Repelling Tang San, Seeing Qian Renxue Again

Suotuo City.

Tang San and Xiao Wu were on their way to report to Shrek Academy when they ran into Lu Mingzi.

"Brother, do you know him?"

Seeing Tang San's grave expression, Xiao Wu turned to him and asked curiously.

"Yes... Six years ago, he stole a Soul Beast I'd hunted and injured my teacher."

Tang San kept his voice low as he explained to Xiao Wu. His fists clenched, and anger filled his eyes.

After hearing him out, Xiao Wu's curiosity turned to fury. Tang San was her "brother."

She could never forgive Lu Mingzi for what he had done to Tang San.

"Brother, let me teach him a lesson!"

Xiao Wu clenched her fists. Tang San made no move to stop her as she charged straight in.

Tang San knew he had crossed over from another world and mastered martial arts such as the Mysterious Heaven Skill and Purple Demon Eye.

Even against a Soul Elder, he could put up a fight. He had no reason to fear Lu Mingzi.

Six years had passed. Lu Mingzi could be a Soul Elder at most, and Tang San was confident he could win.

Today, he would settle the debt for injuring his teacher.

By then, Xiao Wu had reached Lu Mingzi, and two Yellow Soul Rings appeared.

She sprang into the air and activated Waist Bow, multiplying her strength and flexibility severalfold. A vicious kick swept toward him.

Bang!

Xiao Wu's kick struck Lu Mingzi, but a large hand seized her lower leg in an iron grip. Her expression froze.

Tang San circled to the side and activated his Blue Silver Grass's First Soul Skill. Soul Power surged.

The Blue Silver Grass in his hand shot out and spread wildly across the ground, winding around Lu Mingzi at astonishing speed.

"Too weak!"

Lu Mingzi flung Xiao Wu away by the leg. A tremendous force sent her flying beyond her control.

A great blade wreathed in flames appeared in Lu Mingzi's hand, and one slash severed the Blue Silver Grass wrapped around him.

Terrifying poison and fire raced along its stems toward Tang San's hand.

This is bad!

Tang San's heart jolted. He severed his connection to the Blue Silver Grass and retreated swiftly, his footwork shifting unpredictably.

"Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track? Too bad it's nowhere near enough!"

Lu Mingzi brought down the Demonfire Blade, but Tang San evaded it with Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track.

Three Soul Rings gradually appeared, and Lu Mingzi's aura surged.

One yellow and two purple! A Soul Elder!

"His Second Soul Ring is actually a thousand-year one!"

Tang San stared at the three Soul Rings in shock, his face pale.

He was only a Soul Grandmaster, and both his Soul Rings were hundred-year ones. Fighting Lu Mingzi, whose Second Soul Ring was a thousand-year one, would be extraordinarily difficult.

The Soul Skills granted by thousand-year Soul Rings were immensely powerful. An ordinary person could not withstand them.

Worse, Tang San was only level twenty-nine. He had yet to become a Soul Elder.

Void Spirit Slash!

Boom!

Lu Mingzi slashed down. Tang San narrowly dodged, and a terrifying fissure split the ground.

Black flames roared at the fissure's center, while dark-green poisonous mist spread from the blade's tip.

Tang San dared not imagine what would have happened if he had failed to dodge.

"Brother!"

Frantic with worry, Xiao Wu punched Lu Mingzi, her face fierce.

Lu Mingzi caught her fist with effortless ease, barely using any strength.

"Get lost!"

The black markings on his arm lit up. He grabbed Xiao Wu's arm and hurled her away.

"Xiao Wu!"

Tang San used Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track to catch Xiao Wu as she flew toward him, then left without looking back.

"They're leaving just like that? What a shame. I still can't kill Tang San and the others."

Lu Mingzi withdrew his Martial Soul. He had not used his full strength in the fight.

Whenever he fought at full strength, the black markings on his arm lit up, and the Demonic Qi that Huang Feng, the hall master, had suppressed would emerge again.

"I've already made enemies of the protagonists. Raising my strength as quickly as possible has to come first."

Tang Hao stood behind Tang San. His strength was beyond doubt; even among Titled Douluo, he ranked with the very best.

He was also a member of the Clear Sky Sect, possessed the Clear Sky Hammer—the greatest tool Martial Soul under heaven—and had mastered the sect's secret arts.

More frightening still was Tang Hao's Ring Detonation. Killing enemies above his level was well within his power.

"I have Spirit Hall behind me, but Spirit Hall won't be a match for them later. I have to become a Titled Douluo quickly."

Afterward, Lu Mingzi went to a barbershop and had his messy hair tidied.

His overall appearance improved a notch, but he had no intention of changing his tattered clothes.

A Soul Master's clothes hardly mattered; strength came first. Besides, the more ragged his clothes, the more his enemies would lower their guard.

After all, who would be wary of a beggar?

Late that night, Lu Mingzi returned to his lodgings and sat quietly on the bed.

"Deep Blue!"

He called the name silently again, summoning the deep-blue modifier.

It was his greatest reliance. With Deep Blue's ability to enhance and extrapolate, his strength could soar.

Provided his body could withstand it.

"My First Soul Skill has reached 999 years and can't be raised any further. I wonder if it can break through to a thousand."

Perhaps only a divine trial could increase a Soul Ring's age, but that was beyond his reach for now.

"My Second Soul Ring has reached its limit too, though it has rather few effects. I'd better improve my Third Soul Skill."

Lu Mingzi still had twenty units left.

[Third Soul Skill: 5,300 years, Method of Bathing the Mystic Body in Fire. Effect: Overlord Body Level Five]

[Improve?]

"Yes."

Lu Mingzi answered without hesitation. The deep-blue panel vanished, and when it reappeared, its information had changed.

The details had been updated.

[Third Soul Skill: 6,300 years, Method of Bathing the Mystic Body in Fire. Effect: Overlord Body Level Six]

Pfft!

Lu Mingzi's body shook violently. Agonizing pressure swelled in his abdomen, as though something had exploded inside it.

He spat out a mouthful of dark blood. His skin split open inch by inch, spraying blood everywhere in a horrifying sight.

But he endured it by sheer force of will.

He was used to this by now. Every thousand-year increase to a Soul Ring came at the cost of a brutal impact on his body.

Lu Mingzi was covered in blood. Flesh sloughed off him in countless patches from head to toe.

"Again!"

Until I become a Titled Douluo, until I have absolute strength, I won't stop. What's a little pain?

Lu Mingzi felt his Soul Blood draining rapidly. In the blink of an eye, the remaining ten units were gone.

Bang, bang, bang!

Skin and flesh burst open on his arms, his abdomen—every part of his body. Blood and gore spattered across the floor, and a thick stench of blood filled the room.

Lu Mingzi furrowed his brow and bit through his lip, forcing himself to endure the heart-piercing pain.

An ordinary Soul Master would certainly have died in this state. But Lu Mingzi was different.

For six years, he had killed Soul Beasts and eaten them, repeating those same acts every day.

He had barely taken a day's rest.

Relying on the Demonic Angel's devouring ability, he converted the Soul Beasts' flesh into strength, relentlessly toughening his body.

That was how he had forged his inhuman physique.

"That's enough. My Third Soul Ring has reached 7,300 years."

Lu Mingzi's voice was weak. He had clearly reached his limit.

He washed off most of the blood, then returned to his bed to meditate and slowly heal.

Knock, knock, knock!

Just then, someone knocked on the door. Lu Mingzi opened it.

"Sister Xue'er..."

Qian Renxue stood outside. Her golden hair, tied in a high ponytail, stirred in the moonlight. She wore casual clothes rather than her elegant finery, yet nothing could hide her sacred, noble aura.

"Little Mingzi... How did you get hurt so badly?"

Lu Mingzi smiled, but when Qian Renxue saw his injuries, tears spilled from her eyes. Her face full of distress, she lifted his hand.