The Spirit Awakening Flower, the Sword, and the Bone

The flowering plant was small, about the length of an adult's palm. Its stem was a translucent pale jade green, like chalcedony washed clean with water, its surface glowing with a soft, gentle light.

An irregularly shaped flower bloomed at the tip of the stem. Its petals curled slightly at the edges, their warm hue somewhere between milky white and pale gold. Up close, it gave off an extremely faint, sweet fragrance.

"A Spirit Awakening Flower!" Xiao Wu could not help exclaiming softly.

"What's a Spirit Awakening Flower?" Su Lin asked curiously. His knowledge of the Douluo Continent's Immortal Herb treasures was limited. He only remembered the few explicitly named in the original story; he had little recollection of varieties like this that appeared in peripheral details.

Grant rubbed his chin and frowned in thought for a while before speaking uncertainly. "I remember hearing someone mention that name at some Soul Master gathering before... it's something that increases a Soul Beast's cultivation, I think?"

After speaking, he turned an inquiring gaze toward Xiao Wu.

Xiao Wu nodded and explained earnestly, "Spirit Awakening Flowers are a specialty found only in the depths of the Star Dou Great Forest. They grow where spiritual veins intersect, and you simply can't find them outside. Supposedly, a single Spirit Awakening Flower can add nearly a hundred years to a Soul Beast's cultivation. The exact effect varies with the Soul Beast's aptitude and how efficiently it absorbs the flower, but for most Soul Beasts, it's a very rare and valuable supplement."

"Something like that exists?" A flicker of delight crossed Su Lin's eyes, and a moment later, understanding dawned on him.

Since there were Immortal Herbs that could temper human Martial Souls and transform physiques, naturally, there would also be rare treasures that nourished Soul Beasts and increased their cultivation.

Otherwise, how could this little patch of land that was the Douluo Continent possibly nurture so many hundred-thousand-year Soul Beasts and ten-thousand-year Soul Beasts?

"Pikachu." Su Lin took the Spirit Awakening Flower from Xiao Wu and casually tossed it toward the little fellow.

Pikachu sprang up and caught it securely. Without hesitation, Pikachu crunched down the entire Spirit Awakening Flower in a few bites, letting out a satisfied rumble.

A fine layer of flowing golden light visibly appeared across Pikachu's fur, traveling from the top of the head to the tip of the tail before slowly fading away.

A panel notification popped up before Su Lin's eyes as well-

[Your Pokémon Lightning Rat has absorbed a Small Experience Fruit and gained a small amount of experience.]

[Lightning Rat: (lv26:3909/10000) → (lv27:4132/10000)]

It actually jumped straight up a level!

The line that appeared on the panel made Su Lin's eyes brighten slightly.

He had clearly made the right move with the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.

A little over ten minutes later, when Su Lin and the others reached their destination, Ning Fengzhi likewise returned to the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's headquarters.

Majestic clusters of pagoda-style buildings rose from the ground, tier upon tier, their spires piercing the clouds. Their imposing grandeur fully displayed the foundations of one of the continent's foremost sects.

The moment Ning Fengzhi entered the main hall, an elderly voice, full of vigor, came from the passage by the side door. "Back so soon? How was the boy?"

As the words fell, a streak of Sword Qi spread soundlessly from the depths of the passage.

An old man with snow-white hair and beard, but skin as tender as a baby's, rode a sword through the corridor at a speed approaching teleportation. He stopped abruptly before Ning Fengzhi and landed steadily. The ancient sword beneath his feet turned in midair and hovered quietly behind him, its sharpness held in check.

It was Sword Douluo Chen Xin, one of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's two heaven-supporting pillars.

Ning Fengzhi turned toward Chen Xin with a faint smile. "He is indeed a fine child, and his Martial Soul is exactly as A Cheng described in his letter. He can command Soul Beasts in battle."

In truth, over the past half month, he had thoroughly investigated not only Su Lin's basic information, but even Grant's entire past. It could be said that he knew Grant better than Grant knew himself.

"Then why didn't you bring him back?" Another voice rang out from the shadows on the other side of the main hall. An eerie black shadow suddenly stretched along the floor from a shadowy corner, extending to a spot about three paces before Ning Fengzhi at a speed almost impossible for the naked eye to follow. Then it abruptly swelled upward, turning into a tall man with a withered face and a body as thin as firewood.

Bone Douluo Gu Rong tilted his head slightly as he looked at Ning Fengzhi and asked in puzzlement, "If he really is as you say, we should bring him into the sect as soon as possible. Leave a seedling like that outside, and a long night brings many dreams. If those people from Spirit Hall set their sights on him first, it'll be too late for us to make a move."

"Old Bone, Fengzhi has his own plans. That brain of yours barely has a few scraps of flesh on it, so stop butting in." Chen Xin chuckled, his mockery turned all the way up the moment he opened his mouth.

Gu Rong's already gloomy face darkened another shade. He clenched his fist and raised it toward Chen Xin, his face covered in black lines. "Old Sword Man, are you asking for a beating?"

"You want a beating?" The corners of Chen Xin's mouth lifted further. Behind him, the hovering Seven Kill Sword trembled slightly with his mood, giving off an extremely faint hum. "Sure. Come on."

Watching their half-serious posturing, Ning Fengzhi shook his head helplessly. He stepped forward, placing himself directly between them, and said softly, "Uncle Jian, Uncle Gu."

Gu Rong immediately took the offered slope to climb down and coughed. "For Fengzhi's sake, I won't stoop to your level today."

"Tch..." Chen Xin smiled disdainfully, but had no intention of continuing either. He returned to their earlier topic. "Fengzhi, what exactly are you planning? You should know what this boy's Martial Soul means to our Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect."

The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect appeared glorious on the surface, but its greatest weakness had always been its shortage of high-level combat power.

The sect possessed the world's foremost support Martial Soul, yet was desperately short of power-attack combat strength. The entire vast sect relied on just two Titled Douluo, Chen Xin and Gu Rong, to hold it up. Its situation was only slightly better than that of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan.

The more serious problem was that neither he nor Gu Rong was young anymore. Even if they did not fall in battle, they could only shelter the sect for another two hundred years or so at most.

After two hundred years, when the two Titled Douluo left the stage one after another, who could the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect rely on?

If they could get Su Lin to join the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, then as long as he one day entered the Titled Douluo realm, it would be equivalent to the sect possessing nine Titled Douluo-level combat forces at once, enough to extend its golden age by another three hundred years.

Even taking ten thousand steps back, if Su Lin's talent could only carry him to the Soul Douluo level, as long as he could remain steadily above level eighty, the sect's safety would still improve enormously, at least during the hundred years after Ning Rongrong took over.

"Rest assured, both of you. I know what matters." Ning Fengzhi smiled gently and slowly explained, "This child has only just arrived in Heaven Dou City, and there are many things he still doesn't understand. Rashly trying to recruit him would only have the opposite effect. Fortunately, there are many days ahead. We can wait until our bonds have deepened before bringing it up."

"Bonds?" Chen Xin frowned slightly. What bonds could there be?