Douluo: My Clone Is Groudon

Welcome to our new Patron: Josh Kingston!

------------------------------------------------------

Yue Guan answered proactively, "We've already notified the Spirit Academy and arranged for seven children who recently needed soul rings. Among them, two are tool martial souls, and five are beast martial souls."

"According to the article, we're searching for the most suitable spirit beasts for foundation-building. It's estimated to take about three days."

Golden Crocodile Douluo nodded. "Even without requiring full-scale martial soul evolution, if one of the seven shows significant improvement in their martial soul, it will be enough to prove the paper's credibility."

"Big Brother, should we wait three days before voting?"

Qian Daoliu shook his head. "For a few children whose soul rings won't exceed a hundred years, just go find some common spirit beasts like magic bears or ghost leopards. Hunt them quickly and return."

"Remember, quality over quantity."

"Yes."

Demon Bear Douluo and Ghost Leopard Douluo stood up from their seats, bowed, and left.

Qian Daoliu turned to Yue Guan and asked, "Have any ultimate martial souls been discovered among those awakened at the Spirit Hall branch locations, as described in the article?"

Yue Guan, meticulous as always, replied, "I've sent people to sift through recent records of martial soul awakenings, with a focus on earth and fire elemental martial souls. So far, there's no news."

"Hmm, keep looking." Qian Daoliu nodded faintly.

Among the more than twenty Title Douluos present, it was impossible for none of them to be curious about ultimate martial souls. Since voting wasn't urgent, they began speculating with their companions about what ultimate martial souls might look like.

"If there are ultimate martial souls, then surely there must be ultimate attribute spirit beasts. Has anyone seen anything resembling them?"

Xiong Shi Douluo, whose martial soul was fire-based, was particularly interested in the half-ultimate fire mentioned in the article. His question brought the discussion to a sudden hush.

"What about the Titan Ape? Even a hundred-year-old Titan Ape's strength far surpasses even ordinary ten-thousand-year spirit beasts. Could it count as an ultimate force?"

One of the Title Douluos thought of the legendary King of the Forest.

"The Titan Ape has immense dominance over other spirit beasts, but no soul master has ever awakened a Titan Ape martial soul. No one knows whether its power comes from its bloodline or something else entirely."

Some maintained a rational perspective.

"In my opinion, the fact that no one has awakened a Titan Ape martial soul precisely proves its power. Ultimate martial souls often can't stably pass down their traits—this matches that description perfectly."

Few things could pique the interest of Title Douluos, but the concept of ultimate martial souls had sparked rare enthusiasm among them.

Bibi Dong remained silent, her expression inscrutable. She didn't care about ultimate martial souls; she only felt annoyed by the chatter around her.

---

Half a day later, two ninety-five-level Title Douluos returned, bringing two boys aged eleven or twelve into the Pope's Hall.

Ghost Leopard Douluo bowed respectfully. "Grand Worship, the soul hunting is complete. Two out of the seven children have shown changes."

He gestured to the two boys. "Tell them yourselves—what changes have occurred in your martial souls?"

The boys trembled with excitement, knowing they were in the presence of great figures.

The older boy managed to calm himself first. He summoned his martial soul—a silver wolf.

"My name is Xue Lisheng. My martial soul is the Silver Wolf, with innate soul power level seven. My parents had ordinary black wolf martial souls. My academy teachers determined that my martial soul mutated due to spiritual factors. Since spiritual-type spirit beasts are rare, I was recommended to pursue elemental skills."

"My first soul ring came from a Storm Demon Wolf, granting me the Wind Blade skill. For my second soul ring, the elders found a six-hundred-year-old spiritual spirit beast, a Curse Crow."

"It granted me the Soul Power Drain skill, allowing me to release spiritual energy that reduces an enemy's soul defense by thirty percent, ignoring level differences."

Sss…

A collective gasp echoed through the hall. Fixed reduction of defenses made this skill comparable to a ten-thousand-year soul ring ability.

Especially when paired with enhancement-support type soul masters, it could amplify allies' strengths while weakening enemies, creating a massive gap in combat effectiveness.

Bibi Dong raised a skeptical question. "Spiritual skills have always been unpredictable, relying on luck. How can you prove that the strength of this skill is related to the martial soul?"

Ghost Leopard Douluo smiled faintly, his gaze piercing like a demon's. "Your Holiness, please observe carefully."

He extended a finger and flicked a wisp of gray soul power toward Xue Lisheng.

Under the watchful eyes of the Title Douluos, a phantom-like spiritual barrier appeared around the Silver Wolf, blocking the gray soul power momentarily before dissipating in the breeze.

"This is…"

Qing Luan Douluo's eyes widened slightly. "Control of wind elements using spiritual power to form autonomous defense!"

"Third Worship, your insight is sharp as ever."

Ghost Leopard Douluo offered a compliment before continuing, "Adding a spiritual soul ring seems to have activated the latent spiritual essence of Xue Lisheng's mutated martial soul."

"A few academy teachers theorized that perhaps by adding soul rings of different attributes, he could gain control over various elements. The number of elements depends on his martial soul's resistance to foreign elemental influences."

Qian Daoliu rarely reacted, but this time he praised, "An impressive martial soul. Though weak in elemental mastery, it can still form varied tactics by combining elements."

Hearing the elder's praise, Xue Lisheng was so moved he wanted to kneel, but Ghost Leopard Douluo stopped him—he knew the Grand Worship disliked being bowed to.

As the honorary dean of the Spirit Academy, Bibi Dong had to acknowledge the discovery of a previously overlooked talent, regardless of her mood. She stated:

"Regardless of whether the paper is true or false, if it helps soul masters better understand their martial souls, it's a valuable article."

"You may leave. Think carefully about what soul rings you'll need in the future, and the academy will do its best to meet your requirements."

She waved her hand, and Xue Lisheng bowed respectfully before retreating.

The second boy stepped forward, bowed, and summoned his martial soul. Layers of red scales appeared on his skin as he spoke:

"My name is Wu Yong. My martial soul is the Blazing Lizard, with innate soul power level six. My parents also had Blazing Lizard martial souls. However, because my father obtained a fire-element sub-dragon as his fifth soul ring, it introduced a trace of dragon lineage into our family's martial soul."

"My first soul ring came from a Flame Panther, granting a fifty percent boost in speed and flame potency. My second soul ring came from a Fiery Earth Dragon, causing my martial soul to mutate and evolve into the Flaming Dragon Lizard. Its skill, Crimson Flame Dragon Transformation, doubles my strength and defense."

The brows of everyone present lifted slightly. The Fiery Earth Dragon was considered a top-tier sub-dragon spirit beast. It wasn't surprising that a Fire Lizard martial soul could evolve under its influence.

In the past, all attention had been focused on the most elite talents. No one paid much attention to weaker martial souls like these, as teachers typically led their students to hunt spirit beasts suited to their abilities—not pursuing extremes or fighting powerful sub-dragons.

Thus, even if one or two martial souls evolved, it wouldn't draw much notice.

But if such evolutions could become stable…

The evolution of the Blazing Lizard into the Flaming Dragon Lizard elevated its quality significantly. A child who might originally have reached the Soul Emperor level now had the potential to reach Soul Sage, with the possibility of advancing to Soul Douluo.

And all it took was a top-tier sub-dragon spirit beast.

"No one noticed before. It seems we've been neglecting the soul masters beneath us."

Golden Crocodile Douluo self-critically reflected, though his words subtly targeted Bibi Dong.

Bibi Dong sneered. "Top-tier sub-dragon spirit beasts are exceedingly rare. How could they possibly satisfy every soul master?"

"Even if intermediate martial souls evolve into high-tier ones, they still can't reach the level of Title Douluo. Wouldn't it be better to focus resources on the top talents, increasing their chances of breaking through to Title Douluo?"

Golden Crocodile Douluo fell silent. The gap between Title Douluo and Soul Douluo was vast—even one Title Douluo could easily handle five or six opponents. The trade-offs were difficult to weigh.

Qing Luan Douluo narrowed his eyes, his expression cold and emotionless. His fingers tapped lightly on the table, her voice icy:

"The paper did propose solutions, didn't it? The Dragon Transformation Secret Technique stimulates the bloodline to partially awaken the true body of the martial soul—it's indeed a top-tier secret technique."

"The Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Sect has deep roots. I wonder if they'd be willing to contribute their methods for stimulating bloodlines."

His martial soul, the Qing Luan Divine Bird, shared a lineage with dragons through the phoenix bloodline. Hearing about the principles of the Dragon Transformation Secret Technique, he wondered if he could use it to help himself break through to level ninety-eight.

(T/N: In Chinese mythology, the Qing Luan is often confused with the Phoenix, which is further separated into male and female phoenixes. In addition, there's also the Vermillion Bird of the South which are all divine beasts)