Yang Wudi's breathing stopped instantly. He stared fixedly at the bamboo, his Adam's apple bobbing. Only after a long while did he squeeze a few words through his teeth: "Ink... Ink Jade Divine Bamboo... This... how is this possible..."
After standing dazed for a long time, Yang Wudi slowly accepted it, his expression one of utter shock. "Legend says Ink Jade Divine Bamboo grows where yin and yang converge. It takes a thousand years to grow an inch, ten thousand to form a single segment. To think such a divine treasure truly exists in this world!"
Tang Feng placed the Ink Jade Divine Bamboo in Yang Wudi's hands. Seeing his excitement, he felt immensely gratified. "Exactly, Grandfather. Ink Jade Divine Bamboo can temper the Martial Soul Origin, adding strength and rigidity to a Martial Soul and greatly enhancing its own combat power."
Tang Feng looked at Yang Wudi and continued, "Grandfather, your Soul Breaking Spear follows the path of ultimate offense, utterly rigid and fierce. But that also means it can break from excessive rigidity. Taking this immortal herb will not only make your Soul Power soar, but also make your attacks sharper and more overbearing. It might even compensate for your weak defenses, granting greater strength and ferocity to the very essence of your Martial Soul. Nothing will withstand your attacks, and you'll have no worries at your back."
"Good! Good! Good!" Yang Wudi repeated, his voice rising each time. "Feng'er, this gift of yours is far more than precious! The Soul Breaking Spear has been passed down for centuries. Though its attacks are exceptionally fierce, we've never managed to break through its ceiling. Every one of our ancestors was trapped before the heavenly chasm of Soul Douluo."
Yang Wudi ran his strong, weathered fingers over the Ink Jade Divine Bamboo. An icy, bone-piercing chill reached his fingertips, and the bamboo segments seemed to resonate from afar with his Soul Breaking Spear Martial Soul.
"Grandfather, there's no time to lose. Take it now. Your grandson will stand guard for you." Tang Feng was both expectant and excited, eager to see what changes the Ink Jade Divine Bamboo would bring Yang Wudi.
Yang Wudi nodded and sat cross-legged in the garden plot within the secret chamber, laying the Ink Jade Divine Bamboo across his knees. He peeled away its outer ink-jade shoot sheaths, enveloped the entire bamboo in Soul Power, opened small holes along its segments, and slowly guided the ink-jade juice into his mouth.
The juice melted the moment it entered his mouth. Rather than the bitterness he had imagined, Yang Wudi tasted the delicate sweetness of bamboo dew and the icy sharpness of profound iron. It became nine cold streams that rushed straight into his belly.
"Nngh!!!"
Yang Wudi's body abruptly stiffened, his tall, lean frame drawing ramrod straight!
In an instant, countless ink-black dragons seemed to rampage beneath Yang Wudi's skin. Wherever each dragon-shaped current passed, his meridians rang with metallic clangs.
His clothes billowed without wind, every strand of his long, graying hair stood on end, and faint ink-jade radiance streamed from the pores all over his body.
More wondrous still, the phantom of a Soul Breaking Spear twenty feet long slowly condensed in the empty air behind Yang Wudi.
The spear was black as ink, and rings of jade-like bamboo markings appeared along its shaft, like an ink-black dragon coiling around it.
The blood-red edge at its tip, already enough to make hearts tremble, grew even sharper, as though it could pierce any defense, exuding an overwhelmingly domineering killing aura.
"Hummm!!!"
The phantom Soul Breaking Spear gave a clear, ringing cry and swept through a perfect arc within the secret chamber on its own.
Where its spear wind passed, a three-inch-deep gash sliced through the hard profound-iron stone wall as though through tofu. Yet, strangely, not the slightest metallic sound rang out, as if its edge had entered the supreme realm where "the greatest sound is scarcely heard."
"Rumble!!!"
A surge of Soul Power as vast as the sea erupted from Yang Wudi's body. The entire secret chamber trembled slightly beneath its pressure, and dust sifted down from the profound-iron stone overhead.
Yang Wudi's white hair turned from snowy white to grayish white at a speed visible to the naked eye. Many of the deep creases on his face smoothed out, and brilliant light blazed from his incomparably sharp eyes. He looked more than a decade younger.
Time trickled by. An hour passed.
Yang Wudi slowly opened his eyes, and a gleam of ink-jade light actually flashed through his pupils.
"Grandfather, how was it? Did your Martial Soul evolve?" Tang Feng asked eagerly.
"Ha!" Yang Wudi rose to his full height, and a physical Soul Breaking Spear instantly condensed in his palm.
The moment the spear appeared, the air in the secret chamber seemed to freeze.
The Soul Breaking Spear remained pitch-black and roughly twenty feet long, but rings of ink-jade bamboo markings now wound around its shaft like a coiling dragon, each segment distinct.
At its tip, the formerly blood-red edge had lost some of its viciousness, yet gained an even more terrifying quality. Its sharpness was condensed to the utmost, as though even light touching its edge would be silently severed.
Tang Feng instinctively stepped half a pace back-not out of fear, but because the sharp presence emanating from the spear tip stabbed straight at the space between his brows, making his Soul Power instinctively tremble.
"My Soul Breaking Spear has undergone a complete transformation!" Yang Wudi was exceptionally excited. "It can be rigid or yielding, straight or curved. Wherever its edge points, it leaves no opening!"
Yang Wudi turned his palm over and withdrew his Martial Soul before continuing, "My Soul Power even jumped three levels straight to level eighty-four! And I feel that the bottleneck in my Martial Soul's cultivation has been broken. My physique and cultivation speed have improved tremendously. I believe I'll definitely break through to Titled Douluo within five years!"
As soon as he finished, Yang Wudi abruptly turned toward Tang Feng, his eyes filled with gratification. "Good child... This immortal herb of yours has not only given your grandfather hope of becoming a Titled Douluo, but also remedied the Breaking Clan's centuries-old fatal flaw! Your grandfather..."
"Grandfather, you're being too generous." Tang Feng hurriedly interrupted him, his gaze blazing. "The day you become a Titled Douluo will be the day we demand repayment of our blood debt from Spirit Hall! Sooner or later, we'll avenge Father, Mother, and Uncle!"
A trace of grief flashed through Yang Wudi's eyes at those words. His large hand landed heavily on Tang Feng's shoulder. "Good! We'll make Spirit Hall repay the blood debt they owe us tenfold!"
The candlelight flickered, reflecting the raging fury in their hearts. Outside the secret chamber, the night was deep, while the Breaking Clan's fate had already been quietly rewritten.
Within the secret chamber, lingering traces of the Ink Jade Divine Bamboo still circulated through the air. Only after a long while did the two calm their excitement.
With his fingertips, Tang Feng took three pieces of ten-thousand-year whale glue and twenty pieces of thousand-year whale rubber from his storage pendant. A peculiar, fishy fragrance instantly spread through the air.
Yang Wudi's newly settled heart abruptly tightened. His aged face flushed crimson, his eyes went round, and his gaze became exceedingly strange.
Yang Wudi opened his mouth, hesitated, and finally only gave two dry coughs before turning his face away.
"Grandfather, don't misunderstand!"
One look at Yang Wudi's embarrassed expression told Tang Feng exactly where the old man's thoughts had gone, leaving him unsure whether to laugh or cry. Tang Feng immediately described his earlier research on whale rubber in detail.
Yang Wudi listened with his jaw hanging open, growing more astonished with every word. Of course he knew what whale rubber was used for, but Tang Feng's conclusive findings and rigorous comparisons left him no choice but to believe.
What shocked Yang Wudi even more was that this child had actually blazed a new trail, uncovering its true body-tempering value from the mistaken path of "enhancing virility."
"Your powers of observation... are downright monstrous!" Yang Wudi sucked in a cold breath. "If a secret like this got out, the entire Soul Master World would be shaken!"
"That's why we absolutely must keep this confidential. We need to use it in secret." Tang Feng's expression was solemn.
Yang Wudi took a deep breath and solemnly put the whale rubber into his Storage Soul Tool, a keen light flashing in his eyes. "Good! Tomorrow, I'll gather the clan's elites. With this batch of whale rubber, I believe our Breaking Clan will definitely improve tremendously!"
Early the next morning, in the Breaking Clan's largest secret chamber.
Yang Wudi stood at the center of the secret chamber with his hands behind his back, his gaze sweeping over the twenty clan elites around him.
They were all outstanding members of the Breaking Clan from various age groups. Now, every one of them stood ramrod straight, their eyes burning.
"You are all pillars of our Breaking Clan." Yang Wudi's tone was stern as he slowly explained the whole matter.
Finally, Yang Wudi's gaze sharpened. "But let me make the unpleasant part clear first. None of you may breathe a word of this. Anyone who dares leak it will be punished under clan rules!"
Though the people below harbored doubts, unsure whether whale rubber could truly have such a powerful effect, none dared say more in the face of their clan leader's authority.
Besides, everyone could sense that Yang Wudi's presence was considerably sharper than yesterday. He had clearly received a tremendous opportunity. Who would still question him now?
Yang Wudi lightly flicked his fingertips, sending twenty pieces of whale rubber flying precisely into their hands. "Whale rubber's effects are fierce. First melt it over a fire, then swallow it directly. Once its medicinal effects take hold, jump into the ice barrels to refine it."
Everyone committed his words to memory and followed his instructions, not daring to slacken in the slightest.
As the whale rubber entered their mouths, its medicinal power burst forth. They felt a scalding torrent wash through their limbs and bones, their meridians crackling as wisps of black impurities seeped from their pores.