According to Chen Ming's theory, the Rainbow Dragon's origin essence had most likely optimized the underlying framework of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda, allowing that Spirit Master to increase his energy compression without significantly raising the upper limit itself, ultimately reaching the level of a Titled Douluo.
But precisely because the Rainbow Dragon's essence was fundamentally an optimization of the "algorithm," a workaround to bypass the limit through unconventional means rather than a true increase in processing capability, the descendants of that Spirit Master still inherited ordinary Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagodas in essence.
If Chen Ming could truly meet that Titled Douluo of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect and directly examine his Martial Soul, Chen Ming believed it would not be difficult to analyze the difference between that person's foundational structure and a normal Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda.
Then, by gradually modifying one's own "algorithm" and continuously adjusting one's Martial Soul closer to that Titled Douluo's version, even ordinary Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda Spirit Masters could break through the Spirit Saint-level limit without affecting the Martial Soul's original structure.
Taking a more unorthodox path, if one were to divide the origin essence into countless tiny portions and implant them generation after generation into descendants, it could also serve as a catalyst allowing future generations to break through the limit.
If continued long enough, it might even directly alter the foundational framework of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda itself, allowing it to surpass the limit without increasing its overall strength.
Unfortunately, this was the Douluo World.
Whether through orthodox cultivation or the more heretical method of origin implantation, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect simply lacked such techniques.
Even by the era of Douluo IV (4), the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda was still little more than roadside fodder.
Even if someone absorbed a fierce beast-level Spirit Soul and obtained a hundred-thousand-year-grade Spirit Bone, it still could not change the fact that the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda remained forever capped at Level 79, unable to advance a single step further.
Chen Ming omitted certain details and roughly explained his speculations to Ning Fengzhi.
As Ning Fengzhi listened, he nodded repeatedly. Clearly, he found Chen Ming's explanation—that the Rainbow Dragon's essence had altered the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda's structure—extremely convincing. It also perfectly explained why none of the ancestor's descendants had ever managed to break through the limit afterward.
After all, although a Spirit Beast's essence could alter a Spirit Master through Spirit Ring absorption, only an extremely tiny probability existed for such changes to be inherited and permanently alter a Martial Soul.
At the same time, however, Ning Fengzhi was not happy.
Back then, the ancestor's ability to encounter a Rainbow Dragon and obtain its Spirit Ring was an extreme case among extremes. Today, there might not be a second living Rainbow Dragon in the entire world.
Although Chen Ming said it was theoretically possible to reverse-engineer the altered Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda and derive a method allowing all Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagodas to break through their upper limit—
Their ancestor's bones had long since rotted away. There was no longer any possibility of using him as a reference.
Trying to repeat the ancestor's path was simply impossible.
"Elder Chen, if we reverse-engineered things from the Rainbow Dragon's skeleton, would it be possible to achieve the same result?"
"The Rainbow Dragon skeleton was preserved by our Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect through the abilities of a special Titled Douluo with crystal-type powers. Over the past thousand years, only thirty percent of it has been consumed. The remaining seventy percent still contains vitality as though it had only just died."
Ning Fengzhi gritted his teeth, seemingly having made a major decision.
"I don't know. But it is indeed possible. However, I would need the cooperation of a large number of Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect disciples, as well as vast amounts of time and data comparison before success could even become possible."
"Then… I shall return and discuss it with the sect elders. If possible, I would ask Elder Chen to visit the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect in the future. If this truly succeeds, then the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect will spare no expense in repayment."
"Agreed."
Chen Ming nodded, his heart also filled with anticipation.
The defining characteristic of the Golden Dragon lineage was overwhelming physical power with weak elemental affinity, while the Silver Dragon lineage specialized in immense elemental power.
Thus, the Rainbow Dragon, which excelled in various elemental attributes, was also known as a Magic Dragon and classified as a branch of the Silver Dragon lineage—indeed, one of the most powerful branches among Silver Dragons.
Water, fire, light, darkness, wind, earth, plus a trace of spatial power.
Although they possessed little offensive capability, Rainbow Dragons had astonishing control over and affinity with the elements. If dragons were considered natural-born mages, then Rainbow Dragons were the mages among mages.
If Chen Ming could obtain the Rainbow Dragon skeleton and derive something from it, the benefits toward completing his own elemental attributes would be enormous.
Especially since he already possessed a Silver Dragon scale in his possession, this might become the key to unlocking an entirely new world of elemental research.
Seeing that Ning Fengzhi was preparing to leave, Chen Ming quickly revealed a smile.
"Sect Master Ning, might you perhaps be interested in purchasing some medicine?"
"Medicine?" Ning Fengzhi froze for a moment before recalling that aside from creating internal cultivation methods, Chen Ming had supposedly inherited Dugu Bo's poison arts and Ye Renxin's medical arts, even surpassing his teachers. He was now regarded as the continent's greatest medical grandmaster.
"What kind of medicine?"
"I currently have two types of pills. One is the Lesser Spirit Ascension Pill, and the other is the Greater Spirit Ascension Pill. The Lesser Spirit Ascension Pill provides an amount of Spirit Power equivalent to what a normal Level 20 Spirit Master would need to advance to Level 21. The Greater Spirit Ascension Pill provides the Spirit Power required to advance from Level 30 to Level 31."
"A person may only consume two Lesser Spirit Ascension Pills in their lifetime, and only one Greater Spirit Ascension Pill. Exceeding that limit will result in side effects."
"Sect Master Ning… do you have any thoughts?"
"Hiss?!" Ning Fengzhi's eyes immediately lit up. He suddenly understood why Chen Ming's cultivation speed had risen so quickly.
Even in the era of The Unrivaled Tang Sect, Spirit Ascension Pills were treasures among treasures, with an annual production of only around twenty pills. They were truly incredibly rare medicines.
In the current era of Douluo I, such things were practically immortal pills.
"Elder Chen, name your price."
"One Lesser Spirit Ascension Pill costs fifty thousand Gold Soul Coin. One Greater Spirit Ascension Pill costs one hundred and fifty thousand Gold Soul Coin. If payment is made with rare herbs or materials, I can lower the price somewhat depending on the quality of the materials—up to a twenty percent discount."
Even though the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect was said to rival nations in wealth, Ning Fengzhi still nearly lost composure after hearing Chen Ming's price. The corners of his mouth twitched violently as his stomach began to ache.
What did ten thousand Gold Soul Coin represent?
If an ordinary Spirit Sage joined the Heaven Dou Emperial Academy, their monthly salary would only be around two thousand Gold Soul Coin. Even someone as renowned as Flender only earned around three thousand.
In the original story, when Ning Fengzhi purchased Tang San's hidden weapons—including the Godly Zhuge Crossbow—his initial offer had only been ten thousand Gold Soul Coin per set.
And to thank Tang San for the Qiluo Tulip that allowed Ning Rongrong's Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda to evolve into the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda, Ning Fengzhi had only offered one million Gold Soul Coin, while also hoping to buy more at that same price.
But if one consumed the maximum allowable amount, it would cost a total of two hundred and fifty thousand Gold Soul Coin per person. Many Spirit Masters would never earn that much money in their entire lives.
Even Ning Fengzhi felt genuine pain at that price.
Especially since he intended to buy enough for the sect's most talented younger generation to all consume the maximum amount.
The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect being "wealthy enough to rival an empire" was merely an exaggeration. In reality, they were not truly as rich as an actual empire, nor did they possess infinite Gold Soul Coin.
If one counted all of their industries and assets, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's accumulated wealth over a thousand years likely exceeded several billion, perhaps even over ten billion Gold Soul Coin.
After all, Spirit Master clans loved acquiring industries and stable assets to pass down to future generations. Ancient sects and clans were extremely rich in fixed assets.
But when it came to actual liquid cash on hand, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect probably only had slightly over one hundred million Gold Soul Coin at most.
"Could the price perhaps be lowered?" Ning Fengzhi asked tentatively.
"Medicines capable of increasing Spirit Power cultivation inherently require extremely demanding ingredients. The alchemy process also suffers considerable losses, and even I cannot guarantee success for every batch. The production cost itself is therefore extremely high."
"If one doesn't care about side effects… I could lower the price further. But I truly would not recommend doing so."
Chen Ming's gaze was perfectly clear and sincere.
At present, he was the sole seller in existence. From production to sale, only he alone could accomplish it.
Even if he threw the pill formulas out publicly, there still might not be more than a handful of people on the continent capable of producing Spirit Ascension Pills.
And those few people happened to be individuals Chen Ming was familiar with. Even if they obtained the formulas, they would never produce pills for anyone except themselves—much less manufacture Spirit Ascension Pills for public sale.
Chen Ming currently possessed a true monopoly market.
Unless others wanted to be crushed entirely, they would have no choice but to grit their teeth and buy from him.
Three pills total—one Greater and two Lesser—for two hundred and fifty thousand Gold Soul Coin in exchange for roughly a year and a half of cultivation time.
Whether that was worth it depended entirely on perspective.
Wasn't a Spirit Master's golden cultivation period considered priceless? Then if he used Gold Soul Coin to help save time, shouldn't they be grateful?
"Then Elder Chen, I shall return first and discuss the matter."
Looking into Chen Ming's pure and honest eyes, Ning Fengzhi genuinely felt his stomach hurting.
He knew perfectly well that the price was marked up by at least double.
But what could he do?
Only Chen Ming possessed these miraculous pills. No one else did. Since nobody else could provide them, pricing naturally depended entirely on Chen Ming himself.
For talented Spirit Masters still in their growth period, more than a year of golden cultivation time could drastically alter their future upper limits.
The Spirit Master world was now changing rapidly, storms brewing everywhere. If one refused to compete or move forward, who knew whether they would be eliminated in the future?
No matter how painful it was, he still had to pay the price.
Chen Ming currently stood behind Golden Crocodile Douluo, and Golden Crocodile Douluo stood behind Spirit Hall's strongest expert, Qian Daoliu.
If conflict truly broke out, nobody knew what would happen to the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect in the future—but at least right now, they would almost certainly be wiped out completely.
The only thing comforting Ning Fengzhi was that if even the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect struggled to afford these pills, then the other sects would certainly fare even worse.
Shaking his head bitterly, Ning Fengzhi departed in distress.
The next day, in that same location, Chen Ming met with the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan's clan leader, Yu Yuanzhen.
Unlike Ning Fengzhi, who looked like a refined and approachable handsome middle-aged gentleman, Yu Yuanzhen was older, far more imposing, and considerably more stern.
He stood over two meters tall and appeared immensely powerful.
Yet the impression he gave was not one of heaviness.
Rather, he resembled a spring compressed to its absolute limit, capable of erupting with terrifying force at any moment.
His aura was oppressive, but not in a gloomy or sinister way.
Instead, it felt like the silent stillness before a thunderstorm descended.
...
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