Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda and the Ten Thousand Year Fourth Ring-Qian Renxue's Shock! Setting Her Sights on the Peerless Prodigy Gu Feng

"Sorry, everyone, but I'm Level 38 now too."

Ning Rongrong grinned as she withdrew her Martial Soul.

With a thud.

Osler's legs gave out, and he collapsed onto the stone steps, staring blankly ahead.

"Crazy... You're all crazy..."

"A twelve-year-old Level 42 Soul Ancestor is one thing, but even Rongrong, a support-type Soul Master, is Level 38?"

Yu Feng turned around and patted Yu Tianheng's uninjured shoulder, his face full of sorrow.

"Captain, step down."

"There's a Level 42 assault-type fighter and a Level 39 control-type fighter on the team. Even the support is at the same level as you."

"As a Level 38 assault-type captain, doesn't sitting in that position make your ass uncomfortable?"

Yu Tianheng's mouth twitched in anger. He raised his left foot and sent a flying kick straight at Yu Feng's backside.

"Get lost!"

After laughing and cursing at him, Yu Tianheng took a deep breath and suppressed all the distracting thoughts in his chest.

He turned around and looked at Gu Feng and Ning Rongrong with utmost solemnity.

"The opportunities are yours by fate. I, Yu Tianheng, may envy you, but I will never be jealous."

"Gu Feng has now entered the Soul Ancestor realm, Dugu Yan has removed her hidden danger and reached Level 39, and Rongrong has reached Level 38 as a high-level support."

Yu Tianheng swept his gaze across the group, his voice especially loud.

"In the All-Continent Advanced Soul Master Academy Elite Tournament a little over a year from now, we will definitely all be Soul Ancestors. Gu Feng may even reach the high ranks of Soul Ancestor!"

"Our goal is to defeat the Spirit Hall Academy team and seize the championship of this Soul Master Tournament!"

Those words instantly ignited the fighting spirit of everyone on the team. The Shi Mo brothers fiercely pounded their chests, while Yu Feng sprang back to life.

Osler, Dugu Yan, and Ye Lingling all nodded with serious expressions.

Hearing Yu Tianheng's words, Gu Feng held him in high regard. He took Ning Rongrong's hand and walked forward, standing among the group.

"Tianheng is right. If we all pull together, no one will take this year's championship trophy from our hands."

Ning Rongrong lifted her chin and echoed loudly,

"We're going to win!"

After that round of bold declarations, Yu Tianheng turned toward the Mimicry Training Rooms behind them.

"Alright! Rongrong, Gu Feng, and Dugu Yan have all greatly improved their Soul Power. We can't fall behind either! Hurry into the Mimicry Cultivation Grounds."

The team members dispersed, each finding a corresponding quiet training room.

Three hours of seated meditation passed in a flash.

That afternoon, Qin Ming strode into the grounds with a timing hourglass in hand and clapped to call everyone together.

"The morning's Soul Power consolidation is about done. This afternoon, we'll continue tactical coordination drills."

Gu Feng and Dugu Yan stepped out from the team and stood on the western side of the arena.

On the other side, Yu Tianheng formed up with the Shi Mo brothers, Osler, and Yu Feng.

Ye Lingling quietly retreated to a corner beneath the platform, ready to provide healing at any moment.

Ning Rongrong stood behind and slightly to Gu Feng's side. Holding nine-colored radiance in her palm, she clearly recited her Soul Incantation.

"Nine Treasure has a name, second is speed!"

Colored light descended upon Gu Feng, and the airflow around his feet instantly accelerated.

Dugu Yan immediately revealed her three Soul Rings, two yellow and one purple. Her third Soul Ring glowed a deep violet.

"Third Soul Skill, Jade Phosphor Purple Poison!"

Dense purple poison mist poured from her palm, gathering into a long python in midair.

Gu Feng took half a step forward and traced a half-circle through the air with his right hand.

"Wind Rising!"

A vast wave of azure wind swept across the ground, directly enveloping the entire cloud of poison mist.

The wind spun rapidly clockwise. Rather than dispersing the poison, it compressed the purple mist into a moving vortex three meters in radius.

Propelled and pulled by the wind, the poison mist howled toward the defensive line opposite them.

The air carried a pungent, sickly sweet stench, and it moved at an astonishing speed.

"Shi Mo, hold it!"

Shi Mo roared. The earthen-yellow tortoise shell armor across his chest and back suddenly thickened, and his first Soul Skill, Black Tortoise Shield, surged forth at full power.

Shi Mo pressed close behind his brother. Two sturdy phantom shields overlapped, forcefully meeting the purple wind mass head-on.

A violent scraping sound exploded across the shield surfaces.

The instant the poison touched the tortoise shells, it hissed with corrosive force, eating the earthen-yellow barrier into countless pits.

The Shi Mo brothers groaned. Their feet were pushed backward two meters by the immense force, leaving deep scrape marks across the stone tiles.

Yu Tianheng cut in from the flank. His right arm swelled dramatically as lightning surged wildly through it, and a single Thunderclap Dragon Claw tore apart the outer wall of the wind vortex.

High-voltage lightning detonated the remaining poison mist, raising a cloud of scorched black smoke in midair.

The fierce wind gradually subsided.

Shi Mo shook his aching arms and looked down at the blackened marks on his tortoise shell armor, repeatedly drawing sharp breaths.

"What an overbearing combination. The wind accelerates the poison mist so much that we can't dodge it at all. Taking it head-on puts us at far too much of a disadvantage."

Gu Feng drew in the azure wind surrounding him and shook his head where he stood.

"This wind-and-poison combination looks impressive, but it isn't invincible."

Dugu Yan walked to Gu Feng's side, withdrew her Martial Soul, and asked,

"What do you mean? Tianheng and the others already had a hard time dealing with it just now."

Gu Feng pointed to the ground beneath the Shi Mo brothers' feet.

"Tianheng used lightning to forcibly tear through the wind barrier just now. If we encountered a fire-type Soul Ancestor with extremely high temperatures, or an earth-type Soul Douluo with even stronger defenses, they could use a violent elemental clash to detonate the poison mist ahead of time."

"Wind can accelerate the poison's spread, but if the wind pressure isn't dense enough, powerful air currents will dilute some of the toxin."

"If the opponent has a top-tier defensive Soul Skill and withstands it directly, we'll have wasted a great deal of Soul Power instead."

Yu Tianheng dispersed the dragon scales on his arm, walked over, and patted Shi Mo's shield.

"Gu Feng's analysis is right. The situation on an arena changes constantly. We can't rely entirely on this move to decide victory or defeat."

"But if we're fighting a positional battle or breaking through enemy formations in a group fight, this move is enough to instantly tear apart most teams' formations."

Qin Ming rapidly recorded the data from the sidelines, growing more satisfied the more he watched.

Not only were the team members exceptionally strong, but more importantly, they had not become blindly arrogant because of their sudden increase in strength.

During the break after training, Qin Ming called Gu Feng and Ning Rongrong separately into the lounge beside the Soul Fighting Platform.

Two student information forms lay on the wooden table.

Qin Ming set down his pen and looked at Ning Rongrong.

"Rongrong, during the joint training just now, your Soul Incantation was a little different from before."

"And has your Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda gained more layers?"

Ning Rongrong raised her hand with a grin. A nine-tiered pagoda spun in her palm, each level flowing with lustrous radiance.

"Teacher Qin, it isn't called the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda anymore. It's the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda."

Qin Ming froze in his chair. His fingers hung in midair for a long while before he lowered them.

"Nine... Nine Treasure?"

As a Soul Emperor, Qin Ming was intimately familiar with the continent's major top-tier sects.

The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's flaw had been known to everyone for centuries.

Limited to seven treasures, they could never step through the threshold of Level 80 Soul Douluo in their lifetime.

Yet this pagoda had actually grown a ninth level.

That meant the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect was about to produce a support-type Titled Douluo!

After recovering from his shock, Qin Ming turned to Gu Feng, then looked back at Ning Rongrong.

"Does Sect Master Ning know about this?"

Ning Rongrong answered loudly, "Of course my father knows."

Gu Feng gently added from beside her,

"Teacher Qin, this is a core secret of the sect, so it wouldn't be appropriate to say more."

Qin Ming took several deep breaths and barely calmed the turbulent emotions in his heart.

He closed the record book on the table and nodded solemnly.

"I understand the importance of this. I won't ask any further questions."

Although Qin Ming kept silent, the unusual developments within the team could not possibly be hidden from the academy's upper ranks.

Gu Feng had broken through to Level 40 Soul Ancestor at twelve, Ning Rongrong had surged to Level 38, and her Martial Soul had even evolved into the legendary Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda. Dugu Yan's Soul Power had likewise approached Level 40.

This string of shocking changes reached the Heaven Dou Royal Academy administration that very evening.

Sandalwood incense drifted through the spacious administrative hall.

The three chief education board members, Meng Shenji, Bai Baoshan, and Zhi Lin, sat behind a long table, looking at the battle report in their hands with dismay.

Bai Baoshan rubbed his round belly and sighed.

"A twelve-year-old Level 42 assault-type Soul Ancestor with a Ten Thousand Year fourth ring... I've lived this long, yet I've never seen such a monster."

Zhi Lin stroked his beard, his expression extremely grave.

"And that girl Ning Rongrong. Everyone knows how difficult cultivation becomes for support-type Soul Masters after Level 30. She jumped eleven levels in just a few days. That isn't normal."

Meng Shenji gently placed the dossier in his hand onto the table, interrupting their discussion.

"Enough. Stop guessing."

"Gu Feng and Ning Rongrong have the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect behind them, along with the Sword and Bone Titled Douluo protecting them personally."

"Clearly, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect used one of its most treasured resources to nurture them with everything it had."

"If we rashly question them and upset Sect Master Ning, who will bear the consequences?"

Bai Baoshan and Zhi Lin exchanged a glance and both fell silent.

Even if they had ten times the courage, they would not dare provoke the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.

Meng Shenji stood, neatly organized the dossiers on the table, and placed them into a gold-patterned envelope bearing royal sealing wax.

"The academy will pretend it knows nothing and fully guarantee the Imperial Fighting Team's cultivation resources."

"As for this dossier, it must be sent to the Crown Prince's Residence immediately and presented for His Highness's personal review."

Half an hour later.

Heaven Dou City, the Crown Prince's Residence.

The study was brightly lit, and a faint calming incense filled the air.

"Xue Qinghe" had changed into loose white-and-gold casual robes. Her golden hair was pinned behind her head with a plain hairpin as she sat at her desk reviewing official documents.

A soft knock sounded outside the door.

"Your Highness, an urgent confidential letter from the three education board members of the Royal Academy."

The attendant entered quickly with his head lowered and respectfully offered the envelope with both hands.

"Leave."

A clear, gentle voice came from behind the desk.

Xue Qinghe broke the wax seal and drew out the letter. As she read further, her steady breathing gradually changed.

The letter clearly documented the entire process of Gu Feng revealing four Soul Rings—two yellow, one purple, and one black—as well as the abnormal leaps in Ning Rongrong's and Dugu Yan's strength.

Xue Qinghe's long, fair right hand suddenly gripped the edge of the desk. The rosewood surface made a faint sound.

"Twelve years old, with a Ten Thousand Year fourth ring?"

"The Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda?"

Her murmurs echoed through the empty study.

Even within Spirit Hall's secret records, there had never been any account of someone entering the Soul Ancestor realm at twelve, much less absorbing a Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring beyond their level.

Xue Qinghe held the letter above the candle flame and watched it curl into ashes.

As blue smoke rose, Xue Qinghe lowered her gaze to the faint layer of golden Soul Power in her palm, her thoughts racing.

Gu Feng, an orphan from Holy Soul Village, possessed the Wind Element Martial Soul and innate Level 7 Soul Power.

Such talent could never have brought him to his current level. The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda Martial Soul had never evolved in countless centuries, yet after Gu Feng came to the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, Ning Rongrong's Martial Soul evolved.

Qian Renxue did not believe Gu Feng had nothing to do with it!

"The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect really has picked up an enormous treasure."

Xue Qinghe stood and paced around the study several times.

Ning Fengzhi was the Crown Prince's teacher. Logically speaking, if the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect benefited, the Crown Prince's faction would benefit as well.

But in Qian Renxue's grand infiltration plan, any unknown variable beyond Spirit Hall's control was a potentially enormous threat.

But if she could completely bring that variable under her control, then there would be no problem at all!