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About an hour later, the pain in Ning Tianchen's body completely subsided, and he finished absorbing the soul ring.
Ning Tianchen stretched his limbs and murmured softly.
"Could what happened just now be an external spirit bone?"
In the original timeline, Tang San had experienced a similar situation, which led to him obtaining the Eight Spider Spirit Bone—a major stroke of luck.
But after carefully sensing his body, Ning Tianchen didn't find any additional spirit bones.
His slightly disappointed expression caught Chen Xin's eye, who couldn't help but laugh: "You brat, don't be greedy. This time, your martial soul underwent a mutation as you absorbed the soul ring. From what I can see, it's likely a beneficial mutation."
"In the future, when you reach my level, even I won't be your match."
According to the records of the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Sect, any martial soul mutation related to dragons was almost always beneficial. Ning Tianchen wasn't surprised either.
"A martial soul mutation?" Ning Tianchen was momentarily stunned. He quickly summoned his martial soul, and a yellow soul ring appeared beneath his feet.
Previously, the Seven Kill Sword had been entirely silver-white with a smooth blade. Now, intricate dragon-like patterns had emerged across its surface.
Isn't the Seven Kill Sword already a super martial soul? Can it still evolve further?
Though unclear about the specifics, Ning Tianchen closed his eyes and carefully focused on the information his martial soul was transmitting to him.
From the feedback, he learned: "Sword Elder, my martial soul hasn't fully evolved yet. Once it does, it should be called the Dragon-Engraved Seven Kill Sword."
With his vast knowledge, Chen Xin immediately understood the reason: "This Azure Dragon's age was too low, and the energy it contained wasn't enough to fully evolve your martial soul. In the future, try to ensure all your soul rings come from dragon-type spirit beasts. That way, your martial soul will continue to evolve."
"If I'm not mistaken, your first soul skill shouldn't be 'Longsword Thrust,' right?"
The first three soul skills of the Seven Kill Sword were almost always fixed. Whether or not a martial soul has evolved can be determined by whether these three skills have changed.
Ning Tianchen nodded. "Sword Elder, my first soul skill is called Azure Dragon Break."
Chen Xin: "Try it out!"
"First soul skill, Azure Dragon Break!"
A layer of sword qi enveloped the Seven Kill Sword. When Ning Tianchen swung it, the sword qi transformed into the shadow of an azure dragon, cleanly slicing through a nearby tree trunk.
"Not bad at all," Chen Xin praised generously.
Through observation, he could confirm that Ning Tianchen's Seven Kill Sword martial soul had undergone a beneficial mutation.
Back when he had obtained his first soul ring, his attacks hadn't reached this level of power.
This meant that Ning Tianchen's future soul rings would need to come exclusively from dragon-type spirit beasts to allow his martial soul to rapidly evolve.
Ning Tianchen looked at his "handiwork" with great satisfaction.
After all, Tang San's first soul skill, Bind, only left some dents in tree trunks, whereas he could slice through one cleanly. Didn't that prove his attack power surpassed Tang San's?
Thinking of Tang San, Ning Tianchen's impression of him wasn't favorable. The guy's behavior later on practically screamed "petty success."
…
Ning Tianchen gradually pushed such thoughts aside.
It was too early to dwell on Tang San. Besides, Tang San also had hidden weapons—things Ning Tianchen couldn't handle with his current strength.
"Sniff sniff~"
"What's that awful smell?"
Suddenly, Ning Tianchen looked down and saw the bloodstains on his body.
Mixed with sweat, the stench was unbearable.
"Haha, let's find a nearby stream and wash off the filth," Chen Xin chuckled.
…
Several days later, Ning Tianchen returned to the sect.
After becoming a one-ring soul master, his position among the group of children became even more solidified.
These kids called him "Big Brother," each more affectionately than the last.
Their parents weren't fools—they knew that Ning Tianchen was highly regarded by Sword Douluo, and his future status within the sect would undoubtedly be high. Rather than going out of their way to curry favor with Ning Rongrong, they might as well build a good relationship with Ning Tianchen.
Ning Tianchen was unaware of all this, but his focus wasn't on such matters anyway. For now, his priority was to train in the eight-character mantra Chen Xin had taught him: Walking, Turning, Spinning, Flipping, Lightness, Stability, Speed, Agility.
When Ning Rongrong saw Ning Tianchen's soul ring, she couldn't help but feel envious.
During this time, she even went into seclusion to train, striving to reach level ten soul power as soon as possible.
Taking advantage of the quiet days, Ning Tianchen spent nearly every moment honing his sword techniques. During this time, Chen Xin provided him with multiple rounds of guidance.
One afternoon, a month later, under Ning Fengzhi's arrangement, a disciple in their mid-twenties from the sect was assigned to spar with Ning Tianchen.
"Tianchen, you're only at level fourteen soul power. Are you sure you'll be fine dueling against a Great Soul Master?" Ning Fengzhi asked with a complicated expression.
Now that Ning Tianchen was here, Ning Fengzhi really needed to reconsider who would succeed as the sect leader in the future.
In his heart, Ning Fengzhi naturally preferred Ning Rongrong to take over as sect leader, with Ning Tianchen becoming the sect's guardian powerhouse.
However, Ning Tianchen was a Ning family disciple and possessed the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Pagoda martial soul. In terms of talent and strength, he was qualified to compete for the position of sect leader in the future.
Over the past few days, Ning Fengzhi had researched and discovered that the first twin martial soul master in history had died during cultivation due to their body exploding. Since Ning Tianchen was only cultivating one martial soul, such a scenario wouldn't happen to him.
If he didn't cultivate the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Pagoda, he wouldn't qualify to compete for the sect leader position. But if he successfully cultivated both martial souls and obtained seven or more soul rings for the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Pagoda, then the sect leader position would inevitably belong to him.
After much deliberation, Ning Fengzhi ultimately decided that as long as Ning Tianchen married Ning Rongrong, giving him the sect leader position wouldn't be an issue.
…
Before Ning Tianchen could respond, Chen Xin chuckled: "Sect Leader, rest assured. With Tianchen's strength, there won't be any problems."
Ning Fengzhi put his worries aside and nodded in acknowledgment.
At the moment, Ning Rongrong was out hunting soul rings with Bone Douluo, so she wouldn't be able to witness Ning Tianchen's performance today.
As Ning Tianchen stepped onto the training grounds, he couldn't help but take a deep breath.
This was his first official duel, so it was natural to feel a bit nervous.
His opponent was a twelve-year-old boy who had recently graduated from the sect's special training camp.
"Ning Tianchen, though you're a genius valued by the Sect Leader, I won't go easy on you in battle!" the boy said with a snort.
Ning Tianchen summoned his martial soul, and a yellow soul ring appeared beneath his feet. "That's exactly what I want."
After locking eyes, the boy involuntarily swallowed. He had never encountered such a sharp gaze from someone his age. With so many people watching, he couldn't help but feel intimidated.
To boost his courage, the boy raised his voice slightly: "Bu Qing, martial soul Water Cloud Staff, twenty-five levels, strong offensive battle soul master. Please give me your guidance."
Ning Tianchen nodded slightly but did not reveal his own strength or martial soul.
For him, announcing his abilities at the start of the fight was akin to handing his opponent all his cards. It might even put him at a disadvantage later on.
Only a fool would reveal their secrets upfront!
"Why didn't you report your strength?" Bu Qing couldn't help but ask.
"Didn't you already see it?"
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