After winning the blacksmithing championship, Su Ming rarely showed himself in public.
Every day, he stayed holed up in his hotel room, digesting the forging faith.
"If I can't naturally condense the nascent Godhood, then I'll condense it myself. After all, I'm a man who has possessed the nascent Godhood of the Forging God twice before."
The Douluo 3 era already had its own forging system, so the shocking impact Su Ming brought through innovation wasn't as high, but he was the richest in terms of forging faith.
When Su Ming first dabbled in forging faith, he was still cautious and basically never snatched faith from Tang Hao. But as Tang Hao had his foundation drained by Su Ming and was suppressed in turn by the Will of the Plane, Su Ming was no longer afraid.
After thousands of years of development, the forging faith accumulated on the Douluo Continent was truly abundant.
"With more faith, and two references to guide me, I will definitely succeed in condensing it."
Su Ming went into seclusion.
This time, taking advantage of spreading his techniques across the Star Luo Continent and the moment when a massive influx of faith from the Forging God, directed towards him, flooded into his Sea of Consciousness from the majority of blacksmiths on the Star Luo Continent, he would condense the nascent Godhood!
Submerged by endless forging faith, Su Ming also entered a state of deep meditation.
He involuntarily arrived at the space where the Will of the Plane resided—a vast, pure white expanse. There was no Tang Hao, no will of the Plane itself, no A Yin, and no distribution of Sea God faith.
It was a purely blank, white space.
Su Ming didn't understand his current state.
He explored this white space confusedly.
"This is definitely the space of the Will of the Plane!"
This much, Su Ming was sure of.
However, no matter how he searched, he couldn't find the three forces he had seen before. It was as if this space had been cleared out, leaving only him.
Time passed.
He didn't know how long it had been when Su Ming suddenly understood.
"Open!"
He remembered his task. Using his own will, he condensed a forging hammer. Then, he connected with his real self. Endless faith empowered the forging hammer, and his vision instantly broadened.
So, after all this time, it was just the character creation interface.
Su Ming gained his own entity within this white space; he had become a forging hammer.
Simultaneously, the Su Ming from Douluo 1 and Douluo 2 were also inspired, projecting their own nascent Godhood into the white space.
"During the Douluo 2 era, Tang Hao surprisingly hadn't started merging with the Lord of the Plane yet? That's unexpected."
Su Ming had always thought Tang Hao began scheming for the Lord of the Plane position during Douluo 2.
"The situation here in Douluo 3 is chaotic, but Douluo 1 and Douluo 2 are much simpler. The Will of the Plane itself isn't strong, and there's no messy infighting from various factions. If I were to seize the position of Lord of the Plane, it would be very easy."
Douluo 1 was the simplest. Even after condensing his forging hammer, Su Ming still couldn't sense the power of the Will of the Plane in the white space.
The Will of the Plane, so clearly present in Douluo 3, seemed non-existent here.
"Even in Douluo 2, there's only a faint sensation. I can vaguely feel an omnipresent, grand consciousness in this space, but the feeling remains weak."
Under these circumstances, seizing the position of Lord of the Plane should be simple.
"Useless Tang Hao. He could have finished it in one strike, but he was too incompetent, got into a tug-of-war with the Plane's instincts, and ended up tempering the Will of the Plane instead."
Sensing the differences across the three eras, Su Ming speculated that if Tang Hao were gone in the Douluo 3 era, the Will of the Plane would quickly take form, eventually gaining intelligence and becoming the naturally born Spirit of the Plane.
"Seizing the Lord of the Plane position in Douluo 3 is a bit difficult. However, I have the Trinity. The best time to seize it is during Douluo 1. Find the right moment and strike decisively. That would also give me a bit more confidence to deal with the Shura God later."
"After Douluo 1 comes Douluo 2. Then, relying on the experience from two eras, I can smoothly achieve the position of Lord of the Plane in the Douluo 3 era."
With the status of Lord of the Plane, even without other means, Su Ming could perfectly control A Yin.
Back when A Yin and Tang Hao seized the Golden Ancient Tree and the Lord of the Plane, their relationship was already set. A Yin came first, creating conditions for Tang Hao's seizure, while also entrusting everything to Tang Hao. Once Tang Hao became the Lord of the Plane, she, as the Life Core, would also be under Tang Hao's control.
Su Ming's deep meditation lasted a full week.
When he woke up, he learned that the Spirit Master competition was also approaching its final match.
"Speaking of which, without Teacher Mu Ye here to provide treatment, what will happen to Tang Wulin?"
In the original work, Tang Wulin relied on his superior status to suppress Long Yue but was still nearly beaten to death by him.
"He definitely won't die. I just wonder if it will consume Lao Tang's chance to intervene."
With a sense of anticipation, Su Ming went to the venue of the Spirit Master competition.
In the private box belonging to Shrek Academy, many students showed surprise when Su Ming entered.
"Su Ming?"
Su Ming, who hadn't shown his face here even once, finally decided to come today?
Su Ming paid no attention to their surprised looks. He went to the window and looked down at the arena below.
"It seems he still cares about the outcome of this match."
Cai Yue'er was inwardly excited.
In her view, this was a sign that Su Ming was gradually considering himself part of Shrek.
A contrast to Su Ming was Gu Yue.
They had joined Shrek under similar nominal statuses—Su Ming as an exchange student from the Blacksmith Association, and Gu Yue from the Spirit Transmission Pagoda. The difference was stark upon comparison.
"Gu Yue is too cold, too aloof. She even has more contact with Tang Wulin and the others than Su Ming does, yet she's even more indifferent. It's one thing not to participate in the competition, but she doesn't even come to watch."
Just as Cai Yue'er thought this, the box door opened again.
She looked over and found it was Gu Yue.
Huh?
Gu Yue came too?
She completely forgot her previous thoughts about Gu Yue, surprised and thinking that Gu Yue was also being assimilated by Shrek.
Not bad, not bad.
They might appear indifferent to the academy on the surface, but in the end, they can't help but come to watch.
Gu Yue also stepped forward to the window, silently staring down at the arena below.
Both of them had timed their arrival perfectly. The moment they took their positions, the match between Tang Wulin and Long Yue officially began.
Gu Yue's gaze was fixed on Tang Wulin.
"The Golden Dragon King bloodline has indeed grown stronger."
She recalled the argument between herself and Di Tian last night.
"Your Majesty, that Tang Wulin's bloodline is still strengthening. The Golden Dragon King's power cannot increase out of nothing; there must be some sealed power within him, similar to seals. Since it's sealed, it doesn't belong to him yet. If we devour him now and merge with the Golden Dragon King's power, Your Majesty will surely be able to restore the Dragon God's glory!"
"Do not act against him recklessly. He possesses the power of a deity."
"But—"
"No 'buts'. You are among the last remaining powerful Spirit Beasts. Do not foolishly throw your lives away over this."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
"Has the origin of the Mountain Dragon King bloodline on Long Yue been traced?"
"Not yet."
"Go, investigate thoroughly. The source of the Mountain Dragon King bloodline is very likely the Dragon Tomb we are searching for."
***
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