Day-long, following the original path back, Wang Zhong returned to the cave he had left.
Inside the cave, the statue of Bibi Dong and the wooden tablet he had placed there were gone. The aura and shadow of Ghost Douluo were also absent within the range of his spiritual perception.
"They've left. They're probably going back to inform the Madam of my escape."
"Ah, I feel like I haven't been forgiven for one mistake, and I've already made another. I wonder what kind of punishment the Pope will mete out when she finds out."
He plopped down on the ground, legs crossed, resting his chin on his hands. Wang Zhong's young face was etched with profound bitterness.
But this bitterness came and went quickly. Wang Zhong was soon captivated by another matter.
He took out the giant scroll the little fox had given him from his soul tool and examined it carefully.
The scroll was as tall as he was, nearly a foot thick, pure white, its material like silk or brocade, tied with a fiery red rope. On the outside, there was nothing special about it.
He laid the scroll down, untied the red rope, and slowly opened it a little. Beneath the pure white exterior, there was a blood-red border, with densely packed, strange characters and symbols in the middle.
These characters were not of this world, nor was the scroll itself. Wang Zhong simply did not know this.
The moment the scroll opened, his heart began to beat rapidly. Certain memories, from the vast expanse of his mind, surged forth.
"Summoning Scroll!"
The word escaped his lips, and Wang Zhong himself was stunned. "Summoning Scroll? What is this?"
It was strange. He had called out the name, yet he had no idea what this thing was. This peculiar feeling lingered in his mind, causing Wang Zhong to scratch his head in confusion.
But this had happened many times before. Wang Zhong shrugged, accustomed to such occurrences.
His gaze fixed on the strange characters and symbol-like patterns. The characters he should not have known gradually began to feel familiar.
"Summoning Jutsu. The user forms a contract with a summoning beast, allowing them to call it to their side from anywhere using the summoning contract."
"Summoning beast? What is this? A soul beast with intelligence and human-like emotions?"
"Contract? Can there be contracts between humans and soul beasts?"
"Teacher never taught me about this, nor have I ever heard of such a thing!"
Holding the scroll, after reading a couple of sentences, Wang Zhong scratched his head, completely bewildered. Unable to comprehend it, he decided to temporarily set it aside and continue reading.
"Summoning Jutsu is not only for summoning. The user can seal ninja tools in an array and summon them when needed."
Reading this sentence, Wang Zhong tilted his head and thought. This description was somewhat similar to soul tools, both involving storing objects in a space and retrieving them when needed.
However, this Summoning Jutsu seemed more powerful. According to its description, Summoning Jutsu could form a contract with a soul beast and summon it from any location.
The Ruyi Bang also could store living creatures, but it had to be carried, and there were size limitations. Summoning Jutsu, however, had none of these drawbacks.
"This seems to be a very powerful self-created soul skill!"
Wang Zhong's eyes sparkled. He hadn't expected a scroll to yield such a reward. As he continued to read, the following sentences made him doubt his own eyes.
"To use Summoning Jutsu, Chakra is required as an auxiliary. Within four seconds, form the Seal of the Boar, followed by the Seal of the Monkey, the Seal of the Ram, and the Seal of the Snake!"
"The hand seals are as follows."
Looking at the four strange hand gestures, Wang Zhong's eyebrows twitched wildly. He put down the scroll and memorized the four hand seals firmly.
Taking a deep breath, he formed the seals at lightning speed, then slammed his hands onto the ground, shouting, "Summoning Jutsu!"
...
...
The entire cave fell silent. There was no reaction. Wang Zhong refused to believe it. Gritting his teeth, he tried again, but the outcome was the same.
"It doesn't work. I'm certain I didn't form the seals incorrectly, nor did I exceed the time limit, but nothing was summoned."
"Is it because of the contract, or the Chakra?"
He scrolled further back in the scroll, and one strange term after another leaped out at him. Forbidden Jutsu: Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu, Forbidden Jutsu: Reaper Death Seal, Forbidden Jutsu: Four Symbols Seal... Each one, to Wang Zhong, appeared to be an extremely powerful self-created soul skill, all clearly associated with one thing: Chakra!
All these self-created soul skills required Chakra as the primary support, along with hand seals, to be truly executed.
But the problem was, Wang Zhong had no idea what this so-called Chakra was. Even if he understood it, he couldn't possibly possess it.
This was something that existed in another world. How could it possibly exist in this world called the Douluo Continent?
If the little fox were still in its former nine-tailed state, perhaps it would be possible. But now, it was just a martial soul. Its physical body was destroyed, and it was merely a mixture of soul and soul power. Chakra was long gone.
"Alas, it seems to be something I can look at but not use, making me happy for nothing."
His voice was filled with deep disappointment. Wang Zhong held the scroll, a look of dejection on his face.
"Never mind. Since I have nothing else to do now, I'll take a good look at this thing, see what it records, and who created it. I have a feeling that just by their names, these soul skills are exceptionally powerful."
His movements became faster and faster, so fast that one could describe it as skimming. Since he couldn't use them, Wang Zhong lost interest. The reason he wanted to finish reading was out of a slight sense of peculiar curiosity.
When the scroll was halfway through, one term suddenly captured Wang Zhong's full attention.
"Wood Style! Wood Clone!"
"This soul skill, how is it the same as my third soul skill!"
Carefully and meticulously reading the description of Wood Style, Wood Clone, Wang Zhong felt an inexplicable sense of similarity.
It was incredibly similar!
Aside from the control method, the usage of both was as if they were cast from the same mold.
"A wood clone possessing its own consciousness and intelligence! How did he achieve that! Even if he did, wasn't he afraid of the wood clone taking over and killing the original body?"
Wang Zhong was extremely surprised and deeply admired the person who created such a soul skill. They dared to think what others dared not, and to do what others dared not. Their courage, talent, and ingenuity were beyond even his own.
"Amazing, truly amazing!"
His gaze shifted past the Wood Clone, and Wang Zhong saw the next so-called Wood Style.
"Wood Style: Innumerable Binding Thorns."
"This technique seems so much like my first soul skill!"
"It generates hard and sharp wooden thorns to subdue enemies. However, this Binding Thorns technique seems much more flexible, more cruel, and more bloody than mine."
After reading the description of Binding Thorns, Wang Zhong's expression visibly changed to one of discomfort. Based on the performance of his own soul skill, combined with the description in the Ninja Scroll, he was certain he could do the same thing.
But such a method was truly too cruel. Piercing an enemy with wooden thorns, causing them to continuously grow and branch within their body, ultimately tearing the entire person apart – Wang Zhong couldn't even imagine it.
This was not a soul skill; it was a sadistic and brutal torture.