Chapter 11: The Specialness of Random Spirit Abilities, Let Su Yuntao Awaken My Spirit
On a small hilltop, two figures, one large and one small, sat back to back.
The setting sun shed golden-red radiance, painting the distant sky particularly enchantingly.
"Shan Zi, your Spirit Awakening is in a few days. Well, are you nervous?"
Hearing Su Yuntao's inquiry, Tang Shan took a deep breath and spoke the truth.
"It would definitely be a lie to say I'm not nervous, but I've already done everything I can: an incredibly healthy body, never lacking in nutrition. The rest is up to fate."
Hearing this, Su Yuntao didn't mention the Spirit Awakening again, but changed the subject.
"Little brother, when will your 'the sixth treatise on martial souls' be published? I see many high-level members of the Spirit Hall asking father about it. This time, Bishop Salas even came in person."
"No rush, no rush. It should be after my Spirit Awakening. It's likely about Spirit quality."
"Spirit quality?"
Su Yuntao was somewhat surprised.
Tang Shan didn't say much more, but teased back, "Big brother, it's been three years. Why haven't you reached Rank twenty yet?"
Hearing this, Su Yuntao replied irritably, "I've been either exercising or Cultivating all this time, working hard enough. But my basic Aptitude is right here. Being able to reach the Rank eighteen Peak is already the limit, even accounting for the improvement in Aptitude after absorbing a spirit ring."
Seeming to remember something, the annoyance on Su Yuntao's face grew more severe.
"And that girl Sisi from the Spirit Hall, she's always hanging around me all day, affecting my Cultivation."
Hearing this, Tang Shan turned his head and looked at his Elder brother with a strange expression. Confirming that the other's expression wasn't fake and he wasn't humblebragging, the strangeness in his heart intensified.
"You should know, youth is the prime time. She's also so young, yet she doesn't think about Cultivating properly all day. What is she doing hanging around me?"
Oh no! I've trained my big brother into a Cultivation maniac.
In his heart, Tang Shan mourned for Sisi. Could this be the tables turning? In other parallel Worlds, you might have had Brother Tao wrapped around your finger, but in this World, it's completely reversed.
"Alright, little brother, let's head back. Father should be back from Spirit Hunting in a few days."
Getting up, Su Yuntao brushed the dust off himself. Tang Shan also stood up and followed his big brother's footsteps down the mountain.
Wisps of cooking smoke rose from the village not far away, accompanied by the sounds of children playing and roosters crowing.
Giving that village a deep look, Tang Shan and Su Yuntao set out on the journey back to Nuoding City.
That was Saint Spirit Village, the place where the story began. If nothing had changed, then the gears of fate would have started turning from this small village, eventually affecting the entire continent.
Unfortunately, everything had changed. It was unknown if that "God King" would appear following the trajectory of history... The dense forest blotted out the sun, with only sparse rays of light managing to squeeze through the small gaps.
A giant wolf, nearly three meters long and snow-white all over, had already lost its life.
A deep purple spirit ring was draped over Su Haichao. Powerful spirit power fluctuations radiated from him; he was clearly about to complete his Breakthrough.
Salas stood with his hands behind his back, looking at Su Haichao with interest.
"His Aptitude is decent. He has a chance to reach Spirit Saint in his lifetime."
As the Platinum Bishop of Heaven Dou City, even if Su Haichao had the potential to become a Spirit Saint, logically, Salas would never personally lead Su Haichao to hunt for a spirit ring. After all, potential is just potential; whether it can be fully realized is another matter entirely, unless...
Su Haichao was at the Spirit Emperor Peak, and was only one spirit ring away from becoming a Spirit Saint.
"How lucky. Who let His Highness take a fancy to that Grandmaster hidden behind the scenes?"
Salas stroked his chin. He had personally brought Su Haichao to hunt for a spirit ring on the orders of that "Heaven Dou Crown Prince" to prevent any accidents from happening to Su Haichao and completely cutting off contact with that mysterious Grandmaster.
The Spirit Hall hadn't thought about sending people to secretly tail him, but in the end, even Salas himself had acted and still failed to find any trace of that powerful expert. Finally, the higher-ups unanimously agreed that the expert was at least a Titled Douluo, or perhaps even a stronger Super Douluo; otherwise, it would have been impossible for not a single trace to be revealed.
In the end, the Spirit Hall simply gave up on tracing the Grandmaster's true identity. After all, given the other party's true strength, they couldn't have failed to notice the previous tracking. If they continued to send stronger people to pursue him, it might completely alienate this Grandmaster. Even if they couldn't recruit him, being able to obtain this Grandmaster's theories was already a huge gain.
Naturally, some people suspected if that Grandmaster was Su Haichao himself, but that was immediately dismissed by the various Titled Douluo of the Spirit Hall.
Setting aside what benefit there would be for Su Haichao, who was already a member of the Spirit Hall, to publish theories anonymously, from the depth of the theories alone, it was absolutely impossible for a Spirit Elder to have researched them.
According to one Titled Elder of the Spirit Hall: "Don't look at how simple these theories seem, making us feel'so that's all it is' after reading them. But in reality, ask yourselves, who had these insights before the theories were released?"
"To put it bluntly, we are taking the fruits of this Senior's labor for free. This Senior's cultivation must be extremely profound. Only after a long time of contemplating Cultivation could they refine these incisive and concise key points from their own vast experience."
"I even suspect that this Senior might have met with some misfortune and is likely nearing the end of his life. Otherwise, if he wanted to publish these theories, he wouldn't need to join our Spirit Hall; entering any Sect or academy would be enough to display his talent. Why would he choose to announce his research results to the continent by having our Spirit Hall publish them?"
Once this speculation came out, it quickly gained the approval of many Titled Douluo. The image of an elderly Senior in his twilight years who was nevertheless concerned about the development of Spirit Masters naturally surfaced in their minds.
At this moment, a certain "Grandmaster" with "profound cultivation and nearing the end of his life" was happily welcoming his father's return.
"Dad, how did the spirit ring hunt go?"
Upon returning home, before Su Haichao could even sit down, Tang Shan had already eagerly approached him.
For this hunt, Tang Shan had once again asked Su Haichao to perform a spirit ring experiment. This time, his idea was even bolder: he had Su Haichao target a Domain Spirit Ability.
Hearing Tang Shan's question, Su Haichao looked at him with a hint of comfort on his face. "Shan Zi, it doesn't matter if we failed this time. It's normal for theoretical research to fail."
Hearing Su Haichao's indirect comfort, Tang Shan naturally understood the result of this experiment, but he wasn't discouraged.
"Dad, don't worry, I'm not disappointed. Thinking about it, Domain-type Spirit Abilities are so special and rare; they certainly wouldn't be obtained so easily. I just don't know if it's because the age of the spirit ring itself wasn't enough, or if there are other requirements to obtain a Domain Spirit Ability."
"But Dad, you obtained a random Spirit Ability this time. What's the effect?"
Hearing Tang Shan's inquiry, a hint of pride appeared on Su Haichao's face.
"Although I obtained a random Spirit Ability this time, the effect is quite good. Bishop Salas helped me hunt a White Void Wolf of nearly five thousand years. The Spirit Ability I obtained after absorbing the spirit ring is Teleportation."
Hearing this, Tang Shan's eyes lit up. "Are there any restrictions? How's the consumption?"
"The amount of spirit power used determines the distance of the movement. There's no limit on the number of uses. Also, during Teleportation, the body itself has to bear part of the pressure of spatial movement."
"Good, good, good. This skill indeed has an excellent effect."
Tang Shan's eyes shone. What seemed like a simple effect actually contained immense potential.
If nothing else, the fact that more spirit power means a further Teleportation distance alone absolutely exceeds the value of an ordinary ten-thousand-year spirit ring, even by a lot.
One must know that a Spirit Master's spirit power Rank can be raised. That is to say, the higher the cultivation, the further the Teleportation distance. If one reaches the cultivation of a Titled Douluo, perhaps the Spirit Ability then shouldn't be called Teleportation, but rather 'Spatial Shifting'.
The true effect of this Spirit Ability felt not much different from an external Spirit Bone that grows along with the Spirit Master.
The only limitation was probably the influence of physical fitness, but regarding the so-called spatial pressure, Tang Shan had another idea.
Spatial pressure is applied to all parts of the body and strengthens with the distance of the Teleportation. Isn't this a perfect body-tempering method made by heaven?
Under Tang Shan's imaginative thinking, Su Haichao was dumbfounded to find that he had greatly underestimated his gains after this Breakthrough. It was simply a case of winning big time.
"Dad, in the next few days, besides resting and handling work, use the Teleportation Spirit Ability more often. Try your best to feel the upper limit of the spatial pressure your body can withstand, to avoid being unable to react in case of an emergency."
Saying this, Tang Shan shook his head regretfully.
"It's a pity, Dad. Your subsequent absorption of a ten-thousand-year spirit ring..."
"...has quite high requirements for mental force. Otherwise, with your powerful body alone, you might have been able to get a thirty-thousand-year fifth ring."
"Then Shan Zi, do you think we can get a similar Spirit Ability when your big brother breaks through?"
Tang Shan stroked his chin and finally shook his head.
"Dad, I estimate that your Spirit Ability is so special purely because you happened to unleash the full potential of this spirit ring by pure Opportunity. Combined with the fact that the opponent's Origin was very similar to your Spirit, it produced such an effect."
"If one really takes the initiative to interfere with the spirit ring's Spirit Ability through consciousness, then it's clearly impossible to obtain such a Heaven-Defying Spirit Ability."
"You essentially got the most suitable one through a random Spirit Ability, whereas interfering through consciousness to obtain a Spirit Ability is equivalent to obtaining the desired effect at the cost of stifling some of the Spirit Ability's potential."
"Is that so?"
Su Haichao felt it was a bit of a pity. After all, if both of his sons could obtain this special Spirit Ability, he basically wouldn't have to worry about their safety in the future.
"Alright, father. Whether it's a random Spirit Ability or a self-selected one, it will ultimately be up to big brother's own choice when the time comes. One is gambling on luck, and the other is a guarantee."
"I also didn't expect a random Spirit Ability to have such an effect. It seems I was still a bit dismissive of the original way Spirit Masters Cultivate. This is not advisable."
Seeing his son start to contemplate again, Su Haichao irritably tapped Tang Shan's head.
"Why think so much? Get some rest early today. Tomorrow I'll perform your Spirit Awakening."
Tang Shan then realized that tomorrow was the time to decide his fate. He should indeed rest early today.
He suddenly remembered something and looked at Su Haichao, who had stood up and was preparing to go to work at the Spirit Hall.
"Dad, how about letting big brother perform my Spirit Awakening tomorrow..."
"Sure, whatever works."
Su Haichao, turning his head, was a bit surprised, but Spirit Awakening didn't require much technical skill, so he simply agreed.
PS: Thanks to Dong San Fan, Wu 0, Li Yu Fa, Book Friend 20190219152221283, DR Zhen Hong K, and 52HERTZ929 for the recommendation votes.