Elder Wu walked toward the summit while Black One turned around to deliver his final warnings.
"The details of the Dragon Valley mission have been repeated many times. What you need to do is simple: stay in the Dragon Valley for as long as possible. This is your best opportunity.
For this mission, those who can last over three months in the Dragon Valley will be directly promoted to Yellow-ranked fighters. If you can't even last a month, your fighter status will be revoked!"
The final warning had a clear and significant impact.
Revoking one's fighter status effectively set an additional threshold for everyone at the last moment.
At the same time, it indirectly emphasized the importance of staying longer in the Dragon Valley.
By now, Elder Wu had reached the edge of the cliff at the summit. He slammed his ebony cane onto the ground, and a surge of soul power erupted from him.
One by one, soul rings rose beneath his feet.
Yellow, Yellow, Purple, Purple, Purple, Black, Black, Black, Black—nine soul rings arranged in sequence.
This was the most standard configuration for a Title Douluo in this era.
Not the best, but the optimal setup in the era of spirit souls.
One yellow spirit soul granted two yellow soul rings, one purple spirit soul granted three purple soul rings, and one black spirit soul granted four black soul rings.
This was currently the smoothest progression for soul masters, saving vast amounts of resources that could instead be invested into crafting battle armor or cultivating soul power.
Even students from Shrek Academy mostly followed this progression.
Otherwise, if the fifth soul ring skipped absorbing the third soul ring from a second thousand-year spirit soul and directly fused with a ten-thousand-year spirit soul, it would cause the ninth soul ring to become stuck, necessitating the fusion of another spirit soul.
Ten-thousand-year spirit souls were useless, and hundred-thousand-year spirit souls were unattainable—creating a very uncomfortable situation.
Especially since, on the current continent, ten-thousand-year spirit souls could only be upgraded manually!
Unless you ventured into the Spirit Tower before the age of thirty.
But who could reach level ninety and still climb the tower?
As Elder Wu's soul power surged, intricate light patterns quietly emerged beneath his feet. Though resembling modern soul-guided formations, they appeared far more ancient, unlike any contemporary design.
The light patterns spread outward, quickly expanding to a diameter of a hundred meters. Mist swirled within the patterns, and their aura grew stronger. Elder Wu's soul power fluctuations intensified, resonating with the light patterns.
Xu Yuan refrained from using his spiritual power to probe, as this involved a spatial channel. He feared accidentally triggering something that might sever his mental energy. Instead, he relied solely on his eyes to observe.
He carefully watched the entire process and realized that the light patterns weren't being emitted by Elder Wu—they already existed here.
"The connection between the Dragon Valley and the Douluo Continent has always existed. The Tang Sect merely discovered this passageway!"
Suddenly, Elder Wu raised his ebony cane. His previously stooped figure straightened abruptly, and in an instant, he seemed like a waking dragon. His body expanded, and a pair of massive wings unfurled behind him.
Soon, Elder Wu transformed into a colossal dragon over fifteen meters long, its body crackling with blue-purple lightning.
His True Body manifested—his martial soul was none other than the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon.
"Roar!" A dragon's cry erupted from him. The white ripples on the ground surged violently, and misty halos swirled into seven colors, forming a pillar of light that shot into the sky.
The pillar of light tore through the sky, spreading seven-colored radiance and revealing a massive rift. The pitch-black opening resembled a gateway to an unknown world.
"If you encounter an irresistible crisis in the Dragon Valley, activate the Dragon Pearl to be teleported back. Begin entering the Dragon Valley now!" Elder Wu roared.
Black One quickly approached a White-ranked fighter, grabbing his hand and placing it on his companion.
"Hold hands with your partner tightly. Do not let go during the teleportation process, or you'll have to explore alone!"
As Black One finished speaking, Xu Yuan felt a soft little hand slip into his right hand.
Surprised, he glanced at White Seven beside him.
Quite proactive.
So different from last night.
White Seven kept her head down, avoiding eye contact with Xu Yuan. She gripped his hand tightly, seemingly nervous about losing him during the teleportation process.
"Hmph, considering how strong your blood essence is, I'll take a small loss and let you gain more benefits in the Dragon Valley first," Dai Yun'er thought to herself.
Xu Yuan reciprocated by gripping Dai Yun'er's hand. Soon, they both felt a tremendous pulling force.
Xu Yuan's vision went dark, followed by dizziness as everything around him became blurred, as if space itself was twisting chaotically.
However, his spiritual power was exceptionally strong, and he quickly adapted. He opened his eyes to observe the shifting scenery, even releasing faint wisps of spiritual power to sense the changes in space.
He didn't control space power.
But he did possess some Void Piercing Spear Intent.
It targeted space itself, allowing him to sense its fluctuations and flow.
Unfortunately, there wasn't much time. The pulling force vanished, the darkness lifted, and light returned to his vision. The sensation of distortion transformed into weightlessness.
Looking down, Xu Yuan and Dai Yun'er were free-falling like meteors.
"Ah!!!" Dai Yun'er screamed.
They had entered the Dragon Valley, where soul power was sealed and unusable.
"Soul power is sealed and cannot be used. Using spiritual power here consumes over three times more than in the outside world," Xu Yuan said calmly.
Dai Yun'er nodded. "But physical strength remains."
She glanced at Xu Yuan, thinking he was quite cautious.
"Hey, I feel a strong fluctuation of energy from you right now. Is that blood essence? Are you cultivating blood essence?" Dai Yun'er tilted her head slightly, probing.
Xu Yuan knew she was testing him. Without following the usual script, he simply removed his white mask.
"Huh?" Dai Yun'er froze.
"Dai Yun'er, it's you, right? Being paired with me isn't a coincidence, is it?" Xu Yuan said indifferently.
Dai Yun'er's mind momentarily blanked.
Wait, big brother, aren't you even going to conceal your identity?
"Alright, tell me. How did you manage to get paired with me?"
Dai Yun'er didn't deny her identity but also didn't remove her mask. In the Dragon Valley, they might encounter other fighters, so her identity needed to remain hidden.
Unlike Xu Yuan, who had no concerns in the Dragon Valley and wouldn't need to continue mixing with the Spirit Battle Hall after leaving, his identity exposure was irrelevant.
She didn't answer Xu Yuan's question.
"You paired with me because you want to leech off my benefits. If that's the case, I think it's better if you're honest," Xu Yuan said, frowning.
He raised his right hand.
A fiery red cloud in the distance swiftly descended, swirling above his right hand.
Dai Yun'er's eyes widened in shock.
Even through her mask, her astonishment was evident as she leaned forward, gaping.
What is this?
Is this a dragon cloud?
Summoned just like that?
Why is this different from what I know?
"Do you want it?" Xu Yuan asked.
Dai Yun'er swallowed hard and quickly nodded.
"I want it!"
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