After the Creation Exquisite Pagoda awakened, Ning Chuan's cultivation speed had already been fast. With the soul power cultivation method helping him now, he was like a tiger given wings.
In just a month and a half, he successfully broke through to level twenty.
Moreover, Ning Chuan had become thoroughly proficient in the Sword Manipulation Technique rewarded by the system.
Half a month earlier, Ning Chuan had passed the Sword Manipulation Technique on to Sword Douluo.
Sword Douluo had been utterly astounded after receiving it. Unlike soul skills, whose power was capped by the age of their soul rings, the Sword Manipulation Technique would only grow geometrically stronger as its user's strength increased.
After gaining a basic grasp of it, Sword Douluo discovered that several offensive sword techniques within it could already rival his sixth soul skill.
Better still, all nine of Sword Douluo's soul skills could be activated through the Sword Manipulation Technique, directly increasing their power by a full fifty percent.
Sword Douluo had not asked where the Sword Manipulation Technique came from. Since Ning Chuan could produce something as heaven-defying as the Illustrated Manual's Cultivation Method, he felt there was no need to make a fuss over another sword technique.
After all, Sword Douluo had already seen the Chaos Sacred Sword, so he had reason to believe the Sword Manipulation Technique was something it had bestowed.
After Ning Chuan's soul power broke through to level twenty, the system's main quest arrived right on schedule.
Ding: Host, please add a second soul ring to the Creation Exquisite Pagoda. The greater its age, the better the reward!
It was exactly the same as the first soul ring quest. Ning Chuan had already decided that this time, no matter what, he would get a soul ring over ten thousand years old.
Over the matter of hunting for Ning Chuan's second soul ring, Sword Douluo and Bone Douluo had launched straight into an argument. Both wanted to escort Ning Chuan personally, and neither would give an inch.
In the end, the two simply started fighting. The result, naturally, went without saying.
Sword Douluo had already been stronger than Bone Douluo. Now that he had learned the Sword Manipulation Technique as well, he caught Bone Douluo completely off guard.
"Old Sword, when did you come up with such a powerful soul skill, you old coot?" Bone Douluo asked in astonishment.
"Hehe..." Sword Douluo chuckled, then looked at Ning Chuan. "Xiao Chuan taught it to me!" His words brimmed with pride.
Hearing this, Bone Douluo immediately turned to Ning Chuan. "Xiao Chuan, you can't play favorites! Is this another divine technique bestowed by the Creation Exquisite Pagoda?"
Ning Chuan nodded. "Bone Grandpa, you need a foundation in swordsmanship to learn this Sword Manipulation Technique quickly. If you have time, you could study swordsmanship with Sword Grandpa first. That way, you'd have another means of attack at your disposal!"
After saying this, Ning Chuan turned to Ning Fengzhi. "Father, you can learn it too, and even pass it on to the sect disciples. If anyone asks, just say Sword Grandpa taught it. Once they learn this technique, the sect's support-type soul masters will be able to protect themselves!"
Sword Douluo nodded at this. "Xiao Chuan's suggestion is indeed feasible. We can't spread the Illustrated Manual's Cultivation Method carelessly, but we can certainly attribute the Sword Manipulation Technique to me. Besides, it isn't particularly difficult to learn. Once someone learns it, all they need is a decent sword to use it. That way, even pure support-types will possess the combat strength appropriate to their soul power level!"
Ning Fengzhi was delighted. His greatest worry for years had been that the sect's support-type soul masters had no means of defending themselves and could only rely on their teammates. Now, the Sword Manipulation Technique solved that problem perfectly.
"Wonderful! With this, the sect's strength is bound to rise by a huge margin!" Ning Fengzhi was happy from the bottom of his heart.
Sword Douluo added, "Fengzhi, select a group of trustworthy core disciples when you get back. I'll personally teach them the Sword Manipulation Technique!"
"Good!" Ning Fengzhi nodded.
Bone Douluo, standing beside them, was happy for the sect as well. Still, asking him to learn swordsmanship from Sword Douluo really put him in a difficult position.
He glared at Sword Douluo. "Old Sword, you shameless old coot! Did Xiao Chuan take you as his master, or did you take Xiao Chuan as yours?"
Sword Douluo was not offended in the slightest. He chuckled and said, "Hehe, it's all the same!"
Hearing this, Ning Fengzhi hurriedly corrected him. "Uncle Jian, how can it be the same? We can't muddle the generations. We absolutely can't!"
Sword Douluo did not care in the least, while Bone Douluo wore a miserable expression. "It's over. This old sword coot is going to have the upper hand over me from now on!"
Although Bone Douluo was grumbling, he was actually very happy. He knew perfectly well that the stronger Sword Douluo became, the safer Ning Chuan would be.
So he gave a cold snort, feigning anger, and returned to the cave.
Sword Douluo smiled, then left the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect with Ning Chuan, heading to the Star Dou Great Forest for the second time.
With their previous experience to draw on, Sword Douluo got straight to the point as soon as they entered the forest. "Xiao Chuan, how old do you want your second soul ring to be?"
"Over ten thousand years!" Ning Chuan answered without even thinking.
Although Sword Douluo had been prepared, he was still deeply shocked to hear that Ning Chuan wanted one over ten thousand years old.
Jumping straight from three thousand years to ten thousand was simply too great a leap.
Despite knowing that the Creation Exquisite Pagoda was of an exceptionally high grade, Sword Douluo still feared that Ning Chuan might not be able to withstand it.
"Sword Grandpa, just knock the soul beast unconscious first, like last time. If it won't sacrifice itself willingly, we can just let it go!" Ning Chuan suggested, having noticed Sword Douluo's concerns.
"All right!" Sword Douluo nodded. He also knew that as long as the soul beast sacrificed itself willingly, Ning Chuan would not be in any danger.
After the Earth Rock Bear sacrificed itself last time, Ning Chuan had successfully added the soul ring without even going through the process of absorbing it.
To hunt a ten-thousand-year soul beast, they would have to venture into the middle region of the Star Dou Great Forest.
Fortunately, Ning Chuan's Creation Exquisite Pagoda had no particular requirements regarding the species of soul beast, making their search much easier.
With Sword Douluo's strength, capturing a ten-thousand-year soul beast alive was not particularly difficult.
The two continued deeper into the forest, encountering soul beasts of increasingly greater ages.
Before long, they encountered a Profound Feather Spirit Crane, and Sword Douluo pinned the crane to the ground without further ado.
"Xiao Chuan, judging by this Profound Feather Spirit Crane's aura, the crane should have reached the ten-thousand-year level. Will this one do?" Sword Douluo asked.
Sword Douluo could not sense a soul beast's precise age, but Ning Chuan's system could.
After asking the system, Ning Chuan learned that this soul beast was already over nine thousand nine hundred years old, with only a little over a decade left before reaching ten thousand.
Although that fell short of his expectations, Ning Chuan knew that even if Sword Douluo kept hunting, he would probably only catch one slightly over ten thousand years old. To Ning Chuan, the difference was not actually that great.
Forget it. Even if I don't plan to enter the next Continental Soul Master Tournament, the system will probably assign me a quest anyway. If I really have to fight then, I'll pass off my first two soul skills as my third and fourth. As long as I don't reveal all my soul rings, no one will see through it! Ning Chuan thought.
After all, a nine-thousand-nine-hundred-year soul ring was still purple.
Although Ning Chuan did not know what kind of soul skill he would receive this time, his first soul skill's effects were already far beyond the norm. He therefore believed that two soul skills would be enough to turn the tide of victory or defeat for a team.
At that thought, Ning Chuan nodded. "Sword Grandpa, this is the one!"
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