Nangong Lingyun had just walked out from the inner courtyard when—
At the gate of the outer courtyard, a black shadow suddenly flashed from afar and appeared right in front of him.
It wasn't until it landed on the ground that it was revealed to be a tall man dressed in black combat attire, wearing a bamboo hat and a black iron demon mask.
Because there was a Super Douluo hiding in the city, Angel Yan had to stay by his side for close protection and couldn't go out to carry out other tasks.
So Nangong Lingyun simply summoned a new character.
Yuan Tiangang: A popular character from the anime series Painting Rivers and Lakes: The Unruly Ones and its derivative works.
He was once the Grand Preceptor of the Tang Dynasty and the highest leader of the Unruly Ones.
His internal strength ranked in the Divine Sky tier, with power unfathomable, looking down on all others in the world.
Unfortunately, due to someone's broke-ass situation at the time, he's currently just a pitiful Soul Saint.
His Martial Soul is the Seven Star Longyuan Sword, of super-quality, with special traits Soulbreaker and the Extreme Attribute Destruction Divine Thunder, with soul ring configuration of seven black rings.
Three of them were 10,000 years, while the other four were over 50,000 years.
However, his case differs slightly from Angel Yan.
All of Yan's soul rings and skills were personally configured by Nangong Lingyun, whereas Yuan Tiangang only got his first three skills from the system, with the remaining four soul rings hunted with Angel Yan's help.
Among them:
First Soul Skill: Possession of the Thunder God — All attributes increase by 300%.
Second Soul Skill: Become Thunder — Immune to all physical attacks and reduces elemental damage by 50%.
Third Soul Skill: Three Thousand Thunders — Moves either himself or his martial soul Longyuan Sword at the speed of lightning.
The last four were chosen from super-class soul beasts, and their power was not lacking either.
With a thud, Yuan Tiangang knelt on one knee, clasped his fists and said:
"Young Master, I have found the item you requested."
"It is not in the Star Dou Great Forest or Sunset Forest, the usual soul beast hotspots, but rather in an uninhabited mountain range in the south of the Star Luo Empire."
"It's 12,000 years old, just within the acceptable range for your second soul ring."
Back before transmigrating, when he was still a writer, Nangong Lingyun had already planned out what beast the protagonist's Beast-Taming Martial Soul would absorb in the future.
The final plan:
For the first ring, no doubt, it had to be Blue Silver Emperor, Ah Yin — solid quality, uniquely capable, and full of hidden benefits for farming "Trap Tang San" achievements.
The second ring, however, was a divine-blood and divine-grade soul beast, one so dangerous that even the will of Douluo Planet wouldn't allow it to grow to 100,000 years. Its power was suppressed and capped from the start.
Thunder Hell Ghost Vine: A remnant bloodline creation born after a First-Class Thunder God fell, with their divine blood spilling onto this world.
It is one of a kind. At any given moment, the entire Douluo Plane would only ever have one.
It usually grows in places full of thunderclouds and doesn't need to passively cultivate over time. It increases its strength by drawing heavenly lightning strikes.
As a main god-level beast, it has three Extreme Attributes: Thunder, Destruction, and Plant.
With just 10,000 years of cultivation, it can alter the weather on its own, call divine thunder upon the mortal world, and wield destructive power to obliterate everything external.
Once it reaches 100,000 years, it may even truly awaken the bloodline of the Thunder God.
It never appeared in Douluo 1, and only made its debut in Douluo 3, where even the usually self-righteous, morally pure-faced Tang Wulin, tore off his hypocritical mask and jumped in to fight for it.
Its value? Beyond obvious.
As soon as Yuan Tiangang finished speaking, Nangong Lingyun immediately put on a helpless expression.
He helped him up with both hands and said:
"Uncle Yuan, I've told you—no need to do this every time."
Just like with Angel Yan, even though the summoned characters were fully loyal by default, Nangong Lingyun always maintained basic respect and warmth toward them.
As for why 7,000-year-old Angel Yan is called "Sister" and 300-year-old Yuan Tiangang is called "Uncle Yuan"?
Well, that's just the privilege of pretty girls.
Girls probably all want to be called younger, right?
Yuan Tiangang stood up with the help, but still held his fists together stubbornly:
"Young Master, courtesy must not be discarded, and boundaries must not be crossed. This is my duty as your servant."
Nangong Lingyun didn't insist on changing Yuan Tiangang's thinking.
He just smiled faintly and asked:
"The items I asked you to purchase, and the recruitment of Body Martial Soul soul masters—how's the progress?"
Compared to the sequels, the world of Douluo 1 was practically prehistoric. A ton of rare treasures lay buried in obscurity.
Whale glue, soul spirits, soul cores, soul devices, and Body Martial Souls, to name a few.
Since he knew their future value, of course he wasn't going to just sit on his hands.
"Reporting, Young Master. We've acquired twelve pieces of whale glue of ten-thousand-year strength, sixty-nine pieces of thousand-year ones. One even came from a soul beast with cultivation reaching 85,000 years."
"Also, recruitment of Body Martial Soul soul masters is progressing well."
"So far, we've brought in two Soul Emperors, eight Soul Kings, and forty-seven people below Soul Sect level."
"All of them still have untapped potential and are worth continued cultivation."
"Well done. Good work."
Nangong Lingyun was instantly delighted.
Though Body Martial Souls were considered trash on the surface, they were completely different from truly worthless ones like Blue Silver Grass. Once they underwent second awakening, they'd directly evolve into super-class quality and were no less rare than other high-grade Martial Souls.
Yuan Tiangang managed to find so many on his own, a testament to how much effort he put in.
"Young Master, our next move…"
"To the Soul Hunting Forest."
Nangong Lingyun's eyes gleamed, and the corners of his mouth curled up involuntarily.
After two years, Tang San's soul power was now very close to level 20—he'd definitely break through within a month at most.
That meant the next phase of the "Trap San" Plan could begin.
Besides preparing a soul ring on par with the Sawtooth Viper, the original Ghost Vine (second ring) and its soul skill Spore Parasitism had to be destroyed in advance.
That vine was practically the only high-quality soul beast in the entire Beginner Soul Hunting Forest—and the skill it provided was a dream fit for any plant-type Martial Soul.
This water is way too deep. Third Brother won't be able to handle it.
When summoners take part in missions, it lowers the rewards. So this time, Nangong Lingyun didn't have Angel Yan use her space ability.
Instead, he hired a carriage and brought along Yan, Jerry, Xiao Wu, and Yuan Tiangang—five people in total.
Xiao Wu was someone he remembered to call just before leaving.
After all, there was still Tang Hao in Notting City. Who knew if that guy might try to kill and strip her bones or capture her and hide her away the moment Yan wasn't around?
I mean, testing soul masters with a 100,000-year soul beast—and a weakened humanoid one at that?
What soul master could possibly pass that test?
As for Jerry, he had nothing to do with that ugly cartoon from a certain country.
His full name was Jerry Jie, a native of Douluo. His grandfather was Jack Jie, aka Jiekeke, the future chief of Holy Soul Village—soon to be Divine Soul Village.
Jerry had been infused multiple times with pure life and blood energy by Nangong Lingyun, and after having his body adjusted, he successfully awakened with level 5 innate soul power last year.
His Martial Soul was a mutated Bloodline Blue Silver Grass, not bad quality—barely considered high-grade.
He'd just reached level 10 and was now due for his first soul ring.
(End of Chapter)