I Transmigrated into Douluo and Split into Five People

"Who should I choose?"

The figures of the four princes flickered through his mind. The eldest aimed high but lacked ability and was narrow-minded, incapable of achieving great things. The fourth was too young and unable to sit still. The second and third were more suitable.

The last time he had sent someone over to sound him out, Ning Fengzhi had not explicitly refused.

"The third... no, not the third. He's both brave and resourceful, the best candidate to inherit the empire in the future. He might even lead Heaven Dou back to the glory it had when it was founded. It seems Qinghe is the only suitable choice."

After the three of them obtained their Third Spirit Rings, the activities among the five entered another quiet period.

Ning Yulin had always felt that he could not appear too eager about the things in the Mandarin Duck Pot. Dugu Bo was putting on airs, waiting to see when the boy would finally yield.

Seeing that he would not be able to settle the Immortal Herbs anytime soon, An Lan decided it would be inconvenient for Jian Mo Qian Jun to keep exploring Sunset Forest with him. He took Qian Renxue and left Heaven Dou City for their next travel destination.

Tian Rui packed his things and set off for Blazing Fire Academy.

Outside of cultivation, Tang Yin spent all day working out, planning to wait another half year. If he still could not obtain any Immortal Herbs, he would head to Gengxin City to further his forging skills.

Zhou Xuefeng's days were very simple: cultivation, grabbing Zhu Zhuyun and training her. At night, each of the sisters received an hour of meridian cleansing. Zhu Zhuyu was also close to awakening her Spirit. During his free time, he developed his own Spirit Skills. His Third Spirit Skill's ability to absorb water elements for recovery might be developed into an active skill.

Thus, more than two peaceful months passed.

The spatial gathering.

Tian Rui had his legs propped up on the table, looking extremely smug.

"I've successfully enrolled in Blazing Fire Academy. They gave me a very warm welcome."

A three-ringed Soul Elder under twelve years old, and one with such a powerful Beast Spirit—how could they not welcome him?

"Did they mention having you participate in the Spirit Master Tournament?"

An Lan asked.

The Continental Advanced Spirit Master Academy Elite Tournament was held once every five years. The five had already gone through one during their cultivation, but there had been no talents worth noticing. In a little over a year, another Spirit Master Tournament would be held.

Year 2634.

"I just joined, so they may have that intention, but they haven't said anything yet. Still..." Tian Rui curled his lip and spread his hands. "Being confined to a game on an arena can't possibly test a Spirit Master's overall strength. There's no point in participating. Revealing our information too early would cause unnecessary trouble."

Even if they were going to participate, it would be in Buddha Tang's final tournament. With unstoppable force and an invincible stance, they would announce the existence of the five to the world. And incidentally, pick up a few little fangirls.

Tang Yin brought up a piece of fairly good news.

"I've successfully broken through to Thousand Refinements."

After being stuck at Hundred Refinements, he had originally planned to learn from other Blacksmith Shops and see whether there were any techniques he could draw upon. But then inspiration had struck. Brute force really did work miracles—he activated his Spirit Skill, increased the Clear Sky Hammer's weight, infused it with Soul Power, and broke through to Thousand Refinements.

"But I still have no clue about Spirit Forging. Spirit Forging, Spirit Forging... I can't figure out how to make a cold, lifeless piece of metal develop spirituality."

As he spoke, his expression became subtly strange. The first piece of metal he had successfully forged to Thousand Refinements seemed to have undergone some faint change, but he could not be certain. For the moment, he did not intend to tell the other four.

"How about striking it with lightning?" Tian Rui suddenly suggested. "Look, in most fantasy worlds, when some heavenly treasure or creature beyond common understanding appears, there's always a lightning tribulation. If that doesn't work, there's blood sacrifice—like Ou Yezi, Gan Jiang and Mo Xie..."

It was worth trying. Tang Yin nodded to show that he understood.

"Any news from the Star Luo Empire?"

Zhou Xuefeng asked An Lan and Ning Yulin. An Lan shook his head. He had been wandering around with Qian Renxue and had not paid attention. Ning Yulin, however, offered some information.

"The Dai Family found several collateral members of the Zhu Family, but none of them seemed to have much talent. Also, they apparently haven't discovered that Zhu Zhuyun and the Three Sisters are still alive."

Zhou Xuefeng nodded.

That was normal. During the Duke's Mansion operation, he had left behind no clues other than the aura of Blue Silver Grass. Unless the Dai Family possessed the ability to rewind time, they would never discover anything.

"I'm already level thirty. I'm about to obtain my Third Spirit Ring. After hunting the Spirit Beast, I'll go speak to Dugu Bo about the Mandarin Duck Pot."

Supporting himself on the table, Ning Yulin rose as his figure gradually faded away. They could not let an old man delay the five of them any longer. They needed to secure the Immortal Herbs quickly and move on to other matters.

Preparation

With Ning Yulin's confirmation, everyone relaxed a little.

An Lan wanted to send Qian Renxue back to Spirit City, then find an excuse to return later. If there were still any Immortal Herbs suitable for her after the five had used them, he would bring one back.

But then he reconsidered.

If we have a secret known only to the two of us, it will bring us closer together.

Tian Rui sighed. They had only been settled for such a short time, yet now he had to rush back again. Blazing Fire Academy was not close to Sunset Forest.

After the meeting ended, Zhou Xuefeng took the two sisters into the Massage Room again and expanded their meridians one after another. Once he had explained things, he sent them off to rest.

He remained in the Massage Room to cultivate.

They had cultivated the Essence of Qi Method for so long, yet none of the five had figured out the final chapter on immortal cultivation. By the standards of a normal cultivation world, that speed was perfectly normal.

But this was not a normal cultivation world.

"Forget it. Even if I can't cultivate to that level for now, the qi-guiding and qi-refining of the first three chapters are enough."

Though he felt some regret.

Ascending as an immortal and living forever had been one of humanity's enduring pursuits since ancient times.

"Although I haven't continued devouring the energy of Plant-type Spirit Beasts lately, I've still reached level thirty-four. If I use an Immortal Herb, I should directly break through to level forty."

He muttered to himself.

It was time to consider his Fourth Spirit Ring as well.

Based on Tang Yin's results, after absorbing a Spirit Bone and then stripping it away, the speed of recultivating Soul Power would take roughly two-thirds of the normal cultivation time. It was a little slower than when they had first awakened and replenished the missing eight levels of Soul Power, but still much faster than ordinary cultivation.

With Ning Yulin's various nourishing medicinal ingredients, along with the growth energy of his own Blue Silver Grass, there would be no aftereffects.

By now, Zhou Xuefeng had become skilled at converting the growth effect of his First Spirit Skill into healing ability. Not to mention that there was also the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda's Second Spirit Skill.

"First Spirit Skill: Growth. Second Spirit Skill: Split. Third Spirit Skill: Entanglement and absorbing water elements for regeneration. For now, their strength is sufficient. So, the Fourth Spirit Ring..."

Should he find a ten-thousand-year Blue Silver Grass?

Continue supplementing the origin of Blue Silver Grass.

"No. The Blue Silver Emperor is still alive, and there's also Tang San, that half-grass man. No matter how much I enhance Blue Silver Grass's origin, whether from the Spirit Beast side or the human side, I can't break through to the level of Blue Silver Emperor unless I devour Tang San's bloodline."

"What I need to do is bring Blue Silver Grass to a realm beyond the Blue Silver Emperor."

What kind of Spirit Beast could help Blue Silver Grass in that regard?

Mutated Plant-type Spirit Beasts were far harder to find than animal Spirit Beasts with mutated bloodlines.

"Among the ferocious beasts, there seems to be one called the Ten Thousand Demon King. It once consumed some unknown Immortal Herb, and its true form is a Demon Eye Magic Tree. But if I go looking for it, it'll probably eat me instead of the other way around."

"If Blue Silver Grass can't evolve through a Spirit Ring, can I drive its evolution myself?"

An idea surfaced in his mind, but it was extremely hazy, without any clear thread to follow.

An Lan sent Qian Renxue back to Spirit City. He had originally planned to secretly take her out again and bring her to Sunset Forest, but after thinking it over carefully, he dismissed the idea.

It was possible that this trip to the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well would require all five of them to perform a fusion. This was the greatest secret of the five. Before they possessed decisive strength, even the women closest to them could not be allowed to know.

As for Dugu Bo, they would see when the time came.

With Dugu Yan in his grasp, Dugu Bo most likely would not harbor any overly dangerous intentions. Besides, the Five-Person Fusion Skill might be more than enough to keep Dugu Bo in check.

Yu Xiaogang and the others' Three-Person Fusion Skill had been enough for their legends to spread across the continent. Even if this Five-Person Fusion Skill was not heaven-defying, it should still be at the level of a "myth," right?

However, Ning Yulin's search for his Third Spirit Ring took far longer than everyone had expected.

After obtaining his First Spirit Ring's Water Element Attachment, Ning Yulin had set a Five Elements path for his subsequent Spirit Rings. His third Spirit Ring was supposed to be Earth Element.

There were plenty of Spirits with Earth Element attributes, but not many Spirit Beasts that could actively wield earth elemental power. If he simply sought out Spirit Beasts related to the Earth Element and absorbed one, he would most likely only gain something like strength enhancement or defense enhancement.

To make it more accurate when the others later added high-age Spirit Rings to overwrite it, this Spirit Ring had to be chosen carefully.

He spent a full four months searching for it.

He traveled through deserts, Sunset Forest, and the Star Dou Great Forest. He found nearly twenty kinds of Spirit Beasts related to the Earth Element and fought them one after another, yet he never sensed any fluctuations of earth elements from them.

In the end, he finally found a Spirit Beast in the Star Dou Great Forest that looked very much like a Pangolin.

He successfully obtained the Earth Element Attachment ability.

After gaining this Spirit Skill, Ning Yulin immediately began experimenting. Although he lacked Metal Element and fire elements, water, wood, and earth could still form another cycle.

As for the specific effect... even he could not explain it clearly. The Life Force Attachment of his Second Spirit Skill seemed to have been strengthened considerably, but after leaving the Spirit Skill's effect, it could not transform into genuine life.

Put simply, it seemed to consume less, have a shorter cooldown, and produce greater output.

All three skills did.

The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect guards following him around breathed sighs of relief when they saw that this young master had finally found the Spirit Beast he wanted. They had never seen a Spirit Master so patient in seeking a particular Spirit Ring. The young masters and young ladies in the past had always left things to chance, hunting whatever appeared.

If every hunt went like this, they would be exhausted to death.

"The objective has been achieved. We can return."

Ning Yulin withdrew his Spirit and gave the order. Though the guards were higher level than him, none of them dared voice any complaints. They all hurriedly followed.

After returning to the Seven Treasures Sect and resting for one night, he went straight to find Dugu Yan. During the four months he had wasted, Tian Rui and An Lan had already rushed back to Heaven Dou City, while Zhou Xuefeng's doubled cultivation speed had raised his Soul Power by two levels.

Too much time had already been wasted for nothing.

"Yanyan, has Grandpa returned these past few days?"

Influenced by Ning Yulin, Dugu Yan had also entered a diligent cultivation state. But her Soul Power Level had not improved quickly, and her primary goal remained using her First Spirit Ring's ability to convert and reduce the toxins in her body. After absorbing the Spirit Ring for so long, she had barely gained one level of Soul Power.

Ning Yulin had wanted her to recycle and absorb the energy converted from the toxins, but after Dugu Bo examined her, he concluded that she could absorb it, yet under the toxins' influence, it would become highly poisonous again. If she wanted to do that, she would have to wait until more than fifty percent of the toxins in her body had been eliminated.

"Grandpa is home."

At the sight of Ning Yulin, joy flashed through Dugu Yan's eyes. He had been gone for over four months this time, and without him around, she had suddenly felt unaccustomed to it. She stood up, then immediately returned to her proud young lady demeanor.

"You were gone for so long. What Spirit Skill did you obtain?"

Old Man, You Win, But I Didn't Lose Either!

Although he wanted to obtain the Immortal Herbs as soon as possible, seeing Dugu Yan's reaction made him pause.

One year of guarding, three years of pain, seven years of itchiness, ten years of promise.

The two of them were currently about at the first stage. He had to pay attention to her in every aspect and could not neglect her.

"It was not a wasted trip after all."

He naturally took her hand, and the two walked toward the rear courtyard.

"All my Spirit Skills have been strengthened. I'll let you try them later. You'll feel even more comfortable than before."

"Really?"

They were both still young, so there was absolutely no ambiguity in those words.

The rear garden.

They saw Dugu Bo sitting in a pavilion with his eyes closed, resting. Hearing his granddaughter approach, he opened his eyes, only to unexpectedly see that annoying brat. He snorted coldly and closed his eyes again.

After approaching, Ning Yulin pulled Dugu Yan to sit beside him and sighed.

"Grandpa, you win. Please take me there."

"Heh heh." Seeing Ning Yulin yield, Dugu Bo let out a smug laugh. "You brat, you finally..."

Dugu Yan suddenly spoke, silencing him immediately.

"Grandpa, what are you two talking about? If Yulin wants something, can't you just give it to him?"

Dugu Bo: "..." His heart hurt so much!

He glared viciously at Ning Yulin.

"You brat, you haven't forgotten the conditions from before, have you?"

"Of course not."

"Hmph! Come with me."