Chapter Sixty-Three: Fiery Sickle and Demonic Claw

Jing Hao was somewhat surprised. Although Tang Tian was a newcomer, he was a newcomer to the Radiant Martial Society. How could he not know about the awakening of Martial Souls?

“The Martial Soul of a secret treasure, once it begins to awaken, develops its own consciousness. It will autonomously cultivate and strengthen itself, growing ever more powerful until it reaches its limit.”

“That sounds amazing,” Tang Tian said, his eyes shining. “How can you awaken a Martial Soul?”

“I don’t know,” Jing Hao replied, shaking his head.

“What a pity! If we could manage to awaken it, just imagine how powerful it would be.” Tang Tian looked regretful. The idea sounded so advanced—if his gauntlets and little Pegasus boots could cultivate and strengthen their Martial Souls by themselves, he could hardly contain his excitement at the thought.

Jing Hao glanced at him, saying coolly, “Stop daydreaming.”

Tang Tian remained unfazed. “We must be full of dreams.” Having said this, he looked around, searching for anything else of interest.

“Don’t bother. There’s nothing else.” Jing Hao’s voice was indifferent. “You ought to know that summoned Soul Generals have a time limit. Elder Nong’s Martial Soul, which guards this place, naturally comes at a considerable cost.”

“That’s true,” Tang Tian scratched his head.

Except for special Soul Generals, generally speaking, those summoned by Soul General cards have varying durations depending on their rank. Bronze Soul Generals can last a month, Silver Soul Generals a year, and Gold Soul Generals up to ten years.

“If not for the passage of so many years weakening the Soul General, your strength would not be enough to inherit Elder Nong’s relics,” Jing Hao said, expressionless.

“You know a lot,” Tang Tian said, surprised. “How come you know so much?”

Jing Hao replied calmly, “Elder Nong had some ties to my elders.”

Tang Tian suddenly understood.

“However, it seems I underestimated Elder Nong,” Jing Hao said, staring at the Peacock Blue on Tang Tian’s body. “Try summoning the Martial Soul of Peacock Blue.”

Tang Tian closed his eyes, as if savoring and contemplating. Suddenly, he opened them, a strange look on his face. Then he shouted, “Peacock of Blue!”

The Peacock Blue on him glowed with a deep blue light, and a blue peacock gently floated out from the armor, silently perching on Tang Tian’s shoulder.

The peacock’s feathers shimmered like blue gold, cascading down in graceful splendor. A few delicate red plumes trembled softly on its forehead, and its expression was exceptionally lively. It stood quietly on Tang Tian’s shoulder, elegant and composed, with a cold, noble air.

“Just as I thought,” Jing Hao examined the peacock and said calmly, “Elder Nong, before he died, likely split his Martial Soul in two—one part infused into Peacock Blue, the other became a Soul General to guard this place. If you wish to practice the claw techniques, you need only communicate with the peacock. Peacock Blue must have already attracted Elder Nong’s Martial Soul, no wonder it has awakened.”

“You mean, the peacock knows Elder Nong’s claw techniques?” Tang Tian’s eyes grew wide with delight.

“Elder Nong suffered much, but he probably couldn’t bear to let his unique skills be lost forever,” Jing Hao said with some emotion, but soon returned to normal. “Elder Nong’s most famous technique was the ‘Fiery Scythe Demon Claw.’ You’ve just experienced it. However, what you fought was less than a tenth of Elder Nong’s original strength. The ‘Fiery Scythe Demon Claw’ ranks third among the fifth-tier claw techniques in the Martial Society. Elder Nong, before being exiled here, had already begun raising its rank. Whether he succeeded in the end, I do not know.”

“Fifth-tier claw technique?” Tang Tian scratched his head, troubled. “But I only know third-tier claw techniques.”

“Third-tier claw techniques…” Jing Hao’s expression was strange. He had secretly observed Tang Tian during his conflict with Baldy. Tang Tian was peculiar: clearly only possessing third-tier strength, yet easily defeating Baldy and his Soul General, both of whom had fourth-tier power.

Especially when Tang Tian defeated Elder Nong’s Soul General.

Although the Soul General was greatly weakened by the passage of time, it still possessed fourth-tier strength. The master-level ‘Fiery Scythe Demon Claw’ remained formidable. Even Jing Hao himself would have struggled to win.

Yet Tang Tian seemed to triumph effortlessly.

In the final stage, Tang Tian’s Eagle Claw technique had clearly reached a new level.

Such a powerful Eagle Claw technique—Jing Hao had never seen the like. Now, hearing Tang Tian say he only knew third-tier claw techniques, it was no wonder Jing Hao felt so absurd.

He truly was an enigma!

Still, since he had been exiled to this place…

Thinking this, Jing Hao sighed quietly, feeling a kinship in adversity. “I have a few cards. See if any are useful to you.”

“Wow, that’s great!” Tang Tian cheered, raising his arm. “You’re a good man!”

“A good man?” Jing Hao sneered. “I just don’t want to see Elder Nong’s painstakingly crafted ‘Fiery Scythe Demon Claw’ lost to history.”

With that, Jing Hao turned and left.

“A man whose words belie his heart,” Tang Tian muttered, but soon brightened, lovingly stroking the Peacock Blue on his body as he swaggered down the corridor.

When Baldy Biao and his crew saw the dazzling Peacock Blue on Tang Tian, they stood stunned for a long moment.

Tang Tian generously untied everyone’s ropes.

“Which room is mine? I need to rest!” Tang Tian, undisputed school tyrant, promptly claimed the best room.

***

Tang Tian stared blankly at the Soul General beside Bing. After a moment, he rubbed his eyes. Was he seeing things?

Floating beside Bing was none other than the Soul General he had encountered in the corridor—Elder Nong’s Soul General.

“Bing… Uncle Bing, what’s going on?” Tang Tian stammered.

“I told you not to call me uncle!” Bing’s forehead twitched, but he steadied himself and said, “The new recruit training camp has a function: Martial Soul Projection.”

“Martial Soul Projection?” This was the first time Tang Tian had heard the term.

“As long as there is a trace of Martial Soul, the camp can perfectly project it. Initially, we planned to use this to make up for our shortage of instructors. But later, we discovered its uses went far beyond that.” Bing’s blank face showed no emotion whatsoever, and even his voice was as flat as a whiteboard.

Tang Tian listened eagerly, but Bing abruptly changed the subject.

“But that has nothing to do with you right now,” Bing said coolly. “Even the ‘Fiery Scythe Demon Claw’ is beyond your reach for now. I’ve already examined it—it’s an extremely lethal claw technique.”

Tang Tian had expected not to be able to cultivate the Fiery Scythe Demon Claw; he asked, “So what do we train now?”

“You need to pay attention to your Crane Body,” Bing said woodenly. “Your Crane Body has absorbed hundreds of streams of force. If you don’t digest them within ten hours, they will erupt violently, and you’ll burst apart like a ripe pomegranate.”

Tang Tian was alarmed. “Something so important, and you never warned me!”

“It’s common knowledge,” Bing replied. “I didn’t expect you’d use such a dangerous method to employ the Crane Body’s force.”

“How do I digest it now?” Tang Tian asked anxiously.

“Repeated strikes!” Bing said coldly.

Then Tang Tian saw a vast sea of glowing spheres surging toward him.

Oh, no!

Tang Tian’s anguished screams were immediately drowned out by a barrage of impacts, relentless as rain.

***

Three hours later, Tang Tian was swollen like a steamed bun, gazing resentfully at Bing.

“The force absorbed by your Crane Body has been completely dispersed,” Bing said, as if discussing how long to grill a steak.

“What about afterwards?” Tang Tian asked, speech slurred by his swollen face.

“Afterwards? Actually, it’s done you a great favor,” Bing explained. “These streams of force are far denser than ordinary fourth-tier true power. Generally, such force is extremely difficult to absorb, and their destructive power is immense. But now, after more than seven hundred thousand strikes, they’ve been utterly pulverized.”

Tang Tian’s eyes turned green at the mention of “seven hundred thousand.”

“Now, these shattered strands of true power are an excellent tonic for you,” Bing continued. “But the problem is—they’re too potent.”

“Too potent?” Tang Tian managed to ask through his muffled voice.

“Exactly. Far too potent!” Bing said seriously. “You now need to use your Crane Body constantly to absorb this pure true power. This process may take ten days.”

“So long?” Tang Tian’s speech was awkward and unclear.

“It really takes that long,” Bing explained. “Although your true power is much purer and stronger than typical third-tier, and you absorbed very little, the quality is as high as seventh-tier!”

“Seventh-tier!” Tang Tian was dumbfounded. Did he defeat a seventh-tier Soul General? It was a joke!

“The Soul General’s power in life was seventh-tier,” Bing said with absolute confidence. “You were able to defeat it because its power had been greatly diminished. But each stream of force contains a thread of seventh-tier true power at its core.”

Seventh-tier…

For Tang Tian, still striving for fourth-tier, seventh-tier seemed like a mountain.

“Also, that fellow was wrong. The Fiery Scythe Demon Claw isn’t fifth-tier, but seventh-tier. It’s a truly outstanding seventh-tier martial art!”

Tang Tian was once again stunned inside and out.

If the Fiery Scythe Demon Claw were fifth-tier, he might have some hope. Seventh-tier—that was a distant dream.

He had finally acquired a unique skill, only to learn it was even better than he imagined—except instead of being within reach, he was told he’d have to wait until next year to taste it.

Tang Tian’s swollen face was filled with bitter indignation.

“You won’t be able to train these days,” Bing said in his usual flat tone. “You must quickly absorb and digest the scattered true power. If you don’t finish within ten days, the seventh-tier true power will act like poison and begin to damage your dantian pool.”

Tang Tian, deeply aggrieved, asked, “How can I speed up the absorption?”

“Consider high-intensity combat,” Bing advised.

“Got it,” Tang Tian nodded vigorously, fierceness in his eyes. “That means fighting!”