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Tang Zhen's Soul Skills:
Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon:
1st: Three Thousand Thunder Movement (Purple)
2nd: Tesla Prison (Black)
3rd: Thunder Emperor's Armor (Black)
4th: Heaven's Shockwave (Black)
5th: Thunder Emperor Lance. (Black)
6th: Judgement of Heaven and Earth (Red)
7th: Martial Soul Form (Red)
8th: Thunderclap Dominion/ ? (Red)
9th: ?/ ? (Gold)
Haotian Hammer:
1st: ?/ ? (Red)
2nd: ? (Red)
3rd: ?/ ? (Red)
4th: ?/ ? (Red)
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Tang Zhen couldn't believe what he was hearing. How was the Willow Deity in this world?
Seeing his confusion, Liu Shen decided to tell him the origins.
"A very long time ago, the world was brimming with with Spiritual Essence, a pure form of energy that flowed from Heaven and Earth, nourishing every living thing and being refined by cultivators. However, as the millennia passed, the very source of this energy began to change. The once-abundant spiritual essence began to disappear, its connection to the environment weakening due to the overuse of cultivation techniques." She said.
"It kind of sounds like how Origin Qi in Battle Through the Heavens." Tang Zhen thought.
"Cultivators who relied on direct absorption of this essence began to find it increasingly difficult to reach higher realms, as the once-pure essence became diluted, and the flow of natural energies grew unstable. This instability caused powerful cultivators to become reliant on more refined methods of power mostly within themselves."
"So Martial Souls were not present at that time?" Tang Zhen asked.
"No. Martial Souls were the manifestation of a cultivator's spiritual constructs inherent within their bloodlines."
"So how did the world transition to using Soul Power?" Tang Zhen asked intrigued how these two worlds mashed together.
"With the lack of the true Spiritual Essence from Heaven and Earth, the creatures and humans of the world needed to adapt. Therefore, Soul Power became the core energy of the new world, one that could be drawn from the soul itself instead of cultivating external elements. The world, instead of relying on the waning external environmental forces, began to harness the power of their inner spiritual entities or Martial Souls."
"So where do you fit in this? If you are a deity above the current gods, where is your domain or realm?" Tang Zhen asked.
"In the old world, the realms were split between the lower and upper realms. Originally, once cultivators were able to reach a certain level, they could reach the upper realm whether by recruitment or other means…" She didn't elaborate on that.
"Due to the new cultivators focusing on their inner soul power, it was not enough to become stronger and ascend to the upper realms as they were missing key elements to understand the laws and powers of heaven and earth. Even the most powerful gods in the lower realm do not understand them which is why they cannot even match up to the people of the Old World in their second stage of cultivation. Yet still they became gods compared to normal people. And the realm they reside in now is the lower realm of the old world."
"I resided in the upper realm before something happened, and due to that incident, I became the patron deity of a lower realm village and stayed there to recover. During my time there, I met my disciple." She said fondly thinking of the boy who grew to be a man challenging the heavens.
"I do not have the time to go into more details but the land you reside in right now was split off from the lower realm due to the gods of the lower realm slaughtering humanity." She said solemnly.
Tang Zhen was surprised. Then what was stopping the gods from killing them all now and why did they stop?
"Why did they kill humans?" He asked.
"In their search for power and the desire to ascend to the upper realm, the lower gods became more desperate and ended up killing humans to absorb their essence which led them to become dark gods. As a result, the gods from the upper realm were tasked with destroying the low level dark gods to save humanity." She continued.
"My disciple, Shi Hao was at the forefront of it. He was a human born in the lower realm who ascended into the upper realm after many tribulations and to prevent the gods from killing humans again, created a law of heaven and earth where the gods of the lower realm could not personally descend into the new realm but can influence humans and give them trials to see if they are worthy to succeed them which led to the creation of the god trials. After that event, us gods in the upper realm decided to not interact with the lower gods." She said with a proud tone.
"That brings me to you. Shi Hao came across something in his journey, the Lightning Emperor Treasure Technique. Although you are not strong enough to handle the full power of the technique, Shi Hao has chosen you as the new successor. He has given you this." She pulled out an orb of yellow lightning.
"Hang on, if gods are not able to interact with mortals, how are you here with me? Are we breaking the laws? Am I going to be killed? " Tang Zhen asked worriedly.
Liu Shen giggled before shaking her head.
"My disciple has a habit of breaking the laws and doing what he wants. Since I am his teacher, I figured I might try something like him. It's honestly kind of exciting after hundreds of thousands of years." She said while smiling.
"Shi Hao what did you do up there?" Tang Zhen thought with a sweatdrop.
"This is a fraction of the Lightning Emperor's Dao knowledge. With this, you will be able to call upon the most powerful Thunder available in the lower realm, the Celestial Thunder. Remember you are not it's master, you do not control it, this is understanding. Your manipulation of Thunder will be unrivaled. Shi Hao has tasked you with maintaining peace in the lower realm. Some gods have become too arrogant, you are allowed to judge them as you see fit. If you abuse this power, you will be killed. Now, do you accept your task? If you do not wish to accept, that is okay, you are free to make your own choices." Liu Shen said softly.
"I accept this responsibility." Tang Zhen said. Liu Shen pushed the orb into his chest causing him immense pain as Celestial Thunder coursed through him. Knowledge flooded his mind.
Tang Zhen grits his teeth, and for a moment, he lets go of the need for control. Instead, he embraces the chaos, the raw power, allowing it to swirl within him. The lightning fills every fiber of his being, and he feels a sudden clarity—a bond with the lightning, but not one of dominance.
It is as if he is a conduit, a vessel for the storm itself.
Suddenly, the lightning within him stabilizes, no longer threatening to tear him apart.
"The armor that you found is the Lightning Emperor's Battle Armor. It has significantly weakened and it no longer has its own consciousness. It will help you as it can block the attacks of the gods in the lower realm." A look of nostalgia crossed her face.
"Now Rise, Thunder Emperor Tang Zhen." Liu Shen declared.
-Back To Present-
"Well that whole segment threw everything about this world that I knew, out the window." Tang Zhen complained.
He spent a few weeks comprehending the Dao. He almost mastered it. While his comprehension and control of Thunder was immense, he had yet to grasp wielding Celestial Thunder.
Bibi Dong looked up at him admiring her husband. She was fortunate to meet him and to be with him. She had to work harder to break through to godhood and ascend with him.
"It's time Dong'er, I must end the Haotian Clan. Continue with your cultivation." Tang Zhen leaned down and kissed her before walking towards Ah Yin's room.
He knocked and when she answered, she saw his look and knew the time had come.
They both said their farewells and brought Tang San with him to the entrance of the the Haotian Clan after listening to him guide them there.
Of course Tang San was uncooperative but nothing a little Sharingan illusion can't handle.
-Haotian Clan-
On the snowy peak, a clan was assembled in a hall.
"What is taking Tang Hu so long?" One of the elders asked.
"Could it be that brat is giving him trouble? Let's see him dare!" The Seventh Elder remarked while slamming his fist on his chair.
"Brothers, let's wait a little longer. Think about it, Tang Zhen may have taken a little longer to just pack everything. It was sudden after all." The Seventh Elder said trying to sound reasonable.
The other elders nodded their heads thinking that it was a very reasonable thought.
The doors soon opened and Tang Hao and Tang Yueha both arrived.
Although the men could not see it, the women were surprised to see that Tang Yueha had a certain glow to her.
"Elders, Brother. I am back." Tang Hao said.
"Brother Hao, what took you so long to come back?" Tang Xiao asked annoyed.
"Brother, it was my fault, I had some things to take care of before we could leave." Tang Yueha said.
"Where is Xiao San?" Tang Hao asked.
"...Brother Hao, the reason we asked you to come back so quickly was that Tang San has disappeared." Tang Xiao said solemnly.
An aura exploded from Tang Hao causing everyone to back away.
"WHO DARES TOUCH MY SON?" He roared.
"I dare." A voice rang out.
"A Titled Douluo?" Someone remarked.
The Elders and Tang Hao rushed outside followed by the clan to see who was brazen enough to try and infiltrate their clan that was supposed to be in seclusion.
Outside, they could see two people floating in the air. It was Tang Zhen and a woman dressed in blue with a veil covering her face.
While he was holding her by the waste with wings on his back, he was holding a sack in his other hand that seemed to be moving.
"Why does she seem so familiar?" Tang Hao thought.
"IT'S HIM! HE'S TANG ZHEN!" One of the girls that were sent back to the clan exclaimed.
The elders smirked thinking he had come back.
Tang Xiao flew up to meet him.
"I am glad you came to accept our offer Tang Zhen." Tang Xiao said with a smile.
Tang Zhen and Ah Yin raised an eyebrow.
"What offer?" He asked.
This caused Tang Xiao to frown. Was he not here to come back to the clan? And where was that useless Tang Hu?
"Didn't Tang Hu explain it to you?" He said cautiously.
"Oh that group of guys that came to find me?"
Tang Xiao nodded.
Then Tang Zhen threw down the bag and as it landed in front of the crowd, they could hear a muffled scream.
Someone opened it to find a bloody Tang San stuffed into the sack with all the remaining body parts and heads of the others.
Seeing this, some people vomitted off to the side as Tang Hao rushed to his son's side.
"As you can see. I guess I missed the message." Tang Zhen said nonchalantly.
Seeing this, Tang Xiao summoned his hammer and attacked him.
"DIE!"
Tang Zhen summoned his own hammer and met Tang Xiao's attack head on.
While the pressure from both hammers caused gusts of wind to form, Tang Xiao could see that Tang Zhen was only using one hand. But that wasn't what made him angry.
Tang Zhen was kissing the woman under the veil with passion and she was returning it. They were ignoring him. Tang Xiao. The Howling Sky Douluo.
"YOU BASTARD! YOU DARE!" Tang Xiao started yelling.
Getting annoyed by the monkey across from him, Tang Zhen broke the kiss and swung his hammer down completely overpowering Tang Xiao as he was pushed away back to the ground before he flew back up again.
"Wife, please stand aside and let me deal with this rabble." He said gently.
"Mhm. Husband, make it quick." Ah Yin replied softly.
She then broke apart from him and walked off to the side in the air.
This caused alarm in the others as they were shocked to learn that this woman was a Titled Douluo. Even the elders which means that she was stronger than them.
The only ones who could get an idea of her strength was Tang Xiao and Tang Hao.
Seeing this, Tang Hao flew up to fight alongside his brother.
"Hoh. It seems like there's a reunion here. Right Ah Yin?" Tang Zhen said in an amused tone.
Hearing the name caused both men to stare at the woman with wide eyes.
She took off her veil revealing her beautiful face which seemed to be more breathtaking than before.
"A-AH YIN! YOU CAME BACK TO ME!" Tang Hao said. Although he hated the fact that she was a 100,000 year old soul beast, she was still the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. Even his sister and lover Tang Yueha couldn't compare to her. If she wasn't a tool for their grand plans to take over the Douluo Continent then he would have made her his wife even if she wasn't a part of the clan.
"Hmpf. Tang Hao, Tang Xiao, do you think I came to be with you?" Ah Yin sneered causing them to be surprised.
"I came here with my husband to end your filthy clan." She remarked.
Although shocked at first, both men grew angry hearing that.
"Ah Yin. I will give you one last chance, you will come back with me and bear another child for me." Tang Hao said with finality.
"Tang Hao, I also came here to kill you and that spawn of yours." She sneered.
"BUT HE'S OUR SON!" He roared.
"He is no son of mine." Ah Yin said coldly.
Tang Hao smirked before responding.
"Ah Yin I slept with you and we had Tang San together. Even if you are with this brat, I was inside you first." He said smugly.
Ah Yin giggled confusing him.
"You see, this new body of mine, My Husband remade it, and I was born again with my purity intact. That old body is gone. And I already lost my purity in this new body to my husband. Thinking about it, your size is laughable. My Husband is more than twice your size." She remarked laughing at him.
Tang Hao started to breathe heavily, this bitch was mocking him.
"Brother! Let's kill them together!" Tang Xiao said.
"HAOTIAN FORMATION!" Tang Xiao Yelled.
The other members of the clan came together and formed the formation as Tang Xiao and Tang Hao could feel their power increasing as arcs of Thunder was coming out of their eyes.
"*Sigh* These two are annoying." Tang Zhen thought.
"MARTIAL SOUL FORM!" They both yelled out and two towering figures holding hammers appeared.
Tang Zhen seeing this was unimpressed.
Tang Hao activated his Death God Domain and powered by the formation, he was confident he could win.
"PREPARE TO DIE!" Tang Hao roared as he and Tang Xiao swung their hammers down with great force.
Using the Thunder Emperor powers, Tang Zhen lifted his hammer up into the air and called upon natural Thunder which came down and he channeled it into his hammer.
Then he activated his own merged domain. His Reaping Thunder Domain increases his attack power by 250% and increases his speed by 50% while slowing the enemy down by 30% and decreases his soul power consumption by 70% for Thunder based abilities. It was a combination of his Thunder and Death God Domains.
As both attacks came, Tang Zhen met both of their attacks causing a massive explosion.
All three recoiled back from the shock.
"This is….this is impossible. He was able to repel back our combined attacks with the Death God Domain plus the Haotian Formation without even releasing his Martial Soul Form." Tang Hao said baffled.
His hands formed a fist and squeezed hard. He couldn't accept it. He rushed forward by himself.
"BROTHER!" Tang Xiao tried to stop him.
Tang Hao exploded all of his soul rings and prepared to attack.
"GREAT SUMERU HAMMER!" Tang Hao roared as he swung.
"Hoh. Interesting." Tang Zhen smirked. Then a Red soul ring appeared around his hammer.
"First Soul Skill, Hammer of the Titan!" Tang Zhen's Hammer grew as Thunder energy was pulsing from it and they both clashed.
The resulting shockwave blew away an entire mountain top. Snow blew from all over obstructing vision. As the snow cleared up, Tang Yueha let out a piercing scream.
Tang Hao flew back missing one of his arms as he spat out blood and screamed in rage.
"THIS IS IMPOSSIBLE! YOUR FIRST SOUL SKILL OVERPOWERED MY 9 RING BLASTINGS!"
"Tang Hao, Tang Hao. My First Soul Skill, Hammer of the Titan increases my attack power that makes it equivalent to the Great Sumeru Hammer after a ring blast. The good thing is, it doesn't actually blast the ring and I get all the power without the backlash. With my Domain added on, you had no chance." Tang Zhen smirked.
Tang Xiao enraged rushed towards Tang Zhen and using the Haotian Formation, he tried to attack Tang Zhen who just matched his swing but Tang Xiao's hammer was shattered upon impact and was sent straight into another mountain.
Tang Xiao came back but one of his arms was mangled beyond repair.
"Did I forget to tell you, the power of my First Soul Ring, remains active as long as I keep channeling my soul power into it?" Tang Zhen said calmly.
Suddenly a flaming hammer appeared and Tang Zhen knocked it away. He then eyed the new challenger or challengers.
All the elders arrived next to the two injured brothers.
"Clan leader, let's kill this bastard together!" The Seventh Elder said.
Everyone summoned their Martial Soul Form as giant figures appeared.
Tang Zhen withdrew his hammer causing the elders to smirk.
"Brat, have you finally admitted defeat in the face of absolute power?" The Seventh Elder said arrogantly.
Tang Zhen chuckled before spitting to the side causing their blood to boil in anger.
"You see, you all think that your clan is so much better than everyone else. While I admit the Haotian Hammer is powerful, I will destroy you all with the martial soul I inherited from my mother." Tang Zhen said coldly.
A great Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon descended from the sky as nine rings appeared and spun around him. Purple, Black, Black, Black, Black, Red, Red, Red, Gold.
"A-A Gold Soul Ring?" One of the elders exclaimed in shock. They had never seen one before.
"TANG ZHEN! YOU TRAITOR! YOU WOULD PUT SUCH A RING ON THAT DISGRACEFUL AND INFERIOR MARTIAL SOUL!" Surprisingly it was the normally calm Second Elder that yelled in indignation.
"Hmpf. We will see. Eighth Soul Skill, Sky Piercing Roar." Tang Zhen activated his second ability from his ring and the dragon charged up as a golden energy formed in it's mouth before firing it at the group.
"THIS IS BAD! BLOCK IT WITH AN NON PHYSICAL ABILITY!" Tang Hao roared.
The beam was so fast that they barely had time to defend themselves as they could only use their soul power to defend but they were horrified to find out that their soul power was draining at an abnormal rate.
When the attack was over, the elders were panting from exertion. The attack drained soul power at an absurd rate.
They heard slow clapping as Tang Zhen had an amused face.
"The Haotian Clan truly lives up to its name to stop my ability at 40% power." He mocked shocking everyone.
"Well let's see you block this. Be careful or you'll die." Tang Zhen said as he raised his and and Thunder came down to his hand.
The gold soul ring pulsed to light. Calling upon pure Thunder, he also channeled his own making the erupting thunder more powerful.
"Begone with the Thunderclap. Ninth Soul Skill, Celestial Qilin Soul." Tang Zhen poured an immense amount of soul power to make the attack stronger even if he could use the Kirin ability without his soul ring and a small amount of soul power, the attack manifested as one of his final soul ring abilities that allowed him more control. Using his soul skill version, he could use this to either block powerful enemy attacks or vaporize anything he hits with it.
A pure white blue Thunder Dragon with glaring red eyes appeared out of the sky before it let out a mighty roar that shook the earth. As Tang Zhen dropped his hand, the dragon descended upon the shocked elders before it hit the ground blinding everyone.
When the chaos was cleared, nothing was left where it had hit. The mountain next to them was gone, the snowy and stormy sky was suddenly clear. The elders and Tang Xiao were no where to be found.
The only one left was Tang Hao who was more of a stump than a person. He only had 1 leg left. His older brother tried to push him away at the last moment but was still too slow and got hit by the dragon vaporizing one side of him.
Seeing their elder slaughtered, the rest of the Haotian Clan couldn't keep their morale up. Their arrogance gone. They looked up at the man who looked like a Thunder God floating in the air.
A pair of blue and gold vines appeared from the cliff side and wrapped around Tang Hao and Tang San before bringing them to where Ah Yin was now standing which was a nearby mountain top.
Tang Zhen appeared next to her and used his Thunder power to cauterize Tang Hao's wounds and injected soul power into him to wake him up.
Tang Hao woke up finally with bloodshot eyes staring at Tang Zhen with rage. Missing three limbs now, he was down to level 65. He looked to the side and saw Tang San still bound and gagged.
Tang Zhen soon looked over at the rest of the Haotian Clan members and used his Second Soul Skill, Tesla Prison to create a massive cage to trap everyone.
"As the new leader of the new Haotian Clan, I sentence you all to death." Tang Zhen said coldly.
Seeing his Yueha in the group, Tang Hao tried to get up but he heard Tang Zhen's whisper come through his ear making him spit out blood in rage.
"Get ready to see your lover die, you disgusting siblings deserve each other." He whispered.
"Sixth Soul Skill, Judgement of Heaven and Earth."
A Red Soul Ring appeared from Tang Zhen as a storm formed over the Tesla Prison cage. Soon Arcs of Thunder came down around the area vaporizing anyone it touched. The members of the clan were all screaming and begging for mercy. After a brief moment, the only one left was Tang Yueha who seemed to have accepted her fate.
"YUEHA!" Tang Hao roared.
Tang Yueha received the last Thunder bolt and ceased to exist.
"Now it's your turn. For killing my Father out of jealousy and working together with the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan to kill my mother, Tang Hao, you and Tang San will not die quite as easily and painlessly as the others." Tang Zhen said coldly.
"Let my son go! Please! Tang San hasn't done anything!" Tang Hao, the once proud Haotian Douluo was now begging.
"Your son agreed to the plan your clan had set for him. Your old ideals must be erased for a new one to grow in its place." Ah Yin replied coldly.
Tang Hao and Tang San were lifted up by the vines of the Blue Silver Empress and another set of vines suddenly flew into them before splitting both of them in half.
Ah Yin finally breathed a sigh of relief. It was finally over.
-Heaven Dou Imperial City-
Murmurs and whispers filled the streets as a crowd formed around the announcement board. There, two heads were attached to the sides of the board with a letter stating that the Haotian Clan was no more. They were killed by Tang Zhen. He also proclaimed himself the new clan leader of the new Haotian Clan but he was alone.
In the palace, Xue Qinghe or Qian Renxue, was in the throne room reading the news to Emperor Xue Ye who was seething in anger.
Now that the Haotian Clan was gone, he lost a major possible ally against the Martial Soul Hall.
Xue Qinghe (Will address her as such until the disguise comes off to make it easier) though, was detailing the events of the past to Emperor Xue Ye and to why Tang Zhen has a grudge against two of the top three clans.
Hearing the explanation, Emperor Xue Ye was still not moved. If Tang Zhen went after the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan next, it was be catastrophic.
Xue Qinghe was wondering when she would be able to see him again.
Going back to her room, she laid in bed when she felt a letter under her pillow.
Curious, she pulled it out and saw it was addressed to her. Not Xue Qinghe but on the letter, it said "Xue'er" Thinking it was from her grandfather, she opened it.
But her eyes soon got wider and wider as she read the letter before she burned it to get rid of the evidence. Her breathing was still rapid trying to calm her nerves. It wasn't from her grandfather but from Tang Zhen.
She had to meet him and find out how he knows so much or else, the years she has been in the empire might all have been a waste.