Douluo: My Clone Is Groudon

"Blue Silver Mantis Crown!"

Tang San anticipated that this blow would hurt, so he preemptively activated his healing skill.

Gu La didn't cheat by using any special moves. He threw a punch directly at Tang San's chest, sending him flying back three meters.

Tang San stumbled but quickly regained his footing. It felt as if a boulder had been placed on his chest, suffocating and uncomfortable. Fortunately, his spirit power flowed through the blue lens-like crown, rapidly converting into life force to heal the discomfort.

He managed a bitter smile. Gu La's strength was overwhelming—a single light punch had pierced through his spirit power defenses. Tang San had no choice but to acknowledge the gap between them.

But Tang San didn't concede immediately. Instead, he summoned his Blue Silver Grass to spread outward, forming "trip wires" to force Gu La to slow down.

Gu La saw through Tang San's plan. With his strength, he could probably break through the Blue Silver Grass without much effort. However, he didn't want to gamble on Tang San's control over the grass—if he accidentally tripped, it would be embarrassing.

So Gu La activated his first soul ring, and the gravitational field descended. The Blue Silver Grass was flattened under the pressure—while the grass was highly flexible, its resistance to compression was average.

The Blue Silver Grass clung tightly to the ground, allowing Gu La to step over it effortlessly. Tang San dodged left and right but was eventually pinned to the ground by Gu La's concentrated gravity.

Tang San lowered his head in frustration. "I lost."

[Groudon experienced an overwhelming battle. +13 Shop Points.]

[Tang San experienced a crushing defeat. +6 Shop Points.]

Gu La dispelled his soul skill, his breathing steady. He extended a hand to pull Tang San up, patting his shoulder reassuringly.

"Don't lose heart. Your advantage lies in your twin martial souls. Once you reach the level of a Title Douluo and add soul rings to your second martial soul, I won't be able to match you."

"Really?" Tang San sounded skeptical.

"Of course."

Gu La instilled confidence in Tang San. A Pokémon's mental health was crucial for its growth and performance in battles.

"Think about what I've said before—the absorption of soul rings is related to physical strength. When you become a Title Douluo, how many years should the first soul ring of your second martial soul absorb?"

Tang San's eyes lit up with excitement. "A ten-thousand-year soul ring?"

"Exactly. And it must be at least a fifty-thousand-year soul ring; anything less wouldn't match your innate talent."

Gu La glanced at the rewards, mentally dismissing the battle notifications.

Tang San thought about his second martial soul being equipped with all ten-thousand-year soul rings, which lifted his spirits significantly. He rekindled his determination:

"Brother Gu, I understand now. Falling behind temporarily doesn't matter—I'll catch up to you."

"Mm, that's the right mindset. We still have plenty of time. Let's keep training."

Gu La smiled and reactivated the gravitational field, immersing himself in training once more.

After the training session ended, Gu La asked, "Xiao San, did Uncle Tang deliver my thesis to the Spirit Hall?"

"Mm, Father went out last night and was still asleep this morning. I assume he delivered it."

Tang San nodded but looked at Gu La with a hint of confusion.

Gu La: "Is there something on your mind?"

Tang San hesitated no longer. "I don't understand why you'd publicize your research on soul master theories to the world. Father's identity makes it inconvenient for us—we can't even collect the royalties from the Spirit Hall. Other soul masters benefit, but it doesn't help us."

"Is that all?"

Gu La chuckled lightly, gazing at the lush green trees swaying in the distance, clearly in a good mood. He explained:

"The main reason is to address the issue of not being able to openly display a thousand-year first soul ring. Secondly, this world is vast, and fame is an important resource if we want to gain more."

Tang San seemed to understand but wasn't entirely convinced.

Gu La didn't elaborate further, leaving Tang San to ponder on his own.

In truth, there weren't many reasons behind it. The real reason Gu La submitted the thesis to the Spirit Hall was that he discovered a researcher sub-profession within the system.

Publishing papers earned rewards based on their influence. With god-tier cultivation techniques at his disposal, Gu La could easily churn out a paper.

To resolve the issue of drawing too much attention to his high-level soul ring, Gu La spent a day writing the thesis and asked Tang Hao to secretly submit it to the Spirit Hall in another city.

To grab attention, the paper was written in sensationalist style.

"Shocking! The Limit of a Soul Master's First Soul Ring is WRONG!"

(T/N: Bro is bringing click bait to a whole dimension literally tens of thousands of years before its time lol)

The paper pointed out the relationship between a soul master's physical strength and the maximum year limit of soul rings, listing various data from books and presenting evidence.

The evidence included the Blue Lightning Dragon Clan's medicinal baths, the Hao Tian Sect's Disorderly Wind Splitting Hammer Technique, and other methods where sects fed spirit beast meat and specialized training techniques to their young soul masters.

These methods enhanced the physical fitness of soul masters, widening the gap between them and common soul masters.

No one had noticed before because commoners who awakened their innate spirit power often had very low levels.

By the time common soul masters reached Level 10 and obtained their first soul ring to break through, they were usually already in their teens. At this age, their physical strength had improved significantly compared to when they were six, making the gap between them and elite soul masters of similar age less noticeable.

However, the objective difference in physical fitness during the same age range was undeniable and couldn't be ignored.

Such a paper, closely tied to every soul master, would undoubtedly cause a stir in the soul master community, earning Gu La substantial rewards.

Beyond that, Gu La harbored a deeper motive—to establish a grand image in the Douluo Continent, gaining the admiration of soul masters and harvesting faith power.

In the future, if there was no suitable divine position for Gu La in the Douluo Continent, he could create his own divine status through faith power.

As for the difficulty of creating a divine position, Gu La believed that with resources and knowledge from two worlds, along with the system's assistance, he could overcome any obstacles.

If all else failed, there was still Tang San, who wasn't above favoritism. Gu La's friendship with him was partly to ensure a safety net for the future.

Of course, this first paper was just a trial run. Any faction with Title Douluo-level power should already know the relationship between physical strength and soul ring years.

The reason it hadn't been emphasized was primarily due to the lack of efficient training methods in the Douluo Continent.

Therefore, Gu La also included a rudimentary set of training exercises in the paper, such as push-ups, frog jumps, and sit-ups, designed to strengthen muscles throughout the body.

Even these basic exercises, refined over decades in his previous life, were considered advanced techniques on the Douluo Continent.

They were essentially a dimensional leap forward, enhancing the combat potential of lower-tier soul masters and indirectly increasing their soul ring years, thereby boosting their overall potential.

Given the sheer number of soul masters in the Spirit Hall, even if only one percent of lower-tier soul masters broke through, it would still represent a significant force—enough to draw the Spirit Hall's attention.

However, no scientific exercise method could compare to the comprehensive muscle training provided by the gravitational field.

Thus, Tang San's concerns were entirely unnecessary. Push-ups couldn't harness extraordinary power—they were only effective in the early stages of a soul master's cultivation. By the time they reached the three-ring Soul Master level and began transcending normalcy, conventional training methods would become increasingly ineffective.

Moreover, Gu La planned to enroll in Shrek Academy in the future to recruit Pokémon. He really didn't want to use Yu Xiaogang's foolish running training method—it would make him feel like an idiot.

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