Chapter 100: Snake Lance Douluo's Ming Jin - A stage, Body Martial Soul Fusion progress 99% -
Time flowed quietly; with sunrises and moonsets, three days passed in the blink of an eye.
During these three days, Tang Shan had not touched a drop of water or a morsel of food. He remained like an ancient Buddha in deep samadhi, his entire being immersed in a state of Cultivation.
His Soul Power circulated without pause, madly swallowing the Origin Qi from heaven and earth, refining it into his own cultivation base, and gradually solidifying his foundation.
With a long, drawn-out breath, the fluctuations of his Soul Power slowly subsided, the circulation of his internal cycles gradually halted, and his consciousness pulled back from the deep perception of his will.
Tang Shan opened his eyes abruptly. It was as if immeasurable power surged within them. A will, condensed to the extreme, uncontrollably radiated outwards, giving people a sense of absolute abundance and the power to overturn rivers and seas.
Looking at the environment inside the tent, previous memories flooded his mind.
"I fell into a state of Deep Meditation. I didn't expect such gains after comprehending my will."
Tang Shan took a deep breath, and wisps of pure Origin Qi poured into his body through his pores, mouth, and nose. He stood up. Although he felt somewhat hungry and thirsty, normal movement was not a problem.
After all, he had only been in Deep Meditation for three days, not in the long-term state like Su Yuntao before; his body was basically maintained by the Origin Qi of heaven and earth.
"How were the gains?"
Walking out of the tent, he saw Snake Lance Douluo standing by the lake, holding a Snake Lance in his hand. His feet were planted in a steady Three-Body Stance, his body like a drawn bow, his hands like arrows ready to leave the string. He and the Snake Lance in his hand seemed to have fused into one.
The long lance in his hand was slowly pushed forward, his body rising and falling rhythmically with the slight swaying of the lance tip. Bursts of blood energy fluctuations emanated from his body; clearly, the other party's progress in standing post was very rapid.
Hearing the other party's question, Tang Shan replied: "The gains are substantial. My cultivation of my Martial Soul has taken a step forward, my physical fitness has been significantly strengthened, and my Soul Power is more condensed and pure."
"Good. You just finished your meditation. Fortunately, the time wasn't too long. Rest and recuperate, and you should be fully recovered by the afternoon. Then we will pursue the Diamond Mammoth in the direction it retreated."
Snake Lance Douluo's telepathic message rang in Tang Shan's ears.
"Understood, Senior."
Tang Shan nodded in agreement. He originally wanted to ask how many days he had been in Deep Meditation, but seeing Snake Lance Douluo concentrating on practicing Internal Martial Arts, and using telepathy to speak to prevent the leakage of breath, he decided it was better to wait until the other party finished practicing.
He restarted a campfire, heated some water, put in some dry rations he had brought with him, and ate and drank on his own, slowly adjusting his physical state.
Hum!
A low, vibrating sound rang out abruptly. Snake Lance Douluo's hands holding the long lance shook violently, then he thrust forward, his muscle rhythm conducting the movement.
This thrust was as fast as lightning. The Snake Lance was like a Martial Soul snake poking its head, a poisonous tongue flicking, drawing an eerie arc through the Void Realm, disappearing in the blink of an eye, and then suddenly appearing at a tricky angle, as if it had crossed the distance of space.
Tang Shan, sitting to the side, flashed his eyes and instantly saw the trick behind Snake Lance Douluo's lance strike.
"Congratulations, Senior, for comprehending Ming Jin - A stage."
Snake Lance Douluo closed his eyes slightly, feeling the special sensation of the lance strike he had just made. Relying on the guiding effect of his own will, almost instantly, he understood the influence and changes Ming Jin - A stage had on his combat. It could increase the force of his strikes by ten percent, and the loss of power during attacks was less than before. If controlled precisely, the disturbance caused to the air during attacks would be further reduced, making it even harder for opponents to defend against.
Hearing Tang Shan's congratulations, a complex smile appeared on Snake Lance Douluo's face: "This is all thanks to your teacher, Grandmaster. He created this special cultivation method, and I am just walking the path he pioneered."
A fleeting moment of awkwardness flashed across Tang Shan's face; after all, praising Grandmaster was the same as praising him.
Snake Lance Douluo did not notice Tang Shan's extremely brief expression change, but continued to silently comprehend the mysteries of Ming Jin - A stage.
As he said, it was precisely because he succeeded in the cultivation that he understood Grandmaster's extraordinariness even more. You know, Tang Shan might not know, but didn't he know his own strength?
He was a powerhouse at the Titled Douluo level, yet practicing this Internal Martial Arts could actually increase his striking power by ten percent and make his power circulation smoother. This was simply a miracle.
Snake Lance Douluo still underestimated the recovery ability of Tang Shan's own body, or rather, he still didn't truly understand the uniqueness of the Body Martial Soul.
When Tang Shan broke away from the state of Deep Meditation, from a mysterious intuition, he understood that he was 99% of the way to the first stage of Body Martial Soul cultivation goal—the true Fusion of body and Martial Soul, completely inseparable. As for that final 1%, according to his estimation, the day he absorbed his second Soul Ring would be the day he completed his first stage of cultivation.
Even though it was still 1% short, Tang Shan's own body had gradually begun to become non-human; he had initially acquired terrifying recovery power and self-healing ability for wounds.
The weakness caused by three days without food and drink was only mostly recovered by Tang Shan by noon that day. Therefore, after lunch, the two of them set out again on the road to find the Diamond Mammoth.
Entering the forest, this time, having witnessed Tang Shan's coping ability, Snake Lance Douluo did not stand by idly. Instead, a powerful Soul Power surged from his body, wrapping around Tang Shan. He carried Tang Shan and shuttled quickly through the dense Star Dou Great Forest. Whenever they encountered Soul Beasts that didn't know any better and came looking for a fight, he would slap them away with a burst of Soul Power, and then use his Lance Intent to intimidate them, preventing them from being thick-headed and continuing to bump into them.
The Star Dou Great Forest was truly the largest gathering place for Soul Beasts in the Douluo world outside of the ocean. Along the way, Tang Shan finally saw the diversity of Soul Beasts: a three-thousand-year-old Twin-Eyed Giant, a five-thousand-year-old Green Scale Snake, a three-hundred-year-old Dark Gold Bear, a ten-thousand-year-old Thousand Jin Ant...
These Soul Beasts that had some sense and perception basically gave a wide berth when facing Snake Lance Douluo. The only one that was relatively thick-headed, the Dark Gold Bear, was currently lying in Snake Lance Douluo's spirit tool, likely to become the two's dinner.
Chi gaga!
A somewhat familiar sound made Tang Shan subconsciously frown. Why did it sound like the cry of a monkey-type Soul Beast?
Snake Lance Douluo's powerful mental force radiated, exploring and sweeping into the distance. Soon, a flash of realization crossed his eyes.
"So that's how it is."
"Senior, what did you discover?"
Hearing Snake Lance Douluo's exclamation, Tang Shan asked. Clearly, the other party must have discovered something to say that.
"I found that group of Diamond Mammoths, and I also roughly understand why they migrated."
Next, Snake Lance Douluo told Tang Shan the results of his mental force investigation.
It turned out that not far away, there was a group of Diamond Mammoths. The leader of the herd was the 4900-year-old pure strength-attribute Soul Beast that the two had been looking for. At this time, the other party had no injuries, but its figure was clearly swaying a bit. Combined with the situation of a few monkeys of different species but very familiar types jumping around in the trees, the answer seemed self-evident.
Clearly, the monkey troop that Tang Shan encountered when he comprehended his will had clashed with these Diamond Mammoths for some reason. The final result was clearly that the monkey troop, dominated by the Multi-Brain Monkey, had won. The Diamond Mammoth was forced to migrate, and the herd leader had suffered great Spiritual trauma.
"No wonder I said that the Spiritual attack of the Multi-Brain Monkey, a top-tier Soul Beast, didn't seem particularly strong. This explains it."
Tang Shan understood a little. Before, he had some doubts. Even if his Body Martial Soul had its own Spiritual attribute, which was of great benefit to the growth of mental force during cultivation, it shouldn't have been that the Multi-Brain Monkey's Spiritual attack only caused him slight dizziness, right?
After all, one must know that even the Blue Silver Emperor was only the peak among top-tier Soul Beasts, but its vitality was enough to regenerate severed limbs. However, the Spiritual screech of the Multi-Brain Monkey, also a top-tier Soul Beast, didn't have much effect. Now, there was clearly a very good explanation.
The other party obviously used most of its mental force on that Diamond Mammoth. As a result, when it went back to collect the spoils, it encountered Tang Shan and Snake Lance Douluo, and eventually became the Opportunity for Tang Shan to condense his will.
As for the monkey-type Soul Beasts still jumping around on the trees, it was highly likely that the Multi-Brain Monkey had left them behind specifically to watch over the Diamond Mammoth herd. They hadn't yet received the news that their boss had sacrificed itself; otherwise, with the mischievous nature of monkeys, they would have likely scattered long ago.
One has to admit, although the Multi-Brain Monkey suppressed some of the innate abilities of the monkey-type Soul Beasts, the help it provided in increasing their wisdom definitely exceeded the innate abilities that were suppressed. Moreover, innate abilities could be restored when the Soul Beasts' intelligence gradually increased; they didn't disappear completely.
"Senior, what should we do?"
Tang Shan looked at the thigh beside him.
"I will take down that Diamond Mammoth in a moment. You hide in the tree to avoid being discovered by other Diamond Mammoths. Once we catch it, we will retreat a little further, and then you can kill and absorb it."
"Okay, Senior, I'll listen to you."
Tang Shan's eyes lit up, and he agreed. Then he found a big tree without hesitation, climbed up, and restrained his aura to avoid causing some small trouble for Snake Lance Douluo.
Regarding the other party's proposal, Tang Shan expressed that he was very happy to accept it. After all, there were many opportunities for tempering, and there was really no need to risk using the Soul Beast he was going to absorb for tempering.
Sometimes he really didn't understand the Shrek people in the douluo one era and douluo two era. They would find a target and let the students join forces to kill it, calling it a challenge for them to exercise their coordination abilities.
No, is absorbing a Soul Ring something that can be so childish? Especially since this time, Tang Shan followed Snake Lance Douluo into the Star Dou Great Forest to hunt Soul Beasts and obtain a Soul Ring, he expressed that he understood their operations less and less.
It's not easy to find a suitable Soul Beast, yet you are so relieved to let the students you worked hard to train fight with the Soul Beast.
Even if you are watching from the side and there is no crisis, what if the Soul Beast has a weird escape method and runs away directly? Won't you be in trouble then?
Tang Shan still approved of Snake Lance Douluo's way of hunting Soul Beasts. Usually, you can use Soul Beasts to practice, but when you encounter a Soul Beast you truly need, you should strive for a one-hit kill.