A Huge Thank You and Welcome to Our New Patron: Selo!
--------------------
In the top-tier meditation chamber of the Star Luo Royal Family, the air was thick with concentrated life energy. An elder clad in the robes of a Star Luo Imperial contributor, the Level 93 healing-type Title Douluo with the title "Holy Healer," had beads of sweat forming on his forehead.
He held his hands above the unconscious Tang Wulin, and a cascade of emerald light from his soul rings flowed like a waterfall into Tang Wulin's battered body.
"The bone injuries have been mended, and the damage to the internal organs is being repaired… But this child's spirit seems to have suffered a tremendous shock, having directly collided with that rampant dragon aura, causing an excessive mental disturbance."
Holy Healer Douluo withdrew his hands, his face showing signs of fatigue and gravity. "The external injuries are not a problem; the foundation remains intact. However, he needs time to recuperate before he can awaken. Forcing him awake might harm his essence. Prince Fourth, I have done my best."
Dai Yueyan, representing the royal family, nodded gravely: "We appreciate your efforts, Holy Healer Elder. Please use the best medicine to ensure there are no lingering issues."
This was not just an apology but also a necessary explanation to Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect.
Zhuo Shi stood by, watching his disciple's pale yet steady breathing. His expression softened slightly, but the anger in his eyes had not faded. If anything were to happen to Tang Wulin, Zhuo Shi wouldn't hesitate to cause a scene in Star Luo City.
Fortunately, it hadn't come to that. Dai Tianling recognized Zhuo Shi's high regard for Tang Wulin and didn't hesitate to summon the healing-type Title Douluo among the imperial contributors.
On the other side, the other semifinal match was drawing much attention.
Gu La and Bai Yuan exchanged only a few symbolic moves before Gu La waved his hand and chose to stop.
"I concede." Gu La's calm voice echoed across the venue, causing a stir. He looked at Bai Yuan, his gaze profound with a hint of anticipation. "This honor belongs to you, Bai Yuan."
With that, his figure flickered and disappeared from the stage, leaving the audience stunned.
This concession was straightforward and decisive, as if premeditated, making Dai Tianling frown slightly. Shrek students' apparent indifference to the championship made him feel somewhat embarrassed.
But what did Gu La care about? As an avatar traded to Shrek, letting the avatar gain glory was part of his after-sales service.
Bai Yuan stood on the platform, calm and majestic.
He understood Gu La's meaning—the stage was handed over to him to face the recently rampaging mad dragon.
A cold smile tugged at the corner of Bai Yuan's lips. Apart from Liu Niandao, who naturally lacked emotions, Bai Yuan was the one most indifferent to worldly matters.
The next day.
Finals, Bai Yuan vs. Long Yue.
After two days of rest, the crimson in Long Yue's eyes had not fully receded. The rage stirred up by Tang Wulin still growled low in his blood. Otherwise, his issues would not have troubled En Ci, a Limit Douluo.
Long Yue craved a more thorough release. His dragon claws struck out with the sound of tearing wind, and the mountain-like pressure once again enveloped the entire arena.
"Formless Abyss!"
Bai Yuan barked, his body instantly becoming ethereal, as if merging into a thick darkness. Long Yue's claws, sharp enough to tear through alloy, seemed to pierce into a void-like swamp. The violent force sank without a trace, not even stirring a ripple.
Moreover, Long Yue was horrified to find that the soul power attached to his spear was being voraciously sucked and stripped away by an invisible force.
"Mountains!" Long Yue roared in anger, his attack shifting. His soul ring lit up, and a yellow-brown mountain phantom struck horizontally.
"Three Heads, Six Arms!"
Bai Yuan's body suddenly expanded, soul power surging, instantly coalescing into a towering, fearsome three-headed, six-armed Dharma body several meters tall.
The three heads had indistinct features but exuded greed. The six arms were muscular, and their palms cracked open to reveal pitch-black mouths filled with sharp teeth.
Strength, speed, and perception multiplied. The six arms moved simultaneously, either blocking or seizing. The greedy maws in his palms bit into the mountains, rivers, and dissipating soul power Long Yue threw at him. Each contact weakened the opponent while nourishing himself.
"Hahaha, bring it on!" Long Yue was delighted instead of alarmed. Bai Yuan's bizarre devouring power acted like an efficient pressure relief valve, continuously siphoning away the excess dragon blood power that had driven him mad.
The restlessness and loss of control caused by years of slaughter were suppressed to an unprecedented safe level in this fierce exchange.
He had never fought so freely, without worrying about losing control, able to unleash his overwhelming power like a stormy sea.
Dragon claws clashed wildly with the abyssal Dharma body. Soul power surged, and the platform thundered.
Long Yue was a Soul Emperor with the enhancement of one-word battle armor, possessing overwhelmingly tyrannical strength.
Though Bai Yuan was one ring lower and his battle armor incomplete, the devouring domain of his Abyss Mouth martial soul and nearly perfect soul skill combination made him like a bottomless black hole. No matter how much power Long Yue poured out, it was devoured, transformed, and partially used against him.
"Ultimate Devouring!"
Bai Yuan seized a moment when Long Yue's old force had just dissipated and a new wave had yet to arise. The central head of the three-headed Dharma body opened its massive mouth, and a terrifying suction erupted.
Space around Long Yue seemed to collapse. A powerful soul skill he had just gathered to explode was forcibly torn from his soul power flow as if bitten by an invisible giant mouth, instantly disintegrating and dispersing. Even the luster on his battle armor dimmed slightly.
Bai Yuan activated another soul skill, his fourth soul ring flashing: "Abyssal Feast!"
This battle had been meticulously planned to devour the bloodline power of Long Yue's Mountain Dragon King. Tang Wulin had the divine consciousness of Tang San to protect him, making him difficult to target. Long Yue, however, was fair game.
Devouring Long Yue's surging soul skill power and the accumulated essence of dragon blood, Bai Yuan's entire body radiated with black light, and his presence soared dramatically.
His blood power surged like rivers, and his spiritual power became even more refined and sharp.
He felt deep within his body the latent, vague black shadow that had always lain dormant. After consuming such pure and powerful dragon blood power, it finally stirred.
Boom!
An ancient pressure from primeval times, brimming with endless greed and devouring, burst forth from Bai Yuan's body.
The shadow clearly manifested behind him—a ferocious dragon head, goat body, human-faced tiger teeth, and eyes under the armpits, precisely one of the nine sons of the Dragon God, symbolizing ultimate greed and devouring—Taotie.
However, this Taotie shadow was not the pure golden divine beast. It was pitch-black like ink, shrouded in the unique mist of the abyss that could swallow light. Its sharp teeth and claws glimmered with dark purple light, exuding an even more sinister and greedy aura than the original Taotie.
Abyssal Taotie!
This terrifying existence, originating from the essence of Taotie but altered by the power of the abyss plane and then transformed by the laws of the Douluo plane, finally unveiled its mysterious veil under the nourishment of Long Yue's surging Mountain Dragon King bloodline.
Long Yue bore the brunt. The moment the Abyssal Taotie shadow appeared, a natural awe and fear towards the direct bloodline of the Dragon God from deep within his bloodline submerged him like icy water.
His Mountain Dragon King martial soul trembled mournfully, and his movements involuntarily froze and stiffened for an instant.
That was the absolute suppression of a superior over an inferior!
"Boring, let's end this."
Bai Yuan's cold voice rang out. Feeling the endless thirst for purer dragon blood transmitted from the Abyssal Taotie martial soul within him, along with the clear intention instantly conveyed by Gu La through their soul link—The time has come!
The three-headed, six-armed Dharma body abruptly folded together, and the six giant hands, carrying terrifying devouring power, locked Long Yue firmly like six cages, immobilized by bloodline suppression.
"Abyss Feast · Taotie Devouring Origin!"
The mouths in his palms, the black mist surrounding the Dharma body, and even the giant mouth of the Abyssal Taotie shadow behind him erupted in an unprecedented vortex of devouring.
Long Yue felt his hard-earned, thick soul power uncontrollably pouring out like a breached flood.
Even the robust blood power inside him, which had been previously "guided" by Bai Yuan but now difficult to mobilize due to bloodline suppression, was rapidly drained like being pumped out crazily.
Within a few breaths, Long Yue's burly body visibly shriveled, his skin lost its luster, his presence dwindled to its lowest point. Ninety-nine percent of his soul power was devoured, and his boiling blood power calmed like stagnant water.
However, his essence remained unharmed, his foundation intact. He was merely completely exhausted, too weak to move even a finger. Bai Yuan precisely controlled the intensity of the devouring, taking only power without harming life.
Plop.
Bai Yuan dispelled the Dharma body, and Long Yue collapsed like a lump of mud, completely unconscious.
The referee was dumbfounded, almost forgetting to announce the result.
En Ci's face changed drastically, but he didn't rush to attack Bai Yuan. Instead, he first checked on his disciple. Upon realizing that Long Yue's foundation was intact and he just needed a few months of recovery, his tightly furrowed brows finally relaxed.
However, he still wanted to vent for his disciple, a privilege of being a strong individual!
But Zhuo Shi and Cai Yue'er received a warning from Gu La, locking onto En Ci's vital points from afar, making him hesitate.
Meanwhile, Gu La teleported back to the Star Luo Grand Hotel, preparing to use an ancient memory soul skill to help Bai Yuan fully stabilize his temporarily evolved martial soul.
"Bai Yuan."
Gu Yue's cool voice rang out, her figure flashing to the edge of the platform. At the instant Gu La transmitted his thoughts, she had already retrieved numerous items from her storage soul tool—thousand-year Blood Jade Ginseng, ten-thousand-year Ganoderma Lucidum, Soul Condensing Jade Marrow, Earth Vein Primordial Milk…
Various heavenly treasures containing abundant life energy and pure soul power instantly piled up into a brilliant small mountain at one corner of the platform.
"Catch."
Gu Yue waved her jade hand, and these priceless treasures flew accurately toward Bai Yuan, who had just finished devouring and was surrounded by swirling black qi, his presence fluctuating.
"Hmm?"
Both Zhuo Shi and Cai Yue'er, the two Sea God Pavilion elders, brightened their eyes simultaneously.
With their keen insight, they instantly recognized Bai Yuan's state—his martial soul essence was violently agitating, reaching the critical point of evolution and awakening. Thinking of the previous Taotie shadow, they had their suspicions.
Bai Yuan had devoured Long Yue's power, and with the manifestation of the Abyssal Taotie, this was the perfect opportunity to unearth the hidden Taotie bloodline within him and complete the ultimate awakening.
The two tacitly stepped forward, their boundless soul power spreading silently like the sea. One red and one ice-blue aura intertwined, firmly protecting the central area of the platform, isolating all possible interference and prying eyes.
The Sea God Pavilion Elder badges on their chests faintly glowed, representing the will of Shrek Academy.
Dai Tianling, En Ci, and other high-ranking officials of Star Luo Empire watched in horror as their top genius Long Yue was drained dry and knocked unconscious.
Now the opponent was going to transform right on their turf, and many of those treasures were the rewards for the two-on-two champions. Using their resources to facilitate the awakening of another, more terrifying martial soul was simply an outright slap in the face.
"Your Majesty, this…" A minister couldn't help but speak up.
Dai Tianling's expression remained unchanged, his imperial composure allowing him to stay calm amidst the situation. Yet Zhuo Shi and Cai Yue'er's attitude completely disregarded him. He abruptly raised his hand to stop his subordinates, squeezing out a few words through gritted teeth:
"…Let's wait and see."
Offend Shrek Academy? With Zhuo Shi and Cai Yue'er, two super Douluo personally guarding and openly supporting? Didn't you see that En Ci didn't make a move!
Dai Tianling forcefully suppressed his surging anger and humiliation, choosing to endure. En Ci looked at the increasingly terrifying presence of Bai Yuan within the protective barrier, then glanced at his unconscious disciple on the ground. He deeply sighed, silently taking Long Yue away.
At the center of the platform, Bai Yuan was enveloped in the radiant glow of the concentrated treasures.
Gu La's figure did not appear, but an abstruse, seemingly time-transcending peculiar fluctuation crossed space, precisely enveloping Bai Yuan.
"Ancient Memory·Bloodline Tracing!"
This was Gu La's time-based soul skill. It did not act on the physical body but traced the most primitive and fundamental form of Bai Yuan's martial soul on a temporal level.
Relying on the residual connection with the Taotie essence flesh devoured by the Abyss Mouth, this soul skill illuminated a lamp in the labyrinth of bloodlines.
Bai Yuan's consciousness was instantly pulled into a chaotic darkness. Countless fragmented notions of chaos, hunger, and greed assaulted him.
In this chaos representing the origin of the abyss and Taotie, guided by Gu La's soul skill and resonating with the recently devoured Dragon God bloodline aura, he touched with utmost clarity that point—the pulsation symbolizing the origin of devouring and the core essence of Taotie.
"Found it!"
Externally, as Bai Yuan's consciousness touched that point, the countless millennium and ten-thousand-year treasures surrounding him, stacked like a small mountain, were thrown into an invisible furnace.
Hiss Hiss Hiss—!
Visibly, all the treasures instantly lost their luster and vitality. Blood Jade Ginseng turned to ash, Ganoderma shattered into dust, Jade Marrow crumbled into stone chips, Primordial Milk evaporated…
Massive amounts of pure life energy and heaven-earth essence were ruthlessly drawn by an irresistible vortex of devouring from the deepest part of Bai Yuan's body.
Boom Boom Boom!
A huge, visible origin energy vortex centered on Bai Yuan suddenly formed. The core of the vortex was pitch-black, emitting a devouring force that made even Title Douluo shudder, crazily tearing at all surrounding energy.
All the stray soul power in the entire stadium was instantly drained, and even the protective barrier's light dimmed slightly.
At the center of the vortex, Bai Yuan's body floated up. The Abyssal Taotie shadow behind him emitted a silent roar, its form rapidly solidifying.
Pitch-black dragon scales covered his entire body, the goat body became more robust and filled with destructive power. The giant eyes under his armpits glinted with soul-devouring dark light, and his tiger teeth interlocked, as if capable of crushing space.
A far purer, more domineering, and terrifying aura that seemed capable of devouring heaven and earth erupted like an awakened ancient beast, roaring to life.
A super-divine martial soul combining the powers of the Abyss and Taotie, yet not suppressed by either source, born from miracles and impossibilities—Abyssal Taotie—successfully awakened!
The vortex slowly dissipated, and Bai Yuan landed back on the ground. He opened his eyes, and within his pupils, two miniature black holes seemed to rotate, devouring all light.
He lightly clenched his fist, feeling the surging power within his body, tenfold or even a hundredfold greater than before, along with a new understanding and mastery of the concept of "devouring" from deep within his bloodline.
He looked at Dai Tianling and others outside the protective barrier, their faces sour, and a cold, satisfied curve curled at the corner of his lips.
This match's harvest far exceeded expectations. He had initially planned to attempt evolving his martial soul in Dragon Valley but unexpectedly found the catalyst for evolution due to Long Yue's bloodline power.
He thanked Zhuo Shi and Cai Yue'er: "Thank you, esteemed teachers, for your protection."
Zhuo Shi lightly grunted, unable to hide his excitement: "You… That's a Taotie martial soul?"
A pure Taotie martial soul hadn't emerged since Pavilion Master Xuanzi of the Sea God Pavilion ten thousand years ago. But even from the scant records in Shrek's archives, one could glimpse the immense power of the Taotie martial soul, surpassing ordinary true dragons. How could he not be excited!
------------------------------------------------------
Join my Patreon to read an exclusive novel – 'Douluo: Rebuilding Hao Tian Sect'
40+ Chapters Ahead: patreon.com/EphemeralShadow
There's something for free patrons too! Free Patrons receive 1 chapter in advance :)