Douluo: My Clone Is Groudon

Nuoding Academy

More than ten days had passed, and Zhu Zhuqing had already adapted to her new environment. Especially with Gu La's specially prepared energy cubes, which left her body tingling pleasantly after consumption, washing away the fatigue of a day's training. It had become something she eagerly looked forward to every day.

But…

Having been raised in the Zhu family under noble education, Zhu Zhuqing was well aware that there was no such thing as "free kindness." She wasn't one to deceive herself.

Gu La had said he wanted to study agility-attack type martial souls, but what she had contributed in return paled in comparison to the help he had given her.

Zhu Zhuqing couldn't help but suspect that Gu La was after her body.

"Ugh! Men are all scum."

Zhu Zhuqing muttered softly under her breath. Her fiancé had run off secretly, but she was still technically engaged!

Gu La sat on the grass, communing with nature. Hearing Zhu Zhuqing's mutterings, he remained expressionless and continued maintaining his connection with natural forces.

If a Super Douluo were present, they would recognize Gu La's state as an extremely rare and essential condition for a ninety-five-level Title Douluo to break through—perfect unity with nature (Heaven Man As One, similar to Sword Douluo Chen Xin's Sword and Man as One).

Many ninety-five-level Title Douluos, due to insufficient talent or mental fortitude, could never achieve this unity and thus remained stuck at their current level for life.

For example, Chrysanthemum Douluo, Ghost Douluo, Demon Bear Douluo, and Ghost Leopard Douluo were all trapped in this way.

However, thanks to Celebi's extraordinary affinity with nature, Gu La had cheated his way into achieving this unity effortlessly. This allowed him to sense the essence of martial souls—a profound understanding only available to Title Douluos—which would greatly enhance his ability to fully unlock the potential of his own martial soul.

Jingle jingle!

The sudden ringing of a communicator interrupted Gu La's meditation.

He picked up the call, and a soft, gentle voice came through the soul-guided device.

"You bad guy, are you really Oak?"

Gu La raised an eyebrow and stood up, walking to a secluded area. "You didn't believe me before, so why are you asking now? What, you've got a question for me?"

On the other end, Ning Rongrong opened her mouth wide, revealing her pink little tongue in surprise. "How did you know?"

Gu La chuckled but didn't answer.

Why did he know? Of course, it was because he had read the script and understood what kind of person Ning Fengzhi was.

To put it nicely, Ning Fengzhi was wise and far-sighted in his schemes. To put it bluntly, he thought like a merchant, prioritizing profit over sincerity in relationships.

By subtly revealing to Ning Rongrong that he was Oak, Gu La knew it would eventually arouse Ning Fengzhi's suspicions and naturally lead to Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Sect reaching out to him.

All of this was part of Gu La's contingency plan.

Though he currently had a harmonious relationship with the Spirit Hall, it was only because he hadn't published any theories detrimental to them. Instead, he had been helping them grow stronger.

But if one day he were to clash with the Spirit Hall, would Spirit Hall Newspaper still publish his articles?

Absolutely not.

Therefore, Gu La needed to secure a backup plan.

Ning Fengzhi was a man of deep cunning, but also very intelligent. He could discern pros and cons clearly, making him a good potential ally. Additionally, by connecting with the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Sect, Gu La could indirectly link up with the Tian Dou Empire, which would surely be useful in the future.

Letting Ning Fengzhi take the initiative to approach him would allow Gu La to maintain some autonomy, giving him leverage in negotiations.

Without saying anything further, Gu La changed the subject. "Alright, what do you need to ask me?"

Ning Rongrong, without much thought, asked, "Our sect has a disciple who awakened an arm martial soul. My father wants to know how we should train him."

True to her nickname as a "leaky little quilt," Ning Rongrong had unwittingly sold out her father in just a few words.

Had Ning Fengzhi been in the room, he would've surely punished her afterward.

"An arm martial soul? The Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Sect is lucky; body-based martial souls can become quite powerful when cultivated properly."

Gu La thought for a moment before replying, "Since it's an arm martial soul, you can choose spirit beasts with strong forelimbs for soul rings—creatures like long-armed apes, four-armed giants, or clawed bears."

"Strengthen both the arms and the overall physical fitness. Once the disciple reaches the Soul King or Soul Emperor stage and experiences one or two life-and-death crises, they should be able to complete their second awakening."

Gu La didn't know the specific secret techniques for second awakenings, but he remembered that immense pressure from life-and-death situations could squeeze out the latent potential of body-based martial souls, triggering a second awakening.

Ning Rongrong covered her mouth in shock. "Life-and-death crises? Will it be dangerous?"

"Of course."

Gu La replied, "A true life-and-death crisis inevitably carries great risks. But the greater the risk, the greater the reward."

"A second awakening achieved through life-and-death struggles is far more perfect than one artificially induced by secret techniques. Though the mortality rate is high, the quality of the awakened martial soul will also be significantly higher."

"It's precisely because it's so dangerous that I didn't explicitly mention it in my article. But if someone wants to defy fate and change their destiny, they must have the courage to face death and emerge stronger."

Gu La hadn't expected Ning Fengzhi to reach out to him about body-based martial souls—he assumed the focus would be on evolving the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Pagoda. 

It seemed Ning Fengzhi was being cautious, not blindly trusting him. This disciple with a body-based martial soul was merely a test to see how Gu La would respond.

However, Gu La was genuinely interested in body-based martial souls.

Aside from those with True Dragon martial souls, it was difficult for soul masters to cultivate blood essence.

But body-based martial souls were different. Because their martial soul was part of their physical body, they had a natural talent for refining blood essence.

In the era of Legend of the Dragon King, the Body Sect had already mastered methods to activate and refine blood essence, proving that Body martial souls had an innate advantage in this field.

Gu La had once used Aura to scan himself but found no trace of energy resembling blood essence.

As a Legendary Pokémon, Groudon shouldn't be inferior to true dragon bloodlines. Gu La had two hypotheses:

Blood essence required special methods to refine—it couldn't be cultivated through ordinary means. Evidence for this was that even some beast-type martial soul masters hadn't activated their blood essence.

2. Aura, being a blend of life force and spiritual energy, might occupy part of the body's "potential," preventing the activation of blood essence.

Regardless of which issue prevented him from cultivating blood essence, Gu La wouldn't give up on this theoretically godlike path.

Especially since he and his clone Groudon were inseparable. If he could refine even a trace of blood essence, it would mean Groudon, too, would gain the seed of blood essence.

With Groudon's hundred-level divine beast physique, the process of condensing and transforming blood essence would likely yield Gu La a fraction of power comparable to that of an unparalleled Douluo.

Moreover, unlike Tang San sealing the Golden Dragon King within Tang Wulin, Gu La possessed the Groudon martial soul, which was perfectly aligned with his clone's essence. There was no risk of rejection, allowing him to easily integrate his clone's power.

Of course, the first step was to guide an arm martial soul disciple in cultivating blood essence. Only then could Gu La reverse-engineer the principles behind it.

"This sounds really dangerous."

At this moment, Ning Rongrong felt grateful that her martial soul was the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Pagoda, which didn't require her to endure much hardship. With steady cultivation, she could become a powerful auxiliary-type soul master.

She was also curious. "Body martial souls can undergo a second awakening. Can the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Pagoda do the same?"

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

40+ Chapters Ahead: patreon.com/EphemeralShadow

There's something for free patrons too! Free Patrons receive 1 chapter in advance :)