Douluo: Martial Soul Iron-Eating Beast, Never a Slave

Dugu Bo, standing beside him, was equally startled. Zhao Mu's claw strikes had not been weak; they could easily sever a Nine-Section Jade, so killing someone would naturally be even easier. Yet over the past few days, Dugu Bo had already gotten a fairly good grasp of all Zhao Mu's soul skills. They were nothing more than the various forms of that bear.

Could that move from earlier, like the bear's bizarre techniques, have been something Zhao Mu developed himself?

Looking at Zhao Mu, Dugu Bo could not help muttering inwardly, Just how was this second brother's brain wired?

Unlike the utterly baffled Dugu Bo, Zhao Mu had a suspicion.

Claw strikes, considerable attack power, combined with his previous blind tinkering...

The answer slowly surfaced...

The Nine Yin Bone-Clawing Skill?!

More accurately, it should have been a simplified version of the Nine Yin Bone-Clawing Skill.

The Nine Yin Bone-Clawing Skill could pierce through bone. With Zhao Mu's already formidable Soul Power, naturally he could use it to deal with a Nine-Section Jade.

He only had the circulation route, but not the actual technique.

Soul Power on the Douluo Continent could be converted and used similarly to internal energy from martial arts novels. That had already been proven through Tang San.

When Tang San's Soul Power Level had been in the thirties or forties, the Tang Sect's string of ultimate techniques had already been ridiculously powerful. Now that Zhao Mu had reached level fifty, how could his Soul Power—his internal energy—be weaker than Tang San's?

Furthermore, Heibai had absorbed so many Immortal Herbs, and quite a bit of their energy had been passed on to Zhao Mu. If this were a martial arts world, Zhao Mu's internal energy would definitely be insanely powerful. So it was not strange for Mu'er to pull off a little martial arts technique, right?

But did memorizing internal cultivation manuals actually work?

Or was Zhao Mu simply not normal to begin with, impossible to judge by ordinary standards?

"This should be some kind of combat technique I developed myself..." After pondering for a long while, that was the only explanation Zhao Mu could give Dugu Bo.

Dugu Bo could understand that. After all, many powerful soul masters and clans developed skills that were not soul skills in order to enhance their strength.

To say nothing else, the Clear Sky Sect's Clear Sky Nine Absolutes and Luanpifeng were the most typical examples.

Now that they had become sworn brothers, Zhao Mu was family. The stronger Zhao Mu became, the more it proved that Dugu Bo's investment had been the right one, and the greater his future returns would be!

It was just a pity about the Nine-Section Jade...

Damn it, after compensating them with the Dan Pearl, he had also lost a Nine-Section Jade!

Why had he been so damn itchy-fingered and sent a snake to ambush them?!

Having settled on an explanation for the unexpected situation, Zhao Mu's gaze fell upon the Nine-Section Jade in Dugu Bo's hand.

"Since it's dead anyway, don't waste it. Let's stew it!"

Dugu Bo: "..."

"That thing is highly venomous!"

"I'm poison-immune. Are you afraid?"

"Of course I'm not afraid! It's just a little snake venom. I'm the Poison Douluo!"

"Is Yan Yan afraid?"

Dugu Yan froze when the topic abruptly shifted to her. Then she slowly said, "I don't think I'm afraid of poison either..."

After her Martial Soul Evolution into the Calamity Poison Dragon, Dugu Yan possessed a weakened version of the Woeful Poison Body and was practically immune to all poisons.

"Then let's get to it!"

Bear wants some too, roar~

Having lost his opponent, Heibai had reverted to his ordinary form and toddled over on his short legs. His eyes rolled eagerly as he stared at the Nine-Section Jade in Dugu Bo's hand.

"You want to eat everything! Aren't you supposed to eat bamboo?"

Bears are omnivores, roar~

Heibai explained with a series of roars.

"There's only this much Nine-Section Jade. If you eat it, there won't be any left for anyone else! Go eat your bamboo!"

The Nine-Section Jade could be split among three people, with three sections each.

How could they divide it if they added a bear?

The problem was not scarcity, but unfairness. Heibai could only suffer a little.

As he spoke, Zhao Mu patted Heibai's rear and drove him aside.

As Heibai walked away, he looked at his claws. Suddenly, he wanted to learn Zhao Mu's claw strike. Once he mastered it, peeling bamboo for food would become much faster.

A day had limited time. If he spent less time eating, he could spend more time sleeping!

Roar~

After sending Heibai away, Zhao Mu and the other two began planning what to do with the Nine-Section Jade.

"My grandfather is the best at making snake soup..."

"Then we'll let Big Brother cook."

Dugu Bo shot Zhao Mu and Dugu Yan a resentful glance. So both the ingredients and the cook were him, while those two only needed to bring their mouths.

Though he thought that, Dugu Bo ultimately got to work.

Zhao Mu had already cut the Nine-Section Jade into sections, which saved him some effort.

All that remained was to blanch the snake pieces in hot water to remove the blood and impurities, then take them out and rinse them clean with fresh water.

He placed the blanched snake meat into a soup pot, added lean pork, chicken pieces, water, rice wine, chunks of ginger, and scallion segments, then brought it to a boil over high heat. After skimming off the foam, he lowered the heat and simmered it until the snake meat became tender.

Once it had finished simmering, he removed the scallions and ginger, added refined salt and MSG for seasoning, and it was ready to serve.

Because the Nine-Section Jade was rather tough, it needed to simmer a little longer. It took the three of them over an hour to finish the snake soup.

After finally finishing their work, each of them served a bowl and began eating.

Snake meat was naturally delicious, and the Nine-Section Jade was no ordinary snake. Its flavor was even more exceptional.

"This snake soup is really good. Poisonous things often taste great."

"The ingredients aren't the key. The key is my cooking! A dignified Title Douluo is making snake soup for you!"

As the three chatted and ate, they completely failed to notice a pair of resentful eyes watching them from nearby.

Fine, eat if you want, but can you be quiet, roar~

Could you stop smacking your lips while eating, roar~

You're going too far, roar~

Furious and sulking, Heibai immediately snapped the Thunder-Striking Bamboo in his hands into two pieces with a savage pull of his paws.

After eating, the body instinctively wanted to relax and rest.

Having eaten two bowls of snake soup and now lying on the ground, Zhao Mu finally understood why Heibai always liked to sleep after eating. It really was comfortable.

Eat, sleep, sleep, eat. Suddenly, he wanted to live that kind of life too.

"Second Brother, each of your soul skills corresponds to one of Heibai's transformations. Have you ever tried using soul skills simultaneously? Fusing different forms together?"

Dugu Bo, who was likewise lying in an open patch of ground not far from Zhao Mu, suddenly asked.

"Using soul skills simultaneously and attempting to fuse forms? Of course I thought about it. I just never had the chance to try."

As for this, Dugu Bo was not the only one who had considered it. Zhao Mu himself had thought of it as well, but he had never had the time to put it into practice.

Just think about it. In just over a year since Awakening his Martial Soul, Zhao Mu had gone from Innate Full Soul Power to fifty-level Soul Power. He had risen by a full forty levels. How busy had he been?

But now that Dugu Bo had brought it up, Zhao Mu felt an urge to give it a try.

There was nothing else to do at the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well for the time being anyway.

And with Dugu Bo beside him now, even if something unexpected happened, Dugu Bo could put out the fire in time.

Once he decided, Zhao Mu immediately climbed to his feet.

"But since Big Brother brought it up this time, I really do want to try."

With that, Zhao Mu slowly walked over to Heibai and gave his big rear a kick, waking him from his sleep.

Heibai wiped his mouth with a forepaw as though wiping something away, then let out two roars at Zhao Mu.

Why disturb a bear's sleep, roar~

"Sleeping right after eating is bad for your body. Get up and move around. Practice a little."

Practice after sleeping, roar~

Heibai unwillingly tried to bargain.

"Get up. Practice once, and I'll give you one Thunder-Striking Bamboo!" Zhao Mu offered Heibai a clear price.

Heibai sat up, raised both arms, and roared stubbornly.

Iron-Eating Beasts never surrender!

Can you stop using bamboo to test a bear's resolve, roar~

One minute later, Heibai happily followed Zhao Mu to the clearing where they had sparred earlier.