At Heart of Fire Academy, Xin diligently taught Meng Yiran the unique skills of Necromancy and Netherworld Instrument Hundred Way, setting her on a development path as a summoner Spirit Master and a master of Hidden Weapons.
Zhu Zhuqing also absorbed a Spirit Bone from a Nether Beast, a thirty-thousand-year-old Nether Beast Right Leg Bone, which granted her an excellent Nether skill and significantly increased her spirit power, giving her the Spirit Ability: Netherworld Vortex.
To Xin's slight surprise, upon returning to the academy, he learned that Ning Rongrong's third spirit ring from the Steel Bone Ironclad Tiger not only perfected her Second Layer: Iron Skin but also yielded an Ironclad Torso Bone.
Unexpected, yet reasonable—this was one of the reasons Xin hunted Spirit Beasts that aligned with their cultivation techniques; what if a Spirit Bone dropped?
Spirit Bones are extremely rare on the Douluo Continent; even a thousand-year Spirit Bone is something Spirit Masters dream of.
The power of a Spirit Bone lies not only in its potential to grant a Spirit Master a Spirit Ability but also in its growth potential. Even a thousand-year Spirit Bone can strengthen as the Spirit Master grows, though its growth rate is slow. Few Spirit Masters can temper their physical bodies to exceed the strength of a ten-thousand-year Spirit Beast.
However, external Spirit Bones, which are independent of the six major Spirit Bones, grow at a faster rate.
Fortunately, this Ironclad Torso Bone complemented the Rokushiki "Iron Body" perfectly.
Having already cultivated the defensive ultimate skill, Rokushiki "Iron Body", coupled with this impenetrable Spirit Bone ability, it could provide Ning Rongrong with over 50% increased defense and a weight bonus from the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda, directly elevating her shield value to a level unbreakable by Spirit Masters of the same realm.
Xin also equipped Ning Rongrong with a bone-nourishing fluid specifically for warming Spirit Bones, which could rapidly increase the Spirit Bone's age. Given time, it could elevate it to over ten thousand years, significantly enhancing its effects.
While in the Star Dou Great Forest, Xin considered hunting the Man Faced Demon Spider that Tang San needed, as it possessed a growth-oriented external Spirit Bone, the Eight Spider Lances. However, he thought it over and gave up.
Firstly, finding that Man Faced Demon Spider in the vast outer region of the Star Dou Great Forest would be difficult. Secondly, even if he found it, the Man Faced Demon Spider was only two thousand years old, which was still too young. Moreover, Zhu Zhuqing and Meng Yiran, who were suitable for absorbing the Man Faced Demon Spider spirit ring, were both girls. If they absorbed the Eight Spider Lances...
Can you imagine a blossoming young girl, during a Spirit Master battle, having her back clothing torn, exposing her upper body, and unfurling Eight Spider Lances?
There was a very powerful woman on the continent who, because spiders were too ugly, fought timidly and avoided using her spirit power when possible, resulting in her being furiously hammered by someone four or five levels lower than her.
Simply because that thing was too ugly.
So Xin gave up.
He could find better Spirit Bones for his disciples in the future; there was no need to care about a single Eight Spider Lances.
...
In the following period, Meng Yiran followed Zhu Zhuqing and Ning Rongrong in their daily training, each cultivating their unique skills. Due to Zhu Zhuqing's prior exposure to a Hidden Weapon given by Xin —Shunpo—Zhu Zhuqing also learned a bit of Netherworld Instrument Hundred Way and exchanged pointers with Meng Yiran.
Necromancy was a cultivation method compatible with Meng Yiran's Spirit, requiring her to absorb the power of the sun, moon, and stars through her snake staff and ingest the death qi from the earth's veins. It was exclusive to her Spirit, and only when the snake staff evolved into a Death Spirit Snake Staff would she be considered to have truly entered the path.
As for Netherworld Instrument Hundred Way, in addition to learning about netherworld Hidden Weapons, it also required practicing movement techniques and crafting methods. Like Tang San's Mysterious Heaven Skill, it had a very important ability: hand training.
However, Tang San trained in Mysterious Jade Hand, while Zhu Zhuqing and Meng Yiran trained in Earth Nether Hand. The two had similarities but also significant differences.
However, one thing was certain: if Tang San were to see their perfected Nether Hand, he would be greatly astonished.
And so, at Heart of Fire Academy, four students diligently cultivated their top-tier ultimate skills, reversing their destinies.
The students of Shrek Academy were not idle either.
Under the urging of Zhao Wuji and the new teachers at Shrek, Tang San, Oscar, Ma Hongjun, Dai Mubai, and Xiao Wu were also diligently cultivating. Each of them used primitive weighted methods, carrying a large stone on their backs, enduring the scorching sun or heavy rain, running back and forth between Shrek Academy and Soto City like idiots, training their basic physical endurance.
At Heart of Fire Academy, even when Ning Rongrong trained her basic physical endurance, Xin specifically spent money to custom-make weighted equipment for her, fitting her body movements.
Shrek, it was poor to a certain extent.
If carrying bricks were useful, then the young men at construction sites should all be Titled Douluo, right?
...