Chapter 77: Ning Rongrong's Feelings
The fundamental problem of the poison hadn't been solved yet—how could he not continue cultivating?
How could Ning Rongrong possibly understand the Dugu family spirit masters who were constantly racing against time?
Dugu Feng made up his mind. Within a month, he would break through to Spirit King level and raise his strength further.
During this time, Ning Rongrong had developed feelings for him.
But Dugu Feng wasn't foolish. For all he knew, there could be two Titled Douluo watching from the skies above!
Through Ning Rongrong, he had also learned a great deal more about the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Clan.
The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda martial soul could never escape its inherent flaw—it had no offensive power.
Every auxiliary spirit master of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Clan needed to find a suitable partner.
And that partner had to be a powerful battle-type spirit master. This had become a clan tradition.
Ning Rongrong had been raised with this expectation. From the moment she entered the academy, she had been taught to seek someone compatible with her.
Under such circumstances, emotions weren't all that important.
Just as later, Ning Rongrong had been able to restrain her feelings for Oscar.
Only after Oscar obtained his sixth spirit ring and gained sufficient strength did the two truly come together.
Her father, Ning Fengzhi, had lost eight wives. There was no way he didn't understand the dangers—how could he ever push his daughter into a pit of fire? Perhaps change would come soon enough.
If he were to become emotionally entangled now, the only one who would get hurt would be himself.
In a world where strength reigns supreme, power was everything.
With enough strength, what kind of woman couldn't he have?
As his thoughts wandered, Dugu Feng and Ning Rongrong arrived at the simulation training grounds.
The small lake beside them had almost become Dugu Feng's personal training area.
He had planted several poisonous flowers and herbs there, as well as other dense vegetation—useful for practicing his spirit techniques.
"From now on, I won't be going to the classroom. I'll dedicate myself fully to cultivation!"
"Alright, I'll use the time to practice split-mind control!"
As she spoke, a murderous aura rose from Dugu Feng's body. A chilling bloodthirst surged skyward.
It wasn't the first time Ning Rongrong had witnessed such a scene, yet it still shocked her heart.
This killing intent must have been forged during the time Dugu Feng had been away from the academy.
But despite so much time passing, she had never found out what kind of experiences he had gone through. The mystery made her grit her teeth in frustration.
Dugu Feng was already fully immersed in refining the power of his spirit abilities.
The God of Slaughter Domain—this was more than a skill; it was momentum.
It strengthened oneself while suppressing the enemy.
This aura could be integrated into one's spirit techniques.
Dugu Feng had been experimenting with this continuously.
But his main goal was still to refine his killing intent—to evolve the Slaughter God Domain.
That domain was directly connected to divine inheritance, so Dugu Feng dared not slack off even for a moment.
Inside his dantian, two energy orbs were rotating ceaselessly, balancing the energy discrepancy with the other two.
The energy level of his inner orbs had reached seventy-six, but the speed of advancement was slowing down.
For the remaining twenty or so points, the demands on physical energy and soul power were lessening.
The primary bottleneck lay in the scarcity of toxins.
The two Emerald Serpent Dragons provided abundant bodily energy, and Zhu Zhuyun's rapid growth offered ample soul power as well.
But there wasn't enough poison for further refinement.
Every day, he had to condense mixed toxins for the orbs to absorb.
Before absorbing his third soul ring, he planned to detoxify some clan members again, which should strengthen the energy within his orbs a little more.
And so, Dugu Feng immersed himself in training.
Time slipped by quickly, and soon the month was nearly over. Dugu Feng was on the brink of breaking level thirty.
He didn't realize that during this time, Ning Rongrong's gaze toward him was growing increasingly complex.
Her mind couldn't shake the words of Bone Douluo.
"Rongrong, the spirit masters of the Dugu family—on average, they die much younger than others.
The probability of early death among them is extremely high.
According to what's known, Dugu Feng's father, Dugu Shuo, lost several spouses before having him, and his mother died right after childbirth.
It's the same with Dugu Yan—her father, Dugu Xin, died young, too.
I suspect that while the Dugu family's techniques are powerful, their poison-type martial souls also carry a curse that affects their partners' lives!"
Bone Douluo had finally spoken up, unable to remain silent any longer. He didn't want Ning Rongrong to sink too deeply.
Dugu Feng's power was astonishing—even Bone Douluo was impressed.
He had defeated Yu Tianheng despite being a whole major realm lower.
And his diligence in cultivation… His innate spirit power must be at least level nine. Bone Douluo even suspected he was born with full spirit power.
Such a genius—if not for being born into the Dugu family—would have been a perfect match for Ning Rongrong.
But within that family, it was their partners who suffered the highest mortality rate.
To this day, there were hardly any living spouses of Dugu family members.
If anyone claimed there was no problem, Bone Douluo would never believe it.
However, the Dugu family had been wise. They never married into major clans, usually choosing women of humble origins.
That way, no waves were stirred when tragedy struck.
Dugu Feng hadn't noticed any change in Ning Rongrong. After a few days of confusion, she had adjusted herself.
She became more focused than before, training intensively, leaving herself no rest—just like Dugu Feng.
Her spirit power rose by another level, reaching twenty-five.
And finally, Dugu Feng broke through to level thirty.
"Eleven years and one month old, level thirty… Dugu Feng, you've definitely broken the record for spirit master cultivation speed!"
Ning Rongrong cheered excitedly.
"You're not bad either, Rongrong. Eleven years old and already level twenty-five—that makes you a genius, second only to me.
Next, I'll go obtain my third spirit ring.
You continue cultivating. Don't fall too far behind!" Dugu Feng said with a smile.
He couldn't wait to advance to Spirit King.
"Dugu Feng, will you remember me in the future?" Ning Rongrong suddenly asked.
Her question threw him off. "How could I forget the little princess of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Clan? Besides, we've trained together for so long—doesn't that make us childhood companions?"
Dugu Feng teased her for once.
"Who's your childhood companion? You're someone who only knows how to train—what would you know about such things?"
Ning Rongrong's heart pounded, her cheeks flushed red, making her look exceptionally beautiful.
Dugu Feng froze for a moment.
Her elfin face really was beautiful.
"What are you staring at?" Ning Rongrong thought inwardly, So you finally noticed how pretty I am… What were you doing all this time?
A strange sadness welled up in her chest.
"Keep working hard. I'll break all the records in the spirit master world. I'm off!"
Those were Dugu Feng's final words before he departed gracefully.
Ning Rongrong watched his back and whispered softly, "You're not really oblivious. You understand everything.
You just care too much about my status.
I believe you'll break every record… and also break the curse haunting your Dugu family."
Her eyes shimmered with hope as the words escaped her lips.
Dugu Feng, whose senses were sharp, heard her clearly.
But his heart only stirred slightly.
He didn't stop. He simply left the academy quickly.
(END CHAPTER)
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