Heaven Dou City — Ning Fengzhi's Estate
As the teacher of Crown Prince Xue Qinghe, Ning Fengzhi naturally had his own residence in Heaven Dou City.
At this moment, Ning Fengzhi was sitting in his audience hall, brows furrowed as he reviewed the increasingly turbulent news circulating throughout the continent.
In just a few short years, the strength of the Spirit Hall had grown significantly.
This trend had begun three years ago, with the start of the Pan-Continent Advanced Spirit Master Academy Tournament.
That year, the Spirit Hall Academy team had utterly dominated the competition. Against the top talents from all the other academies, they crushed their opponents with overwhelming power.
Ning Fengzhi had been especially impressed by Spirit Hall Academy's continuously evolving tactical approaches and the appearance of the first batch of students walking the path of extremity — pushing every aspect of their abilities to the limit.
What surprised him even more was that Spirit Hall had placed such high value on the paper by Xiao Yan (also known as Lin Dong).
For each student's fourth spirit ring (at level 40), Spirit Hall had their Elder of Wisdom personally select the most compatible spirit beast, and a Spirit Douluo-level expert would assist in obtaining it.
As a result, every student's spirit rings were highly attuned to their martial spirits and approached the limit of what their bodies could withstand.
If Xiao Yan's research had been published earlier, that batch of Spirit Hall Academy students might have been even stronger. Still, their performance was already leagues ahead of the competition.
Back then, Spirit Hall's reputation reached unprecedented heights. Even among commoners, whenever a gifted child emerged, the family would do everything to send them to Spirit Hall Academy.
According to the latest intelligence Ning Fengzhi had received, Spirit Hall had now gathered a large group of gifted children — future pillars of their organization.
Soon, even if all the disciples of the Upper Three Clans were added together, they might still fall short compared to Spirit Hall.
In fact… it might already be the case.
He also heard that the current batch of Spirit Hall Academy students were being called the "Golden Generation."
The more Ning Fengzhi thought about this, the deeper the crease between his brows became — a mark of gloom that refused to fade.
He had to find a way to suppress Spirit Hall's growing momentum. They could not be allowed to continue absorbing all of the talented individuals across the land.
Thankfully, the latest information from the Heaven Dou Imperial Academy offered him some relief.
His own little devil — Ning Rongrong — was studying there, and he'd received some reports from members of the Emperor Team.
With her talent, Rongrong would likely reach Spirit Elder (Soul Elder) level in a few months. By then, her Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda would greatly boost the team's strength.
Added to that were Dugu Bo's granddaughter — with her powerful poison control abilities — and the Nine-Heart Begonia healer from the Ye clan, who specialized in group healing. Together, they just might be able to defeat Spirit Hall's academy team.
"Fengzhi, don't look so glum. Spirit Hall may be making big moves, but the other sects aren't fools. They won't just sit back and let Spirit Hall do whatever it wants."
At this moment, Sword Douluo Chen Xin spoke calmly as he sipped tea.
He had always been a fearless seeker of the sword path — a Super Douluo who trained in silence and didn't concern himself with politics.
"All we have to do is take care of our own responsibilities."
Though he understood what troubled Ning Fengzhi, he wasn't one for long-winded persuasion.
"As long as Rongrong grows up healthy, that's all that matters."
"Yes… as long as Rongrong grows up safe and sound."
At the mention of his daughter's name, a tender look flashed in Ning Fengzhi's eyes.
Rongrong was the genius who would one day help the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Clan evolve into the Eight Treasure Glazed Tile Clan. With her ability to absorb beyond-limit spirit rings, Ning Fengzhi had even more confidence in the clan's future.
Once Rongrong's martial spirit evolved, would they ever worry about not being able to attract more strong spirit masters?
After all, even a Spirit Sage with just seven rings could assist two Title Douluo simultaneously in battle. What if they had eight rings?
"Dad, I'm home!"
Just then, a crisp, cheerful voice rang out from within the hall.
"Rongrong?"
"Rongrong, you're back?!"
Ning Fengzhi stood up in surprise, his eyes full of emotion.
Sword Douluo Chen Xin was even more excited — he instantly flashed to the entrance to greet her.
"Grandpa Sword, Dad!"
Ning Rongrong greeted them sweetly and obediently.
"I came back because I have something important to tell you."
"Rongrong, you didn't cause trouble at school, did you? It's not like home — you can't just do whatever you want there."
Ning Fengzhi immediately assumed she had stirred up some mischief and had come seeking help.
Whose kid had she messed with?
His briefly relaxed brow furrowed again.
"No, Dad! Can't you just let me finish before jumping to conclusions?"
Ning Rongrong rolled her eyes and flopped into a chair, full of frustration — showing none of the noble lady's demeanor expected of her.
"Listen — our Emperor Team has new members now. Not only did they join the main team, one became the captain, and the other is vice-captain!"
She quickly explained everything that had happened in today's internal tournament — adding a little dramatic flair at the key moments.
Her words shocked both Ning Fengzhi and Chen Xin. The two exchanged glances, their eyes filled with disbelief.
"You're saying there are three monsters… all around 12 years old… and they're already past level 38? And their second spirit rings were all millennium-level?"
Chen Xin could barely wrap his head around the sheer talent of Xiao Lin and the others.
Back in his day, a 12-year-old at level 25 was already considered to have the potential to become a Title Douluo.
"Looks like Master Xiao Yan's theories are even more valuable than we thought."
Ning Fengzhi slowly spoke these words, but his mind was already racing.
Suddenly, something occurred to him — something that felt very off.
"Wait — Rongrong, did you say that almost all of Xiao Lin's team members have support-type spirit skills?"
True to his title as one of the wisest men on the continent, Ning Fengzhi instantly spotted what others might overlook.
"Yeah, Dad. What's strange about that?"
Rongrong tilted her head in confusion. Other than Xiao Lin's first skill being ridiculously strong, the rest weren't that outrageous.
In fact, their support-type soul skills couldn't compare to the enhancements from their Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda — like her own.
Even as just a lowly Great Spirit Master, she could still boost Sword Douluo's power… though it drained her spirit power completely.
This kind of enhancement was the reason why their clan had been the top support-type martial spirit for generations.
"You're thinking too simply."
Ning Fengzhi shook his head — this wasn't just about simple support abilities.
"Rongrong, think about it. If Xiao Lin reaches Spirit Sage level, how terrifying would that power scaling be? And why do high-level spirit masters rarely use their earlier spirit rings in combat?"
With this reminder, Chen Xin also quickly understood.
"And that's not all. The way they choose spirit rings is the same extreme path used by Spirit Hall Academy — perhaps even more extreme!"
Ning Fengzhi said slowly, feeling a deep admiration in his heart.
Xiao Lin and the others were truly blessed by this era — only thanks to Master Xiao Yan's theories were they able to take such a path.
"Overwhelming power breaks all techniques… just like the former Clear Sky Douluo."
Chen Xin nodded in agreement. Back then, Tang Hao had been a newly minted Title Douluo, yet he fended off several others — even injuring the Pope.
Not long after, Qian Xunji died.
That had been truly shocking.
"Huh? Xiao Lin and his crew are that strong?"
Even Ning Rongrong was stunned. But thinking about it, Xiao Lin really had defeated Yu Tianheng without even using his third spirit skill.
And then there were Tang San and Xiao Wu, too.
"There's one more strange thing — Tang San's martial spirit is the Blue Silver King."
"Think back to Master Xiao Yan's first paper about Blue Silver Grass martial spirits. Didn't it mention that Blue Silver Grass had immense vitality? Isn't that describing Tang San?"
Ning Fengzhi narrowed his eyes, already making mental calculations.
Both Chen Xin and Ning Rongrong were also stunned — their pupils contracting as they both exclaimed:
"Dad! (Fengzhi!) Are you saying Tang San may have met Master Xiao Yan?"
"Exactly. That's the only explanation. Otherwise, how could three children from a remote village all achieve results far beyond ordinary geniuses?"
(End of Chapter)