Chapter 203: Blue Silver Pole Vault
The purpose behind the Clear Sky Sect's move was not only to use this method to gradually test the outside world's reaction and slowly re-enter the public eye of the Douluo Continent, but also to achieve another goal.
The second and most important reason was that they urgently needed this new academy to handle the continuous supply and circulation of the sect's massive internal resources.
This also meant that the students recruited by this academy were not all direct descendants of the Clear Sky Sect.
The academy they established operated in a manner somewhat similar to Thunder Academy.
Within the academy, members of the Clear Sky Sect served as the backbone, but they also opened their doors widely to outsiders, recruiting the children of wealthy merchants and nobles.
Of course, they absolutely did not recruit commoner soul masters.
Because commoners simply had no money. They could not afford the outrageously expensive tuition fees, so it did not benefit them.
As for the Spirit Hall, regarding the Clear Sky Sect's tentative, half-returning behavior that seemed to be testing boundaries, the higher-ups of Spirit Hall did not make any major moves or launch any fierce suppression.
Over the years, aside from diligently cultivating, almost all of Bibi Dong's energy had been devoted to reforming Spirit Hall.
For example, with iron-handed methods, she strictly purged a large number of corrupt parasites across Spirit Hall branches in various cities (a mission issued by Lin Yuan).
Moreover, she increased the living subsidies for elderly commoners.
This allowed those at the bottom of society to no longer worry about money or livelihood in their later years, granting them a stable and peaceful old age.
These policies of Bibi Dong undoubtedly greatly increased Spirit Hall's massive annual financial expenditures.
But at the same time, she gained an unprecedented level of reputation and unwavering support among commoner soul masters.
However, on the path of cultivation, Bibi Dong encountered a massive bottleneck that left her extremely frustrated.
Her current cultivation had been stuck firmly at rank ninety-eight peak for a very, very long time!
No matter how much she thought about it, she could not understand why.
Back when her cultivation had not yet been suppressed, she clearly felt that breaking through to rank ninety-nine, becoming an Ultimate Douluo, would be easy.
But ever since she followed that method and condensed an attribute soul core, breaking through to rank ninety-nine had instead become harder than ascending to heaven!
Clearly, she had prior experience breaking from rank ninety-eight to ninety-nine, yet now it simply did not work anymore.
This made her extremely irritated, and she even began to secretly speculate:
Could it be that to break through, she would need to take a risk and condense a spiritual soul core, achieving dual soul core resonance, to completely shatter that invisible shackle and reach rank ninety-nine?
Bibi Dong truly had not expected that condensing a soul core in advance would become such a massive hidden pitfall in the later stages!
If she had known this would be the result, she should have proceeded step by step, first exhausting all methods to restore her cultivation to rank ninety-nine, and only then condensing an attribute soul core.
…
As for Tang San?
Just as Tang San's soul power reached the threshold of rank twenty,
Right when he eagerly went to obtain his second soul ring, that long-dormant misfortune card finally unleashed its most terrifying effect!
Originally, with the full assistance of the principal of Nuoding Academy and several teachers, their group ventured deep into the Soul Hunting Forest. Their goal this time was very clear: to find a plant-type soul beast of suitable age—Ghost Vine!
This would serve as the second soul ring for Tang San's Blue Silver Grass martial soul, enhancing its control abilities.
At the beginning, their luck seemed fairly decent.
After several days and nights of arduous searching, they finally found the Ghost Vine, with an age of around six hundred years!
The principal of Nuoding Academy decisively made his move. Relying on his Soul Elder-level strength, after great effort, he finally beat the ferocious Ghost Vine to near death.
At that moment, it was just one final step away. Tang San only needed to deliver the finishing blow, kill the Ghost Vine, and he could obtain the soul ring.
But who could have expected it!
At the exact moment Tang San was about to strike, the previously calm outer region of the Soul Hunting Forest suddenly erupted into a small-scale beast tide without any warning!
Countless frightened low-level soul beasts surged toward them like a tidal wave!
Although most of the soul beasts in this tide were not strong, and not even a single thousand-year soul beast was seen, the problem was that the principal of Nuoding Academy was, at best, only a Rank 30-something Soul Elder!
Facing the overwhelming beast tide, they simply could not resist.
To survive, they had no choice but to abandon the Ghost Vine that was within their grasp and flee in panic.
During the chaotic escape,
In order to avoid being trampled by the soul beasts, their group suffered greatly, sustaining injuries of varying severity.
Originally, when they finally gasped their way to the outermost area of the Soul Hunting Forest, they thought they were finally safe.
But fate's cruel joke reached its peak at that very moment!
In their panic, they accidentally ran into a patch of lone bamboo forest.
Just as they stopped to catch their breath, leaning against the bamboo, one of the ten-year lone bamboo stalks suddenly emitted a faint white glow without any warning, as if responding to some strange magnetic field!
Immediately after, that ten-year bamboo directly transformed into a white ten-year soul ring!
At lightning speed, it flew straight toward the still-dumbfounded Tang San!
It actually took the initiative to sacrifice itself to Tang San!
And before Tang San could even react, it forcibly became the second soul ring of his Blue Silver Grass martial soul!
This absurd and bizarre scene stunned everyone present into complete petrification!
They had lived for so many years and had only heard that certain hundred-thousand-year soul beasts possessed the ability to sacrifice themselves.
That made sense, as those beasts had intelligence comparable to humans and indeed had the capability to do so.
But never in their wildest dreams did they expect that what voluntarily sacrificed itself before them was merely a ten-year Lone Bamboo!
This was absurd beyond absurdity!
After being forced to absorb this white second soul ring, Tang San stood there with a blank expression. Feeling the effect of his newly obtained, practically useless second soul skill, its name was "Blue Silver Pole Vault."
And because the Lone Bamboo's age was only ten years, this soul ring only provided his martial soul with an almost negligible increase in toughness…
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End of Chapter