Time flowed on. As the sun leaned westward, the aura around Mu Yang, who was refining the God-bestowed ninth spirit ring, suddenly surged violently. His spirit power broke through its limits, shattered barrier after barrier, and he officially advanced into Nine-Rings Title Douluo.
The very first food-type Title Douluo in the history of the Douluo Continent's Spirit Master world was born!
"Level 96?"
Sensing the tremendous spirit power within him, Mu Yang opened his eyes. Gazing at the ninth spirit ring radiating on his body—etched with seven golden lines—his heart filled with delight.
To reach level 96 the moment he stepped into Title Douluo—this was utterly unprecedented in the Spirit Master world.
Long ago, after condensing the fifth Iceflame Holy Shadow spirit ring, Mu Yang had already noticed that his spirit power accumulation far exceeded level 90. Yet, since both his martial spirits lacked ninth rings, this accumulation had remained concealed.
On that foundation, he had first obtained a more-than-300,000-year Iceflame Holy Shadow sixth spirit ring along with a spirit bone of the same age. Now, he had condensed a God-bestowed ninth spirit ring surpassing 700,000 years. Advancing to level 96 as a Title Douluo was only natural.
If not for the fact that his dual yin-yang spirit cores tempered his spirit power to a quality far surpassing his peers—requiring far more accumulation for each increase—he might well have leapt directly to level 97.
After all, since reaching quasi-Title Douluo at level 90, the combined years of his additional two spirit rings already surpassed a million. Not to mention refining a spirit bone of more than 300,000 years.
No other Spirit Master advancing to Nine-Rings Title Douluo could possibly amass such power.
Unless someone stubbornly refused to attach a ninth ring despite being able to, and instead continued bitter cultivation for decades under the level 90 restriction.
"Xiao Yang, unless I've sensed wrong, your spirit power level is no lower than mine now, is it?"
Huo Lie's delighted voice reached Mu Yang's ears.
"Heh, well, it is a ring of such high age after all~"
Mu Yang rose with a smile.
Looking across the continent's known Spirit Masters, those whose levels were clearly higher than his included only Qian Daoliu, Bibi Dong, Golden Crocodile, Azure Luan, and the Golden Lion, along with the half-crippled Tang Chen. Equal to him were only Fifteen Ton, Falling Devil, Chen Xin, and Huo Lie.
Perhaps there were unknown experts elsewhere—after all, the original tales barely touched upon the Star Luo Empire. Yet even so, those at or above his level could only be a handful.
And among these known figures, even without using Martial Spirit Fusion Skills, Mu Yang was confident in a one-on-one fight he could defeat anyone except the demi-god Qian Daoliu, the ever-unpredictable Bibi Dong, and Tang Chen, who despite his half-crippled state still possessed fearsome strength.
Afterward, everyone stepped forward to congratulate him.
For a Spirit Master, becoming a Title Douluo was always cause for great celebration. And Mu Yang had become the very first food-type Title Douluo in history—this was nothing short of monumental.
Yet while all faces beamed with joy, Mu Yang noticed that only his aunt's eyes brimmed with tears.
"Auntie, what's wrong?"
Seeing Mu Xiyue's reddened eyes, Mu Yang couldn't help but ask.
"It's nothing. These are tears of joy. Ever since the day you awakened innate full spirit power, I foresaw this moment. But I never imagined you would grow this fast."
Wiping away her tears, Mu Xiyue patted his shoulder, her face glowing with pride.
Her nephew—still not yet eighteen years old—was now a Title Douluo, and not just any, but a formidable one. As his elder, Mu Xiyue felt deeply honored.
"Auntie, it's not just me. Everyone has grown so fast too!"
As he spoke, Mu Yang looked toward Shui Bing'er, Shui Yue'er, Huo Wu, Huo Wushuang, and Feng Xiaotian.
Though their strength and cultivation speed could not match his dual martial spirits, compared to their peers, their progress was far beyond ordinary.
"Exactly! Mom, just you wait for the day I surpass you!"
Huo Wu puffed out her chest proudly, then turned to Mu Yang and urged: "Little brother, hurry and let your sister see just how powerful that 700,000-year food-type ring skill really is~"
"Alright, I'll show you! Though my ninth ring still only grants one skill, it can truly be described in two words: defying heaven."
Pausing, Mu Yang went on: "The ninth ring skill—Golden Jade Time-Reversing Ginseng. After eating it, you gain one chance to rewind time. It records your current state, and within the following twenty-four hours, whether triggered actively or passively, it rewinds your state back to the recorded moment."
"That sounds confusing. Explain more clearly."
Huo Wu blinked in puzzlement.
Smiling, Mu Yang explained: "For example, if you eat the Golden Jade Time-Reversing Ginseng now, then within the next twenty-four hours, you'll have the power to rewind yourself.
If you're gravely injured by an enemy during that time, you can actively trigger it, instantly restoring yourself to the exact state you were in when you consumed the ginseng.
As for passive activation, that's easy to understand.
Say, Sister Huo Wu, within those twenty-four hours you're killed—then the time-reversal activates automatically. You resurrect on the spot, and your condition reverts to what it was when you ate the ginseng."
"Pah, pah, pah~! You're the one who'll be killed!"
Huo Wu glared at him in irritation.
"Haha~ Just an example~"
Mu Yang waved with a grin.
"To instantly return to full condition, even revive after death… Truly, when it comes to incredible skills, none can match you auxiliary Spirit Masters!"
After pondering it carefully, Shui Yanyu couldn't help but marvel.
In combat ability, auxiliary Spirit Masters were inferior to battle Spirit Masters, and most auxiliary skills were rather ordinary. Yet among them, rare geniuses—or even monstrous talents—sometimes possessed utterly inconceivable abilities.
Shui Yanyu recalled well the records in the ancient archives of Sky Water Academy: centuries ago, Spirit Hall had once harbored an eight-ring food-type Spirit Douluo whose martial spirit had mutated.
By creating a spirit food with his eighth ring skill that helped Spirit Masters break through bottlenecks, he had enabled Spirit Hall's ranks of Spirit Sages and Spirit Douluos to multiply rapidly—laying the foundation for Spirit Hall's absolute dominance over the Spirit Master world for centuries.
If not for his insufficient innate talent that left him unable to reach Nine Rings Title Douluo, rendering his soul food useless for breaking through the level-89 peak bottleneck…
And if not for martial spirit mutations being unreliable to inherit, and Tang Chen of the Clear Sky Sect suddenly rising in recent centuries to challenge Spirit Hall's supremacy—then the Spirit Empire would already have risen, perhaps even unifying the entire continent.
For additional chapters
Versatile mage {40 chapters}
Douluo Dalu:This Soul Master is to Weird {30 Chapters}
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