After a long while, Yu Xiaogang's eyes widened in utter disbelief. "Her... her Soul Power broke through three levels in a row?"
"Zhu Zhuqing only took one sip of porridge, and... her Soul Power rose three levels?!"
"And what was that 'sea' she opened up? Was that the cultivation method of that world?"
"Not only did her Soul Power rise, but her realm in that world's cultivation method advanced too?"
Ma Hongjun swallowed as well.
"One sip of porridge, just one sip, and it raised Zhu Zhuqing's Soul Power three levels in a row, and she broke through in that world's cultivation method too! Something this good..."
"I... I actually said earlier... that I'd treat her to grilled meat?"
Dai Mubai was much the same, even shaking his head. "Have you considered that this was only because breaking through level thirty requires absorbing a Soul Ring, and Zhu Zhuqing was also practicing that world's cultivation method?"
"Otherwise..."
"Who knows how far her Soul Power would've soared!"
"Hiss!"
Hearing Dai Mubai's analysis, Ma Hongjun and Oscar instantly sucked in another shocked breath.
But while Yu Xiaogang, Dai Mubai, Ma Hongjun, and the others were shocked by Zhu Zhuqing's soaring Soul Power and strength, Tang San stared fixedly at that bowl of plain porridge on the sky screen...
"One sip of porridge raised her Soul Power three levels in one go, and she broke through in that world's cultivation method too..."
"Just what kind of supreme heavenly treasure is this plain porridge?!"
"Even an immortal herb couldn't do much more than that, could it?"
Tang San muttered to himself, the little sense of balance and superiority that had just risen in his heart rapidly crumbling.
"I'm so envious!"
"If only I could have a sip too..."
Meanwhile, at Spirit Hall.
Bibi Dong sat upright on her throne, her deep eyes likewise fixed on the sky screen.
"Earlier, I thought Zhang Ming's Shui Lanhua was an earth-shattering gain, but now..."
"A bowl of plain porridge... one sip of plain porridge can let someone break through three levels in a row, and it seems she also opened up some special source of power."
Bibi Dong's voice echoed through the empty hall, carrying a gravity even she had not noticed.
"If this were on the Douluo Continent, it would be enough to send every faction scrambling madly for it."
Beside her, Ghost Douluo and Chrysanthemum Douluo exchanged glances, each seeing horror in the other's eyes.
"And Your Majesty, if this... this 'spirit rice' can be grown in large quantities..." Ghost Douluo's voice was somewhat dry.
"Wouldn't that mean even the most ordinary food in that world would be a priceless treasure to us?"
At once, Bibi Dong's breathing quickened slightly.
After all, if what Ghost Douluo said was true, it meant that if their Spirit Hall obtained this spirit rice, even a single grain...
Spirit Hall's strength would soar in a short time, and unifying the continent would no longer be a dream.
Eastsea City, Eastsea Academy.
Tang Wulin was completely speechless too.
He stared blankly at the sky screen, his mind in chaos.
"Gu Yue, you said earlier that this porridge wasn't ordinary..."
Only after a long while did Tang Wulin turn to the girl beside him, his voice somewhat dry.
"How is this merely extraordinary? This is practically..."
"Even an immortal herb couldn't do more than this, could it?!"
And just as people across the Douluo Continent were reeling in shock because Zhu Zhuqing's strength had soared after a single sip of porridge...
In the Shrouding the Heavens World, Zhu Zhuqing finally opened her eyes slowly.
Then she lowered her head, looking at the seemingly ordinary bowl of plain porridge in her hands, momentarily dazed.
"How do you feel?"
Jiang Wanwan asked with a smile.
"I..."
Zhu Zhuqing opened her mouth, momentarily unsure how to describe it.
Her Soul Power had risen three levels in a row, her Bitter Sea had been successfully opened, and her Martial Soul had entered her Bitter Sea and received nourishment. All these changes had been so drastic that she felt somewhat at a loss...
After a long while, Zhu Zhuqing finally managed to collect herself.
"Sister Wanwan, what... what heavenly treasure was this porridge made from?"
"Heavenly treasure?"
At her words, Jiang Wanwan's expression grew somewhat peculiar.
After a moment of silence, she shook her head helplessly. "Little girl, how does this count as a heavenly treasure?"
"This is just porridge made from the Heavenly Court's most ordinary spirit rice. Until you reach the stage of grain abstinence, you'll eat this for breakfast every day."
"Every... day?"
Hearing Jiang Wanwan's words, Zhu Zhuqing unconsciously raised her voice.
"Yes." Jiang Wanwan nodded.
Zhu Zhuqing froze again.
An ordinary breakfast food could raise her Soul Power three levels with one sip and let her successfully open her Bitter Sea...
Then if she ate it every day, at every meal...
For a moment, Zhu Zhuqing was incredibly excited. "Joining the Heavenly Court really was the best decision I've ever made!"
She seemed to already see the day when she would use her formidable strength to change the Zhu Family's rules in one stroke!
And at this very moment...
Everyone watching the sky screen on the Douluo Continent fell into deathly silence.
"Ordinary spirit rice... breakfast every day..."
Ma Hongjun muttered those two phrases repeatedly, the fat on his face twitching uncontrollably.
Tang San clenched his fists, involuntarily recalling how many dangerous missions he had needed to complete and what a price he had needed to pay in his previous life at the Tang Sect just to obtain a medicinal herb that could improve his cultivation.
And in this life, how painstakingly he had cultivated to raise his Soul Power...
What dangers he had braved to find a single immortal herb...
And yet!
This spirit rice, whose effects rivaled an immortal herb and could make Soul Power soar, was actually the most basic food in the Heavenly Court of the Shrouding the Heavens World?
"Fuck!!!"
Tang San lost it again.
And it was not just Tang San. Yu Xiaogang, Dai Mubai, Qian Renxue, Bibi Dong, Tang Wulin... were all the same.
Back then, I spent so much money to obtain a five-hundred-year-old medicinal herb. What did that amount to?
I narrowly escaped death for a three-hundred-year-old medicinal herb. What did that amount to?
What I considered heavenly treasures were nothing but the most ordinary rice to the people of the Shrouding the Heavens World...
That pierced the iron, my old heart!!!
In the Shrouding the Heavens World, inside the Ninefold Heavenly Towers.
At this moment, Zhu Zhuqing had finally managed to digest the shocking fact that "spirit rice was everyday food"...
Then, after a little hesitation, she ultimately chose not to conceal anything and asked Jiang Wanwan curiously:
"When I broke through to the Bitter Sea Realm just now... my Martial Soul underwent some changes."
Zhu Zhuqing weighed her words. "It... it seems to have entered my Bitter Sea, and it seems to be absorbing the power inside."
"Is that normal?"
"Martial Soul?"
Jiang Wanwan paused slightly, then understood. "You call that little kitty a Martial Soul?"
As she spoke, she carefully looked Zhu Zhuqing up and down. "I've heard that some ancient remnant clans carry special bloodline inheritances within their bodies."
"When they open their Bitter Seas, these bloodlines resonate with them, awakening special abilities."
"But..."
Jiang Wanwan paused, then shook her head. "But this is truly my first time seeing a case like yours, where a bloodline totem actively merges into the Bitter Sea."
"You might be a descendant of some special ancient remnant clan."
"As for exactly what's going on, I can't say either. After all, I don't know much about your clan."
"Perhaps..."
"When you meet His Majesty the Heavenly Emperor in the future, you can ask him yourself."
"His Majesty the Heavenly Emperor knows all things past and present. He'll definitely understand your situation."
"His Majesty the Heavenly Emperor?"
"Yes." Jiang Wanwan nodded, her tone reverent. "There's nothing in this world His Majesty doesn't know, but that's a matter for later."
"For now..."
She stood up and clapped her hands. "Come on. Next, I'll take you to the spirit spring."