"Kid, the two Dragon Pearls can become your Spirit Rings."
"Spirit Rings? Divine Eye, are you sure I can withstand a million-year Spirit Ring?" Qian Yu couldn't help worrying.
"Kid, have you forgotten that I'm here?"
"You've already reached level 40. Hurry up and choose which Dragon Pearl you want as your fourth Spirit Ring."
Divine Eye rolled its eyes and spoke to Qian Yu in exasperation.
"Oh, right. I forgot you could help me absorb the Soul Power, Divine Eye."
"I'll choose the Ice Dragon Pearl as my Spirit Ring first. I feel like my defense is too weak right now. Against a Power Attack System Battle Soul Master like Yu Tianheng, I'm still at a disadvantage."
Qian Yu chose the Ice Dragon Pearl without hesitation. Then he held it and began absorbing it. His Soul Power drew on the pearl, transforming it into an ice-gold Spirit Ring that hovered above his Martial Soul.
"Fourth Spirit Ring: 15,000 years (black)/one million years (ice-gold), maximum age returned at three times the limit. Current maximum age: 100,000 years."
Martial Soul form—Barrett.
His Soul Power rose to level 48. He wasn't far from level 50 now. A level-48 Soul Ancestor at fifteen years old—just imagining it inspired awe.
"Phew." Qian Yu let out a deep breath and felt out his fourth Spirit Skill—Ice Dragon Cold Soul Bullet and Ice Dragon Cold Crystal Armor.
Ice Dragon Cold Soul Bullet: The Ice Dragon King's ultimate ice power is condensed into the Desert Eagle's ammunition, transforming the bullets into cold-soul ice crystal rounds. They have no physical trajectory and fly at extreme speed. On impact, they trigger layered freezing—instantly freezing the target's body for 0.1–0.5 seconds (the higher the age, the longer the freeze). Ice crystals spread along the target's Soul Power meridians. While frozen, the target's Soul Power cannot circulate. After the ice melts, lingering Ice Dragon chill remains, reducing the target's movement speed by 60% and Soul Power output by 40% for 5 seconds.
Ice Dragon Cold Crystal Armor: The Ice Dragon King's ultimate ice power is condensed around the body, forming a close-fitting, translucent ice crystal armor that covers the torso, limbs, and Desert Eagle. Made from the Ice Dragon King's source ice crystals, the armor's hardness increases with the Spirit Ring's age. It can withstand 3–8 full-power attacks from high-level Soul Masters and is immune to all low- and mid-tier ranged attacks that lack ultimate ice properties. It also cancels the Desert Eagle's recoil without affecting ranged aiming.
Ice-type countering properties:
When struck by a physical attack, the ice crystal armor releases a backlash of cold, causing ice crystals to form on the attacker's hands or weapon and reducing their attack speed by 50% for 3–5 seconds. When struck by a Soul Power attack, the armor converts part of the attack into ice power and feeds it back to replenish Qian Yu's Soul Power (conversion ratio: 10%–30%). He can also actively condense the ice crystal armor onto a single area, such as his chest or arm, creating localized ultimate defense capable of withstanding a high-level single-target burst.
Feeling the benefits the Ice and Fire Dragon Kings had bestowed upon him, Qian Yu was filled with gratitude. He knelt and bowed toward the remains of the Ice and Fire Dragon Kings.
With everything settled, Qian Yu returned to the spring's edge.
A day and a night had passed.
Dugu Bo was beginning to wonder if something had happened to Qian Yu. He was just about to go inside and look for him.
At Divine Eye's instruction, Qian Yu carefully gathered the Immortal Herbs one by one. He was especially cautious with Lovesick Heartbreak Red, since he planned to give it to Qian Renxue the next time he saw her.
"All right, kid. If you don't hurry up, Dugu Bo's going to barge in," Divine Eye urged.
Qian Yu quickly packed up the Immortal Herbs he needed, leaving the others untouched.
After all, treasures of heaven and earth were hard to come by. It was better to let them continue their cycle.
Qian Yu stepped outside and nearly collided with Dugu Bo, who was coming in.
"Kid, I nearly thought you were going to die in there."
Dugu Bo was happy to see Qian Yu alive, but he couldn't resist teasing him.
Qian Yu smiled faintly.
"Senior Dugu, as you can see, I made it out."
"Hmm, kid, did you break through?" Dugu Bo had been about to tease him again, but he noticed that Qian Yu's aura far surpassed that of an ordinary Soul Ancestor.
"What? Qian Yu, you broke through?"
Dugu Yan looked as though she'd seen a ghost. "A Soul Ancestor at fifteen. What a monster," she muttered.
But her beautiful eyes held an emotion that shouldn't have been there.
"Senior Dugu, I was lucky enough to break through."
"Let's deal with the martial soul snake poison affecting you and your granddaughter first." Qian Yu didn't want to dwell on the topic, so he quickly changed the subject to Dugu Bo's greatest concern.
"Mm!" At the mention of what he most wanted to discuss, Dugu Bo gathered his thoughts.
"I have three methods for you to choose from."
"First: I can use the Immortal Herbs in the cave to cure you and Senior Yanzi. This would solve the problem once and for all, but the downside is that you might lose all your cultivation overnight."
"No." Dugu Bo rejected the idea outright.
Qian Yu seemed to have expected that and wasn't surprised. "The second method: my blood can dispel your snake poison. Drinking it would purge the poison from your bodies, but your poison cultivation would also be wiped out overnight."
"No." Dugu Bo shook his head again.
"Third: Senior, you can use a Spirit Bone to guide all the poison in your body into it, forming a Poison Pill. That way, your cultivation won't be affected, and you'll be free of the martial soul snake poison."
Dugu Bo's eyes lit up at the third option.
"Kid, I suspect you planned to use this third method from the start, but worried I wouldn't accept it. So you brought up the first two to give me something to compare it with, and steer me toward the third."
Dugu Bo smiled as he chided him.
"Senior Dugu really is shrewd. I couldn't hide such a little trick from your discerning eye." Qian Yu didn't deny it, instead tossing him a compliment.
"Flatterer." Dugu Yan had seen it all. The old man and the young one were both scheming, yet her grandfather really did lap up Qian Yu's flattery.
"All right, kid. I have to say, your talent amazes me. If we hadn't made our agreement beforehand, I'd have wanted to keep you in the Dugu Family as a live-in son-in-law."
Now that the burden weighing on his heart had been lifted, Dugu Bo seemed much more cheerful, but he still couldn't resist trying to recruit Qian Yu as a son-in-law.
"Grandpa." Dugu Yan's face flushed red.
"Hahaha, Qian Yu, now that everything here is settled, go back to Heaven Dou Royal Academy with Yanzi. I look forward to seeing you all compete in the All-Continent Spirit Master Competition three years from now." Dugu Bo laughed heartily at his granddaughter.
Meanwhile, he could hardly wait to take out the Spirit Bone and rid himself of the martial soul snake poison.
Another two days passed.
Dugu Bo and Dugu Yan had both found suitable Spirit Bones to store their martial soul poison.
At last, the Dugu Family's curse had been completely resolved.
"Kid, there are still two conditions. If you need anything in the future, just have Yanzi let me know." Dugu Bo still wanted Qian Yu to stay a while longer.
But Qian Yu was worried his friends would be concerned, so he wanted to leave as soon as possible.
As Dugu Bo led Qian Yu and Dugu Yan away from this hidden grotto,
"Old Poison, hand over Qian Yu." A sharp voice rang out from beyond the cave.
Then a flying sword drifted over. Ning Rongrong, Zhu Zhuqing, and Xiao Wu stood beside him, with the three instructors, Meng Shenji, Bai Baoshan, and Zhi Lin, also present.
"Hmm, Sword Douluo." Dugu Bo sensed the other man's aura and immediately recognized him.
"Kid, looks like they're here for you." Dugu Bo couldn't help but smile wryly.
Dugu Bo couldn't help smiling wryly to himself. This kid really is popular. He even managed to get Sword Douluo of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect to come.
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