Chapter 17 My Tower Seems a Little Off
Two and a half hours later.
Jiang Bai’s Aura, which had been fluctuating violently at first, gradually stabilized.
The last trace of spirit ring energy was completely absorbed and refined, returning to his Dantian along his Meridians, which had become much wider and tougher.
An indescribable feeling of extreme comfort, as if soaking in a warm spiritual spring, swept through his body like a tide.
He felt as if every pore on his body had opened simultaneously, greedily breathing in the surrounding air.
A sense of lightness, power, and a deeper harmony with Heaven and Earth arose spontaneously.
Jiang Bai slowly opened his eyes; in that instant, a sharp light flickered within his dark pupils before they returned to their clear state.
He looked down at himself; his physique was much firmer, the muscle lines on his arms and chest were clearly visible, and he even seemed to have grown a bit taller.
His Soul Power had surged even more!
The original Rank 10 Bottleneck was broken in one go. His Soul Power Rank soared like a rocket, stabilizing directly at Rank 13, and was even just a step away from Rank 14!
He carefully felt the surging strength and the flowing Soul Power within his body, his heart filled with joy.
But alongside the joy, a distinct trace of surprise also surfaced.
The energy of this spirit ring... was definitely more than four hundred years!
He estimated that the quality of this spirit ring was comparable to seven hundred years!
What he hadn’t expected was that the absorption process would be so smooth.
Recalling the process, Jiang Bai realized that aside from a slight bloating pain caused by the massive energy and the heat of the fire dragon, he hadn’t encountered any significant obstacles.
His body seemed to have an extraordinary tolerance and adaptability for this "over-the-limit" spirit ring.
Suppressing these scattered thoughts, what Jiang Bai cared about most now was the first Spirit Ability of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda.
With a slight thought, he extended his right hand.
In an instant, a dazzling and soft seven-colored light radiated from within his body.
The light gathered in his palm, and a foot-tall glazed pagoda quietly floated there.
The first Spirit Ability of a Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda is usually a strength boost. The amplification effect increases as Soul Power rises; at Rank 10, it typically provides about a 20% strength increase.
Jiang Bai felt a sense of anticipation.
A 20% strength boost might not seem like much, but at a critical moment, it could be enough to influence the outcome of a battle.
He composed himself and tried to activate that deep yellow spirit ring.
The moment his intent touched it, the spirit ring lit up!
However, the expected colored light used to buff a target did not appear.
Instead, a slightly scorching red light glowed from within the first level of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda’s body.
"Huh?"
Jiang Bai was stunned. What was going on? Did the Spirit Ability fail? Was the pagoda broken?
Did he need to chant an incantation?
Just as he was filled with doubt and uncertainty, a fist-sized ball of red light burning with illusory flames drifted out from the first level of the pagoda like a blown bubble and landed on the carpet.
The red light rapidly expanded and solidified, revealing the figure within.
It was none other than the Earth Fire Dragon he had just killed and whose spirit ring he had absorbed!
However, at this moment, its size had shrunk several times over, making it only as large as a house cat, though dark red scales still covered its entire body.
But its color was more vibrant, its small wings were fluttering, and the protrusions on its head and the sharp teeth in its mouth were still there. It was just that its overall proportions had become...
A bit chibi?
It was less ferocious and more strangely cute.
Those dragon eyes were currently wide open, filled with extreme shock, bewilderment, and a sense of... wild joy from surviving a disaster?
"???"
Jiang Bai was completely dumbfounded, his mouth hanging slightly open as he looked at the mini version of the fire dragon before him in disbelief.
What on earth is this?
The chibi fire dragon also finally snapped out of its massive shock.
It first looked down at its intact body, then touched its face with its claws. Then, it suddenly looked up at Jiang Bai, the shock in its dragon eyes rapidly transforming into a near-manic excitement.
"Hahaha! The heavens do not wish for my end! The heavens do not wish for my end!!"
It let out a crisp but ecstatic roar.
"I’m not dead! I’m still alive! Hahaha... You damned human, you didn’t expect this, did you! Now, die!!!"
It clearly recognized Jiang Bai as the "enemy" who had killed it and absorbed its spirit ring.
After the wild joy came boundless anger and killing intent!
With a flap of its wings, the fire dragon’s body turned into a red blur, carrying a faint scorching Aura as it lunged viciously toward Jiang Bai’s face!
Its dragon mouth was wide open, seemingly wanting to tear Jiang Bai to pieces!
Alarm bells rang in Jiang Bai’s mind, and he instinctively wanted to dodge or defend.
However, what happened next left both the human and the dragon in a daze once again.
Just as the aggressively charging chibi fire dragon’s claws were about to touch Jiang Bai’s skin, a sudden change occurred!
Without any warning, the fire dragon’s entire body instantly transformed into a ball of pure and docile red light, which "whooshed" directly into Jiang Bai’s chest and disappeared!
"!!!"
Jiang Bai felt a warm and majestic power, like a bursting dam, instantly surge through his entire body!
His muscles bulged, his bones gave off slight popping sounds, and his sense of power grew explosively!
At the same time, his speed, reaction time, and even his sensory acuity all received an all-around and extremely significant boost!
He estimated... they had doubled!
And that wasn’t all!
He instinctively raised his right hand and clenched his fist.
"Whoosh—!"
A ball of crimson flame, radiating scorching high temperatures, ignited out of thin air on his fist!
The flames flickered, wrapping around his fist, yet he didn’t feel the slightest bit of heat—only a sense of warmth and control, as if it were an extension of his own limb!
Fire element control!
A light of unbelievable surprise erupted in Jiang Bai’s eyes.
This wasn’t a traditional Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda support buff at all!
This was... Possession? Or rather, borrowing a Spirit Beast’s abilities?!
However, before he could carefully experience and test this brand-new power, the warm current and the sense of fire control that had flooded into his body quickly receded like a tide.
With a flash of red light, the fire dragon’s figure reappeared on the carpet in front of him, returning to its previous state.
The strength boost and fire control vanished instantly, and Jiang Bai returned to his original state.
The fire dragon: "???"
It was even more bewildered than Jiang Bai.
What just happened? It had clearly rushed over to tear this human apart, so how did it suddenly... end up inside his body?
And it even... helped him?
Jiang Bai also came to his senses. Suppressing the wild joy and shock in his heart, he stared intently at the fire dragon, which was similarly lost in confusion.
His Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda had actually undergone an earth-shattering mutation! It wasn’t a support buff, but... summoning and possession?!
At this time, the fire dragon also seemed to have sorted out a thread of thought from the chaos.
It stared fixedly at Jiang Bai, anger rising in its dragon eyes once more, but this time with a bit more uncertainty.
"Damned Master, how dare you..."
It instinctively roared, wanting to curse again.
But halfway through the sentence, it suddenly covered its mouth tightly with its claws!
Its dragon eyes widened to the extreme, filled with utter terror and absurdity!
What was it saying just now?!
It had clearly wanted to shout "damned human"! Why did it blurt out "damned Master" instead?!
Master?! How could it call this enemy its Master?!
Refusing to give up, the fire dragon let go of its claws, built up its emotions, and opened its mouth again, wanting to roar that contemptuous phrase, "Insignificant bug!"
However, when the sound came out, it turned into a soft but clear...
"Master..."
Fire dragon: "..."
Jiang Bai: "..."
The air fell into a dead silence once again, with only the fire dragon’s wide-open eyes reflecting its own collapsing worldview.
Just then, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda in Jiang Bai’s palm seemed to sense the host’s doubt and the Spirit Beast’s "lack of cooperation," and it vibrated slightly.
A gentle yet vast stream of information was transmitted into the consciousness of both Jiang Bai and the fire dragon.
After absorbing a corresponding spirit ring, each level of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda would form an independent miniature space suitable for that Spirit Beast’s survival.
The Spirit Beast’s Soul Origin would be extracted and condensed here, retaining its intelligence, memories, and abilities from when it was alive.
The Spirit Beast could live and Cultivate within the pagoda’s space. Its Cultivation growth would directly feed back into the corresponding spirit ring, increasing the spirit ring’s age!
In battle, there were two ways to use the spirit ring.
First: Possession.
Allowing the Spirit Beast’s Soul to merge with oneself, directly obtaining attribute boosts and core talent abilities, such as elemental control.
Second: Summoning.
Directly releasing the Spirit Beast’s physical form to the outside World to fight.
In addition, there was a fundamental rule.
From the moment the spirit ring was successfully absorbed and the Soul entered the pagoda, the Spirit Beast’s Soul Origin was marked with an indelible imprint—it would serve Jiang Bai as its Master, with absolute loyalty, and would be unable to directly or indirectly harm Jiang Bai in any way.
If Jiang Bai died, the Spirit Beast would truly die as well.