A Thousand-Year First Spirit Ring!

The young girl's clear and firm voice echoed through the valley of the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well.

Dugu Bo looked at the hope shimmering in his granddaughter's eyes, and his own eyes instantly turned red.

He reached out with trembling hands to gently stroke Dugu Yan's hair. A thousand words ultimately distilled into a single heavy, relieved sigh:

"Good... good child, Grandfather supports you!"

Ye Lingling stood to the side, watching this scene, her heart filled with a complex mix of emotions.

She looked at Ling Xuqing's youthful face, which carried an otherworldly elegance, and a ripple stirred within her heart.

This young man possessed not only strength that made others look up to him, but also a charisma that made people willingly place their trust in him.

"Young Master, I have returned!"

Just then, a purple afterimage streaked over and landed steadily before the group.

It was Zi Ji, who had gone and returned.

Zi Ji waved her hands, and the ground was immediately piled high with jade boxes of various sizes.

She clapped her hands and said, as if seeking credit:

"Young Master, Lord, I asked Di Tian for a full fifty pieces of hundred-year Whale Glue, ten pieces of thousand-year Whale Glue, and three pieces of ten-thousand-year Whale Glue!"

"Also, I have brought you that Man-Faced Demon Spider you asked for!"

As she spoke, Zi Ji flicked her toe, and a massive creature wrapped in a giant black spiderweb was tossed onto the ground.

It was a jet-black spider with eight spear-like limbs. Although it was tightly bound by the web, it still exuded a nauseating, highly toxic aura.

Ling Xuqing stepped forward and swept his spiritual power over the Man-Faced Demon Spider, nodding slightly. "Not bad, exactly two thousand years of cultivation. It is perfect for a first spirit ring."

He did not know if this Man-Faced Demon Spider was the same one from the original story that Tang San encountered, but since he had found it and the age was just right, he would make the most of it.

"Yan-yan, are you ready?"

Ling Xuqing turned his head to look at Dugu Yan.

"I am ready!" Dugu Yan took a deep breath, her eyes resolute.

"Good, then we will start with the Whale Glue body tempering."

Ling Xuqing's thoughts stirred, and a cluster of crimson flames rose in his palm.

This was the ultimate fire contained within the Blazing Yang Spring he had absorbed earlier!

"Na'er, please use your ice element to cool her down and prevent her body from succumbing to the high heat," Ling Xuqing said to Gu Yuena.

Gu Yuena nodded slightly. As she raised her jade hand, a stream of freezing ice-blue energy instantly enveloped Dugu Yan, forming a perfect, temperature-controlled ice shell.

Ling Xuqing held a piece of hundred-year Whale Glue in one hand. The supreme Yang power of the Golden Dragon King's essence intertwined with the ultimate fire of the Blazing Yang Spring, instantly refining the Whale Glue into a golden liquid that emitted a strange, medicinal fragrance.

"Swallow it."

Dugu Yan did not hesitate in the slightest; she opened her mouth and swallowed the golden liquid.

"Boom!"

A violent surge of heat instantly exploded through Dugu Yan's limbs and bones.

She felt as if countless small knives were scraping against her meridians, but at the same time, Gu Yuena's ice element was constantly nourishing her body, while Ling Xuqing's overbearing Golden Dragon King essence acted like a stern blacksmith, forging her bones and sinews through intense tempering.

"Ah--" Dugu Yan could not help but let out a muffled groan. Fine beads of sweat covered her forehead, but she gritted her teeth and held on.

"Hold on, this is only the first piece."

Ling Xuqing's voice rang in her ears, carrying a soothing power.

One piece, two pieces, three pieces...

Ling Xuqing tirelessly refined the Whale Glue, feeding it to Dugu Yan one piece after another.

Dugu Bo and Ye Lingling watched from the side, their hearts racing and their palms sweating.

Ye Lingling, in particular, had always thought Whale Glue was just that...

That kind of aphrodisiac. She never imagined that this stuff could be so terrifying when used for body tempering!

After Dugu Yan finished absorbing a full ten pieces of hundred-year Whale Glue, her body began to glow with a faint golden light, and her previously pale complexion turned rosy.

"Next, the thousand-year Whale Glue."

Ling Xuqing's expression was solemn as flames rose in his hands once more.

When that piece of thousand-year Whale Glue was refined and swallowed, Dugu Yan's body jolted violently, and she let out a painful moan.

The medicinal power of the thousand-year Whale Glue was too immense. Even with the protection of Gu Yuena's ice element and Ling Xuqing's Golden Dragon King essence, she felt as if her meridians were about to burst.

"Guard your heart and mind!"

Ling Xuqing shouted in a low voice. A wisp of pure Golden Dragon King essence shot directly into Dugu Yan's heart meridian, forcibly pulling back her collapsing will.

Time ticked by second by second. Inside the cave, only the "crackling" of the fire and Dugu Yan's heavy breathing remained.

Finally, when the medicinal power of the thousand-year Whale Glue was completely absorbed, Dugu Yan suddenly opened her eyes and let out a long cry toward the sky!

"Boom--!"

A powerful aura surged from her body into the sky. Bathed in brilliant golden light, her previously twenty-sixth-level aura climbed crazily like a rocket!

Twenty-seventh level!

Twenty-eighth level!

Twenty-ninth level!

Thirtieth level!

The aura stopped steadily at the barrier of a level-thirty Spirit Grandmaster!

"This... how is this possible?!"

Ye Lingling widened her beautiful eyes, her face full of disbelief. "Whale Glue... Whale Glue can actually be used for body tempering?!"

"Yan-yan... she actually broke through to level thirty just like that?!"

Dugu Bo was so excited that he trembled all over. He felt the surging, pure power within his granddaughter's body, and tears of an old man streamed down his face.

"Yan-yan, how do you feel now?"

Dugu Yan clenched her fists, feeling the unprecedented sense of fullness within her.

She looked at Ling Xuqing excitedly and said, "Grandfather, I feel like I am terrifyingly strong now!"

"Even a level-forty Spirit Ancestor, or even a level-fifty Spirit King, I have the power to fight them!"

The way she looked at Ling Xuqing had completely changed.

Before, she only thought this young master was handsome and a cute little boy.

But now, in her heart, Ling Xuqing had become an omnipotent god!

A deep sense of gratitude and a flutter of the heart quietly took root and sprouted within her.

"Since the foundation is laid, let's strike while the iron is hot."

Ling Xuqing smiled slightly and pointed to the two-thousand-year Man-Faced Demon Spider still struggling on the ground. "Yan-yan, go, kill it and absorb your first spirit ring!"

"Yes!"

A sharp glint flashed in Dugu Yan's eyes.

Her figure flickered, green light flashed in her hands, and she turned into an afterimage, rushing toward the Man-Faced Demon Spider.

Now, after being reshaped by the Whale Glue and the Golden Dragon King's essence, both her speed and strength had undergone a earth-shaking transformation.

"Jade Phosphorus Purple Poison!"

Dugu Yan shouted, and a thick cloud of purple poisonous mist spewed out, instantly shrouding the Man-Faced Demon Spider.

Following that, she closed in, a short blade appearing in her hand, and she stabbed it fiercely into the Man-Faced Demon Spider's head!

"Puchi!"

Black blood splattered, and a two-thousand-year spirit ring slowly emerged from the spider's corpse.

"Now, absorb it!"

Ling Xuqing stepped forward and arrived behind Dugu Yan.

He pressed his palms against her back, and the supreme Yang power of the Golden Dragon King's essence transformed into an indestructible barrier, firmly protecting her heart meridian.

"Bi Ji, prepare the World-Purifying Emerald Light!"

"Yes, Young Master!" Bi Ji shouted, and a brilliant Emerald Light Wave instantly enveloped Dugu Yan, purifying the violent resentment and toxins contained within the Man-Faced Demon Spider's spirit ring.

Under the dual protection of Ling Xuqing and Bi Ji, Dugu Yan sat cross-legged and began to draw in the purple thousand-year spirit ring.

However, just as the spirit ring was about to merge into her body, an unexpected change occurred!

"Crack!"

Eight black rays of light suddenly erupted from the Man-Faced Demon Spider's corpse. Eight spider-spear-like bone spurs broke through the skin and stabbed directly into Dugu Yan's back!

"Ah--!" Dugu Yan let out a scream.

"An external spirit bone?!"

Dugu Bo exclaimed.

"Don't panic, steady your mind, and absorb it together!"

Ling Xuqing's voice exploded in Dugu Yan's mind like a great bell. The Golden Dragon King's essence erupted, forcibly suppressing the violent energy of the eight spider spears.

Under Ling Xuqing's overbearing protection, Dugu Yan gritted her teeth and forcibly absorbed both the two-thousand-year first spirit ring and the external spirit bone, the Eight Spider Lances, into her body!

No one knew how much time had passed, but when the last trace of energy was completely digested, Dugu Yan slowly opened her eyes.

In her pupils, a flash of eerie purple light flickered and vanished. Behind her, eight jet-black spider spears appeared and disappeared, exuding a terrifying aura that made one's heart tremble.

Feeling the world-destroying power within her, she trembled with excitement, and tears streamed down her face.

"I did it... I actually did it!"