Book 12: The Strength of the Preparatory Team
Chapter 96.1: A Battle Between t.i.tled Douluos
Cheng Gang, the Protector Douluo, left the Grand Imperial Star Hotel. There was no need to even mention how depressed he was feeling.
The instant he had sensed the aura of the savage , he had felt as if the blood in his body was boiling. As a t.i.tled Douluo, he was naturally aware that when a soul beast reached a hundred thousand years of cultivation, it could choose to re-cultivate to become a human. Otherwise, it could attempt to break through the exceedingly perilous bottleneck. After two hundred thousand years of cultivation, a soul beast could no longer cultivate to become a human anymore.
However, he had indeed sensed the aura that had come from Huo Yuhao"s body! Spurred by his own greed, he could not help but ponder how humans did not fully comprehend soul beasts. Perhaps there was some special circ.u.mstance? Maybe soul beasts had researched a special method of undergoing cultivation?
With such a mindset, he had gone looking for Huo Yuhao this morning with an elevated heartbeat. But who knew that things would turn out to be the complete opposite of what he had expected? After inspecting Huo Yuhao"s body, he had gleaned nothing from it. Even if a soul beast turned into a human, the condition of the soul beast"s body would be starkly dissimilar from that of a true human being. In particular, the method of circulating soul power was something that could not escape the eyes of a powerful individual, a t.i.tled Douluo, like him. However, Huo Yuhao body clearly reflected his ident.i.ty as a real human.
As his hopes had been dashed, it was no wonder that Cheng Gang was currently crestfallen.
With his current status in the Star Luo Empire, it was relatively easy for him to obtain a Soul Bone. While soul bones were rare, there were still some that could be acquired. However, Cheng Gang was a conceited man. He had been searching for the most suitable and outstanding soul bone for himself. Ordinary soul bones hardly caught his eye. Despite this, he had yet to procured a soul bone for himself even though he had cultivated to the level of a t.i.tled Douluo. After all, when top-quality soul bones appeared on the market, their prices were astronomical. Even though the Star Luo Empire supported him, they wouldn"t go to such an extent for him.
"What luck, d.a.m.n it. I hope those rascals have some tact. Otherwise, offending Shrek Academy for no valid reason won"t be good for me. But then, I didn"t really do anything either."
"You should be glad that you didn"t do anything to harm them." A cold voice sounded in his mind.
"Who is that?" It was still in the afternoon, and the sun was still bearing down. With Cheng Gang"s cultivation, everything within a thousand-meter radius would be within his range of sensation. However, he had not realized the presence of the person whose voice he had just heard.
"I am your daddy. Your daddy is waiting for you outside the west gate. Obedient child, come over now." That cold voice started to sound weird and piercing all of a sudden.
"b.a.s.t.a.r.d, you dare to use a soul tool to make a fool of me." Cheng Gang"s figure flashed, and he made his way towards the direction of the west gate as if he were a puff of smoke. To him, if even a t.i.tled Douluo could not detect the presence of the other party, then the other party must certainly be using some form of peculiar soul tool to avoid detection.
He had always been a very direct person, and very pa.s.sionate towards martial arts. Otherwise, he wouldn"t have gone to capture Huo Yuhao. He was still within Star Luo City and could wait for Shrek Academy to leave before making a move. But right now, he was extremely down, and thus he didn"t deliberate before making his way to the west gate under the prompting of the voice he had heard.
After leaving the city through the west gate, Cheng Gang became calmer. He squinted his eyes, and a weird change started to develop in his pupils. Both his eyes started to turn pure black, as all semblance of white disappeared. Following that, the pure black color in his eyes split into small pupils at an alarming rate. Under such conditions, his sensitivity increased severalfold. Although he did not possess the soul skill of spiritual detection like Huo Yuhao, his detection abilities were similar to that of spiritual detection at this point. Almost everything within his vision could be sensed by him at this moment.
However, he discovered nothing.
Outside the west gate, there was no one among the bustling crowd that caught his attention. Everything seemed to be as normal as ever. However, the more it was like that, the more uneasy Cheng Gang felt. He knew that something was amiss.
"Continue to proceed west." At this point, the voice from before sounded again.
As he focused on sensing his surroundings, Cheng Gang was shocked when he heard the voice. At the same time, a chill developed in his heart. What form of soul tool was it that could escape his detection?
A shred of discomfort caused him to retreat one step subconsciously.
"Are you trying to escape? Are you not afraid that I will tear down Star Luo City?" A wave of might suddenly swept across him. With Cheng Gang"s cultivation, he felt as if his blood was solidifying along with this sudden might that swept across.
It was pertinent to note that he was a t.i.tled Douluo! Ever since he had become one, he had never felt such fear before. However, the pressure that was being exerted on him now was very obvious. What left him even more stupefied was the fact that everyone around him did not seem to react at all. This meant that the frightening pressure being exerted on him was only targeted towards him.
This was the most terrifying part. To be able to control one"s might to this standard, even Cheng Gang could not do so.
"Who exactly are you?" Cheng Gang replied to the other party through the communication bridge in their spirits that the other party had set up.
"I"ll be waiting for you in the west. If you don"t come, I will make my move on Star Luo City. I shall give you 3 seconds to consider. 1, 2…"
"Fine, I"ll go." As the Protector Douluo of the Star Luo Empire, Cheng Gang naturally could not allow this unknown, yet powerful individual to make a move on the city. When a t.i.tled Douluo unleashed all his power, he had the daunting ability of causing ma.s.s destruction! Furthermore, through his interaction with this mysterious individual, he could clearly sense the fury that this person contained, although he had no killing intent.
Cheng Gang did stall any further, and proceeded west immediately. That voice did not appear anymore. At this point, he did not reckon that the other party was using any form of soul tool anymore. When the might of the other party had swept over him just now, he had realized that the other party was an outstanding t.i.tled Douluo just like him. However, he was fearless. He yearned for compet.i.tion against those at the same level as him. He believed that this was the only way that he could improve himself. While the other party possessed a mighty stature, Cheng Gang was aware that some unusual martial souls specialized in reflecting such mighty stature. This didn"t mean that the other party was necessarily more powerful than him.
After advancing for roughly 10 miles, Cheng Gang stopped in his tracks. He did so because he saw someone sitting in the middle of the road not far away from him. It was an elderly man who appeared to be greasy from head to toe, and who had unkempt hair. In his left hand, there was a chicken drumstick, and in his right hand, he held a wine gourd.
Cheng Gang sensed that the elderly man was only an ordinary person. However, this elderly man was enjoying his food and wine in the middle of the road.
"Come over!" The elderly man gnawed on the last fragment of meat on the chicken drumstick as he lifted his head towards Cheng Gang and looked at him.
Cheng Gang s.h.i.+vered with fear. His ability to hide his aura was rather exceptional! "Who are you? Why did you lead me here?"
The elderly man leapt up from the ground, "I called you over so that I can wallop you." As he spoke, the drumstick bone was already flung towards Cheng Gang.
Cheng Gang squinted both his eyes. As he whipped his right hand up, he deflected the chicken bone away.
"Snap—–" The chicken bone was turned into powder, but Cheng Gang was forced one step back too. He felt an agonizing pain in his right palm, and the back of his hand even showed with a red mark.
What powerful soul power!
Neither parties had even released their martial souls, but Cheng Gang"s opponent was able to force him back just by using a chicken bone. His cultivation must be very immense!
"I recall that your t.i.tle is Immense. Come, show me how powerful you are. As long as you are able to withstand 10 attacks of mine, I will let you off."
In the face of this unpredictable elderly man, Cheng Gang remained calm as he said in a deep voice, "Elder, are you from Shrek Academy?"
The elderly man snorted, "You"re not dumb. Do you really think that Shrek Academy is such an easy target to be bullied?" Who else from Shrek looked like that? It was naturally the Taotie Douluo, Elder Xuan.
Elder Xuan hadn"t even sent by Shrek Academy. After being reprimanded by Elder Mu, he had run out on his own. He couldn"t stop worrying about the little fellows!
As for the compet.i.tion before, he had been watching it secretly. When w.a.n.g Dong supported Huo Yuhao and Bei Bei to seize victory, he had been so emotional that he had teared up, even though he hadn"t been so impa.s.sioned for a long time. At that point in time, he even had the urge to burst up to the arena to compete himself!
Today, he had witnessed the entirety of Cheng Gang"s actions. He had watched from the side. If Cheng Gang had had the murderous intention to kill both Huo Yuhao and w.a.n.g Dong, he and even the Star Luo Empire wouldn"t have been spared.
Cheng Gang lamented in his heart. From what he knew, Shrek Academy"s teacher that had come this time should have only been in the Soul King level!
"I was a little reckless. However, if a soul beast converts into a human to cultivate, it will pose a huge threat to the human race. That"s why I…"
"Shut your trap." Elder Xuan bellowed in anger, "Cut your flowery words with me. Are you not just being selfish? Let"s not even talk about the fact that a soul beast can"t turn into a human. Even if a soul beast could, it would just become a human after it succeeds in its cultivation. What has that got to do with you? Are you not eyeing the hundred thousand year soul ring and soul bone? Stop trying to spout nonsense to me. On account of the fact that you did not attempt to kill them, I shall only teach you a lesson today. Remember it."
Cheng Gang was the Protector Douluo of the Star Luo Empire, and it"d been a long time since he had been admonished like this. His face turned red, and he retorted in fury, "Come on then, show me what you have to teach me."
As he said that, his left leg stepped forward slightly. Following that, a beam of glowing concentrated black emanated from within his body. When this black glow appeared, it had an earth-shaking effect. The entire earth seemed to tremble slightly.
Cheng Gang"s body began to show obvious changes. To a Beast Soul Master, the higher his cultivation, the greater the changes his body would experience when he unleashed his martial soul. Right now, this was the case with Cheng Gang. His skin turned dark and glimmered with light, as if it were a crustacean that was coated with a layer of black. The most intriguing change that he experienced were in his brows. Both sides of his eyebrows grew longer at the same time before they curled up. Eventually, they reached over 20 centimeters in length, as if they were two tentacles that were pointed upwards…