"Speaking of which, how is that bat doing now?" After resting for a while, Ning Rongrong no longer felt as utterly exhausted as before, where she couldn't even move a finger, and couldn't help but ask about the situation.
No matter what, keeping the Blood Red Nine-Headed Bat King inside the Nine Treasure Glazed Pagoda was risky.
If something went wrong, she would be the one to suffer!
"Ara ara, Master, why don't you take a guess?" Tokisaki Kurumi chuckled mischievously. With Ning Rongrong no longer in her White Queen persona, Kurumi had lost quite a bit of fun.
"Guess? Guess your head!" Ning Rongrong rolled her eyes at Tokisaki Kurumi. "Speak if you want, otherwise I'll check myself."
The Dark Devilgod Tiger of the past was so reliable—feared by all, infamous far and wide.
But now? This thing was practically a jokester. Who knew who it learned from, always so unserious.
"How boring~" Tokisaki Kurumi shrugged.
"Just think about it—of course nothing's wrong. Master, you even managed to scheme against Di Tian. What's a little bat with only its soul left, still heavily injured?"
"Don't flatter me. I know the limits of the Nine Treasure Glazed Pagoda." Ning Rongrong took a deep breath. "That thing absorbed nearly all the blood and resentment of the Slaughter City."
"Are you really sure it's fine?"
"I don't want to clean up another mess for you later."
"So, Master, are you afraid of the Dark Devilgod Tiger… or Tokisaki Kurumi?" Kurumi grinned.
A visible vein popped on Ning Rongrong's forehead.
Damn it!
Now she finally understood how hard it was for Ning Fengzhi to raise a daughter. This sarcastic tone made her want to chuck a brick at Kurumi's head.
Ning Rongrong's hand groped around the grass until she found something hard—a rock about a third the size of a basketball. She immediately hurled it at Tokisaki Kurumi's forehead.
"Ow! What was that for?!" Kurumi dodged to the side, patting her slightly heaving chest with a look of lingering fear.
"You said you were exhausted, yet you still threw a brick-sized rock at me! That would've hurt if it hit!"
"Bullshit!" Ning Rongrong scoffed. "A big-headed tiger like you—if I don't knock some sense into you, you might just turn on your master!"
Black lines crawled across Tokisaki Kurumi's forehead as she spread her hands. "Are you talking about who's on top or something?"
Ning Rongrong: "…"
What the hell?! What kind of weird stuff did you learn from Dugu Yan?!
I told you to observe her, not imitate her! And Dugu Yan seemed perfectly normal!
"Regarding the Blood Red Nine-Headed Bat King, you can leave it entirely to me." After the playful banter, Tokisaki Kurumi finally regained her serious expression. "However, you must've noticed—I'll likely need to hibernate for a while."
"There are some matters that require your decision, which is why I came out."
"The Blood Red Nine-Headed Bat King's soul ring?"
"Correct." Tokisaki Kurumi wasn't surprised that Ning Rongrong guessed the answer. "Whether to preserve it—similar to how my soul ring was handled—should we do it?"
"You know how difficult it is to completely alter the rules." Ning Rongrong frowned deeply. "The Dark Devilgod Pearl only worked because it fused with the Nine Treasure Glazed Pagoda."
"Fundamentally, the zhenqi I use repels anything related to soul power."
"Not soul power—divine power." Tokisaki Kurumi brushed aside the bangs on her forehead. "The zhenqi you cultivate is actually superior to the rules of soul power and divine power."
"However, this world inherently rejects your power system. This might be related to the rules set after the fall of the Dragon God."
Silence. Ning Rongrong remained silent.
After a long while, she spoke: "What are the chances? I don't have much time to waste right now."
"Before the finals of the Spirit Master Tournament, I'd say a 90% success rate."
"Besides, aren't you missing your eighth soul ring? Compared to rebuilding one from scratch, using the Blood Red Nine-Headed Bat King's framework as a foundation seems better."
"Foundation…" Ning Rongrong didn't immediately agree. Slowly, she raised her right hand.
Strands of light gathered.
The Nine Treasure Glazed Pagoda appeared in her palm, and seven soul rings rose from her feet one after another.
Black, Black, Black, Black, Black, Black, Brilliant Gold.
"Anyway, the purpose of condensing a soul ring is just to resist the Dragon God's rules enveloping Douluo Planet."
"Using the divine power of Rakshasa and the Asura God to forge a God-Bestowed Soul Ring should work too, right?"
Tokisaki Kurumi gazed at the Nine Treasure Glazed Pagoda in Ning Rongrong's hand, her tone calm.
The Blood Red Nine-Headed Bat King's foundation was even stronger than the Deep Sea Demonic Whale King's.
Having bathed in the Slaughter City's killing intent for years and comprehended the divine power of Rakshasa and the Asura God, it was only one step away from true godhood—aside from being unable to participate in the Asura God's trials.
If not for the fact that it was now just a soul, Tokisaki Kurumi wouldn't dare let Ning Rongrong forcibly absorb it.
If something went wrong, both Ning Rongrong and Tokisaki Kurumi would be finished.
"Fine." After a long silence, Ning Rongrong nodded. "If you think it's reliable, then go ahead!"
"However, I need to recover my spirit power and stamina as soon as possible. I won't have time to help you."
"Mm, don't worry." After obtaining Ning Rongrong's approval, Tokisaki Kurumi suddenly rushed over and hugged her. Ning Rongrong stiffened before pushing the black-furred catgirl away.
"Don't do things that could be misinterpreted."
"Right, right, you're Dugu Yan's. I won't—"
"Stop. I belong to myself. No one can take me away." Ning Rongrong felt that Tokisaki Kurumi had been acting a little strange lately.
Was it because she stayed too long in the Slaughter City and went a bit… crazy? No, that couldn't be it… right?
After a chaotic back-and-forth, Tokisaki Kurumi transformed into a streak of black light and vanished into the Nine Treasure Glazed Pagoda. The pagoda trembled slightly before returning to normal.
Ning Rongrong took a deep breath and absorbed the Nine Treasure Glazed Pagoda back into her body.
"As expected… I'm still too weak."
Shaking off the thoughts of Tokisaki Kurumi's eccentric words and actions, Ning Rongrong began reviewing her battles against Title Douluos in the Slaughter City.
The so-called Supreme Realm was the beginning of the transition from human to beyond-human after reaching the Xiantian Grandmaster stage of the Great Celestial Cycle.
All along, Ning Rongrong had deliberately focused on honing her technical abilities.
For example, self-comprehended domains and the like—these were all preparations for breaking through to the Supreme Realm.
As the little princess of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School, she had wealth, access to all kinds of spirit master texts, and plenty of time to refine herself.
She even had the luxury of having two Title Douluos spar with her for training.
From the moment she awakened her martial soul, she prioritized training her techniques.
Unlike some spirit masters who obtained domains but merely possessed them without understanding why they appeared or how to use them, Ning Rongrong could almost freely alter the characteristics of her domain.
Though she couldn't perform literal miracles, she could apply unrelated abilities to her domain and manifest their effects.
A domain was a rule engraved into the body—even the soul.
The so-called Extreme Realms, the Supreme…
The Extreme of Strength, the Extreme of Qi, the Extreme of Skill, the Extreme of Mind—
They were all about comprehending the rules and using the soul to perceive and learn them.