Crescent Sky Impact

Crescent Sky Impact

On the carriage, Xiao Yang sat cross-legged in meditation, communicating with his system.

He had received the system rewards back when he awakened his martial soul.

However, because of Qian Renxue's series of direct kidnapping operations, Xiao Yang had not even had time to see what his rewards were before two Titled Douluo "invited" him to Qian Renxue's quarters in the Crown Prince's Palace.

Then, throughout that night, Xiao Yang had been busy dealing with Qian Renxue's condition.

What Xiao Yang could be certain of was that Qian Renxue had come to the Heaven Dou Empire as an undercover agent when she was nine years old.

However, he was unclear on the exact details. The plot where Qian Renxue disguised herself as a maid and infiltrated Xue Qinghe's side for three years came from the comics, and the later animation had touched upon it somewhat as well.

But it was not part of the original novel.

Now that this had become a real world, the circumstances were even harder to predict.

Even though he was highly skilled and bold, Xiao Yang would still investigate everything thoroughly.

Given Xiao Yang's nature, he never fought an unprepared battle.

Honestly, in Xiao Yang's opinion, Qian Renxue's plan to infiltrate Heaven Dou was already stupid enough.

If they had delayed another three years before replacing Xue Qinghe, it would have been utterly idiotic.

How many variables could arise over those three years?

Moreover, the longer they delayed, the more familiar Xue Qinghe would become to everyone, and the more fixed his personality would be. That would only make impersonating him more difficult.

This sort of thing could only be done the earlier, the better.

After all, it was perfectly normal for a nine-year-old child's personality to change after a few years.

Conversely, the longer they dragged it out, the more disadvantageous it became and the greater the risk of exposure—not to mention delaying it by three whole years.

And events had unfolded exactly as Xiao Yang expected. At least in this world, Spirit Hall had acted directly, pulling off a switcheroo.

When Xue Qinghe went out to obtain a soul ring, they killed him outright. The guards and others accompanying him were eliminated as well, after which they used disguise techniques to replace them with Spirit Hall personnel.

Over the following years, they used all sorts of excuses to have those people die in the line of duty or retire, quietly replacing them without anyone noticing.

(The setting here follows the author's version. The original novel only mentioned infiltration and did not describe it in detail.

If there are slight differences, that can only be attributed to plot requirements and parallel worlds.)

However, none of that mattered much to Xiao Yang.

At the moment, he was busy reviewing his rewards.

He had received one Damage Transfer Card, one Bad Luck Card, two Opportunity Cards, and a signature skill of the God of Death: Flash Step.

As its name implied, the Damage Transfer Card could transfer any damage or side effects he suffered to his enemies. With it, Xiao Yang could cultivate the "Vajra Glazed Body" to his heart's content without restraint in the future.

Because the one suffering pain so intense they wished they were dead would not be him, but his enemies.

The Bad Luck Card was simple as well. As its name implied, it could make his enemies unlucky.

Xiao Yang had long decided who to use the Bad Luck Card on. Naturally, it would be Guardian Wu, the Novice Village boss.

If he did not set something up specifically for that guy, Xiao Yang would not even be able to sleep at night.

Then, Xiao Yang took out another Opportunity Card and crushed it. Specks of Golden Light merged into his body.

He immediately had the feeling that if he drew cards now, he would definitely pull gold every single time.

Xiao Yang nodded, then began comparing the cultivation levels of the two worlds.

Based on Xiao Yang's personal experience, he could now basically confirm that the first through tenth stages of Dou Qi corresponded to levels one through ten of Soul Power, which meant Soul Scholars with zero soul rings.

At this stage, people from the Douqi Continent needed to cultivate diligently through acquired effort.

Meanwhile, on the Douluo Continent, it depended on whether heaven chose to bless them with talent.

People like Tang San and Qian Renxue had powerful backers. Their innate Soul Power was directly maxed out, or even exceeded the limit.

But those without backing, like Xue Qinghe—even as the prince of an empire—still had poor cultivation talent if they had poor cultivation talent. He had only innate Soul Power at level three or four.

Then came one-ring Soul Masters. After Xiao Yang's confirmation, he found that because the Douluo Continent lacked systematic cultivation techniques, the quality of its Soul Power was far too poor. There was nearly a threefold gap between a Dou Zhe and a Soul Master.

In other words, a one- to three-star Dou Zhe was equivalent to a one-ring Soul Master; a four- to six-star Dou Zhe was equivalent to a two-ring Great Soul Master; and a seven- to nine-star Dou Zhe was equivalent to a three-ring Soul Grandmaster.

A one- to three-star Dou Shi was equivalent to a four-ring Soul Elder; four to six stars were equivalent to a five-ring Soul King; and seven to nine stars were equivalent to a six-ring Soul Emperor.

At the next stage, Da Dou Shi, Dou Qi underwent another qualitative transformation and became solidified. At the Soul Sage level, Soul Power within the body also became liquid, narrowing the quality gap between the two sides to a certain extent.

However, in terms of sheer quantity alone, Soul Sages held the advantage.

Thus, Da Dou Shi and Soul Sages were roughly equivalent.

A Dou Ling was roughly equivalent to a Soul Douluo.

As for Titled Douluo, their Soul Power transformed and solidified, erasing the gap between the two sides.

(Soul Sage Soul Power being liquid and Titled Douluo Soul Power being solid are official settings from the second part, The Unrivaled Tang Sect, not something the author made up.)

At this stage, a Titled Douluo's cultivation was basically on par with a Dou Wang's.

Moreover, Dou Wangs could fly, and Titled Douluo could fly as well. The gap between the two sides really was not that great.

However, a Titled Douluo stood at the pinnacle of Douluo Continent, yet on the Douqi Continent, they would probably only be on the level of a Jia Nan Academy graduate.

Against people like Lin Xiuya or Liu Qing, they would still get utterly crushed.

Just as countless thoughts ran through Xiao Yang's mind, the carriage carrying him and the Titled Douluo finally arrived at their destination—the Star Dou Great Forest.

After getting out of the carriage, the two of them strode straight inside without the slightest hesitation.

However, after taking only a few steps, a shrill, miserable screech rang out from deep within the forest.

Xiao Yang stopped and looked at She Long beside him. "Senior She Long, was that a cat's cry just now?"

She Long nodded as well.

"Meow!" Another high-pitched, piercing cry rang out. Vast swathes of vegetation rustled around them, as though an invisible gust of wind had swept past.

The next instant, a powerful, oppressive aura appeared in an instant. This pressure was filled with sharpness.

It was a civet-like soul beast, its fur pitch-black and patterned with a layer of emerald-glowing markings. It was over a meter long, far larger than an ordinary cat.

Without a doubt, it was a ten-thousand-year Tiger Demon Cat.

The reason the Tiger Demon Cat bore the word "demon" in its name was because it possessed dual wind and darkness attributes.

This was also one of the key reasons for its formidable offensive power.

Judging from the flowing cyan-green radiance on its body, this Tiger Demon Cat had not merely just entered the ten-thousand-year level. Based on its size, its cultivation was likely around twenty to thirty thousand years.

However, Xiao Yang felt that, judging from that miserable shriek earlier, this Tiger Demon Cat had likely encountered some natural predator and was fleeing for its life.

But to Xiao Yang, this Tiger Demon Cat was practically a soul ring delivered right to his doorstep.

A soul ring of around twenty to thirty thousand years would barely be sufficient as Zangetsu's first soul ring.