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*****
After explaining the situation in the White Cloud Forest, Norax continued to talk about the Fallen Ones, saying, "Based on the information we've gathered so far, among the Fallen Ones, there is one who has already advanced to become a Soul King. His name is Norman, known as the Blood Sword Norman. He first appeared in the Nuoding Academy in the Fasnoxing Province..."
"These past years, that bastard has massacred numerous remote villages, exhibiting extremely atrocious behavior that is unforgivable."
At this point, Norax paused for a moment, glanced at the three individuals from the Martial Soul Hall, then saw the local Martial Soul Hall's Lord shaking his head at him. With a sigh, he continued, "Norman, the Blood Sword, also possesses a Ten thousand year old-level right leg bone, which he obtained from a wolf thief... When he and his group arrived near the White Cloud Plains, they encountered a band of roaming wolf thieves."
"It was their skirmish that drew our attention."
"Originally, Norman's Fallen Team consisted of nearly a hundred individuals."
Wolf thieves are a species that falls between humans and soul beasts, rumored to be the offspring of human females raped by wolf-type soul beasts.
Although they have human elements, their wolf-like bloodlust causes their intelligence to be no weaker than humans, yet they are always dominated by their animal instincts, finding pleasure in slaughter.
Moreover, wolf thieves are exclusively male and cannot reproduce on their own; they rely on human females to propagate their descendants... This aspect bears some resemblance to the goblin setting Tang San encountered in his past life's Western fantasy works.
"Wolf thieves? Ten thousand year old soul bone? Tsk tsk!" Yan glanced at Norax, scoffed, "Seems like you were considering killing that Fallen One yourself and keeping the soul bone, but you couldn't handle it, so you reported it, huh?"
Norax exchanged a glance with the local Martial Soul Hall's Lord, feeling helpless.
Evidently, Yan guessed correctly.
However, this also made everyone realize Yan's recklessness, arrogance, coarse manner, and—
Lack of tact.
Although he belonged to the Golden Generation of the Martial Soul Hall, possessing strength, status, and position, he didn't have the authority over Norax, who was ultimately the Lord of White Cloud City and affiliated with the Tiandou Faction; the Martial Soul Hall had no jurisdiction over him.
If Yan had only spoken to the subordinates of the Martial Soul Hall in White Cloud City in such a manner, it could be considered reprimanding them.
But directing it at Norax was somewhat out of line.
Though Norax was angered, he didn't say anything. After all, it was his fault that, due to personal gain, he and the local Martial Soul Hall's subordinates concealed and delayed reporting, resulting in more casualties.
But!
In reality, he believed that eliminating Norman and his group was only a matter of time, and that soul bone would inevitably be his. It was just a matter of plans not keeping pace with changes—
When the soul master team hunting on the White Cloud Plains encountered Blood Sword Norman and witnessed him using soul bone skills...
This incident naturally couldn't be kept hidden.
It can be said that apart from the three major powers dispatching excellent teams for training, many soul master teams came here, hoping to pick up bargains.
Soul bones are priceless treasures!
Moreover, Norman's body possesses a millennium-level soul bone!
After understanding the situation of the White Cloud Plains, White Cloud Forest, and Norman's group, the teams from the three major powers, equipped with good gear and carrying tools and medicines, headed towards the White Cloud Forest.
However, the three major powers acted separately.
"I'll watch over you from afar and not participate in specific actions since this is your training," Qin Ming said to the students of the Tiandou Royal Team, before stopping at a distance from Tang San and the others.
After finishing, he turned to the members of the Tiandou Royal Second Team and said, "As for you, just wander around the outskirts of the White Cloud Plains. As long as you don't take off your knee-high boots or toss medicines randomly, you won't encounter major problems; the outskirts only have hundred-year-level soul beasts."
Honestly, Qin Ming felt that the Tiandou Royal Second Team was just here to make up the numbers, to gain some prestige. They should have just stayed in White Cloud City, but unexpectedly, they followed along to the White Cloud Plains.
Now they truly became burdens.
Fortunately, Xue Beng had some self-awareness. Leveraging his status as a prince, he stabilized the members of the Tiandou Royal Second Team, having them accompany him to leisurely wander in the outskirts.
"Teacher Qin Ming, can I temporarily cooperate with the members of the first team?" Wang Chen gritted his teeth, deciding to join the first team.
The storyline of Douluo Continent had gone wild.
But one thing he could be sure of was that Tang San definitely had great luck.
This time hunting the Fallen Ones, it was probably Tang San's chance to obtain that ten thousand year soul bone. Wang Chen couldn't just watch Tang San become stronger; he had to strive for it as well.
Wang Chen didn't know who Blood Sword Norman was, but he had a premonition that the soul bone obtained from the wolf thief must be the one in the original work with the "Bloodthirsty Berserk" skill.
As a transmigrator, regarding soul bones, he initially thought he needed to absorb them all over his body, but later realized that soul bones were indeed rare.
Even the Masters of Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect and the Patriarchs of Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Family didn't absorb soul bones throughout their entire bodies.
He had no power or authority, wanting soul bones was akin to daydreaming.
But now there was such an opportunity.
How could he give it up?
"Life is no joke." As if sensing Wang Chen's thoughts, Tang San reminded him quietly.
"Wang Chen, you stay behind and protect Xue Beng and the others," Qin Ming couldn't understand Tang San's underlying message, but he felt that with Wang Chen around, Xue Beng and the others would be safer.
"Yes," Wang Chen lowered his head, his eyes flickering. He couldn't disobey Qin Ming's orders, so he agreed, but deep down, he had other thoughts...
Outside the White Cloud Forest,
Tang San and the others halted, gazing at the vast expanse of cloud trees, clusters upon clusters, resembling layers of clouds in the sky, truly magnificent.
Hu Liena sighed, "These trees are indeed beautiful, their leaves truly resembling clouds in the sky."
Tang San plucked a branch, squeezed it, muttering, "They do resemble a certain type of fringe tree, but the difference is, these are leaves, not flowers."
In his previous life, Tang San had seen fringed trees in full bloom, pruned fringed trees, describing them as: "In the human world, April's fragrant snow."
And these cloud trees of the Douluo Continent, their dense clusters of leaves formed shapes resembling clouds.
As the group entered the White Cloud Forest, they could immediately see the clusters of "white clouds" overhead. Unlike typical forests, these tree leaves were translucent and emitted a soft, diffused light, creating a gentle ambiance within the forest.
Moreover, the forest was filled with a unique fragrance, lacking the usual unpleasant odors of decaying branches, insect carcasses, or animal feces found in ordinary forests.
The ground was covered with white cloud leaves. When scraped away, the black soil underneath emitted a slight damp, earthy smell. Further scraping revealed earthworms and insects underneath.
It turned out that these fallen cloud leaves blocked the earthy and putrid smells from emanating from the ground.
"Very interesting plant-type soul beasts," Tang San collected some cloud tree branches, leaves, and sap. When he returned, he planned to delve deeper into researching whether this plant-type soul beast could be a potential candidate for his sixth soul ring.
After all, the Encyclopedia of Soul Beasts had a very brief description of cloud trees: "White Cloud trees have lush branches and leaves resembling clouds in the sky. The cloud leaf canopy can provide nesting grounds for avian soul beasts (Note: Even plant-type soul masters are not advised to absorb this type of soul ring)."
Just this one sentence, Tang San couldn't discern much.
After all, the leaves of white cloud trees weren't actual clouds, just resembling them.
Moreover, there were very few documented cases of soul masters obtaining cloud tree soul rings, and because of different martial souls, their soul skills were also different—
One soul master had a dandelion martial soul and obtained a soul skill called "Water Absorption" from the white cloud tree soul ring. It wasn't about absorbing water from the roots but rather collecting rainwater with the fluff on dandelion seeds and storing it.
This seemed to inherit the ability of White cloud trees to collect rainwater with their cloud leaves.
Another soul master had a White cloud bird martial soul and felt that the cloud tree leaves were lightweight, so he absorbed the cloud tree soul ring.
This soul master absorbed a plant-type soul ring with his beast martial soul, experimenting personally. It happened about three hundred years earlier than Yu Xiaogang's proposal about plant-type soul masters absorbing animal-type soul rings.
According to records, after this soul master absorbed the White cloud tree soul ring, it didn't enhance the lightness of the White cloud bird martial soul. However, the repulsion between the White cloud tree soul ring and the cloud bird was minimal, but the ability of the soul skill was very mediocre, called "Feather Fall."
It allowed the feathers of the White cloud bird to fall, with no attack power, no defensive power, and no auxiliary abilities.
However, the fallen White cloud bird feathers were no longer condensed soul power but turned into real White cloud bird feathers, which could be used for weaving and modification.
Tang San saw the "transformation of the virtual into the real," which was to turn a part of the extraordinary organ between energy and matter, like a martial soul, into actual material existence.
In the libraries of the Tiandou Royal Academy and the Martial Soul Hall in Tiandou City, there were only records of two soul masters who absorbed White cloud tree soul rings.
There might be other unrecorded soul masters, perhaps because the effect of their soul skills was so mediocre that the Encyclopedia of Soul Beasts explicitly stated "not suitable for absorption."
Although there weren't many cases, Tang San felt that if the "Feather Fall" soul skill of the White cloud bird soul master wasn't recorded incorrectly, then the cloud tree could bring unexpected benefits to his Blue Silver Emperor.
Of course, at present, Tang San couldn't confirm whether the fundamental ability of cloud trees was "transformation of the virtual into the real."
"Captain, what are you tapping on the cloud tree?" Yufeng saw Tang San advancing while tapping on the tree trunk, collecting branches, leaves, and resin, feeling curious, "Is there some function of this cloud tree that we don't know about?"
"Mainly collecting some samples to see if this plant-type soul beast can become my sixth soul ring in the future," Tang San said, "Secondly, by tapping the trees, making sounds and spreading them out, perhaps we can attract the Fallen Ones we're looking for."
As for cloud trees, everyone had no understanding, but when it came to attracting Fallen Ones, they had some ideas.
"Fallen Ones are mostly bloodthirsty. What if we pretend to be a weak soul hunting team?" Huo Wu suggested, "The best hunt is when we disguise ourselves as prey."
"I think we have too many people. Fallen Ones won't flock to us." Yu Tianheng continued, "We should split up."
"Are you coming out of a horror movie set?" Tang San glanced weirdly at Yu Tianheng, silently ridiculing, then said, "In this place, we're not familiar with it. Splitting up is a big taboo; it's easy for us to be picked off one by one."
"Next, listen to my arrangements."
Putting aside thoughts of researching cloud trees, Tang San began arranging the formation:
Yufeng and Bai chenxiang would fly to explore in the air; Xiao wu and Zhu zhuqing, with their fast speed, would explore on the left and right sides, while Oslo would cover the rear. Shi mo and Shi mo two brothers were physical defense-type soul masters, guarding Ning Rongrong, an amplification-type auxiliary soul master, and Ye linging, a healing-type auxiliary soul master, with Yu tianheng leading the way; Dugu Yan was positioned behind Yu tianheng, just in case.
Guangling and Huo Wu, the two major long-range offensive assault-type soul masters, positioned themselves behind Ning Rongrong and Ye Lingling, always ready to unleash firepower against enemies.
Meanwhile, Tang San stood in front of the two auxiliary soul masters, with Dugu Yan behind him, using his Endless Grass Field to explore underground and prevent the Fallen Ones from setting traps.
Lan Yinzi stayed on standby, ready to assist Tang San at any moment.
This was the first time Tang San had used the Endless Grassland Field since obtaining his fifth soul ring. He could keenly perceive every strand of Blue Silver Emperor grass and felt that the Blue Silver Grass growing in this forest was somehow connected to his Endless Spring Field, informing him of everything happening here.
"With the Blue Silver Emperor bloodline, my spiritual power can now precisely control every strand of Blue Silver Emperor grass. Moreover, I can sense the fluctuations transmitted by the Blue Silver Grass, and even transmit my spiritual power to those Blue Silver Grass, achieving a manifestation of energy similar to the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Eyes."
Tang San felt excited after realizing what he could do. He thought to himself, "It just consumes a lot of my spiritual power, but this ability holds great promise for the future!"
Just imagine, if in the future, he could manifest himself through any strand of Blue Silver Grass, then with the vastness of the Douluo Continent, wouldn't he be able to go anywhere he pleased? By then, every strand of Blue Silver Emperor grass would be like a transmission station for his own information!
However, at present, Tang San's spiritual power couldn't cover the entire Douluo Continent, and the consumption of spiritual power for each manifestation was quite significant.
"The Blue Silver Grass can communicate with each other. My martial soul is influenced by the Golden Tree, the Blue Silver Emperor. In the future, mastering the power of life, I will definitely be able to control all plants."
"However, for now, I still need to rely on the Blue Silver Grass as a foundation to perform spiritual manifestation transmission..."
"Then, is it possible to unite the fluctuations of the Blue Silver Grass that I can sense, forming a network-like structure? As long as the Blue Silver Grass can connect autonomously, perhaps even if my spiritual power doesn't meet the standard, I can still perform spiritual manifestation anywhere on the continent where there is Blue Silver Grass, condensing an existence similar to a thought form."
"After all, I have the Douluo Continent, or rather, the external energy source of Douluo Star, providing the power of the earth. The consumption of soul power can be negligible."
"In the future, I can try—"
At that moment, Tang San sensed the fluctuations transmitted by the Blue Silver Grass and "saw" a cloud tree over a hundred meters tall, with a width of over twenty meters. Its crown, resembling layers of clouds, stacked nine layers high in an irregular pyramid shape. The topmost cloud leaf crown had a diameter of ten meters, while the bottommost cloud crown was over eighty meters.
It was quite spectacular.
However, Tang San also "saw" through the fluctuations of the Blue Silver Grass that there were eleven thousand-year soul beast corpses lying in a pool of blood under the cloud tree, along with the bodies of more than twenty people.
Among them, there was a middle-aged man with white hair standing in front of the cloud tree, holding a blood-red short sword in his hand, with what seemed like a dragon pattern on it, but it was very blurry, as if it was interfering with Tang San's spiritual power.
"Head northeast!" Tang San spoke, his eyes narrowing, "Through the Endless Grassland, I've sensed the whereabouts of Blood Sword Norman. He has killed eleven thousand-year soul beasts in this White Cloud Forest and also killed the other Fallen Ones. Currently, he's right next to that ten-thousand-year cloud tree."
The group didn't dare to delay and hastened their pace.
As they approached the central area of the White Cloud Forest, they encountered more and more soul beasts along the way, but they didn't dare to approach due to the powerful soul power fluctuations from Tang San's group.
However, the expressions of Tang San and the others became solemn.
Because along the way, they saw many soul hunter corpses, all of them dried up, with their blood completely absorbed, their faces twisted as if they had witnessed something horrifying.
"Fallen Ones, deserve to die!" Huo Wu cursed, "These guys who resort to any means for power are no longer human."
With heavy hearts, Tang San and the others spent twenty minutes crossing most of the forest and arrived at the center of the White Cloud Forest.
The cloud tree, towering almost to the heavens, stood before them.
Under the cloud tree, the corpses of the eleven thousand-year soul beasts continued to wither, their blood and soul power constantly flowing into the cloud tree, staining its white cloud crown with a blood-red color.
If Tang San had seen the cloud tree as pristine and majestic through the information transmitted by the Blue Silver Grass before, now, this cloud tree had gained a hint of strangeness.
Its emanating fluctuations were extremely majestic, with a cultivation base already reaching over ninety thousand years.
"This is the cloud tree? It's completely different from the ones outside and exudes a strong bloody scent." Yu tianheng's Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon martial soul instantly manifested, vigilantly staring at the blood-colored cloud tree.
"Be careful; this cloud tree is constantly absorbing the blood and soul power of those eleven thousand-year soul beasts. Its cultivation base has already approached ninety thousand years."
Tang San's gaze fell on the Fallen One sitting on the ninth cloud crown of the blood-colored cloud tree, his expression solemn, "Norax said that this cloud tree is only twenty thousand years old. Norman obviously used some method to force this cloud tree to devour other soul beasts, rapidly increasing its age."
"A plant-type soul beast of ninety thousand years isn't easy to deal with." Huo Wu's eyes flickered, "When the cultivation base of a soul beast reaches over fifty thousand years, it's equivalent to a Titled Douluo. At ninety thousand years, it already possesses the strength of a Titled Douluo."
In terms of cultivation base alone, a soul beast with a cultivation base of ninety thousand years is equivalent to the soul power of a Titled Douluo. However, the physique of a soul beast is much stronger than that of a human, so for ordinary soul beasts, a cultivation base of fifty thousand years already equals a Title Douluo. At ninety thousand years, even a Titled Douluo would need to put forth considerable effort—note: this excludes comparison with soul masters with powerful martial souls or those with naturally strong or mutated soul powers.
In terms of a fifty thousand-year cultivation base, Huo Wu was certainly not inferior.
But at a ninety thousand-year cultivation base...
Even with her Sun Goddess martial soul possessing light and fire attributes, which counter trees, unleashing all her firepower, it would be difficult to completely destroy this blood-colored cloud tree.
Moreover, starting a fire in this forest was akin to making a cocoon of oneself!
"No need to worry too much. This cloud tree hasn't attacked us because of our arrival. It's probably because Norman has somehow controlled its spiritual intelligence..."
(End of this chapter)