"What... what is that?"
Liu Ren craned his neck, tilting it until it ached, before he finally couldn't help asking, "Is it really a Fire God Crow?"
A minute ago, the Fire God Crow was just a firebird a few sizes larger.
Though it looked significantly stronger, it was within his expectations.
A spirit personally nurtured by Su Thighs—it had to have enough presence.
He figured it could probably beat the three of them more easily... He wasn't discouraged. Defeats were nothing new. Liu Ren had lost to Su Hao, lost to that fire crow... not a hundred times, but dozens.
Getting beaten so much, he'd gotten used to it.
He actually wanted to fight the Fire God Crow in two days, to see how strong Su Hao's first final-evolution spirit really was.
That was his thought ten seconds ago.
Now, though...
Emmmmm, what's up with that sun?
So, so blinding!
...
Lava Region, another spot.
Instructor Sun Gao'ang was testing his spirit.
Not far from him, the Fire God Soldier, its body entirely made of flames, was half-submerged in magma. It lifted its arm, and the magma in the pool rose with it.
Like a massive wave gradually being lifted.
The rolling magma ascended, gathered by the Fire God Soldier, compressed and stretched into a huge sphere, over and over again...
Like kneading dough, or forging.
After over ten minutes, the magma mass turned into a crimson spear, gripped by the Fire God Soldier with both hands.
"Using spiritual power to solidify and forge a weapon—first step, considered a success."
Instructor Sun mused, "But reinforcement failed before. Now, with a different method, I wonder if I can harden this spear to be tougher than the Fire God Soldier's fists."
The spear in the Fire God Soldier's hands emitted a blazing red light. It thrust forward sharply, the spear piercing the air and splitting the magma.
After a long moment, the viscous magma, like a split sea, slowly closed back up.
Boom~!
The magma surged.
Instructor Sun Gao'ang nodded.
Then...
The Fire God Soldier suddenly looked up, staring in a certain direction.
Instructor Sun followed its gaze.
"That is..."
He saw a blazing sun rising slowly, radiating endless light and heat.
And a bird's cry.
"What spirit is that, emitting flames like a small sun?"
As a fire-type specialist instructor, a powerhouse just a step away from the Heavenly King level, he actually...
Couldn't tell what spirit that was, what move or secret technique it was using.
Who was it?
He knew all the fire-type instructors.
Was it a top-tier student?
"Can you tell what spirit that is?"
He turned to ask the Fire God Soldier.
The next moment, his face showed some shock, "Even you can't see through that blazing sun?!!"
...
Lava Region, somewhere else.
A student was commanding his Raging Flame Bull as it trudged through a scorching magma pool.
Suddenly,
Seeing a blazing sun rise, he paused.
"Instructor, or...?"
He knew all the fire-type instructors.
None of them seemed to have a spirit that could transform into a massive fireball.
But a student...
He recalled the experts in the training camp, those with fire-type spirits, and it seemed... none matched up either.
"Maybe it's a new killing move someone just developed.
"The training camp rankings are probably about to shift..."
Thinking this, he didn't dare waste time and continued training with his Raging Flame Bull.
...
"Caw—"
The cry was sharp.
The dazzling small sun flew down from the sky.
It held back the urge to smash a crater into the ground, slowly decelerating. The flames around it receded, and the figure within the fire gradually became clear.
Whoosh~
All the flames were absorbed, funneling into the Fire God Crow's beak and wings, vanishing in an instant. Only a majestic fire crow, folding its wings, landed before him.
"Caw—"
Looking at Su Hao, who was now shorter than itself, the Fire God Crow shook its feathers, sending a few sparks flying.
It felt a bit unaccustomed.
Why was Su Hao so short, caw~!
...
Su Hao reached out and flicked the Fire God Crow's feathers.
A "clang, clang" sound rang out.
Very hard.
Probably not inferior to metal... Su Hao was glad he already had a mount and didn't need to ride the dull-headed crow.
The riding experience would definitely be terrible.
He looked ahead, and a panel appeared before his eyes.
[Spirit: Fire God Crow (Elite Level)] [Ability: Super High Temperature] [Training Plan: Omitted (Fully Unlocked)] [Moves: Omitted] [Special: ① Instant Prison Kill Array; ② Fire Feather Form; ③ Sun Form Deployment]
Su Hao tapped with his mind.
The full-power Fire Feather Form's advanced mode required absorbing enough flames, combining it with its own Super High Temperature ability, and stabilizing the flames with a special secret technique.
Plus daily specialized training.
Missing any link, the Sun Form couldn't take shape.
It was a secret technique he had tailored specifically for the Fire God Crow.
Like the "Spirit Orb," other spirits could learn it too, but it was very difficult.
But whether it was "Fire Feather Form" or the higher-level "Sun Form," even if Su Hao uploaded them to the Alliance Mall, they wouldn't sell.
Unless someone found a small crow and raised it step by step with Su's training method.
At that moment,
Su Hao noticed a section that had new information not there before.
[Evolution Path: Small Crow → Fluff Crow → 〖Fire God Crow〗 → 'Pitch Black' (Unlocked) (3 Intelligence Points to search for advancement direction)]
Su Hao rubbed his chin.
A spirit's three-stage evolution was a form etched into their genes.
With good nurturing, getting a spirit to evolve to its final form was just a matter of time.
It was a visible path.
But the final evolution was the end of the road. Beyond that, pitch black.
The spirit needed to break its own limits.
"Final-evolution spirits can continue evolving, but it's no longer based on a species—it's individual. Even the same species can have completely different advanced forms.
"And a spirit's evolution doesn't just boost its combat power; it raises the spirit's ceiling!"
A base-form spirit could at most grow to the entry-level limit.
A first-evolution spirit depended on the specific species' potential. Usually, by the elite level, its progress started to be restricted... That's why Su Hao arranged for the Fluff Crow to evolve.
After evolution, it had the potential to break through to the transcendent level.
In comparison, the Water Kirin Beast had a higher potential path. Even in its first-evolution form, it had a slim chance of reaching the transcendent level.
"The Spirit Alliance defines evolution beyond the final form as 'advanced evolution.' There are no fixed forms or fixed paths... but there are a few general directions to reference."
For example, Gigantification!
The spirit master who researched Gigantification made a huge contribution.
In the past, advanced evolution for spirits was extremely difficult and hard to trace. Most monarch-level spirits came from pseudo-legendary spirits with naturally high limits.
A Firebird had a slight chance of breaking through to monarch level.
Ordinary spirits almost never could, and advanced evolution was very tough, with a high failure rate.
Until the Gigantification evolution theory emerged.
"King Zhou's Tide Frog King is probably a Gigantification advanced evolution."
Su Hao recalled that frog king, which was as big as two or three stories tall... Normal frog kings were only the size of a car—a clear difference.
"Not only that, the most valuable part of Gigantification advanced evolution is its applicability, suitable for many spirits...
"Lava Dragon Turtle, Giant Armor Crab, Ember Dragon, Kraken King, etc., can all apply the Gigantification evolution theory, making the possibility of advanced evolution not so low anymore.
"The Fire God Crow might also fit."
Su Hao stared at that line of text, held back again and again, held back again and again, but finally couldn't resist his overwhelming curiosity.
He chose to unlock it.
In an instant,
Data cascaded down like a waterfall.
The 'Pitch Black' advanced evolution slot finally appeared... countless 'black silhouettes.'
Su Hao: "..."