Yuan Qiqi let out a cold chuckle and casually brushed aside a loose strand of hair at her temple, her movements naturally exuding the unique charm of a mature woman.
Yin Zhang, who hadn't been particularly stirred at first, couldn't help swallowing hard, a trace of shameful desire surfacing in his heart.
This was exactly his type.
Compared to Qiangu Yunying's lively and energetic personality, the intense aura of mature femininity surrounding Yuan Qiqi deeply attracted Yin Zhang—so much so that it even bordered on obsession.
He didn't know whether it was due to the sixty-percent favorability bonus, or if he had genuinely begun to develop feelings for Yuan Qiqi himself.
Ahem.
Time flew by.
In the blink of an eye, two years passed.
Originally, after Yin Zhang and Qiangu Yunying returned to Spirit Hall, they had planned to head out again.
However, a series of trivial matters caused them to shelve those plans.
In the end, they settled down and focused on peaceful cultivation.
As for the hundred-thousand-year Blue Silver Emperor Right Leg Bone that Yin Zhang had been eyeing, it remained where it was. At the very least, Tang Hao wouldn't take it away until Tang San graduated from Nuoding Academy.
This year happened to be the year Tang San underwent his Spirit Awakening.
Yin Zhang decided it was time to return to Nuoding City and Saint Spirit Village for a visit.
He hadn't seen Old Jack or Ma Xiunuo for nearly seven years.
Previously, he couldn't return because Tang Hao was still there.
But now, once Tang San entered Nuoding Academy, Tang Hao would naturally leave.
This was the perfect opportunity for Yin Zhang to return to Saint Spirit Village.
To see Old Jack.
To see Tang San, who had "occupied the magpie's nest."
Or Xiao Wu.
Yin Zhang had been coveting Xiao Wu's spirit rings and spirit bone for a long time.
No—there was also Yu Xiaogang.
Yin Zhang had also been eyeing Yu Xiaogang's Luo San Pao Martial Soul for quite some time; the Martial Soul Plunder Card in his warehouse had been sitting idle for two years, collecting dust.
Over these two years, Yin Zhang's gains had been substantial.
His spirit power had risen from Rank 55 to Rank 64.
For his sixth spirit ring, Yin Zhang had taken Golden Crocodile to the Golden Canyon within the Sunset Forest to hunt an eighty-thousand-year Golden Titan Python.
Back when he had gone to the Golden Canyon with Qiangu Yunying, following Dugu Bo and Dugu Xin, Dugu Bo had once told him about that place.
Rumor had it that a hundred-thousand-year Golden Titan Python Emperor existed deep within the canyon.
Although they didn't encounter the Golden Titan Python Emperor this time, they did find a Golden Titan Python King hidden in the depths.
After absorbing its spirit ring, Yin Zhang obtained the ability Golden Python Flow, a technique whose power was not inferior to any of his other spirit abilities.
Once activated, it summoned successive Golden Titan Pythons that swept across the battlefield, dealing terrifying area-of-effect damage.
In addition, during one of the system's choice rewards, Yin Zhang obtained a Domain Integration Opportunity.
He fused and expanded one of his Charizard Martial Soul's traits—Power of the Sun—together with the spirit ability Sunny Day, forming a brand-new domain.
The Sun Domain.
Within the Sun Domain, all hostile Spirit Masters and Spirit Beasts would continuously lose vitality. The power of fire-attribute Spirit Masters' abilities would be amplified, while Yin Zhang's own fire-attribute skills would gain a one-hundred-percent boost. At the same time, his speed, attack, and special attack would each increase by fifty percent.
Yin Zhang even began wondering when he might obtain another Domain Integration Opportunity.
He wanted to fuse his numerous dragon-type spirit abilities with his own Dragon Clan bloodline, expanding them into a Dragon God Domain.
However, judging by the current situation, that opportunity hadn't yet appeared.
Aside from that, he had accumulated more and more Spirit Ring Age Enhancement Cards.
Yin Zhang had already raised the ages of his first two spirit rings to the ten-thousand-year baseline.
He still had fifteen thousand years' worth of enhancement cards remaining.
He was only five thousand years short of upgrading his sixth spirit ring to the hundred-thousand-year level.
And don't ask why he didn't just raise his sixth spirit ring to a hundred thousand years immediately—Yin Zhang genuinely hadn't anticipated this.
Most of the later rewards turned out to be spirit ring age enhancement cards. If he had known earlier, he would have saved them all from the very beginning.
---
[Host]: Yin Zhang
[Age]: 14
[Martial Soul]: Charizard
[Spirit Power]: Rank 64
[Spirit Rings]: Black, Black, Black, Black, Black
[Traits]: Blaze, Hard Claw
[Spirit Abilities]:
Dragon Claw, Double Team, Azure Flame Shield (Spirit Ring), Flamethrower, Fire Dragon Evasion Kill (Spirit Ring), Dragon Tail, Crimson Flame Roar (Spirit Ring), Solar Beam, Mirror Move, Roost, Fire Dragon Flying Slash (Spirit Ring), Dragon God Transformation (Bloodline Spirit Ability), Dragon Rush, Dragon Meteor, Outrage, Mental Storm, Golden Python Flow
[Spirit Bone]: Fire Wing Dragon Palm Bone (68,000 years)
[Domain]: Fire Dragon Domain
[Items]:
Charcoal (Amplification), Holy Grail (Equipment), Charizard X Mega Stone (Equipment), Famous Sword Siming (Equipment/Item), Overlord Reboot (Equipment/Item), Keystone (Amplification/Item)
[Warehouse]: Martial Soul Plunder Card, Black Tortoise Bead
---
In addition to Yin Zhang's own progress, the people around him had also undergone significant changes.
First was Qiangu Yunying.
Two years ago, she had been Rank 71.
Two years later, her spirit power had risen to Rank 77.
An average of three ranks per year.
Although this rate might seem somewhat slow given the many opportunities she had received, this was the Spirit Saint realm after all.
For most people, progress at this stage was agonizingly slow.
Qiangu Yuan was the best example.
Before meeting Yin Zhang, he had been exactly like that.
He had originally thought he would remain a Spirit Saint for the rest of his life, or at best barely push his way into the Spirit Douluo realm and, with the help of his father and uncle, become the Dean of Spirit Hall Academy.
Unexpectedly, after venturing out with Tang Zhen, his fortune changed.
He obtained the Water-Attribute Stone Tablet.
After another two years of steady cultivation, Qiangu Yuan's spirit power rose from Rank 86 to Rank 89—only one step away from Rank 90.
Qiangu Lifan had also become a Spirit Saint after refining the Water-Attribute Stone Tablet back then.
After two years, he had cultivated from Rank 71 to Rank 73.
An average of one and a half ranks per year was already considered excellent among Spirit Saints.
Compared to Qiangu Yunying, however, the gap was still obvious.
Wei Min lagged behind somewhat in terms of cultivation speed.
But her foundation had always been strong.
From Rank 76 back when she was still in the Star Luo Empire, more than two years had passed.
She had now reached Rank 79.
The daughter they had together, Qiangu Bai, had also grown up to be clever and adorable.
The family lived a happy and fulfilling life.
Yin Zhang and Qiangu Yunying's daily little joy was playing with Qiangu Bai.
Qiangu Yunying often joked that she wanted to give birth to an entire litter of such little cubs for them to play with later.
That idea gave Yin Zhang quite a scare.
Yin Zhang's teacher, Golden Crocodile, as well as Qiangu Yunying's two grandfathers, remained unchanged in cultivation.
They were still at Rank 99 and Rank 97 respectively.
Hu Liena was twelve years old this year.
After several years of cultivation, her spirit power had risen from an ordinary Spirit Master back then to a Rank 34 Spirit Elder now.
When Yin Zhang returned to Spirit Hall previously, aside from the Immortal Herb Water of Longing and Seeing Through, he had also given her the precious pearl obtained from the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School.
In addition to her mental force receiving a massive boost, her spirit power had also increased slightly.
With her enhanced mental force, fighting opponents across ranks was no longer an issue.