Third Soul Skill! Shared Domain: Dark Swamp!

Yue Guan stood several dozen meters away, frozen stiff.

He could clearly sense an extremely subtle field fluctuation spreading through the area beneath Ning Yuan's feet.

It did not feel like an ordinary soul skill being released. This sensation was very familiar to him.

Yue Guan's pupils abruptly contracted.

"This is... the aura of a domain?!"

He instinctively released his Soul Power perception and carefully probed over, afraid of disturbing something.

When his Soul Power touched that invisible boundary, he truly felt that familiar sensation coming from within it.

It really was the embryonic form of a domain!

Yue Guan's breathing instantly hitched.

He stared fixedly at the young man standing in the center of the field with his eyes closed, his mind roaring.

How was this possible?!

How old was he? How long had it been since he awakened his martial soul? Even counting everything, he was only at the two-ring Soul Grandmaster realm right now!

What was a domain?

That was the threshold only Titled Douluo could touch, the signature ability of a Super Douluo!

Countless soul masters were stuck at rank ninety their entire lives, never able to even brush the edge of a domain.

He himself was a rank ninety-five Titled Douluo, and it was only three years ago that he had barely comprehended the immortal herb origin of the Singular Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum to the extreme and touched the threshold of a domain. Even now, he had yet to fully condense it into form.

But Ning Yuan... a child with two rings, actually already had the embryonic form of a domain?

Yue Guan had lived for nearly a hundred years and had seen geniuses as plentiful as carp crossing a river. Every one of the Golden Generation of Spirit Hall possessed heaven-bestowed talent, and even the current Pontiff, Bibi Dong, had not touched the threshold of a domain at Ning Yuan's age.

Two rings?

This was no longer genius. This was a monster who overturned common sense!

Yue Guan swallowed and forcibly suppressed the storm raging in his heart.

He looked at the faint yet stable field around the young man, then thought back to the immortal herb body-refinement approach Ning Yuan had proposed earlier and his unique insights into the essence of martial souls, and suddenly understood.

This child's comprehension had long since surpassed the limits of his age.

Others were trapped in the fixed understanding of weapon souls manifesting outwardly and beast souls possessing the body, yet he had directly touched the underlying logic of a martial soul.

This symbiote martial soul was especially unique to begin with, and after he dug down to its roots, it had prematurely given birth to the embryonic form of a domain.

It seemed outrageous, yet it was actually reasonable.

But reasonable or not, seeing a two-ring domain with his own eyes still delivered a terrifying impact.

Yue Guan stood on the cliff for a long while without coming back to his senses, the charts in his hand clenched until they wrinkled.

Right now, he had only one thought:

He had to report this to Her Holiness at once.

Spirit Hall had picked up a treasure.

No, how was this merely a treasure?

This was a monster who could shake the entire continent in the future!

After Ning Yuan finished absorbing the ten-thousand-year Abyss Demon Spider soul ring, his level directly climbed to rank thirty-three.

The pitch-black ten-thousand-year soul ring slowly rotated beneath his feet, complementing the two purple soul rings and radiating a deep and dangerous aura.

Ning Yuan stood up and loosened his muscles and bones.

The pitch-black ten-thousand-year soul ring slowly rotated beneath his feet.

[Phew—Venom is exhausted! That damn spider was pretty tough! But still...]

Venom poked its head out from Ning Yuan's shoulder and rolled its eyes.

[In the end, it still came down to Venom, right? If Venom hadn't cooperated with that domain of yours, how could it have gone so smoothly?]

[It went smoothly because you shut up.]

[...Venom has no comeback for that.]

The corner of Ning Yuan's mouth twitched slightly. He turned to look at Yue Guan, who was standing blankly on the cliff. "Elder Yue Guan, we can go back and report now."

Yue Guan swept down from the cliff, his gaze landing on the pitch-black ten-thousand-year soul ring slowly rotating beneath Ning Yuan's feet.

"What is the soul skill of your third soul ring?"

Ning Yuan raised his right hand, and the pitch-black soul ring beneath his feet suddenly lit up.

With a thought, the ground within a twenty-meter radius centered on him instantly turned into a dark-purple swamp, and countless spiderweb-like energy patterns appeared and intertwined across the ground.

"Third soul skill, Shared Domain: Dark Swamp."

"It's a range-control skill. Any target that steps into the swamp will suffer continuous suction and Toxin erosion, and their Soul Power consumption will also be forcibly increased."

After he finished speaking, Ning Yuan withdrew his Soul Power, and the ground returned to normal.

Yue Guan fell silent for two breaths, then slowly drew in a breath.

An area-control skill, carrying continuous damage and Soul Power suppression, with the coverage of a ten-thousand-year spirit ring behind it.

He had sensed it just now. Ning Yuan's third spirit skill was enough to affect even four-ring, perhaps even five-ring, soul masters.

And how old was he this year?

Six years old, and his third spirit ring had already reached the ten-thousand-year level?

Taken separately, both numbers were easy enough to understand, but put together, they became deeply baffling.

Yue Guan looked at the boy's calm eyes, and a thought flashed through his mind.

If this matter reached Qian Daoliu's ears, that former pope would likely be unable to sit still.

He did not say much, only uttered four words.

"...We'll talk after we return."

After they returned to Spirit City, Yue Guan did not let Ning Yuan go back to rest first. Instead, he brought him straight to Pope Palace.

When Bibi Dong saw the two of them return so quickly, a trace of surprise flashed through her eyes. But when she saw the brand-new black spirit ring beneath Ning Yuan's feet, that surprise turned into satisfaction.

"A ten-thousand-year third spirit ring... very good."

She had been mentally prepared for Ning Yuan to be able to absorb a ten-thousand-year spirit ring as his third.

But what Yue Guan reported next made her expression shift, bit by bit, from satisfaction into gravity.

No. Into shock.

In a voice even he himself did not realize was trembling slightly, Yue Guan recounted the process of hunting the Abyss Demon Spider.

Finally, he spoke of the embryonic form of a domain.

Bibi Dong remained silent the entire time.

When she heard the words "two-ring Soul Grandmaster, embryonic form of a domain," her fingers tightened slightly around the armrest.

For Bibi Dong, who had always been calm and self-possessed, this was a rare loss of composure before others.

It had been over ten years. She had been pope of Spirit Hall for more than a decade, and all these years, she had been suppressed by Qian Daoliu. It had truly been stifling.

But now things were different. Now she had actually taken in as her disciple a heaven-defying monster who, as a two-ring Soul Grandmaster, could comprehend the embryonic form of a domain. It seemed the heavens were still on her side after all.

Qian Daoliu, Qian Xunji, just you wait. In just a few years, all of Spirit Hall, the entire continent, will be mine!

She did not speak immediately, only stared at Ning Yuan for a long time.

Within those beautiful eyes, usually so cold, far too many complicated emotions churned at this moment.

After a long while, she slowly spoke, her voice carrying a trace of excitement that was difficult to detect.

"...Good. Very good."

This woman really seemed scared just now. Little Ning Yuan, did you see that? That expression of hers was a first even for Venom!

Venom muttered quietly in Ning Yuan's mind, his tone carrying a hint of gloating.

Do you think she'll give you extra food when we get back? Venom's standards aren't high. Just enough to eat our fill!

If you don't shut up, tonight's extra meal is canceled.

...Capitalist.

Bibi Dong naturally sensed Venom's inner monologue.

She did not waste words.

"Ning Yuan, hear my command."

"Your disciple is here."

"From this day onward, your resource quota will be tripled on top of what it already is. In the spirit bone reserve, any dark-attribute spirit bone compatible with you will be yours to choose first."

"All materials needed for cultivation may be drawn directly, without approval."

Yue Guan and Ghost stood to the side. They exchanged a glance, and both saw the shock in each other's eyes.

This treatment was unprecedented in the history of Spirit Hall.

Ning Yuan bowed. "Thank you, Your Holiness."

"You may withdraw. Cultivate well." Bibi Dong paused, then added, "Spirit Hall will pave the road ahead for you."

Ning Yuan turned and left the hall.

After he had gone far away, Bibi Dong leaned back into her chair, her fingertips tapping lightly on the armrest as the curve of her lips rose inch by inch.

"Yue Guan."

"Your subordinate is here."

"Pass down my order. During the Holy Son's cultivation, no one is to disturb him. Whatever resources he wants are to be allocated with priority, no approval required."

Yue Guan bowed. "Yes."

Six years passed in the blink of an eye.

In the cultivation chamber of Spirit Hall's Holy Son Palace, Ning Yuan slowly opened his eyes.

"Level fifty-eight now..."