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, something even Title Douluo found difficult to deal with...
Different people had different opinions. Those opinions were often not wrong, but they overlooked the true nature of the Buddha Fury Tang Lotus.
At its core, the essence of the Buddha Fury Tang Lotus, the Tang Sect's greatest hidden weapon, was not the lotus itself, but the gunpowder packed inside it. When the gunpowder exploded, the metal lotus petals around it shot outward, causing damage.
In essence, the so-called Buddha Fury Tang Lotus was merely a fragmentation grenade stuffed with special high explosives. The Tang Lotus and the so-called hidden weapon were not important at all. Replacing them with steel balls and iron shards would not make much difference to its 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 short, Chen Ming conducted some tests and discovered that in the Douluo World, the destructive power of gunpowder had been greatly enhanced. A small, fist-sized earthen fragmentation grenade was even more powerful than the gas cylinder explosions Chen Ming had seen online in his previous life.
The exploding fragments caused enormous destruction. Rocks shattered, and trees were pierced through.
Forget Hundred-Year Spirit Beasts—Chen Ming estimated that a Thousand-Year Spirit Beast would die on the spot from one of these crude fragmentation grenades.
If Chen Ming had not been cautious and thrown the crude fragmentation grenade from halfway up the mountain toward the foot of the mountain, then if he had kept a normal distance, he would have been turned into a sieve by his own grenade.
It was only because Chen Ming had never looked up how to make stable, highly powerful explosives like TNT in his previous life. Otherwise, if he could make a few shells, Chen Ming felt that even a Title Douluo could be blasted to death in one shot.
Carrying more than a dozen grenades on him, Chen Ming felt as though he were hauling around an arsenal. He was terrified that one careless mistake would set off a grenade and blow him into the sky.
After arriving at the Star Dou Forest, Chen Ming did not enter its depths immediately. Instead, he 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 the Star Dou Forest.
The Star Dou Forest truly deserved to be called a paradise for Spirit Beasts. At this time, it was nowhere near the shrunken place it became during the era of Peerless Tang Sect, much less the tiny speck described in Legend of the Dragon King.
Even in the outer region of the forest, Ten-Year Spirit Beasts and Hundred-Year Spirit Beasts were extremely common. Going slightly deeper, one could even spot traces of Thousand-Year Spirit Beasts.
Chen Ming maintained a retreat-if-possible, fight-if-not style as he explored the outer region of the Star Dou Forest, searching as thoroughly as possible for Hundred-Year Spirit Beasts related to dragons. He hoped to obtain a Spirit Ring with greater compatibility with his Martial Soul.
If he truly could not find a Sub-Dragon, 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, Chen Ming would absorb it without hesitation, even if it was only a hundred years old.
The Douluo World was currently under a severe monopoly of knowledge. Even powerful figures like the Dragon Duke and Snake Matriarch, who could join forces to contend with a Title 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 that someone like Yu Xiaogang could be called a Grandmaster.
The Junior Soul Master Academy taught very little, and its introductions to Spirit Beasts were even fewer. Chen Ming could not even name most Spirit Beasts, much less know their attributes or specialties.
As a result, despite doing his best to avoid battle, Chen Ming still had no choice but to clash with Spirit Beasts several times.
When facing a lone Spirit Beast, Chen Ming did not hesitate to fire his musket. With the enhancement to gunpowder's power in the Douluo World, even a crude earthen musket could leave a fatal bloody hole in Hundred-Year Spirit Beasts such as bears and tigers.
When facing groups of Spirit Beasts, Chen Ming dealt with them by throwing grenades. After being hit by a fragmentation grenade, there was not even a complete piece of flesh left on those Spirit Beasts.
Although Chen Ming killed several Hundred-Year Spirit Beasts with his musket, he had nowhere to store anything on his body. After some consideration, he could only cut off a few pieces of meat for rations and abandon the otherwise intact prey.
As for Spirit Bones...
Chen Ming genuinely searched for them every time, but naturally, none ever dropped.
Chen Ming spent nearly half a month in the Star Dou Forest. By the time half of his munitions had been used up, he still had not found a Spirit Beast suitable for himself. He began considering retreating, replenishing his equipment, and returning to continue exploring.
However, as Chen Ming gradually withdrew from the Star Dou Forest, he went to fetch water by a stream one day and happened to sense a faint Sub-Dragon aura from the footprints beside it.
The footprints resembled those of a lizard, but were much heavier. From Chen Ming's perspective, there was a very high chance they belonged to a Sub-Dragon-type Spirit Beast.
Filled with excitement, Chen Ming activated AI Thinking and began tracking the Spirit Beast along its footprints and traces. After searching for several hours, he finally found it inside a cave within a valley.
It was a Spirit Beast that resembled a giant lizard overall, though it was sturdier. Its head was horse-like, and its neck was longer.
On the Spirit Beast's head were two curled horns resembling those of a ram. The horns and the scales on its body were both a dull earth-yellow, with faint fluctuations of earth-element Soul Power.
Chen Ming could sense that it was likely a Hundred-Year Spirit Beast. Judging from its overall structure and head, it should have been a Sub-Dragon species with dragon blood.
As for how many hundred years it had cultivated for, or what species it was... even after staring at it for a long time with AI Thinking activated, 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 majestic were generally not weak.
This Spirit Beast, which was taking a midday nap in the cave, was not particularly majestic or divine-looking, but it still looked quite decent and carried an oppressive air. Its overall outline, especially its head—vaguely resembled a True Dragon.
In the end, Chen Ming decided not to care how many hundred years it had cultivated for, or whether he could absorb it. He would kill it first and talk later.
After choosing the right angle and timing, Chen Ming threw a crude fragmentation grenade into the cave where the Sub-Dragon Spirit Beast was located. With an explosion, the cave collapsed with a roar, and the Spirit Beast inside died on the spot.
Chen Ming stood beside the collapsed cave and dug inward for some time before seeing the Sub-Dragon Spirit Beast's shattered head 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 teachers and the vague descriptions in books, its color indicated that it was probably a four-hundred- or five-hundred-year Spirit Ring.
Honestly, its age was rather awkward. It might be above the normal limit for a first Spirit Ring, yet it was somewhat low for a second Spirit Ring. Chen Ming stared at the Spirit Ring and considered it again and again before finally making a decision.
"Although it's a little risky, I can absorb it."
Chen Ming's sparring with Tang San and practice battles with Xiao Wu in Holy Soul Village had not been meaningless. At the very least, during those fights, Chen Ming had gained a rough understanding of their physical qualities and Soul Power levels.
In terms of physical fitness, Chen Ming, who had yet to absorb his first Spirit Ring, was actually 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 the support of internal cultivation, it could not change the fact that he was malnourished.
Chen Ming, at least, grew Black Fungus and Mushrooms on the mountain himself, raised chickens, and ate eggs. With suitable exercise added on top, his body was naturally better than Tang San's.
With such physical fitness, along with the support of Basic Internal Skill version 1.0.1, Chen Ming felt that this Spirit Ring would not be a problem.
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