Chapter 112: Bald

Shout-out to Nalin Bhan

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***

A few dozen kilometers away from the Dragon Rising City, close to a giant crater with all the evidence of the disastrous battle swept by the swift gales on the dusty ground, many illustrious figures could be seen observing the area. A battle related to a Titled Douluo was simply too interesting to not be scouted later. Almost three hours had passed since the giant but silent explosion that marked the end of the greatest excitement Ja Sun even felt in his life. 

Aside from the Clear Sky Twin Stars, there was the City Lord of the Dragon Rising City, the group sent for Ja Sun and his group by the Hell Civet Clan was also present alongside the remaining hunters from the Wind Sword Sect. Every faction kept to themselves.

"Look," Tang Xiao happened to be the one with the highest cultivation as a Spirit Douluo. He gazed at the sight with a frown and beckoned Tang Hao before compressing his voice with spirit energy, "Ground Devil used almost all his strength. We could feel it even in the city so there must be a Titled Douluo with Bibi Dong's group all along. Our meeting is tomorrow so... be a little courteous."

"If we could feel Ground Devil Douluo, why didn't we feel the fluctuations of his opponent?" Tang Hao frowned, "Something doesn't feel right. Even if the opponent must be an expert in hiding, he must have used almost all his strength, too, to match with Ground Devil. But... there's nothing. And look there," Tang Hao signaled Tang Xiao with his eyes at the spot where Bibi Dong was pushed away, Ja Sun lost his arm, and Ground Devil lost his life. "That place... there's something more in that location. It is faint but every time I gaze in that direction, my Clear Sky Hammer feels stifled. It feels like the Deathgod Domain... but a bit different, too."

Tang Xiao listened patiently. When it comes to matters of smithing and battling, Tang Hao is a genius through and through. His instincts in these two areas are always fruitful. Of course, his sensitivity from other matters happened to be wildly withdrawn to achieve such zenith in combat.

"There's a forest a little away from this site that leads to the Star Dou Great Forest. But we haven't been able to find anything yet."

"We?" Tang Hao inquired curiously.

"I let our men from the Speed Clan scout ahead. Till now, nothing."

---

"Amazing, that's the third time that guy in white, those from Speed Clan, have passed us. We aren't even using anything to hide ourselves with aside from Little Yin's domain!" Xie Xan mumbled with an awed expression. This was the first time the effect of Ah Yin's domain in concealment was applicable, after all. 

"Mmgh," A low grunt caught Xie Xan's attention and he quickly pulled his head back into the tent as Bibi Dong slowly sat up. Hu Lana was by her side, one hand on Bibi Dong's back to support her as Liu Erlong sat with a dazed expression. The sight of Ja Sun's one-armed charred body was a tough one to swallow. The fact that he could breathe was already a miracle in their eyes but while Hu Lana and Xie Xan were only saddened by the news, Ah Yin and Liu Erlong seemed to have taken a greater hit. Ah Yin still hadn't come out from the other tent where she continued to heal Ja Sun while Liu Erlong sat next to Bibi Dong silently.

"Where...?" Bibi Dong mumbled and looked around. Her hair rightfully disheveled and the soot from Ja Sun lunging his arm onto her and the act of hugging his charred body covered her clothes. It also brought a strange, burnt scent that she couldn't keep off. Memories flashed and she quickly looked around. 

"Where's Ka-ul?" Her tone anxious as Hu Lana softly answered everything. How Ja Sun's clone handed their bodies to them before disappearing, how Ah Yin set up her domain to heal Ja Sun, and how they have been within this tent for almost three hours now with no reply from Ah Yin's side.

Hearing all of it, Bibi Dong's mood settled for a moment. Sometimes, hearing no news is also equivalent to good news and just like Erlong, she withdrew herself from her surroundings and turned silent and quiet. Too many thoughts flashed in her head. Emotions that were hard to process by her always rational mind continued to rampage and her desire to murder anything and everything was turning harder and harder to keep in control with. Sadness, anger, annoyance, and even hope made her feel complicated.

"I'm worried for Ah Yin," Hu Lana whispered as she grew close to Xie Xan.

"Yeah..." He mumbled softly.

---

"I don't want to do it," Deadpanned, Ah Yin replied with a cold grunt, "The fact that I'm even letting you stay on my lap is a... well, only because of your condition."

"Come on," Ja Sun frowned, "Stop being a baby!"

This tent was smaller and although it was covered with blades of Blue Silver Grass, all of them seemed quite dispirited. They were just a shy away from all their vitality absorbed to heal Ja Sun's body. At least, recover his skin and pull him out of the critical condition. Right now, his new skin looked quite tender and white, revealing its need of being tempered a little under harsh conditions once again. He lied on the mat naked. Waist down, his body was covered by a thin sheet that made Ah Yin uncomfortable because she didn't want to keep glancing at the... well, the noticeable shape of the bulge a bit lower than the waist. 

But Ja Sun seemed all too oblivious to it. 

"If you cannot touch this naked head, how will you handle my other naked head?" He questioned and Ah Yin finally snapped. Her hand moved swiftly.

*Pah*

And she slapped Ja Sun's absolutely bald head.

"You look disgusting and now your words match your looks. I don't want to touch your bald head, and that's final!"

"Ow... I don't know what hurts more. My feelings, or my head."

"Speak foolishly and what will hurt the most will be the source of all disgust," She eyed Ja Sun's lower buddy with a cold smile and his lips twitched.

"I'm rock... I don't feel pain. I welcome it. Slap away," Ja Sun mumbled and sighed.

"How does it feel?" Ah Yin inquired, "I don't suppose that being without one arm would feel comfortable."

She gazed at the stump over Ja Sun's left shoulder and her blue eyes finally turned gentle. A hint of profound sadness filled her for a moment but it was Ja Sun's chuckle that broke it, "It feels normal, I guess? You will have to lose your arm to actually get what I'm saying... although, I could use a hand in some other stuff. Like when I'm peeing, I usually—"

"I don't need to hear it, do I?" Ah Yin cut him off and placed both of her hands on his cheeks while looking down, "Are you really fine with this? I still cannot regrow limbs. But maybe, if I'm strong enough, I could regrow it in the future."

"I just killed a Titled Douluo with the price only being an arm," Ja Sun smiled. Not a hint of sadness remained on his face. He was simply thrilled to even walk after such disastrous injuries!

"And thanks, Ah Yin. I really cannot survive without you."

"A point I made sufficiently clear when I saved your life... oh wait, oh so many times," Ah Yin finally smiled.

"Now, it's time to train you to touch the other head without—"

*Pah!*

"Ow... but you will help me dress up, right? I cannot wear my clothes easily."

"... fine. But you don't speak a word about it to anyone," Ah Yin mumbled. She could at least do this much. Ja Sun did lose an arm, after all.

However, the duo did not move yet. Ja Sun still needed a lot of time to heal and after an hour, Ah Yin increased her domain and used her ability to once again attract life force of plenty of blades of Blue Silver Grass to infuse it into Ja Sun and heal his internal organs.

Ja Sun's injuries this time wouldn't heal in a day or two, but at most, she needed a week with a daily three-hour session of constant healing. After all, the injuries left behind by Ground Devil had shaken Ja Sun's spiritual and physical foundations. If there was anything that even remained solid and benefitted from this battle, then it would only be Ja Sun's mental strength.

Speaking of mental strength, the mental core— Life-Death Spirit Cauldron— seemed to be sending wisps of pure life energy into Ja Sun's body and healing him ever so slightly. But it clearly wasn't enough and without Ah Yin, Ja Sun would have lost his life. 

Finally, when Ja Sun was fully clothed after another healing session that continued for three more hours, he asked for some privacy and began meditating instead of leaving the tent while asking Ah Yin to keep the aura of his tent especially concealed. Even Ja Sun didn't know what he might gain from the trait. And there was also Ground Devil's body. 

A 100000-year-old beast always leaves a spirit bone and this is a Beasttaken. And the fact that the explosion seemed too sudden to be a spirit skill, chances are that Ground Devil must have an absorbed spirit bone with an explosive type skill. But Ja Sun wasn't intending on dissecting Ground Devil's body just yet. The major reason why he even got the chance to kill Ground Devil was because of Bibi Dong's certainly evil-attributed second martial soul that affected Ground Devil. Without her, this chance was lost, so, at least, Ground Devil's corpse would be defaced in her presence alone.

As for the question of how to split the loot?

Nobody can take his benefits without his permission. At least, he first needed to see if the benefits obtained from Ground Devil were even advantageous to him or not.

'There is still a few hours left before the time limit of five days is completed... and I just had a bloody battle and a miraculous recovery. Nobody will question a patient if he also happened to break through once again, right?'

Ja Sun smiled and took out one of the few items his body actually thirsted over. 

He took out a spirit bone from his treasury. Pitch-black and complete from shoulder joint to the last claw. Unlike the other lower-level arm bones, this one was in a class of its own. And once again, the very familiar thirst for the spirit bone emerged from his body. Unlike the silent Evil Title, the Three-eyed Silver Lion was much more responsive in regards to its desire. Ja Sun has had contact with many things and even the Life Gold couldn't bring out such a great reaction from his Martial Soul. And it is also because of this reason why Ja Sun's desire for 'strong' spirit bones had greatly fallen and his desire for 'compatible' spirit bone grew to its peak. 

A Spirit Bone's function is to provide an additional spirit skill and enhance the area of absorption. If Ja Sun had absorbed the left arm spirit bone, then he might not have lost his arm. Or, he might have lost his arm then lost his life because that's what the loss of an absorbed spirit bone signified: Death.

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Ja Sun's vessels and qi pathways were still damaged. But he decided to depend on Ah Yin. If she could pull him from the depths of hell, then she can surely deal with a few minor additional injuries all over again and, at least, that way, his good arm would be more functional and responsive.

Within waiting further, Ja Sun pushed the significantly shorter arm-shaped black claw bone to his right arm using his spirit energy and began absorbing the spirit bone silently. 

The battle had been exciting, but now, it was time to lick his wounds.

*Spurt*

A vessel popped open due to the sudden infusion of a large volume of spirit energy and his body was barely alright.

"Maybe I'll lick my wounds after this, literally."

---

"So... Ground Devil died. My personal disciple was present right in the middle of the battle, almost dying to Ground Devil's revenge, and my father easily understood that I was the one behind Ground Devil finding Ka-ul," Qian Xunji wasn't present in his study. Instead, he met with Redstar in a forest surrounding the Spirit City. From afar, the Spirit City's hexagonal walls looked sturdy and mighty, filling the viewers with awe and admiration. 

Just like Qian Daoliu, Qian Xunji seemed to be at ease. 

Sighing softly, Xunji leaned against the tree, "I remember when Ground Devil came here for his title. If it wasn't for that moment, I might not have been able to persuade him into your group, allowing you to gain a hefty source of knowledge within the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Clan. Now, the Seven Treasure's defenses will be to the extreme and the remaining three title douluos are rather hard to persuade. The Bone, Sword, and Star Sword, was it?"

"Yes, a father-son Titled Douluo team and the other one's life was saved by Patriarch Ning," Redstar nodded. He clearly left out many bits but what he reported was still the truth. 

"Do you want me to send someone else after Ka-ul?"

"Why?" Xunji looked a little confused and inquired.

"He... killed Ground Devil, that's why? Your reason for removing Ka-ul seemed to be centered on the fact that he is quite unscrupulous and his nature matches his combat prowess. The death of Ground Devil proves it further."

Xunji looked amused and chuckled, "Ka-ul was certainly an uncontrollable factor. But he brought the ire of the Star Luo Empire with his actions. The benefit of a single Ka-ul could never compete with the disadvantage of the Spirit City being against the entire Empire. At that point, it wasn't worth it. 

But look at the situation now. He already has disguise ability that can fool a brutish Titled Douluo with considerably average mental strength, he had a great fatal tactic using his clones that can assassinate a Titled Douluo. Not only that, father will surely gift Ka-ul and Ah Yin a considerable inheritance. After all, the fact that Ka-ul still lives is due to Ah Yin's efforts. This will only increase their benefit. And Bibi Dong must have gotten quite an impression of Ka-ul by now. He saved her life, too. In the future, if nothing too drastic occur then he can be the pillar on which Dong'er can lay a sturdy foundation."

With a smile, Xunji turned around, "I'd say that at the life of a Titled Douluo and an arm that will serve to restrict Ka-ul's future, this event has been a massive success. For now, no need to bother Dong'er's training. Keep at the beasttakens ravaging the Star Luo Empire's defenses."

Qian Xunji slowly walked away. Redstar finally sighed. The angelica father-son pair was way too erratic. One looked at everything with a gaze so rational that enemies and friends never existed in his terms, only benefits and losses did. Meanwhile, the older one was equally tolerable, easily thinking of the future instead of wallowing on the actions already taken.

But...

'What would you think if you ever found out that I changed Ground Devil with a 100000-year-old mutated Duskgold Dreadclaw Beartaken and delivered his spirit bone and the spirit bone he had absorbed to Ka-ul?'

There was a smirk on Redstar's face as he disappeared. The fact that Qian Xunji had sent Yue Guan to oversee the development of Hint of Evil in the Star Luo Empire's side already meant that Xunji didn't completely believe him. Good thing that Redstar also took appropriate measures to cover as much truth as possible in the city using his own subordinates. Although Redstar cannot escape his fate, at least, he didn't wish to give Qian Xunji too many benefits. 

Meanwhile, Qian Xunji returned to his study and called a bishop to direct his orders.

"Start taking our men to remove the Beasttakens in the Star Luo's border. Be sure to advertise our act in number but discreetly. Ghost Douluo will be overseeing everything in case any complications arise. Also send a word to Star Luo Emperor to retake his bounty or the support from the Spirit Hall will be cut-off, too."

---

"Yeah, I need my other arm, too," Ja Sun opened his eyes. It took him four hours to absorb the 80000-year-old spirit bone but after the initial round of bloodbath, his body was strengthened and the energy actually began healing his wounds. Right now, he was in a better condition than he was before absorbing the spirit bone. He looked at his Vajra Gauntlet. The sleek dark-golden translucent crystal-like gauntlet with the plate-like pattern within now showed the plates, that could eject as sharp and lethal needles, as a darker shade. As if they were dark stripes.

Tiger stripes.

Clearly, the spirit bone had quite the advantage to his body and his Blood Artifact. His martial soul also revealed a positive feedback. But there was a long way before he can accumulate enough quantitative benefits and then convert them into a qualitative advancement of his Martial Soul.

His spirit rank had climbed to Rank 56 at once and finally stabilized at its peak. Only needing a slight push and due diligence to reach rank 57. 

But why would Ja Sun need another arm aside from obvious reasons?

The reason was the spirit skill from the spirit bone.

It was a fusion-type skill called: Sage Tiger Summoning.

Fusion-type skills come in a little variety.

First, the Spirit Fusion skill that Hu Lana and Xie Xan could achieve was the fusion of two or more martial souls. The strength of the ability revealed depends on the fusion rate of the martial souls. The greater the percentage, the better the skill.

Second, a spirit skill fusion. A type of ingenious fusion of two or more 'spirit skills' of the same type to achieve a greater variation of the skill. This method is equally uncommon but its chances of being created and achieved is a little better than Spirit Fusion.

Now, this.

A skill that can only be achieved using the fusion of two particular spirit bones.

Sage Tiger Summoning: The ability to summon an Evil-eyed White Tiger Sage's phantom that protects the user and can be appropriately controlled. This ability can only be launched using the Hell Black and Hell White Tiger Spirit Bone.

What is the Evil-eyed White Tiger Sage? Questions for later. But what Ja Sun did know was that the combination of the spirit bone would produce a skill equivalent to a Titled Douluos true might!

[A/N: My idea for this is based on the manhua (comic) of the first part of the series. There have been two fusion skills by now from the White Tiger Clan. The Hell White Tiger from Dai Mubai and Hell Black Tiger from his elder brother's side. And in the manhua, there is also an actual god on the side of the Imperial family. So, I thought of making a hierarchy. The lowest are the hell civet and white tigers. Then, in the distant past, there were Hell White Tigers and Hell Black Tigers as their ancestors and finally, the only Evil-eyed White Tiger Sage that was an actual god. The two spirit bones should have been the only way to 'pray' the god but now Ja Sun has another set of copy. Who's the one with the original?]

Ja Sun lied down once again and touched his bald head.

"Man, it really feels freaky... lost my eyebrows, too... to think that my nuts were roasted, too... I really deserve a good sleep," he groaned.

At this point, he felt a certain part of himself rising.

Opening his eyes, he gazed at the screen of his trait and smiled.

"I'll sleep in five minutes, I guess," he snickered and sat up. His left shoulder didn't even hurt now.

[Objective: Kill pursuers after your group's bounty and rob them.

Optional Objectives:

1) Accomplish objective without the said members remaining unscathed by any pursuer.

Mission Rank: S-S

Mission Rewards: 50000 Gold Coins, Asura's Sight Technique, 10th Grade Myriad Blood Mango—Rakshasa Soul Devouring Technique.

Time Limit: Five Days.]

Ja Sun gazed at the rewards. Soon, five large pouches of coins, a bloody booklet, a fist-sized crimson mango, and a purple jade were created in front of him.

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