Chapter 38: The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School's Disregard, Suspected Activation of the Gene Lock
"A Spirit Master from Spirit Hall."
Ning Fengzhi took the documents from the waitress and gestured for her to leave. After flipping through only a few pages, his brow furrowed slightly.
Gu Rong, who was sitting nearby, was also somewhat surprised by this and asked, "Fengzhi, is that Lone Wolf Spirit Master a member of Spirit Hall?"
Ning Fengzhi nodded gently and continued reading the documents. Soon, his brow gradually relaxed. "That Lone Wolf Spirit Master is named Su Yuntao, and he is the son of the Nuoding City Spirit Hall branch master. He and his father are just passing through Stark City; the three of them are preparing to head to the Spirit Hall in Heaven Dou City."
"Who is the remaining person?" Gu Rong asked casually.
"Supposedly, it's a child adopted by that Spirit Hall branch master. Nothing special."
Hearing this, Gu Rong stopped paying attention to the adopted child. A cold glint flashed in his eyes as he asked, "Then what should we do about this Su Yuntao? He looks like another Genius. Should we..." As he spoke, he raised his hand and made a throat-slitting gesture.
However, the more Ning Fengzhi read, the less he cared about Su Yuntao. Finally, he set the documents aside. "It's not important. He only has a millennium second spirit ring; how far he can go ultimately depends on his Innate Soul Power. I saw that his Innate Soul Power is only level three. Even with a millennium second spirit ring, his future spirit ring configuration will be at most one yellow and three purple. Absorbing a ten-thousand-year fourth spirit ring is simply unrealistic. In this lifetime, he'll be at the level of a Spirit King or Spirit Emperor at most. He won't have any impact on the overall situation between the Upper Three Sects and Spirit Hall. There's no need to offend a former Spirit Hall branch master—even if the opponent is only a Spirit Ancestor, in a sense, they are still the Foundation and face of Spirit Hall."
Spirit Masters of the Douluo Continent might lack theoretical research, but they are not stupid. Since a millennium spirit ring can be absorbed as the second ring, could one attempt a ten-thousand-year spirit ring for the fourth?
Theoretically, a ten-thousand-year spirit ring requires a Spirit Master to reach at least quasi-Spirit King cultivation to absorb. At that point, a conventional spirit ring configuration would be two yellow and two purple. If someone could achieve a millennium second spirit ring, they would have a configuration of one yellow and two purple during the Spirit Elder stage, which is only one yellow spirit ring away from the conventional configuration of an ordinary Spirit Ancestor. It might not be impossible to try for a ten-thousand-year fourth spirit ring.
However, the current cultivation speed of Spirit Masters is limited, and Tang Shan's theory hasn't been out for long. Furthermore, forcibly attempting a ten-thousand-year fourth spirit ring requires a massive amount of resources. To truly cultivate such a Genius, one must choose someone with top-tier Aptitude. Therefore, at present, no one has actually attempted to cross that ten-thousand-year chasm.
And while a millennium second spirit ring is a prerequisite for attempting a ten-thousand-year fourth spirit ring, at present, when the effects of Whale Glue have not yet been discovered, every Spirit Master who can achieve a millennium second spirit ring must have had massive resources poured into them. It's also impossible to use Medicinal Pills or methods that consume potential to try it.
"True, a mere Spirit Emperor can't cause much of a Wind Wave. With level three Innate Soul Power, if not for his father's support, he would be a Spirit Grandmaster at most, destined to spend his life Awakening Spirits for others. He's not a threat at all. It's not like he can awaken a Spirit Master with talent comparable to the Angel Family, right? Even if he has achieved a millennium second spirit ring by chance, our Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School does not lack such geniuses."
Gu Rong immediately lost interest. Suddenly remembering something, he asked curiously, "By the way, Fengzhi, didn't your son absorb a ten thousand year spirit bone a few years ago? Supplemented by many Heaven And Earth Treasures to enhance his Physique, he also achieved a millennium second spirit ring, right? How was the effect? Did the boost change? I was in seclusion during that time and haven't asked in detail yet."
Hearing Gu Rong's question, a look of gratification appeared on Ning Fengzhi's face. "The boost of the Spirit Ability hasn't changed; it's the same as the original boosting Spirit Ability of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda, still a 10% increase per rank. However, the spirit power consumption has significantly decreased, allowing him to maintain the boost for a longer time."
"That's not bad. With improved endurance, his role and status in a team will be more stable."
"Exactly. That's why I plan to send him to the Heaven Dou Royal Academy. It's a good social venue, and it's a perfect chance for Qinghe to help him out a bit as a favor. Qinghe is humble and polite to others and is already a strong contender for the future Crown Prince and even the throne." Ning Fengzhi's voice was gentle, but his words were full of schemes for the Heaven Dou Empire. One could only wonder what his expression would be when he learned the true identity of that 'future Crown Prince'.
"Su Yuntao is going to win."
Gu Rong didn't pay attention to Ning Fengzhi's calculations regarding the Heaven Dou Empire. As a Titled Douluo of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School, he only needed to do two things: protect those who should be protected and kill those who should be killed. His gaze fell back to the Great Spirit Arena below, easily predicting the result.
On the vast arena, sharp Sword Qi slashed toward Su Yuntao with the sound of breaking air. On the other side, dense Saber Qi wove into a net, enveloping his entire body. Facing the coordinated pincer attack from both sides, Su Yuntao remained calm. His two boosting spirit rings had long since lit up, and his strength, speed, and other physical attributes were all comprehensively enhanced.
In his mind, the pouncing trajectories and dodging postures of various wolf-type Spirit Beasts played back continuously. Those figures seemed to merge into his body, and his consciousness seemed to have become a member of the wolf pack. His original way of responding was subconsciously optimized, his spirit power circulated within his body along mysterious paths, and his body underwent an indescribable change.
Crouching and darting out, Su Yuntao at this moment seemed to have truly become an Incarnation of a Lone Wolf, skillfully finding a way out through the gaps in the attacks. After rushing out of the pincer attack's range, his legs exploded with power alternately, surging forward as swiftly as a hunting wild wolf. His sharp claws extended from his fingertips as he sidestepped the long saber swung by Blade Dragon. With a casual swipe, five bloody gashes deep enough to see the bone appeared on the opponent's chest. He followed up with a palm strike that sent the man flying off the arena. Without looking back, he leaped to dodge the Sword Qi chasing him from behind.
The contestant "Sword Qi" had one white and one yellow spirit ring pulsing alternately beneath his feet. Seeing Su Yuntao easily dodge his First Soul Skill and his teammate already defeated, he knew the situation was hopeless but was ultimately unwilling to give up. His second spirit ring suddenly lit up: "Charged Slash!"
The spirit power within "Sword Qi's" body surged entirely into his Spirit as the yellow spirit ring flashed, and he swung his longsword down with all his might. Swish! A half-zhang wide blade of Sword Qi poured out, rushing straight at Su Yuntao with unparalleled sharpness and speed.
After releasing this strike, the sword Spirit Master's spirit power was completely drained, and he couldn't even maintain his Spirit. He could only watch with a heart full of hope, praying that this strike could turn the tide.
However, things did not go as he wished. Facing this obviously powerful attack, Su Yuntao, relying on a terrifying instinct from being in a certain eerie state, sidestepped the moment the Sword Qi left the blade. That lethally threatening Sword Qi barely grazed past him; if his speed had been even a fraction slower, he would have taken the hit full-on.
"I surrender!" The opponent stopped struggling and actively raised his hand to surrender.
Su Yuntao stopped in his tracks and withdrew his Spirit. The next moment, he stumbled and nearly fell. A wave of soreness surged through his entire body, his spirit power was exhausted, and waves of fatigue washed over his mind.
"I announce that the winner of this Spirit fight is Lone Wolf!" After the host went onto the stage to announce the result, he hurriedly stepped forward to support Su Yuntao—this was the Great Spirit Arena's cash cow, and no accidents could be allowed to happen. If Lone Wolf stopped participating in Spirit fights in the future, how would they continue earning a fortune every day?
As for the other contestant on the stage whose spirit power was also exhausted, it was just a case of depletion. His legs weren't broken; if he couldn't walk on his own, his teammate below would naturally go up to help him.
"Let's go, we're returning to the Sect." Ning Fengzhi stood up after watching the Spirit fight.
"Alright!"
Space cracked open before Gu Rong. He wrapped Ning Fengzhi in spirit power, transformed himself into a Bone Dragon, and carried him into the space rift.
"Uncle Gu, why did that Spirit Master's combat power suddenly spike at the end?"
"I didn't see it too clearly. It should be a characteristic of his own Spirit. Look at his later fighting style; he was practically no different from a wolf."
The conversation between the two vanished completely as the space tunnel dissipated... After cultivating for nearly an hour, Su Yuntao slowly emerged from his meditative state. At this time, his spirit power had recovered seventy to eighty percent, though his physical strength was not yet fully restored. As soon as he opened his eyes, he saw Tang Shan sizing him up with a strange look, a look he had never seen before.
"Tang Shan, what are you looking at?" Su Yuntao was startled and suddenly jumped back two or three meters.
"No... nothing. Big brother, what was that state you were in just now? Tell me about it."
"So it's about that." Su Yuntao breathed a sigh of relief and said curtly, "I'll tell you about that when we get back. Now, let's go collect the gold coins for the Spirit fight victory."
"Alright, alright, alright." At this moment, Tang Shan was extremely compliant with Su Yuntao's requests, his mind entirely occupied with the special state the other had shown during the battle.
Sharp sensory perception, terrifying crisis prediction, and combat experience that shouldn't be described as growth, but rather as skyrocketing, surging, accelerating, and exploding.
If not for the fact that his big brother's eyes showed no abnormality, and he only showed signs of exhaustion and spirit power depletion after the battle without any physical backlash, and that the increased combat experience made him seem as if he had transformed into a wolf, Tang Shan would have been unable to resist suspecting that his big brother had unlocked the Gene Lock.
The Gene Lock is a cultivation system from the novel Infinite Terror. As long as one identifies as human, even if their original body is a machine, they can unlock it.
The Gene Lock is divided into five stages. Speaking only of the first stage, its characteristic is the Awakening of combat instincts in the genes. Even an ordinary person or even a shut-in who has never received training can have combat experience comparable to a top-tier soldier king after unlocking the first stage of the Gene Lock.
Furthermore, after unlocking the Gene Lock, one can also gain sharp insight, perception, and danger sensing abilities.
Recalling Su Yuntao's combat process just now, it was indeed roughly the same as the characteristics of the first-stage Gene Lock.
The Gene Lock is inherently closely related to physical potential, so how could Tang Shan not be excited? What he cared about more was that if Su Yuntao had really unlocked the Gene Lock, then was the World he transmigrated to really the Douluo Continent, or an Infinite World-view from which Douluo Continent is derived? If it were the former, it would be fine, but if it were the latter, Tang Shan could only bitterly smile to himself—he really hadn't read much of the related plot and didn't know the plot development.
Snapping back to reality from his complicated thoughts and remembering the two people they met in the restaurant today, Tang Shan had already prepared himself.
Fortunately, the expected situation did not happen. Tang Shan and Su Yuntao collected the gold coins very smoothly and then returned to the inn without a hitch.
Throughout the entire process, there was neither an elegant middle-aged man pretending to meet them by chance nor a withered old man inviting them to tea. The whole way was calm and peaceful.
PS: It's not the Gene Lock, it's just the Douluo Continent. There will be a reasonable explanation later; it can be seen as a Self-Created Soul Skill that combines Spirit Abilities, Spirits, and physical instincts. Finally, asking for favorites, follow-up reads, monthly tickets, recommendation votes, and comments. Asking for everything.
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