Chapter 3: Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda!
Experiencing the destruction of his family overnight, the once mighty clan vanishing like smoke such a catastrophe was akin to the sky collapsing for a six year old boy. Fortunately, people on the Douluo Continent matured early, and even at six, he already understood many things.
After spending days drowning in grief and helplessness, the boy finally pulled himself together.
He swore revenge!
Meanwhile, as Ning Fengzhi watched the video and saw the boy's lost and helpless expression, he grew increasingly anxious. He subconsciously forgot that this was merely a recorded event from the past and thought to himself, Silly child, come to the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect! If you come to me, avenging your family would be nothing more than lifting a finger.
If Ye Cheng's Martial Souls were truly the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda and the Flying Rainbow Sword, forming a perfect attack support twin Martial Soul combination, then he might have really chosen to seek refuge in the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect and his biological father. But alas, this video was fabricated. In reality, his Martial Soul was a failed mutation, and worst of all, he had no innate soul power.
Under such circumstances, what could a useless person do even if he went to the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect? At best, he'd become a freeloader. As for revenge? That was out of the question.
The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect would never make a move for a worthless person!
And Ning Fengzhi wouldn't sacrifice sect resources to destroy a force over a woman he had no emotional attachment to and a son without value. After all, he had many sons.
Unless this woman meant something to him, or this son had worth, avenging them was a fantasy.
The video continued
After the boy resolved to take revenge, the footage sped up, showing only quick flashes of key moments.
There were clips of him practicing swordsmanship daily, never slacking, through all seasons, for ten years straight!
Scenes of him wandering the world, venturing deep into mountains and forests, battling ferocious soul beasts!
Footage of him challenging the extreme cold in the vast snowy glaciers of the far north!
Moments of him standing upon the boundless ocean, commanding schools of fish!
Facing towering waves, raging storms, struggling against the might of nature itself!
Dozens of rapid clips painted a picture of an incredibly rich and thrilling life.
Who knew how much had been left out?
Finally, the video settled on a new scene
The boy had grown into a man.
Dressed in flowing white robes, his long hair tied back, he exuded an aura of elegance and transcendence, like an immortal descending to the mortal realm!
This young man Ye Cheng was now twenty six years old.
The scene was set in the middle of a vast ocean.
Amidst the endless, turbulent waves, he stood unshaken upon the water, dressed in white, wielding a long sword with a white jade hilt and a crystal clear blade, as exquisite as a work of art!
Soul rings floated around him, emanating an overwhelming presence.
Yellow! Yellow! Purple! Purple! Black! Black! Black! Black! Red!
He was now a Titled Douluo with nine soul rings!
[Hiss! Twenty six years old! Titled Douluo!]
[And his ninth soul ring is a hundred thousand year soul ring!]
[Terrifying, absolutely terrifying!]
[This Ye Cheng might be setting a new record for the youngest Titled Douluo in history!]
[Unbelievable, truly unbelievable!]
[But… what is he doing now?]
The bullet comments in the livestream were frantic, but they didn't affect the events unfolding in the video.
Suddenly, from within the raging sea, an enormous tidal wave surged!
A colossal beast emerged from the water with earth shattering power, its towering form threatening to drown the small human standing before it!
Yet, faced with the monstrous creature and the overwhelming tidal wave, the young man in white his brows sharp as blades simply raised his sword and swung it!
A beam of sword light shot into the sky!
The raging tidal wave was cleaved in two.
And along with it so was the giant beast.
Blood splattered across the ocean, staining the surrounding waters a deep crimson!
From the corpse of the beast, a blood red soul ring slowly formed!
The livestream chat exploded again
[A hundred thousand year soul ring!]
[That soul beast was a hundred thousand year soul beast!]
[He cut down a hundred thousand year soul beast in a single strike…]
[Just what level of power does Ye Cheng have now?!]
[What a waste! He's already a Titled Douluo this soul ring is useless to him.]
[Useless? Have you forgotten that he has another Martial Soul?]
[Wait… so this hundred thousand year soul ring is meant for his second Martial Soul?!]
[Most likely!]
The livestream chat was in chaos.
In the video, Ye Cheng gazed at the blood red soul ring hovering above the beast's corpse.
He put away his long sword and, in a flash, appeared on the floating carcass.
The massive beast's body drifted like a giant ship upon the sea.
Ye Cheng sat cross legged upon it, raised his other hand, and summoned his second Martial Soul.
A seven tiered crystal pagoda shimmered into existence, radiating multicolored light.
Unlike the Flying Rainbow Sword, which already had all nine soul rings, this Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda was completely bare without a single ring.
[Wait… is he about to attach a hundred thousand year soul ring as his very first ring?!]
[That's impossible!]
[Why not? He's a Titled Douluo. He can absorb it with ease.]
[Tsk tsk… Twin Martial Souls, and his first soul ring is a hundred thousand year ring… terrifying!]
In the video, Ye Cheng smoothly absorbed the soul ring.
It took him only half an hour to complete the process, with no struggles or complications.
When it was done, the seven tiered crystal pagoda in his hand was now adorned with a blood red soul ring!
Though it was just one ring, a hundred thousand year first soul ring was practically unheard of!
"Not enough… far from enough!"
To everyone's surprise, Ye Cheng frowned as he looked at his Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda, unsatisfied with its transformation.
Then, without hesitation
He continued hunting soul beasts!
This time, every soul beast he sought was at least a hundred thousand years old.
The ocean was vast, its territory far greater than the land, and unlike the surface, where soul beasts could only survive on a single plane, the depths of the sea harbored countless more creatures.
Thus, marine soul beasts especially those living in the deep or far sea regions were rarely disturbed by humans, allowing them to grow far more easily than land based soul beasts.
A conservative estimate suggested that there were at least a hundred times more hundred thousand year soul beasts in the ocean than on land.
Titles like the Three Rulers of the Sea Devil Spirit Great White Shark, Evil Demon Orca, and Deep Sea Demon Whale were nothing more than a joke. Humans' knowledge of the ocean was extremely shallow, so they mistakenly believed those three species were the ocean's strongest.
In reality, who knew how many hundred thousand year soul beasts lurked in the far sea and deep sea regions?
Thus, Ye Cheng easily found and hunted more hundred thousand year soul beasts.
Finally, upon absorbing his third soul ring, his Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda transformed
It gained an eighth tier!
It had become the Eight Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda!
In the livestream, Ning Fengzhi had been watching attentively, and upon witnessing this moment, he couldn't help but clench his fists. The Eight Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda had always been his highest expectation for his most talented daughter, Ning Rongrong. He had believed she had the greatest potential to evolve the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda into an Eight Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda, but as for the legendary Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda, he had never dared to dream of it.
In the video
Seeing that the seven tiered pagoda in his hands had finally grown an eighth layer, Ye Cheng revealed a satisfied smile and murmured, "If I absorb a few more hundred thousand year soul rings, my Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda should undergo its final transformation and gain the ninth tier."
[I see now! No wonder he said it wasn't enough. He's deliberately absorbing high quality soul rings to force his Martial Soul to evolve!]
[Exactly! It's well known that if a soul master absorbs soul rings that are either extremely compatible with their Martial Soul or are of exceptionally high age, there's a chance the Martial Soul might evolve.]
[And since Ye Cheng has Twin Martial Souls, he first cultivated one to Titled Douluo level, allowing him to attach extremely high age soul rings to his second Martial Soul right from the beginning thus pushing it toward evolution!]
[Without Twin Martial Souls, attempting to evolve the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda through high quality soul rings would have been absolutely impossible.]
The video continued
Ye Cheng pushed forward relentlessly, scouring the vast and boundless ocean for hundred thousand year soul beasts, hunting them down and claiming their rings!
The endless ocean was teeming with high age soul beasts. He encountered colossal octopuses spanning hundreds of meters, massive coral formations stretching across kilometers, gigantic clams hidden in the deep, venomous black and white sea serpents, and vibrant giant starfish… and one by one, he slaughtered them all.
Finally, upon absorbing his eighth soul ring, the eight tiered pagoda in his hands slowly grew its ninth tier. In that instant, a dazzling sacred light radiated outward, illuminating the surrounding ocean for dozens of miles!
A gigantic nine tiered pagoda manifested in the sky, shining brilliantly across the heavens!
Unfortunately, this was an uninhabited sea, devoid of witnesses, so no one saw this earth shattering moment. However, it was now recorded in the livestream, spreading the revelation far and wide.
"Finally… the ninth tier," Ye Cheng muttered as he gazed at the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda in his hands, his expression filled with emotion. "Twenty years of effort…"
After a moment of reflection, he put away his Martial Soul and turned toward the horizon.
"Although my Martial Soul has evolved into the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda, there's still one last soul ring slot left. And since there's no shortage of high age soul beasts in this ocean, I might as well find one more and complete the process."
Once again, he began searching.
After an extensive search, Ye Cheng finally found a colossal sea turtle. Its massive shell resembled an underwater mountain, and with its head and limbs withdrawn, it was nearly indistinguishable from a seabed reef.
But Ye Cheng saw through its disguise instantly
And with a single sword strike, he sent it to the afterlife.
Then, he began absorbing the soul ring.
However, this time, the process was not smooth.
Seated cross legged atop the ocean's surface, his Nine Tiered Pagoda floated beside him, radiating nine colored divine light. Eight blood red soul rings already encircled it only one more was needed to complete his legendary feat of nine hundred thousand year soul rings.
But this final soul ring was proving exceedingly difficult to absorb.
Unlike the previous eight, which had been effortless, this one was immensely challenging.
[What's wrong?]
[Why is absorbing this last soul ring so difficult?]
[Could it be that this soul ring's age is simply too high?]
[I think it might be a conflict between his two Martial Souls.]
[After all, Twin Martial Souls one a pagoda, one a sword the deeper he progresses, the stronger the conflicts between them must become.]
[There have been records of another Twin Martial Soul user who exploded while absorbing a soul ring!]
[Wait… does that mean Ye Cheng might meet the same fate?!]
[That's unlikely! Ye Cheng is already a Titled Douluo. We don't know what level he is, but he wouldn't die so easily just from soul power conflict!]
Watching Ye Cheng struggle to absorb the final soul ring, Ning Fengzhi's heart tightened with anxiety. This was the world's only Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda, and if he self destructed here, the loss to the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect would be immeasurable!
Thankfully, as the protagonist of the video, how could Ye Cheng possibly die?
The video skipped forward, showing the passage of three full day night cycles.
Finally, Ye Cheng suppressed the conflict between his Twin Martial Souls and successfully absorbed the last soul ring!
The Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda was now adorned with a ninth, blood red soul ring!
He slowly opened his eyes.
Looking at the nine blood red rings encircling his Nine Tiered Pagoda, he took a moment to sense his own power.
Then, the corners of his lips curled into a faint smile.
"Finally, I've reached… Rank 99. Ultimate Douluo!"
"Twenty years… It's finally time to return to the continent and settle old scores."
His gaze turned toward the faraway horizon toward the Douluo Continent.
A cold gleam flickered in his eyes.
The scene changed
A city appeared.
At first glance, one could tell that this was where Baiyun City had once stood.
However, this city had since been rebuilt, with a new name displayed on the city gates Overlord Dragon City.
On a distant hilltop
A lone figure dressed in white robes gazed at the city from afar, seemingly lost in thought.
After a moment, he sighed softly.
"The world has changed, and so have its people."
Then, he turned around.
And with a single flick of his sleeve
Countless radiant sword beams erupted from his sleeve, streaking across the sky like a tidal wave of blinding light!
The entire sky was consumed by the overwhelming brilliance of sword energy!
Like a torrential river, the sword light surged toward the City Lord's Mansion!
By the time the sword light dissipated
The once luxurious City Lord's Mansion had been reduced to ruins!
The video abruptly ended
The video was over.
And the viewers' reactions varied greatly.
Meanwhile
In the real world, Overlord Dragon City the city built over the ruins of Baiyun City was thrown into absolute panic.
Countless citizens hurriedly packed their belongings and fled the city in terror.
The final scene of the video had been too terrifying.
Ye Cheng was clearly someone who did not delay revenge he had barely returned to the continent before he immediately struck down his enemies!
The sheer destructive power of those falling sword beams was horrifying beyond words!
Nobody knew if Ye Cheng would slaughter indiscriminately, destroying the entire city along with his enemies.
After all, in this world, collateral damage during battles between the strong was nothing unusual.
No one was foolish enough to gamble their life on luck.
Thus, the innocent residents who had no ties to the Wang family fled as fast as they could.
Since they knew that their city was doomed in the future, they refused to wait around to see if they'd be caught in the storm of destruction.
For them, staying meant gambling with death and they were not willing to take that risk.
They fled.
As far away as possible.
(End of Chapter)
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