Su Yuntao sat cross-legged as a mass of blue light slowly merged into his body. Before him lay an enormous corpse.
It was a Storm Bird with a cultivation of fifty thousand years. Not long ago, Su Yuntao and the Titan Giant Ape had joined forces to kill it here. Clearly, Su Yuntao was now absorbing the Soul Ring it had produced.
Time passed slowly. Four years had gone by since Su Yuntao first arrived in the Star Dou Great Forest, and throughout those four years, he had never left. Instead, he had chosen to hone himself here.
The reason he had stayed in the Star Dou Great Forest was that he felt there was nowhere more suitable for him at this stage.
Although he had obtained a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring and Soul Bone four years ago, he knew he lacked experience. He had never fought a powerful Soul Master or Soul Beast.
If he officially entered the Soul Master World on the continent, it would be difficult to find a suitable opponent. Slaughter City might have been a good place to go, but it was still too dangerous for Su Yuntao four years ago. Though he possessed a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring and Soul Bone, he had been sorely lacking in combat experience.
Although he had already been in this world for ten years at the time, he had never fought an opponent at the Soul Elder level or above. That was precisely why he had chosen to stay in the Star Dou Great Forest four years ago.
The Star Dou Great Forest had not only the Titan Giant Ape to spar with, but also numerous Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts. Four years of honing himself had transformed him completely.
The Titan Giant Ape silently watched over him from the side. At first, it had loathed this human before it, but as time went by, something else had joined the loathing and hostility in its heart.
Originally, the Titan Giant Ape had not believed Su Yuntao could become a god, much less that he could resurrect its elder brother. At first, it had cooperated with Su Yuntao partly because he had leverage over it, and partly because of that distant, ethereal hope.
Deep down, it had accepted that its elder brother would never return to the world. Yet the Titan Giant Ape could not bring itself to give up. For it, giving up was simply too hard a choice. Cooperating with Su Yuntao was the only thing it could do for its elder brother.
As time passed and they spoke more often, the Titan Giant Ape began to change its mind. The human before it possessed an exceptionally strong will and pushed himself to the limit in his cultivation every day. What was more, through their many conversations, the Titan Giant Ape had also seen the noble qualities in Su Yuntao. All of this began to change its mind.
Perhaps this human Soul Master really could become a god and resurrect its elder brother!
Su Yuntao slowly opened his eyes and let out a long breath.
"Human, did you succeed in absorbing the Soul Ring?"
Su Yuntao smiled. "Titan Giant Ape, isn't that obvious?"
The Titan Giant Ape nodded. "Human, your Soul Power is already above level sixty. Though you haven't focused mainly on raising your Soul Power over these past four years, with the life force of my elder brother sustaining you, your Soul Power has still risen above level sixty."
"Your fifth Soul Ring has been added successfully. You can add a Soul Ring close to a hundred thousand years old as your sixth. Rest well for two days. After that, I may have to step in personally for your training. Among the Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts I can command, there are none left that you need to take seriously."
A glimmer shone in Su Yuntao's eyes. "Titan Giant Ape, I'm sorry, but I've decided to leave the Star Dou Great Forest."
"Leave?"
"Yes." Su Yuntao spoke calmly. "I've been away from human society long enough. That's where I belong. I've already made my plans: within two years, I'll go to the Asura God's inheritance grounds and claim his legacy."
The Titan Giant Ape nodded. "That's fine, then. But what about your sixth Soul Ring?"
Su Yuntao smiled. "Titan Giant Ape, don't worry. I already have a plan for my sixth Soul Ring. There's nothing more suitable for me. When I need to obtain my Seventh Soul Ring, perhaps I'll come looking for you."
"Good!" said the Titan Giant Ape. "Human, I now think you might be able to become a god. I see perseverance in you, and I see principles. I hope I haven't misjudged you."
Su Yuntao replied easily, "The methods I used to force your elder brother back then were indeed dishonorable. But I can promise you that neither you nor the Sky Azure Bull Python will regret your choice."
"Perhaps. Human, I wish you success in becoming a god."
South of the Star Dou Great Forest
Su Yuntao looked at the small town before him, alive with the bustle of ordinary people, and felt as if he had reunited with an old friend after a long separation.
He ordered a sumptuous lunch, with chicken, duck, fish, and meat in abundance. He even ordered two large jars of grape wine, though he usually never touched the stuff.
Soul Masters were different from ordinary people. In martial arts dramas, audiences were often stunned by the line, "Two jin of sauced beef," and thought it was impossible.
In truth, the martial arts experts of those worlds could travel a thousand li by day and eight hundred by night. They flew about with their lightness skills, so eating two jin of sauced beef was perfectly normal. After all, their energy expenditure was many times, even dozens of times, that of an ordinary person.
If they really ate only two steamed buns per hundred kilometers, martial arts experts would drop dead on the road. To keep the body functioning normally, energy expended had to be matched by energy replenished.
In the fantasy world of Douluo Continent, Su Yuntao, now a level-sixty Soul King, had no trouble eating two tables' worth of food. Given the intensity of his daily cultivation, two tables of ordinary food were still nowhere near enough. He had to eat Soul Beast meat with the Titan Giant Ape.
During intense cultivation, Soul Power could be restored by meditating and absorbing the elements in the world around them. But the energy used up by the body could only be replenished through food.
Low-level Soul Masters had it fairly easy. They could recover by eating a little more than usual. But high-level Soul Masters, especially those at the level of Titled Douluo, could not make do with ordinary food. They had to eat special meats and heavenly treasures to recover.
Of course, ordinary food could replenish their strength too. But for beings like Titled Douluo, who could command wind and rain, especially after an extremely fierce sparring match, the energy they expended was terrifying. Measured in ordinary meals, they would need at least a dozen, or even dozens of tables' worth, to replenish it all.
At that rate, Titled Douluo would have nothing else to do all day. Three meals a day, every day—what a lovely life.
Training every high-level Soul Master consumed enormous resources. In the path of cultivation, one needed a companion, a place, wealth, and methods; not one could be missing. Without vast resources, no one could train a Titled Douluo. Food was only the least costly resource consumed along the way, yet even so, many Soul Master Academies on Douluo Continent could not afford it.