Pillar of Courage Anomaly

"Senior, you're amazing! You nearly killed a Hundred-Year Soul Beast with one punch!"

"I'm a Soul Ancestor. If I couldn't kill a Hundred-Year Soul Beast with one punch, that would be strange. All right, hurry up and kill it so you can absorb its Soul Ring."

Xiao Xiao released her Three-Life Soul-Suppressing Cauldron Martial Soul and controlled one of the massive cauldrons to smash viciously down on the Black Gold Ant's head.

A deep yellow Soul Ring appeared over the Black Gold Ant's corpse. Xiao Xiao sat cross-legged and guided the ring onto her Three-Life Soul-Suppressing Cauldron, beginning the absorption process.

After Xiao Xiao began absorbing the Soul Ring, Gong Changlong came over to Chen Yuan. His face was as dark as the bottom of a pot.

"My floor!"

"Have Dean Yan reimburse you."

Fixing it himself was impossible. It would never happen in this lifetime.

He did not even have four hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins on him now, and most of that had to be used to buy resources. There was no way he was paying for it either.

"Hmph, I'm not so petty that I'd make trouble for a student like you."

"I'm truly curious about your Martial Soul now. The gauntlet is clearly a Tool Martial Soul, but that Dragon Soul gives you the same physical enhancement that a Beast Martial Soul grants a Soul Master."

Under normal circumstances, Tool Martial Souls provided less physical enhancement than Beast Martial Souls. That was why Beast Soul Masters were stronger than Tool Soul Masters in the early stages.

After seven rings, however, that gap reversed. For some reason, the enhancement Tool Soul Masters gained after releasing their Martial Soul Avatars was even more outrageous than that of Beast Soul Masters.

This had led to the current consensus: before seven rings, Beast Soul Masters were stronger than Tool Soul Masters; after seven rings, the situation reversed.

Of course, that consensus applied to most people. Top geniuses had already broken free of it.

Chen Yuan's Martial Soul was very unusual. That Dragon Soul allowed him to receive the physical enhancement of a Beast Soul Master, and the Dragon Soul itself was part of Chen Yuan's Martial Soul.

Therefore, whether before or after seven rings, Chen Yuan would always hold the advantage.

With the Dragon Soul enhancing his body, four Over-Limit Soul Rings strengthening him, four percentage-based enhancement Soul Skills activated, and the Flame Gauntlet as a weapon—

Chen Yuan's right fist dealt high damage, and his left fist dealt even higher damage.

There were no mechanics, only raw stats!

Gong Changlong did not linger on the topic of Chen Yuan's Martial Soul for long. He knew everyone had secrets, and it would not do to pry too deeply.

In truth, he had always thought highly of Chen Yuan, a fire-attribute Soul Master like himself.

Soul Masters with elemental attributes were already rare. Aside from Gong Changlong himself, there were only three fire-attribute Soul Masters at Shrek Academy that he knew of.

One of them, Ma Xiaotao, was practically a ticking bomb.

Yet Chen Yuan was not only fire-attributed, but his Martial Soul had no flaws whatsoever. He was not affected by the fire attribute, nor had it made his temper violent. Instead, he was exceptionally calm.

That made Gong Changlong even more curious. Whenever Chen Yuan released his Martial Soul, he always sensed a faint but undeniable feeling of suppression.

In Gong Changlong's view, that meant Chen Yuan's Martial Soul still had room to advance further. Perhaps when he reached seven rings, it could become the legendary Ultimate Fire.

Ultimate Fire!

This Ultimate Attribute held a special meaning for Shrek.

It had been the attribute of that Title Douluo who had led Shrek and the Original Three Kingdoms of Douluo to defeat the Sun Moon Empire.

"By the way, kid, you're already level 44. How many years old are you planning to make your next Soul Ring?"

"Thirty or forty thousand years, probably. My Fourth Soul Ring was already fifteen thousand years old. I can't exactly make my Fifth Soul Ring roughly the same age, can I?"

"Thirty or forty thousand years! Then your Sixth Soul Ring will have to be at least fifty thousand years. Work hard, and your Eighth Soul Ring can reach one hundred thousand years."

In Gong Changlong's eyes, having a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Ring as one's eighth ring was already incredibly impressive. Even Xuan Zi only had one Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Ring.

Zhang Lexuan's eighth ring being one hundred thousand years old had been a complete accident.

"When the time comes for you to hunt a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast, remember to call me along. I'll make sure you get a suitable one."

"All right! Then thank you, Elder Gong."

Though he thanked him aloud, Chen Yuan did not truly take Gong Changlong's words to heart.

According to his plan, his seventh ring had to be one hundred thousand years old. He did not have Twin Martial Souls, so he had to put more effort into his Soul Ring configuration.

By then, whether he would still be at Shrek Academy was another matter entirely.

Could it be because the Emperor Auspicious Beast Three-Eyed Golden Lion had surpassed the ten-thousand-year limit, increasing the chances of Soul Beasts in the Star Dou Great Forest safely enduring their Heavenly Tribulations?

Otherwise, there was no explanation for why so many Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts had emerged within these ten thousand years.

With so many Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts in this era, why not do everything possible to obtain higher-age Soul Rings?

After waiting for quite a while, Xiao Xiao finally finished absorbing her Second Soul Ring.

After carefully sensing her Soul Skill, Xiao Xiao became extremely excited.

"Senior! I succeeded! My Second Soul Skill is incredible!"

"Thousand-Jun Suppression!"

The aura emanating from the Three-Life Soul-Suppressing Cauldron became even heavier and more ancient as it slammed fiercely into the ground.

With a boom, three large craters appeared in the ground.

Around the craters, even the fluctuations of Soul Power seemed to have slowed considerably.

"This is my Second Soul Skill, Thousand-Jun Suppression. It doubles the weight of my Three-Life Soul-Suppressing Cauldron and comes with a Heavy Pressure effect."

"Any target struck by my cauldron will have the flow of Soul Power in their body slowed for five seconds!"

One Soul Suppressing Cauldron weighed around five hundred jin. Doubled, that was five hundred kilograms—half a ton.

And Xiao Xiao had three cauldrons!

It could even slow the flow of Soul Power. Once that flow slowed, Soul Skills would take longer to activate, and even breaking free would become a problem.

Wait...

Chen Yuan thought of an excellent use for the Soul Suppressing Cauldron.

Before Gong Changlong, whose face had darkened again, could fly into a rage, Chen Yuan grabbed Xiao Xiao and ran toward the exit of the Beast Fighting Arena.

"Thanks for the Soul Ring, Elder Gong! See you at the Upgrade Assessment!"

After escaping the Beast Fighting Arena, Chen Yuan had not even had time to catch his breath before he discovered that the circulation speed of Soul Power within his body seemed to have increased dramatically.

And it was getting faster and faster. Mixed within it was Soul Power that did not belong to him.

Chen Yuan sensed the changes in his body in surprise, then turned to look at Xiao Xiao, who had yet to recover her senses.

Originally, Chen Yuan had thought the connection between him and Xiao Xiao would only last for a while, disappearing when either he or Xiao Xiao absorbed a Soul Ring.

But judging by the current situation, that connection seemed to have deepened considerably.

The Soul Power within their bodies suddenly collided. In an instant, both their auras weakened.

At that moment, inside Chen Yuan's Sea of Consciousness, Dali Gu had been idly poking at the Black Orb.

The sky here was black. The constellations representing Leo and Sagittarius shimmered brightly, while a red pillar of light pierced through heaven and earth. The pillar connected to a red planet—Dali Gu's guardian planet, Mars.

"Hmm? What's happening, Gulu?"

Dali Gu dropped the Black Orb and turned toward the Pillar of Courage behind it. At that moment, the pillar's radiance was far stronger than before.

Under Dali Gu's gaze, a faint wisp of energy separated from the Pillar of Courage and enveloped it.

Its vision blurred. When Dali Gu opened its eyes again, its perspective had changed into the one it usually had when attached to the Dragon Soul.

It sensed a force that did not belong to Chen Yuan entering Chen Yuan's body. That force was trying to merge with Chen Yuan's own power, but it could not progress any further.

Before Dali Gu could figure out what was happening, the familiar power of the Pillar of Courage struck again, forcibly pressing it between the two forces as a lubricant.