The master and disciple arrived at the outskirts of the Star Dou Great Forest.
Mu En threw the Hellhound in his hand at Zhu Ziyang's feet and said, "Ziyang, begin."
"Yes, Teacher." Zhu Ziyang was faintly excited. The Pacifying Life-Reaping Scythe appeared in his hand, and then the blade unhesitatingly pierced the Hellhound's head. A jet-black spirit ring floated out from the Hellhound's corpse, surrounded by a powerful oppressive aura.
He steadied himself, immediately sat down cross-legged, mobilized his spirit power, and guided the Hellhound's spirit ring. The Hellhound's spirit ring smoothly floated onto Zhu Ziyang's palm. A thick and powerful spirit power poured out from it, constantly compressing Zhu Ziyang's physique. But Zhu Ziyang didn't feel any pressure at all. With his physique, he could barely withstand an 80,000-year spirit ring, let alone this 70,000-year one.
The Hellhound's spirit power struggled wildly, rushing erratically through Zhu Ziyang's meridians, but each time it was easily resisted by Zhu Ziyang's tough meridians, then enveloped and devoured by Zhu Ziyang's spirit power, eventually merging. After several such instances, the Hellhound's spirit ring finally settled down, and Zhu Ziyang successfully began to accept this spirit ring.
Mu En watched all of this with a look of deep satisfaction in his old eyes. If Zhu Ziyang could withstand a 70,000-year spirit ring at the fifth ring, then perhaps he could merge with a 100,000-year spirit ring at the sixth ring. This gave him a good idea.
Just as Mu En was contemplating, the Hellhound's spirit ring trembled slightly, the tremor was extremely subtle. If one wasn't concentrating fully, it would be impossible to notice. Therefore, Mu En, lost in thought, didn't notice it.
—
While Zhu Ziyang was absorbing the Hellhound's spirit ring, in the core region of the Star Dou Great Forest, a three-headed giant dog let out an angry roar filled with sorrow.
"Who? Who exactly is it?" The Red King was furious, its three heads and six eyes filled with rage.
"Red King, what's wrong?" The Three-Eyed Golden Lion was very puzzled, looking up at him and asking.
"My child, my favorite child is dead!" The Red King roared, "That was the future of my Red Demon Mastiff clan! Damn it! Damn it!"
The Red King roared, continuously spewing flames from his mouth, hitting the surrounding trees. The giant trees, once touched by the flames, turned into black ash in just a breath, dissipating into the air with the wind.
"Oh! Is that so?" Upon hearing this, the Three-Eyed Golden Lion immediately lay down bored, looking at the ground listlessly. Zhu Ziyang's memories kept replaying in her mind. Everything in the human World made her feel new. An idea always lingered in her heart, and one day, it would drive her to make a change in her destiny.
"Shut up! Stupid dog!" The Red King was still roaring when a green vine suddenly appeared out of thin air, directly whipping the Red King's head, followed by a sinister voice.
Hearing this voice, the Red King's roar abruptly stopped, though his eyes still held an unquenchable flame of fury.
—
Of course, Mu En and Zhu Ziyang didn't know that the Hellhound they chose was the Red King's offspring. Of course, even if they had known, Mu En would still have taken it to be Zhu Ziyang's fifth spirit ring. Among the ten fiercest Spirit Beasts, only the top three could make Mu En feel wary; the rest were just slightly fiercer Spirit Beasts to him.
Approximately two hours later, Zhu Ziyang successfully finished absorbing his fifth spirit ring.
He stood up, holding the Pacifying Life-Reaping Scythe, with five spirit rings—yellow, purple, purple, black, and black—rising behind him, his eyes filled with excitement and surprise. Looking at Mu En, he happily said, "Teacher, I succeeded."
"Hahahaha, excellent, excellent, truly the person I chose!" Mu En was also very happy, because he could see that after absorbing the fifth spirit ring, Zhu Ziyang's spirit power had already reached level 52. He smiled and asked, "What is your fifth Spirit Ability?"
"Teacher, you absolutely won't guess what my fifth Spirit Ability is like." When mentioning his fifth Spirit Ability, a strange glint flashed in Zhu Ziyang's eyes, because even he himself was a little surprised. He said, "My fifth Spirit Ability is called Hell Duel Arena!"
"Hell Duel Arena?!" Mu En's eyes showed a hint of confusion, and he said, "A Domain-type Spirit Ability?"
"Sort of," Zhu Ziyang nodded, somewhat uncertainly, and said, "After using this Spirit Ability, it will teleport me and a single opponent simultaneously into an alternate dimension called the Hell Duel Arena. In this space, opponents with a higher cultivation level than me will be suppressed to my level, while opponents with a lower cultivation level than me will be boosted to my level. In the Hell Duel Arena, neither I nor my opponent can use spirit rings, Spirit Bones, or any other external items. We can only fight using our Spirit and spirit power. Only by killing the opponent can one leave the Hell Duel Arena."
"This..." Mu En looked puzzled and surprised, saying, "Such a strange Spirit Ability, Teacher has indeed never seen it before. However, judging solely from your description, Ziyang, this should be a very powerful Spirit Ability. After all, among those of the same cultivation level, there are hardly any who can contend with an ultimate Spirit wielder."
"Mhm mhm!" Zhu Ziyang nodded, excited, "That's what I think too."
How to evaluate the Hell Duel Arena Spirit Ability? Zhu Ziyang could only say, well done!
This Spirit Ability was simply a divine skill for one-on-one combat, especially for Zhu Ziyang. Without using spirit rings and Spirit Bones, he still had the Zhu Clan's Five Scythes, Reign Over The World, and Undead Magic. He could even boast that through the Hell Duel Arena, he was fully capable of solo-killing a Titled Douluo!
"However, Ziyang, I still want to remind you," Mu En taught with a serious expression, "You must use this Spirit Ability cautiously. If you're not absolutely sure of victory, never use it lightly."
"I understand, Teacher!" Zhu Ziyang nodded solemnly. Of course he understood Mu En's painstaking efforts and wouldn't become so arrogant as to look down on everything just because of one Spirit Ability.
"Hehe, then I'm relieved! Let's go, this trip has been very fruitful, we should return to the Academy." Mu En said with a smile.
Mu En brought Zhu Ziyang back to Shrek Academy.
"Teacher, I plan to go home tomorrow to see my family." Zhu Ziyang said to Mu En. He hadn't been home in two years, and if he didn't go back this year, he would have to wait until next year's holiday.
"Mhm, it is time to go back and see them." Mu En heard this and happily agreed to Zhu Ziyang's request.
After receiving Mu En's approval, Zhu Ziyang joyfully found Jiang Nannan and told her the news.
"Nannan, pack up tonight, we're going back to Anyang City tomorrow." Zhu Ziyang said to Jiang Nannan.
"Really? That's great!" Jiang Nannan's pretty face immediately lit up with a surprised smile upon hearing this, and she said, "Then I'll go back and pack my things now."
The young girl left cheerfully, leaving Zhu Ziyang and Zhang Lexuan, who had just been chatting with her.
Zhang Lexuan looked at Jiang Nannan's happy retreating figure, and couldn't help but smile, but then her smile faded, revealing a hint of sorrow. Zhu Ziyang and Jiang Nannan still had parents waiting for them at home, while she, however, had long since become homeless.
"Sister Lexuan, are you alright?" Zhu Ziyang noticed the change in Zhang Lexuan's mood and instinctively asked with concern.
"I'm fine." Zhang Lexuan shook her head, dispelling the sorrow, then her pretty face softened like a spring flower, and she said, "Congratulations, Ziyang, on becoming the youngest Spirit King in the Academy's history."
"Mhm, thank you." Zhu Ziyang replied with a smile, "I'm just the youngest Spirit King. How can I compare to you, Sister Lexuan, the youngest Spirit Douluo?"
Zhang Lexuan's spirit power had already reached level 83. Excluding the year she lost due to damage to her Spirit origin and life origin, she only took one year to advance two levels in spirit power. If other Spirit Douluo powerhouses on the continent knew this, they would surely be envious to the point of madness.
"Hahahaha~" Zhang Lexuan laughed, her laughter like moonlight spilling onto a lake, making people forget their worries upon hearing it. She said, "I'm afraid it won't be long before that title is snatched away by you."
After chatting idly for a while, the two parted ways.
Zhu Ziyang returned to his wooden house and saw Xingcai sleeping. He didn't wake her, but instead sat down on the bed himself, preparing to receive the gift Electrolux had prepared for him for a long time.
The Undead Demiplane!