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"Tang San, do you see it now? This is that woman's true nature!" The Haotian Hammer appeared in Tang San's left hand and began to crack, transforming into a creature with nine heads—the Nine-Headed Chimera.
Because Tang San had reached level 99, the Haotian Hammer, which had accompanied him from the beginning, also evolved to its peak state: the Nine-Headed Chimera.
The attributes of fire, light, wind, water, poison, death, darkness, nirvana, and destruction.
The first five attributes were inherited from his previous reincarnation, the death attribute came from his encounter with the fallen Norman and his initial experience with Yunsu; destruction, undoubtedly, was from Austin Griffin himself.
As for nirvana, it resulted from Tang San's Blue Silver Emperor absorbing the Phoenix Sycamore Tree. Austin Griffin, not wanting to fall behind, borrowed a portion of his original essence to replicate nirvana, imprinting it as the eighth head's attribute to catch up with the Blue Silver Emperor.
"Heh, aren't you just another version of me? Why so worked up?" The Lord of Eternity sneered at Austin Griffin, unbothered by the mockery, and chuckled. "Or could it be that you're jealous because Tang San uses me more often than he does you?"
"Jealous? You wish!" Austin Griffin snapped. "You're just a latecomer, taking over the Blue Silver Emperor. I've been with Tang San since his childhood. Can you even compare?"
"Well, well," the Lord of Eternity sneered again before retreating back into the Blue Silver Emperor, leaving Austin Griffin alone to roar in frustration. "Coward! Get back here! You're no better than the original God of Creation, just as detestable! Tang San, don't trust him!"
Tang San, speechless, ignored the quarrel and instead studied the nine heads of Austin Griffin carefully. He then asked, "So, do you now have a unified consciousness across all nine heads?"
"Of course," Austin Griffin's nine pairs of eyes glowed purple, and he grinned as though recalling something. "Though I've reached my peak now, challenging you requires careful planning. You can't expect me to face you in my current state."
"I'm not talking about a challenge... Can you still separate your consciousness into nine? I kind of liked it when you did that," Tang San said, to Austin Griffin's exasperation.
"First of all, I don't have multiple personalities, and second, I'm not schizophrenic. Lastly, I won't repeat my previous mistakes." Austin Griffin's black scales, which were made of Haotian Hammer's material, seemed to darken further, and all nine of his purple eyes glared at Tang San. "And for the record, all nine minds are still me."
"Not exactly," said the head representing death, named Tian Si, as it suddenly broke free from the other eight, opposing them. "I am an independent entity, and I answer only to my master."
Tian Si's voice was similar to Austin Griffin's but much softer.
This head was born from the accumulation of soul fragments within Yunsu, granting it the death attribute. Normally passive, it was surprisingly the most individualistic.
Soon after, the head representing darkness also separated, followed by those of light, fire, wind, water, and poison. Finally, the head embodying the nirvana attribute also became independent.
Although the nirvana head was the last to be born, it had a natural affinity for Tang San, and thus did not bow to Austin Griffin, who embodied destruction.
"Rebels! Do you plan to defy me again?!" Austin Griffin raged, attempting to control the disobedient heads, only to find himself unable to. It felt as if eight separate consciousnesses had formed in his mind—
How is this possible?!
The last time I encountered Long Haochen, I was tricked, and my other minds were confused, leading to my split personalities. But I was prepared this time! How can they be disobeying me again?
Wait!
This isn't my real body. It's Tang San's martial spirit: the Haotian Hammer!
"What did you do?!" Austin Griffin demanded.
"Not much," Tang San replied calmly. "I simply thought it would be interesting if each of you could be independent, and, well, they did. Martial spirits can sense their master's mind and adapt. Although the Haotian Hammer isn't my primary spirit, as my soul power increases, your heads multiplied and, in turn, strengthened the hammer, bonding it even more closely with my mind."
Tang San was about to elaborate, but Austin Griffin cut him off. "Get to the point! What's happening to me?"
"In short, the martial spirit belongs to me. Unless I grant you freedom, I can make the other eight consciousnesses independent. Starting now, all nine of you are equal. You're no longer the sole leader." Seeing Austin Griffin grow impatient, Tang San quickly explained and then reassured him, "Actually, this isn't a bad thing. At least now you can cooperate with them, and everyone can work together efficiently."
"Have I trapped myself in my own web?"
The head representing destruction suddenly felt some regret for merging with Tang San's Haotian Hammer. Now, it seemed he was truly becoming a sufferer of multiple personalities! Tears welled up in Austin Griffin's eyes as he recalled his past experiences, when his own head had rebelled against him.
Though this time was slightly better—these eight heads were newly born, and all the memories of that past life were stored in his destruction-focused main consciousness. It was one of the reasons why he no longer sought to destroy everything.
"Don't be so pessimistic. At least you won't be bored anymore—you'll have eight other versions of yourself to talk to. It'll keep you company and help you maintain a healthy mind..."
"Talking to myself? That's your great idea?! That sounds even lonelier! Meeting you must be the worst stroke of luck I've ever had!" Austin Griffin cursed before reverting to the form of the Haotian Hammer, refusing to speak to Tang San any further.
"This guy really has a knack for being tsundere," Tang San muttered to himself, ignoring the hammer's trembling. He put it away and took a step forward, instantly arriving back in Spirit City.
An instant span of a thousand miles!
This was nothing to him now.
At level 99, even without using the fusion ring, his strength was comparable to a first-level deity. Moreover, after absorbing the starlight soul ring from the Divine Throne of Eternity and Creation, he gained control over space itself, making such long-distance travel as easy as a flick of the wrist.
At this moment, Spirit City had just concluded the trial of the Sun and Moon Empire's army. Emperor Qinghe, Emperor Dai Luo, and Emperor Xue Beng of the Federation were requested to stay longer in Spirit City by the Pope, who hoped they would remain for a few more months. The reason? The All-Continent Advanced Soul Master Academy Elite Tournament was set to begin in about three months. It would save them the trouble of traveling back and forth.
After some thought, the three emperors agreed. Their empires were relatively stable, and staying here would also allow them to discuss the tournament's rules.
One particular concern was that with the relaxation of entry requirements and the increase in participants, adjustments had to be made. Otherwise, just the preliminaries alone could take over half a year.
While they were discussing the rules in the Pope's Hall, Emperor Qinghe suddenly looked directly at Bibi Dong and asked, "Your Holiness, didn't you say Tang San would be involved in drafting the rules for this year's tournament? Where is he?"
Emperor Xue Beng also chimed in, "That's right! Where is His Highness, the Holy Son of Spirit Hall?"
Even Dai Luo looked puzzled.
Bibi Dong answered calmly, "The Holy Son is preoccupied with other matters. I only said he would assist with the rule-making process, not participate fully. Besides, his soul power has reached a bottleneck, and he's currently hunting soul beasts."
"Oh?" Emperor Qinghe stared at his unruffled mother and asked, "A bottleneck? Does that mean Tang San has already reached the rank of Soul Douluo?"
"Titled Douluo," Bibi Dong responded, glancing at her increasingly audacious daughter. She then added, "To be honest, even I didn't expect him to cultivate so quickly…"
Bibi Dong was well aware of what had happened in the Domain of Eternity. After all, when Tang San emerged from that domain, his level 97 soul power had been blindingly obvious.
Not to mention, he had brought back two pointed-eared spirits.
However, Bibi Dong felt no jealousy. On the contrary, she was excited. Tang San had only grown more charismatic... Perhaps his century-long stay in the Domain of Eternity had imbued him with the mature charm that attracts older women.
Putting aside her personal thoughts, what shocked her most was the Divine Throne of Eternity and Creation. It carried the divine position of the Creator God, allowing Tang San to ignore the usual rule that a soul ring was required to break through bottlenecks.
This was the ultimate cheat!
If someone obtained this throne at the age of six, they could raise their soul power to the level of a Titled Douluo before even hunting a soul beast.
That way, they could secure at least nine 50,000-year soul rings! The energy from those soul rings alone would be enough to push their soul power beyond level 95!
"Titled Douluo?!"
Emperor Qinghe exclaimed, his voice growing shrill from excitement.
The others didn't mind his reaction, as they were equally stunned by Bibi Dong's revelation.
Tang San's talent had always been evident, and his combat strength was unmatched. But had it even been half a month since the Sun and Moon Empire's invasion? He had gone from Soul Sage to Titled Douluo in such a short span of time... Something extraordinary must have happened.
The most likely explanation was that he had obtained some powerful item from the Sun and Moon Emperor, leading to his rapid breakthrough. But even so, it was his reward from battle. What right did they have to demand it from him?
Besides, even if they tried to force him, Tang San alone could probably defeat all three of their empires.
Wait, not three—two.
After all, Emperor Qinghe of the Tian Dou Empire was secretly allied with Spirit Hall.
"There's no need for such surprise. For Tang San, this is merely routine," Bibi Dong remarked coolly.
(End of Chapter)