Nan Feihuang took a moment to feel the abilities of his new external spirit bone.
Though the current benefits to his overall attributes weren't substantial—the ability to see an opponent's spirit power flow wasn't yet powerful, and the soul skill wasn't too impressive either—Nan Feihuang could tell that the potential of the Ghost Howl Pearl would rival Tang San's Eight Spider Lances someday.
With diligent cultivation, the external spirit bone would grow stronger over time, and its true power would be revealed.
Nan Feihuang closed his eyes, retracting his spirit power. When he opened them again, both pupils had returned to their usual black color.
Sensing the growth of his spirit power, he realized that absorbing the over-limit thousand-year spirit ring had brought him close to reaching Rank 23.
"Feihuang, what's your second spirit skill?" Lan Xue asked, clearly concerned.
Although a thousand-year spirit ring was impressive, if the skill it provided was lackluster, it would be a wasted opportunity.
"Mother, my second spirit skill is the same as the one used by those Earthbound Spirits earlier—Eight Gates Golden Lock. I'll show you." Nan Feihuang leaped to the center of the valley.
In fact, not all the Earthbound Spirits had fled earlier. Some had hidden underground, too afraid to confront him.
"Come out!" With a loud stomp and a surge of spirit power, Nan Feihuang's voice sent waves of energy through the ground, forcing dozens of Earthbound Spirits out of hiding.
He planned to use these spirits as test subjects for his new skill.
With the purple glow of his thousand-year spirit ring shining brightly, Nan Feihuang raised his halberd to the sky and shouted, "Second Spirit Skill: Eight Gates Golden Lock!"
In an instant, eight large characters appeared in the sky: Xiu, Sheng, Du, Shang, Jing, Si, Jing, Kai!
The positions were identical to the formation used by the Earthbound Spirits earlier.
From Nan Feihuang as the center, the formation spread out. In a moment, all the Earthbound Spirits were rendered motionless.
"Group control!" Lan Xue was astonished. Even dedicated control-type spirit masters generally wouldn't obtain group control skills until they were at least fifty ranks and had absorbed a ten-thousand-year spirit ring.
Yet here, her son had managed to achieve it with his second ring.
"Mother, this is my second spirit skill," Nan Feihuang explained. "Within the formation, I can immobilize any opponents. However, there are limits. I can only fully control those whose levels are equal to or lower than mine. For those on my level, I can immobilize them for three seconds. For each rank below me, it adds an extra second. And for those stronger than me, it only slows them down by thirty percent."
"What about the range? How large is the area of effect?" Lan Xue asked, unable to contain her excitement.
This skill was already formidable. Even slowing down higher-ranked opponents by thirty percent was an incredible supporting effect. Many auxiliary spirit masters, even those with strong support skills, could only enhance or debilitate by around twenty percent in the early stages.
Even the legendary Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda, the number one support spirit, could only boost stats by thirty percent with two spirit rings. That meant Nan Feihuang's ability could neutralize their advantage.
But the real game-changer was the ability to immobilize targets. Just three seconds could completely turn the tide of a battle, and in many cases, it would spell doom for the opponent. If the area of effect was large, this skill could surpass even some ten-thousand-year spirit skills.
"The base radius is one meter, and for every level I gain, the radius increases by one meter. Right now, I'm at Rank 22, so the radius is twenty-three meters. When I reach Rank 99, it'll cover a full one hundred meters," Nan Feihuang explained.
Lan Xue took a sharp breath.
A diameter of one hundred meters meant an area of approximately 7,850 square meters.
In a densely packed battle formation, about ten people could fit into one square meter. Of course, in reality, soldiers wouldn't stand so close together, but even in an average battle formation, three or four people could fit into a square meter.
That meant, at full power, Nan Feihuang's skill could potentially control anywhere between 31,400 to 78,500 people at once.
And this was only his second spirit skill, which didn't require a large amount of spirit power to use. Once he reached the rank of Titled Douluo, he would be able to cast it repeatedly without breaking a sweat. At that point, armies would be meaningless to him. He could immobilize entire armies from the Star Luo or Heaven Dou Empire, including any spirit master legions.
Even if tens of thousands of spirit masters came at him, it wouldn't make a difference. When Nan Feihuang reached Titled Douluo, how many people could even compare to him in power?
Lan Xue marveled at her son. An undodgeable first skill with inherent true damage, and now an area-wide immobilizing second skill. This isn't just the result of any random spirit ring... This can only mean that Feihuang's martial soul is a true innate divine weapon. Among divine martial souls, it must rank among the very best, producing such terrifying skills!
"Feihuang," Lan Xue said gently as she crouched down and stroked his face, "Can you control the power of this second spirit skill? Can you reduce the control duration or apply only a slowing effect, even on those weaker than you?"
"Of course. The power of the Eight Gates Golden Lock depends entirely on how much spirit power I infuse into the ring. If I only activate four of the eight gates, then it will only have a slowing effect, even on those weaker than me," Nan Feihuang answered.
He had already anticipated why Lan Xue would ask such a question. His second spirit skill was simply too overwhelming. The ability to render entire armies useless was not something the empires of Star Luo or Heaven Dou would tolerate.
Lan Xue's tense expression softened. "Good, then promise me, when you're fighting in public or participating in spirit battles, only use half of the skill's power. Just slow them down. Don't fully unleash its potential in front of others, alright?"
A group-slowing ability was still strong, but not enough to provoke widespread fear. It would seem like a typical thousand-year spirit ring skill, nothing out of the ordinary.
Nan Feihuang nodded. "Understood, Mother. I know when to hold back."
Lan Xue smiled, hugging him tightly. "You're such a sensible boy. Now I can rest easy. Alright, let's head home. We've gained quite a bit today. I'm sure your father will be overjoyed when he hears about all of this."
An external spirit bone and an absurd second spirit skill. Nan Feihuang could already picture the smug expression his father, Nan Tianchen, would wear.
In Nan Tianchen's eyes, no matter how powerful Nan Feihuang became, he would always be his son.
The best part was that Nan Tianchen had no reservations about Nan Feihuang's rise to power. Unlike other emperors who might grow paranoid of their heirs, he was genuinely happy that his son was excelling.
It reminded Lan Xue of how Zhu Yuanzhang cherished his son, Zhu Biao—the more talented the son, the prouder the father.
And, let's not forget, Nan Tianchen had no qualms about living off his wife's accomplishments.
Recently, when welcoming envoys from other kingdoms and duchies, his favorite line was, "My wife is a Titled Douluo!"
Years later, that line would evolve to: "Do you know who my son is?"
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