Is There Really a Bottleneck

Dai Huabin lowered his head and walked off the ring dejectedly. Jiang Qingtong withdrew her Martial Soul and returned to Wang Dong and Xiao Xiao's side.

Xiao Xiao teased, "I was going to help you control them, but you actually took care of all of them by yourself. That was amazing!"

Wang Dong sized Jiang Qingtong up and down, arms folded across her chest. "Twin Martial Souls? You have Twin Martial Souls too? You hid that well! We didn't notice at all before! Xiao Xiao, she tricked us. Make her treat us to a meal later!"

"Sure, sure, I'll treat you." Jiang Qingtong nodded with a smile.

Xiao Xiao nodded as well, then added, "Qingtong, can I ask you about how to cultivate Twin Martial Souls? You were able to attach such high-level soul rings to both Martial Souls, and even attach a Ten Thousand Year Level one as your third ring. You must have some unique cultivation method, right?"

Jiang Qingtong told Xiao Xiao, "I'm a genius. You can't copy me."

"Bragging!"

Wang Dong gave Jiang Qingtong a small look of disdain, then said to Xiao Xiao, "Still, cultivation methods really aren't suitable for everyone. We definitely can't imitate this girl and attach a Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring at this stage. If our bodies couldn't withstand it and exploded, the loss would outweigh the gain."

Wang Dong was also reminding Xiao Xiao that cultivating Twin Martial Souls was not something that could be accomplished overnight.

Xiao Xiao understood what Wang Dong meant. She nodded to show that she understood.

On the other side, Zhuang Lao restored the three girls' Soul Power and said to Jiang Qingtong, "Little girl, you really prepared a huge surprise for us! Twin Martial Souls, and one of them is an Evil Fire Phoenix! Our academy has truly found a treasure this time!"

"Aren't you curious why my Second Martial Soul is the same Evil Fire Phoenix as Senior Sister Xiaotao's?" Jiang Qingtong asked, looking at Zhuang Lao's smiling face.

Zhuang Lao shook his head. "What does an old man like me need curiosity for? Curiosity is for young people like you! I only need to make sure your bodies are in good shape."

As expected of a Healing Type Super Douluo. He viewed everything with calm composure, fully committed to healthy living.

During the subsequent Ring Tournaments, after Jiang Qingtong revealed her Evil Fire Phoenix Martial Soul, she no longer hid it.

Although some Three Rings Soul Elders appeared among the challengers that followed, none encountered a team like Dai Huabin's, where all three members were Three Rings Soul Elders and the support member possessed the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda, the foremost Support Martial Soul.

As a result, the following battles posed even less pressure for Jiang Qingtong's trio.

The month-and-a-half-long New Student Assessment Ring Tournament ended with Jiang Qingtong's group, as the defending champions, remaining at full strength.

After finishing the final match, Wang Dong and Xiao Xiao excitedly embraced. The two little girls cheered, then pulled Jiang Qingtong into the hug, and the three celebrated on the stage.

"Tonight, let's have something good!" Xiao Xiao suggested.

"Which day haven't we eaten well these past few days?" Jiang Qingtong asked.

Ever since they had begun defending the ring, the academy had prepared the best meals for them in consideration of their physical condition.

"Xiao Xiao means we won't eat cafeteria food. We're going out to indulge ourselves! Have a feast!" Wang Dong explained from the side.

Xiao Xiao nodded. "That's right, the class monitor is right!"

"Sure! No problem!" Jiang Qingtong agreed to their suggestion.

Yan Shaozhe and Cai Meier descended from the sky and landed on the ring. Yan Shaozhe looked at Jiang Qingtong with a smile and said, "The celebration can wait. There is something more important now."

When Yan Shaozhe and Cai Meier appeared together, all the new students erupted in commotion. Even Wang Dong and Xiao Xiao grew nervous.

These two were absolute giants of the Martial Soul Department!

Although Zhuang Lao had also been a Super Douluo, he was very kind. Wang Dong and Xiao Xiao often forgot his status as a Super Douluo and simply regarded him as an old grandfather.

"Something more important?"

Wang Dong and Xiao Xiao exchanged a glance and waited for Yan Shaozhe to continue.

Yan Shaozhe looked toward everyone in the stands and announced that the New Student Assessment had ended. At the same time, he announced that Jiang Qingtong, Wang Dong, and Xiao Xiao had become Core Disciples of the Martial Soul Department and received Inner Court Access.

"The Inner Court!"

Upon hearing Yan Shaozhe's words, Wang Dong and Xiao Xiao became even more excited.

The Inner Court!

That was the Inner Court!

Receiving Inner Court Access did not mean they had gained the status of Inner Court disciples, but for geniuses like Wang Dong and Xiao Xiao, being able to enter and leave the Inner Court meant gaining greater knowledge and more cultivation opportunities. The benefits were undoubtedly immense.

As for Jiang Qingtong, she felt nothing about these rewards.

She could enter and leave the Inner Court whenever she wanted. As for cultivation opportunities, thanks to the talent she had gained through transmigration, her cultivation had always gone smoothly, and she had never encountered a bottleneck.

Jiang Qingtong even occasionally wondered whether she truly had a bottleneck. Or would she become a god directly once her cultivation reached level one hundred? Or would the rules established by the God Realm suppress her at level ninety-nine?

But such matters were still too distant for Jiang Qingtong. At this point, she had no way to investigate them.

After the Ring Tournament ended, Yan Shaozhe and Cai Meier did not immediately ask Jiang Qingtong about her Evil Fire Phoenix Martial Soul. Instead, they waited until she, Wang Dong, and Xiao Xiao had celebrated and rested for a few days, and the new students were gradually leaving the academy for break, before bringing it up.

Yan Shaozhe had even specifically brought Ma Xiaotao along.

"Qingtong, can I see your Martial Soul?" Ma Xiaotao looked at Jiang Qingtong and made the request.

Jiang Qingtong did not refuse. In front of Ma Xiaotao, she released her Evil Fire Phoenix Martial Soul.

After sensing that familiar scorching heat, Ma Xiaotao nodded. "That's right! This is the Evil Fire Phoenix Martial Soul! Qingtong, are you really from the Sun Moon Empire?"

Jiang Qingtong gave a quiet sound of acknowledgment. "Yes, I'm from the Sun Moon Empire. Is something wrong?"

Ma Xiaotao said directly, "This is simply too unbelievable. The Evil Fire Phoenix Martial Soul is my family's inherited Martial Soul. I can be certain that my family has no relatives in the Sun Moon Empire, yet your Martial Soul is a genuine Evil Fire Phoenix..."

"That's perfectly normal. After all, who can really explain Martial Soul mutations?"

Jiang Qingtong spread her hands and looked at Ma Xiaotao and Yan Shaozhe with a smile. "After all, wasn't Senior Sister Xiaotao's ancestor, the Phoenix Douluo Ma Hongjun, also mutated from a grass chicken?"

Whether Ma Hongjun's Martial Soul had originally been a grass chicken had long become impossible to verify after ten thousand years of retelling.

Yet after hearing Jiang Qingtong's words, Yan Shaozhe nodded. "That does make sense. Even the Martial Soul Department of Shrek Academy has not fully understood Martial Soul mutations. It is not impossible for the same Martial Soul to mutate from different people at different times and places."