"Hunting Bears"

"Bear Hunting"

Douluo calendar 2630.

The current Holy Maiden of Spirit Hall, Bibi Dong, announced her promotion to Title Douluo.

Title: Jade Spider!

Pontifex Qian Xunji was overjoyed and proclaimed it to the world, inviting the two great empires and seven major sects to come to Spirit City to celebrate the Holy Maiden's promotion.

Inside the secret chamber of the Papal Palace.

"Dong'er, the day to celebrate your promotion to Title is almost here. Originally, I had already prepared a surprise for you, but that fool Demon Bear actually ruined it for me. Facing Tang Hao of the Soul Douluo rank with the status of a Title, not only did he fail to bring back the hundred-thousand-year soul beast, but he also got one of his legs broken. It is truly a disgrace to our Spirit Hall!"

"However, rest assured, Dong'er, the punishment warriors within the hall have already placed the Clear Sky Sect under close surveillance, and that transformed hundred-thousand-year soul beast will definitely not be able to escape the palm of my hand! Three years have passed, and everything is ready. Within the next month, I will personally lead a team for soul hunting. I want to see if his Clear Sky Hammer can withstand my Angel's Judgment!"

"In short, Dong'er, as long as you like it, no matter what it is, I will fetch it for you."

Wearing a purple-gold crown and a magnificent black robe, Pontifex Qian Xunji looked at the peerless beauty beside him, his slender, handsome eyes revealing an unhealthy, doting fondness.

Yet Bibi Dong remained expressionless, a hatred condensed like deadly venom lurking deep within her pupils—the ultimate evil light of total destruction after a world's collapse.

With her long hair draped loose and her black dress spreading across the floor, her delicate fingers, pale like jade bamboo shoots, touched a beam of light falling from the secret chamber's skylight, where dust motes danced and intertwined like a galaxy.

It looked beautiful, but what she could grasp was only nothingness.

Just like her life.

Bibi Dong withdrew her fingers, murmuring in a detached tone devoid of a trace of warmth:

"Teacher, are you really willing to give me anything?"

"Of course!"

"Then what about your heart?"

Qian Xunji felt a pain in his chest. It turned out that the woman before him had quietly slid her palm inside his robe, her nails sinking slightly with force into the position of his left breast.

The woman's appearance remained peerless, and her charming fragrance was equally alluring, but for some reason, when Qian Xunji locked eyes with her, he seemed to catch a wisp of menacingly wicked purple intent.

This momentary jolt made his Angel Martial Soul feel a trace of chilling frost as if plunging into hell.

The intimate and ambiguous action before him seemed more like a demonic spider baring its fangs and wondering where to take a bite.

Yet.

"I will give it to you! As long as you want it, Dong'er, I can even give you this life of mine! Provided that you hold me in your heart."

Qian Xunji did not hesitate at all. Instead, he pressed hard against the woman's hand inside his robe, making the pain of nails piercing flesh even more profound.

Pain was love!

This was the most powerful and truest proof, Qian Xunji firmly believed.

On Bibi Dong's gorgeous face, the corners of her lips curled into a smile for the first time, yet it held no warmth, resembling a symbol of evil eroding the soul.

"Good. When the time comes, I will take it out myself."

Spirit City, the residence of Demon Bear Douluo.

The Martial Arena.

A young boy of about six years old was practicing a set of palm techniques in the center of the arena.

The boy wore a moon-white training uniform, his neat, bright golden short hair combed straight back and impeccably groomed, exposing his forehead. With regular and distinct facial features, his baby-fat face framed a pair of bright, star-like eyes that revealed an unusual, mature steadfastness.

Hoo—

Hoo—

The wind of his palms whistled. With every move, every stance, every step, and the transition of his fists and palms, a transparent dragon-shaped Qi faintly formed and coiled around the boy.

The boy turned a blind eye. Finishing the set of palm techniques, sweat beaded lightly on his forehead, but he showed no intention of stopping. With surplus and inexhaustible Qi surrounding his body, he returned once again to the starting stance.

He planted his feet in a horse stance, bent his right arm inward, drew a circle with a single palm, and pushed it outward with a swoosh.

Dragon Qi coiled around him.

This was Revisiting the Dragon!

Afterward, he gathered his internal energy, took a horizontal step, his calf muscles bulging with force, leaped high, transitioned into Flying Dragon in the Sky, and struck downward with a single palm from mid-air.

Roar—!

The fierce palm force actually left a palm print an inch deep on the stone bricks of the martial arena, the palm strength gathered without scattering.

When his force reached its limit, he turned his body, changing his palm into a claw, lowered his upper body, his steps moving like a hunting hidden dragon, executing the grappling form of Hidden Dragon Does Not Use.

Then, striking the ground with one palm and flipping over, his left palm exerted circular force below while his right palm struck straight out, whipping up a circle of revolving Qi—strong yet yielding, flawless. That was the move Dragon Appears in the Field.

The next instant, as Qi surged and stances shifted, Double Dragons Fetch Water, Six Dragons Revolving, Divine Dragon Wags Its Tail, and Dragons Fight in the Wild were unleashed one after another.

Finally, channeling his strength, he pushed out with a single palm, returning once again to the starting stance of Revisiting the Dragon.

Roar—

The dragon-shaped Qi coiled and dissipated.

Hoo~

Xu Huxiao spat out a breath of stale air, withdrew his palms, and stopped. Golden dragon-shaped lights flashed across his pupils before vanishing.

Martial Dao Essence Realm!

He lowered his head to inspect his six-year-old body, nodding inwardly.

It hasn't been easy. I've finally completely mastered this set of Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms. As for the upcoming Qi Intent Realm and the ultimate Divine Intent Realm, aside from bitter training, accumulation and sudden enlightenment are even more important—it won't be nearly this simple.

After all, this is also tied to the evolution of my Twin Arms Martial Soul.

Nearby, a maid of sixteen with a youthful, graceful figure stepped forward to hand over pre-prepared warm water and a towel.

"Young master, please use this~"

Xu Huxiao took them, drank a mouthful, and wiped the sweat from his forehead.

"Prepare the medicinal bath for me as usual. I'll need it after the martial soul awakening this afternoon."

"Yes~"

Having given his orders, Xu Huxiao returned to his own private courtyard. After dismissing the serving maids and house servants,

he began to meditate.

Inside the quiet room, sandalwood incense curled into the air. Xu Huxiao entered an introspective state, an ability brought by the Martial Dao Essence Realm that allowed him to clearly perceive changes in soul power and vital blood.

Within his introspection.

At his dantian, a golden sun was spinning merrily, radiating pure and rigid energy fluctuations.

The first layer of the Nine Yang Divine Skill was complete!

Looking at this scene, Xu Huxiao was very satisfied. According to soul masters, this is Innate Full Soul Power. Combined with the Essence Intent Realm of the Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms and the introductory foundation of the Indestructible Diamond Divine Skill built through three years of uninterrupted medicinal baths, I have already mastered all three martial arts left behind by the System Lord. I have met the conditions to unlock the second layer of the newbie gift pack and can obtain the rest.

He had bound the System, but after the System Lord helped him complete his foundational cultivation and left behind the newbie gift pack, it automatically dissipated due to exhausted energy.

The newbie gift pack had two layers in total. The first layer consisted of these three martial arts manuals: the martial skill Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms, the hard qigong Indestructible Diamond Divine Skill, and the internal skill Nine Yang Divine Skill.

Only by completing the progression of these three martial arts from foundation-building to mastery could the second layer of the gift pack be unlocked.

Regarding this,

Xu Huxiao was filled with anticipation. After regulating his breath to calm his mind, he concentrated and triggered the gift pack's consciousness. A cold, mechanical voice arrived.

[Conditions met. Open the second layer?]

"Yes!"

[Beginning to issue the final newbie gift pack: Top-tier Twin Martial Souls and Eye of Omniscience.]
[Issuing and fusing...]
[Top-tier Twin Martial Soul one: Power-attack type Hulk Martial Soul.]
[Top-tier Twin Martial Soul two: Auxiliary-spirit type Monster Shrek Martial Soul. Beginning fusion...]
[Detected that the host is naturally born with the auxiliary-type Seven Treasure Glazed Pagoda Martial Soul and the acquired martial-dao-cultivated Twin Arms Martial Soul. The Twin Arms Martial Soul is the ultimate evolutionary manifestation of the Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms and may be retained. Beginning to strip and smelt the Seven Treasure Glazed Pagoda Martial Soul into Prismatic Origin Soul Power...]
[Stripping successful. Obtained a mass of Prismatic Origin Soul Power! Can be independently refined!]
[Beginning replacement with top-tier Twin Martial Souls...]
[Replacement successful. Perfectly adapted!]
[Eye of Omniscience, beginning fusion...]
[Fusion successful!]

A flurry of mechanical prompts followed, and then it fell completely silent.

"System Lord?"

Xu Huxiao tried calling out with his consciousness, but there was no response.

"It seems this time it has completely vanished."

Regarding this, Xu Huxiao felt a touch of emotion, but soon his attention shifted to the items obtained from the second layer of the gift pack.

It seemed he had gained three extraordinary things.

Within his introspection, although he had not yet awakened his martial souls, Xu Huxiao relied on his cultivation of his Yang Origin Soul Power to already clearly sense the martial soul energies within his body.

Among the sensed martial soul energies, apart from the upright, peaceful, white-golden energy representing his twin arms, there were two other energy masses so powerful they were startling.

One mass was a tyrannical, deep green; the other, a mesmerizing, dark purple.

The Hulk, one of the Marvel heroes, a monster transformed from Dr. Banner through gamma ray irradiation, has now become my martial soul. Judging from the immense destructive power displayed in films and various settings, as a power-attack martial soul it is bound to be extremely monstrous. The angrier he is, the stronger he becomes. Controlling this martial soul in the future will likely pose a problem.

Meanwhile, Monster Shrek happens to be a spiritual control type. As a martial soul, it is naturally born with nine blank soul rings, allowing it to control nine powerful soul beasts through the bestowal method of blank soul rings. This spiritual control martial soul should have been born precisely to assist in controlling the Hulk. Coupled with my Twin Arms Martial Soul, as my martial dao advances to the Divine Intent Realm in the future and my arms evolve into complete body parts, controlling the Hulk martial soul shouldn't be difficult.

Having received such divine assistance, Xu Huxiao felt no great excitement or elation. Within his deep, dark pupils lay the maturity and resilience forged by long-term martial dao cultivation.

Talent was important.

Yet talent was not the only factor that decided one's path to becoming a powerhouse.

After a brief contemplation, Xu Huxiao settled on his future path of cultivation.

He would use his Twin Arms Martial Soul as a transitional martial soul for the early stage, the spiritual-type Monster Shrek Martial Soul as an auxiliary, and the formidable Hulk Martial Soul as his ultimate late-stage trump card.

As for this afternoon's martial soul awakening, I will reveal only the mutated body-arms martial soul and innate full soul power while hiding everything else. That is best for my current situation.

His martial soul talent was medium-low, but with the rare trait of innate full soul power, he would not be regarded as trash.

After all, both trash and geniuses attracted trouble.

What Xu Huxiao wanted at this stage was stable development and cultivation.

Given his background, with his father being a Spirit Hall elder and his mother being the younger sister of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect master, displaying powerful talent would normally be completely fine, and it could even win him more resources and cultivation from Spirit Hall.

However, the problem was that his father, Demon Bear Douluo, had recently messed up during a mission to hunt the Blue Silver Emperor, getting one of his legs broken by Tang Hao's exploding-ring burst, which resulted in Supreme Pontiff Qian Xunji kicking him out of the core of elder authority and causing his status to plummet drastically.

Right now, the Xu Family was receiving greedy, covetous stares from other Titled elders.

One had to know that the Great Soul Arena shares and auction house industries owned by the Xu Family produced tens of millions of gold soul coins.

Such huge profits were enough to tempt elder families on bad terms with the Xu Family into breaking the rules.

Having settled on the doctrine of the mean, Xu Huxiao poured himself back into cultivation.

After all, strength was the foundation.

He was born six years earlier than Tang San, and with his formidable background, some slight maneuvering and scheming would give him plenty of time to acquire the immortal herb resources from the original work and seize the opportunity to become a god.

By then, he would fear no pack of wolves eyeing him from the shadows.

The afternoon's martial soul awakening went smoothly. The awakening ceremony took place in the high-grade awakening chamber of the Spirit City cathedral. As Xu Huxiao expected, the mutated twin-armed martial soul and innate full soul power he displayed were merely judged as medium-level talent worthy of slight attention.

It did not cause much of a stir.

Xu Huxiao felt somewhat relieved in his heart. He returned to his private courtyard and, under the service of a pretty maid, continued his herbal bath for body tempering step by step.

This was the prerequisite for practicing the hard qigong, Indestructible Diamond Divine Skill.

The dark night was thick as ink.

In an underground secret room within Spirit City.

Three figures sat floating into view.

One of them was a man with white hair and beard, a gentle and handsome face, and an eerie, sharp soul power aura. He slightly cupped his chin, his narrowed, slender eyes leaking wisps of white lightning that flickered with a greedy, evil light.

Lei Dao, Ci Xue, according to the intelligence I obtained, Chrysanthemum and Ghost, who are on good terms with the Xu Family, have already left Spirit City for Star Luo due to a mission. Now is the time to discuss our 'Bear-Hunting' plan.