Douluo: Founding the Heavenly Court from the Holy Spirit Cult - Section 3

"Also, my big brother must have been in a lot of pain when you dug that head Soul Bone out of him, right?"

With the hatred suppressed in his heart for three years finally released, Yang Hao felt his entire body and mind lighten.

He was a transmigrator, though he wasn't sure if he had been reincarnated or if he had possessed a body, as his consciousness had only awakened three years ago after being severely wounded by the Strength Clan.

He didn't know if he had borrowed a corpse to return to life or if he had broken through the "mystery of the womb" to awaken memories of a past life.

But that didn't matter; what mattered was that he was now called Yang Hao, he was in the world of Douluo Continent, and it was the era of the Peerless Tang Sect, only his own situation was not very good.

Four years ago, a soul master family was wiped out because of a 90,000-year-old head Soul Bone. One person escaped with the bone, only to die under the pursuit of countless others.

His parents had accidentally discovered that person's corpse, obtained the Soul Bone, and handed it over to his older brother, who had just awakened his Martial Soul and gained soul power, to refine.

His parents had disposed of and buried the body without leaving any traces, but unfortunately, they were still targeted. This Tai Wuji, who was his father's close friend and usually very intimate with them, had used that closeness to discover some clues.

Later, the news he received was that his mother had fallen into becoming an Evil Soul Master and colluded with the Sun Moon Empire, causing the border defense line to nearly fall and suffering heavy losses.

Then his parents were hunted down by the Shrek Inspectorate and beheaded. Afterward, his brother mysteriously disappeared, and he himself was ambushed by a man in black, his Martial Soul shattered and tainted with evil energy. Finally, he was taken back to the Strength Clan by Tai Wushuang under the guise of protection—or rather, surveillance and house arrest.

Possessing the wisdom of an adult, he could naturally see through the hidden truth of what happened back then, and the Strength Clan's attitude toward him explained everything.

Of course, Zhao Min had also treated him as a child, which was why she hadn't deliberately hidden that emotion and murderous intent.

Once he understood his situation, he began to plan, which eventually led to today's revenge and escape.

"I should have killed you sooner."

Tai Wuji was filled with regret. The reason they had kept this little bastard alive was mainly because the incident back then had caused such a stir, drawing the Shrek Inspectorate into the fray, and even causing the little bastard's parents to erupt and use a Martial Soul Fusion Skill to kill a Shrek Inspector.

Afterward, the Shrek Inspectorate conducted an investigation. To avoid the exposure of the Soul Bone and all their schemes, his father had ordered him to bring the little bastard back to the clan, maintaining his status as a close friend of the little bastard's father to avoid suspicion.

He just hadn't expected that this little bastard would learn the truth from three years ago, hide it until now, and even create that strange soul guidance bomb right under their noses, causing his wife and him to suffer such a disaster and leading to Wushuang's death.

He was filled with hatred!

"Sorry, I don't sell regret medicine here."

Yang Hao said apologetically; he really didn't have any.

"I want you to die!"

At this moment, Tai Wushuang on the other side recovered from the pain in his chest, glaring at Yang Hao with a twisted expression. If looks could kill, Yang Hao would definitely have been processed into silk stockings—the lace kind, at that.

"He's still not dead?"

Yang Hao was a bit stunned. After scratching his head, he thrust his spear again, this time aiming for the right side of the chest.

It was impossible for a person to survive after having their heart pierced, so the only explanation was that he hadn't pierced the heart.

It seemed some people's hearts weren't on the left, but on the right.

That wasn't all; Yang Hao didn't feel it was safe enough, so he pulled the spear out and stabbed it into his throat and stomach as well.

After all, there were sayings about "hearts jumping into throats" and "putting one's heart back into one's stomach," so he had to be careful.

Sure enough, this time the young master didn't make a sound, his face twisted with unwillingness and the fear of death.

"Wushuang!"

Tai Wuji wailed in grief again, suffering the pain of losing a son once more, which nearly caused him to collapse.

Zhao Min was equally filled with grief and resentment, wishing she could tear the little bastard apart.

Tai Wushuang, whose consciousness was gradually blurring, was filled with fear and unwillingness. He still had a bright future ahead of him; he hadn't even become a Titled Douluo yet, so how could he die here?

Despite the endless unwillingness in his heart, his consciousness gradually sank into silence—a permanent silence!

Following Tai Wushuang's death, the Soul-Devouring Demon Spider Soul Bone on his back underwent a change, instinctively retracting the soul ring power attached to Tai Wushuang's Martial Soul, and even devouring Tai Wushuang's One-Eyed Vajra Martial Soul along with it through the connection of the soul ring.

That wasn't all; Tai Wushuang's body's blood, energy, and soul power were also devoured, and the refined head Soul Bone could not escape the fate of being consumed.

This result occurred partly because of the powerful devouring nature of the Soul-Devouring Spider Leg Bone, and partly because Tai Wushuang had just refined the soul ring's power, guiding it to wash through his bones and meridians, integrating the Soul-Devouring Demon Spider's power into his entire body, which now became the trigger and breakthrough point for the Soul-Devouring Spider Leg Bone's consumption.

The devouring of the Soul Bone caused the topmost spider leg of the Soul-Devouring Spider Leg Bone to gain some golden patterns, greatly increasing its quality.

"It truly lives up to being a Soul Bone produced by a Soul-Devouring Demon Spider; this devouring ability is even stronger than the Eight Spider Lances."

Looking at Tai Wushuang, who had been devoured into a dried corpse, Yang Hao couldn't help but exclaim.

The Soul-Devouring Demon Spider was just as its name suggested, known for its devouring nature. In the world of soul beasts, its devouring ability was second only to the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger and the Deep Sea Demon Whale, and the Soul Bone it produced naturally possessed this powerful devouring characteristic.

In terms of devouring, even God King Tang's Eight Spider Lances couldn't compare to it, as that was a specialized trait.

Thinking of this, greed surged in his heart.

This was an External Soul Bone that could evolve, and a devouring type at that. As long as he borrowed God King Tang's path, evolving it into a god-level Soul Bone was only a matter of time, and if he had the materials, it could even evolve into a super-divine artifact.

Most importantly, External Soul Bones could be seized in their early stages.

Without the nourishment of a host, the Soul-Devouring Spider Leg Bone, as an External Soul Bone, began to show signs of fading and dissipating.

"Damn Soul-Devouring Demon Spider, get away from our young master's body!"

Seeing this, Yang Hao hurriedly took off his armor, stepped forward to forcefully rip the Soul-Devouring Spider Leg Bone from Tai Wushuang's back, pressed it onto his own back, and guided his soul power to refine it.

In order to prevent the young master's remains from being disturbed and defiled by that evil Soul-Devouring Demon Spider, he had no choice but to step forward, sacrifice himself for righteousness, and feed the demon with his own body.

Although it was an External Soul Bone, the refining process was identical to that of a normal soul bone. It merged smoothly into Yang Hao's spine—or more accurately, it adhered itself to it.

That was not all. The Soul-Devouring Spider Leg Bone had previously devoured Tai Wushuang's One-Eyed Vajra martial soul, and now it brought that martial soul's power to Yang Hao.

As the soul bone finished refining, Yang Hao's body expanded rapidly, growing from his original height of 1.5 meters to two meters. His muscles bulged, giving him a look reminiscent of a Hong Kong comic book character, and a third eye sprouted in the center of his forehead, identical to the appearance of Tai Wushuang's Martial Soul Possession.

"Powerful!"

Feeling the changes in his body, Yang Hao was very satisfied.

While he was surprised by this phenomenon, it was still logical.

It was much like how the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm had shaped a second martial soul for Huo Yuhao. Because of the nature of his race, the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm had no bones and thus could not produce a soul bone, but he had used his origin power to build a foundation for an ice-attribute martial soul for Huo Yuhao, which only formed into the Ice Jade Empress Scorpion martial soul after merging with the power of the Ice Empress.

His current situation was similar. Tai Wushuang had absorbed and refined the soul ring of the Soul-Devouring Demon Spider, producing a soul bone; the martial soul, soul ring, and External Soul Bone were a trinity. Combined with the predatory nature of the Soul-Devouring Spider Leg Bone and Tai Wushuang's death, he had been able to devour it.

Now that he had refined the Soul-Devouring Spider Leg Bone, it was equivalent to refining Tai Wushuang's martial soul. The Soul-Devouring Spider Leg Bone had become a bridge between the martial soul and himself, indirectly granting him a second martial soul.

He immediately looked at the shocked and hateful Tai Wuji and his wife.

"If the Soul-Devouring Spider Leg Bone could devour the young master's martial soul because of their binding relationship, could it also devour martial souls of the same origin to strengthen this transformation skill?"

Pondering this possibility, Yang Hao, a man of action, decided to do it. He decisively and clumsily manipulated the Soul-Devouring Spider Leg Bone to pierce Tai Wuji's body and begin devouring.

Devouring was a characteristic ability of the Soul-Devouring Spider Leg Bone, as well as an instinct; once it pierced the target, it began to consume autonomously.

Whether it was soul power or blood essence, everything was devoured.

Even the martial soul and soul rings were consumed and refined, becoming nourishment for the One-Eyed Vajra martial soul, further enhancing its foundation.

Yang Hao's figure grew from two meters to two and a half, and the golden patterns on the topmost spider leg of the Soul-Devouring Spider Leg Bone became thicker and brighter.

"You little bastard, we'll be waiting for you down below."

Tai Wushuang let out a resentful growl, cursing the little bastard to join them soon.

This was simply too humiliating. They had been deceived by this little bastard for three years, and now they had capsized in the gutter, even letting him obtain the Mysterious Heaven Treasure Record and the External Soul Bone that rightfully belonged to their son.

The more he thought about it, the angrier he became. Unable to catch his breath, he was eventually angered to death.

"What a pity, I don't kill women and children!"

Turning his gaze toward the venomous Zhao Min, Yang Hao felt a sense of regret, then immediately manipulated the soul-devouring spider leg to strike down.

"It's a pity you aren't a child!"

Zhao Min's eyes widened; so that was what his "pity" meant.

"Experiment successful. Now I have family and clansmen too; I am no longer a lonely man."

Ignoring the two who had died with their eyes wide open, Yang Hao was extremely satisfied with the results of this experiment. His hypothesis had been verified: he could improve by devouring martial souls of the same origin.

Just as the Great Love Immortal Venerable said, when your aptitude is insufficient, do not feel inferior; think more of your clansmen.

Now that I have inherited the young master Tai Wushuang's martial soul, I am a man with family and clansmen. In the future, I must think more often, learn from the Great Love Immortal Venerable, become the Great Love Immortal Venerable of the Douluo Continent, spread great love to the world, and put an end to the petty love of those with "love-addled brains."

Thinking of this, Yang Hao felt a sense of sacred mission.

Calming his emotions and feeling his somewhat bloated body, he realized that this kind of enhancement indeed had its limits.

"I must improve my physical fitness. Otherwise, if I let the One-Eyed Vajra martial soul continue to improve rapidly, my body will likely collapse."

Beast martial souls were different from tool martial souls; they took the form of possession and were closely integrated with the body, which served as the foundation.

Therefore, the powerful strength of a beast martial soul required an equivalent level of physical fitness to carry it. Once the martial soul's power became too strong and exceeded the body's limit, forced possession would inevitably lead to physical collapse.

Beyond that was the bloodline, which was the foundation of Martial Soul Possession. This One-Eyed Vajra martial soul was an external one; Yang Hao did not have the corresponding martial soul bloodline, so he could only force the possession, placing an even greater burden on his body.

"This kind of power."

"Can this thing even devour soul bones?"

Feeling another type of power within the soul bone, Yang Hao looked thoughtfully at Tai Wushuang's mummified corpse. He swung his spear to cut open the shriveled head; there was no skull inside, clearly having been devoured by the Soul-Devouring Spider Leg Bone.

He knew of that head soul bone. After his older brother had refined it years ago, he had demonstrated its ability: Metal Control. It could control metal, somewhat similar to Magneto from X-Men, or Xiao Hongchen, who possessed the Three-Legged Golden Toad martial soul.

It was precisely because Tai Wushuang had refined that soul bone that he dared to refine the thousand-year Soul-Devouring Demon Spider for his first soul ring.

When a soul master refined a soul bone, they fused it into the corresponding bone. The head soul bone corresponded to the skull and had already become one with it. During the era of the first Douluo, even Tang Hao had to resort to severing his own limbs to separate his soul bones.

Now that the soul bone had been devoured by the Soul-Devouring Spider Leg Bone, the ability of Metal Control had also been transferred to the Soul-Devouring Spider Leg Bone.

"With these patterns, can it devour and carry seven more attributes? Is there no earth attribute because there was no corresponding attribute soul bone to carry it?"

He turned his head to look at the golden patterns on the topmost spider leg. It was obvious at a glance that a single spider leg could only carry one attribute, and there were eight spider legs in total, meaning he could still accommodate seven more attributes.

The Soul-Devouring Spider Leg Bone had previously devoured and fused with the metal-attribute head soul bone that Tai Wushuang had refined, and now it had undergone this change; the logic behind it was clear.

One had to know that the One-Eyed Vajra martial soul was a dual-attribute soul of metal and earth. Now that he had devoured Tai Wuji's martial soul and soul ring, it made no sense for only the metal attribute to be enhanced while the earth attribute showed nothing. It must be because there was no corresponding soul bone to serve as a carrier.

He would have to find soul bones of other attributes to experiment with in the future.

"Right, there are also these Soul-Devouring Demon Spiders; they shouldn't go to waste."

As if remembering something, Yang Hao hurriedly manipulated the Soul-Devouring Spider Leg Bone to pierce and devour the energy remaining in the corpses of the Soul-Devouring Demon Spiders.

This was a nest, and there were at least a hundred Soul-Devouring Demon Spiders killed here, not to mention the countless smaller spiderlings. Although they were already dead and their soul power had turned into soul rings, there would still be some residual power in their bodies.