After some discussion, Ning Fengzhi told everyone that he wanted his daughter to enroll and gain experience. The teachers, Yu Xiaogang included, were all astonished. They knew full well what their academy was worth. Compared with other advanced academies, it had a few distinctive features, but beside the conditions the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect could offer, it was like a minor sorcerer standing before a great one.
Ning Fengzhi also offered to help by sponsoring them with a large number of Gold Soul Coins, leaving them even less reason to refuse. Flender agreed on the spot, and after a moment's contemplation, Yu Xiaogang nodded as well.
Two years later.
Flender and Xiang Yang were traveling through the outer region of the Star Dou Great Forest. Only the two of them had come this time. Xiang Yang's unusual cultivation method had already made his cultivation progress exceptionally fast, and after obtaining the Mysterious Heaven Skill, he had reached level twenty in just two years.
"Xiao Yang, we're about three li from our destination. We'll be there soon. Do you want to rest up first?"
Flender stopped and spoke to Xiang Yang as he studied the map in his hands.
"No, I'm in great shape right now. Besides, delay breeds complications. It's better to get this done as soon as possible."
Xiang Yang answered without hesitation. Their target this time was an exceptionally rare hundred-year Plant-type Soul Beast they had only learned about thanks to the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's intelligence—the Sun-Prism Golden Calyx Bell!
It was a bloodline two ranks above the Sun-Prism Calyx, one of their original targets. Normally, it could only evolve to that stage after ten thousand years; at a thousand years, it would be a Sun-Prism Golden Calyx. To compare them to Martial Souls, they were like intermediate, advanced, and top-tier Martial Souls.
Honestly, in the original story, whenever the Shrek group went hunting for rings, their teachers took them out to find one on the spot. Given their cultivation, that really should not have happened. Soul Beasts' habits were not much different from those of ordinary wild beasts; they all had a fixed territory where they roamed.
Thus, under normal circumstances, powerful factions with high-level Soul Masters would use their intelligence networks to prepare in advance, locating suitable Soul Beasts beforehand so they would not have to waste so much time searching when they needed them.
After all, one step ahead meant staying ahead at every step, all the more so for geniuses. Every bit of time had to be used well.
Top factions could even capture and subdue Soul Beasts in advance, leaving people to simply take their pick. Take the Star Luo Imperial Family, the Dai Family, which Dai Mubai had mentioned in casual conversation. They had long since worked out a fixed set of Soul Ring combinations, so they simply captured the Soul Beasts and let them roam in the Royal Soul Hunting Forest. Their extravagance knew no bounds.
Now that he had connections with Ning Rongrong and the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, Xiang Yang would naturally make use of those resources. He had also rejected the Shrek teachers' original idea of having the students form a group to gain experience.
Those who really had the strength were true Boss Hao, but if they failed at showing off, they would become Jiahao instead. He could not be bothered with some protagonist package full of partings in life and death. Skip! Skip! Skip it all!
A few minutes later, a tall crimson-gold plant stood a dozen or so meters before them. It looked to be about seven or eight meters tall, with twelve vertical golden lines running from the bottom of its stalk all the way to its calyx.
The flower resembled a lantern. Twelve golden, diamond-shaped sepals curved inward to form a twelve-sided diamond, and together with the stamen inside, it looked like a golden-red gemstone.
"First Soul Skill, Eagle Strike Soars Skyward!"
Effect: Attack increased by 30%.
"Fourth Soul Skill, Wind Eagle Blade."
Xiang Yang saw two Soul Rings, one yellow and one purple, pulse around Flender. Then dozens of wind blades appeared and shot toward the Soul Beast.
"Buzz! Buzz!"
A piercing sound rang out. Though only a hundred years old, this Soul Beast truly lived up to its Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beast bloodline. Just as the wind blades were about to strike, it emitted a wave of light that formed a barrier and blocked the attack outright.
Seeing this, Flender touched his glasses and offered a casual word of praise. "Not bad."
It really was not bad. With his Soul Saint cultivation, he had used an amplification Soul Skill followed by a thousand-year Soul Skill. Never mind a Hundred-Year Soul Beast—even an ordinary Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beast could not withstand more than a few hits.
"Good, again!"
To avoid complications arising from delay, it was best to finish quickly, he thought. "Fifth Soul Skill, Cat Owl Assault!"
As the black Soul Ring lit up, Xiang Yang felt a terrifying fluctuation of Soul Power. Then, before he could even see a shadow, the golden barrier had already been breached, and Flender was behind the Sun-Prism Golden Calyx Bell. One second, two seconds, three...
"Bang!"
The Soul Beast fell, its flower shattered, and its stalk and roots split into more than a dozen sections.
"Xiao Yang, go finish it off. I've already beaten it to the brink of death." Flender's tone was casual, with a touch of disdain that said it had been "a piece of cake."
"Okay, Dean." Xiang Yang stepped forward. Without using a Soul Skill, he drew a sword blade that Tang San had coated with poison and thrust it into the roots.
Before long, as the Soul Beast's roots gradually withered before his eyes, a bright Yellow Soul Ring appeared.
"Go ahead. I'll stand guard."
"Mm."
Xiang Yang sat down in the five-hearts-facing-heaven position, closed his eyes, and circulated his cultivation technique. Once he entered the state, the Soul Ring was drawn above his body.
As soon as he began refining the Soul Ring, he sensed how much power it contained. It truly was a Hundred-Year Soul Beast with a top-tier bloodline. Surely even a hundred-year Titan Giant Ape would be no better? Fortunately, after systematic training, his physique was comparable to that of a Beast Martial Soul Soul Master of the same level. Combined with the fact that Plant-type Soul Beasts were not too difficult to absorb, he was spared what would otherwise have been quite a bit of trouble.
Nearly an hour later, Xiang Yang opened his eyes. "Done?" So soon? In Flender's view, although this Soul Beast was a Plant-type, its bloodline was exceptionally rare. Even if Xiang Yang could absorb it, it should have taken a great deal of time. How could he be like this kid, who had not shed a single drop of sweat throughout and had taken so little time? He was a monster! Just as well; monsters were exactly what his Shrek wanted!
"Mm, a huge success!" Xiang Yang's excitement was written all over his face.
Flender smiled. "Oh, it sounds like the Soul Skill is excellent. What does it do?"
"Haha, it's a defensive Soul Skill, but..."
Xiang Yang's second Soul Skill—Solar Corona Prism Guard
Once released, it formed an approximately circular barrier around him, composed of twelve sides. Its strength depended on Xiang Yang's Soul Power Level and that of anyone inside it. With his power alone, it could withstand a full-force strike from a level-forty Power Attack System Soul Master.
And that was only the Soul Skill's initial strength. After the barrier appeared, it could grow stronger without limit by drawing in light. However, once it exceeded the limit of what Xiang Yang and the people inside the barrier could control, the power within would become extremely unstable. At that point, it could easily explode, with its power determined by the power inside it. It was a little like the ultimate move of the protagonist in another novel he had read in his previous life.
Also, the barrier did not stay fixed in place. It moved according to the movements of the Soul Masters inside it, just like the calyx of the Sun-Prism Golden Calyx Bell and the stamen at its center.
The barrier would keep rotating clockwise. The golden light field it emitted could slow attacks and had a chance of deflecting them. If the attacks were made of energy, it would also absorb part of them to replenish itself. Moreover, the force of an attack would be distributed evenly across all its sides, making it impossible to break through at a single point.
Once its defensive limit was exceeded, the energy barrier would unleash a shockwave outward as it shattered, with its strength in each direction being random.
"Huh?" "Huh?" "Huh?"
"Good heavens! Your one Soul Skill is worth several of ours, isn't it?" Ma Hongjun found it utterly outrageous as he listened to the explanation. Whose Soul Skill worked like that?
"Indeed. Although I had a feeling your Soul Skill this time would be very powerful, for a hundred-year Soul Skill to be this powerful is just too..." Dai Mubai shook his head, finding it hard to believe.
Tang San finished for him. "Too ridiculous."
"Right!" "Exactly." Dai Mubai and Oscar chimed in.
After her initial shock, Ning Rongrong came to her senses. She had been here for two years, and this was the first time she had seen anyone obtain such an outrageous Soul Skill.
Dai Mubai's third Soul Skill, Golden Wing Soaring Transformation, and Zhu Zhuqing's second Soul Skill, Nine Netherworld Clones, were already excellent. She had not expected there to be one even more powerful.
But this also meant there was greater hope for the sect.
At that thought, Ning Rongrong smiled and stepped forward. "Sixth Brother, the Soul Beast you hunted this time..."
Flender and Zhao Wuji watched the youngsters below from upstairs. Flender sighed with feeling. "Old Zhao, it looks like the heavens over the Soul Master World are about to change."
"Yes." Zhao Wuji was not his usual carefree self at this moment. As an extremely rare high-level independent Soul Master, he knew very well what the effects of Soul Rings obtained through these theories represented. He wore an expression of agreement.
Just then, a voice came from behind them. "Stop watching and hurry over to help me sort this out."
"Oh, coming, coming."
It was Yu Xiaogang. He had recorded the Soul Rings and Soul Skills obtained over the past two years by hunting Soul Beasts in strict accordance with the theories, as well as the effects Soul Beasts and Soul Rings had on Martial Souls.
He planned to organize the records and publish them as soon as possible, as Xiang Yang had requested. It really was time for the heavens over the Soul Master World to change.