Routes and Attributes

"I can't guarantee it."

"As far as I know, there aren't any Titled Douluo in our Spirit Hall with whale-type Martial Souls."

At Ma Chengyuan's words, Golden Crocodile Douluo fell silent.

Ma Chengyuan's words were not pleasant to hear.

What did he mean, there weren't any Titled Douluo with whale-type Martial Souls?

True, Spirit Hall did not have that many Titled Douluo.

But whether in number or quality, they could crush any sect in the world.

That also meant Spirit Hall possessed several Soul Ring hunting routes that could give a Soul Master the potential to approach the level of a Titled Douluo.

But...

When Golden Crocodile Douluo actually tried to object, he found that he had no way to refute Ma Chengyuan's words.

He could not reveal that information.

Even as the Worship Hall's Second Worship, he could only keep his mouth shut when the people around him lacked sufficient strength and standing.

And so, with his mouth slightly open, Golden Crocodile Douluo could only swallow the reprimand he had been about to give.

Ma Chengyuan, however, paid no attention to the changes in Golden Crocodile Douluo's expression.

He simply presented Golden Crocodile Douluo with the research he had conducted after learning about the Soul Skill.

"It's all just exploration."

"After all, I'm not a member of the Dai or Zhu families of the Star Luo Empire."

Golden Crocodile Douluo glanced at the man whose words carried a hidden meaning, a bellyful of anger bottled up inside him.

He was bolstering others' morale while deflating his own side's. What was all that about not being a member of the Star Luo Empire's Dai and Zhu families?

He had crossed swords with those so-called Dai and Zhu families before.

Even if they produced Titled Douluo, he would crush them to death. They had only managed to survive against him by relying on a Martial Soul Fusion Skill.

But in the next moment, Golden Crocodile Douluo came to his senses.

"The first few skills of the Soul Masters from those two families do seem to be the same." As he murmured, Golden Crocodile Douluo dredged a term out of his mind, one that was quite unfamiliar even to him. "The degree of compatibility between a Soul Ring and a Martial Soul?"

Ma Chengyuan nodded and finally said what he wanted to say. "So, sir, before hunting for a Soul Ring, we need to make a preliminary determination of Little Tian'en's Martial Soul attributes."

"If they don't tend to match the Sinking Sand Water Turtle's attributes, I have a backup plan."

"Also, the places where these Sinking Sand Water Turtles live aren't easy to find. Lord Worship, we'll need you to use your influence to search for them."

It was only then that Golden Crocodile Douluo turned his gaze once more to Mu Tian'en, who had stuffed the last mouthful of food into his stomach, yet whose belly showed no sign of swelling.

As long as it had whale attributes, there was no getting around a water attribute.

Add to that the devouring attribute Golden Crocodile Douluo believed Mu Tian'en possessed, and that made two attributes already.

Were there any others?

The Six-Winged Angel Martial Soul, after all, had only three main attributes: light, sacred, and flame.

Compared with the Six-Winged Angel Martial Soul, Mu Tian'en's Martial Soul, which could also push its host to Innate Full Soul Power, was still somewhat inferior.

Even so, they could not afford to miss anything.

If a mistake really did occur, Golden Crocodile Douluo did not think anyone in Spirit Hall had the clever trick or the ability to act like that so-called Clear Sky Douluo and blow up their Soul Rings.

Still, this kind of extreme secret technique seemed to have considerable potential.

Golden Crocodile Douluo, who felt it was worth trying with his own elder brother, let his thoughts wander again.

It was not until Mu Tian'en gave a little burp beside him that he abruptly realized his mind had wandered off once more, straying from the actual subject of their discussion.

But when he looked at Mu Tian'en again, Golden Crocodile Douluo felt a headache coming on.

Mu Tian'en had only just learned to circulate his Soul Power. Without Martial Soul Possession or a Soul Ring, measuring the little fellow's attributes would be no simple matter.

Especially for Golden Crocodile Douluo himself.

His own Qi and blood were far too overbearing. Though he could shatter the deep-sea black ice crystals in Old Xiu Nuo's body without even trying, that choice had been based on Old Xiu Nuo's own physical condition.

If he sent his Qi and blood into Mu Tian'en's body, Golden Crocodile Douluo was not very confident he could complete the attribute test.

As for letting someone else try, Golden Crocodile Douluo had not even considered it.

He could not guarantee that his not-yet-formal disciple would remain as quiet as a well-behaved child should while his own attention was elsewhere, not with Mu Tian'en's habit of taking a couple of bites even out of a plate.

Moreover, given the overbearing instinct of Mu Tian'en's Martial Soul, any other Soul Power that entered his body might become nourishment for that fellow's growth, indirectly strengthening the devouring attribute.

Golden Crocodile Douluo's head ached a little.

He had had a rough idea of his own Martial Soul's attributes from the very beginning.

It was a crocodile, after all. It was basically bound to have the two attributes of water and earth, with at most other subsidiary attributes such as dragon and light.

The problem was the name his disciple had given his Martial Soul.

Black Hole Whale?

Black hole?

What was that?

Golden Crocodile Douluo had heard a little about such rare Martial Souls as the sun, moon, and stars.

After all, he had once found a record in Spirit Hall's books of someone whose Martial Soul was a star.

But...

A black hole? He had never heard of one.

Just then, however, Mu Tian'en's eyes lit up.

He was about eighty percent full.

He no longer coveted the faint chill Old Master Xiunuo gave off.

He did not know many written characters, but he could understand what people said.

With a push of his little legs, he sprang down from his chair again.

Patter, patter, patter, he came up to Golden Crocodile Douluo.

Though he did not understand why the other grandpas bowed before this old grandpa, Mu Tian'en had more or less guessed that the old man before him was an important figure ordinary people could not meet. He raised his hands and showed Golden Crocodile Douluo one of his Martial Soul's instincts.

"Grandpa, a black hole is something like this."

His hands were curled like claws, facing each other.

Mu Tian'en's little face turned bright red with the effort.

A speck of dust came to a complete stop between Mu Tian'en's palms.

Then it began to spin, spinning madly.

It spun until Mu Tian'en's Soul Power began to coil around it, turning it into a pitch-black thing not much larger than a grain of rice.

"This is a black hole?"

Before the other elderly men could say anything to Mu Tian'en, however, Golden Crocodile Douluo had already raised a hand and sealed their mouths with Soul Power.

Those men might not have sensed it, but Golden Crocodile Douluo knew that the hairs all over his body were standing on end.

His fleshly body, which had long since fused his Martial Soul's instincts into itself and whose cultivation could be called miraculous, immediately perceived the danger of the almost infinitesimal abnormal object hidden in the space between Mu Tian'en's palms.

A stress response!

Yes, living creatures felt an almost instinctive fear when faced with danger.

That was exactly what was happening now.

His expression grave, Golden Crocodile Douluo went completely against his biological instincts and brought his head close to the black thing, smaller than a grain of rice, that had remained in the space between Mu Tian'en's palms all along.