There was no denying that the Clear Sky Hammer was far stronger than Blue Silver Grass. With Tang Wulin's current physique, a blow from her Clear Sky Hammer would probably be more than even a Third Ring strength-type Soul Elder could stomach.
And Tang Wulin's first Soul Skill was an enhancement skill, a variation of the Golden-Backed Earth Dragon's innate ability, Steel Might. Called Golden Might, it strengthened her physique and amplified her soul power while coating her body and Martial Soul in golden light, providing defense and a recoil effect.
This could truly be called a top-tier Soul Skill. It boosted attack, defense, and strength across the board, and even came with special effects.
Lin Ye had even asked Tang Wulin to swing her hammer at him to test it. Because he had let his guard down, her full-strength blow had knocked him back several steps.
He had just broken through to rank sixty, after all, and was only one Soul Ring away from becoming a Soul Di!
Moreover, his Heavenly Star Stove was a defensive Martial Soul. Even without using it, the defenses provided by his own soul power should have been beyond a First-Ring Soul Master's ability to shake.
That alone showed that the weight of Tang Wulin's mutated Clear Sky Hammer Martial Soul was anything but ordinary, and it was a perfect match for her innate divine strength.
"Excellent, excellent. Little Wulin, with your strength behind that Martial Soul, you're practically a bulldozer against anyone at your level. One swing could knock them flat. Go cultivate. The Spirit Pagoda's Meditation Room has pretty good facilities. Little Tang Li and I still have something to do."
"Okay!"
Watching Tang Wulin withdraw her Martial Soul and sit down to cultivate, brimming with enthusiasm, Lin Ye became even more dissatisfied with the few foolish boys in his own family.
After a helpless sigh, Lin Ye said to Tang Li:
"Little Tang Li, that chance to enter the Spirit Ascension Platform I promised you has been sorted out. Your school happens to be on break tomorrow, so we can head to Eastsea City tonight. Once I've fused with my soul spirit, I'll take you to the Intermediate Spirit Ascension Platform for a little fun."
The moment Tang Li heard he could enter the Spirit Ascension Platform, his interest flared!
A century-old spirit could only provide two Soul Rings. Based on his estimated cultivation speed, Tang Li could reach the Third Ring before graduating from the Primary Academy. When that happened, he would have to absorb a second soul spirit if he wanted to keep advancing.
But Lin Ye had also told him that high-quality soul spirits were not so easy to obtain. Money was only part of it; the rest depended on luck. Even he could not guarantee that he could get Tang Li a thousand-year soul spirit whose quality rivaled Evil Eye.
After all, thousand-year soul spirits could only be purchased at high-level Spirit Pagoda branches like the one in Eastsea City. A small place like Aolai City only had century-old spirits at best.
Thus, Tang Li's best option was to raise his first soul spirit, Evil Eye, to the thousand-year level before reaching the Third Ring. That way, it could provide him with a third Soul Ring.
"Thank you, Uncle Lin!"
"Getting a chance to enter the intermediate Spirit Pagoda wouldn't have been easy for me originally. But that Martial Soul of yours really did us proud! It ended up affecting my Heavenly Star Stove in return, and I broke straight through the bottleneck that had trapped me for years.
"With the merit I've built up at the Spirit Pagoda over the years, plus the reward for this breakthrough, the higher-ups approved a ten-thousand-year soul spirit for me outright. The money I saved was just enough to get two tickets into the intermediate Spirit Pagoda."
Lin Ye shared the news with Tang Li, his face animated with delight. Clearly, the joy of his breakthrough had put him in a much better mood.
"All right, I won't disturb your cultivation anymore. I'll come get you when it's time."
With that, Lin Ye hurried out of the Meditation Room. He would soon be going to Eastsea City to fuse with a Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring, after all, and he needed to keep his spiritual power at its peak to prevent any mishaps.
After all, not just anyone could obtain a Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring. The ideal configuration of black Ten Thousand Year Soul Rings for the fifth and sixth rings had always been something only members of great families and powerful organizations had a chance to acquire. People like Lin Ye and Tang Li could only depend on luck...
At that thought, Tang Li sighed too. Luckily, he had a connection here on the Douluo Continent, and that connection was none other than the Plane Will itself. Only with the blessing of the qi luck he bestowed could Tang Li enjoy such good fortune.
At the same time, part of the reason Lin Ye was taking him to the Spirit Ascension Platform to raise his soul spirit's level was that Tang Li's spiritual power and physique now both met the requirements.
Fusion with a soul spirit depended on the strength of a Soul Master's spiritual power, while Soul Rings depended on physical strength. Over the past year, Tang Li had managed to share in the benefits Tang Wulin and Na'er received.
Under their combined influence, Tang Li's body could withstand a soul spirit with an age of around four thousand years at his limit. Coupled with the Demon-Sealing Pot's unique nature, he felt that his actual ceiling might be far higher.
"I'm getting a little excited!"
Tang Li glanced at Tang Wulin as she meditated, his eyes filled with intense excitement. Then he took a deep breath, calmed the surging thoughts in his heart, and resumed his meditative cultivation.
Time flew as they cultivated. In the blink of an eye, the sun had grown dim and yellow, its lingering orange-red rays shining on the Spirit Pagoda. With the assistance of a Spirit Master arranged by Lin Ye, Tang Ziran waited for Tang Wulin in the lobby.
Before long, that Spirit Master woke Tang Wulin in the Meditation Room and took her to the first-floor lobby to find Tang Ziran.
Afterward, Tang Ziran took Tang Wulin home. On the way, she wondered why Tang Li had not come back with her, so she asked:
"Dad, where's Xiao Li? I don't think he was in the Meditation Room when I woke up! Did he go home first?"
"Didn't Xiao Li tell you? He went to Eastsea City. He said he had something important to do and would be back in a few days."
Driving the Soul Guidance Car he had built himself, Tang Ziran headed home with Tang Wulin and casually told her about Tang Li.
The instant Tang Wulin heard that Tang Li had gone to Eastsea City, she fell apart...
She still remembered Tang Ziran saying that if Xiao Li misbehaved, he would send him to school in Eastsea City! Upon hearing that Tang Li had gone there, her first reaction was that her little brother had been sent away!
Could his teacher have told Tang Ziran that Xiao Li read extracurricular books instead of paying attention in class? But I clearly covered for him!
"Dad, please don't send Xiao Li to Eastsea City, okay? He really has been very good! I'll keep a close eye on him!"
Tang Wulin: (ʘ̥∧ʘ̥)
Tang Ziran: ⊙_⊙
"That's not what happened. I didn't send him away. Xiao Li went to the East China Sea Spirit Pagoda with your Uncle Lin because they had something to do..."
Eastsea City's Soul Guidance Train Station.
As soon as Lin Ye led Tang Li out of the station, they saw the "pillar of heaven" towering in the center of Eastsea City!
The East China Sea Spirit Pagoda was one of the Spirit Pagoda's eighteen major branches. These eighteen high-level Spirit Pagodas were far beyond anything the Aolai City branch could compare to. These massive branches were known as the "Eighteen Pillars of Heaven"!
As Eastsea City's landmark building, the Spirit Pagoda's magnificent grandeur was clearly visible to Tang Li even from far away, amid the forest of high-rises in the nighttime cityscape.
They boarded a soul guidance bus and soon arrived in front of the Spirit Pagoda. After climbing the steps, Tang Li could see it even more clearly—
This Spirit Pagoda had hundreds of floors and stood over four hundred meters tall. Its overall appearance was simply an enlarged, elongated version of Aolai City's Spirit Pagoda.
Its octagonal base occupied an enormous area, and the structure narrowed inward every ten floors, all the way up to its pointed spire.
Its appearance alone was enough to convey its overwhelmingly majestic presence.
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