I Transmigrated into Douluo and Split into Five People

Only when they reached the end of Tang Chen and Yu Yuanzhen's path, with nowhere further to advance, might they consider developing a new route. But judging by their self-limiting attitudes, they would most likely believe their own talent was lacking, which was why they could not become figures like those two.

"Hey, little sis, up for the night? The moonlight is so bright—why waste time sleeping? Come, take two hammers from me!"

"Hey! Brother! Why are you running? It's not like I'm going to eat you! Come on!"

Tang Yin was having the time of his life.

Looking at what the employer had rummaged out of the Spirit Beast's corpse, Zhou Xuefeng could not help drawing in a sharp breath.

He had never imagined that their very first spirit hunting job, with a squad they had finally managed to find, would already end in collapse.

A Spirit Bone had dropped.

He turned to glance at Tian Rui, and their eyes met.

Something's wrong. Stay alert!

Got it.

The employer froze where he stood, holding the Spirit Bone. He was reluctant to give it to the Spirit Hunting Squad—it was something that could change one's fate. But if he refused, there were five people in the squad. Although two were support-type Spirit Masters, that control-type Spirit Master was anything but ordinary, having effortlessly restrained the Millennium Gale Wolf before them. As for himself...

His mind waged a fierce battle. In the end... he decided to gamble.

He immediately used Martial Soul Possession, clutched the Spirit Bone tightly against his leg, and leaped toward a tree.

"Heh heh! Idiot!"

The next moment, he lost all feeling in his legs. Unspeakable agony drowned his reason, and he collapsed onto the ground, howling. He struggled to turn over and saw Feng Ya approaching with the Gale Dagger in hand.

He threw out the Spirit Bone.

"The Spirit Bone... take it... take it! Spare my life. I promise..."

Feng Ya said nothing. He simply slit the man's throat. Bending down to pick up the Spirit Bone, his arm tensed. Then, suddenly gripping his Martial Soul in reverse, he flicked his wrist and sent two Wind Blades flying at Tian Rui and Zhou Xuefeng.

"Tch."

Several Blue Silver Grass vines shot from the ground and pierced Feng Ya's body. They tightened and tore apart, instantly reducing him to chunks scattered across the ground.

The other two support-types...

Feng Ya had already dealt with them before attacking the employer.

"Sigh, it was only a Millennium Gale Wolf left leg bone. If you wanted it, couldn't you have just taken it? Why did you have to attack us too?"

Zhou Xuefeng did not have the Blue Silver Grass devour the four Spirit Masters' bodies. Recycling waste was all well and good, but he feared that once he opened the door to devouring humans, he would be unable to stop himself. It was not that he rejected devouring others to become stronger. It was simply that, judging from the Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul in the original story, devouring humans for cultivation did not seem to end well.

He controlled the Blue Silver Grass to dig a pit and buried the four bodies. At least they were all human; they deserved to rest in peace. If other Spirit Beasts dug them up and ate them afterward, that would no longer be Zhou Xuefeng's fault.

"If Heaven gives and one does not take it, one will suffer the consequences. What is ours will be ours in the end."

Tian Rui efficiently picked up the Spirit Bone, used Martial Soul Possession to burn the bloodstains off it, and stuffed it into the Storage Spirit Tool. Although the five of them had no use for it, they could trade it for money later or use it to cultivate their own people.

Vicious Cycle

"Let's go."

After cleaning up the scene, Zhou Xuefeng called out, and Tian Rui rose to his feet.

Afterward, the two joined several more Spirit Hunting Squads, but they seemed to have fallen into some cursed vicious cycle.

Over more than half a year, they joined five squads. Five Spirit Bone conflicts.

The two also acquired three Century Spirit Bones—two left arm bones and one right leg bone—as well as two Millennium Spirit Bones, one skull bone and one right arm bone. Together with the Gale Wolf left leg bone from before, they had six in total.

Not a single squad had calmly discussed who the Spirit Bone should belong to.

The moment a Spirit Bone appeared, they would turn their blades on those beside them and seize it directly.

The two were pleased to have the luck to obtain Spirit Bones, but they were dissatisfied with the age and species of the Spirit Beasts that produced them.

"Sigh, forget it. Let's just do this ourselves."

Too lazy to keep looking for other squads, the two simply formed their own Spirit Hunting Squad. However, their appearances were not very convincing for a Spirit Hunting Squad and gave employers little sense of security. Though the squad existed, they never received much work.

The two could only adventure on their own.

They relied on luck to search for Spirit Beasts suited to the Martial Souls of their group of five, or exchanged information with nearby Spirit Hunting Squads to obtain intelligence from them. Although they kept recording information about Spirit Beasts, that was merely incidental. Their true goal was to cultivate to level thirty as quickly as possible. Only after acquiring their Third Spirit Rings could they truly begin to leave the ranks of low-level Spirit Masters.

Only then would they gain a modest foothold in the world of Spirit Masters.

Then they could each begin doing what they needed to do.

"Could we really be cursed? Whenever we team up with others, Spirit Bones drop one after another. But when it's just us, we can't find a damn thing?"

After killing a Red Wolf that had come looking for trouble, Tian Rui searched through its corpse but found no trace of a Spirit Bone. This left him thoroughly puzzled. The two had wandered the forest for a month or two. Though they had not deliberately hunted Spirit Beasts, they would not intentionally spare those that came to them hoping to make a meal of them.

The strong lived; the weak died.

They had killed no fewer than ten, yet had not found a single Spirit Bone.

Not far away, Zhou Xuefeng casually responded while holding the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda. He dug several crimson ore chunks from beside the wolf den, examined them for a moment, then put them into the Storage Spirit Tool.

Beyond its support abilities, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda was best known for its ability to appraise and seek treasures. Between battles and cultivation, the two took turns using the Glazed Pagoda to sense for "treasures" nearby.

They had gained a few scattered finds.

Most were strange minerals. Other items were rare. Occasionally, they picked up some Gold Soul Coins or weapons left behind by others.

"Do you think we should take a look deeper inside?"

At present, the two were only wandering within the territory of Millennium Spirit Beasts. The highest-aged Spirit Beast they had encountered was merely a three-thousand-year Long-Haired Lion. It was not impossible for older Spirit Beasts to appear, but the odds were very low. Zhou Xuefeng wanted to visit the areas inhabited by Ten Thousand Year Spirit Beasts. More people died there, so perhaps they would make new discoveries.

Looking at Tian Rui, Zhou Xuefeng said,

"Let's treat it as scouting ahead for Ten Thousand Year Spirit Rings."

"Sure."

After considering it for a moment, Tian Rui agreed. Given the strength of their Martial Soul Fusion Skill, they should not die unless they were instantly killed upon meeting an enemy or encountered a rare Spirit Beast with a mental attribute.

A few days later.

"We're going to die, we're going to die, we're going to die!"

"Run, run, run!"

The two sped through the forest like the wind, giant trees and wild grass vanishing rapidly at their sides as they fled for their lives.

They had never imagined that the first Ten Thousand Year Spirit Beast they encountered would nearly take their lives with a single strike. The Blue Silver Fine Threads that could easily bind a Spirit Elder, along with the tough Blue Silver Grass, had been snapped apart by sheer brute force. Tian Rui tried to use fire to buy time for their escape, but with the current intensity of his flames, all they left on the creature was a slight scorch mark, like a single strand of hair had been burned away.

It was a Spirit Beast resembling an Ironback Strength Ape. It looked somewhat like a Silverback Gorilla from their previous life, but it was three entire sizes larger. Its palm could probably squeeze out everything they had excreted yesterday in one grab. More importantly, while a silverback's highly developed pain nerves made it fear pain despite its great combat power, this Ironback Strength Ape was instead driven into a frenzy by pain.

Zhou Xuefeng's hands moved like a failed spider, firing countless Blue Silver Fine Threads that wove into a web in an attempt to hold it back, but it was of little use.

Seeing that the Golden Feather Luan Bird's flames were ineffective, Tian Rui switched to the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Martial Soul. Electricity crackled from his hands as he wrapped it around a decent short blade he had picked up, improvising on the spot as he tried to make an Electromagnetic Cannon.

"Got it! This way!"

Through his shared senses with the Blue Silver Grass, Zhou Xuefeng detected the location of another Ten Thousand Year Spirit Beast and changed direction.

They would lure the one behind them over there and let the snipe and clam fight, then escape while they were distracted. If they kept running like this, they would never outrun the thing.

"Alright!"

Tian Rui answered, turning around and firing the incomplete Electromagnetic Cannon. An orange-red beam instantly struck the Ironback Strength Ape in the chest, blasting open a bloody crater the size of a fist.

Beating its chest and roaring in fury, the creature leaped and landed directly in front of them.

Zhou Xuefeng raised his hand and pushed his Soul Power to its maximum output. A wall of Blue Silver Grass rose up, blocking the Strength Ape's vision. With one hand, the ape uprooted a giant tree and swept it across, blowing away the grass wall. Behind it, however, was a small azure dragon more than two meters long, rising into the air and speeding away.

"Roar, roar, roar!"

The Strength Ape dug both hands into the ground, gouging out chunks of soil, then squeezed them into solid projectiles. Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! The two dodged at their limit—S-shapes, springs, balls.

They shifted into all kinds of shapes to evade the soil missiles.

"Faster, faster, faster."

Lightning and thunder flickered faintly around the Azure Dragon, its speed surging as it rushed toward the location of the other Ten Thousand Year Spirit Beast.

The Ironback Strength Ape followed close behind.

The two had merely found the other's little ape somewhat cute and teased it a little, yet it was now chasing them with such relentless determination.

After dodging around a tree canopy, they spotted the other Ten Thousand Year Spirit Beast.

It was a Ghost Tiger of over twenty thousand years, currently feeding. Quietly ending their Martial Soul Fusion Skill, the two hid within the canopy. Their hearts pounded violently, but they did not dare breathe too loudly and held their breath with all their might. Zhou Xuefeng quietly controlled the Blue Silver Grass to curl around a branch, then viciously jabbed the Ghost Tiger right in the ass.

"Awooo~"

With a painful howl, the Ghost Tiger spun around and saw the Ironback Strength Ape pushing through the grass and bounding toward it from afar. Without another word, it charged forward to fight!

Relying on its bloodline talent, superior speed, and ability to conceal its aura, it circled the Ironback Strength Ape, occasionally pouncing and biting.

After several exchanges, the Ironback Strength Ape was covered in wounds and looked utterly miserable.

Yet in the next moment, the Ghost Tiger seemed to throw itself into a trap, charging straight into the Ironback Strength Ape's hands. It was grabbed by its hind legs and violently slammed around until blood flowed from its nose and mouth. Its eyes grew unfocused, its breath faint, and it seemed to have little life left.

"This Spirit Beast is pretty good. It doesn't have any special attribute, but its attack and defense are both high. It would suit the Clear Sky Hammer very well."

The Ironback Strength Ape's performance was astonishing. With just over ten thousand years of cultivation, it had killed a Ghost Tiger that was ten thousand years older so easily. Tian Rui nodded. The two relaxed their auras, breathing heavily as they calmed their racing hearts.

This feeling of dancing on a knife's edge, with adrenaline surging through their veins, was simply intoxicating.

No wonder so many people in their previous life enjoyed extreme sports.

Annual Gathering

"This is what happens when you stack base attributes. Other people's skills barely hurt, but one basic attack from you can take half their life."

Zhou Xuefeng spoke quietly. The Ironback Strength Ape's performance gave him another idea for developing Blue Silver Grass.

If he had no other Martial Souls, then Blue Silver Grass would need to focus on combat ability. But now, he did not have Blue Silver Grass alone. He could fully stack the Life Attribute of Blue Silver Grass. If he remembered correctly, Tang Hao had once told Tang San about Ah Yin's true ability. That was the true meaning of wildfire never fully burning away, while spring winds brought new life again.

Unless Ah Yin wished it herself, even if her physical form was destroyed, she could revive forty-nine days after death. Of course, that was assuming no divine skills entered the picture. It was like Bibi Dong's ninth skill of the Death Spider Emperor, Immortal Body.

However, stacking the Life Attribute did not mean abandoning other aspects. Otherwise, merely having tenacious vitality would be useless. Ah Yin was strong enough, right? With the Blue Silver Domain, she was practically impossible to kill, yet she had still been forced by circumstances to sacrifice herself to Tang Hao.

While enhancing vitality, he also had to make up for weaknesses. Fire, freezing, wind, lightning, and so on.

The general direction could follow the original plan without issue. He merely needed to make slight changes in the choice of Spirit Rings.

"Let's go. We'll head somewhere else."

Ten Thousand Year Spirit Beasts were too dangerous, so the two decided to return to their previous range of activity. It would be better to find five- or six-thousand-year Spirit Beasts and face opponents of roughly equal strength.

Before they knew it, the year's end was approaching.

The two had spent so long in the forest that their once neat short hair had become wild, tangled locks, casually tied into high ponytails with Blue Silver Grass.

"I'm already level twenty-nine. What about you?"

After finishing that day's cultivation, Zhou Xuefeng calculated his Soul Power Level. In a little over half a year, he had advanced by more than seven levels of Soul Power. In other people's eyes, that was no longer talent—it was monstrous.

By Zhou Xuefeng's own standards, this cultivation speed was perfectly normal.

After using his First Spirit Skill, the Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul could independently undergo simulated cultivation, and the energy it cultivated could feed back to Zhou Xuefeng. Zhou Xuefeng himself could cultivate at the same time, which was equivalent to the results of two people cultivating.

However, the biggest reason for his rapid growth was the energy and nutrients from other Plant-type Spirit Beasts that Blue Silver Grass had devoured. Cultivation had accumulated about four levels of Soul Power, but split between the two of them, that meant only around two levels for each. Devouring, on the other hand, had increased him by more than three levels. If he let it devour without restraint, he could improve even faster.

"I'm only level twenty-five."

Tian Rui answered flatly. He was neither discouraged nor disheartened. He was a normal person and did not compare himself to monsters. His cultivation speed was what normal cultivation looked like.

Zhou Xuefeng had long since made specific plans for his Third Spirit Ring.

He would still follow his previous goal and seek Earth Element and Water Attribute Spirit Rings. He did not know whether anyone in this world had researched the five elements, but based on what the five of them thought and his own deductions, choosing those two attributes could nourish his first two Spirit Rings.

For these two attributes, he would prioritize animal-type Spirit Beasts. Though plant-type Spirit Beasts with water and earth attributes existed, they were not easy to find. By comparison, animal-type Spirit Beasts with those two attributes were more common.