"Great! He did it!"
Ye Lingling couldn't contain her excitement, her voice clear and melodious. Her already bright eyes now sparkled like stars.
Overjoyed, she gripped Dugu Yan's hand tightly beside her. Dugu Yan was equally delighted, a smile spreading across her face as she returned the grip on Ye Lingling's hand.
Sweat had begun to form on their palms, but they were completely unaware.
Zhu Fan's eyes brimmed with pride. "I knew Chengfeng could do it!"
Ye Renxin nodded, letting out a deep sigh of relief as he silently retracted his Nine-Heart Begonia martial spirit. "Yes, Chengfeng did it—he truly succeeded!"
"This is a 9000-year third ring! I never imagined I'd witness such a momentous occasion in Douluo Continent history!" Dugu Bo exclaimed, utterly amazed.
At this point, Dugu Bo's eyes gleamed with curiosity.
"However, does Chengfeng's third soul skill manifest as a pair of wings?"
"It looks somewhat similar to the third soul skill of a junior named Feng Xiaotian that I happened to see a year ago—both are composed of wind elements. But clearly, Chengfeng's wings are far more imposing in both color and appearance…"
"I wonder what its abilities might be?"
"Does it retain the unique abilities of the Nine Nether Azure Phoenix?"
Just then, Dai Chengfeng, who had been sitting cross-legged with his eyes closed, slowly opened them.
A flicker of complex emotions passed through his eyes as he muttered softly, "31st-level soul power…"
Dai Chengfeng recalled knowledge from his past life about cultivating ultimate-attribute martial spirits. "In the original story, because ultimate-attribute martial spirits are far stronger than ordinary ones, they require much denser soul power to sustain."
"Between levels 30 and 70, cultivation efficiency drops significantly…"
Thinking of this, Dai Chengfeng sighed softly, a trace of helplessness appearing on his face.
However, he quickly brushed it off.
After all, moving slower now was for the sake of rapid advancement later. The higher the cultivation level, the more pronounced the advantages of an ultimate-attribute martial spirit became.
His purer, more resilient soul power would be enough to crush all non-ultimate martial spirits!
Moreover, he possessed the Innate Technique, so he wouldn't lag too far behind.
"So be it!"
"Let me first examine the specific abilities of my third soul skill…"
---
Dai Chengfeng's third soul skill was called Nine Nether Dark Wind. As for the pair of wings behind him, they weren't the actual form of the soul skill—it was simply Dai Chengfeng controlling his Nine Nether Dark Wind to condense and shape them. It was quite simple.
This was fundamentally different from Feng Xiaotian's Gale Twin Wings.
Just as Dai Chengfeng couldn't understand why Blue Silver Grass would waste a soul ring learning a binding skill, he also couldn't fathom why Feng Xiaotian didn't try to harness his affinity with wind to actively control it and shape it into a pair of wings instead.
Instead, Feng Xiaotian wasted a soul ring.
The process might have been difficult, but if he could create the Thirty-Six Consecutive Gale Wolf Slash, how could shaping wind be harder than that?
"Perhaps he was constrained by fixed thinking?"
Dai Chengfeng shook his head, not finding it strange.
After all, in this world—aside from Tang Chen—most people believed that soul skills were just soul skills…
No one ever thought to explore or develop the potential of their own soul skills.
Tang San, however, was similar to Dai Chengfeng in that regard—he actively developed his soul skills.
For example, during the Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Tournament, Tang San discovered the limitations of Blue Silver Prison Cage's crowd-control-only ability and developed it further into the Blue Silver Spike Array.
Instantly, its power increased dramatically.
It could still restrict enemies while also attacking them, with added effects of stacking dizziness.
"Looking at it this way, Tang San's first soul ring being Binding was also a setup by Master Yu… a trap, really."
Dai Chengfeng chuckled and stopped dwelling on it.
Instead, he raised his hand slightly, causing the wings behind him to dim momentarily. In the palm of his hand, a dark green energy sphere slowly began to take shape.
Within the sphere, countless strands of dark green wind and darkness elements intertwined, surged, and fused together, resembling countless sharp blades.
Gazing at the energy ball in his hand, Dai Chengfeng's lips curled into a faint smile as he murmured softly, "So this is how the Nine Nether Azure Phoenix creates a vacuum?"
"By utilizing the strange annihilation effect produced when wind and darkness fuse, it 'slashes' away all air within a certain range?"
After pondering for a moment, Dai Chengfeng gently clenched his fist, instantly crushing the dark green sphere in his hand. It shattered into countless tiny fragments of light, returning to the wings behind him.
Flap, flap, flap…
Immediately afterward, Dai Chengfeng spread his wings, the shadowy dark green feathers glowing faintly as they gave a gentle flutter.
In the next second, his body shot forward like a streak of black lightning, landing directly in front of Zhu Fan, Ye Lingling, and Dugu Bo.
Watching Dai Chengfeng approach—
'Is his third soul skill flight?'
A flicker of regret flashed in Zhu Fan's eyes but disappeared just as quickly.
He stepped forward anxiously, examining Dai Chengfeng up and down. "Chengfeng, after absorbing that 9000-year soul ring, do you feel any discomfort anywhere?"
Dai Chengfeng chuckled lightly. "Uncle, rest assured—I'm fine, feeling great!"
"That's good." Zhu Fan let out a deep breath, his face breaking into a relieved smile. Then he continued, "Since you've already absorbed the soul ring, let's hurry to Tian Dou City?"
"Pack up the precious herbs from the Ye Family Clinic and then return to Star Luo."
As Zhu Fan spoke, his eyes gleamed with anticipation. "It's been nearly three years since we left the Star Luo Empire—I imagine my sister must miss you dearly…"
"Agreed."
Hearing this, Dai Chengfeng nodded, then turned to Dugu Bo and Ye Renxin. "Shall we set off?"
Without waiting for their reply, Dai Chengfeng eagerly strode toward the exit of Sunset Forest.
His eyes were filled with eager anticipation.
He was genuinely curious about how Wu'an City had developed over the years.
And the personal guard he had tasked Zhu Yan with training should have reached a decent scale by now, right?!
"With the plans I left before departing, there shouldn't be any issues!"
---
Seven days later
Tian Dou City, Crown Prince Xue Qinghe's residence.
Xue Qinghe, dressed in a pale moon-colored robe, sat calmly at a carved pearwood desk in his study. A report lay open before him.
On the page, a name beginning with "Xue" had been marked with a red X.
"Finally, everything has been cleaned up!"
Xue Qinghe nodded in satisfaction, his eyes narrowing slightly. "Now, my position as crown prince is finally unshakable!"
Knock, knock, knock…
At this moment, a soft knocking sound broke the silence of the study.
Xue Qinghe looked up, his voice steady and warm. "Enter."
The door slowly opened, and Porcupinefish Douluo entered briskly. "Young Master, a scout reported from the north gate—the group you ordered us to monitor, including Dai Chengfeng, has returned. They've currently arrived at the Ye Family Clinic."
"Oh?"
Xue Qinghe's eyes lit up instantly as he glanced at the intercepted letter on the desk, sent by the mayor of Wu'an City—no, the current centurion of Wu Ping City, Zhu Yan.
"Porcupinefish Elder, do you think that little tiger cub will be furious?!"
Thinking of the contents of the letter, a sly smile curved her lips, her tone playful.
------------------------------------------------------
Thank you to our new Patrons: Mike Foster, miney laster, Jose Carrillo, Jean C, Aaron Gurrola and It's_Bleau! Your support means the world to me <3 We are up to 'Chapter 200: Pinching Cheeks, Heading to the Soul Battle Arena' on Patreon!
There's something for free patrons too! Free Patrons receive 1 chapter in advance :)
Support my writing journey: patreon.com/EphemeralShadow
40+ Chapters Ahead Guaranteed.