it can still be considered to have one foot in the ranks of super soul beasts. However, unfortunately, its lifespan is only 3,300 years.

Looking at the descriptions of the two spirit beasts, Tang Shan was tempted. But just as he had an idea, he heard Xue Qinghe continue, "Don't rush to choose. The information about searching for spirit beasts is still coming in continuously. It's not too late to choose when you break through to level 20."

Is this the source of the Spirit Hall and the Heaven Dou Prince's confidence? "Then Your Highness, I'll wait a moment." Tang Shan didn't thank him again, but he had already deeply remembered Xue Qinghe's kindness.

"It's alright, they're just sitting around doing nothing anyway, so they might as well put something to use."

Xue Qinghe waved his hand and stood up: "Alright, I will continue to receive special training from the royal family for a while, so we probably won't have much time to meet. You should focus on your cultivation. I will tell my father about your existence in a while and ask him to increase his investment in resources for you."

Tang Shan escorted Xue Qinghe to the courtyard gate and watched her disappear at the end of the path. Just as she was about to finish walking down the path, Xue Qinghe suddenly turned around and said, "I have some progress on the matter of the external soul bone, but whether I can find it successfully is another matter. Just relax and wait."

Tang Shan's lips twitched, wondering if the Angel Lady was really going to plunder the Spirit Hall's treasury. Although he felt strange, Tang Shan still excitedly thanked her, "Thank you, Your Highness."

Only then did Xue Qinghe truly disappear from Tangshan's sight.

Walking on the cobblestone path, Xue Qinghe recalled Tang Shan's joyful expression before leaving, and couldn't help but snap his fingers, chuckling as he said, "I'll take care of it." He had helped Tang Shan inquire about external soul bones, practiced with him in the mornings to get to know each other, and invested a lot of resources to help him find soul beasts. He didn't believe that Tang Shan couldn't be of use to him in the future.

Feeling as if he had successfully captured the angel from Tangshan, he felt as if three pairs of wings were unfolding behind him, making him feel incredibly light and his face beaming with joy.

The only question is whether Tang Shan can successfully absorb that external soul bone. So many people have tried to absorb it before without success. Oh well, never mind that. I'll figure out a way to get the soul bone from Grandpa first.

……

In the Imperial Garden, Emperor Xueye was flipping through the memorials presented by Xue Qinghe, his face expressionless and his eyes calm and unwavering, making it impossible to discern his true emotions.

However, the best expression of emotion is actually the absence of any emotion at all. After all, if someone is in a good mood, how could they possibly be expressionless?

"Guards!" The voice of Emperor Xueye was like a muffled thunderclap, carrying an air of majesty, ready to erupt with a violent roar at any moment.

"Your Majesty." An old eunuch following Emperor Xueye hurriedly bowed and stepped forward, respectfully awaiting Emperor Xueye's instructions.

"Go and fetch Zhu Zhong of the Imperial Guard. Tell him to go to the Imperial Study immediately. I'll wait for him there. Tell him I want to hear about Qinghe's true performance after he went to Iron Wall City. He must not hide anything."

After giving his orders, Emperor Xueye left the Imperial Garden without looking back and walked into the depths of the palace.

……

Half an hour later, in the Imperial Study

"Are you saying that everything written in Qinghe's memorial is true?" Emperor Xueye asked coldly, his face ashen.

"Um, Your Majesty, some of the content is still false." Zhu Zhong hesitated, looking nervous, but still stammered as he spoke.

Upon hearing this, Emperor Xueye's expression softened slightly, and he asked, "Where is it false? Is it because the soldiers of Ironwall City were merely treating Qinghe with normal courtesy, and he was dissatisfied, that he said the soldiers treated him badly?"

"He's only ten years old this year; it's normal for him to have a bit of a temper." "Your Majesty, this part is true; the soldiers' attitude towards His Highness the Crown Prince was indeed not very respectful."

Upon hearing this, Emperor Xueye's expression turned from sunny to gloomy again, and his tone became more serious: "That's not fake at all."

"That...that claim that the people welcomed him is false. In reality, during his time in Ironwall City, the people of the city greatly supported the Second Prince. They privately said that he was the right heir apparent and the best candidate for the future emperor."

Whoosh! A flash of white light disappeared in an instant.

*Crack!* A white jade teacup flew past Zhu Zhong's face and shattered heavily on the wall behind him, scattering fragments all over the floor.

"Good, good, good, good Hong Zhen! I know you secretly favor the second son, but you dare to be so blatant. I'm not even dead yet, and you dare to say in private that he is the best candidate to become emperor in the future. Have you gotten too cocky, or have I lost my ability to wield a knife?"

"I wanted to use the Iron Wall City incident to temper Qinghe, but this is the reaction you gave me. Are you planning a rebellion? How wonderful!" Emperor Xueye's face was flushed, and his eyes seemed to be spitting fire. He was obviously furious to the extreme.

"Zhu Zhong, tell me the whole story from the beginning of the attack on Tiebi City, word for word. Don't leave anything out. If you utter even a single falsehood, you will be executed on the spot!"

Having barely calmed himself, Emperor Xueye stared sharply at Zhu Zhong, his tone filled with a strong killing intent.

P.S.: The next chapter will feature breaking through level 20, followed by hunting spirit beasts to break through to the second ring. Also, everyone, guess which spirit beast that special external spirit bone belongs to. Hint: it surpasses super spirit beasts and is also related to the protagonist's third ring.

Chapter 88 Ning Fengzhi: Let Xue Qinghe deal with the Spirit Hall, break through to level 20. (Please subscribe and continue reading)

Everything returned to calm, and time flew by silently.

Tangshan immerses himself in a regular practice every day, and when he wakes up in the morning, he calls Xue Qinghe to do morning exercises together.

Xue Qinghe mainly uses standing meditation to build a foundation, while Tang Shan uses internal energy to repeatedly refine his bones and internal organs. After the session, the two ate together and then went back to their own affairs.

There was a little incident during this time: Tang Shan broke through again in the process of cleansing his internal organs, and vomited a lot of accumulated waste blood. Xue Qinghe was startled on the spot and was about to ask a healing-type soul master to come and treat him. Fortunately, Tang Shan was quick-witted and grabbed her hand.

After hearing Tang Shan's explanation, Xue Qinghe understood that spitting out black blood was a normal phenomenon after the body expelled impurities and the internal organs were further tempered. He was amazed and began to truly value the practice of internal martial arts.

As for whether Xue Qinghe was seriously cultivating his soul power in private, Tang Shan had no idea, since he couldn't see through Xue Qinghe's disguise as an angelic divine armor.

A week after Tang Shan arrived at the Prince's Palace, Xue Shan, the Second Prince of Tian Dou, also traveled a long way back from Bafang City. Soon after, Xue Qinghe and Xue Shan were summoned to the palace together.

Tang Shan had no way of knowing what exactly happened in between, but it was easy to see from the radiant smile on Xue Qinghe's face when she returned that she had clearly left an excellent impression on Emperor Xue Ye this time.

Later, after Tangshan questioned Xue Qinghe, they finally understood what had happened that day.

After returning from the snow mountain, Xue Shan also submitted his memorial to Emperor Xue Ye. The content was roughly the same as Xue Qinghe's memorial, mainly accusing the officials of Bafang City of not cooperating with his work and giving him attitude. The most shocking thing was the last sentence of the memorial: "In the Tiandou Empire, my Xue family is the sky. Dragons coil before me, and tigers lie down before me."

It is said that Ning Fengzhi happened to be visiting Emperor Xueye at the time and even accompanied the emperor to read the second prince's "masterpiece". Not long after seeing that arrogant statement, Ning Fengzhi took his leave from Emperor Xueye under the pretext of having important business. He was clearly shocked by the words and even couldn't help but wonder if Emperor Xueye had deliberately let him see those words.

After listening to the contents of Xue Shan's memorial, Tang Shan was stunned. He could only say that Xue Qinghe was the MVP of the victory this time, and Xue Shan was just a pig opponent who gave away points.

Putting aside his explosive boast at the end, the content he reported to Emperor Xueye earlier was highly problematic.

The real reason why Xue Qinghe dared to speak frankly to Emperor Xueye about the poor attitude of the Iron Wall City's army towards her was not because everything she said was true, but because of the importance of Iron Wall City itself.

The empire's elite troops are stationed there. The army is supposed to be absolutely loyal to the monarch, and any sign of disloyalty must not be ignored.

Even if Xue Qinghe's words were false, Emperor Xueye would still devote some energy to investigating and verifying them, let alone the fact that Xue Qinghe was telling the whole truth.

Through Zhu Zhong's detailed report, Emperor Xue Ye gained a thorough understanding of the situation in Ironwall City during that period, including Tang Shan's crushing of first and second-ring Soul Masters, and Xue Qinghe's subsequent leadership of the soldiers, which demonstrated both ruthless methods and the ability to win hearts and minds, significantly weakening the Second Prince's prestige in the army in a short time. Emperor Xue Ye was extremely satisfied with Xue Qinghe's performance.

At the same time, the incident in Iron Wall City also caused Emperor Xueye to feel a little dissatisfied with the Second Prince, and this dissatisfaction completely erupted after seeing Xueshan's memorial.

The arrogant remarks at the end of the memorial almost caused a rift between him and Ning Fengzhi, not to mention that the preceding content was full of resentment towards the officials and merchants of Bafang City.

If it were genuine dissatisfaction, that would be one thing, but Emperor Xueye had been in power for many years and was extremely perceptive. He could see through Xueshan's deep-seated desire for control beneath this superficial resentment.

He had previously thought that Xue Shan was a steady and reliable person, but now he realized that Xue Shan's steadiness was actually a way of wanting to keep everything firmly in his own hands.

……

"Sect Leader Ning, what happened a few days ago was purely accidental. I really didn't expect that rebellious son would have such a treasonous idea."

Emperor Xueye looked somewhat embarrassed as he glanced at Ning Fengzhi sitting in front of him.

"Your Majesty, rest assured, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School will always be the most steadfast ally of the Heaven Dou Empire. The Second Prince is still young; it's just childish talk."

Ning Fengzhi's expression was gentle and natural, seemingly not taking the matter to heart.

To be honest, Ning Fengzhi was indeed a little angry when he first saw Xue Shan's arrogant words, especially the line "If you're a dragon, coil up for me; if you're a tiger, lie down for me," which was simply extremely arrogant.

He had suspected that Emperor Xueye might have had ulterior motives and deliberately let him see the memorial, but after careful consideration, he felt it was unlikely.

He knew all too well how capable the Snow Night Emperor was.

If he announces the cancellation of the alliance with the Heavenly Dou Empire today, the Star Luo Empire will dare to directly march on the border tomorrow.

Even after breaking away from the Heaven Dou Empire, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School remained one of the three upper sects; however, the Heaven Dou Empire, without the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School, was nothing more than a paper tiger, strong on the outside but weak on the inside.

With Emperor Xueye taking the initiative to show goodwill, Ning Fengzhi also seized the opportunity to reconcile with Emperor Xueye.

But after this incident, he made up his mind that he had to intervene in the struggle for the throne of the Heaven Dou Empire. Putting everything else aside, if the Second Prince were to actually ascend the throne in the end, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School would definitely not have an easy time.

In Ning Fengzhi's view, Xue Qinghe was the best candidate to succeed him.

She acts with gentleness and moderation, and treats people with courtesy. Even if the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School and the Spirit Hall completely break ties in the future, Xue Qinghe's handling of affairs will be enough to buy the sect enough buffer space.

Emperor Xueye was surprised that Ning Fengzhi had already thought of his future successor. He raised his wine cup and said sincerely, "Sect Master Ning, it is my old eyes that have failed to discipline that brat, allowing him to have such arrogant thoughts. Here, I toast you as an apology."

Having said that, he was about to drink the wine in his cup in one gulp.

"Your Majesty need not do this. I truly have not taken the Second Prince's words to heart."

Ning Fengzhi quickly reached out to stop him. Looking into Ning Fengzhi's sincere eyes, Emperor Xueye finally sighed and slowly put down his wine cup.

Seemingly recalling Xue Shan's actions, Emperor Xue Ye's anger surged again, and he couldn't help but burst into curses: "That second son, I may be old, but I'm not stupid! Does his father not know what the situation is like in Eight Directions City? I sent him there to test his abilities, not to escalate conflicts! Even if he doesn't accomplish anything, it's better than making a complete mess of things!"

Emperor Xueye was clearly furious to the extreme. His words had long lost the dignity and composure befitting a ruler of a nation, and were filled with uncontrollable rage.

Ning Fengzhi raised his wine glass, took a small sip, and his expression became somewhat tense.

He had read Xue Shan's memorial before. Putting aside the arrogant words at the end, he clearly saw the accusations made between the lines about the tax evasion of the officials of Bafang City.

It can only be said that Xue Shan's scolding was entirely justified.

It's important to understand that in the eyes of him, Emperor Xueye, and the various nobles of the Heavenly Dou Empire, Eight Directions City was a veritable treasure trove. Taxes paid normally would flow into the national treasury, but the money evaded wouldn't simply disappear; it would all end up in the private pockets of these upper-class figures. Without powerful backing, trying to do business peacefully in Eight Directions City was simply a pipe dream.

Snow Mountain's hasty investigation into tax evasion was tantamount to directly taking money from their coffers. If Emperor Snow Night hadn't been one of the biggest beneficiaries of Eight Directions City, Snow Mountain would likely have vanished the very next day of his investigation.

After venting his anger, Emperor Xueye finally let out a long breath, his face showing obvious exhaustion.

"Your Majesty, there is no need to worry too much about this matter, lest you harm your health."

Ning Fengzhi picked up a piece of food from the table, put it in his mouth and savored it, offering words of comfort in a calm tone.

Emperor Xueye nodded, agreeing with Ning Fengzhi's reasoning.

He suddenly seemed to remember something, winked at Ning Fengzhi, and said in an ambiguous tone, "By the way, Sect Leader Ning, some good stuff has been sent over from Xingluo recently, including a catwoman. It is said that her ancestors were from the Youming Zhu family, but now she has become a commoner. Do you want her?"