Gu La walked forward, his footsteps echoing dully on the special material base.
He released his Celebi martial soul, its blue eyes reflecting the golden silhouette of the tree. Each leaf shimmered with golden ripples resembling the flow of time, yet it exuded no sense of majesty—only an overwhelming aura of nature.
Gu La subtly activated the Natural Cure ability and quietly invoked the "Forest" dominion. The branches of the Golden Ancient Tree, seemingly eternal, swayed slightly.
"It's calling to you."
Leng Yaozhu's voice carried a rare tremor. It was clear she hadn't been mistaken—Gu La's second martial soul possessed potential comparable to a dual-Ultimate martial soul.
Hearing her words, Gu La turned his head and saw a rosy blush spread across Leng Yaozhu's usually composed face, her eyes flickering with an almost fanatical fire.
By Leng Yaozhu's generation, neither she nor her sister had heirs, and other branches of the family lacked outstanding talents capable of inheriting the Leng family's position within the Spirit Pagoda. The appearance of Gu La and Gu Yue perfectly fit her requirements.
While Leng Yaozhu was planning to pave the way for Gu La, he had already placed his palm against the tree trunk.
The roots of the Golden Ancient Tree suddenly glowed with amber light, and the dappled shadows cast by its canopy danced across Gu La's face. Beneath the bark, golden veins bulged like awakening serpents, racing up Gu La's arm and coalescing into a faint imprint of a golden tree on his forehead.
Leng Yaozhu narrowed her eyes, knowing that this was their communication. She shot a warning glance at the man in the Tang suit, silently ordering him not to disturb them, and kept her gaze fixed on Gu La.
Within the sea of spirit, the naive consciousness of the Golden Ancient Tree conveyed a sense of familiarity.
As the Child of Nature, he was the ultimate destination for all plant life, and even the Golden Ancient Tree, with its potential to become a plane core, was no exception.
Their consciousnesses communicated wordlessly, and Gu La automatically absorbed the information encoded in the bloodline of the Golden Ancient Tree.
"So I'm not truly the Child of Nature yet."
Gu La realized with sudden clarity. To become the Child of Nature, two prerequisites were required.
First, one needed a life-affinity constitution to be attuned to natural energy. Second, one needed the bloodline of a supreme plant ruler. Yes, humans were not supposed to be able to become the Child of Nature.
Fortunately, like Tang Wulin, he had fused with a divine beast, qualifying him for this status. Moreover, Gu La had long since resolved to transcend humanity.
"The plane consciousness truly knows nothing. I still lack the Seed of Life condensed by the plane core. According to the original story, Ah Yin will give it to Tang Wulin."
Gu La's expression remained indifferent. So what? He could simply take it.
In the era of Douluo III, Tang San had already ascended to godhood for many years. He cared even less about human lives than the Tang San Gu La knew. Under the grand plan spanning ten thousand years, countless soul masters sacrificed their lives in vain, serving only as pawns for Tang San's scheme to upgrade the plane and secure control of Douluo Planet for the Tang family.
Tang Wulin might have seemed somewhat human at first, but later, he completely abandoned his humanity, brainwashed by the Tang family and Shrek Academy. Taking from him didn't make Gu La feel the slightest guilt.
The communication ended, and the dense fluctuations of soul power within the sealed chamber gradually subsided. Gu La's slender lashes fluttered as he opened his eyes.
Leng Yaozhu's usually cold and tranquil face now rippled with emotion, a rare smile blossoming at the corners of her lips: "The Golden Ancient Tree has lain dormant for a hundred years, and finally, it has waited for you."
She walked across the jade-like floor, three glowing jade tokens sliding out from her sleeve. "Get ready—I'll perform the contract ritual for you."
"Thank you, Teacher."
Gu La pressed his palm against the gnarled trunk of the ancient tree. The golden bark suddenly rippled, as if a sleeping dragon was stretching its scales.
A pale blue soul flame ignited at Leng Yaozhu's fingertips, and ancient incantations condensed into golden chains in the air as she chanted clearly. When the chant concluded, the entire tree trembled violently, and the golden vines hanging from its canopy resonated like plucked strings.
"The contract is complete. Focus!"
At Leng Yaozhu's sharp command, the main trunk of the tree erupted with blinding golden light. The millennia-old patterns etched into the bark came alive, winding their way up Gu La's slender fingers.
An emerald glow rippled outward from where the boy and the tree connected. Gu La's black hair began to transform from the roots, turning into wisps dyed by dawn's glow, eventually settling into a gradient of gold and green.
The man in the suit staggered back two steps, colliding with a star-patterned stone pillar. He watched as three soul rings rose behind the boy, and when the third ring fully solidified, his eyes widened in shock.
As an Unyielding Spirit Soul, the Golden Ancient Tree had long since advanced to a ten-thousand-year spirit soul and now possessed twenty thousand years' worth of power.
But this alone wasn't enough to astonish a Titled Douluo. What shocked him was Gu La's potential—the appearance of three soul rings indicated that this was his second martial soul, yet his mental strength was at least mid-Linghai Realm. His potential was extraordinary enough to influence the next generation of power dynamics within the Spirit Pagoda.
"Young Master, I shall take my leave."
The man bowed stiffly, his dry voice betraying his unease. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Leng Yaozhu—she paid no heed to his departure.
Three pieces of soul skill information appeared in Gu La's mind. He closed his eyes to carefully process them, and when he opened them again, they were filled with a satisfied smile.
"Teacher…"
"We'll talk more in Donghai City."
There were surveillance systems in the sealed chamber. Leng Yaozhu went ahead to delete the recorded footage and destroyed the hardware entirely before taking Gu La to the top floor of the Spirit Pagoda.
With a wave of her hand, she summoned her black mecha, its streamlined cockpit door opening.
As the mecha transformed into a streak of light piercing through the clouds, Gu La gazed at the shrinking spire of the Spirit Pagoda. The shimmering gold-green light at the tips of his hair refracted through the clouds, faintly outlining the silhouettes of trees.
Leng Yaozhu let out a sigh of relief. She didn't want to give Qiangu Dongfeng any opportunity to mess with her, but sometimes it was unavoidable.
"Tell me," she turned her head with a faint smile, curiosity evident in her voice. "How effective are the soul skills? Have they evolved based on your martial soul?"
"They're just as you described, Teacher. The soul skills perfectly match my martial soul. Thank you for the gift—I really like it."
Gu La believed there was no spirit soul more suited to him than the Golden Ancient Tree. Its value far exceeded billions—it was proof of how much Leng Yaozhu valued him.
"I'm glad you're satisfied."
Leng Yaozhu smiled, enjoying Gu La's genuine gratitude.
Gu La proceeded to detail his three soul skills:
"The first soul skill, Boundless Forest Sea."
"It summons and controls all plants within a hundred-meter radius, keeping them at their peak state. Damaged plants can recover quickly, and it can even convert vitality to heal allies. With sufficient soul power, the range of control can expand further."
Leng Yaozhu was inwardly astonished but maintained her composure as a teacher: "Domain skills are always top-tier soul skills. Your ability combines control, attack, and healing—all in one. It's truly exceptional. You must practice controlling it often."
As the deputy tower master of the Spirit Pagoda, she was well aware of the strategic value of this skill. While merely controlling plants would be ineffective in the current era, where forests were mostly destroyed, the addition of summoning capabilities made this soul skill capable of turning the tide of battle.
The fact that the first soul skill was already a domain skill left Leng Yaozhu pleasantly surprised, and she grew even more curious about the remaining two.
"Continue."
"Yes, Teacher." Gu La nodded and continued:
"The second soul skill, Myriad Changes of the Forest."
"It creates an illusionary maze so realistic that it's indistinguishable from reality. Over time, the illusory maze continuously adds details, capable of trapping enemies with mental strength up to ten times greater than mine."
In Gu La's view, the first soul skill was an extension of Celebi's forest dominion, but the second was the true surprise—it compensated for Celebi's weakness in constructing illusions.
Leng Yaozhu lost her composure: "You're sure it's ten times?"
This was beyond science—it wasn't something a soul master should possess!
Even ten-thousand-year spirit souls couldn't provide such an overpowered soul skill effect!
To think that in mental battles, the stronger side usually won decisively, making it nearly impossible for the weaker side to triumph.
But Gu La's soul skill defied this rule…
"Ten times mental strength…" She rubbed the seat of the mecha, then suddenly grabbed Gu La's wrist. "Enemies with powerful mental strength won't give you the chance to construct an illusion. But if the illusion is engraved in the Spirit Sea, even enemies with mental strength surpassing yours won't be able to break through your mental defenses."
"This is a top-tier mental defense skill! It can also be used for attack and control—comparable to your first soul skill."
Gu La was startled. No wonder she was a Limit Douluo; the methods he had painstakingly thought through, she deduced in mere breaths.
Of course, her profound cultivation and vast experience played a role, but it also highlighted her deep understanding of soul master cultivation.
"...As expected of my teacher. I wouldn't have thought of using it in reverse on my own."
Gu La's praise caused Leng Yaozhu's lips to curl upward. Seeing his natural expression of admiration, even the usually aloof Limit Douluo couldn't help but feel a touch of vanity.
"Remember this. Don't think a powerful martial soul represents everything. You still have a long way to go before becoming a strong soul master."
"Thank you for your guidance, Teacher."
Gu La humbly accepted, his lips curling slightly as he continued:
"The third soul skill, Eternal Forest Sea."
"There exists a space within the soul ring where time flows slowly, allowing storage of plants and seeds. In the central area, time stands still, enabling the storage of soul skills to be released directly when needed."
"However, the amount of usable time within the space is limited. The more soul skills stored, the shorter the duration they can be maintained."
"In theory, it can store ninety-nine instant-cast soul skills, but the maximum duration is only one hour—not enough time to release them."
"For now, the best use is to store one or two soul skills for extended periods or store twenty soul skills for a day when needed."
Leng Yaozhu was left speechless with astonishment. She had seen both time and space-based soul skills before, but this was the first time she'd encountered a skill combining the two attributes. Was it any wonder that these were the most mysterious attributes? Such an excellent and overpowered soul skill!
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