The news of Lan Xue's promotion to Titled Douluo had shocked the world, but no matter how sensational, all things must eventually fade. With Lan Xue's strength now established, the Gu Lei Kingdom's voice carried much more weight on the political stage.
However, despite her promotion, Lan Xue's strength remained somewhat awkward. Among Titled Douluo of the same level, she was neither at the top nor the bottom—somewhere in the middle. The issue lay in how she developed her martial soul. It wasn't wrong, per se, but she had strayed from the optimal path.
When developing her Xuanbing Halberd, she mostly sought spirit rings that simply provided high attack power. As long as the ring's attributes didn't conflict with her ice element and offered high offensive capabilities, she took it. This focus on attack meant she neglected the potential of her Ultimate Ice attribute. Over time, her powers became diluted, unable to fully tap into the freezing potential that could have given her dominance over other elements.
Even after studying at Tianshui Academy, this problem persisted. The general belief was that offensive martial souls, like her halberd, should further enhance their attack power. Any elemental traits were often seen as just decorative, not the main strength.
But no one realized that sometimes, those "decorative" elements were the true essence.
Furthermore, the strongest ice-type spirit beasts resided far away in the Extreme North, an inhospitable region. Neither Lan Xue nor her teachers thought it necessary to travel that far. They believed that, for a halberd-type martial soul, attack power was paramount, and the spirit beasts in Star Dou Forest were sufficient.
Her once formidable Ultimate Ice attribute was thus squandered, but it wasn't entirely her fault, nor the academy's. This was simply the limitation of the times. In this era, no one fully understood the potential of Ultimate Attributes.
Had she developed her powers along the path of Ultimate Ice from the start, the Xuanbing Halberd would have been just as powerful in attack but with the added devastating ability to freeze anything in its path. That would have been her ace in combat, allowing her to fight opponents far above her level.
But now it was too late. Even though she followed Nan Feihuang's advice and chose a strong ice-type spirit ring for her ninth ring, the earlier missteps were irreparable. Unless she somehow obtained an exceptionally powerful set of ice-type spirit bones, it was unlikely she could fully restore the brilliance of her Ultimate Ice.
As things stood, Lan Xue was an average Titled Douluo—stable in strength, unlikely to be overthrown by weaker opponents, but also unable to challenge those more powerful than her.
Once the celebration of her Titled Douluo promotion concluded, the guests from various factions gradually dispersed, and life returned to normal. Nan Feihuang resumed his daily training with his close companions.
His third sister, Nan Feiling, had reached rank ten and successfully acquired her first spirit ring. Although it wasn't anything extraordinary, a simple three-hundred-year-old ring—slightly less powerful than the one Tang San obtained—it was still quite impressive.
Her spirit ability, "Rock Wall Formation," could trap opponents, a control-type skill. Following Nan Feihuang's guidance, she decided to pursue the path of a control-support spirit master.
Nan Feiling's potential wasn't much inferior to Zhu Zhuqing of the Shrek Seven Devils. Both had innate spirit power of rank seven, though Nan Feihuang suspected Zhu Zhuqing was at the peak of rank seven, nearly breaking into rank eight, which, combined with her hard work, allowed her to reach level twenty-seven by the age of twelve. Nan Feiling, being in the mid-range of rank seven and lacking the same pressure, was not as diligent in her training. If she could reach rank twenty-five by the age of twelve, Nan Feihuang would already be very pleased.
If she could lay a strong foundation while young, and with the help of an immortal herb that Nan Feihuang planned to give her, becoming a Titled Douluo would be within her reach. Whether she could seize the opportunity to ascend to godhood would depend on her own efforts.
After all, she was his biological sister and had always treated him well. Nan Feihuang would never forget her. Any fortunate encounters he had, he would be sure to share with her.
Another year and a half passed, and shortly after Nan Feihuang's eighth birthday, he successfully broke through to rank twenty.
An eight-year-old achieving rank twenty was nearly unheard of and set a new record on the continent, leaving Nan Tianchen and Lan Xue overjoyed.
However, Nan Feihuang was well aware that, despite his impressive speed, he was still far behind innate rank twenty talents like Qian Renxue. He needed to acquire immortal herbs to truly become the strongest on the continent.
Moreover, he needed to reach rank thirty soon to begin practicing the techniques within the Dunjia Heavenly Book.
Over the past year, aside from devoting some time to studying antidotes and medicine, he had neglected other martial techniques. Even his usual practice with the halberd, "Eighteen Strikes with One Hand," was merely reviewed once in the morning and evening to maintain his skill and prepare for future training in more advanced techniques.
The rest of his time was solely dedicated to spirit power cultivation.
Through relentless training and his innate talent, Nan Feihuang's spirit power had skyrocketed.
Meanwhile, his companions progressed as well: Dian Wei had reached rank nineteen, while Lü Lingqi and Xun Yu were at rank eighteen. His sister Nan Feiling was still at rank fourteen, meaning they would need more time to reach the next threshold for their second spirit rings.
Thus, Nan Feihuang didn't wait for them. On the very day of his breakthrough, Lan Xue, eager to make the most of her son's growth, took him directly to Star Dou Forest.
While it's true that one can still train without a spirit ring, the efficiency varies greatly.
For instance, the amount of spirit power a Titled Douluo could accumulate in a day would take a Spirit Douluo several days. The higher one's rank, the faster their cultivation speed became.
Likewise, a Grandmaster trained faster than a Spirit Master. But the higher one's level, the more spirit power was required to advance. This exponential increase in the spirit power needed made it increasingly difficult to level up as one progressed.
Therefore, the earlier one could break through a bottleneck, the better.
The world of Douluo was straightforward—there were no complex cultivation methods where one could accumulate power to later burst through a level. In this world, advancing as soon as possible was key. Spirit power was the ultimate strength.
Higher-ranked spirit masters could subdue lower-ranked ones without lifting a finger. Their mere presence, through spirit power suppression, could immobilize their opponents.
This time, Lan Xue didn't take Nan Feihuang to the ordinary Hunting Forest. As her son's strength grew, she began to realize just how extraordinary he was.
His physique was far superior to that of his peers. At rank twenty, he was physically comparable to a rank thirty Spirit Elder, perhaps even stronger. It was as if he had been born for battle—a natural warrior.
With such a physique, bolstered by the use of whale glue supplements, it would be a waste to give him ordinary spirit rings. Even though she was aware of the dangers of standing out, Lan Xue was determined to give her son the best possible support.
After all, she had trained to become a Titled Douluo for a reason. Was it for the people? For the kingdom? No. Her primary goal was to protect her son.
Believing that Nan Feihuang could handle the strain of a thousand-year spirit ring, Lan Xue didn't hesitate to take him to the region where such spirit beasts resided.
However, most of the beasts they encountered were unsuitable. Some lacked the necessary attack power to complement his halberd, while others were too violent and posed a significant risk.
After all, although she believed her son could withstand the strain, overly aggressive spirit rings still carried some dangers.
Additionally, Nan Feihuang expressed a desire for his second spirit ability to have some control attributes to diversify his combat style. Unfortunately, none of the spirit beasts they encountered so far fit the bill.
As the two ventured deeper into Star Dou Forest, near the Lake of Life, deep in a hidden cave, a pair of blood-red eyes suddenly opened, fixing their gaze on the direction where Nan Feihuang and Lan Xue were.
A low roar echoed through the cave.
By the lakeside, the Titan Giant Ape and the Azure Bull Python, two of the forest's most fearsome creatures, immediately prostrated themselves in fear, not daring to move.
Meanwhile, deep within a spatial rift in the lake, a man with black hair and golden eyes opened his eyes in confusion. "That creature? It appeared eight years ago, with such overwhelming power that even I couldn't do anything against it. But it's always stayed in its cave. Why is it suddenly releasing such intense energy?"
"Maybe it's just in a bad mood," a beautiful woman dressed in green beside him suggested. She was Bi Ji, the Emerald Swan, known as the strongest healing spirit beast on the continent and one of the wives of Di Tian, the leader of the spirit beasts. "That creature is too mysterious. Even the Lord doesn't know where it came from. But since we are of the same kind, it usually doesn't interfere with us. As long as it doesn't cause trouble, we shouldn't provoke it."
Di Tian nodded. "Fair enough. It seems to have calmed down now. Let's not involve ourselves."
After saying that, it closed its eyes again and began to practice, absorbing the original power of a large snow-white flesh insect in front of it.
The soul beast in the cave had indeed calmed down. It was so excited that it almost wanted to rush out, but it seemed to be worried about something, so it quickly suppressed the excitement in its heart and closed its eyes again.
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