Chapter 71: Fourth Spirit Ability, Ultimate Sublimation! Long Aotian Successfully Completes Secondary Awakening!
"Rank forty-four? Not bad at all."
Du Busi stood with his hands clasped behind his back. His emerald green eyes locked onto Liu Yuan, tracing the steady, rhythmic pulse of spirit power radiating from the boy's frame. Deep within those ancient eyes, a deep sense of approval burned bright.
Even though he had braced himself for a miracle, watching his disciple shatter four bottlenecks in a single breath to step firmly into the Rank 44 Spirit Ancestor realm sent a rush of pure, unadulterated satisfaction through his veins.
The tyrannical energy housed within that forty-five-thousand-year spirit ring had been devoured completely. Not a single drop went to waste.
For an ordinary Spirit Master, absorbing such a vast ocean of power in one sitting would have fractured their meridians and ruined their foundation. Yet, Liu Yuan was a different breed entirely. His body had been forged and reforged in the agonizing fires of the Body Secret Method. Instead of buckling under the pressure, his flesh and bones drank in the violent spirit power like parched earth welcoming a torrential storm.
Du Busi ran the numbers in his head.
Given this monstrous cultivation speed, paired with the Body Sect funneling every conceivable resource into his hands, the boy would touch the Rank 50 bottleneck in a year. Half a year, if he pushed it.
By that time, Liu Yuan would only be thirteen years old.
A thirteen-year-old Spirit King.
Du Busi looked back across the ten-thousand-year history of the Douluo Continent. Who would even dare to dream up such a ridiculous concept? Even the legendary founder of the Tang Sect, a man whose name still echoed through the ages, had not reached such terrifying heights at that age.
A wide grin threatened to split Du Busi's weathered face. The more he thought about it, the more his blood boiled with excitement. The Body Sect had finally birthed a supreme genius, a monster capable of suppressing an entire era. The future of their lineage had never looked so blindingly bright.
"Alright, let us put the rank issue aside for a moment."
Du Busi forced his grin down, replacing it with the stern, calculating visage of a sect master. He leaned forward slightly, his tone dripping with intense curiosity.
"You absorbed a Singing Cricket nearing the fifty-thousand-year mark. That beast is infamous for its monstrous amplification attributes. Tell me, what exactly did your fourth Spirit Ability inherit?"
Liu Yuan slowly blinked. The brilliant golden light swirling within his double pupils receded into a calm, predatory simmer. He turned his attention inward, inspecting the newly formed black spirit ring hovering heavily within his Sea of Consciousness.
A moment passed. He raised his gaze to meet his master's and replied in a perfectly level tone.
"Master, my fourth Spirit Ability is named 'Ultimate Sublimation'."
"Upon activation, it comprehensively enhances every aspect of my being. Whether it is mental force, spirit power intensity, or physical body quality, they all enter a state of extreme, rapid amplification."
He paused, flexing his fingers as he analyzed the residual energy. "However... I cannot give you an exact multiplier just by standing here. I still need to test it in actual combat to know its true limits."
Hearing this, Du Busi raised an eyebrow. A dangerous, thrilled glint flashed across his features. "Amplifying all abilities? Then what are you waiting for? Try it on me directly! Actual combat is the only way to drag the truth out of a Spirit Ability."
Liu Yuan offered a curt nod. He took a deliberate step back, putting a dozen paces between himself and the Super Douluo.
"Fourth Spirit Ability, Ultimate Sublimation!"
Following Liu Yuan's low, commanding shout, the deep black spirit ring circling his feet flared with blinding intensity.
In an instant, the pale golden patterns etched into Liu Yuan's double pupils began to spin with chaotic violence. A scorching, suffocating heat erupted from his skin. The sheer volume of spirit power overflowing from his frame warped the air around him, creating a rippling mirage of pure force.
He did not hesitate. His left pupil narrowed, locking onto the old man standing casually across the clearing.
"First Spirit Ability, Spirit Ray!"
Two beams of pale golden-red light shattered the air, screaming toward their target with lethal velocity.
Du Busi remained rooted to the spot, his hands still casually resting behind his back. He had no intention of calling upon his own spirit power initially. In his view, with his physical body strength as a Level 98 Super Douluo, even if Liu Yuan had broken through to Rank 40, these rays would at most leave a mild, stinging sensation against his skin.
But the exact fraction of a second those twin golden rays slammed into his chest, the casual arrogance vanished from Du Busi's face.
He felt a tyrannical, overbearing wave of mental force riding the physical impact, attempting to violently pry open his physical defenses and strike directly into his Sea of Consciousness.
"Hmm?"
A soft grunt of surprise escaped Du Busi's lips. He discovered that the destructive output of this Spirit Ray was completely absurd. Forced onto the defensive, he instantly mobilized a sliver of his emerald green spirit power, layering it over his skin just in time to completely neutralize the invading shockwave.
The first round of testing ended. Liu Yuan withdrew the golden light, his chest heaving slightly as his breathing grew uneven.
Du Busi looked down at his chest, examining the distinctly hot patch of skin. "How did your attack power spike this drastically?" he asked, his voice laced with genuine shock. "Compared to your output at Rank 39, this leap in power is a bit monstrous."
Liu Yuan secretly analyzed the drain on his reserves and the feedback from the clash, the golden rings in his eyes pulsing faintly. "Master, my initial feeling is that after activating Ultimate Sublimation, my mental force intensity seems to have doubled instantly."
"This surge did not just sharpen the piercing power of the rays, but it also layered a secondary, concussive mental shockwave into the impact."
Du Busi was even more satisfied with this result. Doubled mental force meant the explosive damage Liu Yuan could unleash in a fraction of a second was lethal enough to threaten opponents far above his own cultivation rank.
"Good. Now, let us test your melee ability."
Du Busi spread his arms wide, signaling Liu Yuan to continue the assault. "Show me the Qilin Precious Technique!"
Liu Yuan's gaze turned glacial. An explosive ring of ice-blue light shattered the ground beneath his boots. Under the tyrannical augmentation of Ultimate Sublimation, his entire figure blurred into a distorted streak of azure lightning.
"Qilin Precious Technique!"
His speed broke past his previous limits. In the blink of an eye, he vanished from his spot and materialized directly at Du Busi's flank. His fist, wrapped in a dense, howling vortex of spirit power, carved through the air and slammed heavily toward the old man's shoulder.
Du Busi remained standing like an immovable mountain, continuously raising his arms to catch and deflect every bone-shattering punch Liu Yuan threw at him.
Through this intense storm of offensive and defensive testing, a startling truth became obvious to them both.
Under the augmentation of Ultimate Sublimation, the physical enhancements granted by the Qilin Precious Technique had also received a perfect, doubled increase.
Whether it was movement speed, instantaneous explosive force, or the sheer toughness of his physical body, it had all skyrocketed to a height never seen before.
This absolute, total doubling effect gave Liu Yuan the raw capital to completely overwhelm higher-ranked Spirit Masters in a brutal, short-term war of attrition.
"It seems this is the true core of Ultimate Sublimation."
Du Busi casually swatted away Liu Yuan's final strike and lowered his hands. He looked at his disciple, his expression turning deadly serious.
"An amplification of this magnitude is simply heaven-defying. I ask you, are there any severe side effects? For example, will it consume your foundation after use, or cause permanent damage to your body?"
Liu Yuan closed his eyes, carefully tracing the flow of spirit power through his meridians, and shook his head. "Currently, I have not discovered any situation where it consumes my foundation."
Du Busi's eyes widened a fraction. "Then this fourth Spirit Ability of yours is genuinely terrifying..."
Liu Yuan continued, his tone pragmatic. "It is just that this Spirit Ability consumes a massive amount of energy and cannot be used continuously without interruption."
"After each use, there will be a short window of time where the spirit power in my body feels completely hollowed out. I need to rest and cycle my energy for a period before I can activate it again."
After listening to the explanation, Du Busi nodded, the tension leaving his shoulders. "That is only natural. If an amplification Spirit Ability of this caliber could be used without limit, that would be the real problem. Even with some empty windows, in a true life-and-death struggle, a doubled burst of power is more than enough to let you decide life and death in an instant."
Du Busi felt thoroughly satisfied with the harvest from Liu Yuan's trip to the Star Dou Great Forest. He stepped forward and clapped a heavy hand onto Liu Yuan's shoulder, his mood soaring. "Alright, the harvest this time is quite good."
"Let us return to the Body Sect now."
A wicked, anticipatory smirk tugged at the corner of Du Busi's mouth. "When we get back, when you and Ao Tian spar, that arrogant brat will probably be scared out of his wits by these strange new abilities of yours. I am quite looking forward to his expression at that time."
Liu Yuan offered a faint smile without saying much, though in his heart, a cold anticipation for the upcoming spar settled comfortably in his chest.
The two of them wasted no time. They shot through the outer perimeter of the Star Dou Great Forest at a terrifying speed, crossing the national borders until the towering mountain gates of the Body Sect finally loomed in the distance.
However, the moment Liu Yuan and Du Busi stepped foot onto the sect grounds, before they could even seek out Vina to announce their safe return, a piece of bombshell news that had shocked the entire sect reached their ears.
A crowd had gathered in front of the main sect hall. Chen Lu, Teacher Wang Yan, and several other core members stood huddled together, their faces flushed with frantic energy.
The second they spotted Du Busi and Liu Yuan walking through the gates, the group broke formation and sprinted toward them.
"Sect Master! Senior Brother! You have finally returned!"
Due to excessive excitement, Chen Lu practically slid to a halt, his chest heaving. His voice trembled, entirely devoid of its usual composure.
Du Busi's brow furrowed into a deep, dangerous line. "What are you panicking about? What happened?"
Chen Lu took a massive gulp of air, raised a shaking finger, and pointed frantically toward the martial arts field situated at the back of the mountain. He shouted at the top of his lungs.
"Senior Brother Ao Tian! Just a moment ago, he successfully completed the Secondary Awakening of his Body Martial Soul!"
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