Chapter 33: Return to Spirit City
In the divine realm, the hideous woman took a deep breath.
She was none other than a first-class god of the God Realm—the Rakshasa God, the embodiment of supreme evil, resentment, and slaughter.
Recalling the vision she had just witnessed, her body trembled slightly.
"He clearly died thirty thousand years ago… so why has he reappeared?" she muttered under her breath, her expression dark and uncertain.
After a long pause, she sighed softly. "Forget it. It has nothing to do with me anyway. But Kindness and Evil… those two might be in trouble."
...
Star Dou Great Forest.
Ruo Ling blinked back to reality, still unsure what had just happened.
What was the "Primordial Devil"? And who had that woman been?
Shaking his head, he looked up and noticed that Bibi Dong's Soul Threads had returned to normal.
The black aura was gone.
Bibi Dong clearly felt her entire body lighten, her mind clear and refreshed.
"Teacher, did you just see something?" Ruo Ling asked cautiously.
"See what?" she replied, puzzled.
"It's nothing—I must've imagined it," he said quickly, brushing it off.
So only I saw that scene… he thought to himself.
Bibi Dong, unaware of his thoughts, simply felt relief. Her anxiety had vanished since their connection, leaving her unusually comfortable.
"Xiao Ling," she said suddenly, "if you ever notice anything wrong with my Soul Threads again, you may help me ease it the same way."
Ruo Ling smiled faintly. "Of course, Teacher. It's my duty to share your burden."
Bibi Dong's expression softened in satisfaction. The more she looked at him, the more she appreciated this disciple.
By now, Qian Renxue had already departed, and Yan had just finished absorbing his new soul ring. Excited, he ran over.
"I got my third soul ring!" Yan exclaimed proudly.
"What soul skill did you gain?" Xie Yue asked curiously.
"My third soul skill is called Infernal Flame—an offensive ability!"
Without hesitation, Yan activated it.
Scarlet fire burst from the ground like a geyser, molten lava swirling within.
"It erupts from underground to attack by surprise. As my number of soul rings increases, I'll be able to strike multiple enemies at once," he explained proudly.
The move was the Flame-Earth Bear's signature ability—powerful, unpredictable, and deadly.
"Congratulations," Ruo Ling said approvingly.
Xie Yue and the others expressed their congratulations as well.
Dusk began to fall, the forest dimming into shadow.
Bibi Dong glanced around and instructed, "Alright, only Xie Yue still needs a soul ring. It's getting dark, so we'll camp here for the night and continue tomorrow."
No one objected. They took tents from their soul devices and began setting up.
"Xie Yue, you and Yan take turns keeping watch," Bibi Dong ordered.
"Just the two of us?" Yan asked, glancing at Ruo Ling.
"Is that not enough?" Bibi Dong shot him a sharp glare.
Yan opened his mouth to protest, but Xie Yue stopped him with a glance. Neither argued further.
Soon, everyone settled in to rest.
...
Three days later.
Working together, the group finally hunted down a seventeen-hundred-year-old Blade Bee for Xie Yue, granting him his third ring and advancing him to the Soul Elder level.
Hu Liena, however, remained stuck at level 29, failing to reach 30.
After Xie Yue obtained his new soul ring, Bibi Dong didn't rush back to Spirit City. Instead, she had the four of them continue their training at the forest's perimeter.
She was especially strict with Hu Liena—her first disciple. Dissatisfied with her progress, Bibi Dong personally supervised her, forbidding Ruo Ling and the others from helping.
No matter how pitiful Hu Liena looked, Bibi Dong was unmoved.
Watching her battle low-level hundred-year beasts alone, the others trained as well.
The difference, though, was that while Xie Yue and Yan could handle beasts around 1,500 years old only with teamwork, Ruo Ling could easily toy with such beasts by himself.
With Night Raven's Feather and Dark Weave, most thousand-year soul beasts couldn't even touch him.
Ruo Ling looked more like a spectator than a fighter—standing still as his Crow Shadow Puppet fought for him.
Later, he began engaging personally. After fusing his martial spirits, he practiced close combat against thousand-year beasts.
Though he could easily crush them from afar, he didn't want to become a soul master who only fought as a distant spellcaster.
Gradually, his combat skill grew sharper. Exiting his fusion state, he fought alongside his Crow Shadow Puppet simultaneously.
After breaking through to Grand Soul Master, his spiritual power had risen dramatically—barely enough to control both his physical combat and puppet coordination at once.
True dual control.
With the boost from Soul Liberation, even five-thousand-year beasts were no longer a threat.
Such creatures were comparable to Soul Sect-level opponents, sometimes even stronger—yet against Ruo Ling, none stood a chance.
His strength left Bibi Dong and Ghost Douluo increasingly astonished.
This was no longer mere genius—it was monstrous.
The group remained in the Star Dou Forest for another three days.
Eventually, they returned to the gathering outpost.
Retrieving their carriage from the station, they began their journey back to Spirit Hall—this time much quicker than before.
By the next day, they had arrived at Spirit City.
"Xiao Ling, all of you should go rest for now," Bibi Dong instructed.
"Oh, and Xiao Ling," she added, "you've been my disciple for a full year already. I've taught you everything you should know. From now on, you'll study with Na'er and the others at Spirit Hall Academy."
"I'll obey your arrangement, Teacher," Ruo Ling replied.
He didn't mind. Though he found Spirit Hall Academy unhelpful for his personal growth—its training grounds were only simulated environments—the decision made sense.
He suspected it was simply a formality, perhaps preparation for the upcoming Continental Advanced Soul Master Tournament.
Ruo Ling was indifferent, but Hu Liena's eyes lit up with joy.
She had been waiting for the day he would finally join her at the academy.
"I'll take you there tomorrow, Xiao Ling," Bibi Dong said.
"Teacher! Please let me bring little brother Ruo Ling to the academy!" Hu Liena volunteered eagerly.
Bibi Dong considered for a moment—she had been away from Spirit Hall too long and surely had many matters to handle—so she accepted Hu Liena's offer.
Everyone then dispersed to rest in their respective quarters.
...
Back in his own room, Ruo Ling took a long bath before lying down on the bed.
The days of training had been exhausting.
From his soul tool, he drew out a book—a compendium of celestial herbs, copied long ago from Chrysanthemum Douluo's collection.
It was time to begin preparations to obtain the immortal herbs.
His eyes gleamed with a faint red glow of excitement.
(END CHAPTER)
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