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After opening his eyes, Tang San exhaled deeply, letting his entire body relax.
The three-headed, six-armed crystal mannequin could also absorb his own thoughts of greed, anger, and delusion, putting him into a state of rational detachment.
This effect was quite beneficial.
However, Tang San realized that even this function should not be used frequently. Otherwise, he might truly become emotionless and apathetic in the future. Alternatively, if the thoughts of greed, anger, and delusion within the mannequin erupted, he could become easily irritable, overly obsessed, and inclined to take anything he fancied.
This was unacceptable.
"Tang San, are you alright?"
Yu Tianheng and Dugu Yan were about to inquire when Gu Yuena instinctively rushed into Tang San's arms, insisting he hold her. She spoke first, her eyes full of concern, her anxiety evident as if fearing something had happened to him.
After all, he was her half-subject!
Much smarter than those muscle-brained guys like Di Tian. He couldn't afford to get hurt!
"I'm fine. That guy tried to inject his martial soul into my Sea of Spirit, but I defeated him. And my guess was correct—the three Soul Kings earlier were his avatars." Tang San patted Gu Yuena's head, feeling that raising this little one wasn't in vain. At least she cared about her "caretaker." He then explained to the three about the middle-aged man's martial soul—
The prism-like crystal, which Tang San named: The Crystal of the Three Poisons, Three Stains, and Three Roots of Evil.
"What a long name." Gu Yuena stuck out her tongue.
"This name, it wasn't something you came up with on the fly, was it?" Yu Tianheng looked curious. "It must have more than just the ability to create avatars, right?"
"Avatars are just the surface. The essence of his martial soul is actually rooted in the concepts of greed, anger, and delusion."
Tang San put Gu Yuena down and slowly explained, "Greed is the desire for pleasant things to the point where one can't be satisfied without them. Anger is the rage at unpleasant situations, acting irrationally when things don't go one's way. Delusion is the ignorance of reality, unable to distinguish between good and evil, becoming obsessed and acting beyond the bounds of law and morality."
"With this understanding, you can imagine how powerful this ability is."
"As long as one harbors thoughts of greed, anger, or delusion, some mysterious force can be drawn upon. If these emotions aren't handled properly, the individual can be controlled by that middle-aged man."
"It can be said that the members of the fallen ones' team were controlled by that middle-aged man's martial soul."
Dugu Yan shuddered. "So eerie?"
Greed, anger, delusion—these can cover everyone, unless someone has a mental disorder or is truly pure-hearted like an unstained lotus, otherwise, no one can escape his control.
Are there saints in the world?
Yes.
But Tang San knew he was definitely not one.
"Captain, did you gain his abilities?" Yu Tianheng couldn't help but ask.
"I did, but I won't use them unless absolutely necessary."
Tang San admitted but then sighed, "After all, I also have moments of emotional instability. My own thoughts of greed, anger, and delusion are not eradicated. If I recklessly use these powers, I might end up like the fallen one we were chasing. He became greedy for status, wealth, power, and strength, got angry at others' better talents, and ultimately fell into a quagmire of his mind in pursuit of breaking through realms."
"I don't want to end up like him..."
Greed, anger, delusion.
These three aren't something he can touch right now. At the very least, he needs to wait until he breaks through level 100. Tang San even had a premonition that to fully master these three concepts, he would need to gradually cultivate precepts, concentration, and wisdom, and find the undying true spirit deep within his soul.
After all, wisdom requires understanding the true nature of the universe and comprehending causality.
He couldn't even see through his own soul, so how could he wield greed, anger, and delusion?
"Won't there be other problems with his martial soul existing in your Sea of Spirit?" Dugu Yan asked worriedly.
"For now, there are none, and whether that thing can even be considered a martial soul is still uncertain," Tang San said cautiously. "Moreover, for me, there's also a benefit: I can multitask. Not like the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's method of controlling multiple things, but establishing thought forms similar to avatars that can think independently."
"But to truly figure it out, I need to study it for a longer period..."
Yu Tianheng laughed, "As expected of the captain, once you start researching, you go on at length... So, how do we get back now? If we take the original route, with the current flow of the underground river, we can't go against the current."
If the underground river were only a few hundred kilometers long, they might consider trying to swim back as a battle against nature.
But this river stretches nearly ten thousand miles...
They were still young.
They didn't want to risk their lives.
"Of course, we won't be swimming back," Tang San said, looking up at the sightseeing elevator. Using his spiritual power to probe and based on the information conveyed by the Golden Ancient Tree, he formulated a plan. "We'll climb up through this sightseeing elevator and enter the interior of the Golden Ancient Tree. There might be something valuable inside."
"The Golden Ancient Tree?" Dugu Yan was puzzled.
Tang San explained the origin of the Golden Ancient Tree to them and then adjusted his detection glasses. "I obtained my third spirit ring in this Infinite Desert. I once entered its core area and obtained these glasses from a treehouse within the Golden Ancient Tree. These glasses can detect the soul power fluctuations within a soul master."
"Right above this ruin is the main body of the Golden Ancient Tree. In ancient times, a kingdom called the Golden Civilization was established around this tree, but it has long since perished."
"The reason for its demise is unknown, but inside the Golden Ancient Tree, there are countless soul tools and possibly other treasures."
"Ordinarily, you need to pass the tests of those mechas outside to enter. But today, we might be able to reach the interior of the Golden Ancient Tree through this passage."
Yu Tianheng and Dugu Yan exchanged glances and couldn't help but feel excited. "So, we're in luck then."
"Based on my senses, there are no dangerous mechanisms." The Golden Ancient Tree could be considered his avatar, under his control. Whether it was dangerous or not was for him to decide.
At least inside the Golden Ancient Tree, as long as they didn't provoke the mecha guards outside, there would be no danger.
However, when it was time to leave, they would need to avoid detection by those mecha guards. If those steel monsters all activated at once, even if Tang San went all out, it would be hard to deal with.
In terms of danger, those things were not something even a peerless Douluo like Bibi Dong could compare to. Once fully activated, they could wipe out the entire Douluo Continent.
Unless Gu Yuena unleashed her full power.
But if they used divine-level power, the gods might notice and leave surveillance—temporary bursts of power like martial soul fusion skills wouldn't draw much attention from the Divine Realm. But if there was a constant divine presence, especially the Silver Dragon King...
Oh, the gods would certainly come down to handle it personally if they found out the Silver Dragon King had been hiding under their noses.
They needed to find a way to avoid those mechas...
There's a conspiracy theory that the gods actually knew the Silver Dragon King was on Douluo Star but chose not to intervene...
I don't know how to evaluate that. I just want to say, after the great war, the Divine Realm would definitely be very hostile to the dragon clan, especially divine-level dragons. They even sealed the Golden Dragon King. How could they ignore the Silver Dragon King if they discovered her?
The gods of the Divine Realm are quite idle—some seek entertainment (like Good and Evil Gods betting on Ji Dong and Lie Yan's love), some vie for power (like those fighting for control after Good and Evil stopped managing the Divine Realm, even challenging Tang San), some are indifferent (like the Goddess of Life, who lacks determination and vacillates), and some sneak away (like Shura and Sea God, abandoning their god positions, knowing the Divine Realm is doomed with such irresponsible god kings around—a joke, but fitting the Divine Realm's logic).
Especially Shura, who left a legacy site in Douluo Continent during his enforcement on the Angel God, to find a successor—this wasn't mentioned in the original, but it's a reasonable deduction fitting the Divine Realm's worldview.
(Chapter end)