DD Black White [187-189] (Patreon)

Chapter 187: Shui Bing'er

During this period, as a large number of Contamination Points were successfully cleared, the structure of the soul master world underwent significant changes.

Some previously unknown soul masters, through rare treasures obtained from Contamination Points, experienced tremendous leaps in strength. New Title Douluos even emerged, completely changing their destinies and the power dynamics within the soul master world.

The Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Sect was a prime example. By successfully clearing some Contamination Points, they were fortunate enough to acquire several soul tools.

Obtaining these soul tools greatly enhanced the sect's overall strength.

Realizing the value of soul tools for their sect's development, the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Sect eagerly devoted themselves to soul tool research.

However, the field of soul tool research is deep and complex, with a steep learning curve. Despite their efforts, they had yet to make significant progress.

Still, given the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Sect's persistence, they were unlikely to give up easily.

They understood that they couldn't always rely on chance encounters with Contamination Points to obtain soul tools. Not only do Contamination Points appear randomly and unpredictably, but they also don't always yield soul tools—sometimes other rare treasures appear instead.

While these treasures were also valuable, soul tools were better suited to the clan's support-soul master focus and could maximize their battle capabilities. Thus, researching soul tools was a must.

Meanwhile, the capital of the Heaven Dou Empire, Heaven Dou City, was bustling more than ever.

The Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Elite Tournament, held every five years, was about to begin its Heaven Dou Empire preliminary rounds here.

This grandest event in the soul master world drew attention not just from soul masters, but from everyone—from the highest nobility to commoners. Every citizen of Heaven Dou City saw the tournament as the year's greatest festival, eagerly awaiting its start.

The tournament venue was the Heaven Dou Grand Soul Arena—the empire's largest battle arena, able to seat 80,000 spectators. When the tournament began, it would become a sea of passion and excitement.

At the same time, advanced soul master academies from all over the Heaven Dou Empire set out for Heaven Dou City to prepare for the upcoming preliminaries.

Though the tournament was a month away, many academies arrived early to acclimate and adjust their state.

Skywater Academy, one of the empire's renowned Five Elemental Academies, was led by its powerful Soul Douluo-level dean.

While this strength might not be top-tier on the Douluo Continent, it was enough to make Skywater Academy famous and highly respected.

At this moment, Skywater Academy's team had already left Skywater City a month early and finally arrived in the vicinity of Heaven Dou City after a long journey.

"Big sister, look! What's that?"

Within the Skywater Academy team, a lively, pretty blue-haired girl pointed in surprise toward a distant mountain range.

The one being called was also a blue-haired beauty—none other than Shui Bing'er, captain of the Skywater Battle Team.

The playful girl who spoke was her half-sister, Shui Yue'er.

Not just Shui Bing'er, but the rest of the team also looked in the direction Shui Yue'er pointed.

"What is that...?" They saw wisps of black mist slowly rising from a small mountain range in the distance.

With the keen eyesight of soul masters, they could clearly see the black mist gradually spreading outward.

Wherever it touched, lush trees instantly withered, and the once-vibrant earth turned dry and barren, as if all life had been drained away.

Meanwhile, nearby animals and birds sensed a deadly threat and frantically fled, escaping the terrifying area shrouded in black mist.

"A Contamination Point! This isn't far from Heaven Dou City—how has it gone unnoticed and unpurged? Could it be a newly formed Contamination Point?"

The teacher leading the Skywater team was Shui Ming'er, the academy's head instructor and aunt to Shui Bing'er and Shui Yue'er. She was a level 76 control-type Soul Sage, a key figure at Skywater Academy.

"What luck. It's a new Contamination Point; the monsters inside shouldn't be too strong. Judging by its size, the strongest would be at most at the Soul Emperor level."

Shui Ming'er—her long blue hair making her look not much older than her twenties—couldn't hide her delight.

After all, clearing a Contamination Point often yielded generous rewards, and a newborn one was relatively less dangerous. With her strength, she could handle it easily.

Shui Ming'er instinctively glanced at Shui Bing'er.

As the most talented student in Skywater Academy's history, Shui Bing'er carried the academy's highest hopes.

Most of the rewards from previous Contamination Point clearings were prioritized for her.

Thanks to this, Shui Bing'er's soul power had already reached level 49, just a step away from breaking through to Soul King.

If she could obtain a soul power-boosting treasure from this Contamination Point, she might break through before the tournament began.

If Shui Bing'er advanced to Soul King, with her top-tier Beast Martial Soul, the Ice Phoenix, the only real threat in the tournament would be Spirit Hall; Skywater Academy would have no rivals among the other teams.

Of course, Shui Ming'er also knew that Skywater Academy wasn't the only one who could benefit from Contamination Points—other academies could also obtain valuable treasures to boost their students.

Especially Spirit Hall—as the continent's largest organization, its intelligence network was unmatched, with branches in almost every city.

With such reach, Spirit Hall could often discover and clear Contamination Points first, reaping the richest rewards.

So even if Shui Bing'er broke through, Shui Ming'er didn't expect to win the championship; she only hoped Skywater Academy would outperform the other Elemental Academies.

Though the Five Elemental Academies once shared strong ties, in recent years, Elephant Armored and Thunderclap Academies had grown apart and left the alliance.

Mainly, Elephant Armored Academy was backed by the Elephant Armored Sect, and Thunderclap Academy by the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Sect. Only Skywater, Blazing, and God Wind Academies had no powerful sect support—they were purely academic.

Thus, Skywater, Blazing, and God Wind Academies grew closer, while a rift formed with Elephant Armored and Thunderclap.

Still, being close allies didn't mean Skywater Academy wouldn't relish surpassing its friends in strength—it would give them more say in the alliance.

Without hesitation, Shui Ming'er decisively led the team toward the distant Contamination Point.

With her Soul Sage-level strength, she was confident.

Even if she couldn't clear the Point, she could still lead the team to retreat safely.

Soul masters moved swiftly; the weakest among them was at the Soul Ancestor level, and none were slow.

Soon, they reached the Contamination Point's edge.

"Quick and decisive! This spot isn't far from Heaven Dou City—others will find it soon. Bing'er, you command the team," Shui Ming'er ordered.

"Alright, everyone, stay close to me," Shui Bing'er replied calmly.

Though she was only a month older than the youngest, Shui Yue'er, and younger than the other team members, none underestimated her.

On the contrary, everyone followed her orders.

While this Contamination Point was new, Shui Bing'er and the others had joined academy experts in clearing such Points before.

They knew these Points birthed strange monsters—mindless, purely killing machines with formidable combat power.

Slaying them would leave behind various treasures.

But to completely clear the Point, they had to kill its core monster—the strongest being within.

Shui Bing'er and her teammates' main task was to clear the mobs, buying Shui Ming'er time and space to deal with the core.

After all, only the core monster's dropped treasures were truly rare.

Soon, they stepped into the black mist. Instantly, a wave of nausea and discomfort surged over them.

This was the terror of a Contamination Point—anyone entering was constantly eroded by negative energy, while negative emotions flooded their minds.

If affected, soul masters would become irritable or even lose control, attacking their own teammates.

Chapter 188: The Strange Contamination Point

In recent months, many soul masters had died at the hands of their own companions while clearing Contamination Points.

Facing this harsh environment, Shui Bing'er and her team were well-prepared. They quickly circulated soul power throughout their bodies to block the invasion of negative energy.

At the same time, they focused their mental strength to shield themselves from negative emotions.

However, they couldn't maintain this state for long—their soul power would be depleted and their minds would tire.

But this was the basic survival method inside a Contamination Point. Otherwise, once eroded by negative energy and polluted by negative emotions, even soul masters would need months to recover.

Crack!

A dry branch snapped under Shui Bing'er's foot, echoing in the silence.

She looked around at the devastated landscape, finding it hard to believe that it had been a lush forest not long ago.

But she knew that once the Contamination Point was cleared, the land would soon recover. Negative energy would be purified and transformed into life-giving positive energy, restoring the land to vitality.

If not cleared in time, though, the consequences would be dire.

Contamination Points would expand like malignant tumors, birthing ever-stronger monsters.

Spirit Hall and the two empires had deduced that if a Point expanded to the size of a main city, its monsters could reach Title Douluo level—or even beyond, to peerless Douluo.

At that point, the Douluo Continent would face unprecedented disaster.

Even worse, if a Point went undiscovered and expanded unchecked, it could possibly spawn god-level monsters.

While tightly monitored on land, the vast oceans were a worry.

The seas were huge and mostly inaccessible to humans.

If a Contamination Point appeared in the deep sea and went unaddressed, who knew what horrors it could breed.

If these monsters weren't defeated, the cycle of expansion and strengthening would continue, threatening the continent's very existence.

Many realized this potential crisis, but most didn't care, thinking, "Let someone else handle it if disaster comes."

"Careful! Something's off! Why are all these monsters humanoid?" As the team ventured deeper, Shui Ming'er's expression darkened.

Although the monsters at the edge were weak—mostly Soul Grandmaster and Soul Elder levels—they were humanoid, clad in black soul tool armor and wielding all kinds of soul tools: ranged, control, support, defense. This caused Shui Bing'er's team great trouble.

According to Spirit Hall and the empires' recent research, most Contamination Points spawned beast-type or other bizarre monsters, rarely humanoid ones.

But Points that spawned humanoids were the hardest to handle.

They were modeled after soul masters—possessing martial souls, soul rings, and a variety of soul abilities, making them formidable foes.

Shui Bing'er's team had heard how, in the Star Luo Empire, a Contamination Point birthed a humanoid monster modeled after the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Sect's Sword Douluo.

Though only Soul Sage level, it took five Soul Douluos to bring it down, since it was accompanied by a Soul Emperor-level Ning Fengzhi support clone. With no emotions and terrifying combat instincts, its actual power surpassed the real Sword Douluo.

Thus, everyone avoided humanoid monsters when clearing Points.

Now, even at the very edge, the monsters looked like a fully equipped soul master army.

It was hard to imagine what dangers awaited deeper inside.

The only consolation was that the Point was new, with little accumulated negative energy, so the monster levels weren't too high—yet.

Crack!—the sound of shattering ice. A black-armored soldier, frozen by Shui Bing'er, was smashed by her palm, dissolving into black mist and leaving behind a spherical soul tool.

Shui Bing'er picked it up and, after infusing it with soul power, hurled it at another black-armored soldier.

Boom!—an explosive blast obliterated the target, leaving only a piece of metal.

Her teammates were amazed.

These soul tools were extremely useful—just pour in soul power, and they unleashed immense force.

Even support- or food-type soul masters could wield them effectively.

They had just experienced the power of these soul tools firsthand—if not for Shui Ming'er's presence and Shui Bing'er's alertness, they would have suffered casualties.

It was impressive that Soul Ancestors nearly got injured by Soul Grandmasters and Soul Elders, showing just how dangerous these black armored soldiers were—more so than the regular soul master armies of the empires or Spirit Hall.

Shui Bing'er thought further: if these black soldiers formed a large-scale legion with powerful soul tools, they would be terrifying.

They'd only encountered small groups so far—if it was an organized army, retreat would be their only option.

Though the fighting was tough, the rewards were rich.

Each black-armored soldier dropped a soul tool or soul tool metal.

The Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Sect was collecting soul tools in bulk, and selling these to them would be very profitable. Even low-level soul tools fetched high prices, and they also wanted the metals.

As they moved forward, the black mist thickened and the battles became harder. Even martial soul fusion techniques were used.

The monsters grew stronger; their soul tools more powerful—even Shui Bing'er got slightly injured.

At this point, Shui Ming'er began to reconsider.

There were far more monsters than expected. While they didn't threaten her, her students were at risk.

Who knew what weapons the core monster would wield? If Shui Bing'er or others got badly hurt and missed the tournament, it would be a disaster.

She signaled the team to stop, then turned to Shui Bing'er: "Bing'er, wait here at the edge. I'll go alone to try to kill the core monster."

"Aunt, isn't that too risky? This Contamination Point is too strange and dangerous!"

Shui Bing'er frowned. Everything about this place felt wrong, and she didn't want her aunt taking risks.

They'd cleared Points before, but never one filled entirely with humanoid monsters—an organized soul master army in all but mind.

Only their lack of intelligence kept them from fighting as a proper unit; otherwise, the team wouldn't have made it this far.

But as they got deeper, they could feel the Point madly gathering negative energy, with new monsters forming constantly.

And the soul tools' powers were all unpredictable.

Who knew if the core monster's weapon could threaten Shui Ming'er?

"It's fine. I'll check things out. If it's too much, I'll retreat."

Confident in her strength, Shui Ming'er couldn't believe that a newly formed Contamination Point could truly endanger her.

"Please be careful, Aunt!"

Seeing her aunt's confidence, Shui Bing'er was anxious but could only nod—she knew she couldn't stop her.

"Don't worry. I'll be back soon."

With a gentle smile, Shui Ming'er turned into a blue streak and shot toward the core.

"Sis, do you think Aunt will be alright? I feel uneasy..."

Shui Yue'er looked at the withered grass, cracked earth, and rising black mist. Even while focusing on resisting the negativity, her usual liveliness was gone.

Anyone would feel pressured in such an environment—Shui Yue'er was no exception.

Chapter 189: Tenfold Power in Darkness

"She should be fine. Aunt is a Soul Sage and has her Martial Soul Avatar. Even if she can't win, she can escape."

Shui Bing'er shook her head. Though she felt a vague sense of dread, she attributed it to the constant negative energy.

Just then, from a distant valley, a terrifying burst of cold erupted—a blue ice arrow shot across the sky, leaving a deep scar of ice.

The chilling cold made even Shui Bing'er, with her Ice Phoenix spirit, shudder.

"Bing'er, run! Don't look back, there is—!"

A powerful soul force surged, Shui Ming'er's voice echoing from afar.

But in the next instant, her voice was abruptly cut off. At the same time, her soul power vanished—as if snuffed out.

Sensing Shui Ming'er's soul power and life force disappear, Shui Bing'er's pupils contracted in disbelief.

"Aunt!" The disappearance of soul force and life—everyone knew what that meant.

All the Skywater Team members looked shocked. Shui Yue'er wailed in grief, tears streaming down her face.

"Go!" Despite her sorrow, Shui Bing'er held onto her reason.

She grabbed Shui Yue'er, spread her ice wings, and fled at full speed.

The sudden loss left everyone red-eyed with grief, but they didn't lose their heads. Obeying Shui Ming'er's final words, they escaped immediately.

Boom!

Not long after they left, a flaming object streaked down from the sky.

With a roar and explosion, a shockwave blasted a huge crater in the earth.

Scorching flames swept out, melting the ground into boiling magma—a scene of heat and destruction.

Within the smoke and heat, a tall figure shrouded in black gas could be vaguely seen.

Deep in the valley, thick black mist condensed into a pitch-black throne.

Seated on the throne was a white-haired youth, his hand propping up his chin, eyes closed. Pale cheeks were marked with black cracks, giving him a demonic and sinister air—like a demon king from the abyss.

Nearby, a lifelike ice statue stood silently.

Inside the ice, Shui Ming'er's face was frozen in shock and terror, a gaping hole in her chest where her lifeforce had been drained.

Not far away, a pink-haired girl, also shrouded in black mist and marked with black cracks, expressionlessly lowered her bow. As she closed her eyes, the chilling air gradually faded, leaving only deathly silence.

Deeper in the black mist, several blurry figures flickered in the darkness.

At the same time, all kinds of negative energies—murderous intent, resentment, death energy, evil aura, yin energy, demonic energy—rushed from the earth, converging here like a tidal wave.

"How interesting!"

On a mountain peak not far away, Lu Jingming quietly watched the black throne—and the figure that looked exactly like himself—his eyes full of curiosity.

Then, his gaze shifted to the pink-haired girl who had just shot down Shui Ming'er—his expression grew odd.

"So this is what they call 'ten times stronger when darkened'? Even March 7th herself couldn't beat this, right?"

Lu Jingming was sure that if March 7th faced this negative-energy doppelganger, she'd be utterly crushed.

After all, the negative-energy constructs were intimately connected to him; he knew how overwhelmingly strong they were.

"You're right. Planting the World Tree on this planet, letting its branches merge with the earth veins, manifesting all the negative energy accumulated over countless years, then having the soul masters purify it into positive energy—this can indeed accelerate the planet's evolution."

The Greater Lord Rukkhadevata's figure appeared, also watching the black-misted valley with a sigh.

From the planet's perspective, Lu Jingming's actions were highly beneficial.

By drawing out and purifying the planet's long-accumulated negative energy, and transforming it into life force, the planet's growth would be accelerated.

However, for the beings and civilizations living here, this was far from friendly.

After all, this negative energy was produced by the intelligent life of the planet.

Oppressed commoners, hunted soul beasts—all harbored deep resentment, both in life and death.

These negative energies always existed; most people simply couldn't perceive or use them.

Lu Jingming, however, planted the World Tree, turning its branches into veins to draw this energy to the surface.

He did this purely to condense a divine position, with ambitions far beyond even a first-level god.

Take Poseidon, for example—he spent a thousand years gathering faith from the sea to become a first-level god. The Angel God did the same with faith from the continent.

Lu Jingming, however, dismissed first-level divinity—his minimum goal was God King.

So he set his sights on the planet itself.

Herta's research revealed that the God Realm was essentially a gathering of sentient thought, intangible and in another dimension. Faith is a form of sentient thought.

Thus, god positions formed from faith could only reside in the God Realm, since it is compatible with faith.

Because the God Realm is a formless world of thought, it was swept into a black hole by a spatial storm, while the solid planet remained unaffected.

On either version of Douluo Continent, collecting faith was slow and difficult.

Even unifying both continents wouldn't let Lu Jingming condense a God King position quickly—it would take over a century.

He had no patience for such a long wait. Third-level godhood could be achieved faster, but that was far beneath his ambitions.

Finally, with research from Herta and Möbius, he found a shortcut.

Since the planet itself has an awareness, it can provide sentient thought and faith.

While Douluo Star's will is only instinctual, it can still select chosen ones, proving it is a special form of life.

Like the Dragon-Horse Twin Stars' Long Tianyang, which developed intellect and will.

Douluo Star's will was not as powerful, and lacked self-awareness, so it couldn't actively worship a god and provide massive faith.

So Lu Jingming devised a mutually beneficial method.

He helps the planet evolve, and its will instinctively feels gratitude, feeding him sentient thought and luck.

He could then use this to condense his divine position.

In just a few months, through the World Tree manifested by the Stigmata, he had successfully planted it on the planet—this was the root cause of the continent's recent upheavals.

Using the soul masters to clear the planet's negative energy, thereby pushing its evolution, Lu Jingming only needed to wait patiently for the harvest.

It was estimated that once enough negative energy was cleared and converted, Douluo Star would directly evolve, becoming a semi-divine realm. The continent's power ceiling would rise beyond Title Douluo.

By then, the power fed back would be enough to help Lu Jingming condense a God King-level life and wisdom divinity.

He chose this parallel Douluo Star to execute his plan because the gods of this world's God Realm weren't so nosy—none watched a single Douluo Continent closely.

The God Realm governed a vast star system, with many high-level planes like Douluo.

Nobody would bother monitoring Douluo Star all the time.

Even the Former God of Asura and the Sea God who left inheritances only left a trace of divine sense, which only activated for inheritance matters, not for anything else.

So Lu Jingming could act boldly here, stirring up trouble as he pleased.

But in his original Douluo Continent, that wouldn't work—because an idle God King Tang San was always watching!