This Dark Golden Dreadclaw Bear was worth a try.
No matter how strong a Dark Golden Dreadclaw Bear might be, this one was only five thousand years old. He only needed to endure for a short period. Moreover, he had Electrolux to back him up.
Sitting cross-legged beside the corpse of the Dark Golden Dreadclaw Bear, Feng Piaoling raised his hand to release his Talisman Martial Soul. He operated the Azure Lotus Sword Technique to guide the energy, drawing the power from the spirit ring into his body.
Boom!
As soon as the energy of the spirit ring was absorbed, it immediately transformed into an extremely domineering soul power.
In an instant, the Azure Lotus Sword Technique seemed like a hungry wolf scenting blood. It surged fiercely from his dantian, and in nearly a breath's time, it enveloped the overbearing soul power converted from the Dark Golden Dreadclaw Bear's spirit ring, refining it ruthlessly.
"What domineering soul power. If it were any other spirit ring of the same age, the Azure Lotus Sword Technique could refine it in one or two hours at most. But now, the refining speed is like that of a turtle, several times—even a dozen times—slower."
The higher the intensity of the energy contained in the spirit ring, the slower the refining speed. This was exactly why the Dark Golden Dreadclaw Bear was so infamous on the Douluo Continent. Its bloodline granted it soul power of unimaginable intensity, allowing it to possess extraordinary attack and defense capabilities. This was the foundation that allowed it to fight opponents of a higher level.
An hour passed.
Light popping sounds echoed within Feng Piaoling's body.
His dantian, which had already been significantly expanded by the Azure Lotus Sword Technique, expanded once more, like an inflating ball. In the center of the dantian, the speed of the pure, transparent vortex suddenly accelerated, looking like a cluster of spiritual nebula. It constantly pulsed and shifted, absorbing the newly arrived soul power.
Following this, Feng Piaoling's meridians were also being widened. Although the impact of the Dark Golden Dreadclaw Bear's violent energy caused swelling pain that was hard to endure, the meridians remained unbroken under the protection of the Azure Lotus Sword Technique.
A day passed. Feng Piaoling's body was already covered by a mist of blood. His veins bulged as his body endured an agony far beyond that of an ordinary person.
Two days passed, and the situation remained the same.
It wasn't until the third day that the pain began to subside.
Residing within Feng Piaoling's spiritual sea, Electrolux had been closely monitoring the changes in the boy's body. He discovered with surprise that the soul power within Feng Piaoling was circulating along a path that was extremely intricate yet exquisitely ingenious.
As the Dark Golden Dreadclaw Bear's spirit ring was absorbed and refined, that path became increasingly sophisticated and complex. Simultaneously, his soul power became increasingly robust. Compared to before, it was at least thirty percent thicker than its original foundation.
Finally, a special soul power circuit was formed, circulating rhythmically and ceaselessly through his meridians.
"A natural-born genius."
Unbidden, Electrolux let out a sigh of admiration.
During these three days, he had witnessed the birth of a new cultivation technique. And this technique was created by Feng Piaoling through constant exploration. While the circulation path was complementary to his previous technique, it had broken away from its original form, increasing the quality of the soul power while improving its circulation speed.
One could tell at a glance that this was not something ghostwritten by another. In other words, this technique was entirely created by this youth who was not yet twelve years old. Even Electrolux had to admit that if they were placed in the same era, he would pale in comparison to Feng Piaoling. As long as he did not fall prematurely, the boy's path was destined to lead further than his own.
After a long time, Feng Piaoling opened his eyes and slowly exhaled a mouthful of turbid air. A look of joy crossed his face; he had finally stepped into the fourth stage of the Azure Lotus Sword Technique.
The fourth stage of the Azure Lotus Sword Technique offered an increase of about thirty percent in soul power density compared to the third stage. However, this was only relative to Feng Piaoling, who practiced the Azure Lotus Sword Technique. For Tang Ya or Bei Bei, who practiced the Mysterious Heaven Skill, it would be far more than that. It would be at least a twofold increase.
By conversion, Feng Piaoling's soul power density was at least four times theirs. Even compared to the complete Mysterious Heaven Skill, it was at least three times greater, let alone compared to ordinary Spirit Masters.
Not only that, the bottleneck of Rank 30 soul power that Feng Piaoling had been stuck at for half a year was finally broken, reaching approximately Rank 34.5. About two ranks were from his own accumulation, while the remaining two and a half ranks were the increase from absorbing the five-thousand-year Dark Golden Dreadclaw Bear spirit ring.
"There are still two days before Shrek Academy opens. With the speed of my Earth Escape Talisman, I can reach it in a day at most. Before that, I should consolidate my cultivation."
Feng Piaoling understood the importance of a foundation. Only with a solid foundation could one continue to build upward. A weak foundation was like a castle in the air, liable to collapse at any moment.
Take that "Whorehouse Phoenix" from ten thousand years ago as an example. Even though his cultivation level was sufficient, his foundation was shaky because he was lazy and didn't cultivate hard in his youth. The result was—the Phoenix eventually became a god, but lost his soul over the Swallow.
This was why Feng Piaoling placed such importance on his foundation. According to his plan, the first six stages of the Azure Lotus Sword Technique would not focus too much on offense but would specialize in the foundation. Once the foundation was solid enough, it would not be too late to focus on increasing attack power. Until then, the spirit ring skills of the Talisman Martial Soul and soul tools would be sufficient for him.
"Almost forgot, there's also this."
Feng Piaoling raised both hands and spread his fingers slightly. Five streaks of dark golden light emerged from each hand.
The light on the left hand was about one foot two inches long, while the right hand was about one foot five inches long. They were wide at the top and narrow at the bottom, like blades. The dark golden radiance rippled like water. The moment they appeared, both of Feng Piaoling's hands turned entirely dark golden. The fingers and the blades merged into one, inseparable, as if they were extensions of his fingers.
"I didn't expect that, much like that scoundrel from ten thousand years ago who absorbed the Man-Faced Demon Spider ring along with an external spirit bone, I would also absorb an external spirit bone while taking this Dark Golden Dreadclaw Bear's ring. And it's a pair of palm bones—this is a pleasant surprise."
Muttering this to himself, Feng Piaoling controlled the two external spirit bones. Mimicking the superhero Wolverine from the Marvel movies of his previous life, he swiped his claws across the ground.
The ground felt like foam, and two claw marks were carved out without making a sound.
"As expected of the Dark Golden Dreadclaw, famous for its powerful offense. This attack power is simply incredible. However, before I fully integrate these two spirit bones, I should avoid exposing them to others for the time being."
With a thought, the dark golden claws vanished like melting snow, and Feng Piaoling's hands returned to normal.
He glanced at the corpse of the Dark Golden Dreadclaw Bear. Thinking that spirit beast meat could not only slightly increase cultivation speed but was also delicious—especially the bear paws, which were a rare delicacy—he decided to make use of it. The temperature in this underground cave was quite low, so even after three days, the corpse had not spoiled.
He proceeded to butcher the bear. After cleaning it, he used a Fire Bullet Talisman, controlling the intensity to create a non-explosive fireball to roast a piece of meat. He drank some water as well.
After a simple meal to fill his stomach, he returned to a state of cultivation to consolidate his foundation.
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