Chapter 71: Who's the Real Monster Here?
In the Divine Realm, within a hall veiled in drifting clouds and mist, Tang San gazed intently at the panorama of the Douluo Continent's providence unfolding before him. Countless streams of golden energy wove and flowed through the void, intersecting and intertwining. Among them, several particularly striking threads of fate caught his attention.
"Just as I anticipated," a satisfied smile curved at the corner of Tang San's lips. "A slight nudge to guide the Tang Sect's lingering providence toward the Child of Destiny, and the two have smoothly made contact. At this rate, using the Child of Destiny's fortune to fuel its rise, the Tang Sect's revival is only a matter of time."
His slender fingers traced lightly through the empty air, manipulating those threads of fate invisible to mortal eyes. "Fifty years at most, and the Tang Sect will once again stand among the continent's preeminent sects. And in the process, the Child of Destiny's fortune will be slowly, steadily drained—making him all the easier to control."
Yet as his gaze swept across a certain corner of the providence chart, his brow furrowed faintly. "Strange. Aside from the Child of Destiny's fortune and the Tang Sect's own, why is there yet another, equally potent stream of providence flowing toward the Tang Sect? This appears to be the providence of some newly risen sect... Could it be a power that has emerged on the Douluo Continent in recent years?"
He pondered for a moment, but ultimately shook his head. "No matter. Since it benefits the Tang Sect, there's no need to investigate too deeply for now. If not for the God of Destruction keeping such a close watch on me of late, I would extend my divine consciousness and ascertain the origin of this providence at once. Should it threaten to interfere with my plans..."
A dark, ominous glint flashed through Tang San's eyes. "Still, it should be of no consequence. Unless the God of Destruction himself intervenes, no one can disrupt a plan I've meticulously woven over so many years. When I, the Sea God Tang San, set my hand to something, there is never any margin for error."
He clasped his hands behind his back, his divine robes billowing though no wind stirred. "And should some blind, tactless interloper truly appear—I can always descend to the lower realm personally. Either bend them to my will... or snuff them out in the cradle."
Suddenly, Tang San's expression flickered. He sensed a familiar presence approaching from afar. "The God of Destruction again... truly, he haunts me like a restless ghost." He let out a cold scoff. "Sooner or later, I will resolve this thorn once and for all, and bring the entire Divine Realm fully under my control."
At the outskirts of the Great Star Dou Forest, the group had finished savoring every last bite of the delicious grilled fish and roast rabbit. Tang Ya wiped the corner of her mouth with deep satisfaction and offered heartfelt praise. "That was absolutely incredible! If you really are the Water God, Furina, then Huo Yuhao—you must be the God of Cuisine, or the reincarnation of the God of Food."
Huo Yuhao scratched his head bashfully. "You flatter me. My cooking still has a long way to go."
Furina, elegantly smoothing out her skirt, inquired, "So what are the two of you planning to do next?"
Tang Ya answered, "Bei Bei and I came to the Great Star Dou Forest for the obvious reason—to hunt soul beasts and obtain soul rings. I've reached rank thirty. I need my third soul ring."
She paused, then continued, "Originally, I was planning to look for a thousand-year Mandala Snake. But after listening to your insights on plant-type martial souls earlier, I'm thinking I should perhaps search for a plant-type soul beast that possesses both potent toxins and powerful regenerative abilities. Who knows—I might actually obtain a soul skill far better suited to me than what a Mandala Snake could offer. After all, a Mandala Snake would, at best, give me an entanglement or thickening-type skill. The improvement to my actual combat strength would be rather limited."
Hearing this, a glint of approval shone in Furina's eyes. "Since you have such resolve, how about we lend you a hand? Don't be fooled by how young we look—our strength is quite decent."
Tang Ya glanced hesitantly at Huo Yuhao. "I'm sure you, Furina, must be quite strong. But Huo Yuhao looks like he's only eleven or twelve. He can't be more than a two-ringed Soul Grandmaster, right?"
Furina smiled enigmatically. "Yuhao—show them your soul rings."
"Alright." Huo Yuhao nodded.
The next instant, three soul rings slowly rose from beneath his feet—white, purple, black. The three colors intertwined and shimmered, radiating soul-stirring waves of energy. "My martial soul is Spirit Eyes."
"Wh-what is this?!" Tang Ya was so shocked she nearly leaped into the air. "The first soul ring is a white ten-year ring, but the two behind it—a purple thousand-year ring and a black ten-thousand-year ring! This is absolutely insane!"
Bei Bei was equally stupefied. "I've never seen such a bizarre soul ring configuration in my life! Even for a Body martial soul, I've never heard of anyone absorbing a ten-thousand-year soul ring as their third!"
Furina explained with perfect composure. "And what's so impossible about it? In truth, this 'optimal soul ring matching theory' that you all adhere to has a great many fallacies, in my view. Every person's physical constitution, spiritual power, and martial soul quality are different. The age of the soul ring they can endure naturally differs as well. So long as one's body is resilient enough and one's spiritual power is strong enough—even if the martial soul quality is somewhat lacking—one can absolutely absorb soul rings far beyond the standard limits. Of course, the better the martial soul quality, the smoother the absorption."
She paused, then added with deliberate significance, "Besides—ten thousand years ago, the leader of the Shrek Seven Devils, the later Sea God Tang San—didn't he also routinely absorb soul rings far beyond his supposed limits?"
Bei Bei still couldn't fully accept it. "But even the Sea God—the Thousand-Hand Douluo Tang San—his third soul ring only slightly exceeded the optimal matching range, but was still within the thousand-year tier. It wasn't until his fourth that he obtained a ten-thousand-year ring! For young brother Huo Yuhao to have a ten-thousand-year ring as his third—it's simply unheard of!"
He shook his head with a rueful laugh. "And to think he's already broken through to rank thirty and become a Soul Elder at such a young age... This talent... he's nothing short of a monster!"
"Absolutely—a genuine little monster," Tang Ya echoed in a dazed murmur.
Huo Yuhao waved a modest hand. "Honestly, I don't think I'm really all that impressive. You should take a look at Sister Furina's soul rings instead."
At these words, Furina shook her head in silent, helpless amusement. How could she possibly compare to Huo Yuhao, the undisputed king of cheat codes? His first soul ring was a million-year ring, and the first ring of his second martial soul, the Ice Jade Emperor Scorpion, was four hundred thousand years old. Her own configuration of two thousand-year and two ten-thousand-year rings was barely worth mentioning in front of him.
Under the curious, expectant gazes of Bei Bei and Tang Ya, Furina gave a light wave of her hand. Four soul rings materialized beneath her feet—two purple, two black—radiating a breathtaking, awe-inspiring energy.
"My martial soul is Cake," she stated casually.
"A f-food-type martial soul?!" Bei Bei was utterly floored. "So young and already broken through to rank forty—and a food-type soul master at that?! This soul ring configuration... even Shrek Academy's most prodigious talents can only dream of matching it! I honestly don't know which of you two is the real monster anymore!"
Tang Ya was similarly thunderstruck, but the shock swiftly transformed into elation. The stronger the Church of the Water God proved to be, the greater her hope for vengeance—and the more it confirmed that her decision to join the church had been the right one.
"As I thought—my choice was not wrong," Tang Ya murmured to herself, a light of hope blazing in her eyes.
Bei Bei let out a long sigh, his voice thick with emotion. "Not wrong? It's quite possibly the single most correct decision you've ever made."
The sunlight filtering through the gaps in the leaves cast dappled patterns of light and shadow across the four figures. The astonishing strength Huo Yuhao and Furina had revealed made this seemingly chance encounter all the more deeply significant. And for Tang San, far off in the Divine Realm—the meticulously crafted plans he had set in motion were, unbeknownst to him, being quietly, irrevocably diverted by a force he had never anticipated.