Quasi-Soul Elder

But he did not lose heart.

His teacher had fought Dugu Bo many times.

There had to be a way.

Besides, Lu Fan planned to find time to return to Shrek Academy.

Dai Mubai having the status of a prince was one thing.

But Ma Hongjun and Oscar—

even without Immortal Herbs, one had Innate Level 9 Soul Power, while the other had Innate Full Soul Power. Both were geniuses with the potential to become Titled Douluo.

Even if he did not recruit them to his side,

he still had to prepare in advance and could not let Tang San, an outsider, take them away.

If the two of them were willing to leave with Lu Fan for Spirit Hall in the future,

then if Lu Fan acquired Immortal Herbs later on,

these two brothers would certainly get a share.

But if they were unwilling, Lu Fan would not force them. They would go their separate ways from then on.

When the Soul Master Tournament came around, if Chrysanthemum Douluo and Ghost, the two Titled Douluo, went to intercept and kill them, he would no longer interfere.

"No, without Immortal Herbs, Shrek Academy could never advance from the Heaven Dou Division."

"Without the boost of Immortal Herbs, Shrek Academy definitely could not defeat Red Fire Academy, Godwind Academy, or even Skywater Academy."

"They might even struggle to get past Canghui Academy."

"In that case, Xiao Wu's identity as a ten-year soul beast probably will not be exposed so soon."

Lu Fan pondered inwardly.

Actually, that counted as a good thing.

If she was discovered too early, she would most likely fall into Bibi Dong's hands, or be sacrificed for Tang San.

Neither outcome would bring him any benefit.

If it happened later, perhaps he could make her his seventh or even eighth Spirit Ring in the future.

A 100,000-year Spirit Ring would be enough for him to ignore any incompatibility of attributes.

As for what he should do next,

all he could do was cultivate and increase his Soul Power.

However, what surprised Lu Fan was that

for quite a long time afterward,

Bibi Dong did not summon him at all

to ask about his Spirit Ring.

That left Lu Fan rather puzzled.

Still, he did not dwell on it.

Without sufficient strength, there was nothing he could do no matter how much he thought about it.

Time always passed quickly when cultivating.

Before he knew it, half a year had gone by.

The New Year was approaching.

The academy was also about to begin its winter break.

Over the past six months,

with a new and better mimicry cultivation chamber, medicinal meals containing at least hundred-year soul beast meat and hundred-year Whale Rubber every day, and medicinal baths specially prepared by Chrysanthemum Douluo,

Lu Fan's Soul Power had risen by three levels in just half a year.

He had become a Quasi-Soul Elder.

And he was not even ten years old yet.

If Gangzi, whose Soul Power had only broken through Level 29 by the age of fifty, found out about this, he would definitely cry, "Impossible! Absolutely impossible!"

At the same time,

after half a year had passed,

Hu Liena and the other two had all broken through Level 40 and become Soul Ancestors.

Each of them had also risen by two levels.

They had all gone from Level 39 to Level 41.

However, one of those levels had been gained entirely through absorbing their Spirit Rings.

Lu Fan would be able to do the same when he absorbed his third ring.

And he would be absorbing beyond the normal limit.

His second ring had already been a Thousand-Year Spirit Ring. Absorbing a third ring of three to four thousand years would definitely not be a problem.

The Soul Power fed back to him should raise him by two levels without much difficulty.

If I keep cultivating at this pace, by the next Soul Master Tournament, I should be able to break through to Soul Ancestor even without eating Immortal Herbs.

A thirteen-year-old Soul Ancestor was already extremely terrifying.

And if Lu Fan took Immortal Herbs as well, and more than one stalk at that,

then becoming a Soul King might not be impossible either.

Martial Soul Academy.

"What a pity. I'm already a Soul Ancestor. Otherwise, I really would have liked to fight you after you reached Soul Elder and absorbed your third ring."

Yan looked at Lu Fan with a smile.

Xie Yue beside him had the same thought.

He had also always wanted a fair fight with Lu Fan at the same level.

But delaying his own cultivation for something like that

would definitely not be worth it.

Lu Fan merely responded with a light smile. "There will be a chance."

To be honest,

among the three members of the Golden Generation, only Yan warranted a bit of caution from Lu Fan in a one-on-one fight at the same level.

The other man's Flame Lord possessed both fire and earth attributes.

It had powerful large-scale fire-attribute attacks.

It really did restrain Lu Fan somewhat.

But there was nothing to be done about that.

No one was perfect, much less a Martial Soul.

But for Lu Fan,

that kind of disadvantage would not last long.

Once he went to the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well,

he would never miss the chance to temper his body with ice and fire.

At that time, his Singular Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum would gain fire immunity and ice immunity.

At the same time, it would completely make up for his weakness as a plant-type Soul Master.

Hu Liena smiled faintly. "Your Soul Power should be close to Level 30 as well. Try to break through to Soul Elder before the next term begins."

Lu Fan nodded.

He had actually broken through Level 30 at dawn that very day.

No one else knew yet.

They still thought he was only at Level 29.

If he told them that he was already Level 30, he would definitely give them quite a shock.

Even the Golden Generation, as powerful as they were, had gained four or five levels from their four Spirit Rings. Excluding that, after cultivating for ten years, they had only increased by an average of about three and a half levels per year.

Yet Lu Fan had risen ten levels in a single year.

The Thousand-Year Spirit Ring had raised him by more than two levels.

In addition, his first time eating Ten Thousand Year Whale Rubber had been especially effective, helping him gain more than one level.

That meant he had gained nearly four levels without doing much cultivation at all.

He had increased by two levels over roughly half a year.

Then, under Chrysanthemum Douluo's care,

Lu Fan had crossed five levels in another half year.

It was nothing short of astonishing.

But that was only because Lu Fan's cultivation was still too low.

And because he had not taken many supplements before.

His body was easy to nourish.

It would become much more difficult to achieve such progress later on.

Not only because the higher his Soul Power became, the harder it was to advance.

His body would also develop resistance to medicine.

The medicinal baths made from relatively ordinary herbs would find it difficult to give him much further improvement.

Of course, there was good news as well.

Based on Chrysanthemum Douluo's bone assessment,

Lu Fan's physical improvement over the past six months was fully comparable to the progress others made over two or three years.

Lu Fan could no longer be considered merely around ten years old.

In terms of physical condition alone, he was already no weaker than a sixteen- or seventeen-year-old youth.

The benefits brought by this change were also extremely obvious.

He could persist in meditation cultivation for longer each time.

His body could also absorb the energy of heaven and earth more fiercely.

Ordinary Soul Masters with Innate Level 8 or 9 Soul Power, or even Innate Full Soul Power, had to wait until they were fourteen or fifteen before they could begin cultivating.

But Lu Fan had four or five more years than them to rapidly increase his Soul Power.

Lu Fan estimated inwardly

that if he did not eat Immortal Herbs next year,

then relying solely on himself, including the gains from absorbing Spirit Rings, he would probably only break through to around Level 36 or 37.

That was still an incredibly terrifying advancement rate.

I should still eat the Immortal Herbs sooner rather than later. The sooner I eat them, the sooner I enjoy the benefits. After the New Year, I'll find an opportunity around summer vacation.

Lu Fan thought to himself.

After greeting the three members of the Golden Generation, he went home to wait for Yue Guan to return.

Yue Guan had told him

that he must inform him when he went to hunt for a Spirit Ring.

It seemed Yue Guan had long since prepared a soul beast for Lu Fan's third Spirit Ring.

Lu Fan had also told Yue Guan before

that his third ring absolutely could not be lower than three thousand years,

and that he wanted to challenge one that was four thousand or even five thousand years old.

Yue Guan had readily agreed at the time.

He simply had not told Lu Fan exactly how old that soul beast was.