The unfamiliar blocky world left Tang Wulin stunned for a moment. He looked around, and everything seemed incredibly strange.
The grass beneath his feet, the snowy mountains in the distance, even the little pigs and sheep passing nearby—all of them were made of blocks.
All in all, the place left Tang Wulin bewildered and fascinated.
"Big brother, where are we?"
Tang Heng calmly took out a cooked porkchop, sat down beside a little pig, and explained as he ate. "This is the inner space of my third Martial Soul. It's as large as a plane."
"You can think of it as another planet, very, very far from Douluo Continent. Normally, no one would ever find it."
Tang Wulin took a bite of the porkchop, and the drumstick icon in the bottom-right corner immediately filled up by a few points. He felt a little fuller, too.
Curiously, he looked at the unremarkable grilled porkchop in his hand. How could such a small piece make his enormous appetite feel satisfied?
He and his big brother were famous gluttons at Red Mountain Academy. Each meal, they had to eat at least twenty or thirty big buns and steamed rolls.
"This porkchop is so yummy! ლ(´ڡ`ლ)"
Tang Heng flicked him on the forehead and said crossly, "All you think about is eating! The thing inside you is the Gold Dragon King, not Luo Sanpao!"
"What's Luo Sanpao?"
"Nothing good, anyway. I'll make you study some history later. Then you'll know."
As soon as he finished speaking, Tang Heng summoned the Gold Dragon King Martial Soul. His golden dragon wings spread wide, and he grabbed Tang Wulin by the shoulder, carrying them both into the air.
This was Tang Wulin's first time experiencing what it felt like to fly high above the ground. After a brief moment of fear, excitement took over.
"Whoa! I'm flying! I'm really flying!"
The scenery below grew clearer, and he saw all kinds of strange creatures on the ground. Curious, he asked:
"Big brother, what are all those animals down there?"
"They're Soul Beasts."
Tang Wulin blinked in confusion. "But weren't all the Soul Beasts on land driven to extinction? The teacher said so in class."
"There really aren't many Soul Beasts left on Douluo Planet, but that doesn't mean there aren't any elsewhere."
After flying for a little while, Tang Heng brought Tang Wulin to the rustic little house he'd built earlier.
"Stay here and don't wander off. I'll be right back."
"There's lots of good stuff in the kitchen fridge. Eat as much as you like."
This save had previously had the Farmer's Delight and More Lays mods installed. For the sake of variety, Tang Heng had made plenty of tasty treats, including baked cookies, creamed corn, and smoked meat rolls.
He was going to the Divine Dragon Domain.
This save didn't have corpse backpacks or keep-inventory enabled. In theory, when Tang San's divine sense had been killed over there, he hadn't respawned to retrieve his corpse. Maybe he'd dropped something?
It couldn't hurt to take a look. Tang Heng had already emptied his inventory at home, so he wouldn't lose anything if he died.
After choosing a location on the map, Tang Heng vanished on the spot.
The vast Divine Dragon Domain seemed to blend into the sky. Only a towering main hall and six side halls, where the avatars dwelled, stood isolated in midair.
As soon as Tang Heng arrived, he spotted a pixelated blue-and-gold trident on the ground not far away, along with a book that looked like an Enchanted Book.
Whoa, Tang San's drop rate was really high!
Tang Heng picked up the two items and checked their details in his inventory.
The trident was naturally God King Tang's famous divine weapon, the Sea God Trident.
Tens of thousands of years ago, the Sea God Trident had weighed 108,000 jin. God King Tang had struggled with all his might to pull it free, earning himself the illustrious title of Half-Step Blood-Refinement Realm.
As ages passed, the Sea God had gone from a First-Level God to a God King, and the trident had gone from a divine weapon to the brink of becoming a Super Divine Artifact.
[Sea God Trident · Super Divine Artifact (Unique)]
[Sea God Spear Art · Incomplete]
(Use?)
Tang Heng curiously took out the book and opened it. Inside, he saw densely packed rows of profound writing.
He couldn't understand a thing...
Whatever. Use it!
Tang Heng focused his thoughts and chose to use it. The book in his hand began flipping through its pages on its own, and knowledge flowed into his mind like a clear spring.
"Thousand Men Pointing, White Clouds Pass for a Thousand Years, Boundless Sea Tide..."
"Spear intent, spear soul, spear god... I know it all now: what a spear is, what makes a technique, what makes a skill."
After taking some time to absorb it all, Tang Heng finally came back from his intoxicated state.
A bar resembling an experience bar had appeared in the top-left corner.
(Technique Realm: None)
(Thousand Men Pointing: Not mastered)
(White Clouds Pass for a Thousand Years: Not mastered)
(Boundless Sea Tide: Not mastered)
Before the Dragon God's avatar decided to come over and kill him, Tang Heng followed the spear knowledge in his mind and took an iron spear from his inventory, gripping it tightly.
Before this, Tang Heng had never studied weapons like sabers, spears, or cudgels. At most, he'd picked up a thing or two from the films and shows he'd watched in his past and present lives.
But after using that skill book, everything was different.
Tang Heng took a deep breath and began practicing with the spear at the edge of the Divine Dragon Domain.
With its guidance, his movements were no longer as chaotic as before. Every move was steady and solid, as deep and unceasing as the sea.
Each time he completed a round of basic spear practice, the experience bars beside the Technique Realm and the other entries ticked up a little.
Tang Heng beamed. If he kept practicing like this, he might reach the so-called Spear God Realm in no time!
"Trial-taker, step forward!"
From the nearby divine hall, the Dragon God's avatar roared. Its words played on repeat like a machine.
Tang Heng had had enough. He'd chosen an avatar he couldn't beat himself. Even if he became a god, he probably still wouldn't stand a chance. He'd need to reincarnate a few times and raise his stats.
Only stats could defeat stats.
He opened the map. A second before the Dragon God Claw swept toward him, Tang Heng vanished from the spot.
When he opened his eyes again, he was back in his rustic little villa.
"Wulin... what are you doing?"
Tang Heng saw Tang Wulin holding out the emeralds he'd painstakingly collected to a villager in front of him. The fellow looked simpleminded, but a crafty glint lurked in his eyes.
"Hehe, I'm trading food with this weird old guy! He said these carrots all grew in his own fields, they're completely natural and pollution-free, and he isn't even charging money. He only wants these shiny green stones."
A few black lines appeared on Tang Heng's face. His hand lit up with the sharp Diamond Sword he'd enchanted with five Fire Aspect and two Attribute bonuses.
"Hm, hm! (I'm leaving!)"
"Mm-hmm! (Come back next time!)"
With that, the villager turned and made a run for it.
Tang Heng brought his hand down, activated Gold Dragon King Martial Soul Possession, and rushed forward, chopping the swindling villager into mincemeat.
"Remember, don't talk to strange people like that again. They're all swindlers, the kind who deserve to be hung from a streetlamp and left to bask in the sun."
"Got it?"
Clutching a stack of carrots, Tang Wulin nodded in a shiver under his big brother's "kind" smile.
Meanwhile, deep within a black hole in the universe.
In the imperiled Divine Realm, Tang San was thinking about how to persuade the other Divine Realms to cooperate with his side and fight the black hole together.
"As long as we leave the black hole and escape the space-time turbulence, we can go back."
"I wonder if my ten-thousand-year plan is going as smoothly as I hoped?"
Suddenly, a powerful surge came from afar, followed by terrifying forces of creation and destruction.
Caught completely off guard, Tang San coughed up blood. A blood-red flower bloomed between his brows, and the blue-and-gold trident mark silently vanished. He slumped to the floor of the divine hall.
It was quite some time before Tang San finally came around.
"My divine sense has been wiped out? And the Sea God Trident I planned to give my son has disappeared!"
His eyes bloodshot and his breathing ragged, Tang San roared furiously, "Who dares steal my divine weapon? Who dares harm my son? Whoever you are, you've earned a death sentence!"
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