The forest breeze stirred as towering trees blocked out the sun, casting vast shadows over the ground below.
Li Changsheng walked along a path thick with fallen leaves, yet he did so with ease. He only had to drag the Night-Startling Spear. Even an object weighing a thousand jun, or ten thousand jun, felt as light as a feather in his hands.
"God of Wisdom, which is stronger, the Night-Startling Spear or Tang San's Seagod Trident?"
Since he was still close to the main road, Li Changsheng had no choice but to pull his cart and continue deeper into the forest. Still, he wouldn't venture too far in. After all, a Porcupine Soul Beast Clan lived in these woods.
With nothing else to do, he chatted with the God of Wisdom skill to pass the time.
<Answer. According to the world's framework, the Night-Startling Spear is stronger. The Seagod Trident is merely formed from a portion of one world's power. The Night-Startling Spear was forged from a prehistoric meteorite by the chief of the Pangu Clan, who created the world. It was meant to possess every attribute, both killing and healing. However, during the forging, the complete meteorite split into the Night-Startling Spear and the Immeasurable Ruler. The Night-Startling Spear inherited overwhelming slaughter, while the Immeasurable Ruler inherited the power to save lives and heal the wounded.>
The God of Wisdom's explanation was unusually thorough this time, giving Li Changsheng a much fuller understanding of the Night-Startling Spear.
"Then tell me, what are my chances of becoming a god?" Li Changsheng asked with interest.
<Answer. Given the definition of a god in this world's framework, you have a ninety-nine percent chance of inheriting a divine position.>
"That high?"
Li Changsheng was startled, but also pleased. That was right—he really was this impressive. Once he awakened his Martial Soul, he would surely become the foremost figure of his era, suppressing every Soul Master of his generation.
"If this Sign-in and Clock-in System had awakened during the war between the Sun-Moon Continent and Douluo Continent, I, Li Changsheng, could have unified the continent all by myself! I'd have outshone Tang San, who only destroyed the Spirit Hall Empire."
Li Changsheng's eyes curved as he revealed an innocent, guileless smile.
"Do you know what Martial Soul I might awaken?" Li Changsheng tried asking.
At the same time, he spotted a shallow pit. It was about fifty meters across and over a meter deep—a perfect place.
The God of Wisdom's cold, mechanical voice paused this time before responding to Li Changsheng.
Answer. Unable to provide information.
Li Changsheng wasn't disappointed. He just wanted to say that the God of Wisdom skill couldn't answer absolutely everything after all.
Standing beside the pit, Li Changsheng surveyed the surroundings.
The area was a clearing created by felling trees. Towering trees had been cut down for several hundred meters in every direction, probably by people from Spirit Soul City.
Although most buildings nowadays were made of brick and tile, plenty of Soul Masters and ordinary people liked living in tree houses, which stayed warm in winter and cool in summer.
Besides, there were no logging regulations or nature conservation in this world.
Perhaps they would start protecting Soul Beasts in the future?
The slaughterhouse workers had left the hundred chickens in the iron cage barely alive.
The method they used was unusual.
They tied a finger-thick rope around each chicken's neck, leaving it just loose enough that any movement would immediately tighten the rope and make the chicken feel as if it were suffocating.
So now the chickens barely moved. They didn't even cluck.
Li Changsheng jumped into the pit, stepped back a few paces, then dragged the cart down after him.
The pit offered excellent cover.
At least in this vast forest, no one could spot it at a glance.
Li Changsheng hadn't wanted to go to all this trouble, but he feared that when he killed the chickens, the thick stench of blood would spread and disturb the Porcupine Clan. If that happened while he was standing out in the open, he would definitely be attacked. Now, at least, he'd have some time to react.
Looking at the dying chickens, Li Changsheng untied the rag wrapped around the Night-Startling Spear.
A sharp, terrifying chill radiated from the spear.
The Night-Startling Spear seemed furious—furious that Li Changsheng had wrapped its body in rags and even used it as a tool to pull a cart.
It was a divine artifact, after all! A mighty divine artifact!
No matter how you looked at it, it shouldn't have ended up in such a sorry state, should it?
But now that it was in Li Changsheng's hands, well, how he chose to use it was his business.
Soon, the Night-Startling Spear was once again exposed to the air.
Li Changsheng looked up at the shaft, and his pupils suddenly contracted.
The Night-Startling Spear looked completely different from how it had at night.
Its shaft shone with such dense black light that it blocked out the sun. A ring of Night Domain had actually formed around it. Within that ring of darkness, not even a single ray of sunlight could pass through. The mighty Night-Startling Spear seemed to be proclaiming its dominion.
"As expected of a divine artifact. Sigh, I hope that after I awaken my Martial Soul, I'll be able to use more of the Night-Startling Spear's power."
All Li Changsheng could do was sigh. He was just an ordinary person. Even with a divine artifact in hand, he couldn't unleash its dazzling brilliance. A fortuitous encounter was just that: first came the marvel, then the encounter. If you weren't extraordinary yourself, then even if you obtained something precious, you wouldn't know how to use it.
Li Changsheng lifted the Night-Startling Spear and aimed its tip at the iron cage.
"By the way, just how heavy is this Night-Startling Spear?" Li Changsheng asked the God of Wisdom skill.
When he held the Night-Startling Spear, it felt like it weighed only about ten pounds.
But whenever he set it on the ground, it made a huge crater, even in a mountain.
<Answer. The Night-Startling Spear's weight is not fixed. Once you master it, you can increase or decrease its weight at will. It can also change shape as you desire. Current estimate: when not in your hands, the Night-Startling Spear weighs twenty thousand pounds.>
"..."
Li Changsheng's raised arm nearly dropped under the imagined weight.
His mouth fell open. He was stunned by its weight—and by the fact that the Night-Startling Spear could change shape, even though it hadn't let him use that ability!
"Fine. From now on, I'll believe the Night-Startling Spear is invincible. Stronger than any Martial Soul. I won't be shocked again."
Li Changsheng steadied his mind. It had only been a day since the Sign-in and Clock-in System awakened, and he'd already been shocked who knew how many times. It was as if the composure he'd cultivated over ten thousand years had all been a joke.
That wouldn't do.
"All right, let me see how the Night-Startling Spear will repay me after absorbing blood essence."
Li Changsheng drew a deep breath of the forest's fresh air, gripped the shaft of the Night-Startling Spear, and leaped into the air.
He wasn't tall, but his jumping power was astonishing. He sprang nearly three meters high.
It was a method of using the strength of his knees that Li Changsheng had learned by watching Tang San work the forge back then.
The Night-Startling Spear thrust forward. Its concentrated spear light seemed focused on a single point, but in truth it spread across an area a full meter wide.
Black light enveloped that meter-wide area, and the domineering Night Domain drove away the scorching afternoon sun.
The moment the fierce shaft of light touched the iron cage, something bizarre happened.
The iron bars, each as thick as a thumb, began to dissolve at a speed almost impossible to see with the naked eye.
The dying chickens hadn't even noticed danger approaching.
Bang!
A vast cloud of blood exploded in an instant, mixed with a flurry of colorful feathers. An invisible shock wave spread in every direction.
Li Changsheng landed on the ground, panting, leaning on the Night-Startling Spear as he watched the scene before him.
The scattered feathers floated through the air.
Yet the exploding blood mist twisted strangely into countless red-and-black strands. They arced through the air, then sank into the dim bead embedded in the shaft of the Night-Startling Spear.
In the blink of an eye, the blood essence vanished without a trace, leaving only a carpet of feathers.
Li Changsheng examined the bead on the shaft of the Night-Startling Spear.
The bead was small and pitch-black, but now a few bloodstains covered its surface. It looked strange, like a few stars had suddenly appeared in the pitch-black night sky.
"What should I do next?" Li Changsheng asked the God of Wisdom.
<Answer. Since you have no understanding of the pathways throughout your meridians, you may temporarily hand control of your body over to the God of Wisdom so I can demonstrate.>
Li Changsheng froze for a moment.
"Y-you mean you can control my body and train with it?"
This wasn't some kind of possession, was it?
<Answer. In addition to training, I can also engage in combat. Naturally, there is a time limit, determined by your body's endurance. As an intelligence-type skill, I can demonstrate combat and training methods perfectly.>
"Is that so?" Li Changsheng hesitated for a moment, then nodded. "Then help me break through."
He chose to trust the God of Wisdom skill.
The God of Wisdom was right. He didn't understand the pathways in his body.
Unlike Tang San, he had never lived in a low-martial world, and he had never practiced martial arts.
In this world, even now, he hadn't heard anyone mention meridians. Perhaps some people had, but Li Changsheng didn't know of them.
Soul Masters trained through meditation, not by drawing qi into their bodies. Li Changsheng didn't even understand the specific meditation methods. He had read about a few, but without a Martial Soul, he hadn't been able to try them.
<Notice. Beginning body takeover. Based on assessment, your body can endure two hours. Beginning body takeover.>
The cold mechanical voice vanished.
Then Li Changsheng suddenly felt light as a feather.
The next instant,
he saw a bright light.
It was so dazzling that he couldn't keep his eyes open, and he shut them instinctively.
A few seconds later, he felt a cool breeze brushing past him.
It was comfortable, but his body seemed to sway in the wind.
He opened his eyes—
Suddenly, his pupils contracted to pinpricks.
He was looking at himself!
Under the God of Wisdom's control, Li Changsheng's body sat cross-legged on the spot, with the Night-Startling Spear planted in front of him.
Meanwhile, Li Changsheng himself watched from outside his body in the form of a soul as the body controlled by the God of Wisdom sank into cultivation.
"So this is what the God of Wisdom meant when it said it would control my body?"
Looking at his own body, Li Changsheng suddenly sensed that his aura had changed.
With the God of Wisdom skill in control, a chill radiated from him. He seemed as cold and indifferent as ten-thousand-year-old ice.
"This skill is really strange..."
Li Changsheng muttered, then began observing the God of Wisdom's cultivation method.
It was worth mentioning that Li Changsheng could see several lines inside his body connecting. Were those the meridians he needed to link up to practice the Mysterious Heaven Skill?
At the same time, the Night-Startling Spear planted in the ground began to change.
The previously dormant gray-black bead suddenly glowed red.
Drops of blood seeped out, then instantly condensed into blood-red crystals that shot into Li Changsheng's body.
Li Changsheng watched closely.
He saw the exposed parts of his body, his once fair and tender skin flushed red. At the same time, his aura grew stronger without any visible sign. About an hour had passed by then...
But just then, a series of scraping and clashing sounds rang out from the forest not far away. Li Changsheng, still in his soul form, darkened.
"The Porcupine Clan!"
Before you continue