I Transmigrated to Douluo and Split into Five People

"I suddenly feel that you seem more suited than I am to approach Dugu Yan. What do you think about going straight to propose marriage as the son of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's leader?"

Tian Rui grinned lewdly, leaving Ning Yulin speechless. However, Tian Rui was not finished.

"Just kidding. An Lan said you've already entered Qian Xunji's sight. Once he finds an opportunity to learn about the Immortal Herb from Chrysanthemum Douluo, you can use a marriage proposal as a pretext to approach her first, then find a chance to offer treatment. Everything will fall into place naturally. It'll be much easier than waiting around slowly like me, saving time and avoiding complications."

Setting feelings aside and talking only about the Immortal Herb, it did not seem impossible.

"We'll talk about it later. I'll find a way to get you a Storage Spirit Tool. Stay in Heaven Dou City for now, and we'll discuss things if anything comes up."

No meeting, then no meeting.

The two glanced at the other three's positions. There were no meaningful messages. An Lan and Tang Yin were cultivating, while Zhou Xuefeng was preparing to add a Second Spirit Ring to his Blue Silver Grass.

"How is this guy's Blue Silver Grass cultivating so quickly?"

Tian Rui found it strange.

"He has cheats."

Ning Yulin answered simply.

Zhou Xuefeng hesitated. Should he go to the Soul Hunting Forest again, or the Star Dou Great Forest?

Going to the Soul Hunting Forest meant applying for another Soul Hunting Warrant.

But only a little over five months, nearly six months, had passed since he registered as a Soul Master. Was it too fast to rise from Rank Sixteen to Rank Twenty?

The Martial Soul he had registered was Blue Silver Grass.

The Star Dou Great Forest had more types of Spirit Beasts, but it was dangerous. The Spirit Beasts were dangerous, and so were people.

After weighing his options, Zhou Xuefeng decided to go to the Soul Hunting Forest.

What was wrong with gaining four ranks of Soul Power in six months? No matter how quickly a useless Martial Soul like Blue Silver Grass cultivated, no one would pay much attention.

Things went exactly as Zhou Xuefeng expected. The application process was plain and uneventful. His Soul Power was tested, he met the requirements for Rank Twenty, and he was issued a Soul Hunting Warrant. Once the steward of the branch hall saw Blue Silver Grass listed in the Martial Soul section of his Soul Master handbook, he stopped paying attention.

"I hope no one has absorbed all the Spirit Beasts I found before. Leave a few for me."

During his earlier stay in the Soul Hunting Forest, Zhou Xuefeng had recorded the locations of many Spirit Beasts. He did not know how many remained. People entered and left the Soul Hunting Forest almost every day. He could only hope his luck was good enough for a few useful ones to be left behind.

For Blue Silver Grass's Second Spirit Ring, Zhou Xuefeng planned to continue building his foundation by increasing the quantity or strengthening the toughness of his Blue Silver Grass. Among them, the Adamant Vine was his favorite.

True to its name, Adamant referred to its toughness, as hard as steel and iron. Its hanging threads could split into countless slender vines, which could attack, defend, absorb nutrients, or root themselves in the ground and grow new small vines.

His other options included Solitary Bamboo, Ghost Vine, and the like. At this stage of laying his foundation, he would not consider animal-type Spirit Rings for the time being. But if he encountered some Spirit Beast with a heaven-defying bloodline first, then naturally he would strike first.

Zhou Xuefeng still had one Blue Silver Grass Spirit Ring slot in his plans, but that would have to be Blue Silver Grass that was over ten thousand years old. Only then would it bring a greater transformation to his Martial Soul. Below ten thousand years, the effect would be minimal.

After entering the Soul Hunting Forest, he headed straight for the several Spirit Beast locations he had marked before.

The first one was empty. The second one was gone. The third, the fourth...

He was disappointed but not discouraged. At worst, he would live in this forest for another half year or so. He refused to believe he could not find a suitable Spirit Beast.

As if the protagonist's luck had finally kicked in, the final location and final Spirit Beast had been left for Zhou Xuefeng. It was precisely his most "beloved" Adamant Vine.

Blue Silver Grass's Second Spirit Skill: Split

Zhou Xuefeng was not surprised that this Adamant Vine had remained until now.

It was extremely tough by nature. Ordinary blades and swords could hardly cut it down quickly, and it had the potential to become a forest from a single tree. The common weaknesses of Plant-type Spirit Beasts, such as fire and freezing, were all defended against by its outer thread vines. Ill-equipped Spirit Hunting Squads and lone Spirit Hunters had no way to deal with it, while those capable of handling it usually chose to seek stronger Spirit Beasts in the Star Dou Great Forest.

Although it was difficult to deal with, Zhou Xuefeng happened to have the means to do so.

He first circled it once and judged its age based on the area covered by its thread vines. A hundred years of cultivation covered one meter. It covered roughly eight meters. Once it surpassed a thousand years, the thread vines would gradually evolve into new Diamond Vines.

"Only a little over eight hundred years..."

"I can't worry about that now. I'll use it first."

Later, he could have the other four find higher-year Spirit Rings to overwrite it.

He summoned the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda. The original Fire Leopard Spirit Ring had already been overwritten by Ning Yulin's Crystal Black Tortoise, changing the Fire Element Attachment into a Water Element Attachment. Activating his Spirit Skill, he added the power of water to himself and controlled a sphere of water to wrap around his body, leaving only several tiny breathing holes.

He passed through the dense thread vines and crept toward the Adamant Vine's main body.

The thread vines noticed nothing. Some of the threads that failed to dodge in time touched the water sphere and merely wondered whether it was raining. Why was today's rain so strange? Why was it coming from below?

Once he crossed the covered area, the light inside became extremely dim. Tiny spots of light fell through gaps between leaves and vines, like swords of light piercing the darkness.

He increased his Soul Power output, enlarging the water sphere.

With the combined Soul Power of five people supporting him, Zhou Xuefeng and the others had output and sustained combat ability far beyond Soul Masters of the same rank. Two small cloth bags hung from his waist, filled with deliberately prepared iron filings and hard mineral fragments. He poured them all into the water sphere.

Under Zhou Xuefeng's control, the water sphere carried the iron filings and mineral fragments in rapid rotation, faster and faster.

Water Blade.

The water blades launched by machines in another world could reach speeds of six hundred to eight hundred meters per second. Zhou Xuefeng naturally fell far short of that, but cutting an opening at the base of this Adamant Vine was not a problem.

Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle, sizzle.

The outer threads trembled for a moment before becoming quiet again.

To a Diamond Vine of this size, such a small opening was nothing more than a mosquito bite.

With an opening made, Zhou Xuefeng acted quickly. He switched to his Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul and activated his First Spirit Skill, Growth. It took root in the wound and began to grow.

Having just been cut open, the Diamond Vine showed no reaction. There were already plenty of other parasitic species on its body. Zhou Xuefeng quickly withdrew beyond the thread vines' range, ensuring his own safety before fully driving the rooted Blue Silver Grass to grow rapidly.

Sensing a fatal threat, the adamant threads went into turmoil. Yet its low intelligence was insufficient to accurately locate the danger. It could only feel its energy and nutrients rapidly draining away.

Blue Silver Grass was exceedingly weak, and its parasitism was naturally hard to detect.

Someone was coming?

The surrounding Blue Silver Grass fed him information. Zhou Xuefeng turned his head, quickly climbed a tree, and imitated the aura of Blue Silver Grass to conceal himself. At the same time, he slowed the growth of the Blue Silver Grass parasitizing the Diamond Vine.

If the newcomers' target was the Diamond Vine, then he would let the Diamond Vine deal with them.

Fresh fallen leaves and decaying dead leaves crunched beneath their feet. Water squelched beneath their shoes. A group of four entered Zhou Xuefeng's field of vision.

Were they people from the Star Luo Imperial Family?

One of them wore the attire of an imperial prince. The other three were dressed differently, but they were likely powerful experts.

"This Diamond Vine doesn't suit me. Let's look for a tiger-type Spirit Beast instead."

"Yes."

Only after confirming that they had gone far away did Zhou Xuefeng resume dealing with the Diamond Vine, once more accelerating the growth of the parasitic Blue Silver Grass.

Could that person have been Dai Weisi?

He shook his head. Even if it was Dai Weisi, it had nothing to do with him now.

They struggled back and forth for over two hours.

The outer thread vines withered lifelessly and fell to the ground. The Diamond Vine still stood tall, but in truth, only a layer of skin remained. A stalk of green Blue Silver Grass swayed in the wind. Zhou Xuefeng summoned his Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul and absorbed the Blue Silver Grass created by his Growth Spirit Skill. He felt warm, surging energy nourish his entire body.

He unconsciously let out a moan. It felt amazing.

"No wonder some people take shortcuts. This feeling really is hard to resist."

Parasitizing and devouring were abilities of Plant Martial Souls. One careless step, and one could easily stray onto an evil path. The Diamond Vine's Spirit Ring rose up, and reason returned to Zhou Xuefeng. He quickly began absorbing it.

The Spirit Ring's energy entered his body. Zhou Xuefeng buried himself among the thread vines to hide his figure and slowly fused with it.

The absorption took another half hour.

He silently sensed the information within it. Perhaps because his Martial Soul had first devoured the Diamond Vine's energy and nutrients after absorbing the Spirit Ring, the Spirit Skill was a perfect fit. Its toughness had increased, living up to the name Adamant. Thread splitting... His First Spirit Skill could split out multiple Blue Silver Grass plants to grow, while another application was to directly split his Martial Soul into fine threads similar to those of the Diamond Vine, allowing him to control, bind, and attack.

"My Soul Power should be around Rank Twenty-Two now."

He summoned his Martial Soul and used the split threads to rummage through the Diamond Vine's remains. There was no Spirit Bone. Zhou Xuefeng shook his head and stood.

He turned to face several people not far away.

"Is there something you need?"

It was the group from before, the ones suspected to include a prince of Star Luo. They had returned at some point, and he did not know how long they had been standing there. When his Spirit Ring absorption ended, Zhou Xuefeng had already sensed their presence, but he had not made any rash moves.

"I never expected a Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul to possess such might. I am Dai Weisi. You seem quite young. Have you enrolled in a Soul Master Academy?"

It really was Dai Weisi?

Zhou Xuefeng frowned and considered it carefully. Joining Dai Weisi was not impossible. With his help, Zhou Xuefeng might develop faster, and approaching the Zhu Family would save him much trouble. But if Dai Weisi learned that he intended to deal with the Zhu Family, he likely would not let it go.

Simply eliminating the Duke's Mansion's steward and the others was not what Zhou Xuefeng wanted. What he wanted was to uproot the Duke's Mansion and the Zhu Family.

The Dai Family and the Zhu Family were a community of shared interests.

He would test the waters first.

"So it is the First Prince." Zhou Xuefeng clasped his fists and bowed. "I am honored by Your Highness's recognition. It would naturally be my honor to serve Your Highness. It is only that my innate rank is not high, so I fear..."

His innate rank was not high?

"What rank is it?"

"Two."

Rank Two? A useless Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul. There was no value in nurturing him at all. Dai Weisi shook his head, but since he had already spoken, leaving so directly would seem beneath him.

"That truly is regrettable."

Dai Weisi shook his head and gestured to those beside him. One of them reached into his clothes, took out a small cloth bag, and tossed it to Zhou Xuefeng. Zhou Xuefeng weighed it in his hand. There were around a hundred Gold Soul Coins inside.

"Consider this money a form of support. I hope you can cultivate your Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul into something worthwhile."

Tian Rui's New First Spirit Ring

Watching Dai Weisi leave, Zhou Xuefeng tucked the small cloth bag into his chest.

He left in another direction.

Seeking refuge with the Star Luo Empire's imperial family was not a very good choice. If Dai Weisi had seen something other than a Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul, then temporarily joining him and using the opportunity to gather information on the Zhu Family would have been possible. But joining with a Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul would gain him no support.

Besides, it was too far from the center of the story's development.

After taking revenge on the Zhu Family, Zhou Xuefeng planned to leave the Star Luo Empire. He still had to help the others find high-year Spirit Rings.

The sea, the Star Dou Great Forest, the Sunset Forest, and the Far North. He needed to gather information on all of them as soon as possible. There also seemed to be a New Continent, a landmass closer to Douluo Continent than Sun Moon Continent, and it was also a resource-rich treasure land.

After leaving the forest and returning to Mosen City, he looked back toward the Star Luo capital along the way. His second ring was complete. When would he be able to deal with the Zhu Family's problems? He wondered what effects the others' second rings would have.

Next, he planned to properly study the use of his Second Spirit Skill. Those split threads seemed capable of weaving themselves into other shapes. Moreover, after devouring the Diamond Vine's energy and nutrients, his Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul itself seemed to have improved somewhat, even without counting the Spirit Ring's enhancement.

Unfortunately, in order to kill the Diamond Vine as quickly as possible, he had wasted most of it.

Perhaps next, he could specifically seek out Plant-type Spirit Beasts to parasitize and devour, strengthening the origin of his Blue Silver Grass.

Seven Treasures.

Tian Rui's sudden words from then had lingered in Ning Yulin's mind for a long time.

Perhaps he really could go directly to propose marriage under the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's name?

However, Dugu Bo only had Dugu Yan as family now. He would definitely not be easy to communicate with. If Ning Yulin held the same status as Ning Rongrong and could command the two great enshriners, Sword Douluo and Bone Douluo, then there would be nothing to worry about. But although Ning Fengzhi valued his current status, using the Seven Treasures Sect's name to approach Dugu Bo was not feasible.

"Based on what we know now, Dugu Yan is nearly two years younger than us. She hasn't even awakened her Martial Soul yet."

If he showed up at her door to propose marriage, Dugu Bo would probably explode on the spot.

"Dugu Yan's condition might be much easier to resolve before she begins cultivating and adding Spirit Rings."

Countless ideas emerged in his mind, only to be rejected one by one.

He brought the matter directly into the space and discussed it with the other four.

"The grandfather and granddaughter were poisoned because of the mechanism by which Beast Spirits add Spirit Rings. They use poison and produce poison, and some of it accumulates within their bodies each time. Dugu Yan even carried potent poison from the womb, and it has already fused into her bloodline."

Ning Yulin tapped the table, looking toward the other four to ask whether they had any ideas.

Zhou Xuefeng proposed a method.

"Use snake venom to poison a snake. Snakes generally aren't poisoned to death by venom, because they possess antibodies to their own venom, unless they are naturally weak. They also have organs to store and transform toxins. The Jade Phosphorous Serpent—no, most venomous Martial Souls—probably produce toxins through Soul Power simulation at first. It isn't real poison. Only after adding Spirit Rings does it gradually begin to evolve. In that case..."

"If an organ similar to a venom sac were transplanted into their bodies, allowing the poison to complete another cycle within them, it might not only solve their poisoning problem, but perhaps even make the two of them the foremost poison Soul Masters in the world, allowing Dugu Bo to shed his nickname as the gatekeeper among Titled Douluo."