A stream of poison mist spewed out, spreading through the air until it gradually turned transparent and colorless.
The wild boar enveloped by the toxic mist struggled for only a few seconds longer than the rabbit before it began to convulse, foaming at the mouth as it collapsed to the ground, dead.
A white soul ring slowly rose above its body…
Seeing the soul ring appear and confirming the boar's death, Li Chang'an lazily slithered closer. He compared their sizes and immediately realized that swallowing this creature whole, as he had done with the rabbit, was impossible.
This thing was simply too big.
It seemed he would have to eat it piece by piece.
Thinking of this, Li Chang'an opened his fanged mouth and bit viciously into the wild boar's flesh. The Cobalt Scaled Serpent Emperor's anatomy was far different from that of a real snake—its mouth wasn't just lined with venomous fangs, but also rows of saw-like teeth, capable of slicing through prey with ease.
Swallowing wasn't its only way of eating; it could also tear and bite like a shark.
Its teeth were razor-sharp, effortlessly ripping chunks of flesh from the boar and even breaking bones. Before long, it had devoured most of the edible parts, leaving only some organs and inedible remains behind.
The energy contained in this wild boar far surpassed that of the rabbit. Even though their cultivation ages weren't that different, the boar's massive body meant it stored much more energy.
After feeding until his body bulged out of shape, Li Chang'an returned to his burrow to rest and slowly digest his meal.
This time, however, his cultivation age only increased by about ten years.
Despite the boar's superior quality and higher energy content, the improvement was less than what he gained from the rabbit. Naturally, this had a reason — after consuming the rabbit, his growth and size had increased, and so too had his energy requirements.
As his cultivation age rose, lower-level soul beasts like this ten-year boar would yield less benefit. He would eventually need to hunt higher-ranked beasts to achieve true leaps in strength.
Leaving his soul beast clone to quietly grow stronger on its own—
On the other side, his human body was training diligently.
Li Chang'an sat cross-legged in his room, palms and feet facing upward in a meditative posture. Following the meditation technique, he silently absorbed the soul power between heaven and earth. The process was fast—his innate full soul power talent allowed his soul energy to rise at an astonishing rate.
After a while, his breathing steadied. Opening his eyes, he murmured softly,"Level 13."
After obtaining his first soul ring, Li Chang'an's level had reached a little over 12. Now, after several days of cultivation, he'd smoothly advanced to level 13—but he was far from satisfied.
This rapid progress was only temporary. His low current level made growth seem fast; later, each level would take exponentially longer to gain.
According to records from the empire's thousands of years of history, most innate full soul power users didn't become Title Douluo until their seventies or eighties. Only a rare few achieved it in their fifties or sixties. Tang Hao, reaching Title Douluo at forty-four, had set the record for the youngest ever.
As for Tang San and his companions becoming Title Douluos in their twenties—well, that was because the Sea God blatantly cheated for them. In normal conditions, once a soul master reached Soul Sage rank, every level required years of training. Reaching Title Douluo in one's seventies or eighties was the norm.
If Li Chang'an didn't know the plot, perhaps he wouldn't care. But he did—and by the time he reached Title Douluo decades later, the story would already be over.
By then, Tang San would have ascended to godhood with twin divine positions, ruling over all beings like insects, treating the Douluo Continent as his personal garden—using hypocritical ideals to control and poison the world, blocking everyone's path to godhood.
As a transmigrator without any external cheat, Li Chang'an was unwilling to become a nameless Title Douluo lost in history. How could he accept such mediocrity?
He knew that if he wanted to rise—if he wanted the power to influence future events—he had only about twenty years. If he couldn't reach sufficient strength to intervene in the story within that time, then once the Sea God's inheritance was taken, no matter how talented he was, he would lose all chance.
He needed to grow strong fast. Ideally, he'd reach Soul King before twelve, Soul Emperor by fourteen or fifteen, Soul Sage by seventeen or eighteen, and Soul Douluo by twenty. Then, he could scheme for the Vast Sea Cosmic Shroud, win the Sea God's approval, and ultimately aim to become a god in his twenties!
But even with innate full soul power, reaching Title Douluo in his twenties was utterly impossible without a cheat.
"Fortunately," Li Chang'an smirked, "I do have a soul beast clone."
A faint smile tugged at his lips. He had recently discovered that the connection between his human body and his Cobalt Scaled Serpent Emperor clone was far deeper than he had imagined.
When the soul beast clone hunted and absorbed other beasts to grow stronger, Li Chang'an noticed an invisible force being transmitted back to him—transforming into his own power.
That power significantly boosted his soul energy. In other words, as the clone grew stronger, his human self would also receive part of that growth. The feedback even strengthened his physical body slightly.
Although the amount of energy he received each time was small, it was essentially free power. Over time, accumulated bit by bit, it would become an astonishing sum.
Li Chang'an believed this soul beast clone might just be his "golden finger" cheat!Though compared to other transmigrators who were given systems, divine martial spirits, or innate level 99 soul power, his seemed modest—a minor ability to share strength and slightly boost his physique. Still, it was a real advantage.
…
After further experimenting, Li Chang'an discovered that while the physical strengthening occurred instantly, the shared soul power could be stored temporarily instead of being absorbed immediately.
He wasn't sure where this feedback power was stored—perhaps within the clone, or in some mysterious interdimensional space—but he didn't care about the details.
What mattered was that he could accumulate the power his clone gained and choose when to absorb it himself.
Now, sensing that the stored energy had grown considerable, he decided it was time to use that accumulated strength to enhance his power.
"Please, everyone, don't forget to add this book to your favorites, give it votes, and support it!"
"A new story can't survive without your encouragement!"
(End of Chapter)
────────────────────────────────────
"If you want early access to nearly 60+ chapters, join my patreon:- patreon.com/BaDwYGaMeR"