Chapter 239: Ning Rongrong's Eight Spider Soul Bones

Yang Xiong and his eight companions arrived in Haima City to rest, and everyone was unusually surprised by the contents of their assessments.

Just as Yang Xiong had expected, all Black Level Four Trials consist of traversing 98 steps of Sea God's Light, the Black Level Six Trials are 118 steps, and the Red Level Seven Trials for Ning Rongrong and Shui Bing'er are 136 steps.

The only difference was Yang Xiong; at this moment, a scene appeared before his eyes: traversing Double Sea God's Light, ascending 666 steps, with the option to withdraw midway, and a time limit of one year.

It should be noted that in the original work, Tang San's Sea God Nine Trials were only 333 steps, so how could his be 666 steps? Moreover, as the steps increase, the later ones become increasingly difficult and painful.

Ning Rongrong was unusually cheerful at this moment: "Xiao Xiongzi, my assessment is 136 steps, more than anyone else's; does that prove my talent is better than others?"

A few of the young women, upon hearing Ning Rongrong's words, playfully teased each other, looking quite happy.

Some of the boys, however, were a bit dissatisfied; aside from Yang Xiong, the other boys' assessments were relatively lower, and none of them had a Red Level assessment.

Yang Xiong pinched Ning Rongrong's cheek: "Rong Rong, the Sea God Island assessment isn't that simple; mine is 666 steps, so this assessment seems much harder than we imagined."

"Don't forget, our assessment's difficulty is ten times that of a Sea Soul Master; even the Sea Horse Douluo took ten years to complete the assessment, so ours will be countless times harder, perhaps even filled with peril."

The group pondered this, recalling that when the Sea Horse Douluo first saw everyone's assessment details, he showed an extremely compassionate expression, as if this were not a Sea God assessment but rather a punishment bestowed by the Sea God.

Even Ning Rongrong fell silent; she is only a Support Spirit Master, her physical condition far weaker than a Battle Spirit Master, so participating in the assessment alone would be even more difficult.

Yang Xiong suddenly became unusually solemn: "I told you before I came that the Sea God Island assessment is exceptionally perilous and difficult, so from today onward, everyone must devote two hundred percent of their focus, train wholeheartedly, and not slack off at all."

"Since I brought you out, I will see you all the way back; I hope that when we return we are still eight people, with no one injured."

Everyone nodded gravely; from this moment on, the true trial and true suffering would begin.

After only an hour of rest, Yang Xiong found the steward of Sea God Island, intending to start the first-stage assessment.

After entering Haima City, the Sea Horse Douluo specifically assigned a purple‑clad steward to take charge of Yang Xiong's party's affairs, including lodging and various other needs.

The purple‑clad steward asked oddly: "You've traveled all this way and are heading to the Forbidden Ground so soon? Won't you rest a few more days?"

From the steward's attitude, it seemed he still felt a hint of compassion for the group, while also holding the Forbidden Ground in great reverence.

Yang Xiong said: "Thank you, but we'd like to see the assessment details first."

The purple‑clad steward quickly replied: "Alright, I'll take you there now, but I advise you to relax a bit, not be so obsessed; life and death each have their destiny, so it's better to take them lightly."

The group exchanged puzzled looks, unsure how to respond; given the steward's tone and attitude, it felt somewhat like dealing with someone on the brink of death.

Immediately after, under the purple‑clad steward's guidance, Yang Xiong's party hurried a full two hundred kilometers to a special location.

When the group arrived at the Forbidden Ground, before them rose a tiny island soaring into the clouds, entirely surrounded by seawater.

At the island's summit stood a building resembling white jade, radiating golden light, looking both dazzlingly crystal and profoundly solemn.

The only way to the island's peak was a sky‑piercing staircase, on which several people were cultivating—the party of Tang San.

Ning Rongrong asked, a bit puzzled: "Senior, is this the Forbidden Ground of Sea God Island?"

The purple‑clad steward nodded: "This is the Forbidden Ground of Sea God Island, also the Sea God Temple that venerates the Sea God, the true Sea God Island, also called Island Within an Island."

"Climbing the staircase of Sea God Island is your first assessment: traversing the staircase of Sea God's Light. There are a total of 1,001 steps, and only Black Level or Red Level assessors may ascend; forcing a climb will be blocked by Sea God's Light."

The group looked at the steps; the entire staircase resembled jade, and under the strange sheen it looked like a rainbow ribbon and a celestial ladder.

Yang Xiong stared intently at the highest point of Sea God Island, the legendary deity and the ultimate realm of a Soul Grandmaster he had always pursued.

The purple‑clad steward continued: "Everyone, don't push yourselves too hard during the trial; if you sense any problem, you may retreat from Divine Mountain immediately. Sea God's Light will not cause any injury, and among all your assessments, Sea God's Light should be relatively safe."

"By the way, there are many people on the staircase; they are Land Spirit Masters who arrived three months ago and are now training at full strength, so the outcome is hard to predict."

Indeed, there were seven people on the Sea God Island staircase, namely Tang San's party.

Sensing the arrival of Yang Xiong's eight, the six who had been training hard all of a sudden woke up.

Especially Xiao Wu, who hopped down the steps, excitedly hugging Ning Rongrong.

"Rong Rong, you finally came; I've missed you to death."

Ning Rongrong also patted Xiao Wu's rabbit ears: "Xiao Wu, it's only been a few months, yet you seem much thinner now."

Xiao Wu replied helplessly: "It's because of this Sea God Island assessment; we've been training hard lately, and this assessment feels truly too difficult."

"By the way, Rong Rong, what's your assessment? I'm a Black Level Six, the hardest among everyone."

Ning Rongrong laughed: "Xiao Wu, I might be a bit higher; I'm a Red Level Seven."

The other young women quickly gathered together, and even Huo Wu and Shui Bing'er joined the girls' chat, with the usually aloof Dugu Yan also joining their small group.

Yang Xiong nodded at the boys: "Tang San, Mu Bai, Tian Heng, long time no see; it seems Sea God Island has trained you well, you all look much stronger."

Tang San smiled: "The Sea God Island assessment is far harder than we imagined; lately Dai the boss and Tian Heng have been worried, so it's good you're here."

Dai Mubai and Yu Tianheng both seemed to breathe a sigh of relief, their tense eyes easing a bit.

After discussing with the group, Yang Xiong understood the current situation; indeed the assessment still has considerable difficulty, especially for Zhu Zhuqing, whose Soul Power Level is the lowest, leaving little hope of passing.

Yu Tianheng looked at Yang Xiong's face, seeming unusually conflicted: "Yang Xiong, I heard the Body Sect you founded is located within Thunderclap Gorge?"

Yang Xiong nodded: "Sorry about that, Tian Heng, Thunderclap Gorge is currently unclaimed; if your Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan rises in the future, we can discuss the ownership of Thunderclap Gorge then."

Yu Tianheng said: "I'm not someone who doesn't see right from wrong; with my and my uncle's strength we can't seize Thunderclap Gorge, but I'll definitely challenge you in the future."

Dai Mubai sighed: "Yang Xiong, thank you for your earlier warning; otherwise the road to Sea God Island would have been dangerous for us."

Soon after, Dai Mubai, Tang San, Yang Xiong, Oscar and others talked, clarifying everyone's various encounters on the way to Sea God Island, and Yang Xiong let out a sigh.

Especially since everyone knew Yang Xiong's first-stage target was 666 steps, they all showed unusually sympathetic expressions.

After the conversation, Tang San and six others prepared to return to the staircase to cultivate, while Ning Rongrong and the others now wore serious expressions, beginning to grasp the assessment's difficulty.

Tian Gou Feng Xiaotian still charged ahead: "Let me try first; I want to see just how hard this dreaded Sea God's Light really is."

Sure enough, Feng Xiaotian transformed into a massive swift double‑headed demonic wolf and rushed toward the Sea God's Light staircase.

Just after stepping onto the staircase, Feng Xiaotian seemed to feel a force blocking his advance, and the higher he climbed, the stronger the force became.

Feng Xiaotian let out a roar and immediately used his second soul skill, Twin Wolf Possession; a phantom wolf head sprouted beside his head, dramatically boosting his vitality and attributes.

But even as Feng Xiaotian tried every method, the pressure grew larger with each step.

In the end, Feng Xiaotian only reached the fifty‑fifth step; his soul power was completely exhausted, all augmenting soul skills used up, and he reluctantly withdrew from Sea God's Light.

Seeing Feng Xiaotian's condition, everyone finally understood the assessment's difficulty, likely countless times harder than they imagined, especially Ning Rongrong, who is only a Support Spirit Master.

However, Yang Xiong was surprised by Feng Xiaotian; the fellow not only has a robust physique but also extremely strong combat ability, making his combat talent truly the strongest among those around him.

Sure enough, as each person climbed the Sea God's Light Steps, even if everyone gave their all, they could not achieve very good results.

Among them, Qin Shuang and Feng Xiaotian were similar, also reaching Level 55 steps.

Qin Shuang herself is a top‑quality Power Type martial soul Vajra Bear, and she also received from Yang Xiong the Hu Yanzhen Power Type Torso Soul Bone; purely in terms of physical quality and strength, she is relatively strong among the Soul Emperors.

Shui Bing'er and Huo Wu, the two girls, fared much worse; both were only top‑tier Soul Kings and lacked Top-level Soul Bones, and they only climbed over Level 40 steps—Shui Bing'er reached Level 44 steps, Huo Wu only Level 43 steps.

Oscar, however, performed outstandingly, actually climbing to Level 61 steps, leaving everyone utterly astonished. Of course, during this process Oscar consumed many Sausages, including Super Recovery Big Sausage, Ultimate Green Sausage, and Copy Mirror Sausage, truly maximizing their effects.

Most importantly, Oscar has the most soul bones among everyone; he now possesses three soul bones, including Mirror Hidden Beast Head Soul Bone, a 70,000‑year White‑Eyed Demon Tiger King Right Arm Soul Bone, and a 100,000‑year Thousand Jun Ant Emperor Torso Spirit Bone, making his count the highest aside from Yang Xiong.

Especially the 100,000‑year Thousand Jun Ant Emperor Torso Spirit Bone, whose boost to physical quality exceeds everyone's imagination.

Brother Yang Wei also reached Level 60 steps; although his Tool Spirit is the Profound Iron Sword, his fierce sword qi and robust body, plus three soul bones on him, make his physical quality extremely strong, and he even took a few of Oscar's Sausages in advance.

Even Ning Rongrong climbed to Level 60 steps; she also has three top‑quality soul bones, including Gui Douluo's Right Leg Soul Bone and a 100,000‑year Thousand Jun Ant Emperor Torso Spirit Bone.

Especially when Ning Rongrong first displayed the Eight Spider Spirit Bone, it was like eight huge spider spears planted in the ground, rigidly supporting her body as she climbed upward.

Everyone present stared at Ning Rongrong's Eight Spider Spirit Bone, their eyes full of astonishment, even envy.

Even Xiao Wu was unusually envious: "Rong Rong, your External Soul Bone seems great—when did you obtain it?"

Ning Rongrong laughed: "I got it during my Third Soul Skill; back then Xiao Xiongzi somehow caught a Human‑Faced Demon Spider, whose age was far older than the Third Soul Ring, and absorbing it was terribly painful."

Everyone's faces turned unpredictable upon hearing this, never expecting Yang Xiong could fetch such a thing for his girlfriend, and judging by the age, it must have been when everyone first entered the Heaven Dou Royal Academy.

(End of Chapter)