While teaching the others, Chen Ming had not neglected his own development either. Since absorbing Ah Yin's Blue Silver Empress Spirit Bone, he had spent this recent period focusing heavily on developing its two Spirit Abilities.
It was honestly difficult to say why the Blue Silver Empress possessed a flight ability in the first place. After all, the idea that Blue Silver Grass could gain the power of flight merely because its seeds drifted through the wind felt a little...odd.
However, after researching it further, Chen Ming discovered that the ability was fundamentally a special type of gravity-based power.
First, it distorted the user's own gravity, granting the possibility of flight. Then, through those illusory spirit power wings, it generated forward propulsion. Only by combining both aspects did the Blue Silver Empress's flight ability truly function.
It was neither a pure gravity-type ability nor a simple air-current manipulation technique that allowed someone to fly. Rather, it existed somewhere between the two. In Chen Ming's eyes, the ability itself possessed tremendous development potential.
As for the recovery-type ability that Tang San once described as "Though wildfire may burn endlessly, spring winds bring new life again," Chen Ming had also carefully researched it.
A major reason Tang San had been able to use this ability to display something resembling a weakened form of immortality was because he himself possessed the Blue Silver Empress bloodline and Blue Silver Emperor Martial Soul. He was fundamentally a half-human, half-plant existence.
The overlap of those multiple factors made the ability especially unique.
Chen Ming's regenerative capability was weaker than Tang San's, but the effectiveness of the ability itself was undeniably impressive.
Not only could it restore parts of the body capable of regeneration, it could even recover areas that should theoretically be impossible to regenerate.
The ability could repair nerves, regrow bones, and even rapidly regenerate internal organs. Theoretically speaking, its development potential was enormous.
Although Chen Ming currently lacked the means to conduct deeper research, once he eventually completed his own attribute composition in the future, he could potentially use the mysterious balance of yin and yang energies within the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well to further push the development of this ability.
Currently, Chen Ming was already capable of obtaining his fourth Spirit Ring.
During this period, he had also conducted a comprehensive evaluation of his own physical condition. Drawing from the research results gathered from the three individuals he had been studying, he further refined his cultivation methods, reducing the oppressive force exerted on the body during Spirit Ring absorption.
Based on Chen Ming's own estimates, the upper limit for the Spirit Ring his fourth slot could withstand was roughly around eighteen thousand years.
If it came from a top-tier or super-grade Spirit Beast, then the acceptable range would likely drop to somewhere between fifteen and sixteen thousand years.
The greatest threat posed by ten-thousand-year Spirit Rings to human Spirit Masters was not the immense spirit power they contained, but rather the resentment carried within them—the spiritual shock originating from the Spirit Beast itself.
But for Chen Ming, spiritual power was precisely his strongest aspect.
At this point, his processing capability had long surpassed fifteen units, equivalent to thirty times that of an ordinary person. Compared to when he had just broken through to Spirit Elder rank, it had increased by well over double.
According to the spiritual power classifications of later generations, his current spiritual strength was likely around the early to mid stages of the Spirit Sea Realm—roughly equivalent to the spiritual level of a Spirit Saint.
Although there was still a considerable gap between him and true spiritual power specialists, facing Spirit Rings below thirty thousand years posed absolutely no mental pressure for him.
Chen Ming wanted to find a way to integrate this recovery ability into his instincts. Once his body weakened to a certain degree, the ability would automatically activate and restore him, allowing the Spirit Ability to trigger purely through instinct without conscious control.
If he could maintain the recovery ability while absorbing Spirit Rings, then his Spirit Ring endurance limit could probably increase by another one to fifteen hundred years. Any higher than that, however, would likely be impossible.
Spirit Beasts underwent enormous transformations at ten years, one hundred years, one thousand years, ten thousand years, and one hundred thousand years. Even within the same major tier, there were still qualitative leaps.
At lower levels, the difference was not particularly obvious, but once the ten-thousand-year level was reached, it became extremely apparent. A nineteen-thousand-nine-hundred-and-ninety-nine-year Spirit Beast and a twenty-thousand-year Spirit Beast existed on completely different levels.
Even so, the average sixth Spirit Ring of an ordinary Spirit Emperor typically ranged between fifteen and twenty thousand years, with some falling even below that. For Chen Ming to absorb such a Spirit Ring while still only a semi–Spirit Ancestor was already an extraordinary feat.
More importantly, the immense pressure brought by absorbing a Spirit Ring far beyond his rank had also deepened his understanding of his own body and Martial Soul.
Through his growing understanding of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Martial Soul, as well as his constant observation of Yu Tianheng and Yu Tianxin's dragonification during combat, Chen Ming gradually developed several insights of his own.
He began further refining dragonification-based techniques, pushing them toward something closer to innate talent ability. His goal was to achieve partial dragonification similar to that of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon without relying on Spirit Abilities.
Although his progress was still limited, Chen Ming had already grasped some of the underlying principles behind it.
By stimulating the bloodline power within his Martial Soul through specialized methods, he could temporarily transform the dragonification from a Spirit Ability effect into something closer to natural, innate dragonification.
At the same time, Chen Ming continuously soaked the horn of the One-Horned Tyrant Dragon in his own blood, slowly infusing it with his source essence and tempering it little by little, modifying the horn until it gradually became more suited to himself.
Occasionally, Chen Ming would tell Ning Rongrong, Yu Tianxin, and Yu Tianheng that he had gained new ideas regarding cultivation and needed to take a day or two off.
In reality, during those periods, he would secretly seek out Qian Renfeng and borrow the Angel Fire to refine pills or conduct other forms of research.
Although Qian Renfeng's Angel Fire was far inferior to Qian Daoliu's divine Angel Fire, which carried a trace of true divinity, it was still one of the finest flames that could be found in this era.
As long as he was not attempting to push the limits, Qian Renfeng's Angel Fire was already more than sufficient to satisfy Chen Ming's normal cultivation and research needs.
And so, while guiding Ning Rongrong and the other two, occasionally giving Niu Dali pointers on medicinal refinement, visiting Xiao Wu from time to time, watering and fertilizing Ah Yin every day, and entering short periods of secluded cultivation every now and then, time gradually passed.
Two months after Chen Ming broke through to Spirit Ancestor rank, the horn of the One-Horned Tyrant Dragon was finally completely permeated by the essence of his Martial Soul, transforming into a translucent short staff faintly glowing with golden light.
Using his dragonification abilities together with his control over his Martial Soul, Chen Ming could now barely fuse the One-Horned Tyrant Dragon's horn into his Martial Soul temporarily, allowing it to carry part of his Martial Soul origin and transform into a provisional Dragon Spear.
He was able to maintain his full beastified Martial Soul possession without any reduction in power while simultaneously manifesting a Dragon Spear similar to a beast soul toolization .
Although the consumption was enormous, while in Dragon Spear form, Chen Ming naturally gained a stable ten percent attribute enhancement, and his Spirit Abilities could partially extend onto the spear itself.
At this stage, further tempering the Dragon Spear would require only long periods of time and tremendous amounts of effort. Under normal circumstances, it could only be slowly refined bit by bit through painstaking accumulation, until it was fully dyed with the essence of his own Martial Soul.
Eventually, it would be absorbed completely into his Martial Soul, causing the Martial Soul itself to evolve and fully incorporate the spear as part of its own existence.
However, Chen Ming no longer intended to waste additional time on this process, because he had already achieved his current phase objective.
Now, he could proceed to obtain his fourth Spirit Ring and use the advancement brought by the new Spirit Ring to further evolve his Martial Soul, accelerating the complete assimilation of the dragon horn into a true Dragon Spear belonging solely to him.
The reason Chen Ming had not immediately sought an appropriate Spirit Ring after breaking through to Spirit Ancestor rank was because, back when he was still in Spirit Hall, he had already found records within certain ancient texts regarding the habitat of a Spirit Beast perfectly suited for him.
The Angel Clan's attributes were light and fire. Most Angel Spirit Masters naturally prioritized obtaining Spirit Rings from Spirit Beasts possessing those two attributes. Because of this, the Angel Clan had long maintained detailed records regarding the distribution of such Spirit Beasts.
And what Chen Ming desired for his fourth Spirit Ring was precisely to complete his dual light-and-fire attributes. Afterward, he intended to return to the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well and consume the Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass and the Infernal Delicate Apricot to prepare himself for inheriting the power of the Ice and Fire Dragon Kings.
Among the Spirit Beasts recorded there was an exceptional species known as the Blazing Winged Dragon, which Chen Ming had already chosen as his target long ago.
It was an extremely powerful flying dragon Spirit Beast possessing both fire and light attributes. Among the many flying dragon species, it was not the absolute strongest, but it unquestionably belonged among the top tier.
Its strength was at the highest level, its reproductive ability was not weak, and it possessed intelligence comparable to that of a human child. Like wolves, they displayed clear pack-based social behavior.
Both flying dragons and earth dragons were classified as sub-dragons, yet there were considerable differences between the two.
Most earth dragons were products of mixed breeding. Their species and numbers were vast, but the gap between their upper and lower limits was enormous. Their appearances were bizarre and varied, sometimes bearing almost no resemblance to dragons whatsoever. The stronger earth dragon species even possessed power capable of rivaling—or surpassing—true dragons.
Only a small portion of earth dragons were degraded descendants of true dragons.
In contrast, most flying dragon species originated from true dragons that had degenerated under various circumstances. Their numbers and species diversity were relatively limited, but their minimum strength far exceeded that of earth dragons. Their appearances were also much closer to true dragons, though their upper limit could not compare to actual dragonkind.
Only a small number of flying dragons were born from interbreeding between dragons and other races, but in terms of bloodline purity and strength, they were generally superior to earth dragons. Earth dragons, meanwhile, possessed an almost dualistic nature—the difference between weak and strong variants was unimaginably vast.
The Blazing Winged Dragon's bloodline originated from a degeneration of the true Fire Dragon Clan among the Nine Great Dragon Clans. Although its bloodline was no longer completely pure, it was far from thin and still retained authentic true dragon heritage.
Even its appearance bore more than seventy percent resemblance to true dragons. The only major difference was that its arms and wings were connected together, forming structures similar to bat wings.
With all of these traits combined, this Spirit Beast species had once been regarded as a powerful flying dragon that inherited part of the ancient dragon race's former glory.
In ancient times, Blazing Winged Dragons had not been rare upon the Douluo Continent. With their formidable strength, considerable population size, and pack-based behavior, they had once ruled the skies.
But the very traits that made them powerful—unity, intelligence, and an unforgiving memory—also became the source of their downfall.
Because conflicts had once erupted between them and humanity, they continuously launched large-scale attacks against humans, using massive amounts of flame to deliberately burn down human settlements and slaughter civilians.
As humanity gradually grew stronger, these Spirit Beasts—bound to mankind by blood hatred—became one of humanity's highest-priority extermination targets.
In the end, under humanity's relentless campaigns, the once-mighty rulers of the skies suffered catastrophic destruction.
Most of their species was slaughtered. The remaining scattered groups fled the Douluo Continent entirely, surviving in isolated pockets across volcanic islands near the mainland.
And for generations, the Angel Clan had not only guarded against the possibility of these Spirit Beasts returning to the continent, but had also intentionally regarded these flying dragons as potential Spirit Ring targets for their own descendants.
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