If someone asked him what it felt to be reborn and as a child, nevertheless, he would probably chop their heads off. In the end, it seemed that he lost, managing to reach the fabled Dou God and the path to the realms beyond opened, yet...
Yet, everything was lost to that upstart from the Xiao Clan.
Something that was infuriating him till now.
All those sacrifices, all the planning, resources, and everything...
For absolutely nothing.
In the end, he lost, was sealed by the Heanvely Flames only to be refined by the Heanvely Flames and serve as nourishment for them. But he was Heavenly Soul Emperor, and his expertise with the Souls wasn't for nothing.
He managed to use the ancient techniques to preserve large parts of his Soul, in fact, almost his entire Soul, and sent it through the nearest Spatial Crack into the unknown Void. He didn't know where his Soul would end, but he was sure it was still better than to be just refined by the Heavenly Flames by that bastard from the Xiao Clan.
And thus, he was reborn in this new world.
Or he was tempted to say, in the new Universe entirely, because the Laws of Heaven and Earth were totally different from the Dou Qi Continent. The people here in the Douluo Continent had vastly different cultivation systems.
If he had to say, Hun Tiandi would say that it was a bit weaker than the cultivation system of the Dou Qi Continent, but that was mostly because nobody really bothered to perfect the vEnergy Cultivation System, as everyone heavily depended on their Martial Souls.
He thought he understood why.
The existence of the Martial Soul was something game-changing, because even though the Dou Saints were stronger in the aspect of the raw power compared to the most Titled Douluos, he had seen, almost every single Titled Douluo was a hundred times more trickier than Dou Saint to deal with, because of their weird abilities and Spirit Skills.
However, not everything was that bad because when he was reborn, he was in luck and was found by the Grand Worship of the Spirit Hall, the strongest faction in the entire Douluo Continent, who took care of him.
Regarding this, Hun Tiandi didn't really know how exactly to feel about this, because it was a really different environment compared to that of the Hun Clan, even from the times of his own childhood.
Hun Clan was always very competitive, and everyone cared for themselves. It was an extremely ruthless and uncaring environment that had only one sole purpose, which was to cultivate the strongest powerhouses possible that would ensure the continual supremacy of the Hun Clan.
Parents would use their children as pawns to get more resources or rise to higher positions and vice versa; killing your own family members for some benefits wasn't anything new... or special... or just...
It was rather normal.
So yeah, for the first time, he actually experienced that if someone cared for him without asking anything in return, it was a very nice feeling. At least that was the treatment he got from the Qian Daolio, the Grand Worship Elder of the Douluo Consecration Hall, and partially from the Bibi Dong, the Supreme Pontiff of the Spirit Hall.
When he looked at the woman, he instantly knew that something was going on with her, and he also sensed the strong God Aura on her. He also learned that this world has Gods and is not like the ones in the Dou Qi Continent, but apparently, there are real types of Dimensional Entities.
Just the sliver of Divine Aura he felt from Qian Daoliu that belonged to the Angel Goddess was enough to squash Dou Di to meatpaste. The Gods in this world were far more than just a random cultivation stage; they were a real deal.
Gods were higher-dimensional beings who resided in a higher plane/dimension than Mortals and were the strongest beings in their original Universe, which is housed in a Multi-Dimensional Universe.
He also understood why everyone in the highest leadership of the Spirit Hall was so overjoyed at his Martial Soul Awakening Ceremony, because he actually had a very good chance to achieve a Godhood.
The Martial Soul Awakening Ceremony...
He didn't want only his Martial Souls but also some of his memories from his previous life; a lot of things were missing, but at least he got many of the experiences and skills that he learned during his very long life and also some knowledge about the cultivation system of the Dou Qi Continent.
That would be pretty useful when he decided to upgrade to the Spirit Energy Cultivation System of the Douluo Continent to be on par with the Dou Qi System in terms of raw power and general capability.
At the same time, such general strengthening should also lead to the strengthening of the Martial Souls because everything related to the Martial Souls depends on the power of the Spirit Energy and Spirit Rank.
His Martial Souls were also something that was bugging him a bit.
The first one was the Tool-Type Martial Soul in the shape of a sword named Bloodviolet Seven Star Fiend Sword. As the name suggested, it was a sword, and it didn't have any special abilities right now, though; it could cut through most materials; it was extremely sharp, and it had a very strong aura of slaughter and blood around it.
The second one was the Divine Beast-Type Martial Soul, which was named Austin Griffin, as he instinctively knew the name of the Martial Soul. Contrary to the typical Beast-Type Martial Souls, his Martial Soul has manifested in a detached form, and he couldn't fuse with his Martial Soul like all other people with Beast-Type Martial Soul could.
Not to mention, his Martial Soul was especially intelligent, no less than a young child, he would say, because it understood everything that the people were talking around, and it even behaved way smarter than any other Spirit Beast would have.
Even though the Martial Soul was named Austin Griffin, he gave it a more affectionate name, "Hao Yue," because calling it Austin Griffin sounded a bit weird. Not to mention, Martial Soul was very weird because it was always detached and was like a Beast Companion to him.
Nevertheless, he was aware that he had a very good start in this life. The faction where he belonged to was the top-notch force on the continent and was the strongest of them all. While the Spirit Hall certainly lacked the numbers, in the aspect of the high-end powerhouses, it certainly outnumbered everyone else.
However, if there was one thing that was lacking in this world, it was the development of the Professions. The development of Blacksmithing, Refiners, Physicians, and so on was rather low for his tastes and the worst thing of all was the non-existent presence of the Alchemists.
Hun iandi knew the reason for the Soul Cultivation of the Douluo wasn't as heavily energy-dependent as the Dou Qi, and thus, there wasn't really a need for the pills to be used.
He attributed it to the existence of the Martial Souls; he didn't doubt for a second if the Dou Qi Continent had something like Martial Souls, then many professions like Alchemists, Poison Masters, Blacksmith and so on wouldn't be devoted to such a high degree in their homeland.
In the end, the Martial Souls were like living cheats in his eyes. One didn't need to cultivate any techniques and obtained very powerful abilities from the Marital Souls and adding Soul Rings to them.
Still, such a scenario was unacceptable for him, and this would also be the opportunity to make himself more valuable to the Spirit Hall and boost the forces of his future faction that he would lord over.
While he wasn't any premier Alchemist in his past life, he still possessed enough Alchemical knowledge to be at least an 8th-tier Alchemist according to the Dou Qi Continent's Classification of the Alchemists. Together with his powerful Spiritual Power, he could refine some good pills.
***
Several weeks later, en route to the Great Star Dou Forest
During the past few weeks, aside from training with his new Martial Souls and being tutored personally by Grand Worship Elder of the Douluo Consecration Hall, he also spent a lot of time studying the records of the Spirit Hall.
Because the Spirit Hall was practically and technically speaking the oldest and biggest faction in the world, it had ridiculously large records about the Douluo Continent and even the other continents.
He was rather surprised to see that the Spirit Hall even had branches in different continents, maybe in the Sun-Moon Continent and then at the Yulan Continent, on which they even controlled a faction named Holy Union.
During the time he was studying, he laid down the basis of Alchemy. Because of his extensive knowledge on the topic, access to the Herbs and Plants cultivated by the Spirit Hall, and most importantly, the Heavenly Flame, he could start experimenting with the Alchemy in the Douluo Continent.
As he was pondering over the matters, their carriage suddenly stopped when they reached the Star Dou Forest, because it was time to hunt for his Spirit Rings. He had arrived at the Star Dou Forest together with the Golden Crocodile Douluo Jin Eyu and Chrysanthemum Douluo, Cardinal Yue Guan.
As the compromise between Grand Worship and Supreme Pontiff, both of them send one of their people to guard him. Because he was already Soul Grandmaster at Level 20, he could add several Soul Rings to both of his Martial Souls.
More precisely, he could add two Spirit Rings for both Bloodviolet Seven Star Fiend Sword and Austin Griffin.
"So, here we are, the Great Star Dou Forest..."
The Great Star Dou Forest is one of the Douluo Continent's most famous great Spirit Beast habitats. It's located southeast of Balak Kingdom, with Suotou City lying less than five hundred kilometers near it.
Its area is huge, practically equal to Balak Kingdom's territory, spanning the border of Heaven Dou Empire and Star Luo Empire; within it, two-fifths of the area is in Heaven Dou Empire while the other three-fifths are in Star Luo Empire.
It's an immense primeval forest; the forest's interior terrain is complicated, with wetlands, swamps, and so on. This place belonged to a tropical zone; the majority of the forest was primarily tropical vegetation.
"I can see that Grandpa Crocodile..."
It was rather weird for him to call him "Grandpa", even though Golden Crocodile Douluo Jin Eyu was just something around 100 years old, while Hun Tiandi lived for many millennia in his past life.
After several weeks of sorting the parts of his memories and pondering over the matters, he made some sort of inner peace with his past. In the end, the Hun Clan was certainly a failed project; he was aware that most of the people of the Hun Clan would betray faster than one could even speak if it meant some benefit to them.
It's not like he wasn't aware of that situation, but he, in the first place, never really cared. The only person in his life that he loved died from the very Clan he belonged to, so he also had a certain degree of resentment to his own Clan for that.
In the end, Hun Tiandi, the Soul Di, was indeed a broken man because of his grief, ambition, greed, ruthlessness, and madness.
Golden Crocodile Douluo Jin Eyu was an elderly man who looked like a typical warrior, tall and with a huge bulk of muscles. He was also one of the strongest Titled Douluos in the Continent... a pinnacle Level 98 Hyper Douluo only one step away from the Level 99 Limit Douluo.
If he went full out, Hun Tiandi was confident that he could fight even his old self to a standstill with the help of his Martial Soul for some time.
"Did you decide on the Spirit Beast you would be hunting?"
The elderly Second Worship Elder of the Douluo Consecration Hall asked the young red-headed prodigy of the Spirit Hall when they disembarked from the luxurious carriage bearing the sigil of the Spirit Hall.
"Actually, yes... For the Bloodviolet Seven Star Fiend Sword, I need a Man Faced Demon Spider at least 2,000 Years old for my 1st Spirit Ring, and for the 2nd Spirit Ring, we need to find at least 4,000 Years Pit Demon Spider..."
As he said that, both Golden Crocodile Douluo and Chrysanthemum Douluo were very surprised because that was far above the common standards when it came to the absorption of the Spirit Rings.
But they also knew that the stronger the physique of the Spirit Master was, the older Spirit Ring they could absorb. Hun Tiandi's physique was very strong because of the combination of training and the Body Tempering Pill that he created.
The Alchemy intrigued all of the higher-ups in the Spirit Hall because it wasn't like it didn't exist before, but the Alchemy on the Douluo Continent was not really developed, and people were even eating Immortal Herbs as they were.
When he heard that, he almost coughed enough blood to die on the spot.
"Hmm... it could be dangerous, but with your Physique, it should be doable..."
While it was certainly above the common sense of the Douluo Continent, the Golden Crocodile Douluo and the Chrysanthemum Douluo were confident in it. Jin Eyu often presided over Hun Tiandi's physical training, and Yue Guen was working with him on the Alchemy.
Not to mention, both of his Martial Souls were confirmed to be on the God-Level, meaning that he needed correspondingly powerful Spritit Rings for them as well.
"I refined my physique to the degree where I should be able to withstand the 2,000 Old Spirit Ring as my 1st Spirit Ring rather easily. That would be only leaving the topic of the Spirit Rings for the Hao Yue, which is a bit more peculiar."
Based on Hun Tiandi's knowledge of the Martial Souls, records of the Spirit Hall, and his own cultivation knowledge that he gathered over several millennia, he came to the conclusion that the Austin Griffin was a very weird Martial Soul.
Yes, the Bloodviolet Seven Star Fiend Sword Martial Soul was also pretty peculiar, because it was one of few Tool-Type Martial Souls that were exceedingly powerful, even more than the legendary Clear Sky Hammer of the Clear Sky Clan.
But the Austin Griffin was weird, because it was too sentient, far more than any other Martial Soul, to the degree where he would bet all of his wealth that something was reincarnated as his Martial Soul.
There was no different explanation.
Hun Tiandi lived for a very long time, and he was a very knowledgeable man, having access to the ancestral records of the Hun Clan and also the other Ancient Clans that were destroyed by the Hun Clan.
Not to mention, the biggest giveaway was his own expertise in the souls because even though his Spiritual Power was largely sealed, if not, then his power would put him on the same level as Qian Daoliu.
He felt that to properly develop the Hao Yue; it would be just to leave Austin Griffin alone in this. He felt that the Martial Soul would know what the most suitable Spirit Ring would be for it and what to do.
"Yeah... that's going to be problematic, but Eldest Brother stated to let the fate take its course."
Jin Eye also did not understand the Austin Griffin Martial Soul, though nobody from the entire Spirit Hall could understand even a bit of it. Nobody was even able to find records about something similar, so...
They needed to just wait.
"We should also look for some rare plants... with our resident luck talisman, I am sure that we can come across some rare Immortal Herbs that I can rub into the face of old poison."
Yue Guen said with glee while Hun Tiandi frowned heavily that he was being treated as some sort of luck chasm. But he had to admit that since his rebirth in this world, he was born with a ridiculous amount of luck.
It was a mind-boggling truth to be told.
"If not for Tiandi's solution for the Poisonous side-effects from his own Martial Soul, you wouldn't be chatting so happily."
Old Poison was a nickname for Dugu Bo, the Poison Douluo and the closest thing that this world had to the Poison Master.
He was a very powerful Titled Doulo, even though he was only an Average Titled Doulo who only a few days ago reached the peak of Spirit Rank 94. With his poison, he could decimate entire armies, and he was a very tricking opponent to fight against.
When he asked to research the Immortal Herbs to lay down the basics of the Achemy, there were not many people who were skilled in this area. Obviously, aside from the Chrysanthemum Douluo, there was only Dugu Bo, the Poison Douluo, but his situation was very complicated.
Though fortunate enough, as cynically it sounded, his son Dugu Xin was being poisoned by the same thing, and even his newborn granddaughter was at risk...
When faced with a hopeless situation like that, it didn't need a lot of persuasion to join the Spirit Hall because Dugu Bo was, technically speaking, a free Spirit Master without any affiliation with only some relationships with the Heaven Dou Empire.
Hun Tiandi needed the expertise of both Dugu Bo and Yue Guen for the Alchemy of the Dou Qi Continent to be correctly implemented within the realms of the Douluo Continent.
"We should get going... searching for the spiders could take us a lot of time..."
The Golden Crocodile Douluo spoke again as he scanned through the area, and the trio from the Spirit Hall entered the outer regions of the Great Star Dou Forest.
***
The outer areas of the Great Star Dou Forest were relatively safe for them, considering that they had two Titled Douluos with them, one of them being Level 98 Hyper Douluo, only one step away from reaching the Limit Douluo Rank.
However, even the Titled Douluo wouldn't dare to let their guard down in this place because the Great Star Dou Forest was swarming with countless Spirit Beasts, and many of them were fairly powerful at that.
There were many who were above 100,000 Years Old and had far more power than just to compete with the Titled Douluos, not to mention the rumored Beast God, the Spirit Beast that was closest to 1 million years Old.
If they met that one, they would be squashed to death in an instant.
"There were rumors that the Man-Faced Demon Spider was several thousand years old was seen at the edges of the outer areas of the Star Dou Forest hunting for some people, most probably some escaped Spirit Masters that the Man-Faced Demon Spider wants to eat."
Hearing what the Chrysanthemum Douluo said, they all started moving toward the direction where the Man-Faced Demon Spider was apparently spotted, hoping to find the Man-Faced Demon Spider, who was at least 2,000 years old for his Spirit Ring.
Hun Tiandi was already Spirit Grandmaster Level 20, albeit he didn't have a single Spirit Ring attached to his Martial Souls. At the same time, he was rather confident in taking down all of his targets due to the combat experiences that he had plenty of; if it came to swordsmanship, then he was already the best in the entire world.
From what he could see, due to some limits, the Spirit Masters didn't get a prolonged lifespan, which was rather problematic. He read that the most common speculation as to why it was so was due to the lack of the connection with the Divine Realm with the Douluo Continent, meaning that even the strongest Titled Douluos could maximally live up to around 300 years if they reach the Level 99.
This, of course, could be prolonged by some measures, and some may even live longer, but it wasn't the ideal solution. Such a lifespan would be considered abysmal compared to the lifespan that was provided by the Dou Qi Cultivation...
Hun Tiandi realized that the world suppression in the Douluo Continent was extremely severe, so most of the powerhouses couldn't unleash such highly destructive capabilities as the ones in his previous life.
Still, if he took the average Titled Douluo, who would be on part with the Half-Saints of Dou Qi, then even the Half-Saints had a lifespan of around a hundred thousand years. And yet the Titled Douluo could live maximally around hundred and fifty on average.
It made no wonder to him that this world was rather... unbalanced?
Obviously, he didn't plan to die any time soon, and as someone who lived for many millennia, he valued his own life above everything else.
"Oh, the Supreme Pontiff asked me to pass you the message that your proposal for the reorganization of the Spirit Hall is under the review and it is highly possible that it would pass. Her Majesty, is very pleased and surprised that someone so young could come up with a such comprehensive plan."
The Chrysanthemum Douluo Yue Guan said that not long before they left for the Great Star Dou Forest, Hun Tiandi submitted another proposal for the Spirit Hall. He studied the structure of the Spirit Hall and found out that it was...
Extremely inefficient and rather outdated, and as someone who had managed the Hun Clan and Hall of Souls for several thousand years to keep everything running, as he didn't trust anyone from the Clan entirely, he knew how to make them run smoothly.
Thus, he worked on this proposal for the restructuring of the Spirit Hall and passed it to both the Supreme Pontiff and Grand Worship Elder for judgment.
"Yeah, Eldest Brother, was also pleased by the proposal. Though we would be changing the traditions of the Spirit Hall that has been around for countless centuries, some of the old-fashioned members of the Clergy would be against it, they are not really a problem."
Right now, the Spirit Hall is divided into two Halls, the Supreme Pontiff Hall and Douluo Consecration Hall. The Supreme Pontiff Hall was in the overall charge of the Spirit Hall and managed all of its affairs, with the Douluo Consecration Hall being the sanctuary for the Titled Douluos who passed through Level 94 and reached the Hyper Douluo Spirit Rank 95.
Below the Supreme Pontiff Hall were two Saint Spirit Halls that were located in the capital cities of the Heaven Dou Empire and Star Luo Empire. Below them were the Lord Spirit Halls that were in the great cities across the Douluo Continent, and below them were the Branch Spirit Halls that were present everywhere else.
Not to mention, the entire structure of the Supreme Pontiff Palace was a mess and there were too many semi-idependent branches like Temple Knights, Douluo Warriors and, Holy Emperor Warriors and others.
Hun Tiandi knew that there was a severe need for modifications to achieve the maximum effectiveness of the Spirit Hall and also to prevent corruption among the clergy of the Spirit Hall.
The Spirit Hall wasn't like the Hall of Souls and Hun Clan, where everyone was so afraid of him that they didn't dare to squander resources even a bit because he would have killed them on the spot.
"Though even I was surprised by the idea of forming the Burial Agency by making it the military arm of the Spirit Hall... this would indeed allow the Spirit Hall to extend and use it's power more effectively, though it also raises a question that it would require several Titled Douluos to lead them and not the just ordinary ones."
Hun Tiandi proposed to merge all of the military arms of the Spirit Halls into one single Department that would be used as the strong arm of the Spirit Hall. The Burial Agency as it was called was then divided into three separate factions:
1st was the Holy Inquisition, which would be dealing with the Heretics of the teachings of the Spirit Hall and anyone who defied the will of the Gods worshipped by the Spirit Hall; one day, he would be standing among those Gods. At the same time, it would also be dealing with the Evil Spirit Masters across the continent.
2nd was The Knights Templar, which was basically the merger of the Temple Knights and Holy Emperor Warriors to create something akin to the semi-standing military force of the Spirit Hall that would be defending the most important facilities of the Spirit Hall.
3rd was the Assembly of the Eight Sacraments, and it was essentially the most important of all because the Assembly of the Eight Sacraments would be in charge of dealing with anything that was of utmost importance to the Spirit Hall or with threats that were of the gravest existential threats to the Spirit Hall itself.
"Yes, the last time the Spirit Hall had any kind of Chivalric Order was more than one thousand and five hundred years ago... much less being said about the Assembly that was disbanded shortly after the foundation of the Spirit Hall."
Yue Guan said that most of the organizations that were proposed by Hun Tiandi existed in the past, but they were disbanded for one reason or another. Now, it was weird for them to be resurfacing, especially the Assembly of the Eight Sacraments and Holy Inquisition, as they were infamous during their time.
"Finding the right Titled Douluos for the positions of Tianzuns would be a very hard nut to crack, though, Tiandi..."
Golden Crocodile Douluo Jin Eye intoned to the red-haired boy as they were walking through the dense forest of the Great Star Dou Forest.
"I know, but... can't we just search from the hidden experts? I believe that I can persuade them for our cause."
Hun Tiandi knew that aside from the publically known Title Douluo, there were many old monsters that managed to preserve their lifespan and lived in seclusion. All of them wanted to either live peacefully or to achieve Godhood, which seemed right now impossible due to the apparent lack of the Divine Realm.
"Are you sure? Even Elder Brother failed to persuade the three people that would be probably perfect for the position of Tianzuns of the Holy Inquisition, Knight Templars, and Assembly of the Eighth Sacrament."
Each of the branches of the Burial Agency would be under the leadership of the Tianzun; altogether, there would be 9 Tianzuns. The first three would be in charge of the Branch, while each of them would have another two Tianzuns as their Vice-Chiefs.
At the same time, the other Tianzuns would have other responsibilities, especially in the newly restructualized Spirit Hall branch hierarchy.
In the draft of the proposal, the new structure of the Spirit Hall would be as follows:
Two Grand Cathedrals in the Capital Cities, while each Cathedral would be headed by an Archbishop who was at least peak Spirit Douluo Level 89. Hun Tiandi even proposed that one of the other six Tianzuns would be regularly rotated in the Cathedrals as Shadow Guardians because these places are of too high importance to the Spirit Hall.
Below the Grand Cathedrals, there would be Sacred Spirit Temples that would be headed by a Platinum Bishop at the Spirit Douluo Rank of any Level, and these Sacred Spirit Temples would be constructed across the great cities on the Douluo Continent.
At the same level as the Sacred Spirit Temples were then Abbey, which were monasteries that were of special purpose, and they would be serving to train the members of the Spirit Hall for various unique roles. Each Abbey would be led by a High Abbot, and they would have autonomy higher than the rest as each High Abbot would be reporting directly to the Supreme Pontiff.
Below the Sacred Spirit Temples would be the Lord Spirit Temples across the other cities of the Douluo Continent, with each one headed by the Bishop, and below the Lord Spirit Temples would be the most ordinary kind, Martial Soul Temple that would be present in every corner of the Douluo Continent.
"Whom are you talking about, Grandpa Crocodile?"
Hun Tiandi asked the Golden Crocodile Douluo, who has traversed through the Douluo Continent several times over and over, so for sure, the elderly man was aware of some hidden experts in this place.
"They are called Twin Holy Dragons; both of them are Hyper Douluos of Spirit Rank 98, and as strong as me when they execute their Martial Soul Fusion Technique, they are almost unstoppable. Unfortunately, both of them are very reclusive and prefer living in the depths of the Sunset Forest as one of them, Dragon Emperor Douluo, married a woman from a local village who is also Hyper Douluo, Death God Douluo. Right now, they may be one of the strongest hidden factions across the Douluo Continent."
For Hun Tiandi, it wasn't surprising to hear that there were still many powerful people in the Douluo Coitnetn who preferred anonymity and lived in seclusion like hermits, focusing on nothing else aside from the cultivation itself.
Just as they were talking, the Chrysanthemum Douluo, who was charged with surveillance, suddenly sharpened up when he noticed the movement several tens of meters before them, and it seemed that it was the Man Faced Demon Spider that they were searching for.
"Sorry to disrupt your talk, Senior Crocodile, but it seems that we have already found the Man-Faced Demon Spider."
Yue Guan said as he finally caught the trace of the Man-Faced Demon Spider, who was more than two thousand years old; as Hun Tiandi perked up, he heard from the Chrysanthemum Douluo that they finally found the Man-Faced Demon Spider.
While he wasn't bothered to walk around and talk with the Golden Crocodile Douluo about his ideas for the development of the Spirit Hall because that only made him more valuable for the Spirit Hall itself, he was already becoming a bit bored.
"That fast already?"
As far as Jin Eyu could remember, the Man-Faced Demon Spiders were one of the rarer breeds of the Spirit Beasts within the Great Star Dou Forest and they were pretty nasty creatures.
"Then what are we waiting for."
Hun Tiandi said as they started running to the position of the Man-Faced Demon Spider, or rather, he was being carried by the Golden Crocodile Douluo because two of them were faster than lightning in terms of speed, and they were not even Speed-oriented Spirit Masters.
"Yeah this is certainly the Man Faced Demon Spider I remember... looking ugly as hell."
The Golden Crocodile Douluo remarked as they approached the Man Faced Demon Spider and got a look at the Man Faced Demon Spider, which was the Spirit Beast that Hun Tiandi chose as his first Spirit Ring for the Bloodviolet Seven Star Fiend Sword Martial Soul.
It is a strange spider with a diameter of more than 1.5 meters and eight spear-like long legs of more than three meters. The whole body is black, the shiny tile is bright, and the front end of the long legs is slender. Every step forward is silently pierced into the ground, which shows its sharpness.
In the lower abdomen of the spider, there are some white lines, which are in sharp contrast to his black body, and these white lines form a ferocious human face shape. A total of eight small eyes shining with faint purple light are close to its lower abdomen.
"Well, the Man Faced Demon Spiders are famous for their appearance of being grotesque and just weird..."
Chrysanthemum Douluo commented from the side as he watched the Man Faced Demon Spider, who was a bit older than Hun Tiandi predicted.
"This specimen is more than two and a half thousand years old. Wouldn't be that problem for you, Young Lord?"
Yue Guan asked as he looked at the future hope of the Spirit Hall. The red-haired boy confidently shook his head and summoned his Martial Soul, the Bloodviolet Seven Star Fiend Sword.
Even his detached Divine Beast Martial Soul Austin Griffin, whom he named Hao You, was already on alert as he looked at the Man-Faced Demon Spider with anticipation. One couldn't underestimate the fledgling Autin Griffin because while it had a certain cute look about it, Hao Yue was actually a very savage beast.
"Not really... the two thousand year old was just a rough estimation of the age. I should be able to use its Spirit Ring without much problem."
Hun Tiandi stated confidently as he strode towards the Man-Faced Demon Spider with the Bloodviolet Seven Star Fiend Sword in his right hand. This would be essentially his first fight in this new life, so he was certainly excited at the prospect. T
Till now, he has only sparred with some of the Worship Elders from the Douluo Consecration Hall of the Spirit Hall and nothing else. So he was rather eager to finally have some real fight in this new life, even though it was much harder due to the fact that he had a child's body.
Nevertheless, he was Hun Tiandi, the Patriarch of the Hun Clan and the former strongest powerhouse of the Dou Qi Continent, not to mention he was also the most powerful swordsman of the Dou Qi Continent.
"We would be watching in case something goes wrong, but I don't doubt that you will be able to kill the Man-Faced Demon Spider effortlessly, Tiandi."
Golden Crocodile Douluo stated in a neutral voice as he was absolutely confident in Hun Tiandi's capabilities when it came to slaying the Man-Facred Demon Spider. He knew more than anyone else that the Man-Faced Demon Spider didn't stand a chance against Tiandi, especially when the Hao Yue was helping him.
Even he, who was one of the strongest Spirit Masters in the content, constantly felt dread when he looked at the cute-looking innocent lizard creature that was most often sleeping and playing around.
Meanwhile, two Titled Douluo were observing Hun Tiandi preparing himself to fight against the Man-Faced Demon Spider as he strode toward the Spirit Beast, the man or boy in question looked at the Man-Faced Demon Spider in mild curiosity.
When he had time, he constantly studied the Spirit Beast Beastiaries and Encyclopedias and learned about the various species of the Spirit Beasts or Martial Souls in his past time.
He remembered well the abilities of the Man-Faced Demon Spider and the reasons why they were so feared. The Man-Faced Demon Spiders were extremely fast, and their entire body was a weapon; their shell was as hard as a stone, so dull weapons were unable to penetrate them.
Not only is their body highly poisonous, but they also possess neurotoxin and corrosive poison, which can even corrode the bones. Their legs were the toughest part of the entire body, more than ten times stronger than the refined iron. They were very long and extremely sharp with strong penetrative ability.
The most terrifying thing about the Man-Faced Demon Spiders was their web, which was not only instantaneous but also could cover ten times their own, and it was almost impossible to dodge.
It was highly toxic and extremely sticky, as well as hard and durable. Fortunately, it can be carried out three times a day before they reach 10,000 years of age. If that were the case, then dealing with the Man-Faced Demon Spider would be far more problematic.
For several minutes, Hun Tiandi observed the Man-Faced Demon Spider for several moments before he raised himself for the first move. He decided, for the time being, to fight the Man-Faced Demon Spider alone, with Hao Yue being his support in case he was overwhelmed by the Man-Faced Demon Spider.
***
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Připoj se k serveru Trafford Novels na Discordu! Like Quote ReplyReport Reactions:ArcherOfBlades, Karl-Vulkan, Immenotyou and 18 othersTraffordJan 23, 2025Reader modeAdd bookmark Threadmarks RoromanMaking the RoundsJan 23, 2025Add bookmark#15This fic is interesting though I don't know much about soul land or battle through the heavens.The two martial spirits seem to be from other cultivation stories huh,any particular reason they were picked?Thanks for the chapter Like Quote ReplyReport Reactions:FanTraffordOccultist of the Great OnesJan 24, 2025Add bookmark#16Roroman said:This fic is interesting though I don't know much about soul land or battle through the heavens.The two martial spirits seem to be from other cultivation stories huh,any particular reason they were picked?Thanks for the chapter
Bloodviolet Seven Star Fiend Sword is the first weapon of Linley Baruch from the Coiling Dragon and I wanted MC to have tool spirit, as Hun Tiandi was often depicted as swordman.
Second one is Austin Griffin from the Sealed Divine Throne and not saying about that anything, because that would be a great spoiler. Like Quote ReplyReport Reactions:Fan, MrBlases, sideface and 4 othersRoromanMaking the RoundsJan 24, 2025Add bookmark#17Trafford said:Bloodviolet Seven Star Fiend Sword is the first weapon of Linley Baruch from the Coiling Dragon and I wanted MC to have tool spirit, as Hun Tiandi was often depicted as swordman.
Second one is Austin Griffin from the Sealed Divine Throne and not saying about that anything, because that would be a great spoiler.Thanks for the explanations ,out of curiosity will the mc have abilities similar to his last life as well or will he have little to no similar powers to his previous life? Like Quote ReplyReport Reactions:Fan and ZeroZeroThreadmarks Chapter 4 – 1st Spirit Ring and Surprise Threadmarks TraffordOccultist of the Great OnesJan 31, 2025Add bookmark#18He was confident enough in his own capabilities to defeat the Man Faced Demon Spider on his own, just with his martial skills and the Bloodviolet Seven Star Fiend Sword. Hun Tiandi also had a secret trump card, which was the Nihility Devouring Flame Bloodline, which allowed him to use the Nihility Devouring Flame.
Albeit, it was possible only in very limited quantities because controlling the Nihility Devouring Flame right now seemed to be impossible. Even at the peak of his power, he had problems controlling the Nihility Devouring Flame as the Heavenly Flame developed a very high degree of sentience and became its own being.
Though right now, it only seemed that he had some seed of the Nihility Devbourign Flame within his Bloodline that was turned into his very own Bloodline. So, while there was no risk of any kind of sentience or something similar, it still remained the fact that controlling the Nihility Devouring Flame was hard.
It was hard even in the controlled environment within the Spirit Hall when he was refining Pills, because due to the very own characteristics of the Nihility Devouring Flame made it pretty hard to control and use.
At the same time, using it in direct combat was, for now, almost out of the question, but when there was the need, Hun Tiandi was confident that he could control it for around thirty seconds, which was far more than enough for him to do wonders with its power.
He held the Bloodviolet Seven Star Fiend Sword in his right hand, as he could feel that the Martial Soul was hungry for blood. The Bloodviolet Seven Star Fiend Sword never faced anything in real combat, in real life and death situations, and it seemed like the Bloodviolet Seven Star Fiend Sword sensed that it was time.
Time for it to taste some blood.
He also knew that if things really went bad, he had two Titled Douluo on his back to cover for him, but something was telling him that it wouldn't be really needed today.
Soon enough the Man Faced Demon Spider noticed him observing it as the Spirit Beast charged toward Hun Tiandi at a very fast speed, despite it's huge size. While the Man Faced Demon Spider was a very big Spirit Beast, it was also highly agile and fast.
This species of the Spirit Beasts wasn't called Predator of Predators for nothing because they were indeed one of the most dangerous species among the Spirit Beasts that could easily and effortlessly hunt for the other predators among the Spirit Beasts.
He needed to avoid the legs of the Man Faced Demon Spider as one hit would be everything needed to cleave him in half. Their legs were their sharpest weapon, but avoiding them was rather easy due to the Hun Tiandi's small size.
As the size difference between him and the Man Faced Demon Spider was huge, he knew that the Spirit Beast would have a very hard time hitting it precisely. And it was indeed true, because the moment when the Man Faced Demon Spider arrived and hacked at him with his several legs, Hun Tiandi effortlessly dodged to the side.
It wasn't much of a problem because the Man Faced Demon Spider was very big, and he was small on the contrary, and also pretty fast. For the time being, he wasn't really attacking or doing anything, as he was just gauging the exact powers of the Man Faced Demon Spider.
At the same time, he was also aware that this entire situation where he was just dodging the legs of the Man Faced Demon Spider must be driving the predator to the madness because the Man Faced Demon Spiders were always top dogs in the area where they were resizing.
So, seeing something as insignificant as a human in its eye and being able to dodge every single attempt to kill him must be driving the Man Faced Demon Spider into a rage, and he was very true to this one.
Spirit Beasts, in some cases and in some areas, were far more emotional than the humans, as they were being ruled by their instincts more than humans. This often led to Spirit Beasts being more emotional and easier to provoke and lead around.
Just like in this case, and when Hun Tiandi gathered enough information about the combat style of the Man Faced Demon Spider, and its patterns, it was time to really start fighting against the Spirit Beast and kill it for his 1st Spirit Ring.
He held the Bloodviolet Seven Star Fiend Sword and rushed towards the Man Faced Demon Spider at fast speed, aiming at one of the joints in the leg of the Man Faced Demon Spider.
During the time he was dodging the attacks by the Man Faced Demon Spider that was attempting to skewer him up with its lance-like legs, Hun Tiadi noticed that due to the huge size of its body, especially the legs, there were several joints in its legs that could be cut through.
With one swing of the Bloodviolet Seven Star Fiend Sword, he cut through one of the legs of the Man Faced Demon Spider as the Spirit Beast shrieked in pain from having one of its legs cut, but having one leg cut wasn't that of a problem for the Man Faced Demon Spider, because spiders have eight legs.
At the same time, the Man Faced Demon Spiders were known for their fearsome generation and capabilities of being able to regrow their entire legs. The regenerative capabilities of the Man Faced Demon Spider were obviously no joke, and if he left the Spirit Beast some more time, it would become dangerous for him.
Now that he had created an opportunity, he needed to act very quickly to kill the Man Faced Demon Spider as fast as possible because the beast had been disoriented for some time; as he aimed the Bloodviolet Seven Star Fiend Sword at the other leg, once again targeting the joint and severing another leg.
Soon enough, the Man Faced Demon Spider was down to six legs from the eight legs, and it wasn't stopping there because Hun Tiandi wasn't stopping his onslaught on the Spirit Beast until the creature was finally dead.
As the blood spluttered everywhere, he needed to be extra careful about the blood of the Man Faced Demon Spider because that one was highly poisonous and corrosive. It's corrosive poison could corrode even metals and bones, but fortunately, the Bloodviolet Seven Star Fiend Sword was okey.
Even if the Martial Soul had problems withstanding the corrosive blood of the Man Faced Demon Spider, he could always use a bit of the Nihility Devouring Flame to burn the blood away in the worst case.
Just as he was about to sever another leg of the Man Faced Demon Spider, the spider was much faster and managed to dodge with his leg and counterattack with another one of his legs.
It took everything that he had for Hun Tiandi to dodge. He gritted his teeth, when he noticed that the speed of the Man Faced Demon Spider seemed to double or triple out of nowhere, and the spider also became far more aggressive.
He knew that the Man Faced Demon Spider was probably already enraged enough and would right now stop at nothing to deal with him. It seemed that the Man Faced Demon Spider finally took him as a serious opponent because till this time, it was more than enough clear that the Spirit Beast was playing with him.
Hun Tiandi wasn't really surprised by that, because from the viewpoint of the humongous Man Faced Demon Spider, he was just a tiny human waving a sword. It seemed that the arrogance would be the downfall of this Spirit Beast.
He found it rather ironic.
The entirety of the situation.
He was in the exact place of the Man Faced Demon Spider in the past, because he too, lost only due to his arrogance. Everything was destroyed only due to his arrogance, and he never really took that brat from the Xiao Clan seriously, which allowed him to grow strong enough to contend with him.
Not only that, but he even unknowingly created perfect conditions for him to destroy everything that he had built during the many millennia. Yet, everything was lost due to his arrogance, something that he would be bearing in his heart for the rest of his life.
Because it was his own mistake and misguided belief in his own invisibility and might.
And it still crumbled like the house of cards.
He had learned from the mistakes of the past, and the experiences that he suffered at Xiao Yan's hands curbed down the arrogance that he had built. He would never allow for something like that to repeat once more, when he lost everything in a few moments, just because he didn't kill that rat when he was still weak.
Hun Tiandi looked at the Man Faced Demon Spider, who was prepared to throw a web at him, which would most probably end the fight if he was caught in that. While he was confident in his capabilities and the power of the Bloodviolet Seven Star Fiend Sword, he knew that once he was trapped in the web of the Man Faced Demon Spider, it would be game over.
The webs of the Man Faced Demon Spider were extremely sticky and durable, so by the time he managed to cut through the webs and free himself with the help of the Bloodviolet Seven Star Fiend Sword, the Man Faced Demon Spider would have long ago made chopped meat out of him.
So he needed to dodge the web at any cost, so when he noticed that the Man Faced Demon Spider was preparing to shoot it's web at him, he decided to act in an instant and did something that the Man Faced Demon Spider didn't predict at all.
From the experience of the Man Faced Demon Spider, most of the Spirit Masters would either try to escape from the opposite direction if they could recognize it, preparing to shoot its web at them, but most of the Spirit Masters wouldn't, so they got caught instead.
It was for this reason that the creature was confused about the behavior of the tiny human that managed to severe two of its legs, but it was already too late, as the Man Faced Demon Spider shot the web from his stinger at the end of its huge belly and the human ran towards the Man Faced Demon Spider, essentially missing the web by an inch.
This enraged the spider even further because the Man Faced Demon Spider was confident that the web would be ending this farce, as it had already suffered enough at the hands of this human with two of its precious legs being already gone, and it would need a lot of time to regenerate those legs.
It would even hinder its time of advancing to greater heights because right now, it would be using all of its energy and power to regenerate to the perfect condition. Not many people knew about it, but the Man Faced Demon Spiders were very intelligent Spirit Beasts and the ones that loved to prey on the humans and, especially, the Spirit Masters.
Hun Tiandi, meanwhile, as he dodged the web, raised the Bloodviolet Seven Star Fiend Sword as he used the Martial Soul to tear through the belly of the Man Faced Demon Spider in the unprotected moment when the Spirit Beast was having a blank period after it shot out the web.
In the bestiaries within the Spirit Hall, there was a lot of written information on the various kinds of the Spirit Beast, including the Man Faced Demon Spider, and the best time to attack them was right after the spider shot out the web.
When the Man Faced Demon Spider used the web ability, it would create some time, approximately one or two seconds, when the Man Faced Demon Spider was weakened for that time, and it was this time that he made use as he stabbed the Bloodviolet Seven Star Fiend Sword into the heart of the Man Faced Demon Spider after he took it out from the belly of the spider.
Now it was time to absorb the Spirit Ring of the Man Faced Demon Spider, as he noted that the Golden Crocodile Douluo and Chrysanthemum Douluo had exited their hiding spaces while observing the combat from a safe location.
When the Man Faced Demon Spider finally lost its life, both of the Titled Douluo exited their hiding place, as both of them were rather surprised by the Hun Tiandi's fight against the powerful Spirit Beast that was very powerful for its age.
"You did a splendid job fighting that Spirit Beast, Tiandi. You can now absorb the Spirit Ring of the Man Faced Demon Spider."
He received praise from Jin Eyu because he managed to kill the powerful Spirit Beast, such as the Man Faced Demon Spider, which was around 2,500 Years old on his own, which was a really staggering achievement considering that he didn't have any Spirit Skills or Spirit Rings.
In the Douluo Continent, the Spirit Skills and Spirit Rings were basically everything, and they reigned supreme, while the martial arts and other things on that level were in the background, something that was rather illogical to the Hun Tiandi.
While he knew that the Spirit Rings and Spirit Skills were wonders of the Universe and certainly gave tremendous power to their users, they were also faulty because over-dependence on one type of skill was dangerous once the user lost access to the said skill or just couldn't use it.
He looked at the corpse of the Man Faced Demon Spider as he prepared to absorb the Spirit Ring of the Man Faced Demon Spider as the 1st Spirit Ring for this Bloodviolet Seven Star Fiend Sword Martial Soul.
Spirit Rings are the part of the remains released by Spirit Beasts following their death, sacrifice, or contract with humans. Only the person who delivers the killing blow can absorb the Spirit Ring and needs to be at a bottleneck, so Hun Tiandi, who is at the Spirit Rank 20, could absorb two Spirit Rings.
He started absorbing the Spirit Ring of the Man Faced Demon Spider into the Bloodviolet Seven Star Fiend Sword Martial Soul, as the remnants of the Man Faced Demon Spider glowed a bit and Spirit Energy from the corpse entered the Bloodviolet Seven Star Fiend Sword Martial Soul, while Purple Ring formed around the sword itself.
This signifies that the 1st Soul Ring that he obtained for his Martial Soul was more than 1,000 years old, though hopefully, it would evolve to an even higher age. The older the Spirit Ring was, the stronger the Spirit Skill would become.
It took him around half an hour to complete the absorption of his first Spirit Ring, it was rather taxing on his body, but it didn't end here. Soon enough, his clothes were torn on his back, as eight purple-black spider legs quickly emerged and waved irregularly around.
"Damm... this is what you call lucky... he even got External Spirit Bone from all of this."
The Spirit Bones were the bones that were left following the death of a Spirit Beast. The chances of a Spirit Beast dropping the Spirit Bones are extremely rare. Generally speaking, the lower the cultivation of a Spirit Beast, the lower the probability of producing a Spirit Bone.
However, the possibility of dropping a Spirit Bone increases if the Spirit Beast feels a huge amount of resentment before getting killed, dies willingly, or is grateful for their death.
Spirit Bones are considered as extremely important, as much as Spirit Rings, as they provide new abilities to the spirit master. Not only can a spirit bone strengthen the bone in whichever area it is contained in, but it can also strengthen everything within, including meridians, muscles, bones, and so on.
So, having a Spirit Bone is a comprehensive enhancement to the body. Unlike the Spirit Rings, Spirit Bones will not disappear because of the death of a Spirit Master and will remain. As long as they are not destroyed, they will be preserved forever.
"Yeah, and obtaining the External Spirit Bone at that... ts, it's like he has the blessing of the world itself."
Golden Crocodile Douluo Jin Eyu remarked as he watched Hun Tiandi assimialting the External Spirit Bones from the Man Faced Demon Spider.
External Spirit Bones are extremely rare forms of Spirit Bones that deviate from the normal six Spirit Bone infusion sites. Their value is immeasurable and second only to 100,000-Year Spirit Rings.
They have the possibility to grow and evolve into higher forms.
"Nevertheless, it seems that the gains from this trip would be far higher than we have anticipated... if he could evolve the External Spirit Bone to a higher form, it would give him a tremendous edge over the other Spirit Masters. Not to mention, even now, the External Spirit Bone is related to the swords because he obtained the lances of the Man Faced Demon Spider that could be used as a blade."
During the time that the two Titled Douluos were speaking with each other, Hun Tiandi finished the assimilation of the Spirit Ring and also the External Spirit Bones, which he named Eight Spider Lances.
He could control the eight spider-like legs that were fused with him like they were part of his body, so manipulating them at will wasn't any problem. When he didn't need them, he could also recall them in his body, storing them as energy near some of his ribs.
The Eight Spider Lances contained the extremely potent poison of the Man Faced Demon Spider within the vertebra where the bone attaches to Hun Tiandi's spine, and these lances can be used to inject poison into another.
Anyone who gets even as little as a scratch or comes into contact with a lance without Spirit Energy defense will immediately be poisoned and will shortly die unless he removes the poison.
The Eight Spider Lances can also drain the life energy out of any living being and temporarily use it as its own.
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