Mental Power

Ning Rongrong stood not far behind Sword Douluo, her small hands tightly clutching the corners of her clothes.

She was eight years old now, a little taller than she had been two years ago. The contours of the future greatest beauty of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect could already faintly be seen in her features.

Her delicate face was currently filled with anxiety and heartache. Her reddened eyes brimmed with tears, her lips bitten pale, yet she stubbornly held back her tears.

She stared at Li Hanche.

She watched the veins bulging on his forehead, the thread of dark red blood seeping from the corner of his mouth, and the fingers gripping his spear trembling from excessive force.

Over the past two years, this bastard had gone from "damn Li Hanche" to "bastard," then from "bastard" to the occasional "hey" that she only called him when no one was paying attention.

Every time he came to the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, he made her angry. He stole her delicious food, used the trees in her courtyard as targets for spear practice, and even called her favorite piece of jade rough "some greenish rock."

Now, watching him struggle to remain standing, his mouth full of blood, she felt as if an invisible hand had fiercely clenched her heart.

She reached out and grabbed Sword Douluo's sleeve, tugging it hard twice.

"Sword Grandpa, that's enough! Li Hanche can't hold on anymore!"

Her voice trembled with a tearful quaver, but it held even more clumsy, heartbroken urgency.

Sword Dao Chen Xin did not look at her, nor did he withdraw his pressure.

His gaze remained fixed on Li Hanche, and a complicated glint flashed deep within his eyes.

Then he raised his other hand and increased the pressure by another level.

At that instant, Li Hanche's body jolted violently. He finally could not hold on any longer.

One knee slammed into the ground, leaving a crater.

With his head lowered, he opened his mouth and spat a mouthful of dark red blood onto the ice before him. The warmth of the blood melted a small depression into the ice, sending up faint wisps of steam.

For a moment, his consciousness blurred. All he could hear was his own ragged breathing and the frantic pounding of his heart in his chest.

Ning Fengzhi moved.

The Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Pagoda appeared in his palm. Seven-colored light poured down from the pagoda, falling upon Li Hanche like a gentle rainbow bridge.

Ning Rongrong released Sword Douluo's sleeve and ran toward the center of the open ground.

She ran to Li Hanche's side and crouched down. Without caring whether the ice chips on the ground would dirty her little dress, she grabbed his arm and draped it over her shoulder.

Li Hanche's breathing gradually steadied. Ning Fengzhi's treatment had come in time, and the crushing, suffocating pain in his internal organs was rapidly fading.

He raised a hand and wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth with the back of it, then withdrew his arm from Ning Rongrong's shoulder. He raised his head and looked at Sword Dao Chen Xin, who stood before him with his hands behind his back.

"Teacher, can my second soul ring withstand ten thousand years now?"

The scene fell silent for a moment.

Sword Dao Chen Xin remained silent and did not answer immediately.

Ning Fengzhi withdrew the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Pagoda without speaking.

Bone Douluo shifted his gaze from Li Hanche to Sword Dao Chen Xin.

There had never been such a precedent on the Douluo Continent. Sword Dao Chen Xin and Ning Fengzhi had personally witnessed a first soul ring of two thousand one hundred years.

But the gap between ten thousand years and one thousand years was far greater than the gap between one thousand years and one hundred years.

When a ten-thousand-year soul beast died, it left behind a complete, condensed spiritual assault containing all the ferocity and consciousness it possessed in life.

That was a true soul attack, striking directly at the Sea of Consciousness.

If he failed to endure it, at best his Sea of Consciousness would be damaged and he would become an idiot. At worst, his soul would be obliterated and he would die on the spot.

Just as Sword Dao Chen Xin was about to speak, Ning Rongrong had already helped Li Hanche to his feet.

He looked down at her. Her eyes were still red, a tear she had failed to hold back clinging to her eyelashes, while the tip of her nose was flushed.

"Little brother, you've got some sense after all."

Ning Rongrong immediately twisted his arm.

"Hmph."

After twisting him, she did not add, as she usually did, "Who's your little brother?" Nor did she chase after him and curse, "Damn Li Hanche." She merely huffed and continued supporting his arm.

After two years, she had become too lazy to correct that form of address.

Sword Dao Chen Xin's voice sounded, his tone more solemn than when he usually taught.

"Hanche, are you certain you want to challenge a ten-thousand-year second soul ring? The spiritual assault of a ten-thousand-year soul beast, with your current mental power..."

He paused and did not finish. But his meaning was already clear.

Ning Fengzhi took over, his voice gentle and steady.

"Hanche, don't rush. I'll have the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect gather anything on the continent that may benefit mental power. Heavenly treasures, soul bones—if they have ever existed, there should be some records of them. Before you are fully prepared, do not attempt a breakthrough rashly."

Li Hanche was still bickering with Ning Rongrong.

"Did you hear that, little brother? Uncle Ning is going to help me find good things. Once my mental power soars, don't let me leave you too far behind."

"Who cares! What does it have to do with me whether your mental power improves or not?!"

"Of course it concerns you. You're my little brother. If you fall too far behind, I'll lose face."

"Who needs you to worry about your face?!"

He came back to his senses and turned toward Ning Fengzhi and Sword Dao Chen Xin, the grin still not entirely gone from his face.

"Ah, understood, Uncle Ning, Teacher."

At the edge of the open ground, Ning Fengzhi, Sword Dao Chen Xin, and Bone Douluo stood together, watching the two children argue back and forth.

Ning Rongrong was still supporting his arm. Her mouth fiercely snapped, "Who cares," but her hand unconsciously tightened a little.

Li Hanche continued teasing her without fear for his life, looking nothing like someone who had just spat out a mouthful of blood.

Ning Fengzhi's hand behind his back relaxed slightly.

A smile spread across Sword Dao Chen Xin's aged yet refined face, creeping out from the corners of his eyes.

Bone Douluo nudged Sword Douluo's arm with his elbow and muttered something in a low voice, earning a glare from Sword Douluo.

As the three watched the scene before them, they all revealed the same smile.

The sort of indulgent, knowing smile that outsiders might not understand, but which they all silently shared.

An attack-type soul master, an auxiliary-type soul master—and an attack-type soul master capable of challenging opponents more than twenty levels above him—who was also a disciple of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.

Ning Fengzhi withdrew his gaze and turned to Bone Douluo and Sword Douluo.

"Let's go back to the council hall. Some records concerning heavenly treasures that enhance mental power are hidden deep within the library. We'll need to search carefully."

The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect moved quickly.

That very day, Ning Fengzhi dispatched three groups to the headquarters of the continent's three major auction houses to retrieve lists of rare treasures from the past ten years. At the same time, in his capacity as sect master, he sent letters to several friendly factions, asking whether they possessed any rare treasures or exotic herbs beneficial to mental power.

Bone Douluo did not remain idle either. He buried himself in the sect's library, specifically searching through the handwritten notes left behind by generations of predecessors.

The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect had been established for hundreds of years and possessed a deep foundation, but finding heavenly treasures specifically suited to mental power was not something that could be done overnight.