Soul Land 5: The Rebirth of Tang San

Chapter 371: Obtaining the Second Token

Tang San didn't know how long he had been walking, but the sky had already darkened when he reached the top of the mountain and stepped onto the last stair.

He had been climbing since morning, which meant it had taken him a full day to climb just five hundred meters.

A golden rain of light bathed his body, nourishing his sea of consciousness. At that moment, everything seemed to become beautiful.

Tang San stood in front of the Celestial Fox Palace, but he had no intention of going inside.

Upon reaching this place, all the pressure had disappeared. This meant that he had passed the Celestial Fox Palace's test. Without using the Discerning Eye of Heaven or any other abilities, he had relied solely on the strength of his Lion-Tiger Golden Astral to reach the mountain peak.

Only two of the six bloodline abilities within him could genuinely help him reach the Celestial Fox Palace: the Discerning Eye of Heaven and Lion-Tiger Golden Astral. Even the space manipulation of the Peacock Transformation couldn't achieve this.

At this moment, Tang San still had no intention of going inside.

He had encountered the Sword Saint Palace yesterday, where the Sword Saint Demon Emperor was ranked eighth among the nine Demon Emperors. The Celestial Fox Demon Emperor was ranked second. The gap was bound to be vast, and the Celestial Fox Demon Emperor's spiritual power was likely the strongest in the Ancestral Court.

If he truly caught the interest of the Celestial Fox Demon Emperor, Tang San didn't believe that with his current abilities, he could completely conceal his divine consciousness from this Demon Emperor's gaze. Especially since this Demon Emperor was the master of fate—what if it discovered that Tang San’s fate was beyond its control?

Therefore, he stopped here.

The reason he didn't leave immediately was that he was waiting for something.

Sure enough, after he had stood for about a minute, the light rain above his head gradually faded, and a gentle voice followed, "Why aren't you coming in?"

Tang San looked in the direction of the voice.

At some point, a woman had appeared not far from him.

She looked to be in her thirties and she was incredibly beautiful, with a gentle smile. The most striking feature was the seven large fox tails standing upright behind her, gently swaying. Each tail was about five meters long and shimmered with a faint silver light, making it appear extraordinarily magnificent as it moved.

Tang San's heart trembled—seven tails meant she was a Celestial Fox Demon King. She gave him a completely different feeling from ordinary Demon Kings.

He bowed slightly and said, "Because I might not be suited for the Celestial Fox Palace."

The woman smiled and said, "How do you know you're not suited if you don't try? Under the blessing of the Demon Emperor, you might find you are suitable."

Tang San smiled bitterly and said, "That's exactly what I'm worried about. I'm afraid I might be unable to stay true to myself and lose my way. If that happens, all the hardships I endured to gain my mutated bloodline would be in vain."

The Celestial Fox Demon King smiled slightly. "Your bloodline is very interesting. It's a completely new bloodline that even I have never seen before, and it has the potential to be first-tier. Do you think the Celestial Fox Palace is unworthy of you? You should understand that reaching this point is already your limit as a human. To move forward, you need the favor of fate."

Tang San intentionally displayed a proud expression. "The Celestial Fox Palace has always been a place I've yearned for. However, if I am to join the Celestial Fox Palace, it must be after I become a Demon King. Otherwise, I feel I am not qualified. I hope my achievements will not rely on fortune but on my efforts. Only in this way will I be worthy of becoming a member of the Celestial Fox Palace."

The Celestial Fox Demon King chuckled. "You are an interesting human. No wonder you made it this far. You are the first human to pique my interest."

Tang San smiled bitterly, "But I still don't dare to step into the Celestial Fox Palace."

The Celestial Fox Demon King said, "The fact that you’re able to restrain yourself and stay true to your heart makes me regard you more highly. Go now, and when you are ready, come back here. Whether you can become a member of the Celestial Fox Palace depends on whether you can turn your pride into reality."

She waved her hand as she spoke, and a beam of white light shot toward Tang San. He hurriedly raised his hand to catch it.

It felt warm to the touch. It looked like high-quality jade, perfectly round and pure white, with what seemed like smoke flowing inside.

A piece of Fortune Stone!

The Celestial Fox Demon King had vanished at some point, leaving only her voice echoing in the air.

"When you return, bring this with you. Also, wearing it will help you."

The second token was in hand!

Tang San gripped the Fortune Stone, his gaze calm and resolute.

Everything he said to the Celestial Fox Demon King was naturally a pretense. He didn't hide his mutated bloodline because she would have seen through it. The platinum-colored Lion-Tiger Golden Astral had never appeared in this world before.

The ability to absorb misfortune and transform it into his power was what the Celestial Fox Palace valued. That was why he had been given this token.

It was a shame that he had encountered this seven-tailed Celestial Fox in the palace. If he had met her somewhere far from the Ancestral Court, he could’ve taken her blood. Then, maybe his and Du Bai's Celestial Fox Transformation could have reached seven tails.

As long as he didn't mind exhausting his divine consciousness, Tang San was confident he could defeat a seven-tailed Celestial Fox.

However, he had to admit one thing—the Celestial Fox Clan was indeed beautiful!

Ahem, Mei Gongzi, Mei Gongzi, Mei Gongzi!

Tang San silently repeated Mei Gongzi's name three times in his heart, and his mind immediately cleared!

Without lingering any longer, Tang San turned and descended the mountain. When he reached the spot where Du Bai had been cultivating earlier, Du Bai was already gone.

When he reached the mountain base, Tang San found the carriage still waiting for him. As soon as they saw him, the carriage door opened, and his companions jumped out.

Du Bai couldn't help but say, "I thought—"

As he began speaking, Wu Bingji stopped him and waved to Tang San. "Let's get on the carriage first."

The five of them got back into the carriage. Seeing the fatigue and relief on his companions' faces, Tang San understood that they had been waiting here after finishing their climb, worrying about him all the while. His heart warmed at the thought.

"Little Tang, how did it go? How far did you climb? Why are you only coming down now? I couldn't hold on past noon," Du Bai finally asked.

Tang San extended his right hand and opened his palm. Immediately, a gentle wave of fortune emanated from the Fortune Stone.

"This is..." Wu Bingji's pupils contracted, and then he exclaimed, "The Celestial Fox Palace's token? Did you reach the top?"

Tang San nodded, "I got lucky and reached the peak. But I didn't enter the Celestial Fox Palace; I was worried about attracting the Celestial Fox Demon Emperor's attention. But they still gave me this token. They said I could join the Celestial Fox Palace after I've decided."

"That's amazing," Cheng Zicheng praised. "Eldest brother and I gave it our all today and only managed to climb about sixty percent of the way. Getting a token seems impossible for us this time around."

Tang San said, "Don't be discouraged. All the palace tests are designed for peak ninth-order powerhouses. You need to be at the peak of the ninth order and have a strong bloodline to have a chance at getting a token. I was just lucky, and my spiritual power is already at the peak of the ninth order, so I managed to get these two tokens."

"Stop explaining yourself, you’re making it worse," Gu Li said, rubbing his forehead.

"Senior brother Gu Li, how did it go at the Crystal Palace? That's the first palace!" Tang San asked him.

Gu Li's expression was strange: "Don't mention it. It seemed like I was the only one trying to climb the mountain at the Crystal Palace today. When I paid, the guy collecting the money looked at me with pity. I didn't understand at first. But when I started climbing, I got it. Three steps. I took all of three damn steps, and then it was over. Ten naturae coins, just like that..."