Half a minute earlier, as Ning Rongrong and the others blocked the three God Kings' attacks, Ning Fengzhi used the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda's ring-fusion talent to merge his nine rings.
This talent was considered the least useful for the Pagoda. After fusing, only one skill could be used, losing the Pagoda's hallmark of full-stat support—fusion was usually a detriment.
But everything exists for a reason. No talent is useless; it depends on how it's used.
Across generations, Seven Treasure sect masters had tried countless methods—from rings and bones to secret arts—to evolve the Pagoda. All failed, but left vast knowledge.
The Soul-Guiding Bone-Tempering Method was one of them. If it spread, it would violate Heaven's order, so only Ning Fengzhi and Tianlin knew it.
There were other extreme techniques sealed away. One sect master once wondered: what if the Seven Treasure's ring fusion combined with the Clear Sky Sect's ring detonation? What would happen?
Would the instant burst augmentation transform the martial soul?
That sect master—Ning Fengzhi's grandfather—went to Clear Sky and asked then-sect master Tang Chen. Tang Chen refused to pass on Clear Sky secrets, though he demonstrated ring detonation as a courtesy.
The sect master immediately grasped the essence: unleash a ring's power in an instant, turning it into your own and fusing it into an attack, yielding strength far beyond your norm. The higher the ring's quality, the better the effect.
He returned and studied, leaving notes—but learning such profundity from a glance was impossible.
Not long ago, Ning Fengzhi revisited those notes and sought Tang Xiao. This time Tang Xiao did not hold back. Though he couldn't use Great Sumeru Hammer or ring detonation himself, he knew much by osmosis.
Together they forged a stronger profundity: Ring Burst.
It combined fusion and detonation: first fuse nine rings, then explode them, pouring all ring power into self-augmentation. The flaw: detonated rings could recover; burst-fused ones could not. Not only the rings—afterward, the martial soul itself would shatter. A complete cripple.
It was a once-in-a-lifetime, all-or-nothing divine art—usable only by those with fusion talent.
But its effect was staggering, the instant burst eclipsing normal detonation many times over. After Ring Burst, Ning Fengzhi's life level rose to god tier.
The Pagoda's greatest strength is this: as long as the life level matches, it can provide support, and the support magnitude remains unchanged.
This is crucial. Other support spirits—like the famed Ruyi Disk—offer similar boosts at equal levels, but they all share a flaw: if the supporter's level is far below the recipient's, the boost diminishes.
A rank-10, one-ring Ruyi Disk might boost another rank-10 by 10%, but supporting a Titled Douluo it might be only 1%, and for an Extreme Douluo, fractions of a percent.
The Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda, however, gives a fixed 20% boost from a one-ring to a rank-99 Extreme Douluo, increasing by 10% per ring. That's its terror.
Once Ning Fengzhi reached god level—even the weakest tier—his life level matched a first-rank god, so the Pagoda could be used again. And after Ring Burst, he no longer suffered fusion's single-skill limit, and all skills doubled in potency.
In other words, Chen Xin's strength, defense, speed, and divine power were boosted by 200%—tripled. His offense, with the dual augments of the Fifth "Attack" and Sixth "Increase," rose by 400%—fivefold.
A Sword God's offense at fivefold. What does that mean? Qian Xunji should be grateful he was hit only by stray sword aura. Had Chen Xin drawn his blade, God King or not, he'd be dead.
"It's not over. Nine Treasures has a name—Ninth Light, Immortality!"
From the Pagoda's spire, two beams shot forth. With all skills doubled, the immortality beam that once covered only one now covered two, bathing Chen Xin and Gu Rong.
Ning Fengzhi's "immortality" prevents those of the same life level from killing the target. When he was mortal, even Extreme Douluo Qian Daoliu couldn't kill Chen Xin—because Qian Daoliu was mortal too.
Now, with Ning Fengzhi briefly a god, any attack—from divine guards to supreme God Kings—of the same life level could not kill Chen Xin or Gu Rong.
Gu Rong used his Ninth Skill, Bone-Dragon Apotheosis, becoming a massive bone dragon to cocoon Ning Fengzhi.
Gu Rong could not die. He might suffer under a God King's blow, but he wouldn't retreat—because Ning Fengzhi was the key to victory.
Chen Xin knew Ning Fengzhi's buff wouldn't last—three to four minutes at most. He couldn't waste a second.
"Sword Dao—Destruction!"
Chen Xin invoked Destruction under immortality once more.
Now, Destruction quintupled all base attributes. Sadly, it stacks additively, not multiplicatively, with the Pagoda buffs—else he'd dare behead the Evil Sword Immortal himself.
Even so, Chen Xin's strength, defense, speed, and divine power were now eight times a first-rank god's. His offense was ten times a God King's.
What does that mean?
Chen Xin opened sword-bright eyes; his gaze alone blasted Qian Xunji back and etched dozens of sword scars across him. The once sleek eight black wings now looked like a molting black chicken—ragged and pathetic.
"Sword Dao Chen Xin, I'll kill you!!!" Qian Xunji roared, gathering all power, curling into a ball—like the prelude to the Angel's ultimate edict that Qian Renxue once used.
Chen Xin would never allow it. He flickered forward—so fast even the Golden Dragon King and God of Destruction barely tracked him—piercing the glowing ring around Qian Xunji.
First, a punch to the abdomen shattered his gathered divine power. Then Seven Kill Sword flashed—one stroke to take the head. The annihilating sword intent reduced body and soul to dust.
The Fallen Angel God King—fallen!
Chen Xin turned to the Golden Dragon King and God of Destruction. "One down. Two to go," he said calmly.
"Is… this something humans can do?" the Golden Dragon King felt fear for the first time—and the first true respect for humans he had scorned.
Ning Fengzhi had used wisdom to amplify Chen Xin, a first-rank god, to such terrible heights. In this world, it wasn't only power that freed one from being an ant—wisdom could, too.