In a magnificent bedroom within the Pope's Palace, a woman dressed in pink gauze lay upon a large bed. A gentle breeze blew in from outside, making her graceful figure even more visible in this private space—truly enchanting.
The sleeping woman on the bed suddenly sat up in alarm, a continuous ringing echoing in her mind. She immediately issued a command:
"Send word to the two elders—have them closely monitor any genius Spirit Masters appearing on the continent."
"What kind of person could make even the Rakshasa God feel both joy and fear?"
But Bibi Dong only paid this matter a bit of extra attention. Right now, her Rakshasa God trials were the most crucial matter.
...
Sunset Forest, Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well
At this moment, Ignaz had just finished his final war spear technique. He was very satisfied with his current strength.
Dugu Bo walked over to him, carefully examining this completely transformed Ignaz.
"Kid, though I don't know what herbs you consumed, judging by your current spirit power fluctuations, you've reached level 40, right?"
"Correct, senior. I consumed two immortal herbs most suitable for me. Now I just need to obtain a spirit ring to break through to Spirit Ancestor."
Breaking through to Spirit Ancestor was trivial for Ignaz. Under the transformation of the Beautiful Silk Tulip and Singular Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum, his spirit power could still surge by at least five or six levels, but without adding spirit rings, this subsequent spirit power couldn't manifest.
Besides this, his Blood Thunder War Spear had evolved under the Beautiful Silk Tulip's influence—the war spear could now undergo weapon-to-beast transformation, and after the spirit evolution, it granted him a spirit talent domain.
Ignaz named this domain "Emperor Slayer." Within this domain, all enemies' attributes decreased by 20%, while his own increased by 30%. The bloodlust energy could transform into endless spirit power, allowing him to fight continuously within the domain without fatigue or exhaustion.
Although his current Emperor Slayer domain was slightly stronger than the Slaughter Domain Little San would obtain in the future, one had to realize that for someone with an innate third-rank broken spear spirit to possess a talent domain before achieving Titled Douluo was already far beyond the vast majority of Spirit Masters—not to mention domains could evolve as Spirit Masters grew.
"Indeed, just as I expected. These immortal herbs are tremendously helpful for young people!"
Looking at the storage pouch on Ignaz's right waist, Dugu Bo was beginning to regret his decision. He really shouldn't have allowed him to harvest all the herbs in his medicinal garden—he should have kept a few more. But since his word was given, taking them back would damage his credibility.
Ignaz looked at the contemplative Dugu Bo and glanced worriedly toward the nearby hut:
"Senior, shouldn't you be guarding your granddaughter? If something goes wrong with Miss Dugu Yan, then..."
"No problem. I consumed the Land Dragon Golden Melon beforehand. This type of exotic flora is extremely suitable for snake-type spirits. During spirit evolution, not only will there be no pain, but the body will feel very comfortable."
Dugu Bo had been somewhat worried before, but after experiencing his spirit evolution, he no longer needed to worry about Dugu Yan's spirit evolution.
However, after they'd only chatted for a few sentences, a roar that was neither quite dragon nor quite snake echoed from within the house—a sound that seemed to pierce the very heavens, incredibly loud.
Dugu Yan ran quickly out of the house, her snow-white skin and graceful figure making others' hearts race. She excitedly hugged Dugu Bo:
"Grandpa, not only is the poison in my body cured, but my Jade Phosphor Snake spirit has evolved too! Even better, my spirit power directly increased by four levels, reaching the level-30 bottleneck!"
However, after sharing this good news, Dugu Yan asked somewhat disappointedly:
"But why is my spirit different from your Ink Domain Poison Dragon, Grandpa?"
Before Dugu Bo could respond, Dugu Yan impatiently summoned her spirit. An earth-brown phantom appeared behind her—four-toed, with a pair of robust hind legs, earth-brown scales covering its entire body, and two flesh bumps protruding from its head. This spirit, neither quite snake nor quite dragon, gave off a feeling of honest sanctity.
"This?"
Dugu Bo didn't know what was happening either. Why had his granddaughter's Jade Phosphor Snake spirit only evolved halfway compared to his Jade Phosphor Snake Emperor? Even the spirit's color was completely different from his.
Dugu Bo looked questioningly at Ignaz. After carefully observing the spirit behind Dugu Yan, Ignaz reached a conclusion:
"Miss Dugu Yan, your spirit was only a Jade Phosphor Snake, while Senior's spirit was a Snake Emperor. Therefore, after evolution, your spirit can only become a scaled dragon and temporarily cannot transform into a true dragon."
"Scaled dragon? What kind of spirit is that?"
Dugu Yan widened her eyes, asking in confusion.
"Four-toed, only hind legs, no dragon horns, snake-like body—this is a scaled dragon. The scaled dragon is a dragon's predecessor. With another evolution, it can complete the dragon transformation process."
Hearing about knowledge she'd never encountered before, Dugu Yan nodded slightly, her assessment of Ignaz growing more positive.
"If you want to complete the dragon transformation, you can try absorbing spirit rings with sub-dragon bloodlines in the future. As for your spirit's color change, it's a manifestation of the toxins in your body being completely cleansed. Your spirit now leans more toward the Land Dragon Golden Melon's earth attribute."
Upon hearing this, Dugu Bo sensed something was wrong. His granddaughter's two spirit rings were red poison and green poison, respectively. If the toxins in her body were completely cleansed, wouldn't those two spirit rings be useless? Dugu Bo hurriedly asked:
"Without poison, are your first and second spirit abilities useless now, Yanyan?"
"You're wrong, Grandpa. My first and second spirit abilities have changed, and their power has increased quite a bit!"
Dugu Yan looked at Dugu Bo, then turned to Ignaz with a sweet smile:
"Little brother, please help Sister test this out. Sister will take good care of you!"
"First Spirit Ability: Crimson Turbid Sand Domain!"
Large amounts of reddish-brown flying sand bombarded Ignaz. With quick reflexes, he rapidly retreated, escaping the area where the flying sand spread.
"Miss Dugu Yan, I'm actually a year older than you—mixing up seniority isn't good!"
"Nothing wrong with that. If you can defeat me in the control field I'm best at, I can fulfill one condition for you, even—"
Dugu Yan stopped mid-sentence, already positioned within her first spirit ability's Crimson Turbid Sand Domain.
Just as he was about to swing his war spear and use his strongest defensive spirit ability, he suddenly abandoned the idea. His self-created spirit abilities were his strongest trump cards and couldn't be exposed.
Ignaz used his Wave-Treading Mountain Sea Steps, frequently searching for weaknesses around the Crimson Turbid Sand Domain's perimeter while continuously testing Dugu Yan's subsequent spirit ability changes.
"Little brother, you're about to lose!"
Seeing Ignaz continuously circling the sand domain's perimeter without daring to attack inward, Dugu Yan became somewhat angry.