I Traveled to Douluo and Split into Five People

Their eyes met, and all five grew excited. If this really worked, wouldn't they be taking off from where they stood? If everything went smoothly, they might even reach the continent's peak before the three gods of the original story appeared.

"Good! Let's do it! But which one should we choose first?"

Ning Yulin looked at the other four.

Clear Sky Hammer, Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon, Golden Feather Luan Bird, Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda, Blue Silver Grass.

"It's too early to talk about that. Let's first cultivate our main Martial Souls until they can bear Ten Thousand Year Spirit Rings. My injuries have basically healed now. Tang Yin, did you find any Blue Silver Grass in the forest suitable for my age limit?"

Zhou Xuefeng asked Tang Yin. The other four had added their Spirit Rings in full view of everyone. If they wanted to overwrite them with high-age Spirit Rings later, Zhou Xuefeng would have to handle it unless they found a suitable opportunity.

After thinking back for a moment, Tang Yin described the locations of several Blue Silver Grass plants. Most were near carnivorous spirit beasts. The nutrients from the decaying remains of spirit beasts left behind by those predators had allowed some Blue Silver Grass to grow exceptionally lush.

There usually was no particularly old Blue Silver Grass near herbivorous spirit beasts. Generally, it would be eaten by herbivorous spirit beasts before it had time to grow for long.

After the discussion, Zhou Xuefeng immediately set out to find the Blue Silver Grass Tang Yin had mentioned.

After choosing carefully, he took a liking to one that was over seven hundred years old. It was near the nest of several Gale Wolves. Zhou Xuefeng used bait to lure over several herbivorous spirit beasts, then dug up the grass while the wolves were hunting.

According to the plan the five had agreed upon, there was no need to cultivate one Martial Soul to Rank 90 before adding Spirit Rings to the others. They could switch to other high-age Spirit Rings through the space without any pressure, so rapidly raising their levels was the first priority.

With the first Spirit Ring of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda as a foundation, a seven-hundred-year Blue Silver Grass first ring would bring, at most, a little pressure.

Two hours later, the absorption was complete.

The pressure was far lower than expected. Perhaps because they were both Blue Silver Grass, there was no sense of rejection at all. Zhou Xuefeng gained a spirit skill that allowed his Martial Soul to take root and grow rapidly, becoming taller and larger. He named it Growth.

It seemed to have no effect in battle, only allowing the Martial Soul to increase in size for the duration of the spirit skill.

But this had already achieved the effect Zhou Xuefeng wanted: the strength of his Martial Soul's origin had increased. He only needed to add several more Spirit Rings in the future that could further enhance the Blue Silver Grass.

There was also an unexpected yet perfectly reasonable discovery.

When the Martial Soul took root in the ground and grew, he could clearly feel the speed at which Soul Power was converted increasing during the skill's duration. It could cultivate independently in a Mimicry Environment in Zhou Xuefeng's stead, equivalent to having a Shadow Clone.

Zhou Xuefeng tested it for an entire day. At most, he could maintain that state for an hour and a half. During that time, his cultivation speed was twice that of normal.

Three days later, Zhou Xuefeng left the Soul Hunting Forest, ending his wilderness life of more than half a year.

He traveled far from Town North City to another city to register as a soul master. He still could not receive financial support from Ning Yulin, so he could not afford to pass up the monthly soul master stipend.

He did not register in Town North City because it would be troublesome if he ran into the steward who had handled his Soul Hunting Warrant application and was discovered to have raised his Soul Power Level at an unreasonable speed. After Tang San absorbed the Mandala Snake, reaching Rank 13 had "shocked" Ma Xiunuo quite badly.

Blue Silver Grass Martial Souls were famously worthless, so no one would pay special attention to one. Zhou Xuefeng fabricated a background and completed his soul master registration.

Registration date: November 27, 2628 of the Douluo Calendar.

Registration location: Spirit Hall, Mosen City, Star Luo Empire.

One ring, Rank 16.

After registering, Zhou Xuefeng settled down in Mosen City. Previously, no one would hire him because he was too young. But after absorbing two Spirit Rings, his height of 1.4 meters made him look nothing like a seven-year-old child.

After revealing his identity as a soul master, he easily found plenty of work opportunities.

He wanted to take revenge on the Zhu Family immediately, but as a one-ring Blue Silver Grass soul master, he probably could not even enter the Zhu Family's gates. Moreover, he had no ability whatsoever to carry out that devastating plan against the Zhu Family.

He would wait until he gained another Spirit Ring, or until one of the others obtained a decisive spirit skill from their second ring.

When Yu Tianrui and his group returned to the Blue Lightning Sect, that clan uncle reported Yu Tianrui for being disobedient and violating Blue Lightning customs.

The next day, Yu Tianrui was summoned to the sect's main hall.

What are they planning? A public trial? What did I do?

Of the seven people present, Yu Tianrui recognized only two. One was the clan uncle who had led the group to hunt Spirit Rings, while the other was Yu Luomian.

"Display your spirit skill."

He had a bad feeling. His eyes shifted as Yu Tianrui, unsure what they wanted, could only display his spirit skill.

Expelled from the Blue Lightning Sect?

Martial Soul Possession. Illusory Dragon Scales emerged across his body, flickering with blue light as he transformed into an abstract little dragon-man.

He silently uttered, Discharge.

Crackling sounds rang out around Yu Tianrui as electric light surged.

Disappointment appeared on Yu Luomian's face. That was it?

Without saying anything, he rose and left. A few seconds later, only the clan uncle and Yu Tianrui remained in the main hall.

He walked up to Yu Tianrui, his expression cold and his tone stiff, though there seemed to be a trace of concern beneath it.

"Kid, I warned you long ago. Everything that follows has been brought upon yourself. You can challenge tradition, but if you fail to show a future worthy of doing so, you must pay the price. If you had secretly tried it in private, the sect would not have said anything even if it found out. But you had to do it in front of everyone... If everyone followed your example, what would become of the Blue Lightning orthodoxy? What would become of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Martial Soul?"

Yu Tianrui's heart clenched tightly as he listened. Were they going to cripple his Martial Soul and expel him from the sect?

Yet after saying all that, the man seemed to take no further action.

He simply told Yu Tianrui to return.

Several days later, Yu Tianrui finally learned what the consequences he had brought upon himself were.

First, he had to move. The residence assigned to him after his Martial Soul awakened was relocated to the border between the main family's children and those with outside surnames. Then, his food, clothing, and other provisions were all reduced. None of that mattered. The only thing that affected Yu Tianrui was that his access to the sect's Mimicry Environment cultivation grounds was lowered again and again, all the way to the minimum. It went from daily access to once a week, with no more than half an hour per visit.

Yu Tianrui almost laughed. That was it?

He had thought it would be something serious.

Without a Mimicry Environment, he could cultivate with his First Spirit Skill active every day, which was far better anyway.

But...

This was the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Sect, where bloodline was everything—a sect that discriminated against and mocked even the son of its Title Douluo sect master. The higher-ups had marginalized Yu Tianrui's family. Those separated from them by status would not do much, but the lower-ranking people who dealt with them directly grew increasingly vicious in their attitudes over time. Verbal mockery was merely the mildest of their behavior.

Yu Tianrui devoted himself entirely to cultivation. He wanted to raise his level as soon as possible, obtain high-age Spirit Rings, and achieve the goal shared by the five of them. Since he rarely went out, he did not feel the contempt, exclusion, and pressure from outside very strongly.

His parents bore all of it head-on, yet never let Yu Tianrui notice anything unusual.

Tang Yin cultivated calmly, wanting to develop other applications for his first Spirit Ring, Air Pressure Lock. In any case, there was nothing else for him to do before the others overwrote their rings with high-age Spirit Rings.

His Clear Sky Hammer had not yet developed any attribute enhancement. He could not use spirit skills to absorb attribute energy and speed up his Soul Power cultivation like the others.

Seven Treasures Sect.

"Xiao Liu, are you really not going to tell Father?"

Having witnessed Ning Yulin truly alter the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda, Ning Yuxuan instinctively wanted to tell Ning Fengzhi. If it could be implemented throughout the sect and replicated by others, then Seven Treasures Sect would no longer be merely a support sect.

But he suddenly realized that even if this method succeeded, its effect did not seem all that different from the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda's original abilities. One was a state amplification, while the other was a state application. If it could not break through the seven-story limit, then the change seemed meaningless.

The seven-story limit of Seven Treasures Sect had plagued generations of the sect's ancestors.

"And there's also the matter of you, with only Rank Two Innate Soul Power, obtaining a Spirit Ring so quickly."

After considering it for a moment, Ning Yulin appeared unconcerned.

"If you want to tell him, Big Brother, then tell him."

He still did not know whether the second Spirit Ring could also break free of the original support-type limitations. Or whether every Spirit Ring addition required shattering the Martial Soul in order to change its support nature.

Someone needed to test the path.

If Ning Fengzhi learned of it, he would most likely arrange for people to experiment.

Then Ning Yulin would not need to risk dying once—or several times—to conduct deeper experiments himself.

After learning everything, Ning Fengzhi rushed over at once. After personally verifying Ning Yulin's ability, his expression turned complicated.

"Yulin, you have found another path for the sect. However, I fear very few people can replicate this method. Children your age generally do not possess the willpower to remain conscious through the damage of Spirit Soul Shattering. And..."

Ning Yulin's recklessness made Ning Fengzhi shake his head, yet his outlandish way of thinking was astonishing.

"The degree of shattering you experienced is completely different from the damage a spirit soul suffers in ordinary combat. Normally, a soul master's body has a self-protection mechanism. When a Martial Soul is damaged in battle, it instinctively retains Soul Power to protect itself. But you actively introduced an external trigger and left not even a shred of defense. With the slightest mistake or a bit of bad luck, you could become an idiot at best and die on the spot at worst."

As he spoke, he kept shaking his head.

"This method has value as a reference, but the risk is far too great. The success rate cannot be guaranteed..."

Ning Fengzhi was tempted, but found it difficult to decide. As he had said, what ordinary child had the willpower to endure a shattered Martial Soul while absorbing a Spirit Ring?

Taking a step back, being able to absorb a Spirit Ring with a shattered Martial Soul was simply unheard of.

If some Grandmaster heard of this, he might even include it in the Ten Core Competencies of Martial Soul.

"Your injuries do not seem light either. Rest well and recover."

After offering a few words of encouragement, Ning Fengzhi left on his own without saying whether he would continue finding people for experiments. Ning Yulin did not care either. At worst, he would truly shatter his Martial Soul every time he added a Spirit Ring.

Though Ning Fengzhi had not said whether he would investigate further, Ning Yulin's action had undoubtedly caught his eye. Not long after leaving, he sent several maidservants over along with some nourishing medicinal herbs.

"Rest well. I'll go discuss it with Father."

Leaving those words behind, Ning Yuxuan also hurried away.

The next day, after hesitating the entire night, Ning Fengzhi decided to gather everyone to pool their ideas on whether they should arrange for deeper experimentation.

The two elders in charge of the Inheritance Hall, both of Ning Fengzhi's uncles' generation; the master of the sect's Martial Hall, who oversaw the cultivation and studies of the sect's younger disciples; the head responsible for gathering and analyzing intelligence; and others.

"Everyone, there is now a matter concerning the sect's inheritance..."

He explained the matter briefly and concisely. No one spoke, each lost in thought.

"What do you think? Should we have someone continue the experiment?"

Several people discussed it among themselves, but all shook their heads. The risk was too high.

"Sect Master." The Martial Hall master called out loudly, "This method is too risky. Why not wait until the Sixth Young Master obtains his second Spirit Ring? And besides..."

He raised the concern Ning Yuxuan had previously had. No matter how great the change, it would be meaningless if it could not break through the seven-story limit. Ning Yulin was suddenly enlightened. He had always overlooked this point. He had never cared that the Glazed Pagoda had only seven stories, because even if they could not find another method to break the limit, the Immortal Herb Aromatic Silk Beauty could raise it to nine stories.

Yet the Martial Hall master's words were veiled barbs, truly audacious. But he was invoking the sect's greater good, making it difficult to pick apart his words and refute him.

"If the Sixth Young Master's later Spirit Rings can also differ from those of other Glazed Pagoda Martial Souls, or if he can even uncover the secret to breaking the story limit during the process of shattering and reconstructing his Martial Soul, then that would be something worth the sect's deeper investigation."

Ning Yuxuan spoke angrily.

"Hall Master Haofeng, are you suggesting that my sixth brother be used as an experimental subject?"

The Martial Hall master was named Ning Haofeng.

Seeing Ning Yuxuan's anger, he was dismissive. He cupped his hands in salute.

"Please do not be offended, First Young Master. The Sixth Young Master possesses such courage at such a young age, daring to do what others dare not. It is truly the sect's fortune. I would never dare call the Sixth Young Master an experimental subject. However, this method was conceived and carried out by the Sixth Young Master himself. If he does not personally put it into practice, how can others fully understand his ideas and reproduce them completely? Therefore... this is also a measure of last resort, all for the sake of the sect."

With those words, he placed Ning Yulin on a pedestal.

The sect's fortune. For the sake of the sect.

As the sect master's son, he should lead by example. How could he refuse to continue contributing to the sect? Ning Yuxuan looked as though he wanted to pick up a chair and smash it over the man's head when someone beside him spoke.

"Hall Master Haofeng is right!"

All for Contributing to Seven Treasures Sect

Third Brother!

Turning around, Ning Yuxuan frowned slightly. The speaker was Ning Fengzhi's third son, Ning Hong. He was around the same age as the second brother and possessed the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda Martial Soul.

"For the sake of the sect, my brothers and I naturally will not shirk our duty. Though Xiao Liu's serious injuries have yet to heal and his condition is worrying, for the sect's sake, there is no choice but to proceed. However, Hall Master Haofeng, I hear your grandson has also awakened the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda, and his Innate Soul Power Level seems rather high. He happens to be about the same age as Xiao Liu. Why not let the two keep each other company? After spending some time together, once Xiao Liu teaches him by word and example, I'm sure he too can make a great contribution to the sect!"

Although the successor to the Seven Treasures Sect Master remained undecided, there was no sign of the brothers fighting for power and profit. They were all thoroughly unambitious.

"You jest, Third Young Master. How could my grandson compare to the Sixth Young Master?"

The two oldest sect elders tapped the table, interrupting the meaningless clamor. One looked toward Ning Yuxuan.

"Axuan, if I remember correctly, Old Sixth's Innate Soul Power was only Rank Two, wasn't it? Counting from the time of his awakening, only eight months have passed. How did he reach the level needed to add a Spirit Ring? Did he use medicine?"

Among clans and sects, there was no shortage of crooked methods to force rapid growth, but all came with hidden dangers. Most had severe effects on one's future.