At the sight, Jing Shanshan felt an itch of curiosity.
Had that little golden thing just now been a needle? He wasn't sure. He had never seen it before, and he hadn't paid much attention to the battlefield earlier. He needed another look.
Unfortunately, Tang San never used that little golden thing again before the battle ended.
From the looks of it, those little golden things were very scarce...
Jing Shanshan felt a little disappointed.
That glittering gold shade clearly suits me. Should I buy it from Tang San and add it to the Gate of Babylon?
At the same time, Jing Shanshan wondered whether his Gate of Babylon contained any similar Martial Souls capable of piercing Soul Power defenses.
As he searched, he actually discovered that the Gate of Babylon contained that golden thing too.
"What's going on? That golden thing isn't a Martial Soul. How did it end up in the Gate of Babylon?"
Jing Shanshan murmured to himself, sinking into thought.
A flash of inspiration struck him, and his thoughts shifted as he recalled one of his Gate of Babylon's characteristics.
It stored the prototypes of all Tool Martial Souls, items, or technologies in the world, from ancient times to the present.
Jing Shanshan began to get an idea.
"Qian Renxue, have you ever seen something like this? Possibly a golden needle that can pierce a high-ranking Soul Master's Soul Power defenses?"
Without the Shadow Doll Puppet, and with Jing Shanshan not using the Angel Martial Soul, Qian Renxue could be said to know absolutely nothing about what was happening outside.
Although she didn't understand the meaning behind Jing Shanshan's question, that didn't stop Qian Renxue from giving her opinion.
"No."
Seeing that Jing Shanshan's consciousness had yet to leave, Qian Renxue spoke cautiously, as though confirming something.
"Was it... something Tang San brought out? Something that can achieve decent results even if the user's Soul Power Level is far below their opponent's?"
Putting those strange little things together with Jing Shanshan's desire to see what Tang San could do, Qian Renxue could only speculate that this golden needle was connected to Tang San.
"You could even guess that? As expected of the consciousness of my First Martial Soul. You possess a measure of this king's wit."
Jing Shanshan was in a good mood, and his body gradually began to radiate a sacred presence.
Putting together the information he had now, Jing Shanshan had already guessed why that little golden thing had appeared in the Gate of Babylon.
The little golden thing invented and made by Yu Xiaogang's disciple had very likely appeared on this continent for the first time.
Since this was its first appearance on this continent, it could certainly be called the prototype of that item. And since it was a prototype, it would naturally appear in the Gate of Babylon.
He hadn't expected this trip to yield so many unexpected gains.
Jing Shanshan looked again at Tang San's little things scattered across the ground. His eyes immediately lit up, and his consciousness sank into the Gate of Babylon to inspect it carefully.
As expected, he discovered that at least a third of those little things had been included in the Gate of Babylon.
This experience of indirectly growing stronger just by sitting there really wasn't bad!
All at once, Jing Shanshan recalled how, after retrieving the Shadow Doll Puppet Martial Soul in Heaven Dou City, he had discovered a tiny increase in his Soul Power despite having done nothing, and the pleasure that sudden, indirect rise in strength had brought him.
"Qian Renxue..."
Hearing Jing Shanshan's voice within her consciousness and noticing his attention fall on her, Qian Renxue asked with some curiosity.
"Has something unexpected happened? Do you need me to come out and help draw fire?"
"No. Did you cultivate while you were in Heaven Dou City?"
"Yes. Some matters had to wait until everyone arrived before they could be decided, so I cultivated to pass the time."
Jing Shanshan had a few guesses.
"I'll need you to come out and help me try a few things later."
If those later attempts went as expected, his cultivation speed would probably double.
"Tch. Blond brat, your turn."
Zhao Wuji rolled his shoulders. He looked quite bedraggled now, but after Tang San removed those golden needles from his body, his Soul Power flow was no longer obstructed, and the poison remaining inside him wouldn't affect his combat strength much.
To teach a blond kid who didn't know the immensity of heaven and earth a lesson, he had no need to rest and return to peak condition.
Seeing Jing Shanshan still sitting on that exceptionally conspicuous golden chair, Zhao Wuji's eyes showed a trace of confusion.
"Blond brat, are you conceding?"
"You dare challenge this king without even recovering first? What a mongrel who doesn't know the immensity of heaven and earth."
"Blond brat, you really are arrogant."
As Zhao Wuji said this, the veins at his temples throbbed. Never before had he wanted to beat up a little brat so badly.
"Heh. Still as conceited as ever."
Hearing this, Tang San, who was resting and recovering nearby, let out a disdainful sneer.
"Third Brother, are you really all right? You look so pale."
The girl beside him, her hair tied in a long ponytail, had only just regained consciousness. After learning what Tang San had done for her, she had been moved beyond words. Seeing his injuries, she couldn't stop her tears from falling.
"I'm fine, Xiao Wu. I've just more or less exhausted my Soul Power. I'll be fine after resting for a few hours."
His heart aching, Tang San reached out to wipe away Xiao Wu's tears and gently gathered her into his arms.
Only after Tang San's repeated assurances did Xiao Wu stop crying and have the attention to spare for anything else.
"Ah!"
The trembling of the body in his arms reached Tang San's senses without reservation. Startled, he asked worriedly.
"What's wrong?"
"N-nothing. It's just that the black cat in that blond kid's arms looked a little like something terrifying I've seen before at first glance. After looking closely, I realized I was mistaken."
As Xiao Wu spoke, her trembling gradually subsided.
Tang San immediately began comforting Xiao Wu, the coldness in his eyes deepening as he looked at Jing Shanshan.
Not only did you try to stop me from taking revenge on Zhao Wuji for Xiao Wu, you even dare hold something that frightens her!
This blond kid has to die!
"Oh, I wouldn't have noticed something if Xiao Wu hadn't mentioned it. Little Zhu, did you notice?"
Ning Rongrong didn't feel the same way Xiao Wu did. Instead, she turned into a curious child, enthusiastically taking Zhu Zhuqing's hand and shaking it, despite the icy "stay away from me" air surrounding her.
Zhu Zhuqing felt somewhat averse to it, but considering that they would be attending the same academy, she didn't pull her hand free. Following Ning Rongrong's gaze, she quickly fixed her eyes on the black cat in Jing Shanshan's arms.
"That cat seemed to stay quiet the whole time Tang San and Zhao Wuji were fighting, without making a fuss at all. It's so well-behaved!"
Zhu Zhuqing didn't dispute Ning Rongrong's words. Because of her family, she had been around quite a few pet cats since childhood, but this was her first time seeing a pet cat remain calmly lying down in the face of a battle like this.
"I wonder where he bought that cat. I really want one! No, once this is over, I'm going to ask!"
After waiting a while and seeing that Jing Shanshan had no intention whatsoever of getting off the golden chair, Zhao Wuji lost patience. Taking three steps in the space of two, he rapidly approached Jing Shanshan.
The little black cat moved before Jing Shanshan did, jumping out of his arms and arching its back at Zhao Wuji, a threatening hiss rising from its throat.
"Wow, what a protective black cat! It's so cute!"
At the sight, Ning Rongrong's eyes shone with golden light.
"Little Black, are your claws thirsty for blood? All right. Be careful not to kill him."
Understanding what the little black cat meant, Jing Shanshan casually waved a hand.
"Are you kidding me?!"
At Jing Shanshan's thunderous declaration, Zhao Wuji very much wanted to say that this was the first time he had ever seen someone so utterly shameless!