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

The report from his subordinates outside the door finally relieved Ning Fengzhi of his embarrassment. He said softly to his wife in his arms, "The Crown Prince has returned. I must go to the palace to see His Majesty first. Take good care of yourself."

"It's alright, go ahead. There are so many people in the sect, they'll definitely take good care of me."

The beautiful woman responded softly, her words full of understanding.

P.S.: In the story, Golden Crocodile Douluo is Qian Daoliu's elder, so Qian Jun and Demon-Slaying Douluo treat him with great respect. Furthermore, aside from the Second Elder, all the other elders of the Spirit Hall are longtime brothers, so privately, including Qian Daoliu, they address each other as brothers. Finally, please add this to your favorites, follow, subscribe, and comment—I'm extremely grateful for everything!

Chapter 85 Xue Qinghe's Generous Investment, A New Beginning (Please subscribe to read)

The carriage slowly came to a stop in front of a magnificent mansion. The vermilion gate was inlaid with gilded patterns, and the sunlight reflected off it, giving it a warm and profound luster.

Tangshan got off the bus first, followed by Xue Qinghe.

"This is my palace. I'll have someone arrange accommodations for you first. In a little while, I'll head to the palace to report my findings to my father."

Xue Qinghe's subordinates pushed open the gate, the hinges turning with a steady sound. Two rows of soldiers on either side of the gate, dressed in silver armor and with long swords at their waists, bowed to her.

After nodding in acknowledgment, she turned to Tang Shan, who was standing beside her, and said...

Tang Shan nodded: "Your Highness, shall I enter the palace with you?"

"No need. You are mine now. If your talent is exposed to my father or Sect Master Ning, it's hard to say whether you can stay by my side in the future."

Xue Qinghe shook his head and then continued to explain.

"My two younger brothers might not want you to assist me. If they come up with some ulterior motives, it won't be good."

The two walked along the bluestone path deeper into the palace. The path was polished smooth by years of maintenance, reflecting the scenery on both sides. The carved corridors and painted buildings were arranged in a pleasing and orderly manner.

Artificial rocks and strange stones are everywhere, with lush green vines climbing between the rocks, their tips adorned with scattered wildflowers. Beneath the rocks, the grasses sway gently in the breeze.

Well-trained maids dressed in plain-colored dresses moved about the mansion with light and silent steps, keeping the entire mansion in perfect order.

Xue Qinghe led Tang Shan to a small pavilion deep inside the palace, supported by dark wooden pillars.

In the center of the pavilion stands a simple yet exquisite stone table with natural textures on its surface. The stone benches around it are covered with soft cushions that feel warm to the touch.

After taking his seat, Xue Qinghe looked at Tang Shan and slowly began to speak: "You will need to stay in my palace for a while. After some time, you will essentially be branded with my mark. With your talent, you will surely be valued by my father and Sect Master Ning. But since you already have my mark, they will not have any other intentions and will only focus on nurturing you. After all, a powerful ally in the future is worth winning over, even if they don't personally nurture you."

Especially my father, the Emperor, after learning of your talent, will most likely allocate special resources to your development. Just tell me what resources you require, and I'll personally select them for you from the national treasury.”

These generous conditions made Tang Shan secretly sigh, and at the same time, he quickly began to calculate the cultivation resources he needed.

"Your Highness, first look for rare and precious herbs that can enhance spiritual power, then rare and precious herbs that can improve physical fitness, and finally medicinal herbs that can help cultivate soul power without side effects."

Tangshan listed its needs one by one.

Xue Qinghe nodded in agreement: "I've noted all of that down. What about the soul bones? Do you have any requirements for that? As I said before, if you join me, I can give you at least two ten-thousand-year soul bones."

Tang Shan's face twitched slightly as he once again marveled at the angel's generosity. He knew in his heart that these soul bones definitely didn't come from the Heavenly Dou Empire.

After all, soul bones are extremely precious. Even if he is a genius who has reached the first ring in a thousand years, it may not be worth investing so many resources in his cultivation in a short period of time. Moreover, his physical martial soul has not yet proven its value on the mainland and is still uncertain.

Therefore, the soul bone that Miss Angel mentioned was most likely something she directly demanded from the Spirit Hall.

Ten-thousand-year soul bones are extremely rare. Even for Miss Angel, obtaining one from the Spirit Hall would likely present considerable difficulties.

As Tang Shan pondered this, he suddenly realized that he might have misunderstood. Given the affection the enshrined servants of the Hall had for Xue Qinghe, they would probably be more than happy to give her not just two ten-thousand-year soul bones, but even to send a group to the Star Dou Great Forest to collect a set of one hundred-thousand-year soul bones for her.

After all, of the seven worshippers in the Hall of Worship, apart from Qian Daoliu, half of them died trying to save Qian Renxue and sacrificed themselves at Jialing Pass.

"Your Highness, the matter of the soul bone is not urgent. My priority right now is to cultivate my soul power."

Tang Shan politely declined Xue Qinghe's proposal, believing that the ten-thousand-year-old soul bone was not worthy of him.

Tang Shan's standards have already been raised by the age of the protagonist's soul bones in the original work. Not to mention the Mountain Dragon King soul bone like Tang Wulin in the later stages, at least a complete set of 100,000-year soul bones is a must. If they can match one's own attributes, that would be even better.

"By the way, Your Highness, if there are any external soul bones, I'm willing to exchange two ten-thousand-year soul bones for one."

Tang Shan casually remarked, but it was really just a joke.

External soul bones are basically fused together when a soul master absorbs a soul ring. Once they are completely bound to the soul master, the soul bone will also disappear when the soul master dies.

The appearance of an external soul bone like that of the Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear is, if not unique, extremely rare.

"I'll look for it later, I think it's..."

Xue Qinghe responded subconsciously, her voice growing softer as she spoke. Meeting Tang Shan's slightly strange gaze, she coughed lightly and said seriously, "You should be aware of the special nature of external soul bones. There's a high probability that they don't exist in the national treasury, so don't have too high hopes."

Tang Shan hurriedly nodded. It was normal that the Heavenly Dou Kingdom's treasury didn't have it, but whether the Spirit Hall had it was another matter.

He noticed that Xue Qinghe had become increasingly less vigilant towards him recently, and her responses sometimes made people doubt her identity as a prince. If Tang Shan hadn't reacted quickly enough and pretended to be stupid every time, Xue Qinghe's disguise would most likely have been exposed long ago. Girl, can't you be a little more careful? Wasn't she fine in the original story?

"Alright, I'll take you to your residence. They should have already prepared it. After you've seen the residence, I still need to go to the palace to report to my father."

Xue Qinghe stood up, signaling Tang Shan to follow, while he led the way.

Tang Shan also got up and quickly followed behind Xue Qinghe.

"Your Highness, I was just joking. I probably won't be absorbing the soul bone anytime soon; my focus right now is on cultivation. By the way, how's the search for the soul beast we mentioned earlier going?"

Xue Qinghe had recovered from the "crisis" of almost exposing his identity, and his tone returned to its previous gentleness.

“I understand, of course. After all, the conditions for the creation of external soul bones are too harsh. I can only try my best to keep an eye out for them in the national treasury. There are quite a few special items in the national treasury, and perhaps there is an external soul bone among them.”

"Then I'll trouble you, Your Highness."

The other party has already provided all the reasons, so Tangshan can't say anything more.

"As for the soul beasts, there should be a lot of information gathered here during this time. I'll take a look at them for you when I return from the palace."

Seeing how diligently the "Heavenly Dou Crown Prince" was working on his cultivation, he thought to himself: "Putting everything else aside for now, Your Highness, I'll protect those gentlemen in your ancestral hall."

In the shadows, the Porcupine Douluo couldn't help but send a telepathic message to the Serpent Spear Douluo: "Old She, what did I tell you? I told you that the young master has taken a liking to this Tangshan, and he even wants to ask his family for soul bones to help this kid."

The Serpent Spear Douluo, who was secretly protecting him, remained calm: "You're overthinking it. Just based on the standing meditation technique that Tang Shan taught you a few days ago, you deserve this soul bone."

His tone was firm, subtly carrying a shrewd and calculating look towards the porcupine douluo.

"If I were the young master, I would definitely be willing to invest resources to nurture such a genius, even if it meant sacrificing his soul bone."

After all, a Soul Master's soul bone can be retrieved after death. As for the young master taking a liking to this kid, that's simply impossible.

The young master was destined to stand high above the heavens, and her vision was so lofty that even if Tang Shan was exceptionally talented, he was at most a shooting star to her.

The sun engulfing a meteor is not because the meteor attracted the sun's interest, but simply because the meteor was close enough to be drawn to it.

"That actually makes sense?"

The words of the Spiky Douluo "awakened" him, and after a moment of contemplation, he suddenly understood.

"It seems I was being naive. I thought the young master was only showing affection because of Teacher Tangshan's identity. I was clearly mistaken."

Tang Shan and Xue Qinghe were completely unaware of the conversation between the two old men in the shadows. Before long, they arrived at a small courtyard next to Xue Qinghe's bedroom.

The courtyard is several hundred square meters. Pushing open the door, you are greeted by a vibrant atmosphere. In the very center is a two-story pavilion with wooden window frames carved with lotus scrolls. The window paper is white and translucent, and sunlight shines through the window frames into the room, casting a hazy play of light and shadow.

In front of the pavilion is a square flower bed, where flowers of all colors are in full bloom. Pink, purple and white petals are layered on top of each other, and the refreshing fragrance can be smelled from afar. When the wind blows, the petals fall and land on the bluestone road, creating a flower carpet.

Beside the flower bed stands a tall artificial mountain, its rocks rugged and covered with moss, exuding a sense of ancient strength and simplicity;

Below the artificial hill is an exquisite pool with crystal-clear water. Several small fish with golden patterns swim leisurely in the water, their tails creating ripples that reflect the blue sky and white clouds above, swaying with the waves.

At the bottom of the pool is a small spring, from which a constant stream of fresh water gushes forth, carrying tiny bubbles that keep the pool water clear and vibrant. If you get close, you can even hear the gentle tinkling of the spring.

After giving Tang Shan a brief introduction to the courtyard, several maids filed out of the pavilion and stood neatly in front of Xue Qinghe and Tang Shan, bowing and saying, "Greetings, Your Highness, Greetings, Young Master."

These maids were exquisitely beautiful, with outstanding figures and graceful movements. Their clothes were embroidered with dark patterns, and they exuded gentle charm with every gesture.

Xue Qinghe frowned almost imperceptibly as he looked at Tang Shan: "I'm afraid these maids will interfere with your cultivation, so please remove them for now."

Tang Shan didn't think much of it, just glanced at the girls and nodded casually: "Your Highness can make the arrangements."

The girls in front of me were stunning, but they still paled in comparison to the beauties in the short videos of my past life.

After all, with the blessing of three or even four great evil arts in Asia, no matter what they look like in real life, what is displayed on the phone screen is a top-notch beauty who is all-natural, harmless, and seemingly without makeup.

Seeing that Tang Shan agreed, Xue Qinghe breathed a sigh of relief for some reason, and hurriedly told the ten girls in front of him to step back, as if he was afraid that Tang Shan would change his mind.

"Alright, this will be your residence in Tiandou City from now on. I need to go to the palace as soon as possible to report to my father, so I'll be leaving now."

There aren't many rules in the Prince's mansion, so feel free to do as you please. The cultivation resources will be delivered as soon as possible in the next few days.

"Thank you, Your Highness."

Tang Shan escorted Xue Qinghe to the gate of the courtyard and watched her figure disappear at the end of the path before turning back into the courtyard.

He plopped down on the stone bench by the pool, his fingertips resting on the cool edge, staring blankly at the few carp swimming in the water.

Finally, I arrived at Tiandou City. A brand new path of cultivation is about to begin. I wonder how far I will ultimately improve here.

Let your thoughts wander freely, let your ideas spread unrestrained, the sun overhead gradually sets in the west, its afterglow tinged with orange-red, casting long shadows of the rockery and pavilions onto the flower carpet and the pond surface.

The moon quietly climbed above the branches, casting a clear, bright glow that intertwined with the afterglow of the setting sun, covering the courtyard with a soft halo.

When Tangshan came to his senses, he realized that he had been daydreaming all afternoon. But when he thought about the feeling of his mind being free and unrestrained just now, he didn't feel that he had wasted his time practicing.

Feeling the peace within, the evening breeze brought the fragrance of flowers and the coolness of spring water. He slowly closed his eyes and began to reflect on his gains in cultivation over this period of time, while also establishing his goals for the next stage of cultivation.

P.S.: Thank you to Xiaoxiaorenne and Boluo Chuixuezhi Gudu Qiubai for the generous donations. I am extremely grateful. Thank you to reader 20250115081453561 for the 22 monthly tickets. I am overwhelmed by so many monthly tickets. On a side note, I just realized that everyone's donations to Qian Renxue are truly generous; more than half of them were for dying to save her. Also, these are all free words, so please don't worry.

Chapter 86: Cultivation Summary and Planning, Reports from the Imperial Palace (Please subscribe to read)

The previously set goal of researching and developing soul power has not made much progress. It is clear that I have underestimated the difficulty of creating my own soul skills. This goal can be put aside for now, and I can continue it in the future when I have a better understanding of soul power.

Aside from researching and creating my own soul skills, my current training actually consists of two things: one is soul power training and meridian research, and the other is internal martial arts training and the development and enhancement of physical qualities.

The former's meridians have already been expanded to the Hand Jueyin Pericardium Meridian. At this rate, I should be able to incorporate all twelve regular meridians into my soul power cultivation path within one or two years at most. The latter's bone and organ refinement will take about one or two months to be complete. This period should be enough for me to cultivate my soul power to level 20 and obtain my second soul ring.

After summarizing what he had gained during this period, Tangshan began to plan his next stage of spiritual practice.

First, there is the exploration of willpower. I need to find the ideology that best suits my mind, and then transform it into my own will, paving the way for the breakthrough of Dan Jin. As for Hua Jin, I have already filled my entire body with An Jin. All that is lacking is the continuous training of my physique. Breaking through Hua Jin is just a natural outcome.

Before reaching the third ring, achieving perfect neutralization of energy should be a sure thing.

In addition, when breaking through to the second ring, the experiment of will interference soul skill will continue to be carried out. It is unknown whether the soul skill "self-control" will play a special role in it.

Tang Shan looked up at the bright moonlight, his eyes slightly narrowed, his gaze full of thought.

He looked down at the carp in the pond, and a surge of soul power slowly emanated from between his fingers, gently probing into the water and creating ripples.

The carp in the pond were clearly startled by the sudden commotion and hurriedly darted away in the water.

Tang Shan smiled slightly, withdrew his hand, and shook off all the water droplets with a slight tremor, quickly drying his palm.

Instead of returning to his room, Tang Shan simply sat cross-legged by the pool and entered a meditative state.

The pure and refined soul power rises from the dantian, flows into the Lung Meridian of Hand-Taiyin, and then slowly flows in the order of the major meridians, transforming the free soul power absorbed from heaven and earth into a part of one's own cultivation, and steadily settling into the dantian.

His cultivation level steadily increased little by little in this cyclical flow of soul power, and his soul power became more and more refined and pure in this constant circulation.

A faint glow slowly emanated from Tang Shan, giving him a hazy, luminous appearance.

"Your Majesty, which prince do you favor more?"

Ning Fengzhi put down his teacup and looked at Emperor Xueye sitting opposite him.

"Of course I favor Qinghe. After all, he is the eldest son, and he is humble, gentle, and knows how to conduct himself properly."

Emperor Xueye put down the memorial in his hand and slowly opened his mouth to respond.

"However, the second brother is also quite good. He is steady and reliable in his work, which makes people feel at ease. Sect Master Ning, if it were you, what would you choose?"

"I will choose Qinghe."

Upon hearing Emperor Xueye's question, Ning Fengzhi did not hesitate for a moment and quickly gave his answer.

"Although our Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School is the second largest sect on the continent, we can only cultivate up to the seventh ring. Not every era has a powerhouse like Bone and Sword Douluo to serve as elders. Therefore, to sit on the position of sect leader, excellent social skills and a humble attitude are necessary conditions. For us, being tactful is far more important than being calm and composed. Moreover, true composure is based on thoroughness, and those who are too thorough often find it difficult to tolerate things that are beyond their control."

"Is that so?"

Emperor Xueye seemed to understand the deeper meaning behind Ning Fengzhi's words.

Xue Qinghe is humble and gentle. If he were to ascend to the throne, he would likely adopt a policy of appeasement, which would be the best option for the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School, which has no offensive capabilities.

As for the Second Prince Xue Shan, he appeared calm and composed in his dealings with others, but Ning Fengzhi saw through the strong desire for control hidden beneath that composure.

Otherwise, a truly calm and composed person would never establish their prestige in the army so quickly. Such eagerness to seize power would only arouse the suspicion of the current emperor.

If Xue Shan were to sit on that throne, as the ruler of a nation, how could he allow such a powerful force as the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School to exist under his command? At that time, he would inevitably gradually devour, control, and even force the sect to either submit or become adversaries.

Although the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School is unlikely to be destroyed given its current strength, it will certainly create an irreconcilable rift between the sect and the Heavenly Dou Empire.

"Let's wait for Qinghe to come back and see what he gained from this trip."

Emperor Xueye didn't say anything more, but he had already subconsciously lowered the possibility of Xueshan inheriting the position of Crown Prince or even the throne. After all, he knew very well that the reason why the throne of the Heaven Dou Empire had been stable to this day was largely due to the fact that all the emperors were good at socializing and maintained excellent relationships with the various kingdoms, duchies and even the Soul Master forces.

Otherwise, the royal family would not have any truly top-tier martial spirits, and the highest-ranking royal retainers they painstakingly cultivated would only be Soul Douluo, making it impossible for them to maintain their position for long.