Chapter 104: Spear’s Edge, Beast’s Might

The forest scent was cleaner than Tang Yan had recalled.

After a week of silent contemplation, the dull pain behind his eyes had subsided, giving way to an odd feeling of peace. Even his breathing was different — smoother, heavier, full of power in each exhale.

"Your body's finally starting to match your soul," the system joked softly.

Tang Yan disregarded it. His eyes fell on the gigantic frame standing in front: Da Ming, the Titan Giant Ape.

Next to Da Ming, Er Ming bent his gigantic head, his voice deep and rumbling.

"Yan'er, want to stretch your bones? Da Ming won't hold back too much, but he'll let you move first."

Tang Yan's lips curled slightly. "Fine. Let's see how much I've really changed."

The two faced each other across a small glade, trees around them trembling at Da Ming's presence.

Da Ming smiled, his teeth sharp. "Come. Show me what you can do now."

Tang Yan's mind went inward. Six martial souls. A new body. But which to select?

Sword? Scythe? Gauntlets?

His hand slowly rose. and clapped onto empty air.

No, he decided. The trident.

Weight that was familiar settled in his hand as the three-pronged trident materialized, glinting with an abyssal sheen. But something was different — more profound, more acute. As if the weapon itself had recalled centuries of killing will.

System: "Feeling it, Host? The spearmanship of the trident now comes to you more intuitively. Part memory… part instinct."

Tang Yan took a deep breath, muscles constricting like springs ready to propel him forward. Then, wordlessly, he began to move.

A flash of silver. His body streaked ahead, bridging the gap in impossible haste.

"First soul skill… Radiance Fang."

Light burst from the tips of the trident — a searing beam, condensed into one crushing thrust.

Da Ming's smile locked. Before he could act, another move blended into place:

"Crimson Hunt Lock."

Shackles of crimson energy wrapped around Da Ming's enormous arm, sinking deep into the fur and pushing him off-center.

Tang Yan turned, striking again — his actions precise, controlled, but with an energy that stunned even him. Each strike bore the burden of not only soul power, but a crushing physical force he'd never had before.

Da Ming's eyes narrowed. He's quicker… stronger now!

Reflex took over. Da Ming swung a colossal fist to the ground, stone and earth flying up into the air. Tang Yan sidestepped, but the shockwave still knocked him off balance.

Taking advantage, Da Ming's enormous palm swished out, colliding with Tang Yan's chest. The impact sent him flying back, shattering three trees before he rolled to a halt.

Tang Yan spat out a mouthful of blood, his breathing labored. But his eyes shone — not with pain, but with exhilaration.

"Good," he growled, standing. "This is what I wanted to feel."

Dust falling, Tang Yan smoothed dirt from his arm, trident still clutched at his side. His eyes rose, serene and chill.

"Da Ming… what's your cultivation now?"

Da Ming scratched his ear, embarrassed for a beast his size.

"199,000 years. Er Ming's the same. Just one step away from becoming real ferocious beasts."

Tang Yan stood still. 199,000? His memories went haywire — prior to his time traveling, they were well below 150,000. "How?" he snapped.

Er Ming's deep voice spoke. "Humans established arrays in the past decades. They accumulate soul power, enhance the herbs' cultivation, and nurture the entire forest. It accelerated all of us."

Tang Yan focused his eyes, mind racing. Arrays…conducting soul power…environmental cultivation? His fingers jerked. Interesting.

He knew what he had to do.

"Gonna have to learn fast," Tang Yan said. "And quick."

Da Ming's massive head cocked. "Got a plan?"

Tang Yan grinned. "Sort of."

Tang Yan returned to the clearing and scooped up rocks, bark, and leaves into an impromptu table. He called forth parchment and brush from his spatial ring — items that had endured the time-space channel.

His hand moved swiftly, sketching diagrams: circles layered with runes, lines crossing at precise angles, notes scribbled in the margins. His mind burned with new ideas: arrays that could amplify gravity, boost physical strain, or even circulate soul power into muscles and bones.

System: "Look at you, Host, turning into an array master."

"Shut up," Tang Yan muttered, though a ghost of a smile played on his lips.

System: "Don't be shy~. Want me to suggest?"

"…Fine. Just don't distract me."

With the fall of dusk, Tang Yan rose, scanning his notes. "Gravity-enhancing formation… channel soul power into external armour…" he breathed.

Next step: design light armour, but strengthened with metal threads that can channel external gravitational pressure. It wouldn't just make him heavy; it would condition him to move faster under exterminating force.

He labored until sweat dripped from his chin, muscles aching from hours of cutting fine runes into narrow strips of metal. Each plate was heavy not from weight, but from the energy trapped within.

System: "Careful, Host. That one is crooked."

Tang Yan scowled, fixed it, then breathed out.

System: "Perfection achieved. Even perfectionists like yourself make errors sometimes."

"I'd rather not be crushed to death by my own error, thank you."

At the rising moon, Tang Yan settled the last part in position. The armor glowed softly, runes throbbing like a pulse.

Cross-legged on the ground, he gazed upwards at the sky. Mother… Gu Yuena… he thought, recalling how she had removed his Tianmeng Ice Silkworm and set it among the rest of the deadly beasts — to guard it, and maybe even fortify it.

"I have to be prepared," Tang Yan whispered. "For her… and for the future."

Darkness fell, the forest thrumming with distant growls and crunching leaves.

Tang Yan started exercising Spirit power, strands of awareness reaching out, brushing the air, the earth, the remnant aura of far-off soul beasts.

Every so often, he would train outside the clearing — trying out speed, strength, and soul skill control on hundred-thousand-year-old monsters. Every fight left him battered and gasping for breath, but alive.

System: "Alive and kicking, Host?"

Tang Yan smiled weakly but sincerely.

"More than ever."

With the moon rising high in the sky, the tattoos on his arms glowed softly, devil and dragon both sleeping… waiting.

This evening, the forest carried a new shade — neither entirely human, nor entirely animal. And it was only the start.