chapter 3 part 2
Next, he continued to search the great sea for suitable Soul Beasts to kill and take their Spirit Rings!
The Soul Beasts he chose were all a hundred thousand years or older.
The ocean is incredibly vast. In this world, the area of the great sea is several times larger than the land. While Soul Beasts can only live on a single flat layer on land, in the great sea, Soul Beasts can survive at any depth. Thus, Soul Beasts in the great sea, especially those in the deep sea and distant sea areas, are much less likely to be disturbed by humanity. Therefore, sea Soul Beasts grow much more easily than land Soul Beasts. As long as they are inherently powerful and their clan possesses considerable strength, they can easily survive. The number of hundred-thousand-year Soul Beasts in the great sea is conservatively estimated to be over a hundred times that on land. As for the so-called three great overlords of the ocean—the Demonic White Shark, the Demonic Tiger Whale, and the Deep Sea Demonic Whale King—these titles are merely a joke. Humanity's exploration of the great sea is very shallow; thus, these three closest Soul Beasts are considered the strongest three in the great sea. It is truly a colossal misunderstanding.
In fact, in the distant sea areas and the deep sea, it's unknown how many hundred-thousand-year Soul Beasts truly exist.
Therefore, Ye Cheng's process of searching for hundred-thousand-year Soul Beasts was extremely smooth. After finding them, he easily killed them and absorbed their Spirit Rings.
It wasn't until he absorbed the third Spirit Ring that the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda in his hand finally underwent a transformation, changing from seven stories to eight stories!
The Eight Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda!
In the Live Broadcast Room, Ning Fengzhi, who had been paying close attention, couldn't help but clench his fists as he saw this scene. The Eight Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda was his previous hope for his daughter Ning Rongrong, who had the best aptitude. He believed she had the most hope of evolving the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda into an Eight Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda. As for the legendary Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda, he didn't dare to even dream of it.
In the video footage, seeing that his seven-storied pagoda had finally gained another level, a hint of satisfaction appeared on Ye Cheng's face. He softly muttered to himself, "If I absorb a few more hundred-thousand-year Spirit Rings, it should be enough to make my Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda undergo a transformation, giving birth to the ninth story!"
[I get it! No wonder he said "not enough." He wants to use the absorption of high-quality Spirit Rings to promote the evolution of his Martial Soul!]
[That's right. As everyone knows, if a Soul Master can absorb Spirit Rings that highly match their own Martial Soul's characteristics, or simply high-year Spirit Rings, there's a certain chance for their Martial Soul to evolve.]
[And this Ye Cheng possesses a Twin Martial Soul, so he first cultivated one of his Martial Souls to a nine-ring Titled Douluo. Then, when adding Spirit Rings to his other Martial Soul, he could immediately attach extremely high-year Spirit Rings from the start, thereby promoting his Martial Soul's evolution!]
[If he didn't have a Twin Martial Soul, relying on the absorption of high-quality Spirit Rings to make the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda evolve would be absolutely impossible.]
Next, in the video, Ye Cheng persevered.
He continuously searched the vast and boundless great sea for hundred-thousand-year Soul Beasts, killing them and taking their Spirit Rings!
In the vast and boundless great sea, there were simply countless hidden high-year Soul Beasts. There were enormous octopuses a thousand feet long, massive coral reefs spanning several kilometers of sea, giant sea clams hidden in the deep seabed, black-and-white highly venomous sea snakes, and gigantic colorful starfish... Ye Cheng killed them all, one by one.
Finally, upon absorbing the eighth Spirit Ring, the eight-storied glazed pagoda slowly gave birth to the ninth story. In an instant, dazzling treasure aura spread across dozens of miles of the surrounding sea area!
An enormous nine-storied pagoda phantom illuminated Heaven and Earth!
Unfortunately, this was in an unfamiliar sea area, rarely visited by humans, so no one else witnessed this shocking scene. But now it had been recorded as a video by the Live Broadcast Room and broadcast widely.
"Finally... the ninth story."
Ye Cheng looked at the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda in his hand, his expression wistful. He exclaimed emotionally, "Twenty years of arduous effort..."
After a moment of emotion, he put away his Martial Soul and looked into the distance.
"Although my Martial Soul has evolved into the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda, there's still one last Spirit Ring slot remaining. It just so happens that the great sea doesn't lack high-year Soul Beasts, so I'll find another one to kill and absorb it as well."
After another long search, Ye Cheng finally found an enormous sea turtle. Its massive turtle shell was like a seabed mountain of reefs, with its head, tail, and four limbs retracted into its shell, completely hidden. It was almost impossible to tell it was a Soul Beast.
But unfortunately, Ye Cheng still saw through its disguise and sent it to its death with a single sword strike!
Afterward, he began to absorb the Spirit Ring.
However, this time, the absorption process was not smooth.
Ye Cheng sat cross-legged on the sea surface, with a nine-storied pagoda shining with nine-colored light suspended around his body. It already bore eight crimson Spirit Rings. Only one last one remained for him to achieve the feat of possessing nine hundred-thousand-year rings.
But it was precisely this last Spirit Ring that proved incredibly difficult to absorb, forming a stark contrast to the easy absorption of the previous eight Spirit Rings.
[What's wrong with him?]
[Why is absorbing this last Spirit Ring so difficult?]
[Could it be that this last Spirit Ring is of too high an age?]
[I think there might be a conflict between his two Martial Souls.]
[After all, with a Twin Martial Soul, one pagoda and one sword, the conflict only gets more severe the further he goes...]
[I remember another documented Twin Martial Soul user who seemingly self-destructed and died while absorbing a Spirit Ring!]
[Oh no... could this Ye Cheng also suffer the same fate?]
[That shouldn't be possible. Ye Cheng is, after all, a Titled Douluo. Even though we don't know what rank of Titled Douluo he is, he wouldn't die so easily from a conflict!]
As he watched Ye Cheng's arduous absorption of the last Spirit Ring in the video, Ning Fengzhi's heart was in his throat. After all, this was the only Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda in the world. If it were lost to self-destruction, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's loss would be immeasurable!
Fortunately, as the protagonist of the video, how could Ye Cheng possibly self-destruct and die?
In the video, after three days and nights, Ye Cheng finally suppressed the Twin Martial Soul's conflict and slowly absorbed the last Spirit Ring!
The ninth Spirit Ring thus appeared on the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda!
He slowly opened his eyes, looking at the nine-storied pagoda on his left hand, adorned with nine crimson rings. After sensing his own condition, a smile couldn't help but appear at the corner of his mouth as he murmured to himself, "I've finally reached... Rank 99! A Limit Douluo!"
"Twenty years have passed... it's time to return to the Continent and settle my grudges!"
His gaze looked into the distance, toward the Douluo Continent! A cold glint flashed in his eyes!
The scene shifted.
A city appeared.
It was vaguely discernible that this place was formerly the location of White Cloud City. However, this city was newly built, and the plaque at the city gate had also been changed, from White Cloud City to Balong City.
On a distant hilltop, a figure in white robes gazed from afar at the new city built on the ruins, seemingly lost in some memory. He then sighed, "Things are the same, but people are gone!"
As his words fell, he turned around.
With a flick of his sleeve!
In an instant, countless rainbow lights shot out from his sleeve, filling the sky! It seemed as if the entire sky was filled with scorching white sword light!
Like converging rivers, their target was aimed directly at the City Lord's Manor!
When the sword light dispersed, the once luxurious City Lord's Manor had already been reduced to ruins!
The scene abruptly ended!
The video ended.
Everyone who watched the video reacted differently.
At this moment, the last scene that appeared in the video—Balong City, which was built on the ruins of the original White Cloud City—had now fallen into chaos.
Countless people packed their belongings and fled the city as if escaping for their lives.
That last scene in the video was simply too terrifying.
That Ye Cheng truly sought revenge without delay. As soon as he returned to the Continent, he immediately moved against his enemies.
Those beams of sword light descending from the sky were truly too terrifying.
God knows if that Ye Cheng would rather kill the innocent by mistake than let a guilty party go, and casually destroy the entire city while taking revenge.
After all, in this world, it was not uncommon for innocent bystanders to be affected when powerful cultivators engaged in combat.
A wise man does not stand under a crumbling wall; it's better to flee for your life.
The vast majority of those fleeing were innocent, not Ye Cheng's enemies. So, after learning that the Wang Family of Balong City had offended such a powerful foe, to avoid potentially being caught in the crossfire, they naturally fled as far as they could.
Although it was unknown when Ye Cheng would return, since they knew this city would face a crisis in the future, they naturally didn't want to stay for a single moment longer. After all, who knew if, in the next second, a world-shaking beam of sword light might descend from the sky.
They simply didn't dare to gamble. It was better to run for their lives!
(end of chapter)