Three Years!

Time flew by, and another three years passed.

In the heart of Heavenly Radiance Canyon, on a secluded patch of grass.

A refined middle-aged man and an exceptionally beautiful girl of eleven or twelve stood vigilantly surveying their surroundings. Behind them sat a handsome boy of the same age, cross-legged on the ground. Before him lay the corpse of a white horse with a single horn, from which a purple Soul Ring drifted toward the boy.

These three were Zhu Changhe, Zhu Ziyang, who had passed his eleventh birthday just over a month ago, and Jiang Nannan!

Zhu Ziyang was now absorbing his third Soul Ring.

As was plain to see, Zhu Ziyang had already reached the Soul Elder realm. An eleven-year-old Soul Elder was an unparalleled prodigy even across the entire continent, let alone in a border town like Anyang City!

When City Lord Hong Zhen learned the news, he had been so excited he nearly went mad. He treated Zhu Ziyang even more warmly than he would his own son—if he had one.

The Soul Beast corpse before Zhu Ziyang was a Sacred Light White Horse with 4,500 years of cultivation. This Soul Beast possessed an exceptionally pure Light Attribute, and its Power of Light carried a potent purifying effect. It had been Zhu Ziyang's carefully considered choice.

There were two reasons. First, the Sacred Light White Horse's Light Attribute was extremely powerful and would surely provide a considerable boost to the Radiant Scythe. Second, Zhu Ziyang needed an offensive soul skill with the Light Attribute. The Sacred Light White Horse was formidable enough to provide him with a powerful offensive soul skill.

Over these three years, Zhu Ziyang's growth had not been limited to Soul Power; it had been comprehensive. His choice of this Sacred Light White Horse alone made that clear. A 4,500-year Soul Ring far exceeded the average age limit for a Soul Master's third Soul Ring. Thanks to cultivating the Great Light Mantra and consciously tempering his body every day, Zhu Ziyang's physical strength had long been sufficient to withstand a Soul Ring of around 6,000 years. If Heavenly Radiance Canyon had contained a Sacred Light White Horse with a higher cultivation level, he never would have chosen this one.

Having already absorbed Soul Rings twice before, Zhu Ziyang refined this one very quickly. About two hours later, under Zhu Changhe and Jiang Nannan's watchful eyes, the purple Soul Ring completely merged into Zhu Ziyang's body and became a part of him.

Zhu Ziyang opened his eyes and sprang to his feet. A magnificent silver-white War Scythe engraved with golden patterns appeared in his hand. It was his first Martial Soul, the Radiant Scythe.

Compared to when it had first awakened, the Radiant Scythe had changed immensely. The incomplete patterns on its handle had nearly been restored as Zhu Ziyang's strength increased, which was also tied to the intensity of the Radiant Scythe's Light Attribute. Zhu Ziyang's affinity with the Light Element had already surpassed seventy, so the Radiant Scythe was only one complete transformation away from becoming a Top-tier Martial Soul!

As the Radiant Scythe appeared, one yellow and two purple Soul Rings floated behind him. Anyone who saw them could not help but marvel at such monstrous talent.

"How was it? Did you get the soul skill you wanted?" Zhu Changhe hurried forward and asked.

Watching his son gradually catch up to him and even prepare to surpass him left Zhu Changhe both gratified and bitter. Though his cultivation had reached Rank 37 over the past few years because he had switched to the Zhu Clan Meditation Method created by Zhu Ziyang, he knew that at his son's cultivation speed, Zhu Ziyang would likely surpass him within three years.

"Mm!" Zhu Ziyang put away his Martial Soul, a confident smile curling his lips. "Exorcism Slash of Light. It gathers immense Power of Light and purifies all evil and darkness with overwhelming destructive force. It's a powerful offensive soul skill."

As Zhu Ziyang spoke, his third Soul Ring lit up. The Radiant Scythe in his hand instantly shone with pure white radiance. Then, with a swing of his arm, he brought it down upon a massive boulder five men tall and three men wide beside him. The boulder exploded with a crash, its fractured surface speckled with points of white light.

"That's great!" Seeing that the Exorcism Slash of Light possessed such power, Jiang Nannan immediately clapped and cheered. "With this, Brother Ziyang's combat strength has risen by a huge margin again!"

Jiang Nannan had just turned eleven as well. Thanks to Zhu Ziyang, despite possessing only an ordinary Soft Bone Rabbit Martial Soul, she had already become a Rank 25 Soul Grandmaster. That level of talent was undoubtedly among the continent's best.

"With this, your chances of getting into Shrek Academy have risen by another huge margin!" Zhu Changhe said, his face full of excitement.

Shrek Academy could be said to be the obsession of generations of Soul Masters from Anyang City. No, it should be said that Soul Masters across the original Douluo Continent held an almost fanatical reverence and obsession for Shrek Academy. Students who graduated from Shrek Academy would receive the highest respect no matter which city they went to.

"Mm! We definitely will." Zhu Ziyang nodded faintly.

Zhu Changhe did not know Shrek Academy's admissions rules, but Zhu Ziyang knew them very well. To enter Shrek Academy's Outer Court, one had to meet three conditions. First, one needed a letter of recommendation from the city lord of any major city within the Three Great Empires. Second, one had to be no older than twelve. Third, one's Soul Power could not be below Rank 15.

Of these three requirements, only the first posed a problem for Zhu Ziyang and Jiang Nannan. Anyang City was merely a second-tier city, and Hong Zhen was not qualified to recommend students to Shrek Academy. Fortunately, Anyang City's superior major city was Dragon City. Every year, Dragon City's lord would send two letters of recommendation to the lords of his subordinate cities as a display of favor. Those two letters were perfect—one for Zhu Ziyang and one for Jiang Nannan.

Zhu Ziyang and Zhu Changhe inspected the Sacred Light White Horse's corpse but found no Soul Bone. They could only cut off the horn atop its head, as it was the most valuable part of the Sacred Light White Horse.

The three left Heavenly Radiance Canyon and returned to Anyang City in a single day.

Zhu Ziyang and Jiang Nannan had long since stopped attending Anyang Academy. They had stopped going after reaching Rank 20 one after another, as their strength had already far surpassed the graduation requirements.

Now, they were simply waiting for next month, when they would set out to take Shrek Academy's entrance examination.

Beihe Village, the forest behind the village.

Zhu Ziyang, who had returned three days ago, was currently practicing his Martial Soul in this territory that belonged to him alone.

Over the years, he had long since achieved the goals he had initially set.

As for Martial Soul control, by the age of nine, he had already been able to use his Martial Soul without displaying his Soul Rings.

Now, he could even release his Martial Soul without producing the slightest fluctuation of Soul Power. This was not merely mastery over his Martial Soul; it also represented an exceptionally high level of application and control over Soul Power.

At this moment, Zhu Ziyang's degree of control over his Martial Soul was likely only lacking the immense amplification of a Tool Soul Avatar when compared to a Soul Saint's Tool Soul Avatar. Zhu Ziyang was confident that if he used only his Martial Soul and no Soul Rings, he would not claim to be invincible, but he would certainly have few rivals!

After reaching a very high level of Martial Soul control, Zhu Ziyang began researching Self-Created Soul Skills.

Self-Created Soul Skills were the standard mark of peerless geniuses.

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