Douluo: Breathing Makes Me Stronger, Tang San Was Terrified!

The explosions did not stop for the entire day.

The Sun-Facing Flower had truly suffered. Lu Chen used its innate skill, Explosive Seed, to train his movement technique.

Over the course of the day, the Sun-Facing Flower fired more than a hundred Explosive Seeds, exhausting itself terribly.

Yet not only had it failed to kill Lu Chen, the intense pressure had instead made his movements increasingly agile.

Fortunately for the Sun-Facing Flower, it was a Plant Spirit Beast and had no mouth. Otherwise, it would definitely have been cursing by now.

As the sun gradually set, the Sun-Facing Flower grew weaker and weaker. When the last ray of sunlight disappeared, it seemed to fall asleep.

However, the sleeping Sun-Facing Flower was not completely defenseless. A strand of golden light bloomed from its flower disk, quickly forming a golden energy shield that completely enveloped it.

Seeing this, Lu Chen, covered in dirt and looking utterly bedraggled, stopped while panting heavily.

His clothes had been scorched, and his body was covered in burn marks. There was not a patch of uninjured skin on him. His face twisted in pain, and the moment sweat seeped out, it was dried away by the heat.

It was clear just how torturous this movement training had been for Lu Chen.

The next moment, Lu Chen summoned his First Martial Soul, Blue Silver Grass. A stalk of Blue Silver Grass with blood-red patterns, giving off a faint fragrance and brimming with rich life energy, grew out of thin air.

Two magnificent purple Spirit Rings slowly rose beneath Lu Chen's feet, marking him as a Soul Grandmaster.

Others had one white and one yellow Spirit Ring, or perhaps two yellow Spirit Rings. Yet he had two purple Spirit Rings. If word got out, no one knew how great a stir it would cause in the Spirit Master world.

"First Spirit Skill, Blue Silver Revival!"

"Second Spirit Skill, Blue Silver Grace!"

As Lu Chen's words fell, the two purple Spirit Rings shone. His Soul Power surged into his Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul, which began to sway gently and release clouds of blue mist.

Bathed in the blue mist, Lu Chen's injuries recovered at a visible rate. His exhausted mind was greatly relieved, and his strength rapidly returned.

As for his Soul Power, although using Spirit Skills consumed some of it, his Gold Finger was growing stronger through breathing. Every breath allowed him to absorb the energy of heaven and earth.

His recovery was faster than his consumption, so his Soul Power never showed any signs of running dry.

About three minutes later, Lu Chen had fully recovered to his peak condition. He was brimming with energy, without a single injury on his body, and there was no trace of the burns left.

"I'll get something to eat first. When I come back, I'll use the Sun-Facing Flower's Blazing Sun Shield to train the Cannon Fist I've been developing!"

Explosive Step and Cannon Fist were Self-Created Soul Skills Lu Chen had developed over the previous month.

The principles behind both Self-Created Soul Skills came from compressing and releasing Soul Power.

Explosive Step compressed and released Soul Power in his feet to increase his speed.

Cannon Fist compressed and released Soul Power in his hands, creating an energy shockwave for attack.

The theory was already sound. What he lacked was extensive practice to truly shape these two Self-Created Soul Skills.

This eight-thousand-year-old Sun-Facing Flower was simply the best sparring partner Lu Chen could have hoped for.

Lu Chen's First Spirit Skill could heal his injuries, while his Second Spirit Skill could dispel fatigue and restore his energy.

This allowed Lu Chen to recover quickly after being injured or overexerting himself, then continue training.

It would not be long before these two Self-Created Soul Skills could show their effects in actual combat.

Returning to the present, as the sky darkened, the entire forest became quiet and secluded. The calls of unfamiliar birds drifted through the darkness, creating an eerie atmosphere.

Fortunately, Lu Chen had grown used to it. He returned to where he had left his pack, gathered some firewood, piled it together, and lit a campfire.

He then took out some dried meat he had made from his pack, cut it into small pieces with a knife, added some wild vegetables he casually dug up nearby, and stewed everything in a small pot.

Before long, a fragrant pot of meat soup was ready.

After eating and drinking his fill, Lu Chen clasped his hands behind his head and lay down to gaze at the stars for a while.

He thought about how, after only a few months away, he had already obtained his first and second Spirit Rings.

He was even developing Self-Created Soul Skills. Once they succeeded and he killed this Sun-Facing Flower, his Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul would gain its Third Spirit Ring.

Soon!

I'm one step closer to avenging my hatred!

A fierce hatred flashed in Lu Chen's eyes. Thinking of the humiliation Tang Hao and Tang San, father and son, had inflicted upon him and his parents, he gritted his teeth. Even after all these years, he still could not let it go.

"Tang Hao, Tang San, just wait. I'll make you both wish you were dead, regret ever being born into this world."

After making that harsh vow, Lu Chen sprang up from the ground and tore off his tattered shirt, revealing his muscular chest and sharply defined abs.

After loosening up his limbs, Lu Chen strode toward the Sun-Facing Flower. The Sun-Facing Flower was already asleep, but a Blazing Sun Shield had formed around it.

"Cannon Fist!"

Lu Chen clenched his right hand into a fist and shouted softly, circulating Soul Power into his fist and compressing it. With the experience from the daytime, the process of compressing Soul Power went very smoothly.

After all, Explosive Step and Cannon Fist operated on the same principle: compressing and releasing Soul Power.

As the Soul Power became highly compressed, Lu Chen's clenched right hand trembled slightly. Waves of Soul Power fluctuations uncontrollably spread from the surface of his fist.

Lu Chen's eyes widened. As he threw a fierce punch, he completely released the compressed Soul Power in his fist.

Boom!

Lu Chen's punch struck the Blazing Sun Shield, causing ripples to spread across the golden energy barrier.

Although Lu Chen's punch did not completely shatter the Blazing Sun Shield, it still had a considerable effect on it.

Delight appeared between Lu Chen's brows.

"Looks pretty good. The power is far greater than an ordinary punch, but it still needs further improvement."

"I need to compress the Soul Power even further. Like a spring, the harder it is compressed, the stronger its rebound will be."

"I also need to control the angle at which the Soul Power is released. The force needs to be concentrated. The more concentrated it is, the greater the power; the more dispersed it is, the weaker the power."

"Keep going, keep going. Once I can shatter the Sun-Facing Flower's Blazing Sun Shield with one punch, my Self-Created Soul Skill, Cannon Fist, will truly take shape."

As his words fell, Lu Chen quickly pulled back his fist and repeated the previous movements—gathering strength, punching, and striking the Sun-Facing Flower's Blazing Sun Shield again and again.

Boom! Boom! Boom...

Lu Chen was like a tireless machine, practicing his punches until the latter half of the night before finally returning to rest.

And this kind of training continued for more than twenty days...

Chapter 22: Level 40 Soul Power

After being tortured day and night by Lu Chen for more than twenty days, the Sun-Facing Flower now looked somewhat listless.

It weakly fired three Explosive Seeds in Lu Chen's direction.

"Explosive Step!"

Lu Chen reacted swiftly, circulating Soul Power beneath his feet and compressing it. The instant the compressed Soul Power was released—

A deep footprint was stamped into the ground, and Lu Chen shot away, dodging the three Explosive Seeds.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The explosions from the three Explosive Seeds did not harm Lu Chen in the slightest.

After Lu Chen's long period of arduous practice, this Self-Created Soul Skill, Explosive Step, could already be used in actual combat.

Lu Chen, who had launched himself into the air, spread his arms like a great roc. Using the momentum of his descent, he swiftly pounced toward the Sun-Facing Flower.

Facing Lu Chen's fierce charge, the Sun-Facing Flower instinctively opened its Blazing Sun Shield. Golden light bloomed from its flower disk, forming a golden energy shield that completely wrapped around it.

Lu Chen raised his hand and clenched it into a fist. Streams of Soul Power ran through his meridians and into his fist, where they compressed.

"Cannon Fist!"

The instant he neared the Sun-Facing Flower, Lu Chen threw a fierce punch. The Soul Power compressed to its limit burst from his fist, forming a terrifying energy shockwave.

Boom!

With a loud explosion, terrifying energy fluctuations scattered in every direction. The golden energy shield surrounding the Sun-Facing Flower finally could not withstand the force of the punch and shattered completely.

The scattered fragments of the shield rapidly dissolved in the air, vanishing without a trace in an instant.

After shattering the Blazing Sun Shield, Lu Chen's powerful Cannon Fist did not lose any momentum as it slammed into the Sun-Facing Flower's flower disk.

Crack! Crack! Crack! Crack!

This eight-thousand-year-old Sun-Facing Flower was smashed apart by Lu Chen's punch. Its flower disk shattered completely, and pieces of its broken body fell everywhere.

After destroying the Sun-Facing Flower, Lu Chen landed smoothly on the ground. He looked at his fist, then at the shattered Sun-Facing Flower, and could not help smiling.

"Good. Explosive Step can double my speed, while the powerful might of Cannon Fist finally gives me the ability to truly fight high-level Spirit Beasts."

At the same time, the Sun-Facing Flower, its flower disk shattered, reached the end of its life. Dense purple energy streamed from its broken body.

After several transformations, the immense purple energy condensed into a dark purple Spirit Ring. The terrifying energy fluctuations emitted by the Spirit Ring sent ripples through the air.

This was an eight-thousand-year Spirit Ring!

It was practically one of the finest millennium Spirit Rings possible!

And today, Lu Chen would use this eight-thousand-year Spirit Ring as the Third Spirit Ring for his Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul.

Looking at the purple Spirit Ring, Lu Chen dug a hole in the ground, moved over a large stone, climbed into the hole, and used the stone to block the entrance.

It was a little cowardly, but safe.

Lu Chen sat cross-legged underground, closed his eyes, activated the Meditation Method, connected with his Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul, and began absorbing the eight-thousand-year-old Sun-Facing Flower's Spirit Ring.

In an instant, the purple Spirit Ring floated over and settled around his Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul, then contracted and merged into it.

An immense surge of Soul Power, intensely masculine and scorching hot yet filled with life energy, instantly swept through his Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul.

Nourished by that life energy, his Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul began to tremble violently. It grew stronger at a visible rate and began its third evolution.

Every Spirit Ring absorption was a small evolution for a Martial Soul.

Different Spirit Rings naturally led to different directions of evolution.

To make a Martial Soul evolve correctly, the Spirit Rings absorbed had to be carefully selected.

Lu Chen's Martial Soul was Blue Silver Grass. Unfortunately, he could not find nine Blue Silver Grass Spirit Beasts with suitable cultivation ages, kill them, and absorb their Spirit Rings.

Because of this, he could only settle for the next best thing!

Every Spirit Beast he hunted was a Plant Spirit Beast brimming with vitality.

Absorbing the Spirit Rings of these Plant Spirit Beasts could not evolve Blue Silver Grass into an Orthodox Blue Silver Emperor, but it could evolve it into a Variant Blue Silver Emperor.

It was difficult to say which of the two was superior!

The Orthodox Blue Silver Emperor excelled in being pure enough.

The Variant Blue Silver Emperor excelled in encompassing everything.

By integrating the traits of nine great Plant Spirit Beasts into itself, the Variant Blue Silver Emperor might not necessarily be inferior to the Orthodox Blue Silver Emperor.

Returning to the present, Lu Chen's process of absorbing this eight-thousand-year-old Sun-Facing Flower Spirit Ring went fairly smoothly.

A vast amount of Soul Power lay dormant within his body. Suppressed by his own Soul Power, the eight-thousand-year-old Sun-Facing Flower Spirit Ring did not cause much trouble before being completely subdued.

After about an hour, Lu Chen completely finished absorbing the Third Spirit Ring for his Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul.

He opened his dark, profound eyes, raised his head, and pushed with one hand, lifting the massive stone above him. He finally breathed in a mouthful of fresh air.

Lu Chen then jumped out of the hole, spread his arms, and took a deep breath.

Right now, he felt better than ever before!

Soon afterward, Lu Chen sensed his own Soul Power. Just as he had expected, his Soul Power had surged to level forty.

And in his view, level forty Soul Power was definitely not his limit!

He had been in Douluo Continent for nine whole years. With the Gold Finger that made him stronger through breathing, his Soul Power had constantly risen every moment.

Especially three years ago, when he learned the Meditation Method and discovered that it could double his cultivation speed, his diligence in cultivation had ranked among the very best in all of Notting Academy.

Now, after years of accumulation, the time had finally come for him to reap the rewards!

Lu Chen suddenly gave a cold laugh.

"I remember when I left Notting Academy, Tang San looked at me as if I were already dead."

"He probably thought that if I hunted Spirit Beasts alone, I would surely die in the process."

"But who would have thought that not only did I not die, I'm still alive and well? In just a few months, I successfully absorbed three Spirit Rings and became a Soul Elder."