Columbina's Authority

Watching Ye Guyi swallow another portion of the Ten-Thousand-Year Whale Glue and seeing that she remained in a stable state under the care of Columbina's power, Xu Tianming felt his heart settle slightly. He then used the Soul Guidance Phone that Kong Deming had left behind before departing to call him back.

Upon hearing the summons, it took Kong Deming less than thirty seconds to reappear in Xu Tianming's room.

Feeling the clearly strengthened physique of his nephew, Kong Deming smiled with satisfaction, though he then glanced with some confusion at Ye Guyi, who was sitting cross-legged on the floor nearby.

Seeing this, Xu Tianming briefly explained Ye Guyi's current situation.

Kong Deming had no objections to the girl consuming the Ten-Thousand-Year Whale Glue; he was merely surprised that Xu Tianming's Frost Moon Martial Soul actually possessed the ability to help others suppress negative side effects.

Fortunately, his mental fortitude had grown significantly, and he quickly adjusted his mindset:

"Tianming, are you certain you can absorb your second soul ring now? Your uncle still has plenty of good things taken from the treasury. Why don't you consume a few more and refine them before you begin? That would at least be safer."

Kong Deming's advice was not without merit, but after careful consideration, Xu Tianming politely declined his good intentions.

The reason was not complicated: on the Douluo Continent, aside from the group of immortal herbs gathered at the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, most wild natural treasures carried more or less some form of side effect.

Take the whale glue Xu Tianming had just consumed; while it could temper a soul beast's flesh and allow a soul master to increase the age limit of the soul rings they could absorb, its side effect was that it would burn the body with yang fire upon consumption. If a soul master had no special preparations beforehand, there was a chance they would damage their foundation and suffer a massive drop in soul power.

Yet, this was only the category of natural treasures with the mildest side effects. For those with severe side effects, while they could directly increase a soul master's cultivation, they would damage the soul master's roots.

Take the soul masters of the Sun Moon Empire, for example.

In order to pilot more powerful soul guidance devices, most soul masters in the Sun Moon Empire would consume large quantities of wild natural treasures without restraint during the early stages of their cultivation. While this allowed their cultivation to grow rapidly, once they reached the Titled Douluo level, their cultivation would never be able to advance even a fraction further.

Because of this, the entire Sun Moon Empire had not produced a single Super Douluo with soul power above level 95 for at least several thousand years.

Except for Kong Deming, who would reach that level more than a decade later.

With the unique advantage of a dual god-level martial soul, Xu Tianming naturally would not do something that would damage his own foundation.

However, as he thought of this, Xu Tianming suddenly recalled something else:

Within the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, there seemed to be immortal herbs capable of cleansing the marrow and healing hidden injuries within the body. If he could obtain a few stalks for his uncle to consume, then with no hidden injuries to hold him back, it would be no problem for his uncle to reach level 98 or 97 in the future, let alone level 99.

One had to know that in the original setting, Kong Deming, relying solely on his level 95 cultivation, could go head-to-head with the level 99 Xuan Zi in the later stages without falling behind. If his soul power were even higher, what kind of combat power could this number one soul master of the continent unleash?

But for now, this was only something to think about.

Although Xu Tianming knew the location of the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, he had no way to enter it in the short term.

In the lore, before the Tang God King ascended to the God Realm, he had laid down a spatial array around the perimeter of the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well. Tang Sect disciples who did not cultivate the Mysterious Heaven Technique could not penetrate the outer poisonous miasma to approach the spring. Furthermore, the array had a built-in sensing function; as long as someone attempted to force their way in, the Tang God King, residing in the God Realm, would immediately receive a warning.

Turning public property into private property, indeed...

Therefore, if he wanted to obtain the immortal herbs inside the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, the first thing he needed to do was to cross that spatial array without the Tang God King sensing it.

As for how to cross it...

Xu Tianming pondered deeply, but could only think of two methods.

The first was to disguise his identity and join the Tang Sect, then find a way to "restock" from the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well once he learned the Mysterious Heaven Technique.

As for the second method...

If he remembered correctly, the power of the Goddess of the Three Moons was comparable to the Four Shades of the Heavenly Principles, and the Four Shades each mastered one of the four great authorities: "Life, Death, Time, and Space."

Since Columbina had now gathered the power of the three moons into herself, perhaps she also possessed the power to control space and could directly break through the spatial array set up by the Tang God King!

Thinking of this, Xu Tianming immediately asked:

"Columbina, can the authority you currently possess control space?"

Although she did not know the reason for Xu Tianming's question, Columbina gave a direct response:

"My power is not complete at the moment... but if it is the night of the full moon, perhaps I can give it a try."

Xu Tianming hadn't held much hope, but upon hearing this answer, his heart suddenly surged with excitement:

"Really? To what extent can you do it, Columbina? Do you have confidence in breaking a god-level spatial array?"

This question made Columbina think seriously for a moment.

"If it were a god-level array from the Teyvat Continent, I might not be able to do it with my current power, but I haven't felt exactly how strong the god-level power of this world is yet... Ah, the moon says... okay, I understand... The moon just told me that on the night of the full moon, my power can help you."

After finally receiving a definitive answer from Columbina, Xu Tianming felt relieved.

After all, he had no interest in hiding his name to join the Tang Sect.

Just as Xu Tianming's heart settled and he prepared to focus on absorbing the ten-thousand-year soul ring, he suddenly remembered one more thing.

Of the four authorities of "Life, Death, Time, and Space," he had only thought of Space just now.

Since Columbina could even call upon spatial abilities, didn't that mean she could also use the other three authorities?

If that were the case, why should he look far afield and overthink things?

"Columbina, my uncle here has some hidden injuries in his body. Help me take a look later and see if your power can heal them."

"Mm, I will try."

Hearing Columbina's response, Xu Tianming reached out and grasped Kong Deming's wrist.

Seeing this, Kong Deming was slightly surprised but did not dodge, instead allowing his nephew to hold it; he believed his nephew would surely give him a reasonable explanation later.

However, just as this thought crossed his mind, a gentle moonlight flowed from the point of contact between their wrists into his body, and Kong Deming suddenly felt a warm sensation fill his entire being.

At first, he only felt that the sensation was very comfortable, with nothing else particularly noteworthy.

But soon, his relaxed expression gave way to a hint of shock, and his eyes widened.

If he hadn't sensed it wrong, the hidden injuries he had accumulated over several decades were actually being healed by a small fraction by this gentle power!