Chapter 171: Excited Rongrong
"What should I do? There's only one month left, and I've only reached Rank 110!"
"I don't think I can complete the first trial. One year is too short!"
At night, Ning Rongrong lay exhausted on Su Mo's chest, weakly voicing her worries.
It had been two months since Su Mo successfully absorbed his god-bestowed spirit ring.
Ning Rongrong had also broken through to the Soul Emperor level and absorbed a god-bestowed spirit ring.
Yet, even with that progress, she still felt that she wouldn't be able to complete the first trial of Sea God Island.
To her, the Sea God Island trials were incredibly unfair to those from the mainland. Each trial had a strict time limit of only one year.
But for soul masters from the ocean, especially those living on Sea God Island, the Black-Level trials granted them ten whole years to complete the first challenge of crossing the Sea God's Light.
Ten times the time she was given—completely unfair!
"Don't worry. When the time comes, we just need to use our martial soul fusion skill. We can complete the trial together!"
Su Mo stroked Ning Rongrong's head and said with a smile.
"Huh… We can do that?"
Hearing Su Mo's words, Ning Rongrong, who had been anxious about her top-tier trial, immediately lifted her head in surprise.
"Of course we can. So, just relax, Rongrong."
Su Mo reassured her.
"Ah… That's great!"
"You bad guy! Why didn't you tell me earlier?"
Ning Rongrong cheered, but then she pounded Su Mo's chest in frustration.
She was upset that he hadn't told her sooner, making her worry for so long.
Only the heavens knew how much effort she had put in over the past year to complete this trial.
"Haha, I just wanted you to work a little harder."
Su Mo laughed heartily.
"You're so annoying…"
Ning Rongrong pouted, clearly angry, even though she knew Su Mo meant well.
Suddenly, despite her exhaustion, she seemed to find newfound strength, slowly lowering her head from Su Mo's chest.
"Hiss—"
Su Mo gasped.
A man loves to hear a woman say she wants more, but he also fears when she says she still wants more.
However, since Ning Rongrong was still fuming, Su Mo had no choice but to indulge her.
Besides, he was more than capable of handling her.
…
The next day.
"Nine Treasures turn out with dazzling light, nine layers of radiance, Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda!"
"One for strength…"
"Two for speed…"
"…"
At the base of Sea God Mountain, Ning Rongrong summoned her martial soul and immediately applied all her augmentation buffs to Ye Lingling in one go.
"Lingling, do your best!"
After boosting Ye Lingling, Ning Rongrong encouraged her.
"Mm, I can do it!"
"But Rongrong, you have to do your best too!"
Ye Lingling nodded firmly.
"Hehe, don't worry about me! I'll be fine!"
Ning Rongrong grinned confidently.
Huh?
Hearing her, Ye Lingling was curious. Why was Ning Rongrong suddenly so confident?
Not long ago, she had been sighing constantly, worried that she wouldn't complete her top-tier trial!
"Well, I'll just wait and see, then!"
But now wasn't the time to ask. Ye Lingling smiled and turned toward the staircase leading to the Sea God Temple.
There was still a month left before the deadline.
But today, Su Mo and the others planned to complete the first trial.
Once they finished, Su Mo wanted to ask Bo Saixi if he could temporarily leave Sea God Island to participate in the current Soul Master Tournament.
To him, the second trial of the Sea God's Nine Trials was also quite simple—he could complete it casually.
Before long, under Su Mo and Ning Rongrong's watchful eyes, Ye Lingling ascended the 108 steps, successfully completing her Black-Level First Trial.
"Ye Lingling, Black-Level First Trial—Crossing the Sea God's Light—Completed. Reward: Soul Power +1 Level!"
After receiving the reward, Ye Lingling, who had recently reached Rank 53, advanced once more, reaching Rank 54.
For the first time, she realized how easy it was to increase soul power.
Before coming to Sea God Island, she hadn't even broken through to Soul King. Now, she had already reached Rank 54.
She was truly experiencing the joy of rapid cultivation for the first time.
"Rongrong, I finished! Are you sure you'll be okay?"
After completing her trial, Ye Lingling returned to the foot of the mountain, excitedly sharing her achievement with Ning Rongrong while also expressing concern.
"Relax, I'll be just fine!"
Ning Rongrong chuckled.
"Su Mo, Lingling is done. Now it's our turn!"
She then turned to Su Mo with a smile.
"Alright, let's go."
Su Mo chuckled and took Ning Rongrong's hand as they stepped onto the stairs.
Ning Rongrong followed closely behind him.
The two of them steadily climbed upward, refraining from immediately using their martial soul fusion skill.
Ning Rongrong still wanted to test her limits first.
If she couldn't manage on her own, she would use the fusion skill as a last resort.
Su Mo had no objections—he always respected Ning Rongrong's choices.
"They're already attempting the trial?"
"Are they confident they can complete it?"
Inside the Sea God Temple, Bo Saixi observed Su Mo and Ning Rongrong through the water curtain, muttering in curiosity.
She had no doubts that Su Mo could succeed.
But Ning Rongrong… That was uncertain.
"High Priest, that girl Ning Rongrong… She probably won't make it, right?"
Behind Bo Saixi, her bespectacled secretary shared the same doubt.
"Mm. If they don't have any other means, that little girl definitely won't reach the 136th step."
Bo Saixi nodded.
She had been watching Ning Rongrong's progress closely over the past months and knew that, under normal circumstances, she wouldn't be able to pass the first trial.
Her talent was indeed outstanding, but the one-year time limit was simply too restrictive.
Thinking about Ning Rongrong's likely failure, Bo Saixi's mood felt strangely lighter.
She had never been fond of the fact that Ning Rongrong received a top-tier Seven Trials assessment.
Because those who obtained top-tier trials were destined to be her successors—the future High Priest of Sea God Island.
However, the appearance of an heir was inherently unfavorable for her.
Because the emergence of a successor meant that a new High Priest would soon take over on Sea God Island. And as for her, the current High Priest—her fate was self-evident.
With Su Mo undergoing the Sea God's Nine Trials, it was even clearer—didn't this just confirm that her ultimate role would be to sacrifice herself?
Understanding this, how could Bo Saixi possibly be fond of Ning Rongrong?
She continued watching Su Mo and Ning Rongrong's progress through the water screen.
She was actually looking forward to Ning Rongrong failing her first trial.
That would mean there wouldn't be a new High Priest successor on Sea God Island for a while longer, and she wouldn't have to sacrifice herself so soon!
Under Bo Saixi's watchful gaze, Su Mo and Ning Rongrong ascended easily, reaching the 99th step.
When Su Mo stepped effortlessly onto the 100th step, Ning Rongrong, however, was stuck at the 99th step, unable to proceed for the moment.
She had fallen into an illusion and struggled for a long time before finally breaking free and joining Su Mo on the 100th step.
From that point onward, every step she took became incredibly difficult.
Upon reaching the 109th step, Ning Rongrong was once again trapped.
This time, it took her even longer before she managed to ascend to the 110th step.
By then, her condition was extremely poor, and she was on the verge of collapse.
"Do you want to keep going?"
Seeing her struggle, Su Mo asked with concern.
"Huff… I… I can still continue…"
Ning Rongrong panted heavily as she responded.
She then pushed herself onward, step by step.
But when she reached the 119th step, she couldn't move anymore.
On the 119th step, Ning Rongrong couldn't even stand steadily, let alone continue climbing.
Reaching this far—from the 110th to the 119th step—was already her absolute limit.
"Rongrong…"
Ye Lingling, watching from below, grew increasingly worried.
"Luckily, there's still a month left. Ye Lingling should be able to complete hers, right?"
Ye Lingling felt relieved. If today had been the last day of the trial period, Ning Rongrong would surely have failed.
But since she had to reach the 136th step, and it only got harder from here, Ye Lingling wasn't sure if Ning Rongrong could actually succeed within the next month.
"But Ning Rongrong was so confident before!"
Ye Lingling couldn't help but feel puzzled.
"That's enough. From here on, let's go together."
At this moment, Su Mo spoke again, persuading Ning Rongrong.
"…Alright!"
Ning Rongrong panted as she nodded.
This time, she didn't insist on continuing alone.
She knew that reaching this point today was already her limit.
Buzz—
She then summoned her martial soul.
"What is she doing?"
"She can't enhance herself—does this mean she's giving up and planning to support Su Mo instead?"
Inside the Sea God Temple, Bo Saixi's bespectacled secretary speculated.
"…Ah!"
"It's a martial soul fusion skill!"
Moments later, she gasped in shock, realizing that Ning Rongrong had summoned her martial soul not to assist Su Mo, but to activate their martial soul fusion skill together.
Her eyes widened in curiosity, eager to see what kind of soul skill their fusion would produce.
"A martial soul fusion skill?"
Bo Saixi frowned, sensing that something was amiss.
It seemed that Ning Rongrong really was going to complete her top-tier first trial.
"Wait—where's Su Mo?"
As the dazzling nine-colored radiance faded, only Ning Rongrong remained standing in place.
The secretary exclaimed in surprise, looking around for Su Mo.
"It's a fusion-type martial soul fusion skill."
Bo Saixi calmly pointed out, drawing her secretary's attention to the change.
"The weapon in Ning Rongrong's hand has transformed."
"A martial soul fusion skill!"
"Oh! That's why Rongrong was so confident!"
"No wonder she wasn't worried at all. But then why was she sighing about it before?"
At the foot of Sea God Mountain, Ye Lingling, who had already completed her first trial, finally realized why Ning Rongrong had seemed so confident earlier.
But what she didn't understand was why Ning Rongrong had been so anxious just the day before.
"Wow~ I don't feel any pressure at all now!"
At this moment, Ning Rongrong, having fused with Su Mo, felt an overwhelming sense of relief, as if the oppressive force of the Sea God's Light had disappeared entirely.
"Well, of course!"
"Hurry up, let's finish this first trial quickly!"
The tiny Su Mo, now residing atop Ning Rongrong's head, laughed.
He could sense that, in reality, their overall pressure had increased.
But because Ning Rongrong was now using his endurance, she felt as if the burden had vanished.
In truth, it had only shifted onto Su Mo.
Was it because their suppression effects had stacked together?
Su Mo thought about it but wasn't too surprised.
It didn't matter. They just needed to climb a little further, and Ning Rongrong's trial would be complete.
"Mm-mm!"
Ning Rongrong nodded quickly.
Then, she began ascending step by step with newfound ease.
Before long, she reached the 136th step.
"Ning Rongrong, Top-Tier First Trial—Crossing the Sea God's Light—Completed. Reward: Soul Power +1 Level, All Soul Rings +500 Years!"
Buzz—
As soon as she finished her first trial, Ning Rongrong received her top-tier trial rewards.
Having only recently broken through to Soul Emperor, she had been at Rank 60. Now, her soul power increased to Rank 61.
Additionally, all of her soul rings gained 500 years in age.
Her soul ring configuration changed instantly.
Her second soul ring, originally only 700 years old, had now advanced to a millennium-level spirit ring, turning purple.
Her soul ring configuration was now yellow, purple, purple, purple, black, black—her second ring had finally reached the thousand-year mark, just like Su Mo's.
"Ahhh! My second soul ring turned into a thousand-year ring!"
Ning Rongrong excitedly shared the news with Su Mo.
"Yeah, I saw. Not bad!"
"It looks way better this way, doesn't it?"
Su Mo laughed heartily.
He understood her excitement.
After all, he had been proud of his thousand-year second soul ring for a long time.
"Mm-mm! A purple second soul ring looks so much nicer!"
"Su Mo, do you think I can turn my first soul ring purple too?"
Ning Rongrong eagerly anticipated the rewards of her future trials.
…
(End of Chapter)
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