Chapter 58: The First Diamond Blind Box, Half a Year Later
The tension in the master bedroom of the Elder Palace suite was a strange mix of metallic blood, sweat, and an overwhelming, profound sense of life.
And just then, as the first sharp, healthy cry of a newborn baby cut through the air, Qin Xuan's mind echoed with a system prompt. It was crisp, clear, and utterly bewildering.
[Ding, congratulations to the host for completing the 'Becoming a Father' achievement. Reward: one Diamond Blind Box.]
Qin Xuan, who was wiping a cold cloth on Jing Ni's forehead, froze.
"Isn't it supposed to be biological?" he inwardly complained, his mind reeling from the absurdity.
The system replied instantly. [Becoming a step-father is an exception!]
"Damn, this is possible too? In that case, as for this blind box, whoever wants it can have it."
[OOC warning, OOC warning. It has been detected that the host does not want this Diamond Blind Box. It will be automatically deleted in five seconds... 5... 4...]
"Damn it, I was just joking!" Qin Xuan hastily clicked cancel in his mind, a wry grimace twisting his lips.
Since he was already a step-father, there was no harm in accepting the reward. He looked at the tiny, red-faced infant now bundled and placed in Jing Ni's exhausted arms.
Strictly speaking, he wasn't taking over. It was a buy-one-get-one-free deal. It's just that after today, for a long time to come, he would have to raise A Yan as his own daughter.
[Inorin's Note: A Yan (Ah Yan) is the name of Jing Ni's child from the original Qin's Moon (The Legend of Qin) story, fathered by a different character. Here, Qin Xuan is adopting her as his own.]
This also meant, he mused with a touch of dark humor, that once A Yan grew up, he wouldn't be able to lay a hand on her.
Well, you can't have your cake and eat it too.
Forget it, a daughter is a daughter. In the future, I won't be short of a wife. As long as it wasn't a son, it will be fine.
"You just finished giving birth," Qin Xuan said, his voice softening as he pushed a stray, sweat-dampened strand of hair from Jing Ni's pale face. "Rest more. I've ordered the kitchen to stew a nourishing chicken soup with a 2,500-year-old Crested Jade Fowl. It will be delivered soon."
Placing the sleeping A Yan back into the crook of Jing Ni's arms, Qin Xuan tucked the blankets around them. He waited until Jing Ni's breathing evened out into a much-needed sleep before he impatiently ran into the adjoining, sound-proof cultivation room to open the diamond blind box.
After all, this was the first Diamond blind box he had ever received.
He summoned it. The box that appeared in his mind was not a physical object, but a psychic construct of pure light. The surface was crystal clear, like flawless diamond, and the built-in azure blue treasure chest within slowly, majestically, opened.
Six blinding golden light clusters floated out, hovering in front of him. The sheer density of the power they radiated made the air in the cultivation room feel thick and heavy.
"This… this is…" Qin Xuan's eyes instantly lit up. The golden light clusters converged, transforming into six gleaming, tangible Spirit Bones.
Each one was of extremely high quality. They pulsed with an energy that even surpassed the Mind Condensing Wisdom Skull Qian Xunji had given him. They were in no way inferior to the 100,000-year adaptive left leg bone he had absorbed from the Three-Eyed Golden Lion.
Even if they weren't a full 100,000 years old, they were terrifyingly close.
But when he reached out to touch them, and the Spirit Bone information merged into his mind, he was instantly dumbfounded.
These were six set Spirit Bones, similar in concept to the Angel Suit.
Each had a lifespan of 99,999 years.
When all six were absorbed by a single person simultaneously, they could form a complete Spirit Bone armor. At that moment, their qualities would resonate and activate, pushing all six pieces to the true 100,000-year level.
It could be said that, apart from not coming with a divine inheritance trial, there was almost no significant difference from the Angel Suit.
In fact, to some extent, they were even better than the Angel Suit Spirit Bones. Like ordinary Spirit Bones, they had no absorption restrictions and did not require the Spirit Bone's "recognition" or a specific bloodline.
However, their one critical weakness lay in the fact that they had to be absorbed simultaneously to form the armor and activate their 100,000-year quality.
Qin Xuan's excitement faded, replaced by a deep, profound frustration.
He had already absorbed two pieces: the Mind Condensing Wisdom Skull and the Three-Eyed Golden Lion's left leg bone. He couldn't absorb this set. He had no idea when, if ever, he would be able to obtain a Spirit Bone replacement item from the system.
"It seems I can only give them to Jing Ni."
His spirit power had already broken through to Level 69 a month ago. He was on the very cusp of becoming a Spirit Saint.
Even if he absorbed the four remaining pieces from this set and then absorbed his seventh spirit ring, his spirit power would at most be just above Level 70. It definitely wouldn't reach Titled Douluo.
Moreover, these four Spirit Bones, being less than 100,000 years old without the full set, would eventually need to be replaced. There was no need to create future trouble for a temporary, incomplete gain.
But Jing Ni was different.
After three months of living on the Douluo Continent, her body had fully adapted to the world's spirit power. Two days ago, she had just reached Level 74. She was a Spirit Saint with no Spirit Bones at all.
As long as she absorbed this entire set and then completed her remaining spirit rings, she would definitely become a Titled Douluo.
Moreover, she would not be an ordinary Titled Douluo.
She would be a super-strong Titled Douluo with a full 100,000-year Spirit Bone armor, the Slaughter God Domain, and the superb, lethal assassination techniques of the Net.
With such a Titled Douluo as my hidden ace... Qin Xuan's eyes turned cold. Assassinating Qian Xunji in his secret chamber... it would be almost a sure thing.
Having decided the ownership of the Spirit Bones, Qin Xuan carefully placed them into his storage spirit tool. He then took out the [Mo Ya Recruitment Card] he had obtained previously.
[Inorin's Note: Mo Ya (Moya) is a character from the Qin's Moon (The Legend of Qin) franchise, known for his skill in tracking and information gathering.]
"Once I become a Spirit Saint and Jing Ni becomes a Titled Douluo, this recruitment card will come in handy."
He decided. He would arrange for Mo Ya to search for Ah Yin's whereabouts.
The reason Qin Xuan hadn't used this recruitment card before was simple: to be prepared for any eventuality. He needed to prevent Qian Xunji from playing dirty.
He himself might not fear an average Spirit Douluo. And the Titled Douluo Elders residing in the Elder Palace only obeyed the orders of the High Priest, Qian Daoliu.
Qian Xunji, the most incompetent Supreme Pontiff in Spirit Hall's history, needed to seek permission from Qian Daoliu just to deploy any of the Consecrated Elders.
However, his two personal guard Titled Douluo were a different story. They were his dogs. They were a huge, lingering threat.
Since obtaining the Slaughter God Domain, Qin Xuan was exceptionally sensitive to killing intent.
More than once, in the corridors of the Supreme Pontiff Palace or during the grand assembly, he had felt that faint, cold killing intent from those two. It was very faint, so well-hidden that even a normal Titled Douluo might not detect it.
But Qin Xuan, a god of slaughter, always perceived it.
And he couldn't just stay cooped up in the Elder Palace all day.
This was also the real reason why he had deliberately suppressed his full strength when he "competed" with Bibi Dong.
Otherwise, with his current mastery of the Horizontal Sword Technique and the Hundred Steps Flying Sword, he could have preempted her. He would have never given Bibi Dong a chance to unleash her Martial Soul Avatar. He would have used the simple, unadorned, and perfectly combined speed, power, and accuracy of the Vertical Sword Technique for an instant kill.
Why would he play a turn-based game with her, dragging it out and exchanging pleasantries?
It was all an act. It was to guard against the sudden arrival of those two personal guards and other unpredictable dangers. It was to make his enemies underestimate him, to catch them off guard when the time came.
But if he himself became a Spirit Saint, and Jing Ni absorbed the Spirit Bones and broke through to Titled Douluo, it would be a different game entirely.
Not to mention how strong Jing Ni would be... just Qin Xuan himself, upon breaking through to Spirit Saint, would have both of his Domains evolve. His strength would be incomparable to his current level.
By then, even if those two personal guard Douluo truly came for him, he would completely have the power to protect himself... and even use stratagems to counter-kill them.
Another three months passed in the blink of an eye.
Half a year had now gone by since Qin Xuan's return from Slaughter City.
In the meditation room, Qin Xuan finally shed the last of his impurities. His spirit power, cultivated and compressed to its absolute limit, smoothly broke through the Level 70 bottleneck.
He was only 20 years old this year, still six months shy of 21.
He was now the unprecedented 20-year-old Spirit Saint on the Douluo Continent. This was 5 years earlier than the Holy Maiden Bibi Dong, and a full 10 years earlier than the so-called number one genius of the Clear Sky Sect in a hundred years, Tang Hao.
Fifteen meters above the floor of the nearly thousand-square-meter cultivation room, a beautiful and peculiar long sword, enveloped in a sharp, pinkish-purple sword qi, flew through the air at a visible speed.
Below, Jing Ni stood. She was clad in a form-fitting, purplish-red metal armor—the manifestation of her new, complete 100,000-year Spirit Bone set.
Fish-scale-like guards covered her legs and right arm. Her head was covered by a sleek, red face mask. Her figure was curvaceous and graceful, radiating an aura of lethal power. She calmly looked up at the flying sword.
This was the Sword Control Technique from her world, amplified by the spirit power of this one.
"Go."
Suddenly, Jing Ni's sword finger moved. Her eyes, visible through the mask's opening, were sharp as she pointed forward.
The flying sword above, as if summoned by an invisible thread, suddenly accelerated. It circled once in the air, transforming into a long rainbow, and headed straight for one of the specially-made, reinforced iron stakes in the center of the cultivation room.
Boom—!
Almost at the instant Jing Ni's sword finger dropped, the specially made iron stake—strong enough to withstand a Spirit Saint-level attack—was instantly pierced through.
Then, it shattered into a dozen pieces.
"How does it feel?" Qin Xuan walked over from the entrance, a smile on his face. He was holding little A Yan in his arms, who was gurgling happily, her eyes tracking the pretty lights.
"Nourishing the sword with blood... this Sword Control Technique is truly miraculous."
The purplish-red metal armor dissolved into light and disappeared. Jing Ni exhaled lightly, the breath visible in the cool air. She raised her right hand, and the flying sword was recalled, shrinking as it flew until it rested in her palm.
It was the Jing Ni Sword.
[Inorin Note:
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