Red Peak Spear, Immortal Shield!

Tang Heng hid in a small grove, panting heavily.

He'd just been trying to fuse the five elements and hadn't paid attention to his surroundings.

Someone had actually seen him like this—and it was that kid, Xie Xie.

This was the first time anyone besides his younger siblings had seen him in this state. He couldn't help feeling a little strange about it.

It was kind of like getting caught secretly cross-dressing.

Tang Heng couldn't quite put it into words. He snapped his fingers and used the water element to brush the dust from his clothes, then entered the Minecraft Plane.

It was nighttime when he entered the world, and the monsters hadn't respawned yet.

Tang Heng slipped into his bedroom and slept in his bed, skipping the night in a hurry and replenishing some of the spiritual power he'd just spent.

The stars wheeled overhead, and the sun and moon flew by.

When he opened his eyes, it was already the next day. The spiritual power and Soul Power he'd spent practicing elemental control the previous night had mostly recovered.

His recovery speed was downright terrifying.

After all, once your spiritual power was completely depleted, restoring it to full was difficult in a short time unless you were exceptionally talented or used special methods.

Soul Power was easier to recover than spiritual power, but it wasn't that simple either.

If he practiced the Mysterious Heaven Skill or some other cultivation method, his recovery might speed up a little.

But it could never be as fast as Tang Heng's.

If he ever got forced into a war of attrition, he could just hide in the Minecraft Plane once he ran out of Soul Power and spiritual power.

Heh. Tang Heng didn't even dare imagine the look on his opponent's face.

Enemy: Nearly dead, down to the last drop!

Hide in Minecraft and rest for a day.

Tang Heng returned to the battlefield at full strength.

Enemy: Woc! You're cheating, aren't you?

Domain Expansion: Unlimited Void!

When facing a vicious enemy, your so-called bottom line was your own execution threshold.

Tang Heng recalled a manga from his previous life called Jujutsu Kaisen. It had a hugely popular character named Gojo Satoru. If Gojo had truly been without limits, he could've had Aoi Todo use Boogie Woogie to swap Sukuna into place, then hit him point-blank with a 200% Hollow Purple.

After opening his domain, he could've had Yuta use Cursed Speech to hold Sukuna still for a second. How could Sukuna have survived that?

Why fight one-on-one when you could gang up on someone?

"But if I grow strong enough, I probably won't run into any enemies who can drag me into a prolonged fight."

Muttering to himself, Tang Heng summoned his Soul Spirit, Golden Lion.

After a year of training on the Spirit Ascension Platform, Golden Lion had reached six thousand years of cultivation. Influenced by Tang Heng's Golden Dragon King Bloodline, it also showed faint signs of bloodline evolution.

He estimated that Golden Lion's next stage would be the Three-Eyed Golden Lion, the Auspicious Beast that bore the fate of the Star Dou Great Forest.

In theory, only one Three-Eyed Golden Lion could exist on Douluo Continent. But ten thousand years ago, through God King Tang's careful scheming, one had already become Dai Yuhao's Soul Ring in the best possible way.

If his own beast became the Auspicious Beast again, would it be recognized when it returned to the Douluo Plane?

Golden Lion rubbed against Tang Heng's palm. With his permission, dazzling golden light burst from its body.

Before long, a second purple Soul Ring appeared beneath Tang Heng's feet.

As the Soul Ring was attached, his Gold Dragon King Martial Soul broke through level twenty. His Soul Power continued climbing, stopping only at level twenty-six.

Tang Heng checked the effect of his second Soul Ring and was quite satisfied.

Golden Dragon Bloodlust increased all attributes by fifty percent. Better yet, it was a percentage-based boost, and it had no time limit. As long as he had Soul Power, the boost would keep going.

That was the Gold Dragon King for you. Just stack the numbers; let the Silver Dragon King handle the mechanics.

Left fist, high damage. Right fist, even higher damage.

Where should he go hunting this time?

Tang Heng studied the map, at a loss for a moment.

Ordinary Hundred-Year Soul Beasts could hardly provide any noticeable increase in Soul Power anymore. Those under a hundred years old could barely increase it at all.

If he wanted a significant boost, he'd have to find somewhere strong Soul Beasts appeared regularly.

Then he'd head to the mixed zone of the Star Dou Great Forest.

Most of the Soul Beasts there were Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts, with only a few thousand-year ones. There was even a chance that a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast might respawn.

Tang Heng weighed his current strength. With the Spirit Sheath Silver Paper and his Protection IV enchanted diamond armor, he should be able to handle any Soul Beast under a hundred thousand years old.

After all, as long as he didn't provoke them, the Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts treated him as a neutral unit. He didn't have to worry about being swarmed for no reason.

Having chosen his destination, Tang Heng vanished from where he stood.

The next second, the familiar scenery of a primeval forest filled his view.

The forest had an atmosphere that cities built of concrete and steel lacked. Nature was truly wondrous; just walking among the trees lifted his spirits.

But this wasn't some scenic tourist spot.

A Tiger Demon Cat with twenty-three thousand years of cultivation had respawned not far ahead. It strolled leisurely across the Grass Blocks, completely unaware of the danger approaching.

It regarded Tang Heng as a neutral unit and didn't attack him.

In battle, the one who seized the initiative and struck first usually had the advantage.

Tang Heng used Martial Soul Possession. A golden dragon claw shot out, lunging for the Tiger Demon Cat's head.

The blow landed with tremendous force, instantly draining a fifth of its health bar.

The Tiger Demon Cat swiftly counterattacked, a green whirlwind rising around its feet.

The Tiger Demon Cat struck back, but Tang Heng wasn't stupid enough to stand there and let it hit him. Getting hit still hurt, after all.

He leaped back to open some distance, then pulled a Netherite Spear from his inventory and raised a shield in his off hand.

Red Peak Spear, Immortal Shield!

The Tiger Demon Cat's attack struck the shield with a muffled thud, but didn't harm Tang Heng at all.

The shield had lost a lot of durability, but he'd come prepared.

He still had a pile of shields in his inventory. If one broke, he'd just swap it out.

Tang Heng was quite confident in his reflexes.

After blocking the Tiger Demon Cat's strike, Tang Heng held the shield in one hand and the spear in the other. Then he thrust like a dragon, terrifying spear intent gathering at the tip.

The strike swept toward the Tiger Demon Cat with overwhelming force.

The foolish Soul Beast didn't know to dodge. It braced itself and took the blow head-on, and its health bar instantly emptied by more than half.

Over the past year, Tang Heng had raised his skill to the Spear Intent realm, and his move, Thousand Men Pointing, had reached a level of mastery.

With this spear technique, together with the powerful body and vitality granted by his Gold Dragon King Martial Soul, ordinary Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts were no match for him.

The mortally wounded Tiger Demon Cat launched an even more ferocious assault, but in the end, it still fell to the despicable Steve without even managing to graze him.

The dead Tiger Demon Cat's body vanished. It didn't drop anything as rare as a Soul Bone, leaving behind only a black Soul Ring.

"Oh, oh, oh! Here we go! Is this what it feels like to get stronger?"

Killing a Tiger Demon Cat with twenty thousand years of cultivation had raised his Soul Power Level by more than one full level. It seemed that before he reached level thirty, there wouldn't be much of an experience penalty for killing Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts.

What else was there to say?

I'm going to beat the whole Star Dou Great Forest by myself!