The Weeping Ning Rongrong

Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, inner court.

Ning Rongrong had locked herself in her room and had not stepped outside for three days.

It had been a year since her Martial Soul awakened, and she had been stuck at Level 10 for nearly a year.

Innate Soul Power Level 9—the greatest genius the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect had seen in centuries. On the day her Martial Soul awakened, the entire sect had erupted in celebration.

But what about now?

What use was even the finest talent without Soul Beasts?

By the time her Martial Soul awakened, Soul Beasts had long since gone extinct, while the concentration of Soul Power in heaven and earth had surged. Ning Rongrong had therefore reached Level 10 in just one month.

Over the past year, Ning Rongrong had gone from not caring at all, to anxious frustration, to her current silence and withdrawal.

At first, she had believed that with the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's capabilities, finding a Soul Beast would surely not be a problem.

Who could have known that it was not a matter of whether they could find one? There simply were no Soul Beasts left in the outside world.

She watched her senior brothers and sisters cultivate desperately, while she could only stare blankly at the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda every day. Her Soul Power could clearly continue accumulating, yet she could not break through her realm.

That feeling was even more despairing than being stuck at a bottleneck itself.

Her Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda floated above her palm, rainbow light flowing across its body in breathtaking splendor.

She stared at the little pagoda, her eyes rimmed red.

Three days earlier, she had gone to ask Bone Douluo again.

"Grandpa Gu, can I go take a look at the Soul Hunting Forest?"

Bone Douluo sighed and stroked her head. "Rongrong, the Sect Master has already explained the Soul Hunting Forest to you. There are no Soul Beasts left there."

"What about the Star Dou Great Forest?"

"There are none there either."

"What about Sunset Forest?"

"None there either."

"Then... then what about other places? I heard Senior Brother say there are huge, huge lands in the north..."

Her teacher fell silent.

That silence frightened Ning Rongrong more than any answer could have.

She knew the answer.

"Creak—"

The door was pushed open from outside.

Ning Rongrong did not turn around. She thought it was the maid who cared for her, coming again to persuade her to eat. She did not want to eat. She did not want anything.

"Rongrong."

It was her father's voice.

Ning Rongrong whipped around.

Ning Fengzhi stood in the doorway, dust from travel still clinging to his moon-white robes.

"Dad!"

Ning Rongrong leaped off the bed and hurled herself into Ning Fengzhi's arms like a tiny cannonball. The grievance she had bottled up for months finally burst through the dam. She buried her face in her father's robes and wailed.

"Dad... am I... am I never going to be able to cultivate again...?"

Ning Fengzhi's body stiffened.

Ning Rongrong felt that momentary stiffness clearly. Her crying grew louder, her little hands clutching desperately at Ning Fengzhi's robes as though something would swallow her whole the instant she let go.

Ning Fengzhi bent down, picked up his daughter, and sat beside the bed.

"Who said that?" His voice remained gentle. "Our Rongrong is the most gifted genius the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect has seen in centuries. How could you possibly be unable to cultivate?"

"But... but I don't have a Soul Ring..." Ning Rongrong sobbed, tears pattering onto Ning Fengzhi's robes. "Dad, are Soul Beasts... are they never coming back?"

Ning Fengzhi opened his mouth, yet did not know what to say.

He could say, "No, Soul Beasts will come back."

But that would not be the truth.

He was the Sect Master of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect. He knew the truth behind the Soul Beasts' extinction better than most people on the continent. Soul Beasts had not vanished—they had been exterminated, completely erased at the level of the rules themselves.

Would new Soul Beasts ever be born in the future?

No one knew.

But at least for now, more than a year had passed, and not a single newly awakened Soul Beast had appeared anywhere on the continent.

"Rongrong." Ning Fengzhi gently patted his daughter's back. "Dad just returned from Spirit City."

Ning Rongrong's crying eased somewhat, though she was still hiccuping through her sobs.

"Spirit Hall gathered every Titled Douluo on the continent, along with the foremost scholars. They held a meeting in Spirit City for half a month."

Ning Rongrong raised her head and looked at her father with tearful eyes. "Did they... did they find a way?"

"Soon." Ning Fengzhi wiped the tears from her face, his smile still gentle. "Everyone is working hard. Spirit Hall's Creation Institute is already researching a way to create Self-Condensed Soul Rings. You won't need Soul Beasts—you'll be able to condense a Soul Ring with your own power alone. Just imagine it: our Rongrong will be able to condense her own Soul Rings. Wouldn't that be amazing?"

He could not tell his daughter the truth.

He could not tell her that the so-called Creation Institute had been researching this for an entire year and had not even grasped the underlying structure of Soul Rings.

Nor could he tell her that even with so many Titled Douluo gathered together, they had failed to come up with a single viable solution.

He only wanted his daughter to keep hoping.

"Really?" Ning Rongrong's eyes brightened for an instant, but quickly dimmed again. "But... but I've already waited so long..."

"Then wait a little longer, okay?" Ning Fengzhi pulled his daughter into his embrace. "Dad promises that I'll make you the greatest Soul Master. When that time comes, your Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda will have so many, many layers of Soul Rings, and every single one will be the most beautiful."

Ma Hongjun, whom Flender had brought back to Shrek Academy after his mutated Martial Soul awakened, was in the same situation as Ning Rongrong.

Not long after his Martial Soul awakened, Soul Beasts had gone extinct.

Then he quickly broke through to Level 10.

And then he could no longer find a Soul Beast to absorb a Soul Ring from.

Zhu Zhuqing of the Zhu Family in the faraway Star Luo Empire was in much the same situation.

Oscar was two years older, so he had not been stuck at Level 10, but he was now stuck at Level 20.

Shui Bing'er of Skywater Academy, the siblings Huo Wushuang and Huo Wu of Blazing Fire Academy, and the siblings Xie Yue and Hu Liena of Spirit Hall Academy...

In short, the geniuses who, in the original story, should have shone brilliantly at the future Soul Master Tournament were all stuck at their respective bottlenecks one year after the Soul Beasts' extinction.

Countless other Soul Masters were in the same situation.

Especially new Soul Masters.

New Soul Masters had always cultivated relatively quickly.

After the great changes in heaven and earth, the concentration of Soul Power rose, and everyone's cultivation speed multiplied several times over.

Thus, as long as they were not the absolute worst Soul Masters with Innate Soul Power below Level 2, virtually all new Soul Masters had now reached Level 10.

Every realm had trapped many people.

The lower the level, the more people were trapped.

Other than Titled Douluo, every Soul Master endured the agony of waiting.

They waited for Soul Beasts to reappear.

They also waited for the Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast Transformation to accept Spirit Hall's invitation and bring the Creation Institute experience in condensing Soul Rings.

And they waited for Spirit Hall to successfully develop Self-Condensed Soul Rings.

But no one knew that this wait of theirs

would last ten years.