Two years later.
"Xiao San, Brother Jue, hurry up!"
Xiao Wu hopped happily ahead of them, candied hawthorn in her left hand and a skewer of glutinous rice dumplings in her right. Tang San and Qian Jue walked side by side behind her. Qian Jue too was munching on a candied hawthorn, the two of them chatting leisurely as they strolled along.
They had just finished their second-year vacation and were about to begin their third year at the academy.
Back in Holy Spirit Village, Deng Sheng was still around, of course. With Qian Jue's presence, his life had finally found new hope. The small sundry shop he ran was thriving, and now that the villagers knew that a youth with innate full soul power and a top-tier martial spirit had emerged from his family, everyone naturally began treating him with much greater respect.
As for Tang Hao, he had left behind a note when they returned home a year ago and vanished without a trace. Tang San had been saddened, but with Xiao Wu's companionship and Qian Jue's encouragement, he understood that Tang Hao had not abandoned him forever—he had simply gone off to pursue unfinished matters. Knowing that, Tang San's sorrow was lessened.
Two years had gone by. By now, Tang San and Qian Jue had become inseparable friends who shared everything. Tang San's soul power had already reached the eighteenth rank, while Qian Jue had gone even further—two months ago, he had already touched the threshold of rank twenty.
On the surface, the two seemed not so different. In two years, Tang San had cultivated from rank eleven to rank eighteen, while Qian Jue had gone from about rank thirteen to twenty. But one had to remember: Tang San had the Xuantian Gong, a cultivation method far superior to what ordinary spirit masters possessed, which allowed him to train at a speed far beyond the norm. Qian Jue, on the other hand, had relied on the training method developed by the Grandmaster.
Though he didn't wait for Kindred Mark to refresh before hunting it down because the Nuoding Academy was far from the Soul Hunting Forest, Qian Jue had still managed to make over twenty trips in these two years. Because of this, his soul power reserves had grown to more than double that of other spirit masters of the same level—surpassing even Tang San's.
In truth, during the early stages of cultivation—before reaching rank thirty and the level of Spirit Elder—differences in total soul power among soul masters were not usually that great. That was because in this world, there was only one way to cultivate soul power: meditation. No one had ever studied deeper methods of soul power accumulation. Thus, one's reserves of soul power depended mostly on martial spirit aptitude and the spirit rings it carried.
Before rank thirty, spirit rings were usually only ten-year or hundred-year. Their contribution to soul power wasn't especially dramatic. But after rank thirty, things changed: thousand-year and even ten-thousand-year rings came into play, and the increase they brought was exponential. At that stage, the difference was like night and day.
It was only someone like the Grandmaster, with his astonishing insight, who would think of researching a new method of cultivation to increase both the speed and quantity of soul power accumulation. Though his method was indeed more effective than ordinary meditation, compared to Tang San's Xuantian Gong, it was still crude—after all, the Xuantian Gong contained the collective wisdom of countless Tang Sect predecessors from Tang San's past life.
Yet, while Tang San's skill was unique to him, unable to be practiced by others unless they abandoned all previous cultivation and started from zero, the Grandmaster's method could be used directly by anyone. That was what allowed Qian Jue to keep pace with Tang San.
It was worth mentioning that, during these two years of hunting with his Kindred Mark, Qian Jue had once discovered a spirit bone—the left leg bone of a five-hundred-year-old Spirit-tailed Fox.
The Grandmaster had long suspected that Qian Jue's Kindred Martial Spirit greatly increased the chances of a spirit beast producing a spirit bone when killed by him, since his victims either surrendered willingly or perished in extreme pain and resentment.
When Qian Jue and the Grandmaster discovered this spirit bone, they were ecstatic—not merely because they had obtained a precious treasure, but because such a low-aged beast would almost never produce a spirit bone under normal circumstances. This discovery all but confirmed the Grandmaster's theory.
That left leg bone now lay quietly in Qian Jue's spatial bracelet. He had not absorbed it yet—not because it was unworthy, but because spirit bones were judged not by their age, but by compatibility.
A spirit bone evolved with its owner's growth. For example, a hundred-year spirit bone, if obtained early enough and cultivated by a genius like Qian Jue or Tang San, could eventually surpass a ten-thousand-year spirit bone. The Spirit-tailed Fox was a beast known for its agility and speed. Thus, the Grandmaster speculated this left leg bone would grant enhanced swiftness—a boon useful to almost anyone, since who wouldn't want to be faster?
But Qian Jue was holding off. The Grandmaster wanted him to absorb it only after obtaining his second spirit ring. Since his advancement gave him two rings at once, his soul power would surge drastically. The Grandmaster planned to use the spirit bone to stabilize that sudden increase.
---
After wandering through Nuoding City for a while, the trio returned to the academy. The next morning, while Xiao Wu was still fast asleep and Tang San was practicing his Purple Demon Eye, Qian Jue and the Grandmaster once again boarded a carriage bound for the Soul Hunting Forest.
"Teacher, do you think my second ring could be from a thousand-year beast?" Qian Jue asked inside the carriage, his eyes filled with anticipation.
The Grandmaster's expression was stern. "It's not that I haven't considered it. Normally, the maximum limit for a Spirit master's second ring is 764 years. But in your case, with your body reinforced by the Kindred Mark and the unique properties of your spirit, absorbing any beast under a thousand years should pose no problem. However, once a beast passes the thousand-year threshold, the pressure of the ring increases exponentially. I cannot guarantee you'll withstand it. That is why I forbid you from attempting a thousand-year ring for your first advancement. Only for your second ring may you attempt a thousand-year one—and even then, it must not exceed 1.100 years. Do you understand?"
"Yes, Teacher. I understand. By the way, have you already decided what kind of rings I should take?"
"I have some ideas," the Grandmaster said slowly, "but you cannot depend too much on me. As your cultivation rises, there will come a point where theory alone cannot guide you. You'll need to rely on your own judgment and personal experience. At that time, my advice may not be accurate anymore. So—you must also learn to think for yourself. Tell me, what are your own thoughts?"
Qian Jue thought for a moment, then spoke carefully. "Teacher, I see myself as an agility-attack type battle sy master. My Sheep Spirit's first ability, Manifest Kindred Bow, is decent, but not decisive—it lacks the power to determine victory in one strike. And since its light arrows are single-target, they can't threaten multiple opponents at once. So, in my view, what I need is either a scattering attack that can hit groups, or a charged strike that can serve as a finishing blow."
The Grandmaster nodded but said nothing.
"And for my Wolf Spirit," Qian Jue continued, "it's like your Luo San Pao—it doesn't need to remain attached to me. With its natural invisibility, it's a born assassin. So its ability must remain hidden—no glowing effects, no large movements. I think giving its fangs a poison effect would be ideal. Preferably a toxin with a delayed onset, so it won't be obvious at first. With the wolf's ability to amplify pain, even a subtle venom would go unnoticed, much like a tiger's or lion's bite—it would cause immense agony without anyone suspecting poison."
Qian Jue finished, looking at the Grandmaster expectantly.
For the first time in a long while, a faint smile appeared on the Grandmaster's usually rigid face. "You've analyzed this very well. Your ideas are not far from mine. But I'll give you one reminder—you're thinking a bit too far ahead.
You must understand—spirit ring abilities are different from spirit bone abilities. Rings are restricted by age. Explosive or large-scale skills, if too weak, are meaningless. At the second ring, the age is too low. If you gain such abilities now, you may gain an edge early on, but by the time you reach rank sixty or seventy, they will already be obsolete.
So—explosive techniques should be reserved for your third or fourth ring, preferably the fourth. Then at your fifth ring, you can consider a group-attack ability."
"Then… Teacher, what should my second and third rings be?"
The Grandmaster grew silent for a moment, his eyes unusually solemn. "Qian Jue… your talent is unparalleled. My vision for you is simple: you must stand as a peak unto yourself.
You alone shall be a mountain none can surpass. A summit all spirit masters must look up to. You must become the mountain they can never climb.
Therefore, your abilities must be comprehensive. You will one day face all challenges alone. You will have no teammates—no one will be worthy of being your teammate. You must master every domain. You must become an all-encompassing spirit master."
Qian Jue stared at him in shock. He had never imagined the Grandmaster's expectations for him would be so high.