Level Twenty

Tang San's mother was a hundred-thousand-year Blue Silver Emperor who had taken human form, so Tang San was of mixed human and beast blood. Perhaps all those abnormalities were because of that mixed blood.

After Tang San learned to walk, Tang Hao became increasingly despondent.

On one hand, he had to convince himself to ignore Tang San's abnormalities. On the other, he had given himself over to despair after losing all hope of revenge. He drowned himself in liquor, pretending he had seen nothing.

Until the day of the martial soul awakening.

Tang San awakened with innate full soul power.

And he possessed twin martial souls: Blue Silver Grass and the Clear Sky Hammer.

At that moment, hope for revenge overwhelmed every suspicion and fear in his heart.

He attributed all of Tang San's abnormalities to his mixed human and beast blood, no longer dwelling on the details that had kept him awake at night.

He began to pay attention to Tang San.

He began teaching him the Clear Sky Sect's ultimate techniques.

At this moment, seeing Tang San successfully absorb the Mandala Snake's soul ring, Tang Hao slowly let out a breath.

He raised his head toward Holy Soul Village, his gaze seeming to pierce through layers of dense forest and fall upon the stone cave behind that waterfall.

"Ah Yin, did you see that?"

Tang Hao's voice was low and hoarse, and a rare tenderness appeared on his rugged face.

"Our child will avenge you."

Meanwhile, in the Farsino Wasteland.

The blue-gold light within the cave had already faded.

Nezha sat cross-legged in the darkness as the final thread of blue-gold energy from his right leg silently merged into his skin. He slowly opened his eyes and exhaled a breath of stale air.

The Blue Silver Emperor's Right Leg Bone had been fully absorbed.

He stood and flexed his right leg.

A warm current rose from deep within the leg bone, like a hot spring gurgling through his bones. Its warmth spread along his meridians and throughout his body.

This was the hundred-thousand-year soul bone of the Blue Silver Emperor.

Nezha closed his eyes and sensed his condition.

Soul power—level twenty.

On the surface, he had only risen one level, but he knew this was merely an illusion.

When a soul master's soul power reached the bottleneck of their current rank, continuing to cultivate without acquiring the corresponding soul ring could not raise their level. However, the soul power would accumulate in their body rather than go to waste.

Once he obtained his second soul ring and entered the next major realm, that accumulated soul power would erupt like a breached flood, directly pushing his level to where it should be.

So, the true extent of his improvement would only become clear after he absorbed his second soul ring.

Beyond soul power, the Blue Silver Emperor's Right Leg Bone had also considerably improved his bone strength, meridian resilience, and soul power purity.

Though these three enhancements were less obvious than an increase in soul power, they had an even greater impact on combat strength.

Stronger bones meant he could withstand heavier attacks. More resilient meridians meant soul power could circulate faster. Purer soul power meant greater power when unleashing soul skills.

Aside from those benefits, the most obvious gains were the two soul skills bestowed by the soul bone.

The first was flight.

The effect of this skill was as straightforward as it could be.

He did not need to summon his martial soul or make any preparatory movements. With a single thought, he could take to the air, and its soul power consumption was minimal.

Essential for fleeing, essential for pursuit, essential for crossing mountains and valleys.

The second was Wildfire Cannot Burn It All, and Spring Breezes Bring It Back to Life.

The name of this skill was a little long, but simply put, it was a top-tier healing soul skill. It could rapidly repair bodily injuries, even regenerating severed limbs.

If used in an environment dense with Blue Silver Grass, the healing speed would double.

One was for flight, and one was for healing.

One was for escape, and one was for staying alive.

Along with the two soul bone skills fused into his left arm bone during A Rou's sacrifice—Camouflage and Invincible Golden Body.

Camouflage allowed Nezha to disguise his soul power level, the colors of his soul rings, and even alter the form of his martial soul.

Anything he wished to conceal could be disguised.

And Invincible Golden Body: three seconds of absolute defense, immune to ninety-nine percent of attacks.

Besides the soul bone skills, the hundred-thousand-year soul ring that A Rou had fused into his body during her sacrifice had granted him more than just the Qiankun Ring as his first soul skill.

The Qiankun Ring was an innate weapon of the Three-Headed Six-Armed Dharma Body martial soul, while the soul ring itself had also granted him two skills.

Void. His body became intangible for ten seconds, rendering him immune to all physical attacks and reducing energy attacks by fifty to eighty percent. This skill made up for Invincible Golden Body's shortcomings and was more effective against piercing and cutting attacks.

Charm. A control skill. It did not seem particularly outstanding among these soul skills, but when used well in actual combat, a brief moment of control could often decide victory or defeat.

Invincible Golden Body for three seconds of hard resistance, Void for ten seconds of intangibility, flight to create distance, healing to mend injuries, Camouflage to hide his strength, Charm to disrupt an enemy's rhythm, and the Qiankun Ring for long-range suppression.

Nezha's combat strength was still far from top-tier, but in terms of survivability, there were probably few people on the entire Douluo Continent who could match him.

He could advance to attack and retreat to defend. If he could not win, he could run—and after running, he still had healing.

That was enough.

Nezha did not leave immediately. Instead, he sat cross-legged again and circulated the Nine-Turn Mysterious Technique to stabilize the energy he had just absorbed.

In the darkness, a faint golden light flowed across his body, coating the rocks within the cave with a dim golden edge.

Notting Academy, nightfall.

Only a few dim soul guide lamps were lit in the corridor of Building Seven. Their faint warm light fell upon the walls, barely enough to see the way.

The dormitory door was slightly ajar, and a line of light spilled through the crack.

Nezha pushed open the door. Xiao Wu was lying on her bed, flipping through a book borrowed from the academy library, her two slender legs raised and swinging back and forth.

Hearing the door open, she looked up, her pink eyes blinking.

"Where did you run off to? I haven't seen you all day." Xiao Wu closed her book, rolled over, and sat up, looking him over from head to toe. "Hm? You seem to have grown a little taller again?"

Nezha casually shut the door. "I went out to take care of something."

"What was it?" Xiao Wu tilted her head, her expression curious. "You were gone for so long."

Nezha said nothing. He took the clay pot from his storage soul guide and handed it to her.

Xiao Wu accepted it and looked down. A Blue Silver Grass was planted in the pot. Its leaves were as thin as bean sprouts, with several golden veins running across their pale-blue surfaces. It drooped listlessly in the soil.

She looked it over from side to side, then raised her head, utterly bewildered.

"Isn't this just an ordinary Blue Silver Grass?"

Nezha raised a finger and wagged it.

"No, no, no. This isn't ordinary Blue Silver Grass. It is the emperor of Blue Silver Grass—the Blue Silver Emperor."

Xiao Wu lowered her head again to look at the wilted grass in the pot, then looked back at Nezha and snorted.

"After all that, isn't it still Blue Silver Grass? Blue Silver Emperor, my foot. This Blue Silver Grass isn't even a soul beast right now."

She shoved the clay pot back into Nezha's hands.

"Don't tell me you were gone all day just for this Blue Silver Grass?"

Nezha steadily placed the clay pot on the table and nodded.