Weina's appearance did not disrupt Xu Zihuang's daily life or cultivation.
After parting with Weina and Mu Xue, he returned to the Sea God Pavilion and sat cross-legged on the open ground in front of it. Following Elder Mu's advice, he didn't rush into cultivation. Instead, he gazed over the scenery of Sea God Island and carefully reflected on the insights gained from his previous deep meditation.
Having broken through to the tangible yet intangible level of spiritual power and absorbed the Golden Dragon bloodline from the Three-Eyed Golden Lion, many of his abilities had significantly improved. Fully integrating these gains was not something that could be achieved overnight.
As the sun set and the moon rose, starlight scattered across the sky. This reflection lasted for seven or eight hours, and it wasn't until late at night that he returned to the Sea God Pavilion to begin his evening meditation.
Using his tangible yet intangible spiritual power to envelop his soul power, which possessed ultimate attributes, he experienced for the first time the unhindered cultivation speed free from the constraints of those attributes.
Now, his cultivation speed was comparable to that of a top-tier genius.
However, with his cultivation speed normalized, the dense heaven-and-earth energy within the Golden Tree no longer boosted his progress as significantly as before.
Previously, during cultivation, he could absorb large amounts of the Golden Tree's heaven-and-earth energy and fuse it with his own soul power to form his extreme-attribute soul power. But now, unburdened by those extreme attributes, the soul power he cultivated himself took precedence, with the absorbed heaven-and-earth energy constituting only a small portion.
To use an analogy, it was like a soul master with innate ninth-level or full soul power taking the Mysterious Water Pill—its effect was merely supplementary, far less impactful than for someone like Huo Yuhao, who had only first-level innate soul power.
Though the situations weren't identical, the principle was similar.
Of course, his current cultivation speed was still noticeably faster than before.
The next morning, after breakfast in the cafeteria reserved for inner court disciples, Xu Zihuang stood on the vast surface of Sea God Lake. Thin, dark red crystal mirrors formed beneath his feet as his figure flickered rapidly.
The Golden Dragon bloodline from the Three-Eyed Golden Lion had transformed his body to the point of resembling a humanoid soul beast. Propelled by terrifying explosive power and strength, he moved like a shadow streaking through the air.
On the southern side of Sea God Island, a girl stood on the balcony of a two-story wooden building, gazing upward. Her long, dark hair fluttered in the breeze, and her usually gentle, luminous eyes turned bright silver in that moment.
The girl was none other than Weina, using her second martial soul, the Brain.
The reason Xu Zihuang's Golden Pupil martial soul was so powerful had its roots. His martial soul's main body was his eyes, but because it carried spiritual attributes, it encompassed both his eyes and brain, with the eyes as the primary focus and the brain as secondary.
In the Body Sect, there was a disciple named Gu Tong who used his eyes as his martial soul. However, Gu Tong's eye martial soul lacked spiritual attributes, forcing him to develop as a power-attack soul master. All his soul skills were long-range or area-of-effect attacks released through his eyes.
Though these skills were powerful, they paled in comparison to Xu Zihuang's Golden Pupil spiritual attribute martial soul in terms of future potential and versatility.
In other words, Gu Tong's martial soul was at least a tier below Xu Zihuang's.
Xu Zihuang's Golden Pupil was the pinnacle of eye-based martial souls.
Similarly, Weina's Brain, a top-tier spiritual attribute martial soul, followed the same principle, with the brain as the primary focus and the eyes as a medium for releasing soul skills.
As such, her eye-related abilities couldn't compare to Xu Zihuang's, but she could still vaguely track the shadow streaking through the air.
"Three purple and one black soul ring configuration—it must be him. Such strong soul skill control," Weina murmured, her gentle eyes shimmering with curiosity about the exceptionally talented Yu Tianhuang.
At twelve, she had been struggling to break through to level 30, while Yu Tianhuang already possessed cultivation and strength far surpassing his peers. His spiritual power, soul skill mastery, and various other aspects placed him well ahead of his age group.
Moreover, like her, Yu Tianhuang was from the Heavenly Soul Empire.
"Weina?" A cold voice from behind interrupted her thoughts.
Mu Xue leaned against a wooden pillar behind Weina, a rare smile gracing her icy face. She had arrived earlier and naturally overheard Weina's murmurs.
"That figure flying through the air just now was Yu Tianhuang, right? What, feeling a spark?" Mu Xue teased lightly.
"Even though he's three years younger than you, it doesn't seem to matter much."
Even by her standards, she had to admit Yu Tianhuang's excellence. His talent defied common sense. If he and Weina, the princess of the Heavenly Soul Empire, were to come together, it would indeed be a blessing for their empire.
Weina's face flushed as she pouted, retorting playfully, "Sister Xue, how do you walk so silently?"
A faint, amused glint appeared in Mu Xue's ice-blue eyes.
"If you weren't lost in thought, with the special nature of your second martial soul, how could you not notice me coming?"
Her expression then turned serious.
"Weina, I'm serious. A genius like Yu Tianhuang must be brought into the Heavenly Soul Empire's fold. He's already one of us, and from what you said last night, he has a strong sense of identity and belonging to our empire."
Hearing this, Weina shed her earlier shyness and nodded slightly.
However, she didn't pursue the topic further.
"Sister Xue, after this, we need to head to the Far North as soon as possible to obtain my fourth soul ring. I used to think our talents were already exceptional among our generation, but after meeting him, I'm starting to feel a bit unconfident."
"Don't I feel the same?" Mu Xue sighed softly.
"Our people will arrive this afternoon at the earliest. Let's head back to Tian Dou City to recuperate and prepare thoroughly. This time, we need to bring more people to avoid another incident like this."
…
Crossing Sea God Lake, Xu Zihuang headed straight for the soul tool department's testing area. Upon reaching the entrance, he immediately spotted Fan Yu standing there.
Xu Zihuang greeted him. "Teacher Fan Yu."
"Come with me," Fan Yu said with a serious nod, leading Xu Zihuang into the testing area.
"I'm sure Elder Mu has already told you. For three out of every seven days, you'll be studying in the soul tool department. This morning, you'll be learning soul tool crafting with He Caitou. But first, I need to know your true level in soul tool crafting."
He added with a wry smile, "Don't hold back this time. Elder Mu told me everything. I never thought I'd misjudge someone."
Fan Yu was candid about it.
Xu Zihuang wasn't surprised and replied, "Teacher Fan Yu, I haven't tried engraving level-five core arrays before, but I should be able to successfully engrave most of them."
"Good!" Fan Yu clapped his hands firmly.
"This morning, give it your all. No need to practice with ordinary metals—use rare metals directly."
As they spoke, they arrived at Testing Area 12.
He Caitou was already engrossed in soul tool crafting, so focused that he didn't notice Xu Zihuang and Fan Yu's arrival. The spacious testing room held only the three of them.
Fan Yu didn't disturb He Caitou and instead gestured for Xu Zihuang to sit at a metal table. The table was covered with various types of rare metals, many of them extremely valuable.
The soul tool department had spared no expense in nurturing Xu Zihuang and He Caitou.
"Tianhuang, begin," Fan Yu said, standing behind Xu Zihuang. For once, his stern expression gave way to intense anticipation.
For some reason, a phrase popped into his mind: You lack talent, while I lack interest. Spoken by Yu Tianhuang, it seemed perfectly fitting.
Sometimes, one had to admit that not all talents were equal.
Xu Zihuang closed his eyes and took a deep breath, calming his mind and adjusting his state. When he opened his eyes again, his deep purple irises had turned brilliant gold.
His left hand firmly grasped a piece of silver metal that shimmered like starlight, known as Starlight Silver, strong enough to support most level-five core arrays. His right hand gripped a pure black engraving knife, and he began carving swiftly.
As time passed, the anticipation in Fan Yu's eyes gradually turned to shock.
In just a few hours, Yu Tianhuang successfully engraved eight different level-five core arrays. The shock continued, and by the time Fan Yu witnessed Yu Tianhuang's success rate reach ninety percent, he was almost numb.
During this time, He Caitou, having finished his soul tool, was drawn over. His reaction was even more exaggerated than Fan Yu's.
He Caitou was undeniably a genius in soul tool crafting, but even he had only recently begun engraving level-five core arrays.
Fan Yu immediately announced that he would tailor a soul tool crafting curriculum for Yu Tianhuang, separate from He Caitou's, and guide them individually moving forward.
The morning session ended there.
The afternoon was dedicated to learning other skills, such as military tactics, stealth, and disguise.
Between the morning and afternoon sessions, a specialized nutritionist guided their meals, teaching them how to consume top-tier ingredients to maximize nutrient absorption—a discipline in itself.
Shrek Academy's formidable faculty resources were gradually revealing themselves to the two.
From that day forward, Xu Zihuang and He Caitou entered a rigorous, fast-paced routine. Elder Mu also began guiding Xu Zihuang, but his approach was to point out key issues and let Xu Zihuang reflect on them independently.
Elder Mu's intent was clear: insights gained through personal reflection were the easiest to absorb and truly make one's own. Through this guidance, Elder Mu's over two hundred years of knowledge and experience subtly enhanced Xu Zihuang's abilities.
Xu Zihuang benefited immensely, as Elder Mu's teachings filled gaps in his knowledge and experience.
Time flew by in this intense yet enriching life, but Xu Zihuang handled it with ease from start to finish.
His cultivation talent, comprehension, soul tool crafting aptitude, and mentality were all nearly perfect. He fully absorbed and understood the content of each day's lessons, unlike He Caitou, who occasionally struggled.
During this period, Weina and Mu Xue left Shrek Academy. Their departure caused no ripples within the academy, as only a select few knew of their presence.
In the blink of an eye, a year and a half passed. Beibei, Xu Sanshi, and Jiang Nannan, through their efforts, gained admission to the inner court.
After deep meditation in the underground world of the Sea God Pavilion, their cultivation entered a phase of rapid growth.
Beibei and Xu Sanshi, in particular, each broke through three soul power levels in a single deep meditation session. After this period of cultivation, they became the first to reach the five-ring Soul King level.
In truth, Xu Zihuang had reached level 50 even earlier, in just one year and three months. However, the soul beast he needed for his fifth soul ring required high age and quality, demanding considerable time to search for in a soul beast forest. Thus, he didn't rush to acquire his soul ring, allowing Beibei and Xu Sanshi to reach the Soul King level before him.
Notably, during this time, he could effortlessly craft level-five soul tools, becoming a true level-five soul engineer—and among the best of them. He even successfully engraved level-six core arrays a few times, though with a lower success rate. These issues would resolve naturally once he obtained his fifth soul ring and officially advanced to Soul King, at which point becoming a level-six soul engineer would come naturally.
He Caitou and Jiang Nannan both reached level 49, just a step away from Soul King. However, He Caitou, involved in the Ultimate Soldier Project with Xu Zihuang, didn't participate in the soul tool department's inner court assessment.
Ning Tian's cultivation progress was slightly slower, but she recently broke through to level 40. She didn't rush to acquire a soul ring, as Tang Ya was also in seclusion, nearing the level 40 bottleneck. They had agreed to hunt soul beasts together for their soul rings. Over the past year and a half, their relationship had grown close.
Tang Ya was simple-minded, while Ning Tian was sharp and perceptive. Their interactions were harmonious, and with Xu Zihuang and Beibei's connection, they became as close as sisters, sharing everything.
As for Wang Dong, who rarely interacted with others, his exact cultivation progress remained unknown.
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