Golden Crocodile was momentarily stunned when he heard the report, clearly taken by surprise.
"Say that again."
The man nodded.
"Reporting to the Second Consecrator. His Highness Yin Zhang challenged Zhou Wu of Elite Class One. Zhou Wu's spirit power is at level fifty and he has yet to obtain his fifth spirit ring. The outcome was that His Highness Yin Zhang defeated Zhou Wu with minimal injuries."
Golden Crocodile's eyes lit up as he murmured to himself,
"I didn't expect this kid to make me reassess him. I thought challenging an ordinary Spirit Ancestor and winning was already overestimating him, but who would've thought…"
"You may leave."
Golden Crocodile waved his hand.
"Yes."
The black-clad man responded respectfully before vanishing into the shadows.
"It seems my good disciple is hiding quite a few secrets—but that doesn't matter. Strength is all that counts."
Golden Crocodile's gaze drifted toward the Hall of Worship, the corners of his mouth lifting slightly.
---
Later.
As soon as Golden Crocodile entered the Hall of Worship, he deliberately put on a surprised expression and said,
"How did you all find out that my disciple crossed a gap of more than ten spirit power levels to defeat a level-fifty Spirit Ancestor?"
Qian Jun replied, "Second Consecrator, was it someone named Zhou Wu?"
Golden Crocodile nodded and walked toward his seat.
Beneath the statue of the Angel God, Qian Daoliu watched Golden Crocodile's almost childish pride and shook his head helplessly.
It seems this Yin Zhang has many secrets. My Hall of Worship truly has a successor.
As the High Priest, Qian Daoliu had arranged informants throughout Spirit City. Not long after the battle between Yin Zhang and Zhou Wu ended, he had already received a detailed report.
From it, he could clearly tell that the abnormal amplification of flame power Yin Zhang displayed was absolutely not the result of a single spirit ability.
---
Supreme Pontiff Palace.
After sending Hu Liena away, Bibi Dong pressed her fingers to her temples and muttered softly,
"This little fellow has really made progress. If this continues, in just a few years, his reputation alone could make him the 'future' of Spirit Hall. How troublesome… and there's Nana as well. Forget it—let nature take its course. Back when I found this child in Nuoding City, I shouldn't have returned so openly…"
On the desk before her lay a sheet of letter paper, with only a single line written on it:
[Xiaogang, how have you been lately…]
---
Within the academy, news of Yin Zhang skipping the advanced class and directly entering Elite Class One quickly spread to most of the students.
In particular, the students of Intermediate Class One—where Yin Zhang had once studied—were full of gossip. They whispered to acquaintances, and the rumors grew increasingly outrageous.
"Let me tell you something—don't tell anyone else. Back then, Yin Zhang was my desk mate, and he was always touching me. I even thought he was my—"
"I'm telling you, a friend of mine in Intermediate Class One was always getting touched by Yin Zhang. He even—"
"…she was always being touched by Yin Zhang…"
The rumors became more and more absurd. Meanwhile, Yin Zhang himself was out shopping with Qiangu Yunying.
Whether intentionally or not, Yin Zhang asked her about the effects of several spirit abilities. Qiangu Yunying clearly saw through his intentions, but she didn't mind and casually revealed quite a lot.
Yin Zhang fell into deep thought, while Qiangu Yunying sat across from him without a care, holding skewers and eating until her mouth was shiny with oil.
After entering Elite Class, there were practically no strict requirements.
As long as students showed up to class on time, the rest of their schedule was free.
Moreover, the benefits of Elite Class were far superior to those of the lower grades.
In the cafeteria, spirit beast meat started at the thousand-year level, and occasionally there was even ten-thousand-year spirit beast meat to improve their diet.
By contrast, the cafeterias for the Elementary, Intermediate, and Advanced divisions were limited to spirit beast meat under one hundred years, under five hundred years, and under one thousand years respectively.
There were also limits on access to the spirit mimicry cultivation environments.
Although these environments didn't noticeably increase a Spirit Master's cultivation speed in the short term, over many years of accumulation, even someone with only level-nine innate spirit power could theoretically rival—or even surpass—someone with full innate soul power.
However, these environments suffered wear and tear and required enormous resources to maintain and upgrade.
As a result, each of the four age divisions had strict weekly limits on how long students could cultivate in the spirit mimicry environments.
"Xiao Zhang, eat more. Don't you like spicy food?"
Qiangu Yunying spoke with her mouth full, eating skewers while hissing, "Sss—ha, sss—ha."
Unlike most people, watching Qiangu Yunying eat gave Yin Zhang the strange feeling of watching a mukbang from his previous life.
And this time, it was happening face-to-face—and the "streamer" wasn't some clichéd chubby eater.
Instead, it was a pleasing young woman, even if she was nine years older than him.
Yin Zhang shook his head.
"I've never been afraid of spicy food. Sister Yunying, about using the spear—do you mainly rely on your own comprehension?"
Yunying shook her head, recalling the past.
"Not entirely. When I first awakened my martial spirit, it was my father, grandfather, and great-uncle who guided me. Even though all of their martial spirits were Coiling Dragon Rods, rods and spears share many similarities."
"Before I became a Spirit Grandmaster, I relied on their guidance. After that, I had to depend on myself. Luckily, every time I practiced until I was fully immersed, my Flame-Plundering Spear would improve a little."
Yin Zhang nodded thoughtfully, then added,
"Speaking of spears, there's a very famous spear-wielding family on the Douluo Continent."
"You mean the Yang Family of the Breaker Clan, right?" Qiangu Yunying replied.
Yin Zhang wasn't surprised. After all, the three elders behind Qiangu Yunying were well aware of the Yang Family—a family with a formidable reputation across the entire Douluo Continent.
A few years ago, however, because of Qian Xunji, the Clear Sky Sect went into seclusion, and the four single-attribute clans affiliated with it were also dragged down.
Among them, Yang Wudi's younger brother from the original story, Yang Wushuang, had reportedly been captured and imprisoned by Spirit Hall.
When Xue Ye was critically ill, it was Qian Renxue who used a mixed poison derived from the Yang Family's secret techniques—confessed by Yang Wushuang—which left even Poison Douluo Dugu Bo utterly helpless.
"The Yang Family is different from the other three single-attribute clans," Qiangu Yunying continued, unaware of the change in Yin Zhang's expression. "Under my grandfather's and great-uncle's instructions, although the Yang Family suffered losses, there were almost no casualties."
"Great-uncle also said that after next year's Elite Tournament ends, he'll take me to the Yang Family to formally apprentice and properly study the way of the spear."
Yin Zhang fell silent.
This was completely different from what he remembered from the original story.
It seemed that while the overall course of this Douluo world matched the original, the details had diverged drastically.
The Yang Family hadn't suffered devastating losses as they once did and had even received protection from Spirit Hall. As a result, they would likely be misunderstood and ostracized by the other three clans.
So if Tang San went to recruit the Yang Family again, would they still defect to him as they had in the original story?
Yin Zhang didn't know.
But one thing was certain—now that he was here, Tang San's path from the very beginning was destined to be far less smooth than before.
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