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"A control-type spirit skill?" Xiao Zhan's eyes lit up.
He personally walked into the 'Great Stone Formation' Su Wen had released, sensing the oppressive force within the space sealed by the boulders.
"What powerful pressure."
Even he, without using his spirit, would instantly lose his ability to resist. Even if he did use his spirit, his mobilization of spirit power would still be slightly affected.
Dugu Yan also entered Su Wen's stone formation to feel the skill's effect.
She immediately entered her spirit avatar state and circulated her spirit power as she stepped inside.
However, the moment she entered, she felt an indescribable sense of oppression, squeezing her from all sides. It was incredibly uncomfortable.
In this state, forget fighting, just being able to move normally was already impressive.
This was especially true for a Spirit Master of the same rank.
"At the Spirit Elder level, there are probably very few who could fight while tanking this pressure, let alone fight you."
It was now basically possible to determine that after Su Wen deployed his Great Stone Formation, he could fight evenly with a Spirit Ancestor within its confines.
Just after becoming a Spirit Elder, he could already fight a Spirit Ancestor. And this 'Spirit Ancestor' meant anyone from level 41 to 49.
As long as it wasn't a particularly monstrous Spirit Ancestor, fighting Su Wen—who was already a combat powerhouse—inside his Great Stone Formation would make it almost impossible for them to win.
"I feel like your Great Stone Formation is even more perverse than the Stone Golem's."
The Stone Golem was a 5,000-year beast, so the power of its skill naturally wouldn't be weaker than what Su Wen was demonstrating. But its power came from a strong foundation; it was equivalent to a level 40+ Spirit Master using the skill.
Su Wen, however, was only level 31.
Yet the skill he unleashed was nearly on par with the Stone Golem's.
"The Stone Golem still mobilizes its own stones. It has to separate parts of its body to act as the formation's foundation. Not only is the number of stones it can separate limited, but its own main body is also weakened when divided," Su Wen explained. "But I'm different. My spirit can use its pages to transform into a large number of boulders to lay down this formation."
Of course, he could also add his control over the heaven-and-earth energy.
With his second and third spirit skills cooperating, it wasn't quite Su Wen's "Domain," but the Great Stone Formation was undoubtedly his home turf.
Xiao Zhan's face was full of admiration. He was extremely excited and increasingly satisfied with Su Wen's spirit skill.
"Right, are you able to control the earth element now?"
Hearing this, Su Wen nodded.
Dugu Yan's jaw dropped.
It actually worked?
He really planned the absorption of his third spirit ring to successfully achieve an expansion of his second spirit skill?
She felt as if her entire view of cultivation had been shattered.
Before, she had just thought of it as a theory. In her heart, she knew it was logically perfect, but it still required a gamble on probability.
But now, Su Wen's nod confirmed that he had won the gamble!
"Mm. If it were anyone else, I would warn them not to bite off more than they can chew. But for a kid like you, it's like giving wings to a tiger."
Su Wen's talent for developing elemental control was just too high.
His learning of the Fire Demon Style, and his self-taught mastery of the wind element, had both advanced by leaps and bounds in just one year, even reaching the level of creating his own skills.
Now, adding earth element control would only further enrich Su Wen's arsenal.
Moreover, he had the 'Great Stone Formation' as his third skill, which would coordinate with his earth control, doubling its power.
"Hsss..." Just imagining it, Xiao Zhan felt Su Wen's abilities were monstrous.
"At this rate, if you reorganize your abilities and properly develop your earth element and third skill, your combat power will be among the strongest even among Spirit Ancestors. You could absolutely participate in this upcoming Spirit Master Tournament..."
As Xiao Zhan said this, Dugu Yan's expression immediately became a little awkward.
This...
Although the academy had invited them to join and form this team, the academy had, at the very least, hired the best teachers for them and provided the best possible conditions...
She never expected that the first person on the team to reach the combat power of a Spirit Ancestor... would be Su Wen.
And he had been acknowledged as having Spirit Ancestor-level strength before even having a real-world battle!
"Haha, Yu Feng and the others are probably going to cultivate like madmen now," Su Wen joked.
Knowing that one of them might be kicked off the team, wouldn't Yu Feng and the others go crazy training?
He had no intention of replacing anyone. After all, he had trained and fought alongside the others and had grown fond of them.
If his situation could stimulate them, it was actually a good thing.
Besides, even if he did replace someone, he didn't know who to replace.
His skillset was too comprehensive. He was better off as an all-purpose substitute.
Control... Power-attack... Auxiliary...
He could now be considered a Spirit-Ancestor-level member in all three of these roles.
No, wait. If he developed his earth element control, he might even be able to double as a defense-type Spirit Master.
"Sister Yan, you'll have to work hard too. I can also act as a control-type Spirit Master now," Su Wen joked.
Dugu Yan rolled her eyes. "You brat, you've really become rebellious after breaking through to Spirit Elder."
"Just wait until your big sister reaches Spirit Ancestor. I'll definitely teach you a lesson."
Although she said this, a trace of loneliness flashed in her eyes.
Su Wen's cultivation speed was truly monstrous.
And her situation was far more complicated. She could only cultivate step-by-step, just to keep the poison's backlash within a controllable range.
She didn't even know if continuing to cultivate would just gradually worsen her current situation...
Both Xiao Zhan and Su Wen keenly observed the loneliness in Dugu Yan's eyes.
"Sigh." Xiao Zhan sighed, shook his head, and said nothing.
However, Dugu Yan suspected that he might have seen something.
Su Wen observed the situation and, seizing the atmosphere, decided to speak plainly about Dugu Yan's condition.
"Sister Yan, there must be a problem with your spirit cultivation, right?"
"Huh?" Asked so directly, Dugu Yan froze for a moment.
Xiao Zhan frantically shot Su Wen a look.
See it, but don't say it!
Kid, don't just call it out!
You can see a flaw in someone's cultivation, but you can't just say it out loud!
You'll be misunderstood!
Why are scholars so important in a Spirit Master's cultivation, yet there are so few truly famous "masters" of theory?
"Sister Yan, cultivating your spirit should be poisoning your own body, and it gets worse as you cultivate, right?"
Xiao Zhan felt his head spin. His face turned pale, a look of pure terror on it.
He wanted nothing more than to clamp his hand over Su Wen's mouth and make him stop.
Kid, where's that cleverness you usually have?!
What a terrifying aura!
"But, actually, Sister Yan, you don't need to worry. If there's a problem with the spirit, you just have to solve it."
"Oh? And how would one solve it?" A hoarse, grim voice suddenly cut Su Wen off.
Dugu Bo's sinister voice made Su Wen's skin crawl, and the faint, murderous intent made his heart tremble violently.
(End of this chapter)