Competition and Rewards

If having two or three rings at the age of nine could be considered normal, then possessing three or even four rings at the age of six was simply not the behavior of a normal person.

This situation was akin to a tree standing taller than the forest, destined to be broken by the wind; whether from within the Qiangu Clan or elsewhere, Chen Zhou would inevitably face suppression.

Chen Zhou was a genius, and the Qiangu Clan would do their utmost to nurture and assist him, helping him become a powerhouse who could protect the clan.

However, if Chen Zhou were to become eligible to contend for the position of Clan Head, the first thing the main branch would do is find a way to kill him—and they would spare no effort in doing so.

Chen Zhou could foresee this, so instead of continuing his cultivation, he turned his attention to studying forging techniques.

He hadn't asked Mu Chen for further forging techniques before leaving, but he hadn't fully grasped the knowledge imparted to him by Laite either.

Therefore, he was currently focusing on comprehending the portion of forging knowledge that Laite had previously passed on to him.

In particular, completing a Hundred Refinement directly through the Water of Destruction allowed for a very fast and powerful forging speed, which was exactly what Chen Zhou needed.

The night passed quickly.

In the morning, Chen Zhou was summoned out by someone. The man in black who arrived was a special subordinate of the Spirit Pagoda's upper echelon, someone not easily mobilized by ordinary people.

Only a select few high-ranking officials could have sent him.

The man stated that someone wished to see him, which actually left Chen Zhou feeling a bit bewildered.

It wasn't until he followed the man toward the Spirit Pagoda headquarters that Chen Zhou realized the person calling for him was likely not from the upper echelons of the Qiangu Clan, but someone else entirely.

Recalling the note his teacher had given him, along with the sensitive status of the East Sea City Spirit Pagoda, the identity of that person became increasingly obvious.

Taking the elevator to the top floor of the Spirit Pagoda, he arrived at the highest-level office, a place only the Pagoda Master and a few Vice Pagoda Masters were qualified to enter.

Chen Zhou entered a massive hall and walked for a long time before reaching a secluded area, where he slowly opened a door.

It was a door made entirely of gilded gold; it looked somewhat archaic, and neither its location nor its level was something the elders could inhabit.

As the man in black stood respectfully at the entrance, the door slowly creaked open after a few minutes, and the man gestured for Chen Zhou to enter.

Looking at the gilded door before him, Chen Zhou paused for a moment before slowly walking inside.

The first thing that met his eyes was a massive office, covering an area of about two hundred square meters.

However, the office was in a state of chaos, with all sorts of files strewn about randomly, and a woman sat behind the enormous desk.

The woman had long, fiery red hair, and her expression carried a hint of coldness.

She had her legs propped up on the desk, and as Chen Zhou walked in, she lifted her head slightly to look at him.

"You are Qiangu Qingzhou, the collateral descendant of the Qiangu Clan? Chen Mo's disciple."

The woman looked at Chen Zhou, speaking directly and without the slightest attempt to hide her tone. Seeing the woman's appearance, Chen Zhou was stunned for a moment before nodding gently.

"Greetings, Senior. I am indeed Chen Mo's disciple and a collateral descendant of the Qiangu Clan. May I ask who you are, and what is your purpose in calling for me?"

As Chen Zhou spoke, he kept his head lowered, projecting an image of extreme caution and respect.

He naturally knew who the woman was, but the best approach was to play dumb.

Sure enough, the woman glanced at him, saw his confused expression, and simply let out a soft scoff.

"Your talent is quite high. I heard from Chen Mo that he used several ten-thousand-year spirit herbs on you?"

"And combined with some special methods, because your martial soul is quite unique, he managed to get you to the two-ring level in a short time."

The woman paused here; she didn't believe a word of it.

However, before Chen Zhou could speak, she continued on her own.

"Your talent is indeed quite good, so I will give you this opportunity. Regardless of whether you succeed or not, your age and talent alone are enough to disgust that old man, Qiangu Dongfeng."

As she spoke, the woman smiled slightly, a wicked expression appearing on her cold face.

This sent a chill down Chen Zhou's spine, especially when she mentioned Qiangu Dongfeng; he didn't need to think twice to know this definitely had something to do with the current Pagoda Master of the Spirit Pagoda.

This wasn't good news for Chen Zhou, even though the woman's words sounded like a stroke of fortune.

Yet, this fortune seemed to be built upon the foundation of offending the Spirit Pagoda Master and the main branch.

Anyone else would surely be fearful, perhaps even afraid to accept, but for Chen Zhou, he didn't care much about Qiangu Dongfeng.

If he wanted to take control of the Spirit Pagoda, it might actually be better to reach an agreement with this woman now.

Given her status and strength, if she were to support him from behind the scenes, seizing the position of Pagoda Master would be much easier.

"Please enlighten me, Senior; I don't quite understand what you mean."

Chen Zhou cupped his hands, his expression remaining unchanged from start to finish—no sign of distress, nor any sign of pleasant surprise.

Watching the composed youth before her, Leng Yaozhu slowly lowered her legs from the desk, stood up, and looked the boy straight in the eye.

"A few of us have started a little game. Within one hour, whoever's disciple kills the most spirit beasts in the Riot Spirit Ascension Platform and earns the highest points gets to choose a hundred-thousand-year spirit bone."

"They all have disciples, so I decided to have you go. You can probably guess the purpose of this competition: it's meant to hand that spirit bone to the grandson of that old man, Qiangu Dongfeng."

Leng Yaozhu spoke quite bluntly; she didn't have a disciple of her own anyway, so it didn't matter to her who she sent.

As for the reward, it was the right to select a spirit bone of over one hundred thousand years from the Spirit Pagoda's treasury.

One had to realize that even within the Spirit Pagoda, the number of spirit bones over one hundred thousand years old was extremely scarce, and one could only possibly obtain such a bone by slaying a hundred-thousand-year spirit beast.

As the Star Dou Great Forest underwent rapid development, very few hundred-thousand-year soul beasts had actually been killed.

Therefore, the number of hundred-thousand-year soul bones within the Spirit Pagoda should be quite limited.

Thinking of this, Chen Zhou's eyes flickered slightly; naturally, he also wanted to possess a soul bone.

However, neither he nor Neuvillette could create something like a soul bone out of thin air, so he still needed to find a way to obtain one.

Furthermore, once he possessed a soul bone, Neuvillette would very likely help him modify it.

Sure enough, just as Chen Zhou was pondering, Neuvillette's voice resonated within his mind.

[You can go and forcefully strive for one. Soul bones should be related to the operation of the laws in this world of yours.]

[Once you are able to obtain a sufficiently powerful soul bone, I can imprint the relevant laws of the Hydro element onto it.]

[This will allow you to gain additional bonuses or special abilities, while also retaining the original power of that soul bone, or even amplifying it.]