At Taoyuan Academy, Su Ran meticulously taught Meng Yiran the two ultimate techniques, the Great Art of Necromantic Summoning and the Thousand Netherworld Weapons, setting her on the development path of a Summoning-type Spirit Master and a master of hellish hidden weapons.
Zhu Zhuqing had also absorbed a Netherworld Beast Spirit Bone—a 30,000-year-old Netherworld Beast Right Leg Bone. It granted her a decent netherworld skill, Netherworld Vortex, and boosted her spirit power considerably.
What surprised Su Ran upon their return was learning that the Steel-Boned Iron-Armored Tiger's third Spirit Ring that Ning Rongrong had absorbed not only perfected her second layer of the Golden Bell but had also dropped an Iron Armor Trunk Bone.
It was unexpected but logical. This was one of the reasons Su Ran had them hunt spirit beasts compatible with their own cultivation methods—what if one dropped a Spirit Bone?
Spirit Bones were an extremely rare existence on the Douluo Continent. Even a thousand-year Spirit Bone was something a Spirit Master could only dream of. The power of a Spirit Bone lay not just in the potential spirit ability it could grant, but also in its capacity for growth. Even a thousand-year Spirit Bone could grow stronger along with the Spirit Master, though the growth rate was very slow, and few Spirit Masters could temper their bodies to a strength exceeding that of a ten-thousand-year spirit beast.
External Spirit Bones, which were separate from the six main types, grew even faster.
Fortunately, this Iron Armor Trunk Bone and the Seven Treasure Golden Bell Shield complemented each other perfectly. Having already cultivated the defensive ultimate technique—the Golden Bell Shield—and now adding this iron-clad Spirit Bone skill, Ning Rongrong gained a more than 50% increase in defense and an enhancement to the weight of her Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda. Her shield value was instantly boosted to a level that Spirit Masters of the same rank could not hope to break.
Su Ran also provided Ning Rongrong with a special Bone Nurturing Liquid designed to nourish Spirit Bones and rapidly increase their age. With time, it could be raised to over ten thousand years, and its effects would be greatly enhanced.
While in the Star Dou Great Forest, Su Ran had considered hunting down the Man-Faced Demon Spider that Tang San needed, especially since it contained the evolvable external Spirit Bone, the Eight Spider Lances. However, after some thought, he gave up the idea.
Firstly, finding that specific spider in the vast Outer Circle of the Star Dou Great Forest would not be easy. Secondly, even if he found it, the Man-Faced Demon Spider was only two thousand years old, which was still on the low side. Furthermore, both Zhu Zhuqing and Meng Yiran, who were suitable for absorbing its Spirit Ring, were girls. If they absorbed the Eight Spider Lances...
Could you imagine a young, budding maiden in the middle of a Spirit Master battle, the clothes on her back tearing open to reveal her upper body as eight spider legs burst forth?
There was a very, very powerful woman on the continent who, because her spider Martial Soul was so ugly, was timid and hesitant in fights, avoiding its use whenever possible. As a result, she was once beaten into a frustrated rage by someone four or five ranks lower than her. All because that thing was simply too ugly.
And so, Su Ran had let it be. He could find better Spirit Bones for his disciples in the future; there was no need to fixate on a single Eight Spider Lances.
In the days that followed, Meng Yiran joined Zhu Zhuqing and Ning Rongrong in their daily training, each cultivating their respective ultimate techniques. Since Zhu Zhuqing had already had contact with a hellish hidden weapon from Su Ran—the Ghost Shuttle—she also learned a bit of the Thousand Netherworld Weapons and would spar with Meng Yiran.
The Great Art of Necromantic Summoning was a cultivation method that was compatible with Meng Yiran's Martial Soul. It required her to absorb the power of the sun, moon, and stars through her Snake Staff and swallow the necrotic energy of the earth's ley lines. It was exclusive to her Martial Soul, and she would only be considered to have mastered the entry-level once her staff evolved into a Necromantic Snake Staff.
As for the Thousand Netherworld Weapons, besides learning about the hidden weapons of hell and the netherworld, it also required practicing movement techniques and crafting methods. Like Tang San's Mysterious Heaven Skill, it had a very important component: training the hands. However, while Tang San trained the Mysterious Jade Hand, Zhu Zhuqing and Meng Yiran trained the Nether Hand. The two were similar, yet vastly different. One thing was certain, though: if Tang San were to see their completed Nether Hand, he would be greatly astonished.
And so, while the four students at Taoyuan Academy diligently cultivated top-tier ultimate techniques and changed their destinies, the students at Shrek Academy were not idle either.
Under the whip of Zhao Wuji and a newly arrived teacher, Tang San, Oscar, Ma Hongjun, Dai Mubai, and Xiao Wu were also training arduously. They all used a primitive weight-training method, each carrying a large rock on their back, running back and forth between Shrek Academy and Soto City like idiots under the blazing sun or in the pouring rain, training their basic physical fitness.
At Taoyuan Academy, by contrast, even when Ning Rongrong had been training her basic fitness, Su Ran had specifically spent money to have custom-made, form-fitting weighted gear created for her.
Shrek was truly poor to a certain degree. If carrying bricks was so useful, then all the young lads on construction sites would be Titled Douluos, wouldn't they?
"Monsters? You call this 'monsters'? The first thing I hear when I arrive is that you've all been beaten into submission by the Taoyuan Academy next door. And you have the nerve to call yourselves monsters? I see nothing but a bunch of good-for-nothings."
"Everyone, ten more round trips!"
A middle-aged man of average height and plain appearance, around forty or fifty years old, had joined Shrek Academy. The moment he arrived, he heard Zhao Wuji and the "little monsters" reporting the situation to Flender. He was quite pleased to learn that Tang San had absorbed the Man-Faced Demon Spider's Spirit Ring and the Eight Spider Lances external Spirit Bone. But when he heard that the other students—Dai Mubai—had been severely injured by a lower-ranked Zhu Zhuqing, and the Evil Fire Phoenix, Ma Hongjun, had only managed a draw against a support-type, his face instantly darkened.
Trash! All of them are trash!
The very next day, he teamed up with Zhao Wuji and initiated a special training regimen for the Shrek students: intra-academy group duels and weighted running. It was hard to say how effective it was, but the little monsters of Shrek were certainly exhausted, their backs bent under the weight of the rocks.
At dusk, after finishing the last lap, Oscar finally couldn't take it anymore and collapsed at the entrance of Shrek. Ma Hongjun soon followed, slumping to the ground, his voice full of complaints.
"Grandmaster, isn't this intensity a bit too high? I feel like I'm going to die from exhaustion."
"I can't go on, I can't. My whole body is aching right now. If it's this intense again tomorrow, I think I'm going to meet the King of Hell."
"No pain, no gain. If you can't even endure this little bit of special training, how do you expect to achieve anything great in the future? You're dreaming," Grandmaster Yu Xiaogang snorted.
"Want to reduce the load? We can talk about it when you can surpass the students of that Taoyuan Academy!"
"Grandmaster is right. Look at how you've all been crushed by those students from Taoyuan Academy! Have you no ambition at all?" Flender added. "Xiaogang is one of the most knowledgeable people on the continent. He was the 'wisdom corner' of our Golden Iron Triangle. With his special training and guidance, in due time, you will surely surpass those students. Train hard, do you hear me?"
The performance of Taoyuan Academy's students had been too outstanding, and word was they had recently recruited another one. His own attempt to poach a student had failed, and Flender's sense of crisis was running high.
"So tired," Xiao Wu sighed deeply, her face etched with fatigue. Is this a training regimen a human could come up with? Running with bricks... what a direction to take. But hearing Flender also praise Grandmaster's wisdom, she tried to pull herself together.
"Alright, stop complaining. I've already calculated your weight limits. Forget dying from exhaustion, you won't even get injured. It's just a bit of running," Yu Xiaogang said, turning to Tang San. "Little San, what do you think?"
Tang San was just as exhausted, but he forced himself to nod. "Teacher surely has his reasons. I trust Teacher."
"Mmm, that's good. Alright, you all can go inside and rest." With Tang San's affirmation, Yu Xiaogang's confidence grew. He nodded and gestured for the little monsters to return to the academy.
"Ouch, my back~" Not long after Yu Xiaogang had spoken, Oscar tried to get up from the ground. After just two steps, his expression changed. From the sudden day-long pressure, his back... had given out.
"Grandmaster..." Oscar looked at Yu Xiaogang pitifully. Didn't you just say we wouldn't get injured from this training...
"It's fine, it's fine. Little San, help him back to rest for a bit. Just apply some medicine, and he'll be fine. Food-system Spirit Masters are naturally weaker in constitution."
"Mmm." Tang San nodded.
"They've all gone back to collapse in their rooms. Why haven't you gone back to rest?"
Watching the students return to the academy one by one after the special training, Yu Xiaogang sighed. He turned and noticed that the only girl in the academy was still there, watching him from behind, as if she wanted to say something.
"Um, I heard from Third Brother that you are very knowledgeable and learned, Grandmaster. I have a question I'd like to ask you," Xiao Wu said, wringing her fingers hesitantly.
"What question? As long as it's not some particularly obscure or niche problem, I should be able to give you an answer," Yu Xiaogang said confidently, puffing out his chest.
"Um... Grandmaster, since you're so knowledgeable, do you know who the most handsome young man on the continent is right now? What's his name? Where is he? Mmm, he shouldn't be over twenty, and he's about six or seven feet tall."
Xiao Wu looked at Yu Xiaogang with expectant eyes. This question was very important to her. If she could get an answer, she wouldn't complain even if she had to run with weights for another month.
Author's Note: This chapter mentions the evolution of Spirit Bones, which some readers may have questions about.
I've reviewed the original work's description of Spirit Bones. The original did state that all Spirit Bones could evolve. However, it's possible the author, Tang Jia San Shao, retconned this setting later, rewriting it so that only external Spirit Bones had the characteristic of growing with the Spirit Master.
Here, I have adopted the former setting. Since they are bones absorbed into the Spirit Master's body and connected to their bloodline, it's more logical that they should all be able to grow along with the Spirit Master, with only a difference in the speed of evolution. Otherwise, if I'm at rank 99, but my bone is only at the strength of a 5,000-year one, is that reasonable? Wouldn't it just shatter if I were hit by another Limit Douluo?
(End of Chapter)