In this era, the hundred-thousand-year Spirit Beasts still remember the beatings they received from Spirit Hall, the Church, and even the Angel God herself. They hide themselves extremely deep; even in the core area of the Star Duo Great Forest, it is rare to find hundred-thousand-year Spirit Beasts active for long periods.
Qian Daoliu took Qian Renfeng around searching for a while, but they simply could not find a suitable hundred-thousand-year Spirit Beast.
Although they spotted the Sky Azure Bull Python and the Titan Giant Ape, Qian Daoliu ultimately felt it would be better to save them as Spirit Rings and Spirit Bones for Chen Ming. After some selective hunting, he finally had Qian Renfeng slay a ninety-thousand-year Light-Flame Tiger for his Spirit Ring.
Fortunately, the Light-Flame Tiger also dropped a right arm Spirit Bone. With the Spirit Bone absorbed before the Spirit Ring, Qian Renfeng perfectly absorbed this top-tier tiger-type Spirit Beast with dual light-and-fire attributes, and his Spirit Power even rose to Level 92.
Ten thousand years ago, when the Angel God had just ascended to godhood, the threshold for obtaining Angel God Trials was extremely low. As long as someone possessed sufficient talent and had made contributions to humanity, they could receive an Angel God Trial and strengthen themselves.
Logically speaking, a large number of divine trials would consume huge amounts of divine power, and distributing them freely would easily become a losing trade. But the Angel God had never particularly cared about conserving divine power, wishing only that every human could receive strengthening.
However, for some unknown reason, ever since several thousand years ago, the Angel God's divine power and divine will had rarely descended anymore. Not only had divine trials become rare, but the requirements had also grown increasingly strict.
At first, the requirements for talent became higher and higher. Later, people of the same talent level received fewer and fewer opportunities for divine trials. After that, even Martial Souls themselves began to face restrictions.
Eventually, even geniuses and high-level Spirit Masters within Spirit Hall could no longer receive the benefits of Angel God Trials. Only the High Priest of each generation retained the ability to initiate divine trials.
At present, only Spirit Masters with the Six-Winged Angel Martial Soul could draw upon the divine power within the Angel statue to begin Angel God Trials.
In the past hundred years, the only people in Spirit Hall to receive divine trials had been Qian Daoliu and Qian Xunji.
But now, Qian Renfeng's Martial Soul had become a Six-Winged Angel, meeting the minimum requirement. Thus, Qian Daoliu initiated divine trials for him, and based on his talent, he received the qualification for Black Grade, Five Trials.
The Angel God's divine trials were relatively straightforward. They mostly consisted of going somewhere to kill something—eliminating evil Spirit Beasts or wicked humans. There were very few trials that consumed a large amount of time, resulting in extremely high completion efficiency.
(PS: Qian Renxue spent over twenty years undercover in the Heaven Dou Empire to reach the Spirit Saint rank, but after returning to Spirit Hall, it took her only six years to go from the Spirit Saint level to completing the Nine Trials and achieving godhood—true god-like speed.)
From breaking through, to obtaining Spirit Rings, to killing targets and completing divine trials, the entire process only took one month. And just like that, a newly-made Level 93 Six-Winged Angel Spirit Master with a hundred-thousand-year ninth Spirit Ring was born.
Although he had not broken through long ago and had yet to completely master his power, a Six-Winged Angel Spirit Master possessing a Spirit Core, a ninety-thousand-year Spirit Bone, and a hundred-thousand-year ninth Spirit Ring was already capable of rivaling a Level 96 Super Douluo of this era.
This terrifying growth speed and strength left even the worship elders of Spirit Hall speechless. Dugu Bo, in particular, spoke in disbelief:
"If just any Spirit Master with a Six-Winged Angel Martial Soul can become this powerful, and can even use divine power to upgrade their ninth Spirit Ring to a hundred-thousand-year level, then what exactly was the Pope back then…?"
Looking at Qian Daoliu, Dugu Bo silently shut his mouth.
But beside him, Qian Renfeng did not feel offended. Instead, he also revealed a puzzled expression.
That's right. If even someone like him could be strengthened to this level, then shouldn't the Pope have been even stronger? How could something have happened to him?
"I don't know either," Qian Daoliu said helplessly. "Back then, I also wanted to know how Xunji had been severely injured. But at the time, his injuries were too serious, so I didn't ask. In the end, he… died from his wounds."
Although Qian Xunji had failed to complete one of the key divine trials properly and therefore did not receive the reward that increased the age of his Spirit Ring—leaving his ninth ring black—his Spirit Power had still reached Level 95, and he possessed the Six-Winged Angel Martial Soul.
Even after taking a Great Sumeru Hammer enhanced by exploding Spirit Rings, while it was certainly dangerous, being injured that severely was still unreasonable.
However, with Qian Xunji's death, the mystery of exactly how he was so heavily injured became an unsolved puzzle. Even Tang Hao himself probably could not clearly explain what happened at the time.
"Forget it, forget it. We've already been delayed for long enough." Qian Daoliu's expression dimmed somewhat. "Xiao Ming, if you wish to leave now, then go ahead. With Dugu Bo and Xiao Feng protecting you openly and secretly, even the Upper Three Sects won't be able to stop you from coming and going freely."
"If anything happens, take your token and contact the local Spirit Hall branch. And if necessary, us old worshippers can personally take action as well."
Qian Daoliu did not intend to personally walk the continent to back Chen Ming, but he hoped the people of the continent would have enough sense not to force an old man like him to carry a sword to their doorstep for a "visit."
The title of Honorary Elder of Spirit Hall was an honorary status, not a factional alignment. At present, Chen Ming's actual affiliation was still with the Heaven Dou Empire side—more specifically, he was still a student of the Heaven Dou Imperial Academy.
But even so, with Chen Ming's current prestige and influence within Spirit Hall, he could already be regarded as a true elder with real authority. He could even use his token to mobilize Platinum Bishops from Spirit Hall branches throughout the empire to work for him.
Even the crown princes of the two great empires could not compare to Chen Ming in status. Across the vast world, he could go wherever he pleased.
"Martial Uncle, Teacher, Martial Uncles, I'm leaving."
"You can have other Spirit Douluos cultivate the Spirit Core secret method and attempt condensing Spirit Cores themselves. For all of you, the difficulty of condensing a Spirit Core is not high, but it can greatly improve your endurance and sustained combat ability."
"Teacher, if I gain any new insights and discover a way to further evolve your Martial Soul, I'll contact you and help complete its transformation."
"For the next period of time, I'll remain at the Heaven Dou Imperial Academy, interacting with people from the Upper Three Sects and other sects while studying different Martial Souls. If anything happens, send someone to notify me immediately, and I'll return."
"Good." Golden Crocodile Douluo did not say much, only silently nodding. "If anyone truly dares bully you, tell me. I'll send their entire family to heaven."
"Golden Crocodile, don't be so violent." Qian Daoliu sighed and patted Chen Ming on the shoulder. "Xiao Ming, the world of Spirit Masters is not only about fighting and killing. Human relationships and social dealings matter too. You must never become arrogant or recklessly make enemies."
"Heaven cherishes all life, so if possible, try not to kill people… But if there's truly no other choice, remember to send word."
Chen Ming nodded, understanding Qian Daoliu's meaning.
Try not to make enemies. Try not to kill people.
But if enemies truly had to be made, remember to notify Spirit Hall first—Spirit Hall handled things far more cleanly and efficiently.
...
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