Douluo Dalu: Volume 40: Beginning of the War

by Tang Jia San Shao

  “Unknown spirit masters spotted to the west, numbering fifty, moving quickly, circling around to the rear of our supply army. Sect master please give instructions.”

  The Speed Hall disciple’s report shook the Shrek Seven Devils awake. Tang San pondered:

  “Fatty, you come with me and Xiao Wu. Boss, you keep waiting here for news. Since the Spirit Empire is starting to move, they won’t send just one force. Move if there are more discoveries. After we’ve ambushed the Spirit Empire’s people, we’ll return converge here. Speed Hall disciple, lead the way.”

  “Yes.”

  The Speed Hall disciple flew up. Tang San and Xiao Wu hand in hand, Ma Hongjun releasing his phoenix wings, the three soared up, and flew west after the Speed Hall disciple’s lead.

  In the air, Tang San immediately saw the main army’s supply line, stretching far away. In order to deliver the supplies consumed every day by an army of millions, the provision had to be transported constantly. At the same time he also saw those strongholds. At intervals of ten li were built rock strongholds. They were manned by troops, and even provided with siege crossbows, weapons that even spirit masters feared. If these mutually protective strongholds were finished, then the supply line would be truly safe. At that time they just needed to send out a certain amount of scouts, and if there was an enemy attack, the supply army could immediately hide in the rock strongholds. Unless the enemy came with enough force to break the strongholds, they would return empty handed. Moreover, even if they did bring that force, could you break ten, or a hundred? It would just mean some small losses.

  What Tang San and the Shrek Seven Devils had to do was ensure the safety of the supply army until these strongholds were finished.

  The scenery flitted past below, and in a short while the trio had already flown close to fifty li. The Speed Hall disciple halted, spreading his wings and flying up next to Tang San,

  “Reporting to sect master, they were moving in just this direction. Judging by their previous speed, they should be about twenty li from here. We can’t fly any further or we’ll be discovered by the enemy. According to my observations, even though the enemy force only number fifty, their strength should be at least rank sixty. Since I couldn’t get too close, their concrete levels is unclear. Sect master please be careful.”

  The Speed Clan’s people were worthy of being the ideal scout spirit masters. Reporting quickly and efficiently, even including his own estimations, he saved Tang San a lot of trouble.

  “Fine, you keep scouting. Fatty, let’s get down.”

  The three landed quietly. Fatty withdrew his phoenix wings and followed next to Tang San.

  Tang San simply looked over the surrounding terrain:

  “Forest on our left, hills on the right. Since the enemy is already moving, there’s no telling how many spirit masters they’ve sent. We have to save time. We’ll move up to ambush them. Fatty, don’t get more than twenty meters away from me.”

  While speaking, Tang San rubbed the Seagod brand on his forehead. A light blue circle spread out, enveloping all three of them. Instantly, all traces of them on the ground disappeared. What could be more suitable for ambushing than the Vast Sea Barrier?

  At the same time as he released the Vast Sea Barrier, Tang San also released his mental force in a semicircular fan shape in the direction the Speed Hall disciple pointed out. This kind of unrestrained mental strength sweep was established with his boundless level mental strength. The Spirit Empire’s raiding party wouldn’t have powers on the level of Bibi Dong or Qian Douliu, and couldn’t possibly discover them.

  Tang San very quickly found their target. Leading Ma Hongjun and Xiao Wu, he quietly went to meet them.

  Fifty black dressed spirit masters quietly advanced through the complex pathless terrain. Even though there was fifty of them, they made no unnecessary sounds, and nobody spoke as they moved.

  Moving furthest ahead was an elegant and young looking man, but with a somewhat gloomy expression. This was one of the Spirit Empire’s elders, Chrysanthemum Douluo Yue Guan.

  These days Yue Guan was always in a very bad mood. Ever since Ghost Douluo’s death, his position in the Spirit Empire had fallen substantially, and the other originally courteous elders were now cold and detached. Spirit Hall was always a very pragmatic organization. If you had the strength, you would be respected by all. In terms of individual strength, Yue Guan wasn’t very high among all the elders, even a bit lower than Ghost Douluo. The reason he was respected and high on the Elder Hall rankings, was because he and Ghost Douluo had the spirit fusion ability. Now Ghost Douluo had passed, and he remained alone. Even if he was still a Title Douluo, among the elders he had still dropped a long way. Especially since he had offended Bibi Dong in the Star Dou Great Forest. As a result, this time he was sent to lead a team of spirit masters to destroy the Heaven Dou Empire’s supply line, a mission that should have originally belonged to a Spirit Douluo.

  Of course, with Yue Guan’s status as Title Douluo, the spirit masters he led were all Spirit Emperor level. The other teams were all Spirit Douluo leading Spirit Sages.

  The Spirit Empire had a deep store of spirit masters. Bibi Dong valued this operation extremely highly, and had sent altogether five hundred formidable spirit masters split in ten teams to quietly circumvent the Heaven Dou Imperial Army and reach the rear. Tang San’s judgement was completely correct. Bibi Dong would not only harass the Heaven Dou Empire’s rear supply, but even block it as far as possible.

  While moving forward, Yue Guan couldn’t keep that person’s figure from appearing in his mind. Even if a long time passed, he would still never forget the image of Ghost Douluo’s chest pierced by that golden trident.

  Her Majesty said that person was Tang San, but Yue Guan wasn’t particularly convinced. How old was Tang San? Just a kid in his twenties. How could he possibly have the strength to instantly kill Ghost Douluo? Just where was that person? If he was someone from the Heaven Dou Empire, then he would definitely be with the army this time. Oh old ghost, I wonder if I’ll have the chance to avenge you.

  “Everyone pay attention, speed up. We are still roughly sixty li from the target. Don’t get tangled up with the army when the time comes, focus on torching the supplies. In another ten li, check the fire oil you’re carrying. Remember, follow my orders when the battle starts, don’t get caught up in fighting.”

  Yue Guan commanded coldly.

  “Yes.”

  Forty nine voices answered in chorus, manifesting the quality of these SPirit Empire elites.

  Right now they were already in a stretch of forest. From the maps Ye Guan knew that the forest didn’t stretch very far, before it turned into hills. Then they could see the Heaven Dou Army supply line.

  Suddenly, Yue Guan had a bad feeling. Before he could investigate, everything in the surroundings instantly turned into a blue sea, layers and layers of tree shadows almost instantly isolating him in a world of his own. Besides the jagged blue tree shadows, he couldn’t even see any of his subordinates.

  “Enemy—— attack——!”

  Yue Guan shouted almost madly.

  Chapter 276: Tang San’s Ninth Spirit Ability

  Dark red ripples made the air freeze, adding a faint red luster to everything within this blue world. All the surroundings turned sparkling and translucent, as brilliant as chunks of crystal.

  Yue Guan was worthy of being a Title Douluo level power. Even if his talent wasn’t completely outstanding, he had already been a Title Douluo for years. The Odd Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum Spirit was released almost instantly, nine spirit rings together releasing enormous spirit power fluctuations. As the seventh spirit ring flashed, that Odd Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum suddenly grew larger, coiling around him and issuing a series of resounding cracks.

  Yue Guan knew this was a moment of life or death. His perception rose to the limit, and he leapt up without any hesitation, rushing ten meters into the air protected by the Odd Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum spirit avata
r.

  The same moment he had just leapt up, a dark ray of light swept past beneath his feet, disappearing in a flash.

  “Annihilate.”

  An ice cold voice echoed in the forest. All the blue color subsequently disappeared without a trace, and when the scene in front of Yue Guang became clear again, he saw the forty nine spirit masters he had brought frozen in the air in a multitude of strange poses. Each one was covered by that translucent faintly red crystal.

  This scene was so familiar. Even though Yue Guan held infinite hatred for that person, in this moment all his hatred turned into fear. He shivered, basically not even considering saving his subordinates, he stepped on the Odd Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum and turned into a ray of golden light, instantly escaping into the distance.

  Shattering noises as sharp and clear as a musical composition reverberated. At the same time as Yue Guan escaped, that faintly red crystal was turned to dust by some strange force, drifting through the air, not even leaving corpses behind.

  Forty nine Spirit Hall elite Spirit Emperors really were very powerful. They could even easily destroy a thousand man army. But unfortunately, what they encountered was the hundred thousand year spirit ability they had only heard legends of.

  Thousand Hand Asura Tang San’s eighth spirit ability, from the spirit ring of the hundred thousand year Evil Spirit Orca King. The Blue Silver Orca Devil Mirror’s Annihilation.

  Hiding within the Vast Sea Barrier and choosing this forest to attack in through mental strength was undoubtedly Tang San’s masterpiece. Xiao Wu and Ma Hongjun didn’t do anything, since if they did, the stealth effect would instantly disappear. Tang San had two choices, one to directly attack Yue Guan, and the other to release a large scale attack.

  If he directly attacked Yue Guan, Tang San had a ten percent chance to instantly kill him. After all, Chrysanthemum Douluo wasn’t a Spirit Douluo, and even though Yue Guan’s fighting strength wasn’t worth much, the Seagod Trident didn’t have any restraining effect on him. Instantly killing a Title Douluo was still extremely difficult. But even so, Tang San was still confident he could seriously injure Chrysanthemum Douluo from ambush.

  But he didn’t do so, and instead chose to launch a group attack. Because, Tang San had already decided before starting that he absolutely wouldn’t let a single Spirit Empire spirit master escape. Revenge was secondary, the key reason was that he didn’t want the news that he was guarding the supply line to reach Bibi Dong’s ears.

  Spirit Emperor level spirit masters, without extremely special circumstances, how could they stand a chance of surviving Tang San’s Blue Silver Orca Devil Mirror’s Annihilation?

  “Since you’ve come, why be in such a rush to leave?”

  Yue Guan was just running with his heart filled with fear. He was constantly shouting to himself, ‘it’s that person, it’s that person’, but at this moment he didn’t have the slightest thought of avenging Ghost Douluo. There were no other Title Douluo with him now, and even less Bibi Dong’s support. That person dared rob the lord Supreme Pontiff’s spirit rings, and could even instantly kill Gui Mei, let alone him.

  All he prayed for right now was that he could use the moment after that person released his eighth spirit ability and had to adjust spirit power, to escape. In his impression, that person absolutely wasn’t an agility attack type spirit master. His Odd Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum had lots of marvellous uses, he might still be able to escape.

  But, a ball of intense flame dashed his hopes.

  WIth an enormous explosion, that explosive flame blocked Chrysanthemum Douluo’s path. Two yellow, two purple, four black, covered in roiling flame, Ma Hongjun wearing eight spirit rings stood in his way.

  Slowly pulling back his right arm, what Ma Hongjun used just now was his explosive inflagration flame right arm bone’s ability, Phoenix Burst.

  Yue Guan’s strength was originally enough to not get blasted back by Ma Hongjun’s sneak attack, but unfortunately his mind was in chaos right now. In his heart rose the figure of that person, and that terrifying golden trident. Thus he was blocked by Ma Hongjun’s sneak attack just now.

  “Shrek Seven Devils, fuck off!”

  Seeing Ma Hongjun’s eight spirit rings, Yue Guan couldn’t help being shocked. The Odd Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum in his hand flew out, the enormous flower growing once again in its spirit avatar state, unexpectedly reaching a ten meter diameter, violently spinning it flew towards Ma Hongjun. At the same time Yue Guan’s own body also flew up, landing on that giant chrysanthemum, his whole body immersed in its golden light, completely fusing together with the spirit’s energy.

  Relying on his Title Douluo level strength, this attack was in order to escape, and its power was quite considerable. Ma Hongjun’s current spirit power was just rank eighty one, and without using his spirit avatar, it was basically impossible for him to block it.

  Of Course, Yue Guan’s goal wasn’t to kill Ma Hongjun, he just wanted to break open a path and flee before that person had caught up.

  Unfortunately, he had underestimated Tang San’s recovery speed. Ordinary Title Douluo might need some time to catch their breath after releasing an eighth spirit ability, but to someone with six spirit bones and all spirit rings above the fifty thousand year level, and a physique that even more surpassed the extremes of humanity, what did using an eighth spirit ability count as?

  Consequently, when that glittering chrysanthemum was in front of Ma Hongjun, Yue Guan saw a disdainful smile at the corner of Ma Hongjun’s mouth, as well as a black giant trident.

  Boom——

  Yue Guan’s had large momentum. In order to break open a road, he had already used his full strength. Even though he saw that black trident blocking his way, he could only forcibly run into it.

  That instant collision made Yue Guan’s internal organs feel like pulp, and he, connected with that Odd Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum spirit, was like he had run into an unsurpassable iron city wall.

  The Odd Velved Sky Chrysanthemum spirit suddenly shattered. Even Yue Guan was knocked back, stars before his eyes and blood running from his mouth and nose. He felt no pain, but he was already completely paralyzed.

  Even rank ninety seven Sword Douluo and rank ninety nine Bibi Dong couldn’t break through the Seagod Trident’s block head on. Using pure force, perhaps nobody in the entire continent could break past the trident Tang San held.

  The one hundred eight thousand jin weight really was too frightening. The only chance to deal with Tang San’s Seagod Trident was to not collide with it.

  Yue Guan admittedly had Title Douluo level strength, this also made his crash extremely powerful. But with great force, the opposing force would be even greater. Tang San relied completely on brute force to block him with the Seagod Trident, and it was also with pure force that this Chrysanthemum Douluo was thrown back. Not only did it break his Odd Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum, it even broke his nerves.

  “You……”

  Yue Guan retreated a few steps, looking at Tag San, and then at Xiao Wu next to him,

  “It’s really you, Tang San.”

  Tang San spoke calmly:

  “We meet again, senior Chrysanthemum Douluo.”

  Yue Guan’s expression turned anxious,

  “Tang San, let me go. You should know that all we did was on the Supreme Pontiff’s orders. As long as you let me go, I’ll join your Heaven Dou Empire faction! I can help you deal with the Spirit Empire. No matter what, I’m still a Title Douluo.”

  Tang San didn’t look at Yue Guan again, his eyes revealing a deep sorrow, unknown whether it was because of Yue Guan’s bowing and scraping, or because he recalled something.

  “Senior Yue Guan, back then, in that lush Star Dou Great Forest, did you let me and Xiao Wu go? Do you know how much we suffered because of that? Did you let the Blue Lighting Tyrant Dragon Clan go? My parents? Or the countless powers that died tragically by the hands of your Spirit Hall. Spirit Hall has sown too many disasters. Straighten your trembling spin
e. Yes. You are a Title Douluo, so die with some dignity.”

  Yue Guan’s expression changed once again. But this time, his face grew ice cold. He already understood from what Tang San said that this youth wouldn’t possibly let him go. He’d never thought that, as a Title Douluo, he would also have a day like this.

  The corners of his mouth revealed a wry smile,

  “Yes, you’re right. As a Title Douluo, why would I bow and scrape? That I am here today is because of myself. If I hadn’t clung to the glory Spirit Hall could give me, how would I end up like this? If I could choose again, then in my next life I will definitely be a free spirit master. Only now do I understand that living freely is more important than any influence, status or money. Perhaps, death is a new beginning for me. Tang San, before you act, can you tell me how you have such strength without one spirit ring?”

  Tang San spoke calmly:

  “I have a kind of ability to hide spirit rings. Words on the deathbed always come from the heart. I will let you die peacefully.”

  While speaking, Tang San slowly pointed the Seagod Trident forward. Around him, one spirit ring after another quietly appeared.

  Black, black, black, black, red, black, red, red, red. Nine spirit rings. Each that appeared seemed to make the atmosphere a bit heavier. As they all circled around Tang San, not only was Yue Guan stunned, even Ma Hongjun to the side was stupefied.

  “Losing to you, my death isn’t unjust. Only, I won’t wait to die. If you want my life, come and take it.”

  Yue Guan howled, his whole body again brightening with golden light. The broken Odd Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum reformed, instantly completing spirit avatar. At this moment, he had already laid down all worries and hope of surviving, his fighting spirit and spirit power were fully ignited.

  “Fatty, you and Xiao Wu step back.”

  Tang San spoke calmly. At the same time, the Seagod Trident he held was already pointing towards Yue Guan’s chest.

  Azure light rose from below Tang San’s feet, instantly enveloping him completely. His spirit avatar had launched, and at this moment, the red spirit ring in the arrayed in the last position, was the first to brighten.