Handcrafted Buddha (Frag) Fury (Hand) Tang Lotus (Grenade)

What was the Buddha Fury Tang Lotus?

Some said the Buddha Fury Tang Lotus was the Tang Sect's number one hidden weapon, the embodiment of exquisite craftsmanship. Others said it was a devastating weapon that even Titled Douluo found difficult to deal with...

Different people had different views. These views were often not wrong, but they overlooked the true nature of the Buddha Fury Tang Lotus.

In essence, the core principle of the Buddha Fury Tang Lotus, the Tang Sect's supreme hidden weapon, was not the lotus itself, but the gunpowder packed inside it. When the gunpowder exploded, the metal lotus petals around it blasted outward and inflicted damage.

Judging by its essence, the so-called Buddha Fury Tang Lotus was merely a fragmentation grenade filled with specially made high explosives. The Tang Lotus and the so-called hidden weapon were not important at all. Using steel balls and iron fragments instead would not make much difference in lethality.

Rather than calling the Buddha Fury Tang Lotus a hidden weapon, Chen Ming felt it was more likely that the Tang Sect had stolen internal cultivation techniques—the Mysterious Heaven Skill—and "Thunder Method" from the neighboring Qingcheng Sect or Mount Longhu.

After all, Thunder Method originally referred to the sound made when gunpowder exploded, so it was perfectly reasonable for gunpowder to exorcise demons...

In any case, Chen Ming conducted some tests and discovered that in the Douluo World, gunpowder's destructive power had been greatly enhanced. A small, fist-sized homemade fragmentation grenade was even more powerful than the gas cylinder explosions Chen Ming had seen online in his previous life.

The exploding fragments caused tremendous destruction. Rocks were shattered, and trees were pierced through.

Forget Hundred-Year Spirit Beasts—Chen Ming estimated that even a Thousand-Year Spirit Beast would die on the spot from one homemade fragmentation grenade.

If Chen Ming had not been cautious and thrown the homemade fragmentation grenade from halfway up the mountain toward the bottom, then if he had kept a normal distance, he would have been turned into a hornet's nest by his own grenade on the spot.

It was only because Chen Ming had never looked up how to make stable and highly powerful explosives like TNT in his previous life. Otherwise, if he could make a few shells, he felt that even Titled Douluo could be blasted to death with a single shot.

Carrying more than a dozen grenades on him, Chen Ming felt as though he had an entire armory with him. He was terrified that one careless mistake would detonate a grenade and blow him into the sky.

After arriving at Star Dou Forest, Chen Ming did not enter it immediately. Instead, he first spent some money to obtain a map of the outer region from Spirit Masters who traveled there regularly. Only after preparing all his equipment and fully arming himself did he quietly enter Star Dou Forest.

Star Dou Forest truly deserved to be called a paradise for Spirit Beasts. At this time, it was far from the place that had shrunk by a full circle during the era of Peerless Tang Sect, much less the tiny speck from Legend of the Dragon King.

Even at the edge of the forest, Ten-Year Spirit Beasts and Hundred-Year Spirit Beasts were extremely common. Going a little deeper, one could even find traces of Thousand-Year Spirit Beasts.

Chen Ming maintained a retreat-if-possible, fight-if-not style as he explored the outskirts of Star Dou Forest as much as he could, searching for traces of Hundred-Year Spirit Beasts related to dragons in an attempt to obtain a Spirit Ring more compatible with his Martial Soul.

If there really were no Sub-Dragons, Chen Ming could make do with a high-quality earth-element Spirit Beast.

Of course, if he could find a Hundred-Year Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear or a Spirit Beast of the same level in the outer region, then even if it was only a hundred years old, Chen Ming would absorb it without hesitation.

The Douluo World was currently in a state of severe knowledge monopoly. Even powerful figures like the Dragon Duke and Snake Matriarch, who could join forces against Titled Douluo, could still misjudge the age of a Spirit Beast like the Man Faced Demon Spider.

Knowledge throughout the entire world was extremely scarce and closed off, to the point where someone like Yu Xiaogang could be called the Grandmaster.

The basic Soul Master Academy taught very little knowledge, and even less about Spirit Beasts. Chen Ming could not even name most Spirit Beasts, much less know their attributes or specialties.

Thus, despite doing his best to avoid battle, Chen Ming still had no choice but to clash with Spirit Masters several times.

When facing a lone Spirit Beast, Chen Ming did not hesitate to fire his musket. With the boost to gunpowder's power in the Douluo World, even a crude homemade musket could blast a fatal bloody hole through Hundred-Year Spirit Beasts like bears and tigers.

When facing groups of Spirit Beasts, Chen Ming used grenades. After being hit by a fragmentation grenade, not even a complete piece of flesh could be found on those Spirit Beasts.

Although Chen Ming killed several Hundred-Year Spirit Beasts with his musket, he had nowhere to store anything on his person. After some consideration, he could only cut off several pieces of meat as rations and abandon the otherwise fairly intact prey.

As for Spirit Bones...

Chen Ming truly searched for them every time, but naturally, none ever dropped.

Chen Ming stayed in Star Dou Forest for nearly half a month. By the time half his ammunition had been used up, he still had not found a suitable Spirit Beast. He began considering retreating, planning to leave, replenish his equipment, and return later to continue exploring.

However, as Chen Ming gradually withdrew from Star Dou Forest, while fetching water by a stream one time, he happened to sense a faint Sub-Dragon aura from the footprints beside the creek.

They were footprints like those of a lizard, but heavier. From Chen Ming's perspective, there was a very high chance they belonged to a Sub-Dragon-type Spirit Beast.

Filled with excitement and anticipation, Chen Ming activated AI Thinking and began tracking the Spirit Beast along its footprints and traces. After searching for several hours, he finally found his target in a cave within a valley.

It was a Spirit Beast that resembled a giant lizard overall, but was much sturdier. Its head was horse-like, and its neck was longer.

Two ram-like curled horns grew from the Spirit Beast's head. Both the horns and the scales covering its body were a dull earthy yellow, with faint earth-element Soul Power fluctuations.

Chen Ming could sense that it was a Hundred-Year Spirit Beast. Judging from its overall build and head, it should be a Sub-Dragon species with dragon blood.

As for exactly how many hundreds of years it had cultivated for, or what species it was... even after staring at it with AI Thinking activated for a long time, Chen Ming could not figure it out.

However, in the Douluo World, powerful Spirit Beasts were not necessarily handsome, but Spirit Beasts that looked imposing and mighty were generally not weak.

Although this Spirit Beast taking an afternoon nap in the cave was not especially majestic, it still looked quite decent and gave off an oppressive feeling. Its overall outline, especially its head—faintly resembled a True Dragon.

In the end, Chen Ming decided not to care how many years it had cultivated for or whether he could absorb it. He would kill it first and worry about the rest later.

After finding the right angle and timing, Chen Ming threw a homemade fragmentation grenade into the cave where the Sub-Dragon Spirit Beast was resting. Accompanied by an explosion, the cave collapsed with a boom, and the Spirit Beast inside died on the spot.

Chen Ming stood beside the collapsed cave and dug inward for a while before he saw the shattered head of the Sub-Dragon Spirit Beast and the Spirit Ring floating above it.

It was a bright yellow Spirit Ring. Based on Chen Ming's observations of the Spirit Rings on the academy's teachers and the vague descriptions in books, its color suggested that it should be a four-hundred-year or five-hundred-year Spirit Ring.

To be honest, that age was a little awkward. It might exceed the conventional limit for a first Spirit Ring, but it was somewhat too weak for a second Spirit Ring. Chen Ming looked at the Spirit Ring, thought it over repeatedly, and finally made his decision.

"Though it's a little risky, I can absorb it."

Chen Ming's sparring with Tang San and practice matches with Xiao Wu in Holy Soul Village had not been meaningless. At the very least, through those battles, Chen Ming had gained a rough understanding of their physical qualities and Soul Power levels.

In terms of physical fitness, Chen Ming, who had not yet absorbed his first Spirit Ring, was even faintly stronger than Tang San had been just after absorbing his first Spirit Ring.

After all, Tang San had grown up starving in this life. Wild vegetables and thin porridge were never enough to fill his stomach. Even with internal cultivation supporting him, it could not change the fact that he was malnourished.

Chen Ming, on the other hand, had at least grown wood ear mushrooms and regular mushrooms on the mountain, raised chickens, and eaten eggs. Combined with proper exercise, his body was naturally stronger than Tang San's.

With such physical fitness, plus the support of Basic Internal Skill version 1.0.1, Chen Ming felt that this Spirit Ring would not be a problem.