Douluo Dalu: Soul Heavenly Emperor

If someone asked him what it felt to be reborn and as a child, nevertheless, he would probably chop their heads off. In the end, it seemed that he lost, managing to reach the fabled Dou God and the path to the realms beyond opened, yet...

Yet, everything was lost to that upstart from the Xiao Clan. 

Something that was infuriating him till now. 

All those sacrifices, all the planning, resources, and everything...

For absolutely nothing.

In the end, he lost, was sealed by the Heanvely Flames only to be refined by the Heanvely Flames and serve as nourishment for them. But he was Heavenly Soul Emperor, and his expertise with the Souls wasn't for nothing.

He managed to use the ancient techniques to preserve large parts of his Soul, in fact, almost his entire Soul, and sent it through the nearest Spatial Crack into the unknown Void. He didn't know where his Soul would end, but he was sure it was still better than to be just refined by the Heavenly Flames by that bastard from the Xiao Clan.

And thus, he was reborn in this new world.

Or he was tempted to say, in the new Universe entirely, because the Laws of Heaven and Earth were totally different from the Dou Qi Continent. The people here in the Douluo Continent had vastly different cultivation systems. 

If he had to say, Hun Tiandi would say that it was a bit weaker than the cultivation system of the Dou Qi Continent, but that was mostly because nobody really bothered to perfect the vEnergy Cultivation System, as everyone heavily depended on their Martial Souls.

He thought he understood why.

The existence of the Martial Soul was something game-changing, because even though the Dou Saints were stronger in the aspect of the raw power compared to the most Titled Douluos, he had seen, almost every single Titled Douluo was a hundred times more trickier than Dou Saint to deal with, because of their weird abilities and Spirit Skills.

However, not everything was that bad because when he was reborn, he was in luck and was found by the Grand Worship of the Spirit Hall, the strongest faction in the entire Douluo Continent, who took care of him.

Regarding this, Hun Tiandi didn't really know how exactly to feel about this, because it was a really different environment compared to that of the Hun Clan, even from the times of his own childhood.

Hun Clan was always very competitive, and everyone cared for themselves. It was an extremely ruthless and uncaring environment that had only one sole purpose, which was to cultivate the strongest powerhouses possible that would ensure the continual supremacy of the Hun Clan.

Parents would use their children as pawns to get more resources or rise to higher positions and vice versa; killing your own family members for some benefits wasn't anything new... or special... or just... 

It was rather normal.

So yeah, for the first time, he actually experienced that if someone cared for him without asking anything in return, it was a very nice feeling. At least that was the treatment he got from the Qian Daolio, the Grand Worship Elder of the Douluo Consecration Hall, and partially from the Bibi Dong, the Supreme Pontiff of the Spirit Hall.

When he looked at the woman, he instantly knew that something was going on with her, and he also sensed the strong God Aura on her. He also learned that this world has Gods and is not like the ones in the Dou Qi Continent, but apparently, there are real types of Dimensional Entities. 

Just the sliver of Divine Aura he felt from Qian Daoliu that belonged to the Angel Goddess was enough to squash Dou Di to meatpaste. The Gods in this world were far more than just a random cultivation stage; they were a real deal.

Gods were higher-dimensional beings who resided in a higher plane/dimension than Mortals and were the strongest beings in their original Universe, which is housed in a Multi-Dimensional Universe.

He also understood why everyone in the highest leadership of the Spirit Hall was so overjoyed at his Martial Soul Awakening Ceremony, because he actually had a very good chance to achieve a Godhood.

The Martial Soul Awakening Ceremony...

He didn't want only his Martial Souls but also some of his memories from his previous life; a lot of things were missing, but at least he got many of the experiences and skills that he learned during his very long life and also some knowledge about the cultivation system of the Dou Qi Continent. 

That would be pretty useful when he decided to upgrade to the Spirit Energy Cultivation System of the Douluo Continent to be on par with the Dou Qi System in terms of raw power and general capability.

At the same time, such general strengthening should also lead to the strengthening of the Martial Souls because everything related to the Martial Souls depends on the power of the Spirit Energy and Spirit Rank.

His Martial Souls were also something that was bugging him a bit. 

The first one was the Tool-Type Martial Soul in the shape of a sword named Bloodviolet Seven Star Fiend Sword. As the name suggested, it was a sword, and it didn't have any special abilities right now, though; it could cut through most materials; it was extremely sharp, and it had a very strong aura of slaughter and blood around it.

The second one was the Divine Beast-Type Martial Soul, which was named Austin Griffin, as he instinctively knew the name of the Martial Soul. Contrary to the typical Beast-Type Martial Souls, his Martial Soul has manifested in a detached form, and he couldn't fuse with his Martial Soul like all other people with Beast-Type Martial Soul could.

Not to mention, his Martial Soul was especially intelligent, no less than a young child, he would say, because it understood everything that the people were talking around, and it even behaved way smarter than any other Spirit Beast would have.

Even though the Martial Soul was named Austin Griffin, he gave it a more affectionate name, "Hao Yue," because calling it Austin Griffin sounded a bit weird. Not to mention, Martial Soul was very weird because it was always detached and was like a Beast Companion to him.

Nevertheless, he was aware that he had a very good start in this life. The faction where he belonged to was the top-notch force on the continent and was the strongest of them all. While the Spirit Hall certainly lacked the numbers, in the aspect of the high-end powerhouses, it certainly outnumbered everyone else.

However, if there was one thing that was lacking in this world, it was the development of the Professions. The development of Blacksmithing, Refiners, Physicians, and so on was rather low for his tastes, and the worst thing of all was the non-existent presence of the Alchemists.

Hun Tiandi knew the reason for the Soul Cultivation of the Douluo wasn't as heavily energy-dependent as the Dou Qi, and thus, there wasn't really a need for the pills to be used.

He attributed it to the existence of the Martial Souls; he didn't doubt for a second if the Dou Qi Continent had something like Martial Souls, then many professions like Alchemists, Poison Masters, Blacksmith and so on wouldn't be devoted to such a high degree in their homeland.

In the end, the Martial Souls were like living cheats in his eyes. One didn't need to cultivate any techniques and obtained very powerful abilities from the Marital Souls and adding Soul Rings to them.

Still, such a scenario was unacceptable for him, and this would also be the opportunity to make himself more valuable to the Spirit Hall and boost the forces of his future faction that he would lord over. 

While he wasn't any premier Alchemist in his past life, he still possessed enough Alchemical knowledge to be at least an 8th-tier Alchemist according to the Dou Qi Continent's Classification of the Alchemists. Together with his powerful Spiritual Power, he could refine some good pills.

***

Several weeks later, en route to the Great Star Dou Forest

During the past few weeks, aside from training with his new Martial Souls and being tutored personally by Grand Worship Elder of the Douluo Consecration Hall, he also spent a lot of time studying the records of the Spirit Hall.

Because the Spirit Hall was practically and technically speaking the oldest and biggest faction in the world, it had ridiculously large records about the Douluo Continent and even the other continents. 

He was rather surprised to see that the Spirit Hall even had branches in different continents, maybe in the Sun-Moon Continent and then at the Yulan Continent, on which they even controlled a faction named Holy Union.

During the time he was studying, he laid down the basis of Alchemy. Because of his extensive knowledge on the topic, access to the Herbs and Plants cultivated by the Spirit Hall, and most importantly, the Heavenly Flame, he could start experimenting with the Alchemy in the Douluo Continent.

As he was pondering over the matters, their carriage suddenly stopped when they reached the Star Dou Forest, because it was time to hunt for his Spirit Rings. He had arrived at the Star Dou Forest together with the Golden Crocodile Douluo Jin Eyu and Chrysanthemum Douluo, Cardinal Yue Guan. 

As the compromise between Grand Worship and Supreme Pontiff, both of them send one of their people to guard him. Because he was already Soul Grandmaster at Level 20, he could add several Soul Rings to both of his Martial Souls. 

More precisely, he could add two Spirit Rings for both Bloodviolet Seven Star Fiend Sword and Austin Griffin.

"So, here we are, the Great Star Dou Forest..."

The Great Star Dou Forest is one of the Douluo Continent's most famous great Spirit Beast habitats. It's located southeast of Balak Kingdom, with Suotou City lying less than five hundred kilometers near it.

Its area is huge, practically equal to Balak Kingdom's territory, spanning the border of Heaven Dou Empire and Star Luo Empire; within it, two-fifths of the area is in Heaven Dou Empire while the other three-fifths are in Star Luo Empire.

It's an immense primeval forest; the forest's interior terrain is complicated, with wetlands, swamps, and so on. This place belonged to a tropical zone; the majority of the forest was primarily tropical vegetation.

"I can see that Grandpa Crocodile..."

It was rather weird for him to call him "Grandpa", even though Golden Crocodile Douluo Jin Eyu was just something around 100 years old, while Hun Tiandi lived for many millennia in his past life. 

After several weeks of sorting the parts of his memories and pondering over the matters, he made some sort of inner peace with his past. In the end, the Hun Clan was certainly a failed project; he was aware that most of the people of the Hun Clan would betray faster than one could even speak if it meant some benefit to them.

It's not like he wasn't aware of that situation, but he, in the first place, never really cared. The only person in his life that he loved died from the very Clan he belonged to, so he also had a certain degree of resentment to his own Clan for that.

In the end, Hun Tiandi, the Soul Di, was indeed a broken man because of his grief, ambition, greed, ruthlessness, and madness.

Golden Crocodile Douluo Jin Eyu was an elderly man who looked like a typical warrior, tall and with a huge bulk of muscles. He was also one of the strongest Titled Douluos in the Continent... a pinnacle Level 98 Hyper Douluo only one step away from the Level 99 Limit Douluo.

If he went full out, Hun Tiandi was confident that he could fight even his old self to a standstill with the help of his Martial Soul for some time.

"Did you decide on the Spirit Beast you would be hunting?"

The elderly Second Worship Elder of the Douluo Consecration Hall asked the young red-headed prodigy of the Spirit Hall when they disembarked from the luxurious carriage bearing the sigil of the Spirit Hall.

"Actually, yes... For the Bloodviolet Seven Star Fiend Sword, I need a Man Faced Demon Spider at least 2,000 Years old for my 1st Spirit Ring, and for the 2nd Spirit Ring, we need to find at least 4,000 Years Pit Demon Spider..."

As he said that, both Golden Crocodile Douluo and Chrysanthemum Douluo were very surprised because that was far above the common standards when it came to the absorption of the Spirit Rings. 

But they also knew that the stronger the physique of the Spirit Master was, the older Spirit Ring they could absorb. Hun Tiandi's physique was very strong because of the combination of training and the Body Tempering Pill that he created. 

The Alchemy intrigued all of the higher-ups in the Spirit Hall because it wasn't like it didn't exist before, but the Alchemy on the Douluo Continent was not really developed, and people were even eating Immortal Herbs as they were.

When he heard that, he almost coughed enough blood to die on the spot.

"Hmm... it could be dangerous, but with your Physique, it should be doable..."

While it was certainly above the common sense of the Douluo Continent, the Golden Crocodile Douluo and the Chrysanthemum Douluo were confident in it. Jin Eyu often presided over Hun Tiandi's physical training, and Yue Guen was working with him on the Alchemy.

Not to mention, both of his Martial Souls were confirmed to be on the God-Level, meaning that he needed correspondingly powerful Spritit Rings for them as well.

"I refined my physique to the degree where I should be able to withstand the 2,000 Old Spirit Ring as my 1st Spirit Ring rather easily. That would be only leaving the topic of the Spirit Rings for the Hao Yue, which is a bit more peculiar."

Based on Hun Tiandi's knowledge of the Martial Souls, records of the Spirit Hall, and his own cultivation knowledge that he gathered over several millennia, he came to the conclusion that the Austin Griffin was a very weird Martial Soul.

Yes, the Bloodviolet Seven Star Fiend Sword Martial Soul was also pretty peculiar, because it was one of few Tool-Type Martial Souls that were exceedingly powerful, even more than the legendary Clear Sky Hammer of the Clear Sky Clan.

But the Austin Griffin was weird, because it was too sentient, far more than any other Martial Soul, to the degree where he would bet all of his wealth that something was reincarnated as his Martial Soul.

There was no different explanation. 

Hun Tiandi lived for a very long time, and he was a very knowledgeable man, having access to the ancestral records of the Hun Clan and also the other Ancient Clans that were destroyed by the Hun Clan. 

Not to mention, the biggest giveaway was his own expertise in the souls because even though his Spiritual Power was largely sealed, if not, then his power would put him on the same level as Qian Daoliu.

He felt that to properly develop the Hao Yue; it would be just to leave Austin Griffin alone in this. He felt that the Martial Soul would know what the most suitable Spirit Ring would be for it and what to do. 

"Yeah... that's going to be problematic, but Eldest Brother stated to let the fate take its course."

Jin Eye also did not understand the Austin Griffin Martial Soul, though nobody from the entire Spirit Hall could understand even a bit of it. Nobody was even able to find records about something similar, so...

They needed to just wait. 

"We should also look for some rare plants... with our resident luck talisman, I am sure that we can come across some rare Immortal Herbs that I can rub into the face of old poison."

Yue Guen said with glee while Hun Tiandi frowned heavily that he was being treated as some sort of luck chasm. But he had to admit that since his rebirth in this world, he was born with a ridiculous amount of luck.

It was a mind-boggling truth to be told.

"If not for Tiandi's solution for the Poisonous side-effects from his own Martial Soul, you wouldn't be chatting so happily."

Old Poison was a nickname for Dugu Bo, the Poison Douluo and the closest thing that this world had to the Poison Master.

He was a very powerful Titled Doulo, even though he was only an Average Titled Doulo who only a few days ago reached the peak of Spirit Rank 94. With his poison, he could decimate entire armies, and he was a very tricking opponent to fight against.

When he asked to research the Immortal Herbs to lay down the basics of the Achemy, there were not many people who were skilled in this area. Obviously, aside from the Chrysanthemum Douluo, there was only Dugu Bo, the Poison Douluo, but his situation was very complicated.

Though fortunate enough, as cynically it sounded, his son Dugu Xin was being poisoned by the same thing, and even his newborn granddaughter was at risk...

When faced with a hopeless situation like that, it didn't need a lot of persuasion to join the Spirit Hall because Dugu Bo was, technically speaking, a free Spirit Master without any affiliation with only some relationships with the Heaven Dou Empire. 

Hun Tiandi needed the expertise of both Dugu Bo and Yue Guen for the Alchemy of the Dou Qi Continent to be correctly implemented within the realms of the Douluo Continent. 

"We should get going... searching for the spiders could take us a lot of time..."

The Golden Crocodile Douluo spoke again as he scanned through the area, and the trio from the Spirit Hall entered the outer regions of the Great Star Dou Forest.