"So annoying."
Gu Yuena's face was cold; she gritted her teeth in anger.
She was doing everything she could to stabilize Su Wen's soul core, but he too was resisting desperately, using his own power to fight her off.
Most irritatingly, even his energy had her aura in it…
With their bloodlines linked, a third of Su Wen's flesh and blood energy was hers. Battling herself felt super awkward.
"Stay steady," Snow Empress urged.
She too was suppressing the soul core—yet the core fought back with her own energy.
Luckily, they'd cut off communication between the core and the outside—otherwise, after working themselves to exhaustion, the energy would just instantly recover, and they'd die of anger.
And now they truly understood how broken Su Wen's core was. When he first condensed it, they were just spectators; only by experiencing it themselves did they realize how scary it was.
"Pfft…"
Su Wen's face went pale; he spat blood.
His belly roiled with ice and fire—the agony was worse than ever.
A red and a blue light drifted together.
Weirdly, although Su Wen's skin was turning blue or molten black, there was no cracking—though the wild power was bubbling up from the lakebed.
Even watching from outside the lake was nerve-wracking.
The previously clear lake water now boiled like a hotpot, emitting waves of destructive aura.
"That's the benefit of my dragon blood…" Di Tian said proudly at the lakeside.
The dragon tribe were the creators of this world. Of course, only utmost power let one forge twin cores—apart from a strong body, a dragon's blood is vital.
"Glug glug…"
Below the surface, Su Wen blew bubbles, his pain drowned out only by Di Tian's commentary outside.
In the original, Huo Hang became the first human with yin-yang twin soul cores only when Mu En, already "golden tree fertilizer," returned and helped him refine the dragon core.
It's not just about fusing power, but also blood—only then could he unlock its full might.
Now, even though Su Wen's operation was ten times flashier, he trusted in Xuan Ji's stats and Gu Yuena's dragon blood to push through.
With those two, it was basically a guaranteed win.
"..."
Sure enough, not long after:
The pain faded, and behind Su Wen appeared a sun and moon—red sun and blue moon—representing ice and fire.
"When I forged mine, it was a black sun and purple moon. Even at my level, I wouldn't have dared use completely opposing elements. Ice and fire—it's as hard as climbing to heaven, but the rewards are even greater."
"RUMBLE!"
Suddenly, a clear sky turned dark, thunder and lightning roared down.
A force of destruction began pouring from within Su Wen.
"What's this?"
Even Di Tian was stunned.
When he forged his own dual cores, this kind of tribulation had never happened...
"You said it yourself—ice and fire are the most opposed essences. Fusing them is against the world's laws—it'll draw heavenly punishment," Xuan Ji explained.
"Little Zi."
"Understood!"
A slim purple-haired girl appeared, made an "OK" gesture at Xuan Ji, and dove into the lake like a mermaid.
She licked her lips excitedly, "Such strong destruction energy—here I come!"
In a flash of purple lightning, she rushed toward Su Wen.
"Buzz…"
At the bottom, Su Wen strained to control the destruction aura, his body shaking—yet in a flash, he was hugged by a small body.
"Ahhhh!!!"
Little Zi rolled her eyes in bliss.
All the annihilating power, forged from ice and fire, was devoured by her small figure. Su Wen relaxed, letting Little Zi absorb it all.
Minutes later.
"Burp~"
Little Zi let out a bubble, floating to the lake's surface.
A strangely pink flush lit her cheeks—so satisfying, her destruction energy reserves increased again...
Both dragon cores had some primordial power—enough to kill any normal beast, but Little Zi, as always, loved it.
"So handy..."
Su Wen sighed, carrying Little Zi to the surface.
What's the difference between her and a tribulation puppet?
Can tank heavenly tribulation, gets stronger in the process.
Just too useful.
"So good…"
Little Zi clung to Su Wen's sleeve, squirming with satisfaction.
Su Wen: "…"
Never mind, she's earned it.
On the shore.
All the soul beasts gathered around.
Su Wen savored the ice and fire dual cores within. Although the elements repelled each other, now they spun gently in harmony. Odd, but so very powerful.
His soul power would now increase without end.
As long as the world's spiritual energy held out, his training speed would skyrocket—at least ten times faster.
"Level ninety-four."
Didn't think breaking through would take me straight to Super Douluo. Maybe at Limit Douluo, I can forge a third soul core?
A triple yin-yang core?
Who knew.
Su Wen shook his head.
At this rate, breaking through to the limit would take a couple of years at most.
But now, he was a Title Douluo!
The Azure Luan's spirit world had doubled in size—nearly half the area of the Douluo Star. From above, the core was the Lake of Life, ancient trees encircling it.
All around, an entire mini-world was forming. Lakes, rivers, mountains—a paradise for soul beasts. With rich vitality, countless new life forms evolved, advancing via soul beast path...
Other spirit balls, too, were similar.
Each with different attributes. Jiao Jiao's ball is volcanic, full of fire-lotus, fire apes, firebirds.
Bing Huang's spirit ball is unique for ice soul beasts; even has soul beasts never seen before on the Douluo Continent.
Suddenly…
Su Wen paused.
Why does this all feel so familiar?
Like…
A map—just like a game from his previous life.