As Tang San and Xiao Wu delved deeper into their conversation, Tang San learned more about the various soul beasts.
After careful consideration, he decided that his ninth soul ring for the Dark Blue Silver Grass would come from the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger. Although it was only a ten-thousand-year soul beast, its strength had already surpassed the level of a hundred-thousand-year soul beast. Furthermore, its darkness attribute was a perfect match for Tang San's current Blue Silver Grass.
In the following days, with Xiao Wu leading the way, Tang San searched for the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger within the Star Dou Forest. Normally, given Tang San's current strength, he would not be able to defeat such a powerful soul beast.
However, for some unknown reason, the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger seemed to have already suffered severe injuries, leaving it with barely a tenth of its original strength. It appeared extremely weak, and instead of its usual ferocity, its eyes were filled with fear.
In just a few moments, the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger was completely entangled by the endless Dark Blue Silver Grass. Even with its evil and dark attributes, it was unable to break free.
The moment the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger was slain, a black pearl suddenly emerged from its corpse, along with the appearance of a black vortex. The pearl rapidly flew toward the vortex, as if it was trying to escape this plane and leave at once.
This sudden development caught Tang San and Xiao Wu off guard. It was clear that the pearl was no ordinary object, but before they could react, it was already on the verge of vanishing into the spatial vortex.
At that moment, a shadow suddenly appeared in the sky—more precisely, a dragon's claw. The claw was imbued with boundless dark energy and instantly seized the pearl, preventing it from escaping.
Upon seeing the newcomer, Tang San and Xiao Wu immediately bowed in respect.
"Greetings, Senior Di Tian. Many thanks for your assistance."
Di Tian spoke indifferently, "Tang San, Xiao Wu, this Evil God Pearl is no ordinary object. It may become your greatest fortune. The two of you must be especially careful with it."
As Di Tian's words fell, the Evil God Pearl, which had been struggling within the dragon's claw, gradually calmed down before slowly drifting into Tang San's hand. Meanwhile, Di Tian himself disappeared without a trace.
Tang San held the Evil God Pearl in his hand, clearly sensing the overwhelming power contained within it. This energy seemed to surpass the soul power of this world and even bore a striking resemblance to his own. It was as if the pearl was perfectly compatible with him.
Tang San even had the feeling that if he absorbed the power within the Evil God Pearl, his body would undergo a profound transformation.
However, he first put the Evil God Pearl away and turned his eager gaze toward the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger's soul ring. Although it was merely a black-colored ring, its energy intensity was terrifying—it was no ordinary ten-thousand-year soul ring.
With that thought in mind, Tang San adjusted his state to its peak and began absorbing the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger's soul ring.
The moment Tang San completely absorbed the soul ring, the Evil God Pearl that had been in his possession suddenly merged into the soul ring. Its energy rapidly spread throughout Tang San's entire body, and in the end, a black mark appeared at the center of his forehead.
Upon closer inspection, the mark resembled both a pearl and the image of a tiger.
Once Tang San had completely absorbed the soul ring, his entire being seemed to become more sinister—one could even say more terrifying. His soul power level had shockingly reached Rank 92, and even his spiritual power had increased significantly.
Xiao Wu looked at Tang San with concern. "Brother San, why did that pearl fuse into your body? How do you feel now?"
Tang San carefully examined the changes in his body before taking a deep breath. "Xiao Wu, I feel better than ever before. I feel stronger than I've ever been. As for the Evil God Pearl… I don't know exactly what happened, but it seems to be some kind of mysterious power. It should be a god's inheritance."
However, Tang San had not yet received a god's trial—only a trace of power beyond soul energy.
In the days that followed, Tang San and Xiao Wu continued obtaining soul rings within the Star Dou Forest. Among them were soul rings from the Three-Ant Emperors, the Sky-Swallowing Sparrow, and the Human-Faced Demon Orb, all of which were of extremely high age.
This process lasted an entire month, during which Tang San's strength increased drastically once more. His Clear Sky Hammer had now been imbued with eight soul rings. Additionally, by using the Dark Blue Silver Grass to absorb energy from various soul beasts, he had slain most of the high-age soul beasts in the core region of the Star Dou Forest.
At this point, Tang San's strength had reached Rank 98. Unfortunately, it seemed that there were no longer any soul beasts in the forest with a high enough age or that were truly suitable for the Clear Sky Hammer's soul rings.
Furthermore, during the process of obtaining these eight soul rings, all the soul beasts had been at least fifty thousand years old. He had also acquired multiple soul bones, including a hundred-thousand-year Sky-Swallowing Sparrow's skull soul bone—his second hundred-thousand-year soul bone.
With soul bones in all four limbs, he was now only missing a torso soul bone.
More importantly, after reaching the high-level Title Douluo stage, Tang San realized that even if he continued absorbing soul beasts through the Dark Blue Silver Grass, his growth was extremely limited. It had become increasingly difficult to improve his strength further.
Upon forcibly raising his soul power to Rank 98 through soul ring absorption and energy devouring, Rank 99 felt like an impassable chasm. With his intelligence and the teachings of Bo Saixi, Tang San naturally understood that reaching Rank 99 would not be so simple—it required a qualitative transformation of soul power.
The energy needed for such a breakthrough could not be obtained even from a single hundred-thousand-year soul ring. As a result, Tang San's final target fell upon the Deep Sea Demon Whale King. Only the overwhelming power of the Deep Sea Demon Whale King could allow him to break through to Rank 99.
Meanwhile, the soul rings of Tang San's Clear Sky Hammer had become four red and four black. The hammer itself had darkened completely, with all its original blue-black patterns turning entirely black, giving it an eerie and ominous appearance.
At this moment, Tang San was extremely confident in his own strength. Among soul masters of the same rank, with the might of the Clear Sky Hammer, the devouring ability of the Blue Silver Grass, the techniques of the Clear Sky Clan, and the hidden weapons and techniques of the Tang Sect from his previous life, he could easily defeat even Rank 98 soul masters. He could even challenge Rank 99 soul masters.
The once untouchable figures, Bibi Dong and Bo Saixi, now seemed to be within reach. Not to mention, he also had the Clear Sky Clan's Ring Detonation technique.
This technique was a true divine skill—especially when used with the Clear Sky Hammer. If he detonated all eight rings at once, he would even dare to face a Rank 99 Ultimate Douluo head-on.
At this moment, Tang San had absolute confidence in himself and was ready to leave the Star Dou Forest to begin his revenge.
However, what Tang San did not know was that all his actions in the Star Dou Forest had been under Di Tian's watchful eyes. The dark and evil energy within him even caused Di Tian to waver slightly.
As he watched Tang San and Xiao Wu leave the Star Dou Forest, a trace of satisfaction appeared in Di Tian's gaze—along with the look of someone whose plans had succeeded.
"As expected of someone with exceptional talent… He truly is the perfect candidate for my master's millennia-long plan."