Titled Douluo

Lin Ao sat down and began absorbing the Soul Ring, while Song Ming and Su Qing took the Third-Grade Origin-Recovery Pills Tang Xuan had given them and recovered their soul power nearby. Tang Xuan stood guard over them.

Thinking back to when he had killed the Great Strength Vajra Monkey, the Godslayer Sword seemed to have devoured something from its corpse. Was that why absorbing the Soul Ring had become easier? Moreover, both his spiritual power and soul power had inexplicably improved. That definitely had something to do with the Godslayer Sword. Tang Xuan looked thoughtfully at the Lie Yan Mad Lion's corpse nearby.

He approached the Lie Yan Mad Lion's corpse, looked at the Godslayer Sword in his hand, and decided to give it a try. He plunged the sword into the Lie Yan Mad Lion's chest and carefully watched for any changes. In an instant, light flickered along the Godslayer Sword's blade. The power remaining in the Lie Yan Mad Lion's body, along with the power of its flesh and blood, slowly flowed into the sword. The flickering light along its blade grew eerie and ghostly.

Tang Xuan soon felt the difference. An unfamiliar power was slowly entering his body. His martial soul was connected to him as one, so this had to be the power the Godslayer Sword had devoured from the Lie Yan Mad Lion. Tang Xuan quietly sensed that power and circulated his cultivation method to refine it.

The Lie Yan Mad Lion's corpse shriveled visibly, as though it had been dead for a long time. Before long, Tang Xuan could no longer feel that power entering him.

Tang Xuan gazed at the shriveled corpse before him and sank into thought. Looking at the Godslayer Sword in his hand, he had never expected his martial soul to possess the power to devour. Having this ability is like having a cheat. It even comes with its own cultivation method, one that already includes a way to cultivate spiritual power. I never expected another shortcut for improving it. I devoured the Great Strength Vajra Monkey's soul power in its entirety, as well as the soul power remaining in the Lie Yan Mad Lion's body. Those two sources have already raised my spiritual power to the Soul Emperor level, and even my soul power has broken through to rank thirty-four. What an unexpected surprise. It looks like my martial soul still has plenty of secrets waiting to be uncovered.

Having figured out the reason, Tang Xuan focused on guarding Lin Ao and the other two.

With the help of Tang Xuan's pills, Song Ming and Su Qing recovered their soul power quickly. In that short time, they had already recovered seventy to eighty percent.

"Little Xuan, how's Old Lin doing?" Song Ming and Su Qing walked over and asked Tang Xuan.

"Judging by how Old Man Lin looks, he's almost succeeded."

The deep, pitch-black eighty-thousand-year Soul Ring had settled peacefully around Lin Ao, pulsing slowly over his body. This showed that he had nearly finished absorbing it, which was why the Soul Ring's power had calmed down.

"Finally finished absorbing it! The peak of rank ninety-one! As expected of a Soul Ring produced by an eighty-thousand-year soul beast. The moment I finished absorbing it, it brought me straight to the peak of rank ninety-one!"

"How is it? Old Man Lin, how do you feel?" Tang Xuan asked.

"Great! Absolutely great! I'm already at the peak of rank ninety-one. I'm sure I'll break through to rank ninety-two before long." Lin Ao stood and stretched.

"Stop showing off, Old Lin. Do you even remember your own surname anymore?" Song Ming cut in, his tone dripping with jealousy.

"Heh, I'll show off all I want. What are you going to do about it?"

"All right, let's check for a Soul Bone first."

"I'll handle the head. Elder Song and Uncle Su can take the limbs. Old Man Lin, you dissect the body."

Tang Xuan split the Lie Yan Mad Lion's skull with a single strike of the Godslayer Sword and searched carefully, but found nothing. He looked up at the other three as they worked, hoping they would find something.

A short while later, Song Ming and Su Qing finished dissecting their assigned parts, but neither had found anything. Lin Ao, however, lifted a glowing Soul Bone from the Lie Yan Mad Lion's torso with trembling hands. His entire body shook with excitement, his eyes fixed unwaveringly on it.

"Come on, Old Man Lin, could you show a little restraint? It's one Soul Bone. Do you really have to get this excited?" Tang Xuan said helplessly at Lin Ao's hopeless display.

"That's just you, brat. You don't take Soul Bones seriously and even insist on picking and choosing. You should know that all I have so far is a right arm bone barely over ten thousand years old. This one is an eighty-thousand-year torso bone!" Lin Ao rolled his eyes at Tang Xuan.

Aside from external soul bones, the torso bone and skull bone were the most precious of the six Soul Bones. Once Soul Masters reached the Titled Douluo level, they could remove the Soul Bones in their limbs themselves, but not those in their torso or head. After all, how could anyone survive without a head or body?

"All right, all right, stop bickering, you two. Let's leave first. Old Lin can absorb the Soul Bone once we reach the forest's outer edge," Song Ming reminded them. They were in the inner reaches of the Star Dou Great Forest, where soul beasts over fifty thousand years old were extremely common. If they attracted the soul beasts' attention and were surrounded, they would be in trouble. Although the lingering aura of the eighty-thousand-year Lie Yan Mad Lion's corpse kept ordinary soul beasts from approaching lightly, something unexpected could still happen if they stayed too long.

Before long, the four reached the outer edge of the Star Dou Great Forest. They breathed a sigh of relief as the oppressive atmosphere disappeared. Lin Ao eagerly took out the Soul Bone and began absorbing it.

Absorbing this Soul Bone would let Old Man Lin break through at least one more rank and take his strength a step further. For a Titled Douluo, the difference in strength between each rank was as vast as heaven and earth. Tang Xuan, Song Ming, and Su Qing surrounded Lin Ao, and after an hour, he finally absorbed the Soul Bone successfully. Since Lin Ao had absorbed the Lie Yan Mad Lion's Soul Ring, absorbing its Soul Bone yielded twice the results for half the effort. His strength surged straight to the peak of rank ninety-two.

"Old Man Lin, you're already rank ninety-two. Have you decided what title you want?"

Every Titled Douluo could have a title of their own, one that inspired awe and praise throughout the world. (To put it plainly, it was all about sounding imposing.)

"That's right! Old Lin, have you decided? A title is no joking matter, so you'd better think carefully. How about Long Spear Douluo?" Song Ming said with a teasing expression.

"Long Spear, my foot! Then you can call yourself Stick Douluo in the future!" Song Ming was immediately struck speechless and quietly went off to find Su Qing.

"Tang Trickster, you're the reliable one after all. Think of one for me, something imposing!" Tang Xuan had done him a great kindness, so having him help choose his title would be meaningful. He owed much of what he had achieved today to Tang Xuan.

"I heard Spirit Hall has a Thousand-Jun Douluo. You have to be stronger than him! To stand a cut above him, how about Ten-Thousand-Jun Douluo?"

"The strength of a thousand jun, the strength of ten thousand jun... Ten-Thousand-Jun Douluo! Good! My title will be Ten-Thousand-Jun!"

Tang Xuan looked at Lin Ao. From now on, the Heaven Sect would have a Titled Douluo holding the fort, and he could rest easy as a hands-off leader. Once Song Ming and Su Qing broke through before long, the Heaven Sect would have three Titled Douluos holding the fort. At the very least, it would be able to rival a power like the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan, one of the Seven Great Sects, and might even surpass it.