Hu Jie looked surprised as Karni's soul rings reached out. Three Purple… and a single Black Soul Ring, releasing its might across the whole room.
A crow flew through it, cacawing happily. He could finally feel his strength coming closer to his original.
Hu Jie looked at the Spirit Soul flying around. What was it? Since when were Ten Thousand year Spirit Souls so solid and powerful? The bird was in tune with space, slicing it and hopping through it as if it's water. Spirit Souls that evolved from a lower level didn't have such strength when they advanced.
As Hopper went back inside, Karni was greeted by a bit of an angry look by Hu Jie. He was confused.
"Explain yourself. How did your Spirit Soul just evolve right now?"
Karni scratched his head. Hopper yelled inside his head. "Don't tell anything about Old Zhou, but be truthful about everything else! Just omit information. Don't lie. He'll notice."
Karni looked at Hu Jie. "The crow you just saw. His name is Hopper. He was originally a twenty thousand year old Spirit Soul. When we were travelling to Star Luo Continent we were lucky, Siduo and I both got two Black rank Spirit Souls. They were true soul beasts originally. A strong person helped us seal their power so we could fuse with them, and as we get strong enough to accept the power, the Spirit Souls would naturally evolve until they reach their former level."
Hu Jie looked at Karni in awe. He could feel no lie uttered from him. Were there really such hidden masters in the ocean? He's never heard of such a person before. He knew a few who might be capable of doing a similar thing, but actual Soul Beasts? A crow? In the ocean?
Hu Jie grumbled. He could feel that Karni definitely summarised this, but if this was some master that could do such things… He can't ask him questions. He might put his disciple in danger. Who knew what temperaments such masters had. He himself knew a temperamental and stubborn master on the continent: the strongest one on the continent, yet not very wise for his years.
"Fine. I'll let it go for now. But…" He glared at Karni. "You should've told me. I was going to get you a ten thousand year old Spirit Soul for your Panda martial soul to advance your training! Now it's impossible! You won't be strong enough for an additional Spirit Soul AND another Ten Thousand year Spirit Soul in another 3 months!"
Hu Jie was fuming. If anything, Karni just showed his current limit. 3 Purple and one Black. Karni said the Spirit Souls would naturally evolve to their former level. That would mean Karni was at his limit… He sighed. If they would've given Karni a Spirit Soul on the Panda, the physical endurance problem would be removed for a good while. Karni's Spiritual Power might dominate Karni's body at the moment, but now that will go even further; without his disciple being able to balance things out a bit. No, based on the kind of Spirit Soul they had, they'll even have to wait until Karni gets better Spiritual Power now. With the configuration… "Now we'll have to wait until you reach the Spirit Abyss Realm…"
He's never seen his master so flustered before. And what was that he just said? Spirit Abyss? Really? That seemed… so far.
The crow scoffed from the inside. "Two years. You shouldn't need to wait longer with me here."
Karni was innerly surprised, but also excited. That really would be impressive. Then he sort of stopped, finally remembering that Hu Jie did actually ask him a question. He scratched his head out of embarrassment. "Well. I didn't know you had plans… You never asked…"
Hu Jie stopped. Frozen. He was thinking back to when they started… He only said he'll train his body and bloodline. He facepalmed himself. He was muttering silently, while covering his head. "Well I never said anything. But how could I have known that this would happen? Who has that sort of Spirit Souls? Is it that weird that I wanted to help out? Ugh. I'll have to contact that bastard Mu Ye. There's really no other way anymore. He needs the awakening ceremony. He needs it. The Spirit Souls were a way, but now it's not possible anymore. What to do, what to do?"
All of it was said so fast, that Karni could sort of get the gist of it, but he was clueless about the actual situation. His master could definitely be one of those auctioneer guys on Earth that talked fast.
The man went silent for a second. Staring into the air a bit dazed. Then he suddenly shouted.
"Argh THAT BASTARD. I'm going to contact him! He better not reject my offer!"
Hu Jie stormed out of the room, leaving Karni alone, slamming the door. He was dumbfounded. He's never seen his teacher act like this before. Was he always such a short tempered person? He seemed like such a chill old man at first.
Karni didn't actually leave though. Hu Jie didn't dismiss him. Instead, he was testing out how much his Soul Ring improved now that it was Ten Thousand years old.
He started swinging the staff. He noticed a few things. Locking onto where he wanted to go was at least 3 times easier. The space seemed easier to lock onto. No. It was his perception of space that got better. It still required the same amount of power to lock onto it. Interesting. As for Soul Power and Spiritual Power, the consumption did not directly change, but he used up less of it, because of the ease he could perceive space now.
If he was only teleporting constantly, short distance. He could definitely do it more than 100 times. The bigger the distance, the higher the consumption. On the other hand, if he took it really slow for a short distance, he might as well not use up his soul power at all.
Finally, the most important part. It seemed that part of the seal, to actually make the Spirit Soul Purple, was to give physical constraints on distance. This was now gone. Technically, he could teleport as far as his Spiritual Power allowed him to. Of course, that would mean his Spiritual Power would be able to both handle the distance as well as lock onto that particular bit of space far away, which was easier said than done.
His Bo Staff Soul Rings were free in nature. The first provided a wide analysis of perception, analysing the flow of space and time, based on Old Zhou. The second gave him the ability to apply visions to others, the third was releasing and gaining some control over the sound that space and time released. Finally, Shift gave him the ability to perform basically everywhere, but he had to do everything manually. He couldn't just activate the ability and appear where he wanted to. Most teleportation abilities worked with some level of automation, but cost much more. This was the opposite.
He split his Bo Staff into two. There was one final thing to check. Just how fast could he Shift now that his perception of space increased. Before, using drumsticks to Shift simply wasn't worth it. It wasn't any faster, but he still used up twice as much Soul Power.
He was circling both of his Drumsticks. It was the requirement to teleport. The way the skill developed. This was still a part of it. He spun one and Shifted. As he appeared somewhere else, the second drumstick finished spinning. He teleported again, almost instantaneously. Then he paused. His mind was nauseous. It was the fastest two teleports he's done so far. He locked onto the next place as fast as possible, but it hurt his mind doing so. The Soul Power use was still twice as much as normal, but… He could now actually train at the speed.
What if he locked two spaces at the same time? Could he do it faster?
This was great. Karni was ecstatic. This could be considered a Divine Ability! It used up so little resources. It had so little limits! Not only that, since he was shifting space itself and not people, he might be able to mess with his opponents! He had to try it out.
A bang. Karni jumped, his thoughts disturbed. He saw Hu Jie. Looking amazed at Karni before becoming angry again.
Karni was smacked by something. It fell down. It was a letter. Who knew a piece of paper could hurt so bad?
… … …
Siduo was jumping around, sometimes like a shadow, sometimes forcefully like a boulder. Yet her physical appearance never really changed. The only thing changing was her hair colour, her ears and her eyes. Other than that she was the same.
Her eyes kept on switching. From slits, to round, then back to slits. Sometimes the slits looked incredibly dark, other times it felt like they were slightly glowing. Her hair and cat ears were constantly changing between white and black.
She sped up, her strength mighty. Muscles bulged, covered by a layer of diamond crystals. She stomped the ground. Adding both her strength and speed together as she clashed with a teacher.
The teacher had to use her soul rings to defend. She grew muscles as her white fur glowed golden and the teacher's third soul ring became bright.
Siduo avoided the incoming punch, before activating her second and third soul ring of the Hell Cat. Her hair was full of black strands. Hundreds of claw strikes began fusing into one. They formed a blade that turned completely solid as the third soul ring shone and slashed.
Just as she was slashing, her hair colour changed to white, her second soul ring shining.
Among the slash of energy, was hidden another powerful light wave. The teacher activated her first soul ring. A barrier appeared, that actually cracked because of the blade. Once the light wave reached it, it cut through at the concentrated point.
It wasn't just any Hell Blade after all. It was infused with her body's strength, the Crystal Light Wave, as well as the speed of her Hell Cat. Instead of multiple, she sent a single one. This made for a far stronger than a normal Hell Blade.
However, it was greatly weakened when it reached the teacher. All the teacher had to do was knock it away and use her own second soul ring to distract Siduo.
Siduo was faster. She almost instantaneously transformed into the Hell White Tiger. Four soul rings shining together. Hell Hundred Claws, Hell Blade, White Tiger Diamond Transformation and Sun Tiger Meteor. The giant tiger turned to glowing gold molten stone. It appeared like it was made of volcanic rock. This light from within formed a giant blade that multiplied into hundreds of them.
This was a true fusion of soul skills, not just addition and stacking them on top of one another.
In this single burst strength, she used her most powerful attacks.
The teacher felt threatened. Her seventh soul ring shone brightly. The White Tiger came into existence, one quite similar in size to Siduo's current self fusion, except less buff. The two were also nothing alike in appearance, one looked like a Great White Tiger, while the other was a tiger made of volcanic pieces.
The two attacks clashed. Siduo could feel that she was still at a disadvantage. This was the power of a Martial Soul Avatar! She couldn't compete with a seven-ringed Soul Sage!
But she wanted to. She so desperately wanted to, because there was a Soul Sage in Star Luo City on Douluo Continent that she would eventually have to face. She jumped back so she could have a chance at one more attack. She focused her mind. The teachers always told her not to go for six soul ringed fusion. Neither her mind nor her body were strong enough.
But when has she ever listened to such advice? Karni couldn't stop her from attempting such things, much less the teachers who she respected less even though they were her superiors.
She was a God in her past life! She told Karni this and she was not lying. She might not have any of her former abilities, but she had knowledge. Why shouldn't she try out such things!
Six Soul rings shined on her. Five purple and a single black. Hell Rush, Hell Hundred Claws, Hell Blade from her Hell Cat. White Tiger Diamond Transformation, Diamond Light Wave, Sun Tiger Meteor. She had no need for the Diamond Body Layer, it was defensive.
The teacher's eyes went wide. This child is insane! They warned her before so many times! But it was too late, the fusion of her soul rings had already begun!
The teachers left her alone. They didn't want to disturb such a dangerous procedure.
Siduo could feel her power ballooning within her. She had to face it. Her body wasn't strong enough yet. She was trying to force the power within her to reach the level of a Soul Sage! Her Self-Fusion alone would enable her to fight with a Soul King. But all the Soul Skills fused would give her a single attack that compared with a Soul Sage's attack!
The body of the Hell White Tiger quickly changed. To be exact, it grew spiralling horns. She activated her Soul Bone. The people here already knew about it. She needed a boost in physical strength!
She could feel the weight lightening, the Soul Skills fusing smoothly. Yet when all six of them were almost joined together, she felt she started to lose control over them. Her Spiritual Power was waning. Falling apart, a certain limit at the very edge of her Spiritual Sea.
She could hear Solaria sigh inside. "I'll rent you some of my power. Go for it."
Siduo smiled cheekily and punched it. She punched that wall with all of the power inside her right now. She was attacking the Spiritual Bottleneck that has been bothering her for months now. All of this power within her was threatening to burst out, so she needed to puncture a hole in that wall.
She hit and hit. Before she could start feeling cracks. Not just within the wall, the bottleneck, but also within her spiritual sea. She didn't care. She was going to puncture through it. Karni had surpassed this years ago. Years ago!
Her mighty and wild Soul Power burst into the Spiritual Sea, attacking the wall farther. Cracking it further. Punching it, making a clear mark on it. Then punching it again. The inner part started to crumble. She slashed, punched, kicked again!
Finally, her fist broke through. She could feel a rush of spiritual energy. Her eyes opened wide, the world looking far grander than before. The Soul Skills finally fused, under her complete control, though she felt the cracks in her Spiritual Sea widening. She had to be quick.
This was a dangerous try, but it was her own. Her strength will grow differently compared to Karni. She had her own ways of breakthroughs. Dangerous ones, but ones she knew from experience, would work.
She rushed towards the teachers. The speed was far grander than before. Both the Sun Tiger Meteor and Hell Rush fusing for a terrifying effect. Her attacking skills shot out. A wave of molten lava, mixed with diamonds and dark energy, rushing towards the White Tiger Avatar like a guillotine.
The teacher felt danger. She should dodge. She didn't expect such a sudden attack after Siduo was just sitting there for a while. It wasn't hard to dodge! But she had her pride! This attack was an absolutely terrifying mixture, she wanted to test it, even if she didn't have time to react effectively.
The other teacher rushed in for a hug with the White Tiger Avatar. Black and White energy mixed. A Hell White Tiger much larger than Siduo's appeared. Facing the energy head on. It was clearly being pushed back. They didn't have the time to use any skills! They were taking this with the might of the fusion alone!
The Giant Hell White Tiger grew wings as well. It was pushed back almost to the edge of the training grounds, before the mighty attack of Wu Siduo disappeared. They looked back, not seeing the Hell White Tiger of Siduo anymore. They only saw a figure laying on the floor.
Three figures rushed there. The princess was the first to do so. She's been watching from the side the whole time. "Siduo! Are you okay?"
Siduo smiled. "I reached the Spirit Sea realm. I'm more than okay, if exhausted."
The teachers didn't celebrate. They also looked quite fine, despite taking the attack head on. "What are your injuries?"
Siduo smiled awkwardly. "My body can handle it with the use of my Soul Bone, though my Spiritual Sea is damaged."
The teachers looked at her sternly. Siduo tried to smile. "I'll be fine after a week's rest."
"Don't joke with us. You can't handle this fusion; even if you did break through the Spirit Sea level!" One of the teachers wanted to hit her, but refrained. Siduo's been hurt enough already.
Siduo nodded in defeat. "I'll damage my Spiritual Sea every time I combine six soul rings. Though I should be able to handle it once I reach higher levels in the Spirit Sea realm."
Her normal fusion of four rings already enabled her to give a single all out strike with the power of a Soul Emperor, similar to normal Soul Kings. Now she had an attack that could reach the levels of Soul Sage as well, but at a cost. She'll likely have to rest a few days every time she uses this attack until she reaches the higher echelons of the Spirit Sea Realm.
By that, she really meant higher echelons. Her estimate was somewhere above 4000 points of Spiritual Power. She's only just reached Spirit Sea realm, which was 500 points. Not only can she not use this attack for a while, she won't even be able to fight for a week!
Thinking of it. Karni probably hadn't reached that level yet either. She'll need to wait for a long time.
One of the teachers sighed. "You'll get a week's rest. A vacation. Besides, there's a festival happening this week. You need a little break. The same goes for you, princess. You've been diligent these past two months."
"Yey!" The princess celebrated.
"Though don't forget that you'll have to help prepare for the festival with the Royal Family." The other teacher reminded.
Dai Yun'er paused. She won't be able to hang out with Siduo during the festival! "No!"
Siduo chuckled. They called her parents to pick her up. After about half an hour of rest she could at least walk with some support from others.
No fighting for a week? She likely won't be able to use that move for a month! That was much more terrible! She already wanted to try it out again!
Her parents took her back to the hotel. Surprisingly, Karni was there.
She came in, held by her parents.
"Wow. You look like shit. What did you do?"
"Why do you think it was me?" Siduo talked back to him.
"Sisi." He said softly, grabbing her cheeks. She didn't have the energy to fight back. "Of course it was you. Who else would it be?"
The rest of the family had to hold in their laughter while Siduo grumbled, trying to get free of them, but lacking the ability to do so. They put her on the couch so she could rest.
"I broke through to the Spirit Sea realm. I got vacation. What about you?"
Karni smiled. "I broke through too. I also got a vacation." He showed her his new black ring.
Siduo smiled cheekily. "Finally catching up huh?"
"Who's catching up. I didn't need to end up like this to get to the Spirit Sea realm. Also, I did it years ago!"
Siduo grumbled and turned around, then stopped. It hurt to just turn. Sounds of pain echoed on the couch. She didn't want to see Karni's expression. She lost this time, she lost a personal battle. Despite her attack power simply being far greater than his, she definitely lost this time.
She tried to change the topic. "Why'd you get a vacation anyway? Even if I improved, I got mine because I got injured."
"Because my teacher's plans were ruined. He was going to give me my first Spirit Soul for the Fluffy Bamboo Panda once I was strong enough, but instead Hopper progressed to ten thousand years. He even threw a letter in my face, telling me to send it once we're back on Douluo. He doesn't expect much more improvement outside of mastery, because the bloodline is tied to my martial soul."
"A letter to whom exactly?" Siduo was curious.
Karni shrugged. "He didn't say anything when I asked. Just that it will benefit me. There's only an address."
… … …
The next day. Siduo could walk, but slowly. She still couldn't run. They were walking around the city. The streets were absolutely full. People were dancing in the middle of them, a ton of smaller street performances were gathering all around. The atmosphere was great.
In the sky, there were three humongous balloons, they appeared more like zeppelins.
Two of them represented the Hell Cat and the White Tiger. The martial souls of the Royal Family. The last one was different. It was a giant eye that appeared frozen. Definitely representative of Huo Yuhao.
The festival was in his honour. Called the Liberation Festival. It fits in nicely in the midst of their stay here. They only had about three months left before they went back to the Douluo Continent.
Karni and Siduo were talking. In the middle of the two was Jianyu, enjoying the atmosphere. Everyone around them spoke of the story of Huo Yuhao liberating the continent back then, the various battles and his victories.
Smaller Balloons, filled with something like helium of this world, flew around. Those were in a much wider variety. The most popular one was still the frozen eye, though ironically, instead of the White Tiger or Black Cat balloons, the second most popular one was a blue butterfly holding a hammer.
They stopped at one of the storytellers with dolls. The dolls looked like Huo Yuhao's martial souls. They did it mostly for Jianyu.
"For three whole years, the Duo Ling Empire and our Star Luo Empire had peace. The Emperor of the Sun Moon Empire was dead! Killed by Huo Yuhao! Back then the Dai family were still Dukes!" The man over exaggerated his tone, with shock and awe perfectly in sync for the audience of kids. The man clearly loved his job.
The scene changed. "But the Sun Moon Empire was crafty. When the watchful eye of Huo Yuhao was distracted for a split moment, for he was in silent cultivation, learning the ways of godhood, The Empire struck. They were quick and precise. They didn't even bother with the Duo Ling Empire! They attacked us directly, over the mountains. All seemed lost. The might and advancement of the empire reached levels far higher than our own back then!"
"In but a few weeks. They reached our capital. Star Luo City of the Douluo Continent! The Dai Family never give up defending it! It was then that the true Royal Family was formed again!"
"In the final sacrificial push of the then newly-crowned Emperor Dai Hao, Huo Yuhao appeared, saving everyone. He was already a God! He wiped out the whole army of the enemy, making them retreat. He protected our lands until we could develop technology to conquer our own continent. The Star Luo Continent. And so, a new Empire was born."
Karni cringed a bit. He didn't remember it quite like this. The trio walked away. He nudged Siduo. "Aren't they missing a few pieces?"
Siduo thought for a bit. "They're quite accurate though."
Karni raised his eyebrow. He whispered. "What about his illegitimate son? The sudden disappearance of his lover? His disappearance? The fact they didn't actually skip Duo Ling Empire? The fact they attacked as soon as the emperor died, because Huo Yuhao immediately went into closed-door cultivation? There was no peace, was there?"
It was now Siduo's turn to cringe. "What whacky alternate history are you thinking of?" She then paused, and looked at him with realisation.
She whispered so Jianyu couldn't hear. "Did you read all of that in the books on Earth?"
Karni nodded. Huo Yuho went into cultivation and the then Empress, Ju Zi attacked and conquered the continent. That's how he remembered it.
"It didn't happen like you said. The man was quite accurate, if a bit exaggerated. But he told no actual lies. The stuff you said didn't happen."
Karni now scratched his head, while Siduo showed a mysterious smile instead.
"You know something, don't you."
She nodded. "But I can't tell you."
Karni's eyes went wide. "This? I wouldn't be able to hear this?"
Siduo nodded, smiling wider. "I can try if you want."
Karni nodded furiously. Siduo began. "The reaso-" His mind immediately became muddled. He threw up his arm immediately, giving up before it turned worse. She was right.
"Fuck." He cursed. What was this now? So the current timeline has not had many signs of being whacky outside of Siduo, but the past is completely different? He'll have to ask her about Tang San's time sometime as well. Was that different too?
"Don't be like that. Let's go to the Tang Sect instead. I have some business there and it will be a distraction."
"Wait, I do want to know. Can you tell me a bit about Tang San's time?"
… … …
Karni nodded haphazardly. They have arrived at Tang Sect already. He was confused. Tang San's time was… basically normal. Almost the same. The only change he noticed was: one, The Blue Lighting Tyrant Dragon was a tragedy, but not a complete wipe out of it; and two, it seems certain elements were mixed with elements from the donghua—added things, but not really different.
Siduo, deciding not to boggle Karni anymore, bought herself the Purple Demon Eyes. Thanks to the princess, mixing up their schedule, she found some time to get contribution points.
"You're not gonna get anything?" Siduo wondered.
Karni just smiled. Finally deciding to let it go. It didn't really matter. "I bought Controlling Crane, Capturing Dragon ages ago, and last week, I also bought Disorder Splitting Wind Hammer, though I won't really train much in it for a while. Can't really split my focus too much. Right now I'm at 2000 points as well. I only need another month to get the Mysterious Jade Hands. I'll do it after we reach Douluo Continent."
Siduo's eyes went wide. "How? How are you rich all of a sudden?"
"I joined the Human Augmentation Project. They give a lot of contribution points."
Siduo struggled with something. She was a bit frustrated. He's reaching ahead of her with every field these days! At least she still had her prowess.
She sighed. "I should try to join too."
… … …
The end of the festival was near and the family was resting in the living room. At least Siduo and Karni were. The two were actually playing games at the moment.
"Siduo!" A loud, deep voice was heard from another room all of a sudden. An angry Wu Jianguo entered the room, carrying Jianyu in tow.
"This little guy here has been at rank 10 bottleneck for a month and hasn't told us!"
The two looked at Jianyu. He was fast! He woke up with rank 7, but this was fast! He needed a total of 6 months only to reach rank 10! 3 on the sea, 3 on the continent.
Siduo thought for a bit. "I'll ask the princess. I should see her soon anyway. I'll tell you what she says. If they agree to help, we might be able to get Jianyu a suitable partner."
Wu Jianguo nodded. "Hm. See?" He looked at his son, who was embarrassed. "You didn't have to wait until we returned to the Douluo Continent did you?"
"He was gonna wait?" Karni and Siduo were flabbergasted. He was going to wait another 3 months?
Wu Jianguo made equally shocked eyes. "That's exactly what I said!"