Qiangu Zhangting looked at Chen Zhou, his teeth clenched. He no longer made any effort to hide the ferocity on his face.
As the inheritor of the Evil-Breaking Dragon Martial Soul, no matter how carefree and elegant he seemed on the surface, deep down he was gradually becoming more and more insane.
Or rather, under this kind of upbringing, there was no way he could remain sane.
Yet as Chen Zhou looked at Qiangu Zhangting, whose madness had reached its peak and who seemed to have lost all reason, his expression remained completely unchanged.
"I see. Then I hope you kill them thoroughly. Better yet, don't even bury them. If you can scatter their ashes, that would be best."
"Keep it up, Young Tower Master. I hope that one day, you worthless fool, you'll be able to fight me openly and honestly without relying on your status."
Chen Zhou's voice was calm, his tone barely stirring.
But his indifferent words carried the sharpest mockery, and Qiangu Zhangting's body trembled as he heard them.
He wanted to retort, but had no idea what to say.
Before he could speak, Chen Zhou's impossibly fair fingers had already touched his body.
Terrifying power gathered, as the Water of Destruction and Water of Life enveloped Qiangu Zhangting's body at the same time.
Chen Lengjing, who had been on Qiangu Zhangting, sprang away and turned back into a Soul Spirit, reentering Chen Zhou's body. The two streams of water abruptly wrapped around Qiangu Zhangting, making him throw his head back and let out a scream.
The damage sensation in the Riot Spirit Ascension Platform could be lowered to a minimum of 20%.
But for the sake of realism, this time the damage sensation had been set to 50%.
A 50% damage sensation was no joke.
Watching Qiangu Zhangting's furious, agonized state, Qiangu Dongfeng had already risen to his feet outside. The aura of a Limit Douluo surged wildly around him.
But Leng Yaozhu sat beside him, and the aura of a peak, Level 98 Super Douluo radiated from her as well.
Her aura was not as powerful as Qiangu Dongfeng's, but it was not far off.
Feeling Leng Yaozhu's aura, the two met each other's gaze, but Qiangu Dongfeng did not act for the moment.
Chen Zhou wasn't a fool, either. He knew when to quit while he was ahead.
It was enough to torture the future Young Tower Master a bit. If he tortured him to death, there was no way Chen Zhou would survive once he got out.
With that thought, Chen Zhou slowly withdrew his hand.
Under the terrifying fluctuations of power, Qiangu Zhangting before him shattered, turning into a sky full of points of light. The spiritual power that belonged to him gathered around Chen Zhou as well.
Chen Zhou's aura began to rise. As he absorbed a large amount of spiritual power, the three-thousand-year bottleneck finally disappeared.
Feeling his body change, Chen Zhou trembled slightly.
Chen Zhou calmly closed his eyes and sat cross-legged. A water-element shield slowly gathered around him, protecting his body.
Chen Zhou emerged two hours later.
Although he had to complete his advancement outside, he wanted the reward for taking first place. So besides controlling Chen Lengjing to attack Soul Beasts, he continued hunting Soul Beasts himself—and also killed all the other Spirit Transmitters' disciples.
Eight people had come this time. Aside from himself, Chen Zhou had killed six. He hadn't found the last one.
But his score was definitely the highest, so he didn't linger and slowly teleported out.
As Chen Zhou awoke in the real world, his eyes fluttered open, and Chen Lengjing appeared beside him as well.
The deep-blue serpent coiled around Chen Zhou's body, and its own body began to evolve.
Its originally deep-purple Soul Ring gradually shifted toward a pale black, until it had turned completely black.
The terrifying aura of a Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring spread out. Chen Zhou calmly opened his eyes and looked directly at Chen Lengjing.
Chen Lengjing was affected as well.
Chen Zhou now had to choose its path: should he let it grow into a fully aggressive great serpent, or a snake that specialized in ambushes?
Chen Zhou pondered for a second.
His own offense and defense were well balanced, and his strength was absurdly high, but he was lacking when it came to ambushes.
Aside from being able to teleport, he didn't currently have any particularly effective techniques for sneaking up on people.
As Chen Lengjing's intelligence improved, its coordination with Chen Zhou would only grow more seamless, so having it specialize in ambushes would work very well.
After Chen Zhou made his choice, Chen Lengjing's body began to tremble slightly.
Slender tendrils of flesh slowly extended from its lower jaw. They were the legs of a dragon, though they had not yet fully grown.
But seeing those five slender little legs, Chen Zhou's eyes lit up slightly.
Chen Lengjing's evolutionary path also led toward becoming a Divine Dragon, though it would have to reach at least a hundred thousand years before it could truly become one.
But once it reached tens of thousands of years, or even higher, it would transform completely into a wyrm.
At that moment, however, Chen Lengjing's body had shrunk from its original three or four meters to less than half a meter.
Its body was small, but its scales had grown several layers thicker.
Seen from afar, it looked just like a giant electric drill. Paired with its icy, inverted-triangle eyes, it radiated a terrifying killing intent.
And that wasn't all. As Chen Lengjing grew stronger, the effects of the two Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Skills granted by its Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring would also grow more powerful.
Both its first and second Soul Skills had nearly doubled in power.
There was no need to mention Clear Stream Dragon Breath. Its attack power had multiplied several times, and the water pillars it could once condense had become thirty-six.
The second Soul Skill's area of effect had expanded from less than a hundred meters to around five hundred. That was already a huge range.
And this time, it didn't just pelt the ground with raindrops; it began to drizzle.
A light rain fell across the sky, each drop possessing powerful penetrating force. They could even explode upon striking a person's body.
The improvement was immense. Even Chen Zhou was delighted.
But when he stood up and the doors opened, he saw that the black-clad men who had brought him here had been subdued. Chen Zhou's expression remained calm.
"Young Master Chen Zhou, the Tower Master and Deputy Tower Master would like to see you. Please come with me to the top floor."
The black-clad man in the lead spoke, glanced at Qiangu Chen Zhou, then silently gestured for him to follow.
Chen Zhou didn't mind and followed the black-clad man straight to the top floor of the Spirit Pagoda.
This was the highest floor of the Spirit Pagoda, and its most central location.
As the meeting room doors opened, Qiangu Dongfeng was already seated inside, leisurely sipping tea. Qiangu Zhangting sat beside him.
But the once-cold, noble young master now had not a trace of arrogance in his eyes—only a deep, thick hatred.
His gaze was fixed on Chen Zhou.
From the moment Chen Zhou had entered, Qiangu Zhangting's eyes had locked onto him.
Chen Zhou didn't care in the slightest.
Instead, he bowed to Qiangu Zhangting, who had already gone mad.
"This junior, Chen Zhou, pays his respects to the Tower Master and Deputy Tower Master."