"A blackened chuunibyou little tiger. Grandpa Bone, don't have such a big prejudice."
"You're the chuunibyou little tiger." Tokisaki Kurumi bared her tiger fangs. "Ning Rongrong, believe it or not, I'll bite you!"
As she spoke, she even gnashed her teeth a few times right there on the spot.
Ning Rongrong: "…"
Are you still not grown up?
You're getting more and more chuunibyou!
So fiercely cute.
"Alright, after my seclusion ends, next time I'll buy you some catnip when we go out." Ning Rongrong chuckled lightly.
"You're the one who needs catnip. I'm not a cat, no!"
"Tigers are felines too. Close enough."
"Hmm, that does make sense… like hell it does!" Tokisaki Kurumi retorted forcefully.
"I'm a Dark Devilgod Tiger. Don't compare me to those little brain axes in the Heaven Dou Empire that are locked up for nobles to play with."
Ning Fengzhi: "…"
Sword Douluo and Bone Douluo: "…"
As expected, they couldn't understand the way these two got along.
But unexpectedly, they seemed to get along really well. What was going on?
…
The next day,
Ning Rongrong did not appear in front of everyone, but Tokisaki Kurumi, holding the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda, stood in the hall of the Nine Treasure Merchant Association.
The pressure far exceeding that of an ordinary Title Douluo made the Soul Douluo below tremble with fear.
There were no accidents during the absorption of the soul rings.
Although Tokisaki Kurumi couldn't use the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda's amplification abilities, through their contract she could still smash people with the pagoda and output zhenqi!
Time passed without anyone knowing how long…
Ning Rongrong ended her cross-legged cultivation. The hazy aura floating around her body began to gather.
She slowly opened her eyes.
After reaching the absolute realm, she herself was the rule incarnate.
The Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda could be completely separated from her.
But for now, there was no need.
"Has it already been a month?" Thanks to the contract, Ning Rongrong could peek into Kurumi's memories, though she usually wouldn't do so.
But this time she had to make an exception that went against her principles.
Because this hurried seclusion involved far too many things.
She quickly scanned through it. Ning Rongrong nodded in relative satisfaction at Kurumi's experiences over the past few days.
"As expected! A tamed kitty is usually very obedient."
Tokisaki Kurumi had worked very seriously!
Ning Rongrong stood up and patted off dust that wasn't there.
The consumption of the 600,000-year Sea Princess's soul ring had barely allowed her to control the sword with her heart, letting her glimpse a higher level of power.
She was just a little short on accumulation.
The second stage of the absolute realm would probably not take long to reach.
"The bottleneck is about to break. The rest will come naturally."
Ning Rongrong had just stood up.
Bang!
The door to the cultivation room that had been tightly closed for her practice was kicked open.
Tokisaki Kurumi in her gothic lolita dress stormed in angrily.
"Ning Rongrong, you actually peeked into my memories."
"I trusted you for nothing."
"Um…" Ning Rongrong instinctively took two steps back. "Kurumi, listen to my excuse."
Good grief, the little kitty's fur is standing on end!
"Fine, I'm listening." Tokisaki Kurumi sat down directly on a nearby chair, looking like she would get angry if Ning Rongrong didn't explain clearly.
"I was really too worried about this month's matters, so I'm very sorry."
"That's it?" Tokisaki Kurumi widened her eyes. "You don't trust me that much?"
"To be honest, a little." Ning Rongrong's eye twitched. "Your grandma doesn't love you, your uncle doesn't love you—it's not just been a day or two."
Tokisaki Kurumi: "…"
"You know I peeked into your memories, and there's no way for me to look without you knowing!"
"Although… I still feel like you're just making excuses." When she became the spirit of the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda, she already knew Ning Rongrong could see her memories.
But couldn't you just ask directly if you wanted to know something? Was it necessary to look? Couldn't you ask for my permission first?
Acting so familiar—does a fierce big tiger like me, a Dark Devilgod Tiger, have no privacy rights at all?
"Um, I apologize, I apologize, okay!" Ning Rongrong raised both hands above her head.
"Phew—" Tokisaki Kurumi let out a frustrated breath. "Fine, I can't out-argue you, little demoness."
"The things you told me to do, I've handled them all. Even though you saw my memories, I'll still tell you about it!"
Tokisaki Kurumi carefully went over everything she had done for the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile School this month with Ning Rongrong.
Five hundred-thousand-year soul rings created five Title Douluo. Four soul rings over ninety-five thousand years created two Title Douluo. Two people failed to absorb their soul rings and dropped from level 90 back to 89.
As for the five Title Douluo who possessed hundred-thousand-year soul rings, they were:
Ling Tian and Wang Teng, who stayed in Vast Sea City.
The head of the Soul Guidance Pavilion, Lou Gao; the vice-head of the Medicine Refining Pavilion and Nine Heart Begonia holder, Ye Renxin.
Ye Renxin's soul ring was one that Ning Rongrong had specially held back for her through her connections with Dugu Yan and Dugu Bo.
When she took one hundred-thousand-year soul bone and three soul bones over ninety thousand years for Dugu Yan, she had reserved this soul ring for Ye Renxin.
The remaining hundred-thousand-year soul ring went to an elder of the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile School who was not very old.
At this point, the number of Title Douluo in the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile School had reached a terrifying twelve.
Ning Fengzhi, Chen Xin, Gu Rong, Lou Gao, Dugu Bo, Ye Renxin, Ling Tian, Wang Teng, Shui Cangyue, and three other previously unknown enshrined elders of the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile School. Adding Ning Rongrong herself made thirteen.
It was estimated that the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile School had once again entered the category of a great power.
Ning Rongrong couldn't help but sigh:
"Before I knew it, the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile School has become the number one sect in the world!"
Aside from the Star Dou Great Forest and the Spirit Hall, who else could compare?
"My father is at level 97, right?"
Ning Rongrong pulled back her thoughts and asked.
After all, she had only browsed Kurumi's memories once; some things she didn't understand fully.
"Level 97 peak. With the gift from the soul bone you gave, he should reach level 98 in a year or two."
A 600,000-year externally-attached soul bone—you really were willing to give it away!
But that was normal; Ning Rongrong didn't need those things herself.
"Grandpa Bone didn't break through to level 99?" Ning Rongrong asked curiously.
"His talent is too poor. What can I do?" Tokisaki Kurumi rolled her eyes.
"A hundred-thousand-year soul ring might change aptitude, but it can't change talent."
"Even with a hundred-thousand-year soul bone added, his bottleneck didn't budge at all."
Both Sword Douluo and Bone Douluo had absorbed a hundred-thousand-year soul bone.
Sword Douluo aside—reaching half-god level wasn't that easy, though he had made some progress. But Bone Douluo, aside from gaining a soul bone skill, his strength was basically the same as if he hadn't improved at all.
It was probably similar to that shopping app in one of Ning Rongrong's memories where you chop once to buy things.
"Fine, no need to be so angry." Ning Rongrong comforted her. "Not everyone is like you—young and exceptionally talented."
"Of course. I'm the chosen one. How can mere mortals compare to me? Though Gu Rong's strength is poor and his talent isn't great, with you and me here, breaking through to level 99 isn't impossible."
Tokisaki Kurumi lifted her head proudly.
As expected of a kitty—so easy to coax.
Ning Rongrong didn't respond to Tokisaki Kurumi. How could she?
After all, Bone Douluo was her elder. No matter what she said, it would feel a bit awkward!
"By the way, Kurumi, where did Bing Di and Xue Di go?" Ning Rongrong swept her perception across the entire Vast Sea City but found no trace of Bing Di or Xue Di.