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The battle between Xiao Wu and Huo Wu ended with Huo Wu's victory.
The reason was simple: Huo Wu had more soul power.
In truth, for a Soul Master like Huo Wu to barely win against Xiao Wu by relying on slightly more soul power only proves how formidable an interference and assassination-type Soul Master like Xiao Wu can be.
It also demonstrates a key point: no matter how strong an attack is, if it can't hit the target, it's useless.
Of course, attacks that can cover an area with firepower or even obliterate a star with a single strike are exceptions.
"Agility-type Soul Masters are truly annoying, especially after your theory was published," Huo Wu grumbled. Despite winning, she felt no satisfaction.
She, a Soul Elder, had to rely on a bit more soul power to defeat a mere thirty-ranked Soul Elder. There was no sense of accomplishment in that.
"You can't blame me for that," Tang San shook his head. "There are natural restraints between different types of Soul Masters. Xiao Wu has been trained by me. The fact that you, a Soul Elder, managed to fight like this is already impressive."
The Xiao Wu trained by Tang San was not comparable to the original "rage-triggered bomb." She possessed exceptional combat skills and quick reflexes. Even without a soul skill that excelled in attack, she could still rely on her inherent advantages to contend with the majority of Soul Ancestor on Douluo Continent today, and even compete with them.
For Huo Wu to achieve victory with her Sun Goddess Martial Soul and thirty-second rank soul power was quite commendable.
Afterward, the group of five packed their belongings and prepared to leave the core area of the Infinite Desert.
Tang San used his Blue Silver Emperor to construct a Blue Silver Boat, carrying the group to the center of the ring-shaped lake. After confirming the location of the entrance beneath the water, he enveloped the boat in a giant Blue Silver Sphere, layering it with water before starting the descent.
*Splash!*
After breaking through the entrance, the area below opened up. Tang San retrieved the Blue Silver Emperor, while Fire Phoenix, with her Martial Soul activated, ensured the group's safe landing.
Huo Wu glanced around and said, "This doesn't seem like the passage we came through."
"There are multiple passages leading to the core area of the Infinte Desert. It's not surprising," Fire Phoenix replied. "As long as we confirm the direction when we leave and avoid significant deviations, using another passage shouldn't lead us too far off course."
The group ran forward, and after about a day of running, they still hadn't reached the exit.
*Boom!*
Sensing the rumbling behind them, Tang San realized that the core area had closed, and the waters were crashing back down. If they didn't get out quickly, they might all be crushed into pulp.
"It seems that running won't be enough to get us out of here. Our speed can't possibly match the force of the water rushing in," Tang San immediately released the Blue Silver Emperor, weaving it into a large sphere that could encase the five of them. He then secured himself and the others inside the Blue Silver Sphere and said, "With this sphere, we can absorb the impact of the water, maybe even let it carry us out. Though, it might be a bit bumpy..."
Before he could finish the word "bumpy," the Blue Silver Sphere was hit by the rushing water, causing it to shake violently and roll uncontrollably. Even Fire Phoenix, a Soul Emperor, felt like her insides were being churned.
Guang Ling, Xiao Wu, and Huo Wu fainted on the spot.
Ten minutes later, the only two conscious people, Tang San and Fire phoenix, noticed that the sphere had stabilized, so Tang San immediately controlled the Blue Silver Emperor to open it.
*Ugh~*
As the fresh air hit them, Xiao Wu and the others regained consciousness, but their faces were pale as they leaned over the edge of the boat Tang San was weaving and started vomiting.
It took a while for them to regain some color.
Xiao Wu said, "That was intense, but I never want to go through that again."
Huo Wu nodded vigorously. "I agree. I hate water and ice the most."
After a brief rest, the group regained some strength and began rowing toward the lake's shore.
"This isn't the Oasis Hope," Fire Phoenix remarked, observing the greenery by the lake and the yellow-black rocks, "We've reached the outer region of the Infinte Desert. I didn't expect there to be a passage leading to the core area here. No wonder it took us nearly a day of running without reaching the end."
As they reflected on their situation, they couldn't help but feel a sense of fear. Without Tang San's Blue Silver Emperor protecting them, they would have been lost to the currents, their bodies obliterated.
"Grandmother, how will the people from the Star Crown Sect leave?" Huo Wu asked curiously.
"I'm not sure how the Yu Family, the Holy Dragon Sect, or that commoner Soul Hunting group will get out, but the Star Crown Sect likely has more information about the core area than we do. They must have a plan," Fire phoenix shook her head and added, "We don't need to worry about them. The Star Crown Sect and our Huo family were never on the same path. If they perish, all the better."
Once they reached the shore and saw that it was getting dark, the group decided to rest for the night.
The next day...
Tang San, Fire Phoenix, and Huo Wu found a small town on the outskirts of the desert. After confirming their location, they all breathed a sigh of relief.
"Are you really not coming with us to the Blazing Academy?" Huo Wu asked, a bit reluctant. "Even though the academy only admits fire-attribute Soul Masters, exceptions could be made for talents like you."
"No, I have my own plans. This experience has given me a lot to reflect on," Tang San smiled as he politely declined.
In the future, he definitely intended to join an advanced Soul Master academy, where there would be more books and resources available.
The three most suitable options were the Tian Dou Imperial Academy, the Star Luo Imperial Academy, and the Spirit Hall Academy.
The Star Luo Imperial Academy was out of the question; it was too far away, and the fierce nature of its people made it unsuitable for his research.
The Spirit Hall Academy certainly had the largest collection of books and resources on the continent, but considering his background and current strength, which wasn't yet on par with that of a Titled Douluo like Tang Hao, it wasn't a viable option.
That left the Tian Dou Imperial Academy. Although it was a noble academy, attended by royalty and aristocrats, it also had a special admission process for exceptional commoners. As long as a student was talented enough and recognized by the three education committee members, they could study there.
Of course, the Tian Dou Imperial Academy was just a backup plan. If his strength eventually reached the level of Tang Hao, joining the Spirit Hall Academy wouldn't be out of the question. After all, hadn't Tang Hao severed ties with him?
"Well, once you graduate from your junior academy, you must come to Tian Dou City. I'll show you around and introduce you to the advanced Soul Master academies that suit you," Huo Wu said, disappointed but quickly cheering up due to her naturally lively personality.
After leaving the town on the outskirts of the Infinte Desert, the two groups parted ways.
On the carriage, Xiao Wu asked, "Tang San, what abilities did your third soul ring give to your martial soul? And what new soul skill did you gain?"
"As I expected, the Sun and Moon Grass granted my martial soul the ability to absorb the light of the sun and moon," Tang San replied.
Halfway through his explanation, Tang San opened his right hand, revealing a sprout of Blue Silver Emperor. Nine long leaves with golden veins unfurled, each one emitting a bead similar to the Sun and Moon Grass, with an appearance that seemed to contain the cycle of day and night—mysterious and extraordinary.
"Is that the energy-storing bead?" Xiao Wu asked.
"Yes, my Blue Silver Grass inherited the Sun and Moon Grass's ability to store energy, resulting in this bead, which I call the 'Pearl of Light.' It can store the radiance of the sun and moon, as well as the power of the earth," Tang San explained. "More importantly, this ability enhances my second soul skill, allowing me to simultaneously use both positive and negative buff seeds."
As he spoke, Tang San activated his second soul skill.
With the purple soul ring flashing, the Pearl of Light within the Blue Silver Emperor released a strand of sun and moon radiance. This light combined with the fine, dust-like seeds of the Blue Silver Grass to form two peculiar rings.
One ring was gold, surrounded by ten streaks resembling streams of light. The other was silver, with one side wide and the other narrow, resembling a crescent moon joined end to end.
"The gold ring represents a positive buff, and the silver one represents a negative buff. Once a Soul Master marked by me uses them, the effects will persist until the buffs or debuffs wear off," Tang San said. "This means that wind, for instance, can no longer disperse the seeds since they are imbued with the light of the sun and moon. How could mere wind blow away light?"
"Of course, after the Endless Grassfield is formed, the seeds from this buff soul skill will still float freely and won't all gather on these two rings."
"In essence, these rings allow me to mark targets more accurately when using the positive and negative buff soul skills, simultaneously boosting allies and weakening enemies."
Xiao Wu was amazed and asked, "So, is the new soul skill just energy storage?"
Tang San's third soul ring glowed, and the surrounding light seemed to converge, forming a golden and silver ring above the Blue Silver Emperor.
The interwoven gold and silver colors gave off a profound aura, making it hard to look away.
Snapping out of her daze, Xiao Wu asked, "Is that ring your third soul skill?"
"Exactly," Tang San nodded. "When I use the third soul skill, my martial soul condenses the Sun and Moon Ring, which absorbs the power of light, continuously enhancing my martial soul and passively strengthening my body as well."
"Although the efficiency isn't very high, it does exist," Tang San explained. "I call it *Photosynthetic Respiration*."
"This soul skill assists in cultivation. It can be used on oneself or applied to others. Based on the soul power consumption, if used on others, it lasts for only about an hour. However, the duration should increase as my cultivation level improves."
Xiao Wu's eyes widened in surprise. "You can use it on others too? That's unbelievable!"
It truly was incredible.
But considering that the Blue Silver Grass had evolved into the Blue Silver Emperor, especially with the help of the Golden Ancient Tree, this ability seemed less surprising.
In fact, if the Endless Grassfield was set up before using the third soul skill, the duration could be extended even further.
Xiao Wu and Guang Ling then began testing the effects of *Photosynthetic Respiration*, and they found that their soul power cultivation speed indeed increased noticeably, achieving a rate about 1.3 times faster than usual.
However, Tang San speculated that the effect might vary depending on the attribute of the martial spirit, though the difference should be negligible in most cases.
For martial spirits with a dark attribute, Tang San estimated that *Photosynthetic Respiration* might not only fail to enhance cultivation speed but could even slow it down.
"However, there's a downside to this skill," Tang San pointed out. "It requires the light of the sun and moon, so it's not just a matter of having enough soul power to use it. With the current accumulation of sun and moonlight, combined with the external sources, I can only create about twelve *Photosynthetic Respiration* rings a day."
"That's more than enough," Xiao Wu retorted, rolling her eyes. "You know as well as I do that you can't cultivate soul power all day long. Most people can't last more than two hours of training before their bodies give out."
Cultivating soul power was a tedious process, and training for too long could actually harm the body.
Tang San understood this was because most Soul Masters had weak bodies and fragile meridians. Meditation required intense concentration, which was exhausting.
In a way, this also tested a Soul Master's self-discipline.
If they couldn't endure the monotony and loneliness, they wouldn't gain true strength and could never become Soul Masters with strong minds.
Half a month passed quietly.
Upon returning to Nuoding City, Xiao Wu immediately requested a leave of absence from Tang San and the teachers at Nuoding Academy. She was preparing to obtain her third soul ring...
...
In the core region of the Star Dou Forest.
By the clear lakeside.
Led by Da Ming and Er Ming, Xiao Wu returned to this place and met Di Tian.
"Did you not bring him back?" Di Tian's voice was deep, devoid of emotion, but it carried a heavy sense of pressure that made Xiao Wu feel like she could hardly breathe.
"We went to the Infinite Desert. His third soul ring could only be found there. I couldn't forcefully bring him here," Xiao Wu explained, though inwardly, she cursed Di Tian a hundred times over. She vowed that once she became stronger, she'd teach this dull, dark dragon a lesson, making sure he understood who the real boss of the Star Dou Forest was!
"His third soul ring came from which soul beast?" Di Tian continued to ask.
"The Sun and Moon Grass."
"That indeed only grows in a desert environment." Di Tian nodded, then asked, "Your constitution seems to have strengthened slightly, and you carry a unique life aura... Where exactly did you and that person go in the Endless Desert?"
"The core area," Xiao Wu answered honestly, knowing that the details about the core region of the Endless Desert couldn't be hidden from Di Tian and the others. "We encountered the Golden Ancient Tree."
"Golden Ancient Tree!"
Di Tian was visibly shocked, his brow furrowing deeply. "The Golden Ancient Tree is one of the rarest plants. It's not a plant-based soul beast, but it can purify the energy of the world. It's practically a vessel for the will of the plane itself. For you and him to have seen it means you both have incredible fortune. But how did you survive?"
Bi Ji, confused, asked, "Why do you say that?"
"I once traveled the world and ventured into the Endless Desert. The core area there is covered by an incredibly powerful storm of wind and sand, so strong that even I couldn't break through it," Di Tian recounted his experiences from long ago. "Ten thousand years ago, I tried to force my way in, but when I barely managed to break through, I was met by thousands of steel monstrosities. They had no life force but were immensely powerful, capable of unleashing attacks comparable to the most extreme elemental forces. Their penetration was terrifyingly strong."
"I nearly died under the onslaught of thousands of those attacks. Afterward, I had to sleep for a millennium to recover."
Bi Ji suddenly understood. "So that's why you went into hibernation right after returning ten thousand years ago. Zi Ji and I thought you had encountered some terrifying enemy."
Xiao Wu was shocked. *Are those giant soul guide mechas really that powerful?*
"Tell me," Di Tian asked, "how did you and he manage to get in unharmed? And how did you withstand the attacks of those terrifying steel monsters?"
"Here's what happened..." Xiao Wu explained how the core area of the Endless Desert dissipates once every hundred years, her disdain for these beasts growing. *What's the point of having nearly a million years of cultivation?* she thought. *You got beaten once and ran back to the forest, never daring to venture out again? Meanwhile, humans have figured out the pattern of the sandstorm dissipating every century!*
*San-ge was being polite… Soul beasts really are stupid. Good thing I've already transformed; I'm not that dumb anymore,* Xiao Wu thought with some satisfaction. Then she said, "Lord Beast God, I've returned this time to condense my soul ring."
"Go ahead."
"Okay!"
Xiao Wu eagerly jumped onto Da Ming's shoulder, who carried her to the center of the lake where she began to condense her third soul ring.
"Di Tian, if the core of the Endless Desert has a Golden Ancient Tree, which is essentially a Tree of Life, we should go there and bring it back. If we plant it by the Lake of Life, it might help our Lord recover more quickly," Xiong Jun suggested enthusiastically.
"We can't get in. Even if we could, we'd have a hard time dealing with those steel monsters. Let's wait until the next hundred years and check it out again," Di Tian, still haunted by his previous injury, advised caution.
"True, a hundred years isn't too long." Xiong Jun wasn't foolish; he knew that if those monsters could severely injure Di Tian ten thousand years ago, he himself would likely be killed if he tried.
Meanwhile, Xiao Wu used the essence of her hundred thousand years of cultivation to search for the Dragon Rabbit, condensing her third soul ring, which was nearly six thousand years old.
"Hmm?"
Di Tian suddenly sensed a dragon bloodline aura emanating from Xiao Wu and frowned. "Which type of rabbit soul beast did you use to condense your third soul ring?"
"An extinct rabbit soul beast called the Dragon Rabbit. It suits me well and granted me a skill called True Spirit Bone," Xiao Wu replied honestly.
"True Spirit Bone… Dragon Rabbit…" Di Tian's expression softened. "That was a unique soul beast. It didn't aim to transform into a dragon but instead focused all its dragon bloodline into its spine, striving to make rabbits comparable to dragons and even surpass them. It succeeded, but unfortunately, they went extinct."
Xiao Wu was speechless.
Then, Di Tian continued, "However, the Soft Bone Rabbit clan is a branch descended from the Dragon Rabbit. When a Soft Bone Rabbit reaches a certain level of cultivation, it can use abilities like Golden Body, which are an evolution of the Dragon Rabbit's True Spirit Bone. You've managed to trace your lineage back and bring the True Spirit Bone back to life."
"Legend has it that the last Dragon Rabbit reached a hundred thousand years of cultivation. Using the True Spirit Bone, it withstood the heavenly tribulation, dispersing the tribulation aimed at us fierce beasts."
"But in its True Spirit Bone state, its aura surged, nearly reaching three hundred thousand years. After dispersing the tribulation, it directly drew the next tribulation, which then destroyed it completely, leaving no soul bone behind."
Xiao Wu was stunned. *What a terrifying story! But… I guess I'm not a soul beast anymore…*
Yay!
"By the way, I'll teach you a method to hide the aura of a hundred thousand-year-old soul beast," Di Tian said after a moment of silence. "It'll be safer in the human world."
"Is it difficult?"
"Not at all. You've already figured out part of it on your own by using human aura…"