Soul Land 5: The Rebirth of Tang San

Chapter 351: Fusing the New Imprint

Big Cat said, "But... at the Ancestral Court, you'll be targeted and it’ll be very dangerous. I should stay by your side to guard you. That was our promise to you."

Tang San waved his hand and said, "I dare to go because I'm confident in my ability to protect myself. You can rest easy about that. However, your issue needs to be resolved as soon as possible. I've been waiting for the conflict in your bloodline to intensify. You're already at the peak of the ninth order, and I feel you are suppressing your cultivation level. Soon, you won't be able to hold it back anymore, and once that happens, you won’t go higher in cultivation, but lower underground to meet your ancestors.

"But the closer you get to that edge, the stronger your bloodline power compresses and the more power you’ll retain after the fusion. That's why I haven't been in a rush to fuse your bloodlines. But we can't delay much longer. As for protecting me, I don't need your protection until I reach the god level. Your bloodline fusion must remain a secret until then, lest the lion and tiger races discover it. If they do, you might be taken back as a research specimen or a breeding beast."

Big Cat's mouth twitched, and he said, "That's impossible, Little Cat would kill me. I wouldn't dare."

Tang San chuckled. "Your mouth says no, but your eyes say something else."

Big Cat jumped up, saying, "Don't talk nonsense. Little Cat is great in every way; she just gets jealous easily. Don't ever say that in front of her!"

Tang San said, "Alright, alright, no more teasing. It's settled, I'll perform the bloodline fusion for you tomorrow. After the fusion, by my estimates, you'll retain about thirty to forty percent of your cultivation, so you’ll be at the sixth or seventh order. During your recovery, study the abilities of this new bloodline. Your protection will be meaningful to me once you ascend to godhood with the truly fused Lion-Tiger bloodline."

"Alright. I'll do what you say." Having resolved his inner conflict, Big Cat instantly showed a bit of excitement. He was looking forward to using the true Lion-Tiger Golden Astral!

"Alright, you head back and rest up early, and I'll head back too. In about a week, I'll set off for the Ancestral Court. Before that, I'll help a few more of your clansmen who are in danger."

"Okay."

After bidding farewell to the Lion-Tiger Sword Saint, Tang San returned to his residence through the teleportation array. For him, there was still an important task to do today. He needed to enhance his strength further, with his imminent journey to the Ancestral Court. Indeed, today, he was ready to fuse the bloodline power of the Lion-Tiger clan truly.

These days, he had been conducting bloodline fusions for the Lion-Tiger clan. Since members of the clan were very weak during the fusion process, he couldn't absorb too much of their bloodline power. Each time, he absorbed just a trace. Little by little, the Lion-Tiger bloodline imprint he had created reached the eighth order.

Tang San was very much looking forward to this likely first-tier bloodline. Having the power of an additional first-tier bloodline would lead to a significant leap in his strength. He had been suppressing his cultivation of the Mysterious Heaven Technique at the eighth order because once it reached the ninth order, it would be much more difficult to keep it from advancing further. However, increasing the power of his bloodline imprints came with no such issues.

Not only was Big Cat looking forward to the fused Lion-Tiger bloodline, but Tang San himself was equally eager.

When he returned to his residence, it was already night.

The outside was quiet. Only by listening carefully could one hear the steady breathing of several companions during their meditation.

The other four members of the Shrek Squad did not experience significant increases in cultivation this month. This was normal, given that they’d had continuous breakthroughs recently. However, the past month had allowed them to truly process the experience gained from ten team battles in the Great Beast Fighting Arena, leading to a better comprehension of their own abilities.

Sitting cross-legged on his bed, Tang San closed his eyes and circulated the energy of the Mysterious Heaven Technique, allowing the endless, gentle energy to flow throughout his body.

Within his dantian, one bloodline imprint after another lit up, shining brightly.

Although not the highest-order one, the sixth-order Discerning Eye of Heaven imprint shone the brightest. The other bloodline imprints dimmed in its presence.

Next was the eighth-order Peacock Transformation, Tang San's actual strongest bloodline imprint. Following that were the eighth-order Golden Roc Transformation, seventh-order Chrono Croc Transformation, eighth-order Elephant Transformation, eighth-order Blue Silver Transformation, and eighth-order Wind Tiger Transformation.

Among these seven bloodline imprints, the Wind Tiger Transformation, flickering with cyan green light, was the weakest. Although the Blue Silver Emperor was also not particularly strong, after Tang San fused multiple plant-based bloodline powers and nurtured it for a long time, it had reached the third tier of bloodline power and had further potential for evolution. The Wind Tiger Transformation was also third-tier, but it was at the bottom and couldn’t go any further.[1]

Even with an eighth-order cultivation, a bottom third-tier bloodline was becoming increasingly useless, and right now, it was nothing more than a disguise. In fact, Tang San's only problem, after replacing the Wind Tiger Transformation, was how to mask his multitude of abilities. He had thought this through already. It was still under the guise of mutation; the Lion-Tiger transformation's essence still had elements of the tiger bloodline. With his current control over bloodline power, he could mask it somewhat—unless someone was very familiar with him, they wouldn't detect anything amiss.[2] Sky Shatterer was also helpful in this respect—he could use it as his weapon and it wasn’t easy for others to tell what bloodline power he was imbuing it with.

Under Tang San's control, the Lion-Tiger bloodline imprint slowly pressed toward the Wind Tiger Transformation imprint.

As the platinum imprint touched the Wind Tiger Transformation imprint, the latter burst into a brilliant cyan light, seemingly about to recoil. But almost instantly, the light emitted by the Wind Tiger Transformation began to melt away in front of the solid white-golden light, completely dissolving.

This reminded Tang San of the first time he saw the unique effect of the Golden Lion Dog’s Golden Holy Fire. The strongest aspect of the Golden Holy Fire was its ability to melt and devour the enemy's bloodline power. Now, it seemed this scene replayed with the Lion-Tiger bloodline, but even more domineeringly.

In front of it, the Wind Tiger Transformation could hardly put up any resistance; the dissolving imprint acted like fuel, igniting the platinum Lion-Tiger Transformation imprint. The platinum glow instantly became more intense.

An unexpected situation arose that even Tang San hadn't anticipated; after the Wind Tiger Transformation imprint disappeared, the Lion-Tiger Transformation imprint took over its spot within Tang San's dantian. But the burst of platinum brilliance didn't settle in place; instead, it expanded outward, seemingly wanting to fill Tang San's dantian.

Is it that domineering?

Just as this thought arose in Tang San's mind, the platinum light transformed into platinum flames, bursting outward instantly.

The nearby Elephant Transformation imprint was the first to be affected, even though it was also at the eighth order. The moment it came into contact with the platinum flames, it began to melt almost instantly. Tang San immediately felt he had lost connection with the Elephant Transformation.

After consuming the Wind Tiger Transformation, the Lion-Tiger Transformation imprint was not satisfied; it seemed eager to devour the other imprints and even hinted at a desire to dominate the entire dantian.

In that instant, Tang San could be sure that the fused Lion-Tiger bloodline was definitely a first-tier bloodline. Last time he had felt such a domineering sensation, it was from none other than the Celestial Fox bloodline.

Upon realizing the danger, Tang San immediately took control of the other bloodline imprints. Measures had to be taken right away.

The Blue Silver Emperor imprint quickly retreated; with its strength, it could not contend with the Lion-Tiger Transformation imprint. Meanwhile, the Discerning Eye of Heaven, which proudly took the main seat even though it was the weakest in cultivation, immediately erupted with bright white light.

1. The raws here state that the Wind Tiger bloodline imprint is at the fourth tier, but this contradicts the earlier chapters where he fused the Wind Wolf and the Winged Tiger bloodline imprints. ☜

2. The author seems to have forgotten that Tang San’s official bloodline, so far as everybody else knows apart from the mayor, is the Wind Wolf bloodline. In the raws, he is now introduced as having the Wind Tiger bloodline, even though there’s no Wind Tiger clan ever mentioned. Unfortunately, we cannot change this without substantially changing the source text, so we have to roll with it. ☜