"I'll be sure to do so." This was indeed an issue. Up to this point, he still hadn't found any noteworthy source of life force energy, and normal life force energy was simply far too insignificant to make a difference for the seed of life.

After pondering the situation for a moment, Tang Wulin asked, "Is the Infernal Lightning Vine currently alright? Does it need me to help it in any way?"

"No, just being inside your body is the best thing for it. It'll continue to rest and recover at its own pace, and when you become a Titled Douluo, you can sign a contract with it right away. That Zhang Geyang's physical constitution wasn't good enough to maximize the power of the Infernal Lightning Vine anyway; you'll be the perfect host for it. Also, with your Bluesilver Emperor martial soul, you'll struggle to find another soul spirit more suitable for you than the Infernal Lightning Vine. After it fuses with your Bluesilver Emperor, your martial soul will definitely undergo a mutation.

"With your status as the Son of Nature, it's virtually certain that you'll be able to provide the Infernal Lightning Vine with enough life force energy to help it become an immortal plant. What's even more important is that you're making us more and more hopeful that we'll be able to attain immortality by following you."

Tang Wulin fell into deep thought upon hearing this. From its outward appearance, the Infernal Lightning Vine did appear to be a vine. It was different from Bluesilver Emperor, but they were both plant system martial souls, so they shared quite a few similarities. Tang Wulin's heart rate began to spike as he thought of the three abilities that the Infernal Lightning Vine had displayed. If it could become a 100,000-year-old immortal plant and could attack to its heart's content without any fear of self-detonation, what would that be like?

His Golden Dragon King bloodline had already bestowed upon him many explosive offensive abilities; if he were to add lightning attribute powers to the mix as well, then his explosive power would truly shock the entire Soul Master world.

Zhang Geyang was most likely kicking himself right now. Not only had he failed to defeat Tang Wulin, he had also lost an extremely important soul spirit, which would undoubtedly significantly dent his powers. Without the Infernal Lightning Vine, there was most likely no chance for him to ever become a Limit Douluo, but that was obviously of no concern to Tang Wulin at all.

It had been a long time since Tang Wulin had used his soul spirits in battle. He was more interested in honing his own powers, and overusing his soul spirits would develop a habit of reliance. Hence, he very rarely released them. It was also better for his soul spirits to remain inside his body to cultivate, and when the Tyrant Dragon soul spirit had been released, even Tang Wulin himself had been given a massive fright. It's hundred-meter-tall frame truly resembled a mountain, and its destructive power had also increased drastically.

Tang Wulin could sense that the Tyrant Dragon was only a sliver away from becoming a true dragon, and once it made the breakthrough, it would most likely undergo enormous changes. Tang Wulin couldn't help but wonder what the Tyrant Dragon would be like following the breakthrough.

It was already over 100 meters tall now; wouldn't it become even more fearsome? Just the mere thought filled Tang Wulin with anticipation.

After entertaining this train of thought for a while longer, Tang Wulin gradually entered a meditative state.

Thus far, the Trial of Five Gods hadn't actually been too taxing on his body, but the matches had been extremely mentally strenuous. He had faced two extremely powerful opponents, and his overall powers actually didn't match up with theirs. He had only managed to secure the victories by taking advantage of his overall set of abilities and the lack of information his opponents had on him, and he had truly been forced to rack his own brains for strategies.

There were three matches left, and each match was undoubtedly going to be more arduous than the previous one. The third match was going to be the battle of soul skills. A battle of soul skills was actually just a traditional Soul Master battle, where battle armor and weapons outside of martial souls were prohibited. Aside from that, there were no other restrictions.

This was definitely going to be Tang Wulin's most difficult match yet, second only to the final battle armor battle.

His opponent was definitely going to be a Hyper Douluo, and most likely one that was going to be no less powerful than Zhang Geyang. In the face of absolute power, it was certainly not going to be an easy task for Tang Wulin to secure victory.

However, he knew that the more arduous the battle was, the more beneficial it would be to his development, and the more seriously he would have to regard it. Even if he were to lose, he had to lose with dignity.

...... 

"Boom!" The timer table was instantly reduced to dust before being incinerated into nothingness by blue flames.

Zhang Geyang's face was twisted with fury, and it had been many, many years since he had been this angry.

When he had received En Ci's invitation, he had accepted almost without any hesitation. What could be more enjoyable for him than to represent the Spirit Pagoda and crush the Tang Sect's new sect master?

Never did he think that he would lose, and he certainly would've never anticipated that even one of his soul spirits would be taken by his opponent.

He could accept losing the match. After all, that was only a matter of reputation, and for a man of his powers and age, that was no longer something that he held in high regard.

In contrast, he was much more focused on pursuing progression in his cultivation. He had been at rank 98 in soul power for many years already, and it was his lifelong pursuit to become a Limit Douluo. Only after reaching that level would he have a sliver of a chance at attaining immortality.

During this recent period of time, he had been on the right track, and had everything gone smoothly, he may have been able to make the breakthrough once his Azure Jade Phoenix completed its evolution.

However, the betrayal of the Infernal Lightning Vine had dashed all of his hopes. Without the Infernal Lightning Vine soul spirit, three of his soul skills and his overall powers would be negatively affected, and this was an irreversible blemish.

There was no longer any chance for him to become a Limit Douluo, and just the mere thought made Zhang Geyang feel as if there were a dagger stabbing into his heart.

He had been so close to his lifelong goal, yet his hopes had been dashed in the most brutal way right as he was about to reach the finishing line. This was truly unacceptable.

"Tang Wulin!" Zhang Geyang spat through gritted teeth, and the resentment in his eyes made them appear as if they had also been ignited by infernal flames.

Right at this moment, one of Zhang Geyang's subordinates delivered a report in a rather uneasy voice. "Branch Chairman, the spirit envoy is here."

"The spirit envoy?" The resentment in Zhang Geyang's eyes faded slightly upon hearing this, and he took a deep breath to calm himself down.

This spirit envoy was very special, and Qiangu Dongfeng had called him in person, telling him to take good care of her.

It was said that she had made a significant contribution to the Spirit Pagoda. As for exactly what this contribution was, Zhang Geyang didn't know as this was information of the highest level of confidentiality in the Spirit Pagoda.

However, what Zhang Geyang did know was that this spirit envoy was most likely going to become Qiangu Dongfeng's granddaughter-in-law, and would hold a very important position in the Qiangu Family. He had known that she would be arriving soon, but he didn't expect her to arrive quite this early.

"Invite her to the conference chamber," Zhang Geyang instructed with a dark expression.

When Zhang Geyang met the vastly renowned spirit envoy of the Spirit Pagoda headquarters, he couldn't help but be stunned by her beauty.

It was no wonder that Qiangu Dongfeng wanted her to become his granddaughter-in-law; she was truly stunning! If he had been several decades younger, he would most definitely have been attracted to her as well. Furthermore, Zhang Geyang could detect a rather viscous sensation around her body; those were clearly extremely dense elemental fluctuations.