Chapter 194: Small Beast Tide! Tang San Fails to Absorb Soul Rings?
Several hours later, the moon shone like a silver platter, and the sky was filled with stars.
At the other end of Sunset Forest, the atmosphere was peaceful and orderly.
At this moment, Dugu Bo had already hunted suitable soul beasts for the Shi brothers, who were sitting cross-legged on the ground, fully absorbing their fourth soul rings.
Beside the two Shi brothers lay the corpses of soul beasts, each comparable in size to a small hill; these were five-thousand-year-old Thorn Rock Turtles.
Their appearance was slightly ferocious, with thick rock shells covering their entire bodies like natural armor, and sharp, jagged stone spikes protruding from their shells, all demonstrating their powerful defense in life.
Two deep purple soul rings floated above the Shi brothers' heads, emanating dense soul power fluctuations that then surged into their bodies like a tide.
Tang Chuan and Dugu Bo stood not far away, quietly protecting them.
Although Dugu Bo still maintained his lazy demeanor, the occasional glint of shrewdness in his emerald eyes revealed that he had never let his guard down.
However, this tranquility did not last long.
"Rumble... rustle..."
Suddenly, an unusually intense and dense commotion arose without warning from the depths of the nearby dense forest.
The sound grew louder as it approached, initially like rolling thunder, then becoming like a surging tide.
Interspersed among it were the crisp sounds of countless branches being trampled and broken, as well as the panicked cries, hisses, and roars of various soul beasts!
It was as if a vast army was rapidly gathering and galloping in that area, immediately causing a small-scale ground tremor, like an earthquake.
This commotion was definitely not caused by ordinary soul beast fighting; it was more like the prelude to a massive beast tide, or a collective riot caused by some kind of extreme stimulation to the soul beasts!
Instantly, Tang Chuan and Dugu Bo's brows furrowed slightly, their expressions changing.
The next second, Tang Chuan raised his head, his gaze turning gravely towards the direction from which the sound came. He instantly activated his Blue Silver Domain to its maximum, his voice tinged with disbelief:
"Something's wrong! This commotion is too great; it seems like many soul beasts are gathering."
Hearing this, Dugu Bo's previously lazy demeanor vanished, his emerald pupils shrinking to pinpoints, and an invisible chill emanating from his body. He coldly snorted:
"Hmph! This aura is chaotic with violence and anger... It doesn't seem like a naturally formed beast tide. It's more like the soul beasts have been greatly frightened, or provoked by someone!"
Nodding slightly, Tang Chuan knew the situation was somewhat dire. He immediately activated his Blue Silver Domain with all his might, his spiritual power spreading rapidly towards the direction from which the commotion originated.
The scene he saw through the Blue Silver Domain made his heart sink.
In the distant dense forest, it was as if a pot had been boiled over.
Countless soul beasts, ranging from the lowest-level ten-year and hundred-year-old beasts to the ferocious thousand-year-old beasts, and even a dozen or so powerful ten-thousand-year-old soul beasts, broke through their former territorial boundaries and species barriers, mixing together to form a chaotic and violent torrent of soul beasts.
These soul beasts were diverse in species, including agile wind wolves, gentle rock rhinoceroses, ferocious venomous pythons, and raging giant apes. Their only common feature at this moment was their pair of crimson eyes, filled with fear and anger, and their frenzied trampling behavior.
This was by no means an organized beast tide. It was more like a large-scale, organized revenge of soul beasts against human soul masters!
Sensing that some of the soul beasts were rushing towards them like headless flies, Tang Chuan's expression changed. He immediately withdrew his Blue Silver Domain and turned to look at the Shi brothers behind him, who were in the critical period of absorbing soul rings and could not be disturbed in the slightest.
"Not good!"
He shouted in a deep voice to Dugu Bo, who had just taken off to set up the poison array:
"The beast horde is in chaos! A portion of them seems to be charging towards us. There are quite a few of them, including several ten-thousand-year-old soul beasts!"
"If this chaotic horde of beasts charges in, the Shi brothers' soul ring absorption will inevitably be interrupted. If they suffer a backlash, the consequences will be unimaginable!"
Hearing this, Dugu Bo, who had just taken off, was now surrounded by dark green poisonous mist. He snorted coldly, a hint of disdain and arrogance flashing in his green eyes, and said:
"What's the panic? They're just a bunch of mindless beasts!"
"But then again, someone must have done something heinous to the soul beasts in this Sunset Forest. Otherwise, these beasts wouldn't have gathered and rioted."
Immediately afterward, Dugu Bo quickly formed hand seals, and a surge of powerful Title Douluo-level soul power erupted from his body, instantly merging with the poison within him.
"Don't worry, I won't let them in."
As soon as he finished speaking, Dugu Bo's figure flashed through the air several times. The dark green poisonous mist, as if possessing a life of its own, rapidly spread and descended from him, radiating outwards.
The vegetation below, touched by the mist, did not wither immediately.
Instead, it seemed to be coated with an eerie green light.
He circled the core area where Tang Chuan and the Shi brothers were located, rapidly flying through the air. Wherever he passed, the dense poisonous mist, like a paintbrush, drew a huge dark green circle on the ground, perfectly protecting everyone at its center.
"Jade Phosphorous Poison Dragon Formation—Activate!"
With Dugu Bo's low shout, the fallen poisonous mist suddenly rose, transforming into a dark green poisonous barrier tens of meters high, thin as a cicada's wing, yet radiating a chilling aura.
It completely isolated the area inside, like an inverted bowl. Above the poisonous barrier, a flowing emerald light swirled, and faint emerald dragon shadows flickered, emanating a deadly aura that would deter even ten-thousand-year-old soul beasts.
"It's done, kid. You can relax now. Unless a hundred-thousand-year-old soul beast comes in person, or a Title Douluo forcibly attacks my poison array, those crazed beasts outside won't be able to break in an inch. Any soul beast under ten thousand years old will die upon touching this poison array."
With a flash, Dugu Bo stepped through the void, lightly landing back beside Tang Chuan, clapping his hands as if he had only done a trivial task.
...
Meanwhile, at the other end of Sunset Forest.
In stark contrast to Tang Chuan's composure, relying on the poison array, the atmosphere here was extremely tense.
Tang San was sitting cross-legged before the corpse of the ten-thousand-year-old Explosive Fire Ape.
The deep black soul ring had been drawn above his head, and a surge of immense energy was frantically flowing into his body, attempting to fuse with his Clear Sky Hammer spirit.
However, as the first spirit ring of the Clear Sky Hammer, Tang San's decision to directly absorb the terrifying energy brought by a ten-thousand-year spirit ring, far exceeding his current physical limits, was already beyond his body's capacity!
His face was flushed crimson, as if dripping blood.
Veins bulged on his forehead and neck, throbbing and twisting like writhing dragons.
Large beads of sweat seeped from his skin, soaking through his clothes, making him look as if he had just been pulled from water.
Furthermore, his body was trembling uncontrollably, his muscles spasming, as if he might explode at any moment from the raging energy.
"Ugh…ah…"
The next second, a painful groan escaped from Tang San's clenched teeth.
His spirit power fluctuated wildly, sometimes overflowing violently, impacting the surrounding ground and leaving cracks, and sometimes suddenly contracting inward, as if crushing his own flesh and bones.
The illusory image of the Clear Sky Hammer floating in his palm was also trembling violently.
Meanwhile, the dark red fire-attribute energy on the Clear Sky Hammer was also surging uncontrollably. Clearly, Tang San had overestimated his physical abilities.
At this moment, not only was his body on the verge of collapse, but even his spiritual sea felt like it was being scorched by flames. His consciousness was becoming blurred, and he was showing signs of exploding and dying!
The Grandmaster had no idea what the real problems were when cultivating twin spirits.
It wasn't that adding the first two spirit rings would prevent the body from exploding; every soul master's situation was different. The soul master with twin spirits didn't explode after the first two spirit rings because his body could still absorb the energy from the spirit rings. Tang San's body, however, had long since reached the critical value for spirit ring absorption.
First, how many spirit rings a person can absorb depends on their body's limit. Soul masters are constantly breaking their own limits during spirit cultivation.
An ordinary soul master with around level ten soul power can only withstand spirit rings of about four hundred years.
When their soul power reaches level twenty, the limit is about seven hundred years.
Simultaneously, each absorbed spirit ring enhances a soul master's physical attributes.
The process of a soul master absorbing spirit rings and improving their strength is inherently a virtuous cycle: absorbing spirit rings improves physical attributes, breaks shackles, and allows for upward cultivation.
Within their own limits, each absorbed spirit ring improves a soul master's physical attributes, leading to a new limit with each subsequent absorption.
The closer the absorbed spirit ring is to their cultivation limit, the more virtuous the cycle becomes. However, if a soul master relentlessly pursues higher-age spirit rings, and their body cannot withstand the immense energy impact, the result will be immediate death.
A single spirit can often maintain a good standard, allowing for continuous upward cultivation.
But twin spirits are different. If a soul master cultivates two spirits simultaneously, a phenomenon occurs: while someone else's body only needs to withstand the energy load of one spirit ring, this soul master must withstand the energy load of two.
Tang San is currently only a Soul Elder. Having already cultivated the Blue Silver Grass spirit and possessing a ten-thousand-year spirit ring as his fourth, his body has long since reached the critical value that spirit ring energy can withstand. If Tang San were to forcibly absorb another ten-thousand-year spirit ring into his Clear Sky Hammer's first spirit ring, his body simply wouldn't be able to withstand it.
To absorb it successfully, he would need to withstand at least the full energy of a Soul King's spirit ring.
The problem is, Tang San is currently only a Soul Elder; how could he possibly possess the physical attributes of a Soul King? Even with his spirit bones and significantly improved physical attributes, it's still insufficient to support his Clear Sky Hammer directly absorbing a ten-thousand-year spirit ring.
In the original story, both Tang San and Bibi Dong completed the virtuous cycle of their first spirit, cultivating it to its peak before cultivating their second spirit.
Furthermore, they ultimately possessed six spirit bones to enhance their physique.
Under such circumstances, their physical attributes were very strong, and cultivating their second spirit wouldn't be a problem.
But Tang San, having only cultivated his Blue Silver Grass spirit to around level forty, has rashly begun adding spirit rings to his Clear Sky Hammer.
His body simply cannot withstand such a massive amount of energy.
Therefore, this is destined to be a path of no return.
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[end of the chapter]