Douluo Dalu: Beginning with Signing in with Yan Lingji

Chapter 156: Is That… a Million Years?

"If I'm not mistaken, your soul power should be at Rank 39, correct?" Huo Shang took a deep breath as he looked at Zhao Ming and spoke seriously.

"That's right. I am indeed at Rank 39."

Zhao Ming smiled, releasing his aura, which filled the entire room.

The powerful presence of Rank 39 surged forth.

Although Zhao Ming's cultivation level was at Rank 39, the soul pressure he released was on par with that of a Soul King, or even a Soul Emperor. This was because, for the past six years, Zhao Ming had been cultivating the Soul Refining Technique, resulting in a depth of soul power that was far beyond the norm.

And this was with Zhao Ming holding back. Once he absorbed the hundred-thousand-year Black Dragon soul bone, his cultivation would surge again. Of course, Rank 40 was the peak he could reach for now. To continue progressing, he needed to visit the palace of the Star Luo Empire to acquire his fourth puppet, Yun Yun.

But even so, Zhao Ming's strength still shocked those present.

"Zhao Ming's strength has increased so quickly."

"His cultivation speed is just too fast."

"It's unbelievable."

Zhao Wuji and the others couldn't help but twitch their facial muscles as they looked at Zhao Ming, surprised. Although they were used to Zhao Ming's exceptional growth, they still couldn't help but be amazed every time they saw it.

After all, before Zhao Ming went to the Star Dou Forest, he was only at Rank 37. Now, in less than a month, he had reached Rank 39. Would he reach the Soul Ancestor rank in just a few more days?

Flender and the others, who were familiar with Zhao Ming, were somewhat accustomed to it. Having witnessed his growth multiple times, their mental resilience had increased significantly.

However, the people from Blazing Fire Academy had never met Zhao Ming before. Even though they had heard stories about him from Flender, they thought those accounts might have been exaggerated.

After all, the genius described by Flender and Ma Hongjun sounded too extraordinary. Even in the records of the Spirit Hall, no such genius had ever been mentioned.

But now, it seemed that not only were the stories not exaggerated, but they might have even been downplayed.

At this moment, Huo Wu's beautiful eyes widened as she looked at Zhao Ming, her gaze full of admiration.

Her soul power wasn't weak; she had reached Rank 38. The difference between her and Zhao Ming was only one rank, yet the depth of his soul power was incomparable to hers. The pressure emanating from Zhao Ming's soul power was something she had only felt from Soul Emperors.

Soul Emperor? The thought startled her, and her expression changed slightly.

She was currently eighteen years old and had just broken through to Rank 38.

But Zhao Ming seemed to be much younger than her.

Her eyes fixated on Zhao Ming, filled with curiosity. To cultivate so quickly at such a young age—how powerful must his martial spirit be?

"May I see your martial spirit?" Unable to suppress her curiosity, Huo Wu asked softly. But as soon as the words left her mouth, she regretted it. Martial spirits were deeply personal for soul masters, and her question was somewhat impolite.

"Of course. I never refuse a request from a beautiful lady." Zhao Ming smiled brightly as he looked at Huo Wu. Since he intended to take Huo Wu as his disciple, he needed to showcase his strength.

Huo Wu's cheeks flushed slightly as she looked at Zhao Ming, her impression of him improving.

As a woman, she enjoyed being called beautiful.

Especially when the compliment came from a genius she admired, it felt different.

Zhao Ming smiled as black flames surged around him, and he slowly released his martial spirit.

Golden spirit rings rose from beneath him, glowing brilliantly.

Behind him, the ancient Undying Bird, covered in black flames, appeared.

As Zhao Ming released his martial spirit, the temperature in the room quickly rose. In just a short time, it felt as if they were standing under a scorching sun.

"So powerful." Huo Wu's eyes sparkled, fixated on the martial spirit behind Zhao Ming. The aura of power, ferocity, and an enigmatic evil emanating from it made Zhao Ming seem even more mysterious.

Her own martial spirit, the Fire Shadow, was a top-tier fire-attribute spirit. As one of the top fire-type control spirits, she was considered a genius. However, compared to Zhao Ming's martial spirit, hers was vastly inferior.

For fire-attribute martial spirits, the most direct comparison was the temperature of the flames. Her martial spirit didn't even reach the level of extreme fire, so how could it compare to Zhao Ming's?

"A million-year spirit ring."

Huo Shang stared at Zhao Ming, who stood at the center of the room, all eyes on him. His expression was filled with disbelief. His focus was different from the others. While he was also stunned by Zhao Ming's martial spirit, the dazzling golden spirit ring beneath Zhao Ming shocked him even more.

Waves of astonishment surged within him.

A golden spirit ring—ordinary people, or even powerful soul masters like Flender who came from unconventional backgrounds, might not know what it meant. But Huo Shang knew.

He remembered reading about golden spirit rings in an ancient book stored in the highest level of the library at Blazing Fire Academy.

According to that book, golden spirit rings represented a million-year spirit ring. The known colors for spirit rings were white, yellow, purple, black, and red. Beyond that, the next color was gold, signifying a million-year spirit ring.

The book stated that golden spirit rings were also known as Divine Spirit Rings. Those who possessed them had the potential to reach the highest realm of soul masters—godhood. There were only brief mentions of million-year spirit rings in the book, as even the author had limited knowledge of such things.

Still, the description left a deep impression on him at the time. He had thought he would never witness the phenomenon described in the book during his lifetime, but now he had.

So, the book's contents were true.

Million-year spirit rings really did exist.

If that's the case, does Zhao Ming have the potential to reach that realm described in the book?

Gazing at Zhao Ming with fervent eyes, Huo Shang felt he already had the answer.

At such a young age, Zhao Ming had reached Rank 39, just a step away from the Soul Ancestor rank. Moreover, the depth of his soul power was extremely rare.

Martial spirit, cultivation level, soul power, spirit rings—everything about Zhao Ming was flawless.

What was even more important was that Zhao Ming's martial spirit had only one spirit ring, indicating that he possessed another martial spirit. He was a twin martial spirit user.

It seemed that the heavens had given him everything a soul master could ever wish for, and in the best possible way.

In the future, he would have a great chance of reaching the realm described in the book.

Even if he couldn't achieve that legendary status, he would undoubtedly become a peerless Title Douluo.

If he broke through to become a Title Douluo, not even Qian Daoliu, the strongest man in the world, would be his match.

And that day wouldn't be too far away.

[•———•——•———•]

𝙥𝗮𝙩𝙧𝙚𝙤𝙣(.)𝙘𝙤𝙢/𝙂𝙤𝙙𝙊𝙛𝙍𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙚𝙧

✨ • 𝗘𝘅𝗰𝗹𝘂𝘀𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗔𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀: 𝙂𝙚𝙩 𝟲𝟬+ 𝙖𝙙𝙫𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚𝙙 𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝙖𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙙 𝙤𝙛 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙚𝙡𝙨𝙚.