138: Chapter 138 Elder Jiang's Doubts

As time passed, after about two hours, Yuan Spirit Induction was the first to be pushed to LV4 by him.

The levels of Barbarian Blood and Aurora were already high enough, so just filling them with spiritual energy was much faster; both took less than an hour.

He never expected that the biggest difficulty would actually be with the fire-attribute Spirit Ring.

Although Barbarian Blood had a certain compatibility with fire spiritual energy, as the level increased, its utility had shifted significantly towards blood spirit, making it no longer suitable for single-attribute enhancement.

Fortunately, there was still the Universal Breathing Method. This most common Breathing Method actually had one major advantage: it was compatible with all attributes.

It was just slow.

After a full three hours—it was almost midnight—and with the fire spirit stones almost exhausted, he finally managed to raise the Qi Flow intensity of the fire Spirit Ring.

Looking at his realm on the panel reaching the fourth stage of Qi Manipulation, Tang Long couldn't help but smile.

He had previously thought he could only recover to the third stage; the actual progress exceeded his expectations.

He couldn't help but give Fei Shan a like again, then proceeded to the next big plan.

[You used divinity to bless the special skill: Gift of the Barbarian Ancestor. The current effect of Gift of the Barbarian Ancestor is increased by one level, lasting for 4 hours!]

[Your realm has been raised to the sixth stage of Qi Manipulation! vitality increased by 2000, vitality recovery increased by 200/hour, spiritual energy limit {single attribute} increased by 200, obtained 20 free attribute points, obtained 10 skill points!]

Tang Long was grinning from ear to ear, suddenly feeling like he was wealthy.

He maxed out Divine Guard directly, and surprisingly still had eight skill points left over.

Then he raised Spirituality and Legend by ten points each, and the panel looked much better immediately.

[Tang Long: Calamity Sacrifice]

[Profession: Mystic]

[Realm: Qi Manipulation {Sixth Stage}]

[Level LV11: 4.2W / 10W]

[Spiritual Energy {High}: 5145 / 9860]

[Attributes: Strength 46, Agility 40, Endurance 46, Spirit 45, Charisma 16, Spirituality 18, Legend 14]

[Advanced Attributes: Divinity 1 {In Divine Silence}]

[vitality {High}: 20101 / 24455]

[vitality Recovery {Medium}: 1700 / hour]

[Resistances: Poison +50, Ice +10]

[Cultivation Methods: Torch Spirit Breathing Method {Broken}, Barbarian Blood Breathing Technique LV8, Aurora Breathing Method LV4, Universal Breathing Method LV5, General Guidance Technique LV3, Yuan Spirit Induction {Deficient} LV4, Hundred Refinements Manual LV1]

[Skills {8 Unallocated}: Detection LV9, Fire Eye MAX, Sprint MAX, Heavy Strike MAX, Spirit Astral LV6, Divine Guard MAX]

[Special Skills: Barbarian Blood Tyrant Body LV2, Aurora Phantom Sound LV1, Gift of the Barbarian Ancestor LV2, Open-Ring Forbidden Method LV4]

[Life Skills: Mining {Master}, Reading {Master}, Gathering {Proficient}, Cooking {Apprentice}, Smithing {Beginner}, Alchemy {Beginner}, Item {Beginner}]

The invincibility time of a max-level Divine Guard had reached 5 seconds, and the cooldown was reduced to half an hour.

Fourteen points of Legend could issue 14 quests, allowing players to complete them up to 1400 times, which should be enough for tomorrow night for now.

Besides, he had to go handle business with Mad Dog, so he probably wouldn't have much time anyway.

And those eighteen points of Spirituality... that was truly something you only understand once you use it; once you use it, you're speechless.

Not only did proficiency gain suddenly increase by more than double, but the previous friction when encountering obstacles—the hurdles that sometimes required injury to overcome—suddenly became smooth.

Even the gold spiritual energy, which was the hardest to control before, had become much easier at this moment.

Of course, with a new Spirit Ring condensing, spiritual energy conflicts still existed.

But Tang Long had the level 2 Tyrant Body, so it wasn't too hard to endure.

After another half an hour, following a loud rumble, a brand-new metallic-colored Spirit Ring had taken shape.

However, this rumble also woke up the old man, Governor Jiang Shiqi, in the northern courtyard.

He looked out the window, unable to hide his confused expression.

"The sound should have come from Xiao Lan's training hall. It's already the middle of the night, what is that little girl doing instead of sleeping?"

The old man threw on a robe, got up, and went to the room next door. Then, the entire wall lit up, revealing hundreds of real-time surveillance feeds.

He found the training hall's monitor, zoomed in, and his old eyes couldn't help but flash with shock.

"When did that spoiled granddaughter of mine bring home a brat? This is not a good sign~"

"And this kid... something's wrong, very wrong."

"He is... no way, right?"

Unable to confirm just from the surveillance footage, Governor Jiang Shiqi immediately left the room and went outside the training hall, then his eyes flashed with a hint of green light.

Although he hadn't stepped onto the Spirit Map and couldn't be considered a top expert of Song City, Governor Jiang Shiqi's eyes were equally extraordinary, capable of seeing through walls and even seeing some deeper things.

"What the hell! It really is the Open-Ring Forbidden Method!"

"And what kind of freak is this kid, to actually practice it to this extent?"

"Ever since Ye Baiqiao was exiled, this thing was confiscated by the High Priest. Where did this kid get it? If the source is improper, him practicing this thing in the Jiang Family is enough to anger the High Priest."

"But if it's through official channels... his identity is intriguing."

He immediately took out his phone and dialed a number.

"Hello! Old Liu, it's me, Old Jiang!"

"Has the Open-Ring Forbidden Method been unbanned?"

"You don't know?"

"Don't play dumb with me. No matter how little you manage, you're still a Bishop, right? How could you not know about something like this?"

Hanging up the phone, Elder Jiang didn't get an answer, but Liu Zhiming was the only one in The Sect he was close with, and it wasn't convenient to call other Bishops at this time.

However, he suddenly realized that the cultivation method Tang Long was practicing looked very familiar, so he hurriedly dialed another number.

"Old Zheng, it's me."

"Old Jiang, it's the middle of the night, why aren't you sleeping? What kind of craziness are you up to?"

"Of course I have urgent business to ask you. Have you heard any news about the Open-Ring Forbidden Method recently?"

The person on the other end laughed. "Old man, why are you asking about this?"

Elder Jiang understood immediately and barked, "What else could it be! That kid also knows your Tide Art, you better explain to me! What is going on!"

"Oh, are you talking about a tall guy with sword-wing eyebrows, handsome like I was when I was young, the kind of kid that makes little girls unable to look away the moment they see him? His name is Tang Long, he's a classmate of your Xiao Lan. What, has your granddaughter been snatched away by him?"

"Get lost! You old lecher, I'm asking about his background."

"Does that even need asking? Of course, he has a background in The Sect, and he has a close relationship with Lv Yang. Plus, I've noticed in the last two days that the other three Bishops are tight-lipped about him. I'm guessing it might have something to do with the old man."

"Then what about the Tide Art?"

"It was a trade. Don't ask about the specifics."

Hanging up the phone, Governor Jiang Shiqi couldn't help but develop a strong interest in Tang Long.

He slowly paced into the training hall, watching Tang Long practice from afar, and was even more surprised.

Ordinary people wouldn't be able to tell, but he could see it very clearly: although the spiritual energy Tang Long absorbed each time was large, it was exceptionally uniform. This kind of precise control over spiritual energy wasn't achieved through Spirituality, but required powerful mental strength.

In this world, some people are born with extremely high Spirituality, but no one is born with powerful mental strength.

Logically, it's only when breaking through realms, when the martial artist's own soul gradually awakens, that mental strength significantly improves. Reaching Tang Long's level, one would at least have to break through a major realm, which is the Blood Refining realm, to be possible.

But this young man...

Even though his Spirituality is average, he controls the spiritual energy conflicts generated when condensing new Spirit Rings so well.

He has already condensed up to six Spirit Rings, which means he has practiced six different attribute cultivation methods. Even that stingy Old Zheng took out a Wuque Method like the Tide Art; it seems there's no suspense in him condensing the sixth one.

This kid's body is so strong, he must be practicing some kind of exotic blood spirit cultivation method, right?

Those lunatics in The Sect, to actually allow such a thing, what the hell are they planning?

Could it be that the so-called Son of God project from back then is still secretly ongoing?

That Mad Dog should have already proven that this is a dead end, right?

Regardless of the reason, you want to reach into my Jiang Family, don't you think that's going too far?