Dugu Yan's Separated Spirit

At this time, with his father just deceased, Ning Fengzhi, who had ascended to the position of Seven Treasures Glazed Sect Master, had also received intelligence regarding the alliance between the Heaven Dou Empire, the Star Luo Empire, and other factions.

Ning Fengzhi's long-dormant ambition to "stand independent" suddenly flickered back to life from the ashes!

As the subject of a political marriage with Spirit Hall, Ning Fengzhi had long since married Bibi Dong.

However, Ning Fengzhi's stance was: I came to Spirit Hall for this marriage to be the Pope's consort! I don't care who the Pope is, but I must be the Pope's consort!

Yet, reality was cruel; Qian Xunji's final testament explicitly named Qian Xunqian as the Pope, while Bibi Dong remained the Saintess.

Furthermore, Qian Xunqian was younger than Bibi Dong and possessed even greater talent; it was impossible for her to abdicate so early—at the very least, one would have to wait forty years.

In all the world, has there ever been a forty-year-old Saintess? In all the world, has there ever been a forty-year-old Saintess consort?

Not only that, but Qian Xunqian also had a niece with innate full spirit power of level 20—Qian Renxue. In Ning Fengzhi's eyes, the position of Pope would undoubtedly be passed to Qian Renxue; Bibi Dong shouldn't even bother dreaming about it.

Originally, he had come for this marriage so that his next generation would have a chance to become Pope, at which point, with a little maneuvering, he could change the surname of Spirit Hall to "Ning"!

However, that hope was shattered; he was now nothing more than the insignificant husband of a Saintess.

Back then, Qian Xunqian had looked upon him with great disdain and had deliberately withheld the Silk Velvet Tulip from him. If not for Qian Xunji's desire to win over the Seven Treasures Glazed Sect, his own spirit would never have evolved into the Nine Treasures Glazed Pagoda!

Now that Qian Xunqian had become Pope, Ning Fengzhi was even more terrified. Although the Seven Treasures Glazed Sect had nominally joined Spirit Hall, it actually retained a high degree of autonomy, and the sect's headquarters remained in the Heaven Dou Empire rather than moving to Spirit City.

He feared that if Qian Xunqian took a dislike to him, she might launch a decapitation strike, slaughter him, and then seize the Seven Treasures Glazed Sect with thunderous momentum. If that happened, all the hard work of the Ning family over the past millennium would go down the drain!

Bibi Dong and Qian Xunqian shared an extremely close relationship and were, in practice, the second-in-command of Spirit Hall. Though he and Bibi Dong had the name of husband and wife, they lacked the reality of it; it was a purely political marriage.

He reckoned that when the time came, the one to kill him would be the very person sleeping by his side...

Bibi Dong: "Fengzhi, it's time to take your medicine..."

No! It was too terrifying! He had to escape Spirit Hall! He would lead the Seven Treasures Glazed Sect to ally with the Heaven Dou Empire, ensuring the sect remained out of Spirit Hall's grasp—it would remain the Ning family's Seven Treasures Glazed Sect!

Meanwhile, Dugu Bo brought his teenage granddaughter to the Pope's Palace, hoping to have Qian Xunqian provide some guidance to the girl.

Although Dugu Yan had not awakened the Jade Phosphor Snake Emperor spirit like him, but rather a common Jade Phosphor Snake, her foundation was solid, with an innate spirit power of level 7. With hard work and the guidance of Her Holiness the Pope, she had a promising future as a Titled Douluo.

"Greetings, Your Holiness the Pope." The two bowed to Qian Xunqian.

Although Qian Xunqian had been Pope for several years, she stood on no ceremony when not in public, walking up enthusiastically to pinch Dugu Yan's chubby, baby-faced cheeks.

"Dugu Bo, your Dugu family is truly thriving; this generation has produced such a beautiful child!"

Upon hearing this, Dugu Bo grew indignant and said:

"Your Holiness, when I was young, I was the pride of the Douluo Continent. Back then, there were lines of women fighting to marry me—the length of that line couldn't even compare to the distance from the Heaven Dou Royal Academy to the Heaven Dou Imperial Palace!"

"Alright, alright. How is the child's cultivation? Have you taken her to soak in the pools to practice poison arts?"

Dugu Bo replied: "Yan-yan is currently a level 24 Great Spirit Master, but I worry her constitution cannot yet bear it, so I intended to wait until she reached level 40 before starting her on the poison arts!"

Qian Xunqian nodded and said with a smile: "As it happens, I have a method for cultivating a 'Separated Spirit' specifically for Beast Spirits, which is quite suitable for your Jade Phosphor Snake spirit. Yan-yan, would you like to learn it?"

Dugu Bo was experienced, after all, and expressed his doubts: "Your Holiness, how does this 'Separated Spirit' differ from an ordinary Beast Spirit? Will there be any side effects for Yan-yan?"

Qian Xunqian patiently explained to Dugu Bo: "This method allows the spirit to separate from the human body, dividing a Spirit Master who would normally rely on spirit possession into a mobile Spirit Master and a spirit capable of fighting on its own."

"For Assault-type and Defense-type Spirit Masters, the difference is negligible, but for Control-type Spirit Masters—especially those of you who use poison like the Jade Phosphor Snake—imagine this: the Jade Phosphor Snake releases poison-type spirit skills independently, while Yan-yan, if she improves her physical fitness, can also act as an Assault-type Spirit Master. How would an opponent ever parry such an attack?"

Dugu Bo imagined the scene: the Jade Phosphor Snake spirit spraying poison from the side, causing the opponent's condition to decline, and just then, Dugu Yan striking with a punch—the implications were staggering.

Moreover, the greatest advantage of a Separated Spirit was turning a one-on-one battle into a two-on-one. If an opponent became entangled with Dugu Yan, the separated Jade Phosphor Snake could deliver a sneak attack from behind with a dragon-tail whip. Tsk, tsk, tsk...

As Qian Xunqian said, the Separated Spirit was best suited for Control-type Spirit Masters. Since their spirit skills were generally for control rather than amplification, spirit possession was essentially a bug that bound the Spirit Master themselves. It was far better to let the spirit detach to handle the control while the Spirit Master became an attacker—control plus burst damage, a righteous two-on-one. Excellent!

"Then, what if Yan-yan's future spirit skills include self-amplification? If the spirit is already separated and all the spirit rings are on the snake, wouldn't that be a waste of a spirit ring?"

Dugu Bo raised another question.

"During the process of releasing the Separated Spirit, this technique of mine also allows for the allocation of spirit rings. You can choose at will which rings go to the spirit and which remain to amplify the body!"

"Good! Good! Good!" Dugu Bo exclaimed three times; he could hardly wait for his granddaughter to learn this Separated Spirit cultivation technique!

Qian Xunqian ultimately rejected the idea of using a spirit beast to host the spirit. After all, the growth cycle of a spirit beast was completely different from a human's. If she used a hundred-year beast, it wouldn't be able to bear Dugu Yan's spirit; if she used a thousand-year beast, by the time Dugu Yan reached the Spirit King level, the beast still wouldn't be able to sustain the spirit.

This method would require frequent replacement of spirit beasts, or one would have to find an eighty-thousand-year beast from the start. However, the mental strength of an eighty-thousand-year beast was far too powerful; Dugu Yan's mental strength would be completely unable to establish a contract with it.

The second method was better: improve mental strength, practice Distraction Control, and use mental power to peel the spirit away from the body—it could be released and retracted at will, which was very convenient.

Using mental power to control the spirit also allowed one to access the vision perceived by the spirit, enabling a more comprehensive understanding of the opponent's every move and allowing for pre-emptive strikes.

As she thought about this, Qian Xunqian pinched the tender cheek of the young Dugu Yan before her and said with a sweet smile:

"Yan-yan, would you like Big Sister Pope to be your teacher?"