Douluo Dalu: 1st Cycle: Dancing Panda

"Hmm. I see, I see." Karni was nodding to himself. He was analysing his Guardian Greatsword. More exactly, he wanted to understand why he could use both Martial Souls at the same time through it. He did not plan for that function to exist. Just like he did not plan for the weapon to be as powerful as it ended up being.

"What did you figure out?" An eager voice asked next to him.

"Too close, Yehui." Karni flinched a bit. Damn, that encounter in the Spirit Ascension Platform yesterday. He was still on edge today. "Xie Xie will be jealous."

"I will ignore your comment this once due to your research." She stepped back. She was here because she also had two Martial Souls. Of course she wanted to know how this Guardian Greatsword worked. She bombarded him with questions after their match. She also wanted to use both Martial Souls at once.

"So, you know how when we push out one Martial Soul, the other is automatically disconnected?"

Yuanen Yehui nodded.

"That disconnection is the key." Karni pointed at the Greatsword. The hole in which the Bo Staff went into to act as a handle. "Right here, the connection it makes with the Greatsword, it is stronger than the disconnection. There's not much more to it. On our own, we can't keep it connected, but the disconnection is unable to force the Guardian to disconnect it. The connection is too powerful unless I will it for them to separate… I just don't know why the connection is so strong."

Karni tapped his chin. "Well, there is still the chance that my Bo Staff is somehow affecting the connection to be stronger. It felt stronger than it should have been. Just like how the weapon is stronger than it should be."

"There's a simple way to find that out." Yuanen Yehui added.

Karni turned to her and nodded. "I'll make one for you and we'll see. Even if it doesn't work, we know which direction to develop. And we can ask Yun'er to help as well… whenever she shows up." Karni was worried. Right now was likely a sensitive time for the Royal Family. He was having some doubts about what he started, but there was no going back now.

"Sure, sure. I don't care about that. But if I can wield my Fallen Angel through a weapon, it would help me a lot. It would also affect my body and mind less."

Right. That Martial Soul of hers was a bit unstable. Karni stretched. "Well, that's the next step. After that, my goal is for both of the Martial Souls to be usable at the same time through it. Now that would be some power."

"Can that even be a thing? Our bodies can rarely fuse two different powers together."

Karni raised his eyebrow. "You do realise who my girlfriend is, right? Even if she has a fusion, we can use that to create a few theories."

Yuanen Yehui was silent and raised her hand. "I'll give you that one. So what's the plan."

"Mmm. No plan, exactly. I see a path, and I'll try to follow it to completion. That's all there is to it."

… … …

Karni yawned. It was early in the morning. He stayed up late last night despite intending to enter the Spirit Ascension Platform today. He couldn't help himself. When he fell into research it was like he was back on Earth playing video games. He didn't notice the time pass.

Today would actually be his very last time going into the Spirit Ascension Platform. He'd been going for a whole month. Some of his attempts were more fortunate than others. He was missing Siduo. With her, they could have probably been in there for days.

Hope was at rank 8900. He really had some unfortunate runs. He ran into the weird Land Shark creatures at the beginning once, but he had also managed to eliminate one of them at that time. At least he got some revenge and a lot of energy for Hope.

Today he would need some luck. His first two attempts ended up being his best ones. He only had to get one Thirty-Thousand-Year-Old Soul Beast, but that was easier said than done. He seemed to have cleared all the loner type ones already.

Well, all except one. Karni shook. He met the King of the Forest last time. The one that defended this whole Advanced Platform. It was a Titan Giant Ape. It was why Karni flinched when he encountered Yuanen Yehui in the Science Division. He still wasn't over it. He was played around with like a ball. And it wasn't even close to a Hundred-Thousand-Year-Old level. It was at most a Fifty-Thousand-Year-Old Titan Giant Ape. He hoped to avoid it at all costs.

And to think he fought Yuanen Yehui when he returned last time. Karni shook. Maybe he should just fight her again and get over it?

"-ni? Val Karni?"

Karni was shaken out of his thoughts. "Long Yue?"

The man nodded, looking at him weirdly. "I didn't expect to meet you here."

"Me neither." Karni smiled and offered a handshake which Long Yue returned. Without squeezing his hand.

"You're here for your Spirit Soul?" Long Yue asked. He seemed oddly polite. Was it the match or his teacher that made him so… not domineering.

Karni nodded. "Yeah. Though it is my last time today. I don't have enough money for another one."

"How close are you to an evolution?"

"Hm? Why is Brother Long curious?"

Long Yue chuckled. "If I help you evolve, I wonder if Brother Val would be willing to hear me out?"

Karni smiled. "If you help me out, I'll be more than willing. I'm a 6-Star Designer, you know?"

Long Yue was a bit surprised and laughed. "In that case, I'll be in your care." He put his hands together.

Karni did the same. "No, no. I'll be in your care instead."

The two entered the Spirit Pagoda together. Karni felt confident today. Long Yue himself would be accompanying him. How could he not feel confident? He stretched, feeling excited.

But something caught his eye. This was a big Spirit Pagoda on the continent. It had artwork like the pillars on Douluo Continent.

That smudge Karni once saw… This battle showed the very final one. The one where Huo Yuhao saved Star Luo Empire.

The smudge. It was still black, but it wasn't a smudge. It was a humanoid shape. Karni felt no headache. The black shape felt intentionally shaded by whoever painted it. It felt mysterious.

And the shape wore a Greatsword.

"Val Karni? In here." Long Yue called out.

"Oh yeah. Coming." Karni shook it off. What a curious coincidence.

Karni entered the capsule next to Long Yue, closing his eyes.

And then opened them, already in another world.

The Advanced Platform allowed for people to get in close to one another, something which wasn't a regular thing in the Elementary one. There they would have to search for each other. The Advanced Platform was often used by Young Masters of various families, who had strong bodyguards accompanying them. Hence the feature was regularly used.

Karni crouched down in the forest. To his left was Long Yue. Long Yue nodded and showcased to move. Karni quickly transmitted Sound only to Long Yue. He had learned to be completely quiet here. "Brother Long, a second."

Long Yue turned to Karni, and Karni's second Soul Ring shone. And for a split second, Long Yue went on guard. Then he relaxed. Karni spoke again. "You can speak. I have complete control over Sound, they won't ever hear us, only see us. We can communicate freely."

"I forget that your Sound is on such a high level. I also did not know you can use your ability in such a way. How convenient."

"I am a control system after all." Karni smiled.

"Tell that to Brother Yueyan." Long Yue laughed.

Karni scratched his head. Right. Was he still a Control System? Well, yes. Control was still in his blood. Every attack of his was done in a way that a Control System would deal with it. He left no room for a true counterattack in that match against the Crown Prince.

Karni turned serious all of a sudden. "Hm. No one's around."

"Oh? How close?"

"At least a 100m. Give me a second. Let me get a more accurate estimation."

Karni split his Staff into Drumsticks and hit them together. Still Harmony stretched far and wide.

Long Yue felt magical. For once, he was on the good end of Karni's abilities. The kid's comprehension scared him. He was once again sure that Karni could have won in their match if it were not for that being Karni's first time using those techniques.

Then he felt spiritual fluctuations from Karni.

Karni saw the world in Black and White, a technique Karni had now started calling the Wave Abyss. The Sound travelled far and wide. Even things humans could usually not hear anymore still left a ripple effect. In this state, Karni could see the tiniest of details.

He went out of the state in seconds. It was too consuming. Thankfully, two seconds was enough for Karni to figure things out. He did not waste a lot of Spiritual Power.

"Odd. The closest living being should be a kilometre away. But this is not the area of the King of the Forest."

Long Yue was surprised. "You've met the Titan Giant Ape?"

Karni sighed. "'Meet' is too nice a word. I ran from it. And was beaten up anyway."

Long Yue chuckled a bit, before turning serious. "There is only one other creature that I know would leave the area empty to such a degree. But, well, it's a bit unfortunate. We can't do much about it. The safest way is probably to go directly to the creature you heard."

Karni nodded. "I'll follow your lead. I'm not that familiar with this platform as you."

Long Yue asked for the direction, and the two went ahead.

"Brother Long, I do have to ask. What exactly is this Soul Beast."

Long Yue turned back. "The Mercury Storm Flowe- Don't step there!"

Too late. Karni stepped before he could stop himself, and a terrifying screech was heard across all of the area. He quickly jumped off and cursed. He knew that species. Flowers of Catastrophes. Cousins of Thunderclap Nether Vines.

The world around them transformed. The winds swished and started spinning. A storm was brewing above them. A storm of pure wind and destruction.

Then the ground started changing. It started with the trees. The bark turning silver. Then the leaves, the grass and the very ground. It looked like the ground was melting into pure liquid silver. Then it all cleared, and impurities disappeared from the ground. It looked like a world of only winds and mirrors around them. It wasn't silver. It was Mercury.

Karni had never seen this flower in person before, only heard of them. They were bringers of destruction. Leaving wastelands in their wake.

The most terrifying aspect of them wasn't the devastation itself, but the way the devastation came to be. It was a very unassuming flower. It always slept, slowly converting the dirt beneath it into mercury, but if one disturbed it, it would explode and lose control. It would self-destruct and take the environment with it.

Soul Beasts seemed to have a knack for smelling something beneath the ground and avoided the place. Most humans did not have that capability.

Karni, despite knowing he was in danger, could not help but admire this world. It was like an apocalypse descended upon them.

But he knew the characteristics of the flower. It would attack anything that wasn't it.

"Brother Long, stay close to me." Karni channelled his Bloodline. A calm and friendly bloodline. He was a friendly existence. That's what he kept saying through his Relaxing Aura.

"I'm just a part of you." He repeated a little mantra to himself to get in the right mindset. He had to convince the surroundings about that.

Winds thrashed about and mercury consumed the surroundings. The fact they were next to it was a kind of fortune. It did not dare to be too aggressive close by. Even if it was destined to destroy itself, it still didn't wish to do so.

But with Karni's influence over it at this moment, it wished for this even less. "Brother Long, now."

Long Yue jumped. His second and fifth Soul Ring shone. Rivers and Mountain Dragon King's Rest. He sent a stream of water at the flower with full force, destroying it immediately.

Karni felt its Spirit Energy go toward himself and stopped it. His Spiritual Abyss Realm made it easy for him to do so. He turned to Long Yue, who just shook his head. "I'm helping you, remember? Just take it."

Karni nodded and sucked in the power. Hmm. This was a 9000-year-old Mercury Storm Flower. 900 points, divided between his three rings, he was now closer by another 300 years. Hope now had a cultivation of 9200.

Karni caught Long Yue admiring the surroundings. The Mercury Storm Flower might have died instantly, but its devastation remained. It was only active for half a minute, but the surroundings were forever transformed. A silver world of reflection.

The Mercury Storm Flower would rarely be so easy to kill. It helped that Karni immediately activated Relaxing Aura, making the flower feel no danger nearby. If they had not done it, this would have felt more like fighting a Fifty-Thousand-Year-Old Soul Beast.

It was weak at its source, but powerful in all the other ways. "We were lucky we didn't encounter a Ten-Thousand-Year-Old one." Karni sighed. If a 9000 one was capable of this destruction…

Long Yue nodded. "But that thing you did, would probably still help us a lot. Even a Mercury Cyclone Flower should not be able to detect you. Right now, I have a hard time not seeing you as… a best friend."

Karni chuckled. "Right, sorry about that." He quickly retracted his aura.

Long Yue shook his body to gain clarity. "Mm. That's better. What an uncomfortable ability, to even be able to counter such a catastrophe. In our Empire, it is said that it was the fall of two gods that gave birth to this flower."

Karni thought. "Same on our Douluo Continent. The Metal God and the Sky God. That's the legend at least. But don't call my ability a counter. It's more like… it enables survival."

"Fair. But now I would like to see you go against the Thunderclap Nether Vine." Long Yue laughed. "In a land full of lightning and thunder."

"I would prefer not to do live testing. Besides. If this one came from two 2nd rank Gods, that one came from a first rank god."

Long Yue nodded solemnly. "The Thunder God. Our Empire has that knowledge as well." He fell into thought. "Imagine us reach the level of those powers." His words sounded ambitious, but Karni felt and oddity in his tone. There was something behind the meaning of those words.

Long Yue noticed Karni's look and chuckled. "Brother Val is truly terrifying with your understanding of Sound. Let's leave that here in this ruined world and move on."

Karni nodded. He would not poke sore spots. He has poked enough sore spots in the Monster Academy and the Empire last month. But it seemed to him that Long Yue had some demons he had to face now.

Karni honestly did not believe that Long Yue felt that bad about Tang Wulin. It was likely what that incident meant for his relationship with his teacher En Ci. The intention behind the relationship.

The two moved through the mirror-like world that surrounded them and got out after about a kilometre. It really was a catastrophe. This one flower could have levelled a small town in the real world.

Now… where would they find more Spirit Souls to help Karni reach the higher level? The two ran around looking for prey.

They encountered quite a few One-Thousand-Year-Old ones. Did a quick cleaning up of them. Karni did a quick stun and then Long Yue… well, he usually one shot them.

After a while the surroundings started looking familiar to Karni. Had he not been here before?

He abruptly stopped and raised his hand to signal Long Yue. He remembered it. "Brother Long, this is where I encountered misfortune twice. There were three of them, there should only be one now."

"Do those misfortunes have a name?" Long Yue asked.

Karni shrugged. "I don't know. I tried looking them up, but I don't really have a lot of resources here, and if this Soul Beast existed on Douluo Continent, I would know about it. It's like a Land Shark."

"Land Shark? … Oh? The Grizzly Dragon Shark. They're quite difficult to deal with. They usually hunt in small packs."

"Yeah, I've figured that one out already." Karni was watching around. He refused to call them the Grizzly Dragon Shark. But them being called a Grizzly reminded him of the Pokemon he was thinking of before. Garchomp. Yea. These guys were just mutated Garchomps.

"Gimme a sec, I'll see where they are. They should be close." Karni concentrated.

If they kill the remaining Garchomps, Karni should be able to level up. Actually, one should be enough. They were Forty or Fifty Thousand Years Old each.

Karni entered the Wave Abyss for a second again. He immediately noted where the discrepancies of Soundwaves came from.

He exited the Black and White world and pointed with his finger. Long Yue nodded and followed.

The two reached them quickly. The damn sharks were just 500m away.

"You take the right; I'll take the left." Karni said. There were only two Garchomps.

Long Yue nodded.

Karni took out his Guardian Greatsword. Today was the first time he would catch the Garchomps off-guard.

He activated the Royal Bamboo Panda, activating the Fluffy Panda Cushion. Then his Greatsword got a golden layer, Golden Insight activating. He filled it with Sound with Sonic Rhythm, then spun. "Now!"

Karni vanished, Shifting just above the left Garchomp. His sword swinging, his Royal Paw Pad and Flight into the River activating, kicking the Greatsword down by the sharp edge. Straight for the head.

He might have been nice to Dai Yueyan and only used the sharp side at the end to bring out En Ci, mostly to showcase the brutality, but here and now he was going for the kill. There was no need to be nice beforehand.

The Guardian Greatsword crashed into the enemy's skull, spilling up tons of blood. Karni Shifted, ready to attack again, only to notice that the Garchomp was already dead. "Oh, come on! I didn't even get a proper revenge fight!"

He turned to Long Yue who was suppressing the other Garchomp with ease but had difficulty killing it. He Shifted there and executed the same overbearing attack. The skull was crushed again, and Long Yue looked at Karni a bit oddly.

"Are you sure you're still a Control System? These moves were more like an assassin type gained my strength."

Karni groaned a bit. It couldn't be helped! This was by far the strongest attack he could execute quickly! The only attack he could imagine being stronger than this was Sonic Entropy that he used against Long Yue, but he needed time and energy to build up to it.

Karni picked up the energy. Ninety Thousand worth of Spirit Energy in total. That was 9000 to distribute between three Soul Rings. Each should get 3000, but…

He sighed. He feared this would happen. Hope got stuck at 9999. She did not reach the Ten-Thousand-Rank. Maybe after he went outside the platform? But he did not have much hope for that.

The Bamboo Oasis may have purified Hope's physique, but it only got her to the most optimum level of her species. Even that Shrek Researcher who lived some 300 years ago didn't manage to upgrade his All-Seeing Rattlesnake.

No matter how he sent the energy toward the Soul Rings, they wouldn't budge. He sighed, sending the energy to Hop and Lily. Most of it went to Hop, which made him jump up in cultivation by Three Thousand years directly. He only provided one Soul Ring right now after all.

By now, Hopper should be close to Thirty Thousand Years Old.

Lily got the rest. Which was also 3000. Each of her Soul Rings strengthened by 1000, so she was now Forty-Four-Thousand-Year-Old Spirit Soul.

"What's wrong?" Long Yue asked. He noticed Karni being weird.

"It's just my Spirit Soul. It doesn't matter. We did everything we could. Come, let's leave." Karni pressed the exit button before Long Yue could question him.

After exiting, the two of them went to a coffee shop, where Karni happily ordered some cocoa.

"So, your Spirit Soul. Everything okay there?"

Karni sipped the cocoa and put it down. Still some left. "Right. My Spirit Soul comes from the All-Seeing Rattlesnake species. They're one of the few species that aren't on the verge of extinction on Douluo Continent, but none of them in history had reached the Black rank yet. For whatever reason, they cannot progress past that point. My theory is that it's due to their future sight abilities."

"Hmm. A snake you say. In that case there might be a way. Mutate it."

Karni sipped cocoa again. "Mutate?"

"Mm. It should be about that time. Tang Sect should send you on a mission to the Dragon Valley. A different realm, connected to the Star Luo Continent through cracks in space and time."

"Oh, that? I've heard of that yeah."

Long Yue nodded. "The thing is. All the energy there is that of dragons. True dragons. And your Spirit Soul is a Rattlesnake. Dragon energy can mutate any creature that has the tiniest of bloodline of dragons. Hell, it even mutates some non-reptile creatures."

"Hoo. In that case, I really should keep myself from reaching rank 50."

Long Yue was surprised. "Oh? You heard about that?"

Karni nodded. "From teacher Hu Jie."

"I see. What rank are you?"

"49." Karni sighed. "I think I'll just not cultivate and focus on other things. Like my Greatsword. Or," he pointed to Long Yue, "I help you."

Long Yue raised his hands, he could tell Karni wanted to change the topic. "Fine. I'll explain. I worry about my self-control. It's been getting worse since I stopped visiting my teacher. And teacher also hadn't visited me. I have trouble trusting him fully. But my bloodline, because of that… it's been quite unstable lately. Especially after the battle with Tang Wulin and that girl. So, my question is: do you know how to make any device that might alleviate some side effects?"

"Hmm. Are you okay if I check your body first? My bloodline is very friendly to everything, so it shouldn't cause any problems for you."

After thinking for about five seconds, Long Yue agreed. "Follow me. I'll take you to my place."

… … …

The Monster Academy. They were actually in the Monster Academy. It really was mighty. The campus was wide, though it still didn't have the same vibe as Shrek Academy. The outer layer of Shrek Academy was Shrek City ten thousand years ago. It could not exactly compare in terms of connection to nature and serenity. But it was definitely comparable in terms of quality and facilities.

Karni was led to a little courtyard with a nice house. This was where Long Yue was staying.

"We'll have privacy here. So, go ahead with what you have to do." Long Yue offered a seat.

Karni nodded. He placed his palms on Long Yue's back and circulated his Bloodline. His Relaxing Aura activated to explore Long Yue's body.

This body was terrifying. Not due to its build or something like that, but due to his bloodline. Ferocious. Angry. Filled with a stifling feeling.

The Mountain Dragon King. Arguably the most tragic of Dragon God's sons. He sacrificed his body to become the mountains, the rivers, the swamps and forests—the very land, so that the Dragon Clan could thrive.

No wonder the bloodline had such frustrations. Not only did the Dragon Clan no longer exist, but his bloodline was borne in a human eons later.

Karni put his Relaxing Aura into the bloodline. Into that aspect of frustration. To change how it felt the world, to influence it. Let just everybody be friends here. That's all that the Pandas want. They like being lazy, and they like to have fun. The Royal Panda seemed to exhibit exactly those qualities.

Long Yue suddenly sucked in a ton of breath, surprising Karni.

"You. Brother Val… what did you just do? I feel amazing!"

Karni stayed at it for another couple of minutes before he felt that he couldn't do much more. "Whew. That's the key aspect of my Bloodline. It protects itself through making others accept me. Even my new Soul Skills, while I know they may seem aggressive, their primary aspect is to bounce away attacks, another helps me absorb attacks more then it helps deliver them, and another sprouts a field of Lotuses that only spiritually suppresses those inside as well as protect me with leaves."

Long Yue chuckled. "You really do not want to admit that you act like an assault system." He seemed in a very cheery mood. "Fine, fine. I'll admit, what you described does sound like a Defence System instead."

Karni chuckled. He had to admit he didn't mention the bone. Flight into the River was not a defence skill. It was pure power.

"Karni." Long Yue stood up. "Thank you. With what you just did, my bloodline should be calm for at least two months."

Karni smiled. "I'll make a Soul Tool as well. I have some ideas, but I can't really create something that will act like my Relaxing Aura. I'll go more into boosting your Spiritual Powers that can affect your body gradually. It will be more like treating symptoms, and it won't solve your problems, but it should help."

It should not be too hard for him. In fact, the whole spiritual and body aspect was right up Karni's alley of research. He'll just have to do some adjustments.

"Thank you." Long Yue was genuinely grateful.

"Just returning the favour. Well, I'm going then. Teacher Hu Jie said that Dragon Valley will unlock sometime in three weeks. I have work ahead of me."

And he was thankful for that work as well, because he would not allow himself to cultivate the next three weeks. As he was now, after his Bloodline grew, he could definitely reach Rank 50 in these three weeks.

Time to get busy.