Chapter 71: Unexpected External Spirit Bone
The violent spirit power scraped against Chen Ming's Meridians like blades, clashing fiercely with his own spirit power inside his channels. Chen Ming had to use several times the strength just to suppress and refine this power for absorption.
One hour passed, and Chen Ming was still wrestling with the Spirit Ring.
Two hours passed. Most people would have finished absorbing their Spirit Ring by now, yet Chen Ming had only barely managed to suppress it.
Three hours, four hours, five hours...
It was not until the seventh hour, long after an ordinary person would have finished, that the spirit power around Chen Ming finally calmed down. The refinement of the Spirit Ring had entered its final stage.
But at that moment, Zhang Peng suddenly turned his head and looked sharply at the devil spider's corpse on the ground. With caution, he summoned a beast spirit to pull out the massive carcass.
He saw faint ripples of spirit power radiating from the eight spider legs. The frequency of those ripples was strangely close to Chen Ming's current state.
Zhang Peng might not have eaten pork, but he had at least seen a pig run. He naturally knew what this situation looked like.
Zhang Peng carefully moved the devil spider's corpse toward Chen Ming, then laid the spider legs one by one onto Chen Ming's body. The moment they touched Chen Ming, the light on the spider legs finally brightened to its peak.
The massive devil spider began to shrink as the energy within its body was continuously squeezed out and channeled into the spider legs. Then, the eight massive lance-like spider legs began to melt, transforming into dark purple energy that was absorbed into Chen Ming's body.
A strange power began extending and reconstructing itself along Chen Ming's spine, merging with his bones and Spirit.
With a tearing sound, eight slender spider legs suddenly sprouted from Chen Ming's back, radiating a peculiar aura from those dark green limbs.
Stimulated by this change, the Spirit Ring that was almost refined lit up once more. Its original purple-black color began to shift completely toward black, finally transforming into a black Spirit Ring.
Yellow, purple, black.
The three Spirit Rings beside Chen Ming radiated three different colors.
Although the third Spirit Ring was only a light black, with an estimated age that had exceeded ten thousand years by only a few decades, or perhaps even just a few years, under this stimulation, Chen Ming's third Spirit Ring had indeed reached the ten-thousand-year level.
Finally, Chen Ming opened his eyes and could not help letting out a roar.
"Hmph hmph hmph, Aaaaaaaah!"
It was a sound that seemed like a hiss, yet also like a release. The thunderous cry echoed through the forest, yet it did not startle a single bird.
"Teacher, did you see that? Did you see that?"
Chen Ming's voice cracked slightly with excitement. Like a child, he kept turning his body, showing off his current state.
"I saw it! Good, very good, excellent!"
Although Zhang Peng usually worried that Chen Ming might become too arrogant and rarely praised him much, at this moment, he could not help applauding Chen Ming from the bottom of his heart.
A ten-thousand-year third ring and an External Spirit Bone.
Without considering methods like God Trials to increase Spirit Ring age later on, such talent was absolutely unprecedented, even across history.
How many Spirit Masters only obtained a true ten-thousand-year Spirit Ring as their sixth ring? How many Spirit Masters spent their entire lives without ever seeing even the shadow of an External Spirit Bone?
Just looking at the current Chen Ming, Zhang Peng could faintly imagine the scene of a powerful Super Douluo emerging decades later, suppressing all enemies.
"An External Spirit Bone, and my third... why has my third ring turned black?"
The excited Chen Ming suddenly stuttered, his mind freezing for a moment.
"It is likely due to the stimulation from the External Spirit Bone. Although it is rare for an absorbed Spirit Ring to change beyond its actual age, it is not completely unheard of."
"The legendary Sea God also saw his Spirit Rings change after absorbing the Spirit Rings of the three Thousand Jun Ant Emperor brothers."
"You absorbed a mixed-blood devil spider, obtained the Eight Spider Lances External Spirit Bone, and then your Spirit Ring changed along with it. This is simply a remarkable coincidence."
"Ah, I see?"
Chen Ming knew more about the three Thousand Jun Ant Emperor brothers than Zhang Peng did.
Those three unlucky Thousand Jun Ant Emperors had been killed by Tang San as evil Spirit Beasts simply because they had occupied the vacant territory after Da Ming and Er Ming died. After Tang San absorbed the three ninety-thousand-year brothers, they transformed into three hundred-thousand-year Spirit Rings.
Compared to that forced plot point, his own nine-thousand-year Spirit Ring breaking through to ten thousand years under the stimulation of a kindred External Spirit Bone seemed a little more reasonable.
"Xiao Ming, what Spirit Bone and Spirit Ability did you obtain? And what is your current cultivation level?"
Chen Ming closed his eyes and sensed his condition for a moment before answering.
"My current cultivation is Rank 33. It might have been higher, but the evolution of the Spirit Ring and the fusion process with the External Spirit Bone seem to have consumed some spirit power, causing me to stabilize at Rank 33 in the end."
"My third Spirit Ability is called Death Frenzy. It is an enhancement-type status Spirit Ability. Its effect is to increase my attack and strength by one hundred percent, while also causing my attacks to carry toxins and deal damage proportional to my own vitality."
"This skill has another effect. During its release, I will be continuously poisoned. The deeper the poisoning, the stronger the enhancement effect, up to a maximum of twice the boost."
"But since my normal state is already one where toxins have penetrated my bone marrow and internal organs, the final enhancement effect of this Spirit Ability is equivalent to having the doubled boost active unconditionally under normal circumstances."
"Whether it is the increase in attack and strength, or the toxin and vitality-proportional damage carried by my attacks, everything has been doubled."
This was originally a skill that required paying a price and applying debuffs to oneself in order to maximize its power. One had to let the toxin penetrate the bone marrow and reach the verge of death, hence the name Death Frenzy.
But because Chen Ming naturally carried such a state, it had instead become an unconditional enhancement.
"As for my Spirit Bone, I only have a feeling for now and cannot be completely certain, but I feel that I should have inherited some kind of devouring ability. As for the specifics... I need a target. I want to find a Spirit Beast and test it."
"Alright."
Zhang Peng only said one word, then a beast spirit flew out from his shadow. A few minutes later, a leopard-like beast spirit returned, carrying a massive venomous scorpion Spirit Beast in its mouth.
The half-dead venomous scorpion Spirit Beast was thrown onto the ground. Somewhat awkwardly, Chen Ming controlled his Eight Spider Lances and stabbed them toward the scorpion.
Compared to Chen Ming's massive body, his Eight Spider Lances were excessively long and slender. Their tips were not blade-like, but closer to needles.
The tips pierced through the scorpion's carapace as easily as stabbing into tofu. As Chen Ming's intent surged, the venomous scorpion Spirit Beast began to shrivel at a speed visible to the naked eye.
.....
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