Absorbing the Rewards, Becoming Homelander

Bzz!

Xiao Dong's body shook violently. Beneath his skin, countless tiny bolts of lightning seemed to race through him, tempering his flesh. From deep within his marrow came a crisp crackling of bones.

A feeling of power, full to the point of overflowing, awakened in every cell.

At that instant, Xiao Dong could clearly feel his body strengthening at a terrifying speed. His frame did not swell dramatically, but its once-slight contours became as solid as cast steel.

His eyesight sharpened at an exponential rate!

Tens of thousands of meters away, the fine patterns on a bird's feathers looked close enough to touch.

His hearing spread wildly outward!

The faint shifting of the earth's crust thousands of meters below, the rush of a river a hundred miles away—every detail reached his ears. A moment later, his brain screened out that overwhelming din.

And that was not all. At a thought from Xiao Dong, a hidden red gleam flickered deep in his eyes. The solid earth and trees before him rapidly turned translucent in his sight.

X-ray vision!

If he wished, terrifying heat vision capable of melting through alloys and destroying mountains could burst forth at any moment as twin beams of destruction!

Across his body, an indestructible, invisible bio-force field quietly spread.

"Up!"

At a thought, Xiao Dong's feet left the ground without so much as a push. Defying gravity, he floated lightly into the air.

This was Homelander's physique!

That absolute sense of command as he soared through the sky made him throw back his head and laugh, his voice brimming with arrogance and exhilaration.

On the Douluo Continent, where there were no superhumans and most bodies were pitifully frail, this physique alone made him a demigod walking among mortals!

Boom!

Before Xiao Dong could fully recover from the ecstasy of his physical transformation, an earth-shaking roar erupted deep within his mind.

Bzz!

Mental power surged outward from the center of his mind like a vast ocean, forming an illusory brain radiant with brilliant platinum light.

His Brain Martial Soul had awakened!

As his Martial Soul took shape, a mighty wave of Innate Full Soul Power burst from Xiao Dong's body. A full ten levels!

In that instant, his thoughts accelerated into an inconceivable state of overdrive. The breeze drifting through the air and the paths traced by Soul Power seemed to crawl like snails before his eyes.

A flawless memory, thoughts swift as lightning!

No matter how intricate a technique or cultivation method was, one glance now let him pierce straight to its core flaws!

The trace of violence and instability born from suddenly gaining Homelander's immense power vanished completely when his Brain Martial Soul awakened. Only absolute calm and a domineering confidence that looked down upon everything remained.

"Innate level-ten Soul Power... not bad."

Xiao Dong felt the currents of Soul Power flowing through him and smiled faintly. It was only level ten, but he knew that on the Douluo Continent, a Martial Soul's growth potential was the true foundation.

Bzz!

Then three vast torrents of information condensed into brilliant golden spheres of light and plunged straight into Xiao Dong's brain.

Xiao Yan's inheritance!

An immense trove of cultivation methods and martial arts lay behind tightly bound seals. Driven by his level-ten Soul Power, the first seal rippled, then slowly broke open with a crack.

"The Dou Qi Vortex-level inheritance..."

Three familiar Dou Techniques imprinted themselves clearly in Xiao Dong's mind.

Suction Palm, Low Xuan Tier! Fire-Blowing Palm, Low Xuan Tier! Eight Extremes Collapse, High Xuan Tier!

Boom!

With the terrifying comprehension granted by his Brain Martial Soul, Xiao Dong rehearsed the three Dou Techniques in his mind millions of times in just a few breaths. What would have taken an ordinary person months or even years of bitter practice reached true mastery!

Hovering in the air, Xiao Dong gave a cold smile. He clenched his right hand, then reached toward a huge boulder several meters across below him and grasped at it from afar.

"Suction Palm!"

Rumble!

A violent pulling force erupted. The boulder, weighing over five thousand kilograms, was wrenched into the air, its flight accompanied by a shrill whistle.

When it came within a few feet, Xiao Dong abruptly opened his clawed hand and thrust out his palm. His mere ten levels of Soul Power surged through a precise route along his meridians, and a muffled, compressed crack rang within the force of his strike!

"Eight Extremes Collapse!"

Thud!

An unremarkable palm strike landed lightly on the boulder.

The next instant, eight hidden bursts of force exploded inside it like rolling thunder!

Bang!

The massive boulder failed to hold together for even a second. It shattered in midair into a storm of stone chips, while a furious gale tore deep furrows through the grass below!

"What power..."

Looking at the destruction caused by a casual strike, Xiao Dong nodded in satisfaction. With his Brain Martial Soul working through the techniques, even his level-ten Soul Power could unleash destructive force far beyond the so-called Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Skills of Soul Saints and even Soul Douluo!

"Next... comes the final grand prize."

Xiao Dong's breathing finally quickened, and his hands tightened into fists.

Boom!

As though answering his anticipation, the temperature of the world abruptly shifted into an eerily unnatural state.

The light of the clear sky dimmed for an instant. Then a milky-white flame no bigger than his little finger slipped out of the Void Space and came to rest before Xiao Dong's chest.

It was a beautiful flame, as lustrous and translucent as the purest white jade. As it flickered, the faint image of a graceful lotus appeared and vanished within it.

Yet the moment that seemingly harmless flame appeared, space for dozens of miles around twisted visibly. Every impurity in the air, every trace of moisture, even the Soul Power of heaven and earth was forcibly broken down by its tyrannical power!

Purifying Lotus Demon Flame!

The Flame of All-Cleansing!

Hiss!

Under Xiao Dong's gaze, the wisp of Demonic Flame Origin offered no resistance. It slipped obediently between his brows and settled at the very center of his Brain Martial Soul!

Boom!

As the Demonic Flame Origin fused with him completely, a vast divine power of purification erupted from Xiao Dong's body.