Shrek Academy.
Yan Shaozhe, Xian Lin'er, and the others were all struck speechless.
Every Soul Master's lifelong pursuit was to obtain a Hundred Thousand Year Red Soul Ring.
Now, a never-before-seen Million Year Soul Ring had suddenly appeared before them.
This had completely shattered their understanding—or rather, the understanding of all Soul Masters.
"A Million Year Soul Ring...
Looking at the Golden Soul Ring on the Sky Curtain, even Mu En, whose emotions had grown placid after more than two hundred and fifty years, couldn't help feeling moved. "So this is the Daughter of Destiny!"
"I never imagined that a Million Year Soul Beast actually existed in this world!"
After drawing in a sharp breath, Beast King Douluo Gong Changlong murmured, his eyes burning with excitement, "Even Beast God Di Tian is only eight hundred and ninety thousand years old."
"That's right! I always thought that was the limit for the Soul Beast Clan."
At this, Elder Song nodded, looking incredulous. "After all, unlike us humans, they have to face a Heavenly Tribulation every hundred thousand years."
"Having a never-before-seen Million Year Soul Ring as her first Soul Ring is truly unprecedented—and may never be surpassed."
Yan Shaozhe looked up at the sky and murmured, "Even he probably couldn't compare."
Because Tang San had deliberately kept it hidden, people didn't know that the final Soul Ring he obtained before becoming a god had been a Million Year Soul Ring.
That was what had led to this misunderstanding.
"But what I can't understand is, how did they kill that Million Year Soul Beast?"
"And how did that young girl manage to absorb a Million Year Soul Ring?"
At this point, Xian Lin'er asked two questions in quick succession, looking utterly baffled. "Even if she's the Daughter of Destiny, this is a little too..."
She seemed to suddenly lose her words. Unsure how to describe it, she struggled for a while before settling on two: "Ridiculous!"
The age of Soul Ring a Soul Master could absorb depended on two things: the strength of their body and their Spiritual Power.
Every Soul Master's physical condition and Spiritual Power were different, so there was no way to establish a universal standard for the age of Soul Rings they could absorb.
Countless facts had proven that the theory on Soul Ring absorption limits proposed by Yu Xiaogang ten thousand years ago was, in fact, wrong.
The Shrek Academy leadership at the time had paid a hefty price to keep the matter under wraps.
If Yu Xiaogang hadn't been one of the founders of Shrek Academy, as well as Sea God Tang San's teacher, the academy's leadership would have kicked him out and severed all ties with him long ago.
After all, Yu Xiaogang was a real fraud.
Who could believe that Yu Xiaogang, the renowned theorist once famous across the continent for proposing the Ten Core Competencies of Martial Soul and hailed as the unrivaled authority on Martial Soul theory, had put forward theories that were mostly riddled with holes?
As for the few other theories that were relatively sound, they had already been around.
Yu Xiaogang had merely compiled and summarized them, then passed them off as his own.
Of course, that was the flattering way to put it.
In truth, it was plagiarism.
Because of Yu Xiaogang, Shrek Academy had been left to clean up his mess time and again.
Otherwise, Yu Xiaogang would have gone down in history not as a great figure, but as a disgrace.
This had only made Sea God Tang San's standing in the eyes of Shrek Academy's leadership all the more impressive.
With a mediocre teacher like Yu Xiaogang, who had led his students astray, Tang San had still managed to become a god. That alone spoke volumes about his true potential.
Even Mu En had found himself disgusted with this ancestor of his after learning the truth.
Only people like Bei Bei, who didn't know the truth, still held Yu Xiaogang in high regard.
Back to the matter at hand: in theory, if all three factors were sufficiently strong, then even a ten-thousand-year Soul Ring could serve as a first Soul Ring.
Of course, that was only in theory.
Forget ten-thousand-year Soul Rings; even a thousand-year or ten-thousand-year Soul Ring couldn't possibly serve as a Soul Master's first Soul Ring in this era.
Even Mu En, hailed as the strongest person in Shrek Academy in a thousand years, had only a hundred-year Soul Ring as his first.
That showed just how incredible it was for Huo Yutong to have a Million Year Soul Ring as her first Soul Ring.
"Setting aside every impossibility, only one possibility remains."
After a moment's thought, Mu En spoke slowly.
"Sacrifice?" Cai Mei'er raised her eyebrows and blurted out the word.
"That's right. If a Soul Beast willingly turns into a Soul Ring, the fusion will succeed regardless of the Soul Master's strength or whether they've reached the level at which they need a Soul Ring."
"Don't forget, it said 'in advance.' Perhaps this was a boon meant for the Child of Destiny, and he had merely hastened its arrival."
Mu En gave a small nod. An unprecedented light shone in his aged eyes. "That could also explain the unusual things he did in the earlier scenes."
"Elder Mu, are you saying he can see the future?"
Hearing this, Shi Xing's expression shifted.
He had actually considered this possibility earlier.
But as the owner of the Time-Space Silver Disk Martial Soul, he understood better than anyone how terrifying the power of time was.
It was a power no human could control.
That was exactly why Shi Xing had dismissed the thought at once.
"This is only the most likely possibility."
Mu En shook his head slightly, gazing at the Sky Curtain high above as he offered his theory:
"From the information revealed on the Sky Curtain so far, our world has a consciousness of its own.
"And that young girl is the Child of Destiny chosen by the World Consciousness, the one favored by the world."
"The Child of Destiny is like the Imperial Auspicious Beast in the Star Dou Great Forest. But the fortune gathered around her is far greater. It belongs to the entire world, and is nowhere near comparable to that of the Imperial Auspicious Beast."
Mu En paused, then asked, "In that case, do you really think something as unbelievable as a Million Year Soul Beast sacrificing itself couldn't happen to her?"
Star Luo Empire, the imperial palace.
"A... a Million Year Soul Ring!"
Xu Jiawei's pupils contracted sharply, and even his breathing seemed to stop for several seconds.
"Xiao Tian, why didn't your future self get that Million Year Soul Ring for himself?"
It took Xu Jiawei a moment to recover. Then he turned to Gu Tian, puzzled.
At his words, everyone present turned to look at him.
"I'm not him. How would I know what he was thinking?"
Under everyone's gaze, Gu Tian remained composed and merely shrugged.
"But I think this must be the world's favor, an opportunity meant exclusively for the Daughter of Destiny. No one else can take it from her."
He seemed to think of something, then added that last remark.
Everyone here was trustworthy, and several were Titled Douluo with all nine Soul Rings, but there was no guarantee an accident couldn't happen.
So it was better to make things clear in advance.
Before you continue