First Spirit Ability: Path of Transformation

Late at night.

In a forest outside Nuoding City, Su Ming and Tang Hao appeared.

Looking at Su Ming behind him, whose face was neither flushed nor breathless, Tang Hao could only feel that the so-called Trinity Gate was truly unfathomable.

Though he had greatly held back his traveling speed,

this was still absolutely not something a child without even a Spirit Ring should have been able to keep up with.

Yet Su Ming had done so with ease, and still had plenty to spare.

"There should be others from the Trinity Gate on Douluo Continent besides you, the sect leader."

As they walked toward their destination, Tang Hao began probing Su Ming.

The kind of spirit beast Su Ming needed was exceedingly rare.

Without clues or sufficient luck, ordinary Spirit Masters simply could not discover its whereabouts.

Yet in the remote Holy Soul Village, Su Ming had known the exact location of the spirit beast he needed with remarkable clarity.

It was hard for Tang Hao not to make certain associations.

"Who knows? Maybe I was born knowing." Su Ming chose not to answer directly.

It was better to preserve enough mystery around both the Trinity Gate and himself.

"We're here. It's right here." Before long, Tang Hao stopped before the entrance of a sealed cave.

He smashed apart the massive stone blocking the entrance with one palm, then walked inside.

Su Ming followed.

After taking a few steps and relying on the moonlight from outside the cave,

he saw a heavily bound, badly injured spirit beast that had fallen unconscious.

This spirit beast was about the size of a cow, and the scales covering its body were extremely peculiar.

Each scale resembled a tiny mirror.

When it stood still, its body could reflect the surrounding scenery.

That was right—this was the exceedingly rare Mirror Image Beast.

In the original work, Mirror Image Beasts could only be found in the Icebound Forest at the northernmost end of the Heaven Dou Empire.

The Icebound Forest was a coniferous forest best suited for growth in frigid regions.

The environment there was harsh, the temperature bitterly low, and human traces scarce.

Only Spirit Masters with ice-attributed martial souls would choose to go there to hunt spirit beasts.

Su Ming's choice for his first Spirit Ring was this Mirror Image Beast.

He was in the southwest, while the Icebound Forest was in the far north.

To save time, Su Ming used Votive Power to locate a Mirror Image Beast of suitable age and at a suitable distance.

In the original work, Oscar's sixth Spirit Ring had come from a twenty-thousand-year Mirror Image Beast.

The spirit ability the Mirror Image Beast brought Oscar was also an incredibly overpowered one.

Mirror Image Sausage.

Its effect was replication. It was made using a drop of a Spirit Master's blood.

After consuming it, anyone could possess spirit abilities at seventy percent of the blood provider's strength for three minutes.

If the user's Soul Power rank was lower than that of the blood provider, they could only replicate spirit abilities corresponding to their own rank.

Although creating this kind of Mirror Image Sausage consumed an enormous amount of energy, its usefulness was also utterly outrageous.

Under certain circumstances, it directly turned Food-type Spirit Masters into Battle Spirit Masters of immense value.

The effect provided by the Mirror Image Beast's Spirit Ring was simply too well suited to Su Ming's early-stage development plan for his martial soul.

As for condensing a Spirit Ring himself using Votive Power, that would be nothing but a waste in the early stages. There was no need for it!

After exposing Tang Hao, who had been hiding in the shadows that day, Su Ming had spoken with him at length.

It had greatly shaken Tang Hao, and he had also reached several agreements and transactions with Su Ming.

Bringing this Mirror Image Beast here was one of Su Ming's many requests.

Though Tang Hao was puzzled as to how Su Ming knew the location of a Mirror Image Beast so clearly,

after teaching Tang San the Disorder Splitting Wind Hammer, he had set out for the Mirror Image Beast's location.

And just like that, it had not even taken two days.

Tang Hao had perfectly completed the task and brought the Mirror Image Beast here.

"As expected of the Clear Sky Douluo.

If it were anyone else, they definitely wouldn't have been able to do it as swiftly and cleanly as you."

As Su Ming examined the Mirror Image Beast before him, flattering words continued to pour from his mouth.

Saying a few nice words cost nothing, after all.

His relationship with Tang Hao could now be described as that of collaborators.

While helping Tang San grow stronger, Tang Hao would also help Su Ming handle certain matters.

Though Tang Hao carried old injuries, his strength was beyond question.

He was quite useful as a top-class enforcer.

"Time waits for no one. I'm going to absorb the Spirit Ring now. Uncle Hao, please stand guard for me."

With that, pure white Qi emerged in Su Ming's right palm as he prepared to deliver the fatal blow to the Mirror Image Beast before him.

Seeing Su Ming act so decisively, Tang Hao spoke up uneasily to confirm, "This Mirror Image Beast is at least eight hundred years old."

"Are you really confident?"

On Douluo Continent, there were far from few cases of Spirit Masters absorbing Spirit Rings beyond their limits and ultimately exploding to death.

That was precisely why Tang Hao confirmed it again and again.

Nothing could go wrong on Su Ming's end.

This concerned his son Tang San's future, and whether he would be able to take revenge against Spirit Hall in the future!

"Don't worry. If there had been a suitable one, I would've been ready to make my first ring a thousand-year one."

Su Ming waved his hand indifferently, signaling Tang Hao to relax.

As for the issue of age, he could raise it later while taking God's Examination.

There was no need to waste Votive Power forcibly increasing it.

Besides, his plan for the first ring had never been some powerful offensive method.

It was more of a conceptual type.

Regardless of the age, the final effect and function would be the same.

Hearing Su Ming's confident tone, Tang Hao no longer tried to dissuade him and stood guard at ease nearby.

Su Ming had already begun to act.

After killing the Mirror Image Beast with one palm strike, a bright yellow Spirit Ring emerged from its corpse.

Sitting cross-legged, Su Ming focused his attention on his martial soul.

The century-old Spirit Ring began to be drawn toward Su Ming, floating above his head.

Not a trace of the consequences of absorbing a Spirit Ring beyond his limit appeared on Su Ming's body.

The absorption process encountered no unexpected incidents and ended peacefully.

Just as I expected. Choosing the Mirror Image Beast as my first ring was absolutely the correct plan.

As he rose to his feet, Su Ming also sensed his first Spirit Ability.

"Uncle Hao, do you want to see my first Spirit Ability?" Su Ming asked Tang Hao excitedly.

"What do you need me to do?"

Su Ming did not beat around the bush and said directly, "It's simple. Just manifest your Clear Sky Hammer martial soul!"

Though puzzled, Tang Hao still did as asked.

A black hammer appeared in his hand.

Every Clear Sky Hammer had a somewhat different appearance.

Tang Hao's had a handle around half a foot long, while its hammerhead was cylindrical. It looked like a smaller version of a forging hammer.

The moment Su Ming sensed the aura of the Clear Sky Hammer, he activated his first Spirit Ability.

His Spirit Ring lit up.

Pure white Qi emerged in Su Ming's right palm and quickly rose upward.

The white Qi intertwined, beginning to take on a form Tang Hao knew all too well.