Time passed silently amid regular cultivation, sparring, field practice, and classroom study.
Only when Xiao Qing felt his Soul Power bottleneck beginning to loosen did he realize that his twelfth birthday was fast approaching—and that the threshold of level thirty was now within reach.
Over the past few years, everyone at Shrek Academy had changed noticeably, both in strength and in spirit.
The most obvious change was Ma Hongjun's. With the continued help of Clear Heart Sausages, the Evil Fire inside him—the same fire that had once tormented him—had finally been tamed, at least to a degree.
He still had a long way to go before gaining complete control, but at least most of the restlessness that could flare up at any moment had subsided. Now, he no longer needed Oscar's sausages to suppress it. Through sheer willpower and the increasingly familiar art of controlling fire, he could keep his cultivation and daily life stable.
Oscar's changes were more subtle. With Teacher Shao's dedicated guidance and his own constant experimentation, he had made great strides in the fine control of Soul Power.
He discovered that by deliberately increasing the total amount of Soul Power he used to make his sausages, at the cost of shortening the time they could retain their physical form and remain at peak effectiveness, he could steadily improve their effects by a small margin.
Both the healing and nourishing effects of the Recovery Big Sausage and the calming, mind-clearing power of the Clear Heart Sausage could be improved by around ten to fifteen percent.
This once again proved that an auxiliary Soul Master's potential was by no means limited to that brief moment on the battlefield.
Dai Mubai had changed so drastically that he was almost unrecognizable.
Ever since Xiao Qing defeated him and Flender brought him to his senses, the air of decadence mixed with arrogance around him had gradually faded.
He no longer set foot in Suotuo City's entertainment venues, nor did he spread those hedonistic ideas. He threw himself back into cultivation, with a ferocity that surpassed even the brutal training he had endured as a child in the Star Luo Imperial Palace.
He had come to terms with it. Even if he couldn't escape the fate of competing within the Star Luo Imperial Family, he would stand and fight to the end rather than lie down and rot.
More importantly, Oscar's Clear Heart Sausage had let him experience firsthand the satisfaction of efficient cultivation, while the progress made by Xiao Qing, Ma Hongjun, and the others had shown him another possibility.
He no longer saw his elder brother, Dai Weisi, as an insurmountable mountain. Instead, he attributed his brother's lead solely to his advantage in age.
"With Oscar's sausages to help me, and Shrek's environment, I might still catch up from behind."
That thought became the heart of his renewed motivation to cultivate. His Soul Power Level rose steadily, and his fighting style shed much of its flashiness, growing steadier and more precise.
A few days before his birthday, after a session of Deep Meditation, Xiao Qing broke through the level-thirty barrier as naturally as water flowing into a channel.
Xiao Qing didn't dwell on the joy of his breakthrough for long. Instead, he began calmly planning his third Soul Beast.
He got up, ready to discuss Soul Hunting with Flender or Zhao Wuji.
Just then, the dormitory door was flung open, and Oscar rushed in like a gust of wind. His face was flushed with excitement as he grabbed Xiao Qing by the shoulders. "Xiao Qing! You'll never believe what I just managed to do!"
Xiao Qing's gaze swept over Oscar's face, keenly catching the Soul Power fluctuations around him that had yet to settle completely. They were clearly stronger than before, and had reached a critical threshold.
"You broke through to level twenty-nine."
Xiao Qing's voice was calm.
Oscar's excitement froze for a moment, then his shoulders slumped. He looked disappointed, but also amused. "How did you figure it out at a glance? That's no fun! I wanted to surprise you!"
He scratched his head, but the joy in his eyes remained.
"I just broke through too. I'm level thirty."
Xiao Qing continued as if he were mentioning something trivial.
"Level thirty?!"
Oscar's disappointment at failing to show off was instantly replaced by even greater shock.
He stared at Xiao Qing, mouth opening and closing before he finally muttered, "Monster..."
He knew how hard Xiao Qing worked at cultivation, but even so, this speed had exceeded his expectations.
Thinking of how excited he had been just moments earlier, he suddenly felt rather deflated. He turned and headed for the door. "I'm going to tell Fatty this 'good news' and let him 'share in the joy'!"
Xiao Qing watched Oscar run toward Ma Hongjun's dormitory next door and shook his head.
He had secured the separate dormitory the previous year, after careful calculations and negotiations with Flender.
With his silver tongue, he had finally persuaded the shrewd dean to pay out of his own pocket—though Flender had been in considerable pain over it—to build a separate dormitory with slightly better conditions.
Xiao Qing and Oscar shared one room, while Ma Hongjun and Dai Mubai stayed in their original dormitory, though they had more space now.
At the dean's office, Xiao Qing went straight to the point, explaining why he had come and detailing his ideas for his third Soul Beast.
"Right now, the combination of Xiao Feng and A'Man covers most ground battles. But it has two obvious weaknesses: first, air combat; second, underwater environments."
"Since I'm unlikely to venture into large bodies of water, improving my aerial capabilities is the best choice."
"Besides, very few Soul Masters can fly. That means that in most encounters, if I have air superiority, I'll have the advantage whether I'm attacking or retreating."
Flender leaned back in his chair, lightly tapping his fingers on the desk.
Thanks to Oscar's Clear Heart Sausage, which improved the efficiency of Meditation, Flender had been able to cultivate twice as fast over the past few years. Not long ago, he had finally broken through and become a Soul Douluo. He was in the prime of his life.
He agreed wholeheartedly with Xiao Qing's analysis. As a Soul Master who could fly himself, he understood better than anyone the value of air superiority in combat and movement.
"Your thinking is clear," Flender said with a nod. "There are quite a few kinds of flying Soul Beasts. What type do you want?"
Xiao Qing had already thought it through. "Speed is the foundation; it ensures mobility. Ideally, it should also have some offensive power—not necessarily a lot, but enough to pose a threat and work with my ground units to attack on multiple levels. It would be even better if its attributes could complement or synergize with Xiao Feng's."
Flender considered this for a moment. "The Wind-Thunder Falcon is a Soul Beast with both wind and lightning attributes. It's extremely fast, has strong burst power, and specializes in straight-line assaults and lightning attacks."
"That'll do."
Xiao Qing didn't hesitate. The Wind-Thunder Falcon's traits suited his needs.
Early the next morning, Flender set off with Xiao Qing for the Star Dou Great Forest.
With a newly promoted Soul Douluo personally guarding him, the Soul Hunting went more smoothly than they could have imagined.
Drawing on his formidable strength and rich experience, Flender quickly located an area where a small group of Wind-Thunder Falcons was active.
They chose a lone mature Wind-Thunder Falcon that was around 2,700 years old.
The battle was practically decided from the start.
Flender unleashed a Soul Douluo's pressure, disrupting and restricting the Wind-Thunder Falcon's flight.
Xiao Qing directed Xiao Feng to harass it from the ground with wind blades, forcing it to change course, while A'Man stood by to guard against a desperate diving attack.
Under Flender's precise control, the Wind-Thunder Falcon was quickly worn down and injured until it was on the verge of losing the ability to fight back.
Xiao Qing seized the moment, summoned the Prism Ball, and engulfed his target in a beam of white light, capturing it without a hitch.
This 2,700-year-old Wind-Thunder Falcon gave Xiao Qing his third Soul Skill: Lightning Flash.
Just three days later, Flender returned to Shrek Academy with Xiao Qing, who had successfully obtained his third Soul Ring.
When they walked through the academy's somewhat dilapidated gate, they found Oscar, Zhao Wuji, Ma Hongjun, Dai Mubai, and even Teacher Shao Xin—who rarely took part in the students' activities—gathered in the courtyard.
As soon as he saw them return, Oscar hurried over with something in his hands.
It was a round cake made crudely from ordinary flour, eggs, and a little powdered sugar. A thin, uneven layer of something pale and creamy had been spread over its surface, and the number "12" had been written crookedly on top in some kind of jam.
"Xiao Qing! Happy birthday!"
Oscar held the makeshift "cake" up to Xiao Qing, his face beaming with a sincere smile. "We made it just in time! Teacher Shao and I tried several times before we got it right. It might not look like much, but it should taste okay! We're celebrating your breakthrough to level thirty, and your twelfth birthday too!"
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