Douluo Society, Next Stop: Star City

The road jolted beneath them. Less than two days after boarding the carriage, Tang Shan could take no more and got out to stretch his legs.

"The Heaven Dou Empire really ought to fix roads this awful."

Tang Shan rubbed his backside, sore from the constant jolting, and couldn't help complaining.

Su Yuntao walked beside the carriage with him. Hearing that, he nodded in agreement.

"The road is terrible. Good thing we're fit enough to keep up on foot. Otherwise, I don't know how we'd endure the trip to Heaven Dou City."

"By the way, big brother, do you think we'll run into bandits?"

Tang Shan was curious.

Su Yuntao had long wanted to travel, so this was the sort of thing he had made a point of learning about. He shook his head.

"We're unlikely to meet human bandits. Life in the Heaven Dou Empire isn't bad enough for that."

Tang Shan considered this.

Judged by their social systems, Douluo's two great empires might not compare with the unified dynasties of his previous life. But in longevity, those dynasties combined probably fell short of the empires on Douluo Continent.

There was only one reason: Soul Masters.

Leaving aside the strongest Soul Masters, who could reshape the land and fight armies alone, even commoners had a chance of possessing Soul Power and using it to rise in status. That possibility was slim, but it existed, and it eased tensions between the classes.

Even beyond that, another important factor remained.

The most basic reason people rebelled was that they could no longer survive. But on Douluo Continent, food-type Soul Masters could produce large quantities of food in a short time. If the people were going hungry, feeding them to restore public support would be easy.

At the top, there was overwhelming strength. In the middle, a real path upward. At the bottom, food-type Soul Masters ensured that, unless an emperor was hopelessly incompetent, the people would not be driven to the brink of starvation.

No wonder Douluo Continent remained feudal even ten thousand years later.

Tang Shan sighed inwardly. If a neighboring continent had not collided with it and brought Soul Tools that changed everything, feudal empires might still have prevailed by the time of Legend of the Dragon King.

"But there's one kind of bandit we might meet."

Tang Shan's eyes sharpened. "Big brother, you mean the Wolf Bandits?"

Su Yuntao nodded, his expression turning grave.

Wolf Bandits were hybrids of humans and Gale Demon Wolves. They had no Martial Souls and possessed abilities similar to those of Soul Beasts, yet they produced no Soul Rings. They could, however, yield Soul Bones, and did so somewhat more often than ordinary Soul Beasts, perhaps because they were closer to human form.

They were savage and lustful by nature. Without regular purges, they would become a serious threat to humanity.

Tang Shan frowned. "We're on an official road. Could they still attack us?"

"Not a large group. But a few who haven't heard about the purges? Hard to say."

Su Yuntao spread his hands helplessly.

"Well, we'll deal with it if it happens. With our strength, a few Wolf Bandits shouldn't be much trouble."

Tang Shan looked toward the carriage, now a small speck in the distance, and quickened his pace to catch up.

He did not use a Soul Skill, but studying their effects had greatly improved his control over his body.

The muscles in his left leg tightened. His foot gripped the ground, and power burst forth.

He shot forward, leaving only a small hollow in the road. His control over his strength had improved yet again.

After five or six meters, his speed began to fall. His right foot touched the ground lightly.

Another small hollow appeared beneath it.

His body worked as a single whole. Power flowed smoothly through it and burst from the sole of his foot. Tang Shan rapidly closed the distance to the carriage, even as his thoughts wandered.

This isn't really lightness skill. It's more like forcing an explosive push off the ground. My way of doing it seems more refined, though, and the force is more concentrated.

My physical training is on track. As long as I keep exercising, the path should be smooth until I reach Elixir Force, which requires a transformation of the mind. I still don't know how to bring that about.

My research into the meridians has also made good progress these past few days. Besides the Hand Taiyin Lung Meridian, I've found the paths of the Hand Yangming Large Intestine Meridian and the Foot Yangming Stomach Meridian—three of the Twelve Regular Meridians. My cultivation is much faster now. It seems I hadn't fully tapped the speed granted by Innate Full Soul Power. But to avoid conflicts between meridians, I can't keep practicing Spirit Hall's free cultivation method. I haven't finished exploring the Twelve Regular Meridians, and linking them to the Eight Extraordinary Meridians now could have consequences I can't foresee.

Better to stick with what I decided in the Soul Hunting Forest and let the Soul Power in my body find its own path.

All this research and cultivation can be grouped into three aspects: essence, energy, and spirit.

Essence takes care of itself. Soul Power can be treated as energy, and I can let its cultivation proceed naturally, but I know little about controlling it. As for spirit—mental strength—I don't even know where to begin researching it.

Tang Shan settled on studying how to use energy as his next goal. He would not need to tackle spirit for a while, and improving essence and energy would strengthen it indirectly. After all, refining essence produced energy, and refining energy nourished the spirit.

Suddenly, something tugged at his clothes from behind.

Caught off guard, Tang Shan stumbled.

"Little brother, what are you thinking about? You were so lost in thought you nearly ran into the carriage."

Su Yuntao's exasperated voice came from behind him.

Tang Shan snapped back to his senses and saw, with a lingering chill, that he was less than a meter from the carriage. If his big brother had not grabbed him, he would have run straight into it.

His sturdy body would have come to no harm, but avoiding a collision was still preferable.

"I was thinking about cultivation."

Tang Shan stopped walking beside the carriage and climbed back inside. Su Yuntao followed, and Tang Shan explained himself.

"Shanzi, is there nothing else you can think about besides cultivation?"

Su Haichao, who had stayed in the carriage all along, pressed a hand to his forehead.

Tang Shan blinked in surprise.

"Why would I think about something else? Don't you find cultivation interesting?"

"Little brother, it would be a crime if you didn't become powerful one day."

Su Yuntao patted Tang Shan's thigh. In the end, that was all he could say.

"Shanzi, whether you're cultivating or doing research, you need to pace yourself. Don't rush for results."

Su Haichao's warning was earnest.

Tang Shan nodded. "Don't worry. I won't rush."

He leaned back against the carriage wall and half-closed his eyes. Whether he was thinking or resting, neither could tell.

Su Yuntao and his father exchanged a look and could only smile wryly.

Su Haichao's words had reminded Tang Shan that nothing should be rushed. But when he thought back over his research, he relaxed completely.

To Su Haichao and Su Yuntao, nearly all his findings must have looked like the fruit of sleepless nights and painstaking effort.

But no one knew their true source better than Tang Shan.

I'm going over novels in my head to find these results. The protagonists are the ones who suffer all those twists and turns and work themselves to the bone.

Sometimes it's so frustrating it gives me a headache. How am I supposed to reconcile the conflicting worldbuilding? What's the truth about the Divine Realm?

That's research for you. Other people only have to run experiments on different Soul Masters or consult a few texts.

But as a Grandmaster of my generation, I have to study the children of destiny's journeys by "reading novels," grasp the pulse of the world's rules by "looking for lore," bear the weight of the whole world as "the novels drive me up the wall," and keep pressing on because "I still want to read more"...

Tang Shan admired himself. Even under such immense pressure, he had developed exceptional Martial Soul Theory for the benefit of Soul Masters everywhere. He was practically magnificent.

Night fell dark as ink, and stars filled the sky with a captivating light.

Insects chirped and birds called, lending life to the quiet woods.

A campfire burned in a clearing, its bright flames illuminating the ground around it.

The three sat around it, eating warmed travel rations.

"Dad, isn't the driver coming over?"

Su Yuntao took a sip of hot water as he asked.

"He said he's already eaten. He's resting in the carriage."

Su Haichao explained, then took out a tent.

"We'll camp here tonight and set out again tomorrow morning."

Tang Shan and Su Yuntao nodded.

"By the way, what's the next city on our route?"

Tang Shan could not help asking.

"Let me check."

Su Yuntao took a map from inside his coat and studied it by the firelight.

"Star City. We should get there tomorrow. We can replenish our supplies before setting off again."

"How big is it?"

Tang Shan tapped his thigh absently. An idea had come to him.

"Fairly large. The surrounding area has deposits of a special metal called black gold, so trade there is doing well."

Su Yuntao answered at once.

Tang Shan shared his idea.

"Big brother, didn't you want to fight at the Great Soul Arena? Why not start there? We'd get to see you in action, too."

Su Yuntao's eyes lit up, but he hesitated and looked at Su Haichao.

"Dad, did Spirit Hall say when you have to report for duty in Heaven Dou City?"

Su Haichao smiled and shook his head.

"No. I only have to arrive before the end of the year. The rest of the time is mine to take as a holiday. Since you want to go, we'll visit the Great Soul Arena together tomorrow."

Su Yuntao was thrilled, but Tang Shan held him down.

"Big brother, cultivate properly tonight and get yourself into top condition. Don't get careless tomorrow."

Su Yuntao took a deep breath and calmed himself. Then he quickly pitched his tent and went inside to cultivate.

Tang Shan chatted with Su Haichao for a while before entering his own tent to cultivate.

Streams of transparent Soul Power flowed from his dantian, rose through his chest to his lungs, then followed the Hand Taiyin Lung Meridian. On reaching the end of that meridian, they entered the Hand Yangming Large Intestine Meridian through the tip of his index finger...

As Soul Power circulated through his meridians, it grew rapidly—at twice the rate it had before.