After seeing Old Jack off, Yin Zhang returned to Dormitory One.
The moment he stepped inside, Xiao Chenyu hurried over, brimming with excitement.
"Brother Zhang! The academy's boss, Zhu Jiu, wants to challenge you!"
Yin Zhang was taken aback. "Zhu Jiu?"
"Yes!" Xiao Chenyu nodded vigorously. "Zhu Jiu is the boss of the sixth grade. Aside from you, Brother Zhang, he's the most talented person I've seen in the entire academy. His innate spirit power was rank four, and he cultivates extremely diligently. He's already a rank 13 Attack System Spirit Master!"
"After hearing about your reputation, he wants to challenge you. The winner becomes the boss of Nuoding Academy!"
As Xiao Chenyu spoke excitedly, everyone in Dormitory One stared at Yin Zhang with anticipation.
But Yin Zhang seemed… distracted.
Why hasn't the system prompt appeared yet?
He couldn't help complaining inwardly.
A full minute passed.
Just as Xiao Chenyu, Liu Long, and the others started to think Yin Zhang was backing down, Yin Zhang finally spoke.
"What kind of Martial Soul does Zhu Jiu have? And what's his spirit ability?"
To be honest, Yin Zhang wasn't very interested.
No prompt meant no reward, which inevitably dampened his enthusiasm.
Xiao Chenyu answered immediately.
"Zhu Jiu's Martial Soul is the Tusked Boar. He's thick-skinned and extremely tough. I heard that last year, when he was in fifth grade, he relied on his durability to defeat the sixth-grade boss and take control of the academy."
"His spirit power is only rank 13, and his first spirit ring is just a few decades old. Compared to you, Brother Zhang, it's like a firefly compared to the bright moon!"
"Enough flattery," Yin Zhang waved him off. "When do I fight him?"
What he was really thinking about was consuming the thousand-year whale glue and seeing how much it would strengthen him.
Logically speaking, whale glue should be found near the sea.
But in Douluo Dalu I, almost no one seemed to know its true effects.
Xiao Bai was an exception.
But Xiao Bai wasn't human.
If Spirit Masters in this era truly understood the value of whale glue, it would have appeared in the original story.
Looks like I'll need to find a chance to head to the coast someday and see if I can pick up a bargain, Yin Zhang thought.
"The fight is the day after tomorrow," Xiao Chenyu said. "On the academy training grounds. Victory decides who's the boss of Nuoding Academy!"
Yin Zhang nodded calmly.
"Alright. The day after tomorrow, I'll take you all to the training grounds."
He didn't take the matter to heart.
To him, Nuoding Academy was nothing more than a stepping stone. His goal was to cultivate steadily here, enter the Spirit Hall as soon as possible, and grow stronger according to his plan.
Before consuming whale glue, it had to be softened with scorching heat.
That wasn't convenient to do inside the academy.
After informing Dean Zhang, Yin Zhang left the academy, spent some money to rent a small room at a nearby inn, and took out the thousand-year whale glue from his storage.
The whale glue was dark in color—almost black—which meant it was already close to the ten-thousand-year tier.
Yin Zhang's first spirit ring was 520 years old. In his view, his second spirit ring had to be at least a thousand years.
There was still risk involved, though.
Consuming this whale glue would greatly reduce that risk.
"Spirit Possession!"
Yin Zhang summoned his Charizard Martial Soul and released blazing flames, roasting the whale glue placed on the floor.
As time passed, some of his spirit power was consumed, but it was insignificant compared to his reserves.
A strange fragrance gradually spread through the room.
Yin Zhang inhaled lightly and felt subtle changes beginning within his body, making him swallow unconsciously.
When he judged it was ready, he stopped breathing fire and picked up the softened whale glue with his Dragon Claw.
At that moment, a faint fishy odor wafted out, causing Yin Zhang to frown.
Still, he tore off a small piece, swallowed it, and used his spirit power to accelerate absorption.
Strengthening the body. Reinforcing muscles, bones, and meridians. Increasing endurance.
Yin Zhang could clearly feel all of it happening.
Then, like a gale sweeping away fallen leaves, he finished consuming the entire piece.
Once the whale glue was fully refined, his whole body heated up. Streams of warmth surged through his limbs and bones.
Looking into the mirror, Yin Zhang saw that his face was flushed, his ears burning, and even his breathing had become heavy.
He quickly sat cross-legged and summoned his Martial Soul, which finally brought some relief.
Whale glue is a pure, extremely yang tonic. Luckily, this is only thousand-year whale glue. If it were ten-thousand-year like what Huo Yuhao ate, I'd probably be wandering around in a daze trying to vent somewhere…
The thought left Yin Zhang feeling helpless.
At the same time, he continued absorbing the remaining medicinal energy.
When everything settled, Yin Zhang realized that not only had his physical strength increased dramatically, but his overall spirit power had surged as well—breaking through the bottleneck to rank 17.
"Hah—"
"This whale glue really is good stuff."
He opened his eyes and sighed in satisfaction.
Then his expression froze.
An indescribably foul stench rushed straight into his nose, making his stomach churn violently.
"What the hell is this?!"
Pinching his nose, Yin Zhang looked into the mirror.
His entire body was covered in a thin layer of black sludge, making him look like a walking mud statue.
Absolutely filthy.
"Damn it… I didn't even bring a change of clothes."
He was still wearing the clothes he'd bought over two months ago when he first arrived in Nuoding City. His academy uniform was back in Dormitory One.
Left with no choice, Yin Zhang stripped naked, took a long, comfortable hot bath, then summoned his Martial Soul again to dry his clothes with fire before putting them back on and returning to the academy.
By the time he stepped outside, evening had already fallen.
A crow perched on a tree branch nearby, cawing unpleasantly.
At the same time, far away in Spirit City, within the Hall of Worship—
Seven Consecrators sat together in heated discussion.
"Big Brother, Bibi Dong absolutely cannot be spared!" Golden Crocodile said angrily. "She killed Xunji—she must pay with her life!"
"That's right, High Priest! Bibi Dong cannot be allowed to live!"
For a moment, the Consecrators all urged Qian Daoliu to execute her.
Qian Daoliu, who had been sitting with his eyes closed, let out a long sigh.
Grief filled his eyes as he slowly spoke.
"Xue'er has already lost her father. She cannot lose her mother as well."
"Let it be."
Golden Crocodile and the others exchanged glances, stunned that the High Priest would truly choose to spare Bibi Dong.
"The Spirit Hall cannot go a single day without a leader. Big Brother, I suggest—"
Golden Crocodile wanted Qian Daoliu to reassume the position of Supreme Pontiff, but Qian Daoliu merely waved his hand.
"Let Bibi Dong take the position. She will act as Supreme Pontiff for now. When Xue'er grows up, the title will naturally belong to her."
Meanwhile, Bibi Dong held a letter in her hand.
It was another report sent by Ma Xiunuo after discovering that Yin Zhang's spirit power had reached rank 15 upon absorbing his first spirit ring.
Salas had forwarded the information to Qian Xunji back then.
But after returning to the Spirit Hall, Qian Xunji had been gravely injured and had no mind to deal with Yin Zhang's case.
Now, Qian Xunji was dead—and this information had finally fallen into Bibi Dong's hands.
"Yin Zhang?"
Bibi Dong's eyes gleamed with satisfaction as she read.
Not only had her great revenge been completed, but the contents of the letter shocked her even more.
Despite losing a year of cultivation time, his spirit power far surpassed others of his age.
And he was filial—a rare quality.
Thus, Bibi Dong survived catastrophe and ascended as the new Supreme Pontiff of the Spirit Hall.
Time flew by.
In the blink of an eye, six months passed.
During this time, Yin Zhang did not trigger another system choice, but through diligent cultivation alone, his spirit power steadily reached rank 18—advancing at astonishing speed.
As winter break arrived, Yin Zhang left the academy and returned to Saint Spirit Village.
Though Douluo Continent didn't celebrate the Spring Festival, winter and summer breaks still existed.
Upon returning, Yin Zhang went straight to Old Jack's house.
There, he found many familiar belongings from his old wooden home.
Old Jack greeted him warmly.
"Xiao Zhang, you're finally on break. Take it easy and rest well while you're home."
Yin Zhang smiled, but unease lingered in his heart.
Tang Hao bore a deep blood feud with the Spirit Hall.
If Tang Hao ever learned that Yin Zhang intended to join the Spirit Hall, there was no guarantee a hammer wouldn't come crashing down.
So he asked cautiously,
"Grandpa Jack, you didn't tell anyone about me wanting to join the Spirit Hall, did you?"
"Of course not," Old Jack snorted. "Do I look like an idiot?"
"That's true. Haha."
When Yin Zhang passed by his former home, he glanced inside.
Weeds in the courtyard were already knee-high, and the sound of a baby crying could be heard from within.
Recalling Old Jack's earlier words—about Tang Hao pouring scalding-hot porridge into Tang San's mouth without any concern—Yin Zhang smiled faintly.
[Detected that the host's house has been occupied. Triggered choices as follows:
1. That old dog Tang Hao has gone too far! Rush inside while he's drunk and eliminate Tang Hao and the future Sea God, Tang San.
Reward: Spirit Theory Mastery.
2. Third Brother is so cute! He's not even a year old—the cutest age. Rush in to hug him and get smashed to death by Tang Hao.
Reward: Resurrection Card ×1
3. Old dog Tang Hao will one day be nothing but bones in a grave, and traitor Tang San is merely an infant in swaddling clothes. Wait for the future.
Reward: Spirit Power +1 level.]
Without hesitation, Yin Zhang chose the third option.
His spirit power rose to rank 19.
Seven years old. Rank 19.
Even across the entire Douluo Continent, that was explosive talent.
The holiday passed in a flash.
During this time, Yin Zhang achieved the legendary feat of passing his home thrice without entering—
Cough. Mainly because he wanted to trigger another system choice.
Although none appeared, Yin Zhang still managed to cultivate his spirit power all the way to rank 20.
After returning to Nuoding City, he once again entered the Soul Hunting Forest with Ma Xiunuo to hunt Spirit Beasts and obtain his second spirit ring.
Nearly a week later, Yin Zhang finally returned to the academy.