Thinking of this, Old Tang looked at Tang Wulin.
"Wulin, was my past self, the Sea God Tang San, an evil person?"
Hearing this question, Tang Wulin scratched his head, not knowing how to describe it. "Old Tang, I do not know much about the Sea God himself, but I do know some things related to him."
With that, he told Old Tang about some of the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy's situations.
The more Old Tang listened, the deeper his frown became.
A sect that made hidden weapons. A traitorous academy. The Sea God was connected to them, and had even sent his own true gods to protect them. One could imagine what kind of person the Sea God was.
After all, would a normal person get mixed up with such forces and shelter them?
"Sigh. It seems my past self was indeed a great villain."
Old Tang sighed. But thinking that he had already lost his memory, his thoughts became active again.
From now on, he was Old Tang. His duty was to take care of Wulin and absorb the Golden Dragon King's seal.
As for Tang San, who was that? What did he have to do with him?
From this day on, a sacred severity.
Time passed like a shuttle. The sun and moon flew like a weaver's shuttle.
More than two months had passed since the battle in the Undead Half-Plane. The Federation's selection registration period had also recently ended. The selection had begun.
Above Mingdu, the sun shone brightly.
As the capital of the Sun Moon Empire, Mingdu had always been bustling and noisy. Because of the start of the selection, these past few days had been especially lively.
Many experts, rarely seen on ordinary days, passed through the streets.
There were elders from great families, with white hair and white eyebrows. There was no sign of old age in their steps. Their auras were so restrained they seemed like ordinary elderly people. Only the occasional glint in their eyes when they looked up revealed their true nature.
There were also military generals, broad shouldered and thick backed, their bodies sturdy. Their killing intent had not yet been fully restrained. Walking among the crowd, they were like a sheathed blade. Although they did not speak, people unconsciously stepped aside.
There were also reclusive experts, carrying auras out of place with their surroundings, quietly appearing in the streets and alleys of Mingdu.
"There are quite a few noteworthy people."
Sima Jinchi, from the Southern Legion, walked down the street. Looking at the experts passing by, his expression was excited.
These people were all potential opponents he might face. For him, a Battle Maniac, this was even better than the New Year.
"Those guys in the legion are boring. They walk around me when they see me. This time, I can finally have a good fight."
He muttered to himself, making Le Zhengyu, who was accompanying him, twitching his mouth.
Old Blade, do you not know why they walk around you?
It is because of you beat them up.
He really did not know why you loved fighting so much.
Le Zhengyu muttered quietly.
Sword Demon Sima Jinchi. His martial soul was the Dragon Slayer Sword. He was thirty seven years old, a Soul Douluo, and a Two Word Battle Armor Master. His grandfather, Angel Douluo Le Zhengen, had somehow recruited him into the Southern Legion. He was now a Senior Colonel of the Southern Legion and the commander of the Gale Division.
This guy was obsessed with the sword. His greatest hobby was challenging others. He had even swung his sword at his grandfather, a Limit Douluo. One could imagine how battle hungry he was.
However, because he loved fighting and had no sense of restraint, often injuring people, he was not very popular. Even though he had reached the Soul Douluo level, he still did not have a Three Word Battle Armor. The people he had beaten and their friends were unwilling to help him design and forge battle armor. And his grandfather, to temper him, had no intention of intervening either.
To be honest, facing such a Battle Fanatic, Le Zhengyu had complex feelings.
According to his grandfather, although Sima Jinchi's cultivation speed was somewhat inferior to the top geniuses, his combat ability was no weaker. Now, facing an ordinary Super Douluo without battle armor, he could still win. After breaking through to Titled Douluo, few below the Limit level could rival him. When he reached Super Douluo, even without Four Word Battle Armor, he would probably have the strength to challenge a Limit Douluo.
Such a person was undoubtedly the future pillar of the Southern Legion. If he could take over as Southern Legion Commander, this would be a general he would need to rely on.
However, the other party still looked down on him.
Because Sima Jinchi simply did not care about age or talent. In his eyes, soul masters seemed to be divided into three realms. The Ant Realm, which he crushed. The Dao Friend Realm, which was evenly matched with him. And the Senior Realm, which crushed him.
This guy simply did not care about talent or age. He only cared about fist size.
If you had a higher cultivation level and were older, but could not beat him, he would still look down on you. If you were twenty years younger but could fight him to a draw, he would give you a certain degree of respect. If you could pin him to the ground and beat him, even if you were a teenage child, he would willingly call you "Senior."
And for someone like him, who had potential but currently lacked strength, he naturally fell into the category that Sima Jinchi looked down upon. That was why Le Zhengyu's feelings were so complex.
Offering a Warm Face Only to Get a Cold Butt. With his proud nature, he could not do that. It could be said that if not for his grandfather's connection, they would have long since Disliked Each Other. He would not be here, showing him around Mingdu.
Yes, incidentally, he was also now a student at the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy. After all, he had once been a student of Shrek Academy. He needed to gild himself at the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy, an official Federation academy, to show his stance.
Seeing Sima Jinchi wandering around, not heading to his destination, Le Zhengyu could not help asking, "Old Blade, are you not going to the Mingde Hall to prepare for the selection tournament? It would be good to adapt to the simulation pod's environment in advance."
One of Sima Jinchi's purposes in coming to Mingdu was to participate in the selection. Although the Federation's selection standards stated that those with Federation positions could not register, nothing was absolute. With his grandfather's connection, it was no problem to squeeze someone in.
As long as he did not go too far in the selection and cause a big scandal, the Federation would Turn a Blind Eye.
However, doing this meant he could not participate as a military member. Sima Jinchi had registered this time as an individual.
Otherwise, this Sword Demon would not have traveled thousands of miles to Mingdu.
And the reason Sima Jinchi was participating in the selection, in Le Zhengyu's view, was probably for the opportunity to have a Three Word Battle Armor forged, the reward for the Soul Douluo points competition's first place.
Admittedly, this kind of reward was very attractive for someone without faction support, and for someone in Sima Jinchi's situation.
But now it seemed Sima Jinchi had no desire for Three Word Battle Armor at all. He was not at all anxious.
Sima Jinchi glanced at Le Zhengyu. "There is nothing to prepare. The virtual space in the simulation pod is just a different kind of reality. And I do not think ordinary Soul Douluo will be a match for me."
You are awesome, alright.
But you do have records of defeating Three Word Battle Armor Masters.
Le Zhengyu rolled his eyes inwardly.
"Speaking of which, I heard those two reincarnated deities are also in Mingdu. Do you know where they are? I wonder if I will have the fortune to fight them."
Le Zhengyu nearly choked on his own saliva.
"You... you said what? Fight? Fight those two?"
He stared at Sima Jinchi with wide eyes, as if looking at a madman.
They were deities.
Although those two had not yet fully recovered and their strength was far from their peak, they were still gods. They were existences that had truly set foot in the divine realm. Even if their current cultivation was not high, their combat experience, understanding of the rules, and use of spirit power all crushed them.
Old Blade, were you tired of living?
"Why are you so excited?" Sima Jinchi glanced at him, his tone indifferent. "Those two seem to be around Soul Sage now. Although their strength far surpasses that level, as long as they do not use divine level power, the ceiling is Limit. I have fought Limit Douluo before."
He had almost forgotten. This guy dared to challenge his grandfather.
Le Zhengyu was silent for a moment. Thinking of something, he finally spoke up, "I do not recommend you go to your death. After all."
Before he could finish, the two suddenly noticed the sky in the distance darken.
They looked up instinctively. The previously clear, cloudless sky was rapidly darkening at a visible rate.
Dark clouds emerged from nowhere, layer upon layer, blotting out the sun.
Those clouds were not the usual gray black. They flickered with a strange seven colored luster. As the clouds churned, lightning could be seen moving within, emitting a dull rumble.
"Is it going to rain?"
A newcomer muttered, quickening his pace toward the inn. But he noticed the surrounding pedestrians looking as if they had seen this many times before, unaffected, going about their business. He looked confused.
Sima Jinchi was also drawn to this strange scene.
What was going on?
Then he saw a seven colored bolt of lightning fall in the distance. Some knowledgeable passersby showed thoughtful expressions.
"Is this a lightning tribulation? Is the Divine Craftsman performing Heaven Forging?"
"Could the rumor that His Majesty Zhen Hua is the weakest Four Word Battle Armor Master be wrong? This lightning tribulation feels extremely dangerous to me. He actually dares to attract it."
"Am I the only one worried that His Majesty Zhen Hua might not be able to stand it?"
Nowadays, there were quite a few people on the Douluo Continent who had seen lightning tribulation. However, in people's understanding, lightning tribulation was divided into two types. One was the kind that struck savage beasts. The other was the elemental lightning tribulation that appeared during Heaven Forging.
The distant seven colored lightning was somewhat similar to the Heaven Forging scenes some had witnessed. It was just that the power of the lightning tribulation was magnified countless times. The four colored lightning had become seven colored. Could His Majesty Zhen Hua really withstand this kind of lightning tribulation?
Would their Divine Craftsman die under the lightning tribulation?
Hearing the popular science from the Douluo passersby, Sima Jinchi scratched his head and looked at Le Zhengyu, who was equally calm.
"Has His Majesty Zhen Hua come to Mingdu? Is the Divine Craftsman preparing the rewards for the selection? Can he really protect the metal from the lightning tribulation?"
Given Le Zhengyu's expression, he had probably seen this scene before.
Le Zhengyu shook his head with a complex expression, looking at him strangely.
"No. That is His Majesty Huo Yuhao using the lightning tribulation to temper his body. Over the past two months, he has been attracting heavenly thunder every day in a deserted place."
"What did you say?"
Sima Jinchi's eyes widened, looking somewhat shocked. "Using that to temper his body?"
The oppressive feeling from that lightning tribulation was even greater than that of Legion Commander Le Zhengen, a Limit Douluo. You were saying someone was using that to temper their body?
Le Zhengyu nodded, then revealed a half smile. "Old Blade, do you still want to challenge those two now?"
Sima Jinchi looked at the distant lightning tribulation and felt he needed to reconsider.
In the northern mountains of Mingdu, the area shrouded by the lightning tribulation was empty for ten li around.
It was not that people did not want to approach. They did not dare.
Every time the seven colored lightning fell, it was like divine punishment descending. Space trembled. The earth shattered. No one dared to endure it.
But the lightning tribulation came quickly and went quickly. It only had the power of a single strike.
After the power of the lightning tribulation dissipated, some who had been watching immediately approached, looking at the center of the huge crater left by the lightning.
There, a figure absorbed the lightning tribulation's power to temper his body while a storm of water, fire, earth, and wind elements began to form around him, with four colored lightning flickering within.
Seeing this, Gu Yuena, who had come nearby, had a flicker of joy in her eyes. "The Four Elements Divine Thunder. Yuhao has already condensed it. Now only the final step remains."
The Four Elements Divine Thunder was born from the four elements. Because it contained the power of earth, wind, water, and fire, it could break through any power attached to these elements. It belongs to the same category as the lightning tribulation faced during Heaven Forging and when breaking the limit to the divine level.
The difference was that breaking the limit to the divine level usually faced the most dangerous Seven Elements Divine Thunder, while ordinary Heaven Forging would trigger the baptism of the Four Elements Divine Thunder.
The Dragon God was known throughout the Divine Realm as the God of Judgment because he wielded numerous forms of Elemental Divine Thunder, using them to deliver divine retribution to rebels and transgressors.
Though somewhat embarrassing to acknowledge, even Gu Yuena, an unparalleled controller of the elements, had not mastered this art. After all, the secret did not lie merely in fusing the four elements to forge Divine Thunder.
The lightning power condensed from the fusion of the four elements was very scattered. If it was not extracted, filtered, and released, its power would not be great. So one needed to take the fused power of the four elements into the body and condense the lightning internally.
And this was obviously something ordinary people could not do. If something went wrong, one would die. After all, a four element storm capable of condensing Elemental Divine Thunder was something even a Limit Douluo might not be able to withstand, let alone putting that kind of thing into one's body.
Even with Gu Yuena's physical constitution, she dared not try rashly. The inside and outside of the body were ultimately different. Without a remedy, being severely injured was the best outcome after failure. (Note: Soul Land IV explicitly stated that Gu Yuena had not mastered this move. Although it was somewhat absurd, the explanation was that her physical constitution was insufficient.)
"However, Yuhao has a deep understanding of the laws of Reincarnation and When Extreme Reaches, Reversal Comes. He has more advantages in balancing various powers than I do. If he fails, his Reincarnation Domain can Cover for him. He should be fine." Gu Yuena thought to herself.
On the other side, Huo Yuhao was immersed in cultivation, beginning to absorb the elemental storm before he entered his body.
He had been practicing condensing the Four Elements Divine Thunder on undead creatures since he was in Xingluo. With many undead to assist him in his cultivation and sacrifice themselves for him, his progress had been good.
Now he could also comprehend the power of the seven element heavenly tribulation, giving him a better understanding of the composition of the Elemental Divine Thunder. Added to his understanding of Creation and Destruction, condensing the Four Elements Divine Thunder was naturally easier. After all, lightning tribulation was both Destruction and Creation.
However, being able to condense it did not mean he could easily accommodate it.
Huo Yuhao's entire body glowed with golden light. His blood and qi surged to the heavens. He suppressed and controlled the elemental power entering his body.
Compared to his spiritual power and spirit power, his physical cultivation had lagged behind. But now, his Body Sect secret technique had also, unknowingly, crossed into the fourth level Golden Body Realm during the two months of cultivation, and he had advanced far. Now, only the final and most difficult barrier remained, the Flawless Golden Body, comparable to a divine level physical body.
Now, even facing that Body Sect senior brother A Ruheng, he would not be inferior in physical strength. In fact, because of the divine level lightning tribulation's body tempering, he might even be superior.
In other words, his current physical strength was even stronger than Tang Wulin when he had opened the tenth level of the Golden Dragon King's seal. As for exactly how strong it was, Huo Yuhao did not know.
But it reminded him of a joke. Huo Yuhao, with the Spirit Eyes martial soul, had a stronger physical body. Tang Wulin, with the Golden Dragon King's divine core, had stronger spiritual power.
However, even with such physical fitness, Huo Yuhao still suffered when the elemental storm entered his body. When he compressed the four elements to the extreme, the lightning born instantly went berserk. The lightning rampaged through his meridians, roared through his flesh, and exploded in his bones.
Huo Yuhao nearly exploded.
But he was not panicked.
Reincarnation Domain, restart.
Ice Empress True Body, blessing.
Reincarnation laws, harmonize.
Creative power, recover.
Self-Combination Martial Soul Technique, Reincarnation True Body.
With his Reincarnation Domain Covering for him, Huo Yuhao kept trying and correcting. His spiritual power and spirit power were consumed and restored. Finally, after countless times of his body approaching destruction and rebirth, he mastered the Elemental Divine Thunder.
Feeling the Elemental Divine Thunder continuously temper his body and enhance his spirit power intensity, Huo Yuhao felt great.
The Elemental Divine Thunder was not only a method of conquest, but also a method of cultivation and body tempering. He could use it as a different kind of Fallen Heart Flame. Like the Gold of Life, it was a Cultivation Cheat Device.
The difference was that the Gold of Life improved spiritual power and physical fitness, while the Elemental Divine Thunder improved spirit power intensity and physical fitness. As long as he refined the divine thunder within his body, he could enjoy these effects continuously.
"After I condense the Seven Elements Divine Thunder, the effect will be even better. Although using the Douluo Continent's heavenly tribulation power for cultivation is good, I will eventually surpass the Douluo Continent's limit. At that time, the Douluo Continent's elemental lightning tribulation will be useless. It is better to master it myself. Moreover, this divine thunder is already extremely powerful in itself. It will also be a good combat method at the divine level."
Thinking of this, Huo Yuhao turned his gaze to Gu Yuena and smiled. "Na'er, it is your turn."
Although in the original work Gu Yuena had not mastered this move, citing insufficient physical constitution, Huo Yuhao felt it was somewhat forced to elevate the Little Dragon God.
When practicing this move, the Little Dragon God's cultivation was equivalent to a Titled Douluo. He had not yet broken through to level one hundred to become a true god. Even with the Golden Dragon King's bloodline, could his physical constitution be stronger than Gu Yuena's, a first class god?
If that were the case, then Huo Yuhao could only look at Tang Wulin, whose physical constitution had reached the third class god level before the Dragon King finale, and say, "The Little Dragon God at Titled Douluo had a stronger physical constitution than Tang Wulin at the finale. Terrifyingly So."
However, the Elemental Divine Thunder was indeed dangerous. Gu Yuena was also not at her peak now. If there was no one to Cover for her, condensing it internally would indeed be dangerous. But now that he could Cover for her, Gu Yuena could also try.
If you are going to retrain, you should be stronger than before. Otherwise, what was the point of retraining?
And, compared to him, who was more focused on using the Elemental Divine Thunder as a Cultivation Cheat Device, Gu Yuena, as an elemental expert, could obviously play with it in more ways.
Perhaps she could even use it to continuously improve, reaching the level of the Dragon God's mastery over lightning tribulation, and eventually lifting the prohibition on spirit beasts becoming gods.
***
Dive deeper into the story with 30+ advance chapters, available now on Patreon!
patreon.com/CNBLUE
If you're enjoying the novel, please consider leaving a review. Your support is crucial and helps the story grow immensely. Thank you!
(End of Chapter)