The Three-Eyed Hell Spirit Cat

"Wow, how come all your Martial Souls have secrets? You're making my Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda seem hardly worth mentioning."

Ning Rongrong suffered another crushing blow to her pride.

Her Tool Martial Soul, the finest support-type Martial Soul in the world, suddenly seemed rather ordinary among the Shrek group.

"So? Tang San, what's special about your Blue Silver Grass?"

"It carries the Blue Silver Emperor's bloodline. That's all I know."

Tang San was in no hurry to tell everyone about his origins. After all, he had no Clear Sky Hammer, so he had no way to convince them completely.

Besides, Lin Like was here. It wouldn't do to frighten her.

"The Blue Silver Emperor?" Ning Rongrong seemed to recall her two grandfathers and her father mentioning it, but she couldn't remember the details. In any case, it seemed to be an incredibly powerful being.

"My White Tiger Martial Soul seems to carry the bloodline of a divine beast."

Following right after Tang San, Dai Mubai dropped another bombshell.

"That's what Grandmaster said, too. He hasn't been able to prove it. It's only a theory."

Back when Grandmaster could still travel in the Star Luo Empire, he had come across a folk legend.

In ancient times, the Star Luo Empire had been ruled by a powerful White Tiger divine beast, said to possess the strength to contend with the Dragon God.

He called himself the Evil-Eyed Saint King, for he had both double pupils and differently colored eyes, as well as a vertical eye on his forehead.

The Evil-Eyed Saint King had once joined three other divine beasts-the Azure Dragon, the Vermilion Bird, and the Black Tortoise-to challenge the Dragon God.

The legend never mentioned the battle's outcome, but they had probably lost. After all, this was a Star Luo folk legend, so it would surely tell only the flattering parts.

In any case, the current Star Luo Imperial Family had once received the Evil-Eyed Saint King's blessing: the power of his bloodline.

That was why powerful individuals with differently colored eyes or double pupils could be born into the family.

Dai Mubai possessed both and should have been highly valued, yet someone with ulterior motives had poisoned him with a mind-corroding toxin, turning him into a sickly cat.

Now that he had recovered, however, he would settle that score sooner or later.

He could accept being outmatched, but he couldn't accept his opponent resorting to underhanded tricks outside the arena-especially when his older brother already had more support and more time to cultivate than he did.

"I see. So, Dai, you're planning to look for a Soul Beast that can awaken your bloodline, too?"

"It'd be great if I could find one, but I won't force it if I can't. The White Tiger Martial Soul is already a top-tier Martial Soul, after all."

Dai Mubai's first three Soul Skills already covered defense, attack, and enhancement. As long as his fourth wasn't terrible, he could accept it.

"Speaking of which, Zhu Zhuqing, you said your Martial Soul was a little special, too. What's special about it?"

Lin Like turned to ask her. The Martial Souls of the Douluo Continent had truly opened her eyes.

"Mine..." Zhu Zhuqing hesitated for a moment, but under everyone's expectant gazes, and after the time they had spent together these past few days, she made up her mind.

"I hope you won't be scared." With that, Zhu Zhuqing lifted the thick bangs covering her forehead.

A slit lay unmistakably beneath them.

Then Zhu Zhuqing activated Martial Soul Possession. As her cat ears stood upright, the slit on her forehead opened as well.

Inside it was an eye.

Everyone was startled by the strange sight.

Tang San was the first to recover. "Just as I thought. You really do have three eyes, Zhu Zhuqing. I wasn't mistaken about the gaze I sensed back then."

"This is probably the Evil-Eyed Saint King's bloodline at work, too. After all, besides double pupils and differently colored eyes, his evil eyes also included the Heavenly Eye on his forehead."

A puzzled Lin Like asked, "Huh? Are Zhu Zhuqing and Boss Dai related by blood?"

"Let me explain." Dai Mubai looked at Zhu Zhuqing, and she nodded.

Dai Mubai then explained his and Zhu Zhuqing's backgrounds, including the matter of the imperial succession.

Tang San and the others merely nodded in understanding.

The boys had already known.

Lin Like hurriedly jotted down notes. Her own background was hardly insignificant, and she hadn't expected to meet two people from the upper ranks of the Star Luo Empire.

I wonder how Sister Xue Mi'er and Sister Nan Miaomiao are doing. They're the ones in charge of infiltrating the Star Luo Empire.

"Ohh~ So Boss Dai and Zhu Zhuqing are the true match made in heaven," Ning Rongrong teased.

Ning Rongrong belonged to the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, whose standing was no lower than that of the Star Luo Imperial Family, so she naturally wasn't bothered.

"..."

"Well..."

Ning Rongrong's teasing instantly left the two of them awkward.

They were merely bound together by their families' destinies. Should they go with the flow and accept it, or resist together and pursue their own happiness?

That was the question.

Tang San spoke up then, easing the somewhat heavy atmosphere. "Zhu Zhuqing, I've heard that the Hell Spirit Cat can traverse the netherworld and bridge yin and yang. In legend, it served as the Evil-Eyed Saint King's eyes, ears, and strategist-his most trusted and loyal other half."

"That's why the Zhu Family's and Dai Family's Martial Souls have the potential to perform a Martial Soul Fusion Skill."

"But Dai Mubai and I still can't do that."

Tang San shook his head. "A Martial Soul Fusion Skill isn't that simple, and we don't need one right now. What I mainly want to know is what your Martial Soul can do."

"Back then, I felt as though someone had seen right through me. Were you using some Soul Skill?"

Hearing Tang San's words, Zhu Zhuqing was inwardly stunned by his perception and judgment. She then revealed everything about her Qi Reading ability.

"Is it really that amazing? Tell me about my aura, Zhu Zhuqing."

Ning Rongrong's eyes shone.

"Mm. It's a seven-colored jewel, quite magnificent."

Next, Zhu Zhuqing described, one by one, the auras she had seen around everyone.

Everyone present possessed an aura with a tangible form, something even Shrek's teachers lacked. The teachers were simply powerful, without any distinct manifestations.

Only Titled Douluos or people of exceptional talent could possess clearly defined auras.

"Dai Mubai's is a White Tiger feigning sleep. Tang San's is a blue-silver vortex. Ma Hongjun's is a Fire Phoenix poised to take flight. Oscar's... is a Big Sausage. As for Li Ke's, it's a crossbow."

The last two descriptions were lies.

Oscar's aura was actually an imperial banquet, an endless expanse of delicacies.

Li Ke's was some sort of mechanism that even Zhu Zhuqing couldn't identify.

Both of them harbored secrets. Having grown up in the imperial court, Zhu Zhuqing could see that perfectly well, so she tactfully refrained from exposing them.

Ning Rongrong had some thoughts about Li Ke's aura, but, realizing that Zhu Zhuqing might be acting out of kindness, she kept them to herself.

Her fondness for Zhu Zhuqing grew considerably.

"Interesting... Zhu Zhuqing, can you try doing this?"

Tang San guided Zhu Zhuqing.

Among the knowledge that had just surfaced in his mind was a power called the "Heavenly Eye." It could divine fortune and misfortune, deduce the future, perceive fate, and even defy heaven to change destiny.

It possessed tremendous power.

"Ngh!"

After receiving Tang San's guidance, Zhu Zhuqing gained a flicker of understanding. The Heavenly Eye on her forehead heated up, and a stabbing pain shot through her head.

Once she recovered, Zhu Zhuqing felt that her eyes seemed capable of seeing more than before.

"How amazing! This is..."

"Let's call it the Netherworld Qi-Reading Art. I've read about it in a book."

Tang San waved a hand, signaling everyone not to press further, because he wasn't certain himself.

Memories that didn't belong to him occasionally surfaced in his mind. When he carefully distinguished between them, he could tell that they came from two different people.

Their knowledge and learning were completely different. One knew the principles of mechanisms, hidden weapons, medicine, and poison; the other's knowledge was far more comprehensive and profound. Tang San couldn't quite explain it himself.

He also occasionally dreamed of strange scenes, such as being pelted with rotten eggs, fighting someone who felt like a real jerk, or playing with animal friends in a forest...

Grandmaster couldn't explain it clearly either, but he offered one possibility: perhaps these were all from Tang San's past lives.

The idea of reincarnation existed on the Douluo Continent, but its truth had neither been proven nor disproven.

Tang San didn't intend to dwell on it.

Even if they really are my past lives, so what?

He was himself: the Blue Silver Grass boy, Tang San.

And he always would be.

Even if those two sets of past-life memories came alive and tried to overturn the natural order and seize control, he would resist them with everything he had.