It had to be said that this batch of Shrek trainees was quite capable.
Although none of the eleven of them was a Spirit Douluo with an eighth soul ring, they had ultimately still defeated that Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast. It was just that their victory had been somewhat tragic.
Of the eleven, six had completely stopped breathing, while another had had his right arm, which possessed a soul bone, severed. He clearly would not survive either.
The four who were still alive were not in good condition either. One had been left with a disfiguring scar running across his entire face, while another had simply lost his right leg. Fortunately, his martial soul was an owl, so it would not greatly hinder his movements.
Only Han Ruoruo and Zhang Lexuan were slightly better off, though only in terms of their physical injuries.
The reason they had been able to kill the Hundred-Thousand-Year banyan tree was because one senior disciple possessed a soul skill that could forcibly immobilize it. However, that immobilization skill required him to get extremely close before it could barely restrain a Hundred-Thousand-Year banyan tree.
The Hundred-Thousand-Year banyan tree had been restrained, but they still lacked sufficient offensive power. Zhang Lexuan did possess a soul skill powerful enough, but it had a certain area of effect.
There had been no other choice in that situation. Once that senior disciple exhausted his Soul Power, they would not even have the chance to perish together with the banyan tree.
Thus, left with no alternative, Zhang Lexuan had dealt with both that senior disciple and the Hundred-Thousand-Year banyan tree at once.
The good news was that the banyan tree had been dealt with. The Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Ring had emerged, and the Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bone was within reach. The bad news was that Zhang Lexuan's psychological trauma was anything but minor.
The massive expenditure of Soul Power and mental strength had left her on the verge of collapse, but Zhang Lexuan knew that she could not fall yet.
Xuan Zi was still nowhere to be found. If they wanted to survive, they still had to rely on themselves.
And in their current state, it was clearly impossible for them to leave the Star Dou Great Forest.
Only if she became a Spirit Douluo could the five of them, who had not yet suffered fatal injuries, survive.
But the others no longer had the strength to hunt another Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Ring for her. Fusing with this Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Ring to advance to Spirit Douluo was their only path to survival.
"Junior Disciple Sister, what are you doing?!"
Seeing the resolve in Zhang Lexuan's eyes as she looked at the Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Ring, Han Ruoruo immediately guessed what she intended and hurriedly tried to stop her.
Zhang Lexuan's gaze was filled with determination. "Sister Ruoruo, Xuan Zi is nowhere to be found. Right now, only by absorbing this Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Ring and advancing to Spirit Douluo can I hope to lead everyone out of the Star Dou Great Forest."
"No! Junior Disciple Sister, your physical condition simply cannot withstand the destruction caused by a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Ring! You would struggle even with a Ninety-Thousand-Year Soul Ring! Absorbing a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Ring is practically suicide!" Han Ruoruo sternly tried to stop Zhang Lexuan, but Zhang Lexuan's eyes remained filled with resolve.
"Sister Ruoruo, where is there any Junior Disciple Sister left now? Those senior disciples who once protected me have already died in this battle against the Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast. As the one with the highest Soul Power, how can I continue being the Junior Disciple Sister protected by others?" At that point, Zhang Lexuan forced a smile. "Sister Ruoruo, you should call me Senior Disciple Sister now. My senior brothers have already protected me to this extent. Let me protect their safety for what remains."
With a resolute expression, Zhang Lexuan walked toward the Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Ring. But at that moment, the two other surviving Shrek trainees stepped in front of her.
"Are you trying to stop me?"
The two exchanged a glance, then shook their heads. They knew Zhang Lexuan's temperament. At a time like this, they could no longer persuade her otherwise. So, rather than trying to stop her from absorbing the Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Ring, they brought up something else.
"You can absorb that Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Ring, but before that, you must absorb the Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bone. Otherwise, with your current body, you do not have even the slightest chance of enduring the Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Ring. We cannot watch you throw your life away for nothing!"
Zhang Lexuan hurriedly shook her head. "How can that be? We killed that Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast together. I have already decided to take the Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Ring. How can I take the Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bone as well?"
The other two Shrek trainees did not argue with Zhang Lexuan over whether she could absorb the soul bone. Instead, they sternly told her, "This is the bottom line for us to agree to you absorbing the Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Ring. Either absorb all the soul bones from the others that can be absorbed, or fuse with the Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bone first. There are no other options."
Hearing this, Zhang Lexuan fell silent. Absorbing the soul bones of her senior brothers and sisters would cause considerable damage to their bodies in such an urgent situation. Besides, although they were direct descendants of Shrek, not all of them lacked families. Some of their soul bones had to be returned to their clans. How could she absorb them?
Would that not mean being protected by someone, only to sever that person's family inheritance afterward?
She could not touch her senior brothers' and sisters' soul bones, while the other three insisted that she absorb a soul bone first. Considering that the Soul Ring could only remain for a limited time, she could no longer continue arguing with them. Left with no choice, she agreed to their condition of bone first, ring second.
Taking out the right arm bone produced by the Hundred-Thousand-Year banyan tree, Zhang Lexuan glanced at the Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Ring, whose duration was limited, and began absorbing the Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bone without daring to waste even a second.
On the other side of the Star Dou Great Forest.
Xuan Zi, who had already slept for most of the day, slowly rose and gave himself a good stretch.
As a rank ninety-eight Titled Douluo, he had not worked for far too many years. He had always wandered about as he pleased, living every day by eating, sleeping, then eating again.
He had lived like that for over a hundred years, so the habit of eating and sleeping had long since been carved into Xuan Zi's bones.
Although Mu En had assigned him a task, and he had accepted it, and had even carried it out at the start, the problem was that he had been invincible for too long. So long that his strength had made him accustomed to sleeping soundly in the Star Dou Great Forest.
So, when the Shrek trainees stopped midway to rest, he had taken a short nap as well.
He had thought it would only be a brief nap. Who could have expected that the habits cultivated over more than a hundred years would make him sleep almost until the next day?
One had to know that the weakest among those Shrek geniuses were already rank seventy. As long as they did not encounter formidable opponents, the traveling speed of rank-seventy soul masters could only be described as terrifying.
Thus, when Xuan Zi stretched and remembered that he was still escorting the others to hunt Soul Rings, only to find that the students hunting Soul Rings had disappeared without a trace, he suddenly had no mood to eat chicken legs anymore.
"Tang Tong, Xiao Yan, Zhang Lexuan, where are you? Where are you all?!"
In an instant, Xuan Zi realized that he had gotten separated from those students.
Thinking of how those students were all direct descendants of Shrek, each possessing the potential to become elders, Xuan Zi's expression changed drastically.
"Ahhh!!!!!"
"What have I done?! I actually threw so many Shrek geniuses into a dangerous place!"
"I'm afraid only being expelled from Sea God's Pavilion can atone for my sins!"
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