Zhang Lexuan landed a blow, then flew through the air to Wang Nan's side. With her eight-ring Spirit Douluo cultivation, she was already capable of aerial flight.
"Junior Brother, you wouldn't really want that Dragon Transformation Secret Method, would you?"
Wang Nan looked into Zhang Lexuan's serious eyes and immediately understood. No wonder her final strike was so decisive—she was afraid he would be tempted by the Dragon Transformation Secret Method mentioned by the Dragon Carp.
"Of course not." Wang Nan looked at the Dragon Carp lying on the shore. Its entire body was now stained crimson, its mouth wide open, struggling to breathe but with little success. It was clearly on the verge of death.
Golden light lit up beneath Wang Nan's feet, and in a few steps, he descended from the sky, ending the Dragon Carp with a single strike of his rod, answering Zhang Lexuan with his actions.
Not to mention that he didn't need any Dragon Transformation Secret Method at all. Even if he did, he wouldn't use such an extreme method as the Dragon Carp had. Wang Nan never considered himself a "good person," but he also couldn't bring himself to use the lives of other innocent beings to achieve his own goals.
Once certain things open a door, there's no turning back.
Seeing Wang Nan act so decisively, Zhang Lexuan also breathed a sigh of relief. She didn't know Wang Nan's specific situation; otherwise, she wouldn't have been so nervous.
"The spirit ring produced by a Spirit Beast won't last too long. Since you've already killed it, absorb the spirit ring here. I'll be your Protector."
"Thank you, Senior Sister."
Wang Nan sat cross-legged, the Coiling Dragon Staff held horizontally in his hand. A dragon shadow emerged from the Coiling Dragon Staff, opening its large mouth and swallowing the newly appeared black spirit ring in one gulp.
Accompanying the Evil Breaking Dragon's movements, within Wang Nan's mental sea, a golden carp slowly appeared in the ocean below. Its form was slender and fluid, its pectoral fins gently flapping like translucent wings, and its tail swayed, propelling it to swim through the sea of mental force.
Its body was interwoven with gold and silver, its head small and round, with only a small black mark on its forehead, like a scar.
Li'e Golden Carp—that was its name.
Wang Nan's consciousness entered the mental sea. The Li'e Golden Carp before him completely ignored him, as if he didn't exist in its eyes, merely swimming continuously in the sea of mental force. Its mouth slightly agape, it gathered all its strength and leaped upwards.
Wang Nan found it difficult to reconcile the golden carp before him with the twisted, ugly image outside. If it weren't for his telepathic connection with the Evil Breaking Dragon, knowing that this was the consciousness within the spirit ring, he would have suspected that the Evil Breaking Dragon had caught the wrong target.
Watching the Li'e Golden Carp repeatedly leap up and then fall back into the sea, splashing waves, Wang Nan seemed to understand a little.
Perhaps this Spirit Beast's goal was only that one. But the one outside had just obtained the wrong method, which made its personality weak and its appearance ugly.
And this Li'e Golden Carp in the mental sea, perhaps influenced by the Evil Breaking Dragon, found another method of Dragon Transformation from Wang Nan's memories.
It's just that this path would be much more difficult.
After an unknown period, the Li'e Golden Carp's form had gradually become transparent, but it still hadn't given up, repeating the same actions over and over again.
Wang Nan's mind stirred, and the Evil Breaking Dragon in mid-air let out a long cry, unfurled its body, and dove into the sea of mental force.
The next moment, just as the Li'e Golden Carp leaped high, a golden figure rose alongside it.
Wang Nan looked up, watching them fly upwards. The golden carp's form gradually merged into the Evil Breaking Dragon. Two Dragon roars, one after another, echoed loudly in Wang Nan's mental sea.
Outside, a massive amount of spirit power surged from the spirit ring into Wang Nan's body.
The spirit ring of a ninety-thousand-year Spirit Beast, even with Wang Nan's current physical strength, instantly enduring such powerful spirit power caused him to let out a muffled groan.
All his meridians seemed to swell. Golden light flickered slightly on Wang Nan's right arm, and the Coiling Dragon Staff in his hand glowed, enveloping him, which made him feel a little better.
As his spirit power continuously increased, in the ethereal realm, Wang Nan felt something within his body shatter. In an instant, the surrounding Heaven and Earth elemental force gathered and surged into Wang Nan's body along with the spirit power from the spirit ring.
Rank 61, Rank 62—Wang Nan's spirit power rank continuously increased. When he absorbed the Corrosion Moon Mad Mastiff's left leg bone, his spirit power rank had hit a bottleneck, so his spirit power hadn't changed. Now, after obtaining the sixth spirit ring, the spirit power accumulated in his body also erupted.
Time flowed by, and Wang Nan's spirit power only stopped when it had just broken through Rank 64.
The higher the cultivation, the longer it takes to increase spirit power by one rank. For a Spirit Emperor, even a talented Spirit Master needs several months to advance one rank.
Wang Nan's spirit power increased to Rank 64 just by obtaining a spirit ring, which was equivalent to a year of arduous cultivation for a talented Spirit Emperor.
Zhang Lexuan was sitting not far in front of Wang Nan. Noticing that Wang Nan's breathing had shortened, she knew he was about to awaken from meditation, so she stood up and looked in his direction.
Sure enough, a moment later, Wang Nan opened his eyes, and golden light shot out from them.
Zhang Lexuan looked at Wang Nan, her expression momentarily dazed, feeling that something seemed to have changed about him.
"How do you feel?"
"Thank you, Senior Sister. I feel great now." Wang Nan waved his right hand, and the Coiling Dragon Staff appeared in his hand. Six spirit rings rose consecutively, with the sixth black spirit ring slowly pulsating around him.
'A sixteen-year-old six-ring Spirit Emperor, such talent probably only that girl Xiaotao can compare to him,' Zhang Lexuan mused to herself.
Wang Nan looked around and saw that the Dragon Carp's corpse had disappeared, likely having been collected by Zhang Lexuan.
"Senior Sister, if there's nothing else, let's head back."
"Alright." Zhang Lexuan nodded.
Wang Nan took out his flying spirit tool and put it on, then looked back at the boundless ocean. It was morning, the sea was calm, and at the horizon, the sun was slowly rising.
After obtaining the sixth spirit ring, that feeling in his mental force sea became even more pronounced. Wang Nan knew that something was waiting for him deep within the sea.
However, now was not the time to go searching. He currently had neither reliable means of going to sea nor the strength to deal with most Sea Soul Beasts. Going out to sea now would be a one-way trip.
'If the person you're looking for is truly me, then please wait a little longer.'
A sea breeze seemed to sweep across the surface of the ocean, carrying the waves to gently lap at the shore, making a sound as if someone was sighing softly, or perhaps it was the sea's response to Wang Nan.