Chapter 1020: Facing the True Ma Shan

After absorbing the energy from the 10th Golden Dragon King seal, his current self and his past self were truly a world apart. Not only had he attained a pair of wings, his dual cores had also changed, as evidenced by the fact that his yin yang vortex had transformed into a bridge between heaven and earth. His strength had become more powerful, even his martial soul had undergone a transformation.

What was a little disheartening to him was that not only had he not become more powerful in his current state, he had actually become weaker. No matter how powerful one was, there was no way that they could unleash the full extent of that power if they couldn't control it!

However, this was undoubtedly a good beginning. As for just how much the 10th seal had given him, that would have to be assessed through practical combat.

"Beep beep beep!" Right at this moment, the ringtone of his Blood God Bracelet suddenly rang out.

Tang Wulin glanced at the number, and a faint smile appeared on his face. He felt as blessed as a sleepy man being handed a pillow!

"Hello, Corps Commander Ma... Oh, I've been cultivating in seclusion for the past few days, and I've only just finished... Sure! I'll log on to the Star Battle Net right away; see you in the combat area," Tang Wulin said with a smile.

The caller was none other than Ma Shan, and he was inviting Tang Wulin to the Star Battle Net for a sparring match.

He did some simple stretches to experience the changes that had taken place within his body. A sparring match within the battle net was ideal as he could unleash the power of his new body without any inhibition to see just how much he had changed.

He entered the Star Cabin and logged on to the battle net.

Light flashed, and he arrived in the world of the Star Battle Net.

He quickly found Ma Shan, and he discovered that Ma Shan's nickname was just his own name. He was a straightforward man who didn't want to make things unnecessarily complicated.

"Good to see you, brother! Let's go for a sparring match. I'm going to be going all-out here; show me just how powerful the new Blood Nine is!"

Tang Wulin smiled, and said, "Sure! I've been itching for a sparring match as well."

Ma Shan issued the 2,000 federal credits required and in the next instant, the two of them arrived on the competition platform.

Tang Wulin was silently sensing the changes within his body with his arms hanging naturally by his sides. His eyes were slightly narrowed, and there seemed to be faint light shimmering within them.

Ma Shan looked on at Tang Wulin and listened to the electronic countdown, and he was suddenly struck by the feeling that he seemed to have changed somehow. He seemed to have grown taller and more well-built. Also, why did his eyes look so bright? Overall, his entire disposition seemed to be different.

He wore a smile on his face, but for some reason, Ma Shan found him to be very threatening, as if there were some kind of vicious creatures lurking within his body.

The electronic countdown quickly concluded, and even though Ma Shan was quite surprised, he had a wealth of battle experience, so he definitely wasn't going to allow his emotions to hamper his judgment. He released his martial soul right away adopting his Herculean Divine Ape form. His body swelled drastically in size, and eight soul rings rose up around him.

Tang Wulin also took a deep breath, and light flashed from his body as five golden soul rings emerged from beneath him.

That's right, there were five rings now; after breaking his 10th seal, he'd attained another bloodline soul ring.

He hunched forward slightly, and a pair of dragon wings were instantly released from his back at his behest.

In the instant that the dragon wings were released again, Tang Wulin felt a surge of heat instantly flow throughout his entire body, and it felt as if his strength had immediately been significantly enhanced once again.

This was a very direct feeling, so much so that even he had failed to completely react to it, and before he knew it, his body had risen up into the air.

That wasn't battle armor! Had he grown wings? Was this an innate ability of his martial soul? And why were his soul rings golden in color?

A string of questions appeared in Ma Shan's mind at once, but he still chose to immediately unleash his first and third soul skills. His body expanded drastically once again, and at the same time, he charged directly toward Tang Wulin.

The Herculean Divine Ape was a pure strength-type martial soul, and every time his foot stomped down onto the ground, tremors would run through the entire competition platform. Ma Shan reached Tang Wulin after just a few steps, and he raised both of his fists before swinging them toward Tang Wulin.

Tang Wulin didn't release his Golden Dragon Spear on this occasion; he wanted to see just how his body had changed after absorbing the Golden Dragon King energy from the 10th seal.

He raised his arms to block Ma Shan's giant-hammer-like fists, and as a safety precaution, he released his Golden Dragon Body, instantly conjuring up a layer of golden dragon scales all over his skin.

A resounding boom rang out, and Tang Wulin was forced down from above.

As it turned out, Ma Shan had indeed held back during his clash against Tang Wulin at the forging workshop. They were currently battling in the Star Battle Net, so they didn't have to hold back, and his terrifying power as a pure strength-type eight-ring Soul Douluo was on full display.

However, even though Tang Wulin had been forced back down onto the ground, his arms had blocked Ma Shan's attack in a very stable manner, and he was feeling quite good.

Tang Wulin could clearly sense that the dragon core in his chest was completely expanding and contracting to pump blood essence power throughout his entire body, so Ma Shan's immense strength wasn't exerting too much pressure upon him.

He stomped his right foot into the ground to unleash his Golden Dragon Shakes the Earth!

On this occasion, it was only a pure Golden Dragon Shakes the Earth rather than a blood soul fusion skill.

A resounding boom erupted, and a low dragon's roar rang out. Golden dragon patterns appeared all over the ground within a diameter of 50 meters, and immediately thereafter, a giant golden dragon emerged from beneath Ma Shan's feet, sending his massive body flying through the air.

Ma Shan's entire body stiffened, and an invisible sense of pressure instantly appeared within his heart, forcibly cutting off the next soul skill that he was about to unleash.

The golden dragon that had just sent him flying instantly split up into eight before converging toward the same direction and crashing into his body.

Ma Shan wore a surprised expression as he unleashed his fifth soul skill, conjuring up a giant ape projection behind him that was releasing piercing light.

Even so, as each golden dragon exploded on his body, a vast expanse of golden light would appear, causing his body to shudder from the impact.

Tang Wulin then raised both hands up into the sky; Golden Dragon Shocks the Heavens!

A giant golden dragon that was over 30 meters in length erupted from his palms amid a thunderous dragon's roar. It caught up to Ma Shan's body before sending him flying once again, and only after flying for 50 meters did he land on the ground.

He rolled to his feet before thumping his fists against his chest, and his second soul ring lit up, causing layers of dense power to erupt from within his body to ward off the golden light around him. However, he was in a rather disheveled and ragged state.

This was an eight-ring Soul Douluo, yet Tang Wulin had been able to force him back with just his Golden Dragon Shocks the Heavens and Golden Dragon Shakes the Earth, as opposed to having to resort to his blood soul fusion skills. This had only been made possible by the enhancements made to his blood essence power.

At this moment, Tang Wulin had already made an accurate evaluation, which was that even without using his battle armor and martial soul, the enhancement made to his body by breaking the 10th seal had granted him combat prowess comparable to that of an eight-ring Soul Douluo. Of course, this was also partially due to the fact that the Herculean Divine Ape was a pure strength-type martial soul; if he were to come up against a Soul Douluo with a different skill set, then the effect perhaps wouldn't be as great.

Even so, Tang Wulin could give himself a pat on the back for this. He was able to force back the commander of the Iron Will Corps with his immense power, indicating that his powers had been enhanced to a whole new level. If he were to develop perfect control over his newfound power, then also make use of his battle armor and martial soul, then he would seriously be able to put up a fight against Blood Nine.

The years of arduous cultivation he had endured had forged for him a strong foundation that would allow him to progress at a rapid rate. He had made very slow progress during the early stages of his cultivation, but he continued to grind and accumulate, and he was finally being rewarded for his efforts; he had made several consecutive breakthroughs in a short time, and he had truly become a new man. He was finally getting close to the truly powerful beings on this continent.

"Nice! Again!"

A loud roar rang out as Ma Shan charged forward once again. On this occasion, his seventh soul ring lit up, and large tufts of fur appeared all over his entire body. His height didn't increase any further, but his body fused together with the giant ape projection behind him, thereby transforming him into a true giant ape.

This was his martial soul true body, the Herculean Divine Ape!

After releasing his martial soul true body, Ma Shan's aura had completely changed. Due to the fact that his strength had reached the upper limit of a certain threshold, the air around him was beginning to crack and warp.

Tang Wulin also adopted a serious expression as he spread his golden dragon claws apart, then tapped his left foot against the ground to propel himself up into the air. He spread open his dragon wings before flapping them vigorously, and he wanted to see just what kind of purpose they could serve. 

Following just a single flap of his wings, Tang Wulin could immediately feel a vast amount of natural energies surge forth from the wings before spreading through his entire body, following which he was launched through the air like an arrow.

When he tried to control his own body, he discovered that the acceleration from his wings was too direct, and as he flapped them, the energy within his dragon core was being injected into the wings without any reservation, so he couldn't even change his direction of flight!

Ma Shan looked on as Tang Wulin flew toward him before squatting down to evade the full-front charge, then abruptly springing upward.

Tang Wulin only had a chance to press his hands down below himself before he was sent flying by Ma Shan.

He was launched over 100 meters into the air, then crashed into the protective barrier above the competition platform before rebounding off it and plummeting down from above.