I'm Here to Take You Home~

Bang! Screech, screech! Fatty Liu's figure kicked up a thick haze as he caught the shield. Fierce clashes of steel rang out from within it, growing more and more grating until a long hum cut them off.

Jiang Hao panted. He had already cloaked himself in Shadow Bro's power, while his Clones had picked up the blood-coughing Qingzhu and fled down the path.

Main Body Old Rogue—time to make a run for it.

"Run! If we don't leave now, it'll be too late!"

"Brother Jiang Hao, are you all right?"

Jiang Hao was about to move when a voice came from the haze. Fatty Liu swung the Xuanming Shield, whipping up a wind that scattered the mist.

The sight inside made Jiang Hao's eyes widen.

Those sturdy muscles, that sharply defined build—was this really the Fatty Liu he remembered? Blue-gold light shone all over Fatty Liu's body, slowly turning silver-white.

Up on the platform, the corner of Lang Ya's mouth lifted. "After all these years, has he finally reached a Silver Rank Awakening?"

Fatty Liu now radiated steady strength from head to toe. His fat had given way to explosive power. "Thanks, little brother!"

Fatty Liu turned and flashed Jiang Hao a grateful gesture. Then he gripped the Xuanming Shield again and hurled it at the Eight-Ring Elder like a flying disc.

It struck so fast that it carried the Eight-Ring Elder through a wall and into another shop.

Fatty Liu clenched his fists. "This power... I'm afraid I've reached the level of a Soul King!

Thirty years as a Soul Elder, and now a Soul King.

Thirty years of reserves have raised my Soul Power by twenty levels. I never thought I'd take another step forward in this lifetime!"

Fatty Liu murmured, clenching his fists tighter. "First Soul Skill: Body Expansion!"

A pale yellow Soul Ring pulsed down his body, and his already exaggerated muscles swelled even fuller.

Fatty Liu ducked his head and charged into the ruins. But as he entered, streams of Black Water enveloped the once-quiet Wooden House. Thick liquid kept pouring out, devouring everything it touched.

Lang Ya could no longer sit still. In a flash, he appeared before Jiang Hao.

His arms swelled and stretched dozens of meters in an instant, reaching into the shop. When he pulled them back, he held Fatty Liu, whose face had turned purple-blue beneath the Black Water. Lang Ya tossed him beside Jiang Hao. "Watch closely, kid. That's not how you use the Body Sect's secret technique!"

Jiang Hao glanced at the unconscious Fatty Liu. He couldn't hear a word of it. Lang Ya was speaking to Jiang Hao.

I used a Body Sect secret technique?

Jiang Hao was puzzled, but then blue-gold light began to shine from Lang Ya. Those all-too-familiar bronze-colored arms made everything clear in an instant. So Mom was from the Body Sect! That manual teaches the Second Awakening of a Body Martial Soul!

Though Jiang Hao had crossed into this world, he could only guess who someone was from their appearance and Martial Soul. As for their exact identity, he was completely in the dark.

He truly was in the dark. He still couldn't even recognize all the Martial Souls on the Douluo Continent.

The blue-gold faded from Lang Ya's hands, slowly turning silver, as though he had just demonstrated the change for Jiang Hao's benefit.

A moment later, golden patterns began to wind around his silver arms.

Lang Ya shouted and poured Soul Power into his hands. They stretched like rubber into the building, probing, grabbing, and gripping as he explained to Jiang Hao, "A Body Martial Soul Master's weapons are his own arms, feet, even his skull and teeth.

If all you do is strengthen them, you only make them harder and tougher. You don't make them deadlier.

Pour Soul Power into your body. Try expanding, softening, and hardening it, then fight using those properties instead of strengthening yourself and charging in to trade blows.

Watch. Here's an example!"

Lang Ya yanked back his right hand, shrinking it to its original size, then threw a punch.

His fist grew as it traveled and slammed into the shop. The building collapsed at once, exposing an old man in tattered clothes, his face battered black and blue.

"The Body Sect has gone too far! Just you wait!"

The Xuanming Sect Soul Master tried to flee, but another punch from Lang Ya knocked him unconscious.

"Even if our Soul Power were equal, you'd be no match for me. I'm two realms below you, yet a scruffy old turtle like you dares challenge the strongest Body Martial Soul in the world? Dream on!"

"I'll remember that, brother. Scruffy old turtles like him need to be beaten with bare fists!"

Lang Ya waved his fist to make the point. Jiang Hao held no grudge against the Body Sect. Besides, its members were all remarkable talents.

Especially when it came to digging tunnels. Mingdetang, packed with detection Soul Tools, might as well have been their own cellar—or a woman past thirty.

"Thanks!" Jiang Hao grinned, fighting to stay conscious.

What a joke. If he exhausted his Soul Power, his Clones could replenish it. If his body gave out, the Heart Martial Soul Bone could repair it. If he fainted again today, he would be a disgrace to all who had crossed into another world!

As Jiang Hao desperately drew in Soul Power to recover, Xiaoxiao placed both hands over his and began channeling her own. Lang Ya stared. "Martial Soul Fusion? We've struck treasure this time! Hurry and report to the Sect Master!" He pointed, and someone rushed off.

Then he looked at the onlookers and gave a cold snort. "You have three breaths to leave, or you'll end up like that scruffy old turtle!"

Soul Power surged from him as he warned the nearby vendors and Soul Masters who had stopped to watch.

In an instant, the street emptied.

"Come on, little sister-in-law. Help your boyfriend inside!" Lang Ya laughed. He grabbed Fatty Liu by a thin ankle and carried him upside down into the Northern Snow Trading House.

As the blushing Xiao Xiao helped Jiang Hao along, thoughts battled in his head. So the Snow Demon Sect really is the Body Sect in disguise. I thought it was just a cover the Body Sect came up with later for the Sun Moon Empire's sect tournament...

Then the Body Sect might be behind the Northern Snow Trading House too.

Jiang Hao swallowed a mouthful of bloody froth and let Xiao Xiao help him inside.

Lang Ya stood by the central pool, holding Fatty Liu upside down. He dunked Fatty Liu headfirst, then pulled him back out.

The sudden cold jolted Fatty Liu awake. To his horror, he found he couldn't move a muscle.

"What's wrong, Brother Lang Ya?" Fatty Liu asked anxiously. "Am I dying?"

Fatty Liu felt like crying. He thought he had lost control of his body.

Lang Ya merely felt his muscles, which had gone rigid and purple. "Your muscles are engorged with blood. Of course they're numb.

They're so hard you could chop vegetables on them. If you learn to put that hardness to good use, you could push your strength even further."

As he spoke, Lang Ya hauled the stiff Fatty Liu off the ground and set him on a nearby sofa.

Then he looked at Jiang Hao. "Little brother, I'm here to take you home."