King Ball

Deep in the cave, Tang Feng crouched before a small mound of earth, a glowing gemstone in his hand.

A Blue Silver Emperor about two feet tall grew atop the mound. It extended a leaf and brushed Tang Feng's cheek.

Gentle fluctuations of spiritual power came from it, and Tang Feng felt that everything around him was peaceful and warm.

It was like resting his head in a young woman's lap while her warm little hand stroked his cheek.

Soft and fragrant.

"Yasashii ne~"

All the suffering he had endured over the past year was comforted in that moment.

All of it had... been worth it!!!

After a brief moment of tenderness, Tang Feng took the leaf from his cheek and asked,

"I can feel the same blood flowing through me as yours, the blood of the Blue Silver Emperor."

"So you're my..."

"Mom?"

Across two lifetimes, aside from calling women on the other end of voice chat "Mom" in games as an orphan in his previous life, Tang Feng had hardly ever called anyone else that.

He had basically started this life as an orphan too, and had it even worse than in his previous life. He couldn't even get meat to eat, only two bowls of thin porridge a day. It was a miracle he had grown this big.

With Ah Yin's unreserved tenderness on top of that, Tang Feng finally couldn't hold back and called her Mom.

Honestly, it felt a little awkward.

Tang Feng scratched his head, unsure what to say.

After thinking for a moment, Tang Feng began telling her about his past.

How he had gotten through the years when he couldn't care for himself with the villagers' help, and how that bastard Tang Hao had ordered him around once he was a little older.

And how differently he had been treated after awakening Blue Silver Grass.

Finally, he had fled his family of origin, awakened his bloodline by accident, and come here by a stroke of fortune.

Taking a deep breath, Tang Feng went on,

"Anyway, if I have time in the future, I'll come see you again."

"My Martial Soul is a mutated Blue Silver Emperor, and it's undergone a Second Awakening thanks to the Blue Silver King. The blood in my body might be of some use to you."

"Just one drop. Don't refuse."

Tang Feng cut his finger and squeezed a drop of blood onto Ah Yin's leaf.

After that, Tang Feng began searching for Ah Yin's Soul Bone.

Tang Feng didn't actually know whether the Soul Bone was here, but considering Ah Yin was, there was a good chance it was too.

Ding!

Tang Feng pressed in a section of the cave wall, and a black box dropped from above. He caught it securely, and feeling its weight in his hands, he knew he had the Blue Silver Emperor Right Leg Bone!

He opened the lead box, and a gentle, familiar presence washed over him. Holding his breath, Tang Feng stared intently at the right leg bone inside. Its entire length was a translucent blue-gold, and it gave off flecks of blue light.

He carefully took it out. The Soul Bone felt warm in his palm, not cold.

He pressed the Blue Silver Emperor Right Leg Bone against his right leg. The Soul Bone transformed into strands of blue light streaked with gold and merged into Tang Feng's right leg. He felt no discomfort at all; on the contrary, Tang Feng felt thoroughly at ease.

Sitting cross-legged on the ground, Tang Feng circulated his Soul Power and carefully felt the changes in his body.

Meanwhile, after absorbing Tang Feng's drop of blood, Ah Yin's entire plant trembled slightly. Some change seemed to be taking place inside her, one that was hard to perceive with the naked eye.

Early the next morning, after clearing away every trace he had left and restoring everything to its original state, Tang Feng used the Blue Silver Emperor Right Leg Bone's Soul Bone Skill to fly out of the Swordbreak Mountain Range at a low altitude.

Just last night, with nothing else to do, Tang Feng had used the fishing attempts he had saved up over the past year.

Twenty levels of Soul Power, plus twelve months in a year.

That gave him twenty-two fishing attempts in total. Tang Feng had used twenty and caught a "King Ball," a cultivation technique for divine sense called the "Great Evolution Art," and some miscellaneous items.

[Current fishing attempts: 2]

[King Ball (adapted): guarantees the capture of any creature. A captured creature whose Soul Power Level does not exceed the user's by more than ten levels will be absolutely obedient and absolutely loyal. When it exceeds the user's level by more than ten, it may disobey, kill its master, and so on.]

["Great Evolution Art" (adapted): seven layers in total. Each layer cultivated to perfection increases divine sense by fifty to eighty percent. At the perfection of all seven layers, divine sense increases severalfold again.]

Tang Feng had cultivated the Great Evolution Art right away. Compared to spiritual power in the Douluo World, which was fuck-all use—Soul Masters outside the spiritual system couldn't even spread their divine sense and couldn't see a thing if their eyes were blinded—the Great Evolution Art was fucking awesome.

(Little Scumbag's Spiritual Detection relied mainly on the Blue Silver Domain and Purple Demon Eye. Where there was no Blue Silver Grass, he was blind too, with eyesight beyond ordinary people at best.)

The ability to spread his divine sense alone could raise Tang Feng's combat power considerably.

That was without mentioning the other uses of powerful divine sense.

And the King Ball was a god among gods. He could capture anyone with low Soul Power on the spot, and they would obey him completely. It was basically a hypnosis app.

As for those with high Soul Power, as long as the King Ball hit them, whether they were a level ninety-nine Limit (Peerless) Douluo or a God King, they could all get in the ball.

As long as Tang Feng didn't release them of his own accord, they would be sealed away forever.

As for killing their master? How could they do that if he didn't let them out?

With the King Ball, Tang Feng had some protection even if he encountered a Titled Douluo.

"Maybe I can try my luck in Heaven Dou City."

Heaven Dou City, capital of the Heaven Dou Empire.

Outside the city, at the gates of the Heaven Dou Royal Academy, twenty kilometers away from Heaven Dou City.

Dressed in a splendid, close-fitting outfit, Tang Feng walked onto the academy grounds.

The two students guarding the gate didn't stop Tang Feng when they saw him. Instead, they smiled and nodded in greeting.

He was splendidly dressed, handsome and imposing, with an unmistakably arrogant bearing. One look was enough to tell he wasn't some country bumpkin trying to sneak into the academy. There was no need to ask any questions.

Once inside, Tang Feng followed a mountain path, looking for Dugu Yan. This was where the Great Evolution Art came in handy: he spread his spiritual power outward, taking in everything within a li of wherever he went.

Halfway up the mountain, the Main Campus came into view, magnificent and imposing, like a fortress.

And Tang Feng finally found Dugu Yan, as well as Dugu Bo beside her.

"What a coincidence. Now I don't need to capture Dugu Yan. I can capture Dugu Bo directly."

"As for how..."

"Sister Yanyan! Sister Yanyan!" Dugu Yan heard someone ahead seemingly calling her. Though the voice wasn't familiar, she looked over anyway, and Dugu Bo also turned toward the sound.

A very good-looking little boy was holding an orange-yellow ball and running toward Dugu Yan, calling for Sister Yanyan as he came.

I don't know him. He's probably one of my little admirers at the academy.

That was Dugu Yan's first thought upon seeing Tang Feng.

As a genuine genius of the Heaven Dou Royal Academy, with a grandfather who was a Titled Douluo to boot, Dugu Yan was surrounded by admirers at school. It was perfectly normal for her to have little male fans.

"Sister Yanyan, I found a way to cure your poison."

Hearing him mention curing poison, Dugu Bo thought he meant countering Dugu Yan's snake venom and said with a smile,

"Yan Yan, looks like it's a junior who likes you."

Dugu Yan was a little confused. What poison was he talking about curing?

Before she could speak, Tang Feng quickly continued,

"Didn't you say last time that at midnight, you get excruciating, needle-like pains at the crown of your head and over your heart? I went out of my way to find a Detoxification Pearl in my family, guaranteed to—"

Before Tang Feng could finish, Dugu Bo, who had still been smiling, swiftly wiped the smile from his face. His presence erupted as he said coldly,

"Kid, what did you say?!"

The pressure of a Titled Douluo rooted Tang Feng to the spot.

Dugu Bo hurriedly questioned Dugu Yan. It didn't matter if he himself was poisoned, but if his precious granddaughter was poisoned too, that would really be the end. The agony that bored into his heart and gnawed at his bones every night was no easy thing to endure.

"Yan Yan, is what he said true? Do you get severe pain at the crown of your head and over your heart at midnight every night?"

"No, Grandpa." Dugu Yan was dumbfounded. She had no idea what the person in front of her and her grandfather were talking about.

"I sleep just fine."

Seeing that his precious granddaughter didn't seem to be lying, and that Tang Feng looked as if he had been scared into wetting himself, Dugu Bo reached out. Soul Power surged, drawing the King Ball from Tang Feng's hand into his own palm. His killing intent was chilling as he said,

"Kid, who sent you?"

The King Ball had already made contact with Dugu Bo. All fear vanished from Tang Feng's face, and his lips moved as he said softly,

"Capture!"