Douluo: Martial Soul Body, I’m True Master

“Roughly how much longer until we reach Heaven Dou City?”

Looking at the orderly Imperial Guards beside the carriage, Tang Shan asked Xue Qinghe with some curiosity.

“Heaven Dou City is very close to Iron Wall City. It only took me a few hours when I came here. Although we are a bit slower this time, arriving at Heaven Dou City by the afternoon shouldn’t be much of a problem.”

Xue Qinghe glanced at the sky outside and quickly gave an answer. Her left hand lightly tapped the carriage panel behind her, and soon, a layer of powerful spirit power quietly enveloped the entire carriage.

Feeling the powerful spirit power wrapping around the carriage, Tang Shan marveled inwardly while sitting up straighter. Clearly, Xue Qinghe had things to say to him that were inconvenient for outsiders to hear.

“Tang Shan, after returning to Heaven Dou City this time, should I take any action regarding the Second Prince and the Third Prince? Especially the Second Prince—should I strike at him from other angles?”

Hearing Xue Qinghe’s question, Tang Shan’s heart skipped a beat as he couldn’t help but recall her actions in the original work where she poisoned the Second and Third Princes.

“Better not to act for now, right?”

After a brief thought, Tang Shan quickly gave his explanation.

“His Majesty has just finished testing all of you. If he isn’t biased, he will surely make a judgment based on your performances.”

“At this time, Your Highness’s performance in Iron Wall City can be considered remarkable. Furthermore, as the eldest son, Your Highness has a very high chance of securing the position of Heir Apparent.”

“If His Majesty is biased, then even if you exhaust your efforts to smear and strike at the prestige of the two princes, it might have the opposite effect and make His Majesty even more biased.”

“Therefore, I advise Your Highness that there’s no need to take such a risky move. Let’s stay calm and wait for this matter to ferment.”

Xue Qinghe’s long, fair fingers lightly toyed with the jade thumb ring on her hand. Her eyes closed slightly as she fell into deep thought.

After a long while, she reopened her eyes, which were now full of clarity.

“Fine, we will stay our hand. As long as Imperial Father isn’t biased, I believe I will definitely rank first in this trial.”

o

Seeing that he had successfully persuaded Xue Qinghe not to act recklessly, Tang Shan breathed a sigh of relief. In his view, with his assistance and the secret help of Spirit Hall, Xue Qinghe’s path to the end was basically a smooth road. There was absolutely no need to engage in the drama of poisoning princes, as that would instead arouse Emperor Xue Ye’s suspicions.

“By the way, Tang Shan, do you have any plans once we reach Heaven Dou City?”

Having cleared up her future direction, Xue Qinghe looked at Tang Shan with a smile. “Do you want to attend the Heaven Dou Imperial Academy?”

Tang Shan thought for a moment and looked at Xue Qinghe. ” I’ll follow Your Highness’s arrangements. In any case, my master has already planned out my future cultivation. For me now, I can Cultivate anywhere.”

“Very well, I’ll think about it for a few days. Regardless, joining would be something for after you reach two rings anyway.”

“Once we reach Heaven Dou City, will you stay at the Prince’s Mansion, or should I find a place for you to live?”

“I’ll stay at the Prince’s Mansion. I still have many questions regarding my cultivation that I’d like to ask the two Seniors.”

Tang Shan’s answer was without hesitation. What a joke—if he didn’t cling to the thigh of Miss Angel, where else would he find sparring partners at the Titled Douluo level? Not to mention, if he wanted to continue researching Spirit theory, he might need to consult these two.

Although he had a general understanding of Douluo Spirit cultivation through his ‘God’s eye view,’ there were still many subtle and profound aspects he hadn’t grasped. Moreover, it seemed that as time passed, the rules of the Douluo Continent were undergoing changes.

“Your Highness, it’s noon. Should we set up camp and rest for a while?”

The leader of the Imperial Guards lightly knocked on the carriage door and asked respectfully from outside.

“Find a suitable place to camp. We will rest for an hour before continuing our journey.”

“As you command, Your Highness!”

The leader quickly departed.

Before long, the carriage’s speed gradually decreased. After finding an open space, the troop set up camp there.

“Let’s go, get out and stretch your legs.”

Xue Qinghe looked at Tang Shan.

Tang Shan hopped off the carriage and followed behind Xue Qinghe, while subconsciously looking toward the tail of the troop.

“Your Highness, do you have any arrangements for Chen Zhan?”

While asking, Tang Shan was also watching how Chen Zhan was training Su Yuntao.

This morning, after careful consideration, Su Yuntao had taken Chen Zhan as his master. From the moment they left Iron Wall City, Su Yuntao had been hauled out of the carriage by Chen Zhan to begin his arduous cultivation.

“Isn’t your elder brother going to travel the continent in a while? After he leaves, I’ll arrange tasks for Chen Zhan. For now, let’s let him focus on passing all of his Legacy to your elder brother.”

“Then I thank Your Highness.”

Hearing such an arrangement, Tang Shan couldn’t help but marvel at Xue Qinghe’s attention to detail. With such thorough planning, it was no wonder she had impersonated the prince for so long without raising suspicion.

“No need for thanks. Don’t you have a planned cultivation time every day? Let me see it; I want to see what’s so mysterious about that method of cultivating the Physical Body.”

“Alright. My Cultivation Technique isn’t like spirit power cultivation that requires sitting in meditation; it’s a set of dynamic cultivation methods, so I need to find a relatively open space.”

Tang Shan gave a brief introduction, then looking at Snake Lance Douluo and the Porcupinefish Douluo who had appeared at some unknown time, he took the initiative to invite them: “Would the two Seniors like to watch as well? Although it might not be very profound, it should still be of some help to cultivation.”

Porcupinefish Douluo and Snake Lance Douluo exchanged a glance and followed Tang Shan and Xue Qinghe.

“Heh, this kid is quite interesting, actually inviting us. Old She, do you think this kid has noticed something?”

“I think you’re overthinking it. No matter how gifted this kid is, he’s ultimately just a one-ring Spirit Master. How could he possibly see through our background? As for inviting us, it’s perfectly normal. Although we’ve never shown our strength, he can surely guess our approximate level—either a Spirit Saint or a Spirit Douluo. If it were you when you first started cultivating and you met a Spirit Master of this level, wouldn’t you look for a chance to get on their good side?”

“That sounds reasonable.”

Tang Shan and Xue Qinghe walked in front while the two Titled Douluo followed behind, communicating secretly via voice transmission. They quickly found a relatively open area.

It was a lush green lawn, roughly several hundred square meters in size. Several hundred meters away, the shade of large trees enveloped this open area. Even though it was now noon, one couldn’t feel the slightest heat.

Tang Shan stood in the open space, took a deep breath to calm his mind, and then began to speak: “This special Physical Body cultivation method was created by my teacher. Its core purpose isn’t to rely on spirit power nourishment, but to deeply develop the latent Origin potential of the body. Currently, there are three progressive levels: Ming Jin, An Jin, and Hua Jin.”

“According to the depth of potential development, the body is also broken down into eight modules: skin, flesh, tendons, bones, viscera, bowels, marrow, and blood. They must be tempered and polished layer by layer; not a single one can be omitted.”

Standing tall, his gaze swept over the three as he continued, “For now, I will demonstrate the most basic Ming Jin, also called ‘Hard Jin’. The core is to mobilize the explosive power of the entire body’s muscles, using fierce force to penetrate the tendons and bones, achieving a force that penetrates the surface of the body and can be released and retracted at will. It emphasizes grand movements and incomparable direct power.”

As his voice fell, Tang Shan used neither Spirit Abilities nor his Spirit. His feet were firmly rooted in the grass. As his knees bent slightly, his waist and abdomen suddenly exerted force, and his shoulders and back stretched out. His fists struck forward alternately, accompanied by the sound of wind. The movements were neat and crisp, each move an eruption of physical strength.

Pa! Pa! Pa!

Crisp and loud cracks rang out one after another. They weren’t dull sounds of impact, but the sound of air exploding as his fists tore through it, mixed with the synchronized vibration of the tendons and bones throughout his body. The sound was sharp and solid, carrying a tangible impact that was exceptionally clear to the ear.

“This sound has two key meanings. First, the fist speed is so fast that it compresses the air to create an explosion. Second, it is evidence that the tendons and bones are vibrating in unison and the blood and Qi are flowing smoothly.”

Tang Shan withdrew his fists and stood still, his breath remaining steady and his tone gentle. “My teacher regards this sound as the sign of entry. There is also a saying that ‘a single crack is worth a thousand pieces of gold.’ Only when you can produce this kind of sound can you be considered to have truly touched the threshold of Ming Jin and gained some heat in your cultivation.”

He raised his hand to rotate his wrist and added, “Once you master this force, you can repeatedly temper the three surface modules of the body: the skin, flesh, and tendons. Through continuous striking and vibration, you break the original shackles and stimulate latent toughness and strength. When you have used this force to temper and develop the first three body parts to Perfection, and the Ming Jin is practiced to the point where it can be retracted and released by the heart and can no longer be improved, the Ming Jin stage is considered completely passed.”

After Tang Shan finished his explanation, he didn’t immediately continue, but looked at the three acting as the audience and asked, “If there’s anything you don’t understand, feel free to ask.”

“What does developing the body’s potential mean? When Spirit Masters Cultivate spirit power, doesn’t it naturally nourish the body?”

Xue Qinghe was the first to voice her doubt.

Tang Shan wasn’t surprised by Xue Qinghe’s doubt. After all, this was the douluo one era. Unlike the Douluo two or three eras where the Body Sect had already researched methods to develop physical potential, it was normal for everyone to have doubts about this.

“It’s like Spirit Beasts. spirit power nourishing the body can be seen as a Spirit Beast increasing its years, while developing physical potential is like excavating the Bloodline inherent to one’s race. For example, among Spirit Beasts of the same Soft Bones Rabbit species, some can only possess skills like Charm or Dash, while some Soft Bones Rabbits can master skills like Paragon Golden Body or Teleportation. You can understand the function of this Physical Body cultivation method as turning the former into the latter without changing the race.”

What Tang Shan didn’t say was that for a Body Martial Soul, his cultivation method was equivalent to making a Dark Gold Bear evolve toward a Dark Gold Dreadclaw Bear.

“Then what is the maximum strength that tempering the body can reach?”

Xue Qinghe continued to ask.

“That depends on the potential inherent in your own body. The higher the physical potential, the more obvious the results of the excavation. I possess a True Body Martial Soul, so my physical potential is more abundant. As my cultivation level breaks through in the future, my potential will increase further. Even now, the defensive power of my skin is already very formidable.”

As Tang Shan spoke, he took out a sharp knife from his Storage Ring. Before the three spectators could react, he unhesitatingly slashed the knife toward his own arm.

“Careful—”

Xue Qinghe’s exclamation wasn’t even finished before it was abruptly cut off.

Screech!

As if cutting into tough cowhide, the sharp knife left no wound on Tang Shan, not even a red mark, only a faint white line.

With a flash of his figure, Snake Lance Douluo was beside Tang Shan, looking at the “stunning achievement” of that sharp knife with some horror. He even personally inspected the knife, after which he fell into a speechless state of shock.

He knew Tang Shan’s physical fitness was unusual, but he didn’t expect that even without releasing his Spirit or Spirit Abilities, Tang Shan’s physical fitness had already reached such a perverted level.