Tang Qinghe knew that the antidote made from the Nine Revolutions of the Heavenly God Technique had begun to work on the poison of the Ghostly Demon. He could tell the poison had been broken down.
When Tang Qinghe left the cave, he took out the Icefire Grass he had obtained from Han San and began refining the hope-filled Autumn Water Pearl.
The next morning, he was surprised to find that his Spirit Power could extend beyond his body and sense the things around him.
By noon, his Spirit Power had already reached the threshold of the Spirit Essence rank.
With his extraordinary physique and powerful soul bones, advancing to the Spirit Essence rank was as easy as breathing. It was naturally even easier for him to reach the Spirit Essence rank.
Once he continued practicing and caught up, it wouldn't be long before his Spirit Power reached the Spirit Essence rank—or even the Ghostly Demon rank.
The only thing he regretted was that he hadn't been able to control the Clear Sky Hammer's chaotic and fierce light.
Seven days passed in a flash.
The poison that had penetrated deep into his bones and threatened his life had been successfully removed. Just as Tang Qinghe had expected, his resistance to poison was extraordinary. Now, the poison in his body no longer posed any threat to him.
What pleased him most was that, thanks to the potent antidote made from the Nine Revolutions of the Heavenly God Technique, Tang Qinghe had advanced through several Spirit Power ranks in only seven days. He had gone from a low-level, ninety-first-rank Ghostly Demon to the ninety-third rank.
And from then on, his progress would no longer be hindered by the poison within his body. It was only a matter of time before he reached the ninety-fourth rank.
If he could help Tang Qinghe advance to the Ghostly Demon rank, open up the remarkable meridians throughout his body, and raise him to the ninety-sixth or even ninety-seventh rank, it wouldn't be impossible for him to become a Spirit King.
If Tang Qinghe could cultivate for another ten years, with the help of the Nine Revolutions of the Heavenly God Technique, he might even reach the ninety-eighth or ninety-ninth rank.
But all of that depended on the two of them getting along happily.
In the days that followed, Tang Qinghe continued cultivating with the Icefire Grass. Whenever he had time, he sought out Ke Ming and Tang Qinghe to learn together.
Tang Qinghe had suggested leaving, but Tang Qinghe hadn't meant to keep him there. He had only invited Tang Qinghe's adopted daughter, Tang Xue'er, to come along.
The girl was lovely, and having Tang Qinghe teach her the Clear Sky Hammer's techniques was a good excuse. But the little girl in his heart was still only nine years old—how could he possibly have feelings for Tang Qinghe?
But Tang Xue'er was the Ghostly Demon's adopted daughter. From beginning to end, she had always called Han San "father." Even the few girls who admired him treated Tang Qinghe with respect.
So there was nothing to worry about. It was only natural.
Besides, during the time she had taken the Earth Dragon Golden Melon, her Spirit Power had risen from the thirty-second rank to the thirty-fifth, an increase of three ranks.
Unexpectedly, the Earth Dragon Golden Melon had also caused her martial soul to evolve. It had gone straight from a Jade Phosphor Serpent Emperor into a Jade Phosphor Serpent Dragon, and then evolved into a poisonous dragon.
After evolving into a poisonous dragon, not only had Tang Xue'er's snake poison transformed into dragon poison, but she had also gained the ability to control dragons.
She had acquired a dragon-transformation ability similar to the Azure Dragon Emperor's.
From then on, she no longer needed to focus on controlling poison. Her martial soul had gained an additional poison attribute, and aside from poison, she could also use powerful attack techniques. After all, the dragon itself was a powerful beast-type martial soul.
With that, Tang Xue'er no longer needed to worry about poison harming her body.
Especially since Tang Xue'er spent every day with him. It wasn't that he felt anything for her; he was simply determined to take care of her as a younger sister. With Tang Qinghe and Tang Xue'er by his side, Tang Qinghe had gained a precious immortal herb.
He no longer needed to worry about her being in any danger.
It could be considered a way of making up for all the wrongs he had done in the past.
When Tang Qinghe learned that his adopted daughter's martial soul had evolved into a poisonous dragon, he was naturally delighted. But he didn't press for the reason. He only told Tang Xue'er to learn properly from Tang Qinghe.
Whenever Tang Qinghe looked at her, he wore a loving smile, as if he were waiting for her to grow up.
Three years passed in the blink of an eye.
Tang Qinghe had grown up. At just over twelve years old, he stood nearly 1.7 meters tall. He had grown into a strong, sturdy young man, with a handsome, heroic face.
During those three years, aside from taking part in the yearly trials, he had also achieved the strength of a twenty-eighth-rank Spirit Master. He had become the youngest genius in the history of the Hundred Battles Academy, and had once again taken part in the academy's annual tournament.
He no longer had any reason to return to Heaven Dou City.
After all, how could the Spirit Masters of Heaven Dou City's Great Spirit Arena compare to the Ghostly Demon rank's Spirit Masters?
And that was something that had happened two years earlier.
Half a year later, Tang Qinghe's Spirit Power broke through the thirtieth rank.
He absorbed a roughly six-thousand-year-old Spirit Essence, bringing his Spirit Power to the thirty-third rank. He also gained a group-attack skill that was close to a divine ability. It more or less made up for his previous lack of powerful attack methods.
Tang Qinghe had now become a thirty-eighth-rank assault-type Spirit Master.
He had become a Spirit Master, and it had taken him less than half a year.
Of course, he had put a great deal of thought into cultivating the Nine Revolutions of the Heavenly God Technique over the past nine years. Otherwise, if he had focused only on cultivating the Heaven's Net Scripture, he might already have become a Spirit King.
Naturally, all that effort had been worthwhile.
After three years of cultivation, Tang Qinghe's Nine Revolutions of the Heavenly God Technique had gradually caught up with his cultivation of the Heaven's Net Scripture. Not long ago, it had finally reached the fourth revolution, matching the Heaven's Net Scripture.
(PS: In the original world, the Nine Revolutions of the Heavenly God Technique consisted of two volumes. But the author combined the black and white sections of both volumes into one, and only learned a small part of it. So the complete Nine Revolutions of the Heavenly God Technique should have ten revolutions, the same number as the Heaven's Net Scripture.)
That meant that even without using his Second Spirit, the Clear Sky Hammer, or attaching Spirit Rings, he could unleash a power close to teleportation.
That was enough to make Tang Qinghe, who had always been at odds with him, suffer.
But he couldn't use his martial soul.
After all, he had sworn that he wouldn't use his martial soul.
Using his Spirit Bone would be even more infuriating.
And without using his martial soul, the Ghostly Demon would be at a serious disadvantage.
It was like the original Han San, who couldn't beat Yang Wudi without using his martial soul. Yang Wudi didn't have any special tricks, but he still wouldn't dare go all out. If he used the powerful Golden Bear martial soul, unless Han San used his Spirit Bone technique, there was no way he could beat him.
Tang Xue'er didn't go to the Heaven Dou Imperial Academy.
When her martial soul evolved into a poisonous dragon, she began cultivating alongside Tang Qinghe.
Her strength was also advancing rapidly.
Within a year of taking the immortal herb, she broke through to the Spirit Master rank. Now that two years had passed, she had become a forty-seventh-rank Spirit Master.
As Tang Qinghe and Tang Xue'er spent more and more time together, the two grew closer.
But perhaps it was because Tang Qinghe was too young to understand the relationship between men and women, or perhaps it was for some other reason.
It seemed that something remained between them.
That left Tang Qinghe feeling restless and anxious.
Not long afterward, his Spirit Power rose another rank, reaching the ninety-fourth rank. He was overjoyed for a while.
At other times, he was always worried about the two of them.
As for whether he felt anything in particular, only he knew.
Seeing that Tang Xue'er had already turned sixteen and was nearly seventeen, Tang Qinghe couldn't wait any longer. He needed to find his own adopted daughter, Tang Xue'er.
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