Douluo Dalu: Starting With Tom Cat

Wu Zhong, who had just activated his Martial Soul True Body, stared blankly at Shen An. Facing a powerful enemy, this guy still had the guts to knock out his own teammates and spout nonsense?

A surge of rage from being mocked flared in his chest. "Just a mere Soul Ancestor dares to be this arrogant? Don't worry—I'll devour you and your companions, bones and all."

Shen An threw Tom and Jerry a look—since they were all Soul Sages, they were obviously going to fight side by side.

No need to talk about honor with those who practice wicked arts.

Tom and Jerry immediately understood. Jerry had already repositioned its little cannon and, without hesitation, lit the fuse, aiming straight at Wu Zhong for a preemptive strike.

As the fuse burned out, the mini cannon gave off a loud hum, its entire frame shaking violently.

Wu Zhong's eyes narrowed. That soul tool looked quite formidable.

The next moment, the cannonball launched—Jerry got blown into an "African mouse" and let out a thick plume of black smoke.

"Ahahaha~!"

Tom was laughing so hard it couldn't hold its gun straight, slapping its thigh and laughing till tears came out.

Wu Zhong fell silent. In all his years of cultivating dark arts and fighting countless battles, this was the first time he'd ever witnessed such a ridiculous scene.

"Fwoooosh~!"

Wu Zhong's fourth Soul Ring flared to life, and a pitch-black ghostly shadow shot out toward them. Even in broad daylight, it gave off a bone-chilling sense of dread.

Tom and Jerry shivered in each other's arms—they were absolutely terrified of ghosts.

Shen An also narrowed his eyes at the oncoming specter. This guy's Martial Soul was quite peculiar—it gave off an illusory, intangible vibe.

Ignoring the ghost's lunge, Shen An stomped down hard, using the rebound to launch himself forward. With his sword-controlling soul skill as the guide, he merged with his sword, turning into a streak of sword light and shooting toward Wu Zhong.

At this moment, the sword gleamed like lightning, fast as thunder!

Wu Zhong's pupils shrank violently. This speed was even greater than when Shen An had slaughtered Bu Le's group!

Doesn't he consume any Soul Power? Wu Zhong cursed internally but wasn't particularly worried. His Ghost Soul Martial Soul had unique properties.

Once the Martial Soul True Body was activated, it granted immunity to physical damage, making him ghost-like and untouchable. This was how he'd turned the tide so many times in the past.

Especially against a measly Soul Ancestor.

The dazzling sword light drew closer, and Wu Zhong's expression suddenly changed—something was wrong. Under his Martial Soul True Body, he actually felt pain?

This unexpected sense of danger made Wu Zhong instinctively unwilling to take the hit head-on. What a freak… makes me want to devour him even more. he thought grimly.

With countless battle-hardened instincts, all three of his Soul Rings lit up at once. Over the years, Wu Zhong had developed the habit of being excessively cautious with every opponent.

A black-and-red shield of light shimmered in front of him, ghostly hands clawed toward Shen An, and a dense black mist instantly enveloped him.

A control-type soul skill? Shen An thought to himself in the darkness. Too bad he had an Unshackled Soul Skill, which granted immunity to all fields and restrictive abilities.

Swish—!

A streak of green sword light pierced through the mist, cleaving through countless ghost hands. In terms of raw offensive power, Shen An surpassed most Soul Sages.

Boom!

That black shield? How could it stop the Nine-Leaf Sword Grass, a pinnacle Martial Soul?

It only blocked for a moment before shattering into dust, and shockwaves scattered falling leaves in all directions.

A warning bell rang in Wu Zhong's mind. Taking advantage of the opening, he urgently dodged. Shen An's sword gave him a seriously bad feeling.

But it was too fast—there was no way to fully avoid it. Swish! The blade cut through half of his body.

Wu Zhong's face contorted in pain. He looked at his ghostly body and saw a gash torn through it, with a faint green glow wreaking havoc from within.

"Sword Intent…?" he gasped. His Martial Soul True Body should be immune to physical attacks, yet Shen An still hurt him. The only explanation—he had comprehended Sword Intent.

"You're making me want to eat you down to the last cell…" Wu Zhong's eyes blazed with killing intent. His sixth Soul Ring burst into black light.

A large black gate adorned with blood patterns materialized in front of him, and ghostly figures began pouring out.

"Sixth Soul Skill—Gate of Specters!"

Dozens of fierce, tusked specters leapt out of the gate, launching themselves at Shen An as Wu Zhong retreated.

This sixth skill was special—it could endlessly summon ghosts using his Soul Power, and it could lock onto an opponent. The specters wouldn't stop until their target was dead.

Wu Zhong planned to exhaust Shen An using his Soul Sage-level Soul Power.

Too bad Shen An had Sword Intent, with amazing speed and attack power. His Martial Soul's best trait—intangibility—meant nothing now. He had no choice but to retreat temporarily.

No matter. I'm still a level-73 Soul Sage against a mere level-40-something Soul Ancestor. I've got the upper hand!

Sword light as beautiful as it was deadly shredded ghost after ghost, but Shen An was still held back—unable to push through the endless tide.

He had no choice but to keep swinging, launching sword after sword, flooding the forest with radiant sword light.

Wu Zhong grinned wickedly. The more Soul Power Shen An burned, the happier he got.

But soon, something felt off. Why was over half of his own Soul Power already gone, while Shen An was still firing off sword energy nonstop?

Worse yet—he was closing the distance!

Shen An had just quietly used a medium Soul Power EXP pack. Perfect. He felt fully recharged and kept pushing forward.

Wu Zhong wanted to drain his energy? Well, he wanted to drain Wu Zhong's too. With the system backing him up, Shen An didn't fear drawn-out battles.

With his keen senses, Shen An could clearly detect the shift in Wu Zhong's expression—he was about to run.

Can't let him escape. Shen An didn't hesitate. He activated Cloud-Split Slash, channeling all his Soul Power into a single blow.

For most soul masters, that level of total output was unimaginable—using 40–50% at once was already impressive.

But Cloud-Split Slash consolidated everything into one strike, pursuing ultimate burst and destruction.

Of course, such a move was extreme. Either the enemy died, or the user did.

But Shen An was different. After delivering that all-out slash, he didn't even blink—he chugged another medium EXP pack and shot to level 46. Soul Power fully replenished.

Roar!

The Nine-Leaf Sword Grass exploded with unparalleled sharpness and sword intent. The light from the blade burned like the midday sun—brilliant, blinding, sweeping in all directions.

Ghosts blocking Shen An's path evaporated like snow under the sun.

Wu Zhong gulped. Why… why does he still have Soul Power? And why's he even stronger?! What the hell is this monster!?

No hesitation, no shame. This Soul Sage turned and ran.

"Trying to run? Too late."

A cold voice whispered in Wu Zhong's ear, like the sound of death itself.

"Wait—spare me! I have—"

Before he could finish, another solidified sword light pierced through him, embedding a glowing green point in his chest.

In a flash, that tiny green speck exploded into a storm of sword energy, flooding his body and suppressing its ghostly nature.

Overwhelmed by a fear unlike anything he'd ever known, Wu Zhong's mind collapsed.

"Noooo!!!"

Boom!

His Martial Soul True Body shattered, and Wu Zhong's body burst into pieces.

Shen An stood still, pale-faced, catching his breath.

Two uses of Cloud-Split Slash in a row—even with EXP packs refueling his Soul Power, it still placed a heavy strain on his body and mind.

Especially the second strike—it contained every bit of his Sword Intent and Soul Power.

"Huh? What's this? He dropped loot after dying?"

Shen An suddenly noticed a small pile of items appearing before him.

He stepped forward. Most of the items were cracked and shattered on contact, except one—a golden, glowing object that remained intact.

Brushing the debris aside, he was stunned.

The words Soul Bone echoed in his mind.

It was a round bone, glowing faintly gold. It resembled a small skull but radiated a sacred aura.

Snowy River had once explained soul bones to Shen An.

There were six types, one for each major body part. Among them, the skull soul bone was the rarest and most valuable.

Of course, this excluded external soul bones.

Soul bones were incredibly precious—not only could they enhance attributes, but they also granted unique abilities. Even Title Douluo craved them.

As for why Wu Zhong didn't absorb it? Easy guess—probably incompatible attributes. A guy steeped in darkness like him absorbing a Light-attribute soul bone? He'd probably regress instead of advance.

Now it belonged to Shen An.

Shen An smirked. "Didn't get one from killing soul beasts, yet this drops from a person? Guess that's how it goes. I'll hang onto it for now—maybe give it to Zhuqing or Rongrong later."

Then a problem dawned on him—what should he do with this Soul Sage's corpse? Those sword wounds clearly pointed back to him.

Soon, he had an idea. Shen An pulled out a bunch of firecrackers and placed them on the body. With a thunderous boom, Wu Zhong was blown to bits.

These weren't ordinary firecrackers—together, they packed quite the punch. Smoke quickly filled the air.

But Shen An frowned—it looked too obvious, like he was trying to cover something up.

"I've got it. Leave this kind of thing to Tom and Jerry. Why was I trying to be the hero? I'm just an ordinary soul master."

He immediately ran back.

"Do you two have to be this scared?" Shen An said, looking at the trembling Tom and Jerry still huddled together.

Tom was nibbling its fingers while Jerry gestured frantically as if to say: That was a ghost, man! It nearly scared us to death!

Shen An stroked Tom's head. "It was just an energy construct—it only looked scary. All right, relax. That guy's gone."

"Oh, right—Tom, can you clean up the scene a bit? Make sure no one can tell it was me."

Shen An asked. A Soul Ancestor killing a Soul Sage? No one across the Douluo Continent had ever done that. You could be a genius, but it was still better to keep a low profile.

Tom nodded its little head. It was a master at cleaning up crime scenes—back when it and Jerry trashed the house, Tom was always the one handling the aftermath.