Yin Zhang took a deep breath, feeling genuinely pleased.
Now that he possessed the Sky Azure Bull Python spirit ring card, Xiao Wu's spirit ring could be given to Qiangu Yunying without hesitation.
In terms of attributes, the Sky Azure Bull Python leaned more toward water and did not match Qiangu Yunying's fire affinity very well. Moreover, when it came to dragon bloodline density, the Sky Azure Bull Python possessed an extremely pure lineage—making it far more suitable for Yin Zhang's Golden Holy Dragon spirit.
"I should let the Golden Holy Dragon absorb the Sky Azure Bull Python's spirit ring," Yin Zhang decided. "If Charizard or Sister Yunying absorbs it, the spirit ability's power would likely be reduced due to attribute mismatch. But the Golden Holy Dragon doesn't have that problem."
With his mind made up, Yin Zhang wasted no time.
He summoned his second spirit—the Golden Holy Dragon.
A magnificent magic circle unfolded beneath his feet, and the towering Golden Holy Dragon appeared before him.
The moment it saw Yin Zhang, the dragon became visibly excited.
Over the past two months, the Golden Holy Dragon had grown increasingly quiet. To be precise, Spirit City offered little stimulation, and Yin Zhang himself had been busy with countless affairs. As his spirit, the Golden Holy Dragon could not stray too far from him for long, so it usually returned to Yin Zhang's spiritual sea to sleep, waiting in slumber for the next summons.
This sudden call made it think Yin Zhang had something important planned—perhaps even a battle.
Instead, it found itself inside a room.
"Roar…?"
The Golden Holy Dragon tilted its massive head, letting out a puzzled growl as it looked at Yin Zhang.
Yin Zhang smiled faintly.
"Xiao Jin, I've got something good for you. Do you want it?"
The Golden Holy Dragon froze for a moment—then its eyes lit up with excitement.
The last time Yin Zhang had spoken like this was when he let it absorb the transformed Crimson Flame Roaring Tiger Emperor.
It nodded vigorously without hesitation.
Yin Zhang chuckled and selected the Sky Azure Bull Python spirit ring card.
In an instant, a scarlet spirit ring radiating overwhelming pressure appeared inside the room.
The Golden Holy Dragon's eyes burned with urgency as it looked at Yin Zhang, barely containing its desire to absorb it.
Yin Zhang, of course, did not refuse.
Because the Golden Holy Dragon possessed its own consciousness, Yin Zhang could share the pressure and backlash of absorbing a hundred-thousand-year spirit ring with it. As a result, the process was significantly smoother.
Man and dragon sat down together.
The Golden Holy Dragon—somewhat awkwardly—folded its limbs into a cross-legged posture using its massive claws, mirroring Yin Zhang.
Under Yin Zhang's guidance, his spirit power surged outward, and the enormous scarlet spirit ring descended, enveloping both of them at its center.
Time slowly passed.
Outside, night fell.
Yin Zhang had returned late, and once the absorption began, he lost all sense of time.
When Qiangu Yunying returned from visiting her elder brother and sister-in-law, she found Yin Zhang's door tightly shut.
As she raised her hand to knock, a powerful fluctuation of spirit power leaked from within.
Her expression changed.
"This… it feels like a breakthrough?" she murmured.
But upon closer perception, it felt even more like the fluctuations caused by absorbing a spirit ring.
Yet there was no one else inside the room besides Yin Zhang.
Confused but cautious, Qiangu Yunying chose to wait.
A dozen minutes later, the spirit power inside surged violently.
Even the tightly closed doors and windows began to tremble, letting out faint creaking sounds.
Qiangu Yunying stood up anxiously.
"Xiao Zhang… you'll be fine. You have to be."
She stood right outside the door, eyes fixed on it, ready to break in at the slightest sign of danger.
Meanwhile, inside the room, Yin Zhang completed the absorption without any mishaps.
The Sky Azure Bull Python's hundred-thousand-year spirit ring was successfully placed upon the Golden Holy Dragon.
The Golden Holy Dragon now possessed two hundred-thousand-year spirit rings—its first and second rings.
The abilities granted by this spirit ring were:
Soul of the Golden Sky Azure Dragon
and
Binding Toughness of the Golden Azure Dragon
Interestingly, the names were nearly identical to the abilities obtained by Tang San after accepting the Sky Azure Bull Python's sacrifice in the original work—only the first two characters differed.
Soul of the Golden Sky Azure Dragon summoned a colossal azure dragon phantom to possess the user, unleashing devastating attacks with overwhelming might.
Binding Toughness of the Golden Azure Dragon was a terrifying control-type ability. Once an opponent was entangled by this move, escaping required comprehensive strength superior to the Golden Holy Dragon's, as well as a sufficiently powerful spirit ability to force it away. Otherwise—even a top-tier Titled Douluo would find escape extremely difficult, if not outright impossible.
Beyond that, the absorption of the hundred-thousand-year spirit ring brought Yin Zhang an enormous boost in spirit power.
However, since he had not yet attached an eighth spirit ring to his Charizard spirit, his personal attribute panel still displayed Level 80, despite the clear qualitative leap in strength.
"Good," Yin Zhang clenched his fists, excitement flashing in his eyes. "Just one more spirit ring, and I'll officially become a Spirit Douluo."
If he could reach the Spirit Douluo realm before the Supreme Pontiff's coronation and publicly display his spirit rings, it would further solidify his legitimacy—and perhaps even dampen any rebellious intentions among opposing forces.
The most straightforward option would have been to absorb Xiao Wu's spirit ring himself and charge straight toward the Titled Douluo realm.
But after some thought, Yin Zhang still decided to give that spirit ring to Qiangu Yunying.
He opened the door.
Qiangu Yunying was standing right outside, relief and joy written all over her face.
"Xiao Zhang! You're finally out. What was that just now? Were you breaking through, or… absorbing a spirit ring? It really felt like spirit ring absorption. Where did you even find such a spirit beast?" she asked in a rush.
Yin Zhang smiled.
"It was a spirit ring absorption. But… ahem, come inside. I'll explain everything."
"Oh—okay!" Qiangu Yunying followed him into the dimly lit room, still looking a little dazed.
Yin Zhang turned on the light and took out the Spirit Ring Collection Bottle from his personal attribute panel.
When Qiangu Yunying saw the scarlet spirit ring suspended inside the strange bottle, her eyes widened.
She spoke in disbelief:
"Xiao Zhang… is that a hundred-thousand-year spirit ring?"