Time Flies, Nine Years Later

As spring gave way to autumn, nine years passed quietly before anyone realized it.

Nine years later, Mu Tianchen was no longer the little boy who had stood only 1.2 meters tall.

After nine years of growth, the fifteen-year-old Mu Tianchen had become a handsome youth standing 1.85 meters tall, broad-shouldered and imposing.

His platinum-blond hair fell over his shoulders, and he radiated an aura of light that made people unable to resist drawing close.

Six years ago, when Mu Tianchen had just turned nine, he successfully absorbed ten drops of Holy Dragon of Light Essence Blood, each comparable to that of a human Level 99 Limit Douluo. Both his physique and bloodline strength were greatly enhanced.

The moment he successfully fused the ten drops of Holy Dragon of Light Essence Blood, his Holy Dragon of Light Martial Soul seemed to undergo an evolution.

A sacred aura shrouded heaven and earth. The Holy Dragon of Light Martial Soul grew enormously, and an incomparably dazzling halo even appeared behind it.

In ancient times, that had been the Halo of God that only true dragons who had become gods could possess.

Yet as time passed, Douluo Continent had long since lost all records concerning the Halo of God.

Even Leng Yaozhu, who had advanced to Level 99 Limit Douluo, could not identify the halo behind the Holy Dragon of Light.

She could only sense that her disciple's Holy Dragon of Light had become even more powerful. Even her Heavenly Phoenix Martial Soul showed a trace of respect and awe before Mu Tianchen's Holy Dragon of Light Martial Soul.

This discovery left Leng Yaozhu utterly shocked. She found that she seemed to understand her disciple less and less.

Fortunately, everything was developing in a positive direction.

So afterward, she stopped dwelling on the changes in Mu Tianchen and instead continued investing more cultivation resources into him.

At the age of nine, Mu Tianchen successfully broke through Level 35 and officially became a three-ring Soul Elder, breaking the Spirit Pagoda's record and becoming the fastest Soul Master in ten thousand years to reach the three-ring Soul Elder rank.

At the same time, his first Soul Spirit, the Golden-Haired Lion Mastiff, successfully broke through to the thousand-year level. All three of his Soul Rings became thousand-year Soul Rings, and it gained the ability to transform into a weapon.

The weapon transformed from the Golden-Haired Lion Mastiff was a golden halberd. Including both shaft and blade, it measured three meters long. It was a heavy long-handled combat weapon that no one without innate divine strength could wield.

From then on, Mu Tianchen rarely went out. He hardly even left the Spirit Pagoda Headquarters building.

Most of the time, he either improved his forging skills in the Forging Room or cultivated the Golden-Haired Lion Mastiff Body Tempering Method and the Spirit Pagoda's supreme meditation technique, the Vortex Meditation Method.

One reason he did not go out was that the plot had not begun yet, so there was nothing interesting about wandering around.

Another was that he was too weak. Even with the protection of his teacher's Heavenly Phoenix Feather, he still did not feel safe enough.

So, he decided to devote more of his time to cultivation.

Once he started cultivating, he became a madman. For instance, when Qin Jianxin personally came to invite him to explore a secret realm that might contain Spirit Bones, he still refused to go.

Later, even when Leng Qingshuang and Lin Tiannan came to introduce him to several beautiful girls, he refused. He simply stayed in the Spirit Pagoda Headquarters building and continued absorbing his ten drops of Holy Dragon of Light Essence Blood.

This Holy Dragon of Light truly deserved to be called a powerful true dragon from ancient times. Its ten drops of essence blood were genuinely difficult to absorb.

Even though his Martial Soul was the Holy Dragon of Light, he still needed Leng Yaozhu's assistance to absorb them perfectly.

By then, his teacher Leng Yaozhu had successfully broken through to Level 99 and become a peak Limit Douluo powerhouse.

Mu Tianchen cultivated while comprehending the mysteries of his own Martial Soul.

Gradually, he seemed to sense the truth of this world. After that, he completely became a cultivation maniac.

At this moment, at Spirit Pagoda Headquarters.

Mu Tianchen, now a tall youth, stood on a balcony on the thirty-eighth floor, gazing down at the vast sky.

Below him lay a prosperous city, while above was an azure sky. As far as the eye could see, not a single building around him could compare to the Spirit Pagoda Headquarters building where he stood.

This eighty-one-story Spirit Pagoda Headquarters building seemed to embody the Spirit Pagoda's current standing throughout the Federation.

Now fifteen years old, he had grown even taller than he had been nine years ago. It was as if stars revolved within his eyes, and a powerful aura emanated from his entire body.

"Brother Tianchen, are you about to leave for East Sea City? I heard your father and mother are there too."

A lovely figure approached. She wore a pink dress, her face carrying an orchid-like smile. Standing there, she seemed like a peerless beauty beneath heaven and earth.

That was right. This stunning girl was Qiangu Dongfeng's granddaughter, Qiangu Tinglan.

Like Mu Tianchen, Qiangu Tinglan was also fifteen this year.

Mu Tianchen smiled faintly. "Yes, I'm preparing to leave for East Sea City. I've been at the Spirit Pagoda for a full nine years. During those nine years, I never went anywhere. I've just stayed at Spirit Pagoda Headquarters and cultivated nonstop. I'm getting a little tired of it."

Even he had not expected that he could remain in the Spirit Pagoda Headquarters building for so long. He had thought he would leave Spirit Pagoda Headquarters and travel the continent after absorbing the ten drops of Holy Dragon of Light Essence Blood.

Over these nine years, he had not returned home even once.

It truly proved what his teacher had said: the strong were always lonely.

Of course, there were other reasons he had not gone back, but those could not be explained in detail.

Nine years ago, he had just turned six. After awakening his Holy Dragon of Light Martial Soul and Innate Level 20 Soul Power, he had been accepted as the personal disciple of Sky Phoenix Douluo Leng Yaozhu.

Later, he contracted the ancient beast king, the Golden-Haired Lion Mastiff Soul Spirit, officially embarking on the path to becoming strong.

Afterward, during the Riot Period in the Spirit Ascension Platform, he had been shredded by a single sword strike from Qin Jianxin, the Spirit Pagoda's greatest genius. That had been the first time he experienced death since coming to this world.

Later, under Qiangu Tinglan's lead, he attended the Shrek City Auction House. At the auction, his teacher obtained ten drops of Holy Dragon of Light essence blood from ancient times for him.

From then on, he had remained in the Spirit Pagoda Headquarters building, consuming the Holy Dragon of Light's essence blood while cultivating the Vortex Meditation Method and the Golden-Haired Lion Mastiff Body Tempering Method bestowed upon him by the Golden-Haired Lion Mastiff.

After nine years of cultivation, he had trained both techniques to an extremely high level.

His talent in the Vortex Meditation Method had even shocked Sky Phoenix Douluo. While others needed decades to reach the seventh level, he had achieved it in merely nine years.

Furthermore, he had also cultivated the Golden-Haired Lion Mastiff clan's body tempering method to the seventh level. Though only fifteen years old, his physical strength was already comparable to that of an ordinary Title Douluo.

His strength was now exceptionally formidable. Even Tang Wulin's teacher, Sky Ice Wu Kongkong, might not be his match.

Qiangu Tinglan sighed. "Brother Jianxin joined the army. Sister Qingling entered the Federation's War God Temple. That guy Lin Tiannan also went with Sister Qingshuang to Star Luo Continent, saying they wanted to train somewhere else."

"Now even you're returning to East Sea City. Spirit Pagoda Headquarters is really becoming more and more boring."

"Uh... well, that's actually quite normal. Everyone has grown up, after all."

Mu Tianchen was briefly stunned by her words. Once he came to his senses, he scratched his head and smiled awkwardly.

The Brother Jianxin Qiangu Tinglan mentioned was Qin Jianxin, the Spirit Pagoda's greatest genius and a super Soul Master with the Seven Kill Sword Martial Soul. One year ago, Qin Jianxin had broken through to become a seven-ring Soul Saint. In search of an opportunity to break through further, he went to the Northwest Continent and joined the Western Legion.

The Western Legion was one of the Federation's strongest legions. Its commander was Fierce Wolf Douluo Dong Zi'an, a hawkish military powerhouse with the rank of general and the cultivation of a Level 99 Limit Douluo.

Qin Jianxin joining the Western Legion should have been a good choice.

In truth, during these nine years at Spirit Pagoda Headquarters, he had become close friends with Qin Jianxin, who possessed the Seven Kill Sword Martial Soul; Lin Tiannan, who possessed the Golden Crocodile King Martial Soul; Leng Qingshuang, who possessed the Ice Phoenix Martial Soul; and Lin Kuang, who possessed the Tyrant Blade Martial Soul.

But as they grew older, they each found their own paths.

And now, he too was returning to East Sea City to see his younger brother, who had already become the class monitor of East Sea Zero Class.