Qiangu Yuan slowly opened his eyes, a look of pleasant surprise spreading across his face.
"My spirit power… has reached level eighty-five!"
Recalling the treasure he had just absorbed—the stone-tablet-like object that radiated an overwhelming vitality—Qiangu Yuan couldn't help but lick his lips.
"I never expected this place to give me such an enormous surprise. A single stone tablet directly raised my spirit power by four levels! Even my potential, which was nearly exhausted, has been revitalized. I originally thought I would only ever reach Spirit Douluo in this lifetime—but who could've imagined that this trip would actually give me the qualifications to advance to Titled Douluo!"
Just two days earlier, the transformed spirit beast Chi Yan had fled, and the heavily injured Hundred Thousand Year spirit beast had also escaped.
They had assumed the trip would end with nothing to show for it, yet Tang Zhen and Qiangu Yuan unexpectedly discovered a hidden opportunity inside the towering tree on the island at the center of the lake.
That enormous tree was hollow.
Neither of the two Hundred Thousand Year spirit beasts had imagined that beneath the hollowed trunk lay an entirely separate hidden world.
Tang Zhen and Qiangu Yuan descended to investigate. Snake Lance, having failed to capture anyone, had already returned to Heaven Dou City, missing this opportunity entirely.
After peeling away the bark, they discovered another concealed space beneath the tree.
The bottom of the lake.
The tree's roots.
There, they found several stone tablets of varying shapes.
Tang Zhen and Qiangu Yuan unanimously decided to absorb two of them themselves, while the remaining tablets would be taken back for Yin Zhang, Qiangu Yunying, as well as Qian Jun and Jiang Mo from the Hall of Worship.
As for Golden Crocodile, with Yin Zhang's Marvelous Velvet Sky-reaching Chrysanthemum, he was guaranteed to reach level ninety-nine. These stone tablets would be useless to him.
If Qian Jun and Jiang Mo absorbed them, each of their strengths would increase by at least one level, reaching level ninety-seven. That would give Tang Zhen two more Titled Douluo as powerful backing.
In that case, if Tang Zhen later cultivated to level ninety-six, with so many Titled Douluo supporting him, would advancing further really be difficult?
In short, Tang Zhen had no descendants, and each person could only absorb one stone tablet—any more would be meaningless. It was far better to entrust them to Qiangu Yuan, who could deliver them to the two Titled Douluo and gain himself two additional allies.
As for giving them to Yin Zhang and Qiangu Yunying, Tang Zhen felt some hesitation.
Both of their martial souls were fire-attributed.
Tang Zhen's Dragon Pattern Armored Turtle leaned toward the water attribute.
Qiangu Yuan's Coiling Dragon Rod wasn't water-attributed either, but it didn't conflict with water, so absorbing a water-attributed stone tablet posed no problem.
But if fire-attributed spirit masters absorbed it… would there be backlash?
Even guessing, it felt highly likely.
Qiangu Yuan laughed aloud and glanced to his side.
Tang Zhen, who had been sitting nearby absorbing his own stone tablet, was already gone. Qiangu Yuan immediately understood.
Tang Zhen's cultivation was higher than his; he must have finished absorbing it earlier and awakened first.
He was probably already on the island above.
Qiangu Yuan sensed his surroundings—he was enveloped by lake water.
However, because this was within the massive tree's root system, there was no danger of water seeping in. On the contrary, it provided exceptional support for water-attributed spirit masters during cultivation.
With that thought, Qiangu Yuan considered reporting this place and bringing water-attributed spirit masters here to cultivate—it would surely yield results with twice the efficiency and half the effort.
But this was the core region of a spirit beast forest. Once they left, it would inevitably be occupied by other spirit beasts, making it extremely dangerous.
For a moment, he hesitated.
"Forget it for now. First, let's go see how many levels Tang Zhen advanced. With his level ninety-one spirit power, after absorbing it, he should reach level ninety-three, right?"
Thinking this, Qiangu Yuan felt a surge of excitement.
"The reason those two Crimson Flame Roaring Tiger Emperors never discovered this place is probably because they're fire-attributed and instinctively disliked it. Even though we didn't capture a single Tiger Emperor, this harvest alone made the trip worthwhile."
Regarding this discovery, Qiangu Yuan and Tang Zhen had already reached a decision.
They would wait until the stone tablets were fully used before explaining everything clearly.
In any case, they were meant for Spirit Hall's people—so who could object?
Moreover, this was something they themselves had discovered.
As for Snake Lance fleeing early, that was simply his own bad luck. He chose to return to Heaven Dou without waiting—purely a matter of fortune.
Funny.jpg.
Seeing Tang Zhen walking over with a spring-in-his-step expression, Qiangu Yuan couldn't help growing curious.
"Tang Zhen, what level is your spirit power now?"
Tang Zhen didn't answer verbally. Instead, he calmly released his aura.
Level ninety-three.
Qiangu Yuan looked surprised—but not shocked. He had long anticipated the possibility of Tang Zhen reaching level ninety-three. If Tang Zhen had only reached level ninety-two, that would have been unexpected.
"Good—level ninety-three! You only broke through to Titled Douluo a month ago, didn't you? In a single month, jumping from a level eighty-nine Spirit Douluo to a level ninety-three Titled Douluo… Tang Zhen, you old fox, you're really something!"
Qiangu Yuan clicked his tongue in amazement.
Tang Zhen glanced at him and spoke calmly.
"If Xiao Zhang hadn't given me that ninth-grade Purple Ganoderma earlier, even after absorbing the stone tablet, I'd only be at level ninety-two at best. I still owe Xiao Zhang my thanks."
"And aren't you the same? Without Xiao Zhang, how would you have broken through to level eighty so quickly? If you hadn't reached level eighty—and if I hadn't taken you out to hunt spirit beasts—how would you have encountered this opportunity?"
"As a level eighty-five Spirit Douluo, you have an excellent chance of breaking through to Titled Douluo. When that happens—along with Qiangu Yunying and the two Titled Douluo from the Hall of Worship—your Qiangu Family will have four Titled Douluo. That's truly astonishing."
Hearing this, Qiangu Yuan beamed with delight.
"Heh, look at the relationship I have with Yin Zhang! My future son-in-law! You should just be glad you got a ninth-grade Purple Ganoderma!"
"Four Titled Douluo in one family! If Lifan also breaks through to Titled Douluo, that would be even better! There are only five people in the Qiangu Family to begin with—if all of them become Titled Douluo, hehe!"
Watching Qiangu Yuan drift off into his fantasies, Tang Zhen couldn't help imagining that scene as well.
It wasn't impossible.
Qiangu Lifan's talent was quite decent. If he also absorbed a stone tablet, there was indeed a strong possibility that he could advance to Titled Douluo in the future.
Thinking of this, Tang Zhen felt a hint of envy.
If he had descendants of his own, he would have made sure to secure a stone tablet for them as well, paving the way toward becoming a Titled Douluo.