Tang Wulin was also feeling different somehow. His connection with the Dragonslaying Saber had clearly grown stronger, but he couldn"t tell exactly what had resulted in this; all that he could deduce was that the Dragonslaying Saber seemed to have already become a part of him.
The golden light lingered in the air for a full 10 minutes before the dragon patterns on the surface of the ma.s.sive Dragonslaying Saber finally began to fade. It then plummeted from above as a streak of golden light before plunging itself into the ground.
The golden light receded, and the Dragonslaying Saber warped slightly before returning to its human form. As soon as this humanoid figure appeared, both Tang Wulin and A"Ruheng"s pupils contracted drastically.
Was this... really still Sima Jinchi?
He was tall and imposing, and he seemed to have become the core of the entire heaven and earth. Compared to the past Sima Jinchi, this new version of him seemed to have become over 10 years younger and returned to his early thirties. His tanned skin was s.h.i.+mmering with faint golden light, and his long golden hair was trailing down both sides of his face. His facial features looked as if they had been carved out of marble, and his pupils had also become vertical.
His muscles were filled with an artistic and graceful sense of power, and his aura was more concealed, rather than sharp as a blade as it had once been before. Nine soul rings rose up from beneath his feet before revolving around his body, and the most eye-catching one among them was his ninth soul ring. This was a golden soul ring, and all of his eight other soul rings completely paled into insignificance, as if they were mere accessories to that ninth soul ring.
"Holy c.r.a.p, you became more handsome, Sima! What happened? What kind of breakthrough was that?" A"Ruheng exclaimed in a slightly envious manner.
Sima Jinchi didn"t offer any reply. His eyes were fixed on Tang Wulin, and there were complex emotions flas.h.i.+ng within them. Only after several seconds had pa.s.sed did he stride over to Tang Wulin before falling to one knee in a respectful manner. "Master!"
Tang Wulin was given a fright by this and hurriedly sidestepped his respectful gesture. "What are you doing, Brother Sima?"
Sima Jinchi was an extremely proud person, so why was he suddenly referring to Tang Wulin as "master?"
Sima Jinchi explained in a respectful voice, "There"s no need to be alarmed, Master; I was only born into this world by your hands, so I owe my life to you. From this day forth, I will be your law-enforcing saber, and you can use me to sever all injustice, disloyalty, evil, and vanity in this world."
Tang Wulin was feeling rather perplexed, but he could sense that this seemed to have something to do with the scenes that he had just witnessed earlier. Sima Jinchi definitely wouldn"t refer to him as master for no reason, and it was quite clear that he had now progressed to the t.i.tled Douluo.
Furthermore, with his powers, he was definitely one of the most powerful t.i.tled Douluos on the entire continent. Even with Tang Wulin"s confidence in his own abilities, he could sense that he most likely wasn"t a match for Sima Jinchi anymore.
"Hmm? You"re calling my junior disciple brother master, so you should call me master"s senior disciple brother from now on," A"Ruheng jibed with a sly smile.
Sima Jinchi rose to his feet and shot a glance at him. "p.i.s.s off."
"F*ck, you think you"re a top sh*t now that you"ve made a breakthrough? Are you looking down on me? Let me see what you"re like now that you"re a t.i.tled Douluo," A"Ruheng chortled as he threw a fist at Sima Jinchi.
The two of them were used to fighting one another, and neither of them were willing to concede to the other. Ever since A"Ruheng had progressed to the t.i.tled Douluo level, he had consistently been able to best Sima Jinchi. Now that Sima Jinchi had also progressed to the t.i.tled Douluo level, he was naturally extremely eager for a fight.
Sima Jinchi suddenly ducked down before ramming his shoulder toward A"Ruheng. In the instant that A"Ruheng"s fist struck his shoulder, A"Ruheng was struck by the strange feeling that he had punched the edge of a blade rather than a human being.
The power of his congenital secret method erupted forth, and his fist abruptly expanded in size. Following a resounding boom, the two of them quickly separated before rapidly rus.h.i.+ng back.
They appeared to be evenly matched!
"Nice! Again!" A"Ruheng was extremely enthused, and he abruptly took a deep breath, following which his body instantly began to expand. With the span of just a few breaths, he had already reached over 10 meters in height. A metallic sheen glinted from his large bald head, and nine soul rings appeared around his body.
A powerful rumbling heartbeat rang out, and he immediately activated his martial soul"s second awakening.
Golden light flashed from Sima Jinchi"s vertical pupils, and he strode forward as the projections of nine giant dragons s.h.i.+mmered behind him. A ma.s.sive golden saber appeared out of thin air, and it was over five times larger than the original Dragonslaying Saber. He grabbed onto the hilt of the huge saber before slas.h.i.+ng it through the air, and a violent boom erupted as A"Ruheng was sent flying with golden light flas.h.i.+ng all over his body.
In contrast, Sima Jinchi"s body merely swayed slightly, and he only had to take a couple of steps back before he steadied himself.
"Again!" A"Ruheng roared, and in the next instant, his body hurtled through the air like a cannonball.
At this point, Tang Wulin had already retreated off to the side and was appraising this clash with a contemplative look on his face.
After reaching the t.i.tled Douluo level, Sima Jinchi had become far more powerful he had been in the past. Sima Jinchi was older than both him and A"Ruheng, and he looked older than his age, yet following this breakthrough, not only did he look significantly younger than before, his entire disposition had also completely changed. In particular, there seemed to be a hint of an aura that was akin to that of the Dragon G.o.d within his body, and this was quite a strange feeling for Tang Wulin.
Through this aura, he could clearly sense that he and Sima Jinchi had a certain bloodline connection, as if he were a part of his body, but this sense of closeness wasn"t one what he normally expected to feel toward another person. Instead, it resembled the connection that he had with his Golden Dragon Spear. Why was that the case?
This was a rather peculiar feeling, but it definitely truly existed.
Sima Jinchi"s Dragonslaying Saber was too powerful, and his saber soul had clearly already reached an extraordinary level of power. Even in direct clashes, A"Ruheng was now at a slight disadvantage against him.
However, A"Ruheng also had his own unique strengths. With the power of the Body Sect"s congenital secret method, he possessed a near-idestructible body that was always able to self-regenerate at an extraordinary rate, thereby allowing him to sustain a high level of combat prowess over an extended period of time.
Sima Jinchi sent A"Ruheng flying over and over again with his Dragonslaying Saber, only for A"Ruheng to rush back every single time, and in terms of overall powers, the two of them appeared to be quite evenly matched.
Of course, this was under the premise that neither of them had used their more powerful soul skills. What Tang Wulin was quite curious about was what ability that golden ninth soul ring of Sima Jinchi"s possessed.
He had once heard that golden soul rings were supposed to be million-year-old soul rings! Sima Jinchi clearly hadn"t obtained this soul ring from killing any soul beasts, and it seemed to have been bestowed upon him by his Dragonslaying Saber. In that case, how powerful was this soul ring?
If it really were a million-year-old soul ring, then its corresponding soul skill would most likely be very difficult for A"Ruheng to withstand.
Tang Wulin also really wanted to see what kind of ability this golden soul ring possessed.
The two of them had been engaging in back-and-forth exchanges for a while now, but Sima Jinchi had barely used any of his soul skills, and he certainly hadn"t touched that final soul skill.
"Alright, let"s leave it here for now. You really have become more powerful; I"ll finally have a suitable opponent now! Haha, Junior Disciple Brother, it won"t be that easy for you to defeat us now." A"Ruheng disengaged himself from the battle, having thoroughly enjoyed himself.
A suitable opponent was quite rare for him, so he was more than happy to see Sima Jinchi improve.
Sima Jinchi also withdrew his Dragonslaying Saber, but he wore a slightly brooding look on his face as if he were contemplating something, and he didn"t seem to be fully present.
"Brother Sima, I have something that I want to speak to you about in private," Tang Wulin said.
It was quite clear that A"Ruheng hadn"t witnessed the scenes depicting the Dragon G.o.d. Otherwise, with his personality, there was no way that he wouldn"t be asking questions. Seeing as only he and Sima Jinchi had witnessed those scenes, this was naturally something that they had to discuss. Sima Jinchi had clearly sensed something after fusing with the Dragonslaying Saber at the end, and that had to be why his att.i.tude toward Tang Wulin had s.h.i.+fted so drastically. Tang Wulin was quite curious about what he had experienced.
"Alright," Sima Jinchi agreed.
"Oi, what"s going on between you two? You haven"t turned gay for Sima just because he became more handsome, did you? Hahaha!"
Sima Jinchi immediately turned toward him with an enraged expression. "Shut your stupid mouth! No one misses your voice!"
A"Ruheng chortled, "Alright, I was just trying to cheer you up, you gloomy b.a.s.t.a.r.d. I"m going now; you two can have some quality alone time with each other." A"Ruheng appeared to be quite tone-deaf and oblivious most of the time, but he was actually quite thoughtful on the inside. Thus, he departed without asking any further questions, leaving only Tang Wulin and Sima Jinchi on the drill ground.
"Brother Sima, you saw the Dragon G.o.d just then as well, right? Why are you referring to me as your master?" Tang Wulin asked.
Sima Jinchi clearly had a complex look in his eyes as he cast his gaze toward Tang Wulin, then heaved a faint sigh.