"..."
"..."
"..."
Bei Bei and the others stood rooted to the spot, their pupils contracting as they stared in astonishment at the Pale Yellow Dragon-type Soul Beast that had suddenly appeared:
Its slender, two-meter-tall body was covered in amber scales. Its dark brown, vertical pupils bore the patterns of the earth, and its thick, powerful limbs ended in sharp brown claws.
It had a peach-pink Mandala Snake clenched in its jaws. Several conspicuous wounds marked its belly and upper body, steadily bleeding. The snake's once-nimble body had lost all strength, half of it dragging along the ground and leaving a crimson trail...
The Rock Crystal Dragon flicked its head.
The Mandala Snake's limp body flew toward Tang Ya, who was staring blankly.
She jumped aside in fright.
Only when it was closer did she see that the Mandala Snake's injuries weren't limited to its belly.
Its spine had been bitten clean through.
Bloodstained scales had fallen away in patches, exposing raw flesh.
Its bloodied mouth hung open, weakly drawing its final breaths.
What was this?!!
Tang Ya's mouth fell open as she looked up at the Rock Crystal Dragon in disbelief.
But the Rock Crystal Dragon was nowhere to be seen.
That two-meter-tall figure
had vanished into thin air.
"..."
"..."
Lu Ran lowered his hand, and the Soul Ring immediately disappeared.
"Go ahead and absorb it. It's got one breath left."
Tang Ya's neck stiffly turned toward him. She slowly raised a finger.
"You... you..."
She stammered,
"Th-then..."
"I summoned that Soul Beast," Lu Ran explained.
He would be exposed after enrolling anyway, so he might as well tell them outright. There was no need to keep it under wraps.
Huo Yuhao stared in shock and hurriedly asked Sky Dream Ice Silkworm, "Brother Sky Dream, what was that thing?!"
Sky Dream Ice Silkworm's lazy voice sounded in his mind:
"A Soul Beast. He already said he summoned it."
"There are Martial Souls like that? For real?!"
Sky Dream Ice Silkworm said,
"Of course there are. Little Huo Zai, you're still young. It's normal that you haven't seen everything."
It had sensed the Rock Crystal Dragon as soon as Lu Ran summoned it.
Truthfully, it had never seen one either, but that didn't stop it from putting on an air of vast experience in front of Huo Yuhao.
"Besides, that Soul Beast is completely real. It's not in a spiritual form."
From the Rock Crystal Dragon, it had sensed an aura far beyond that of ordinary thousand-year Soul Beasts.
Huo Yuhao pressed on:
"Brother Sky Dream, how strong is he?"
Sky Dream Ice Silkworm explained,
"Judging from his Soul Power fluctuations, he should be at the three-ring level, not far from four rings."
Huo Yuhao couldn't accept it.
Lu Ran looked several years younger than Bei Bei! How could they be at the same level?!
Sky Dream Ice Silkworm continued,
"His Soul Power is exceptionally abundant—more than three times that of others at the same level. He completely outclasses Bei Bei and Tang Ya over there. He could easily beat them both in a one-on-two fight."
Huo Yuhao stood there, stunned.
In a single day, his understanding of the world had been reshaped three times.
The first time was when he met Sky Dream Ice Silkworm and learned that million-year Soul Beasts existed.
The second time was when he saw Bei Bei fight the Mandala Snake and learned how Soul Masters battled.
The third time... was now!
He felt as if his mind had taken a brutal blow. His legs weakened, and the ground beneath him seemed to turn soft. He looked ready to topple over at any moment.
"Keep working hard, young man."
With that, Sky Dream Ice Silkworm's voice fell silent.
Jiang Nannan already knew about it, but seeing the Rock Crystal Dragon with her own eyes still amazed her.
As for Bei Bei and Tang Ya,
Tang Ya in particular, it took her quite a while to understand
what beast taming was.
"If you don't hurry, the Mandala Snake will die on its own,"
Lu Ran reminded her.
Tang Ya snapped back to her senses and hurriedly took out a dagger to finish off the Mandala Snake.
A Purple Soul Ring slowly condensed and floated above the three-meter-long snake.
She sat cross-legged,
released her Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul, and absorbed the Soul Ring.
Bei Bei, meanwhile, regarded Lu Ran with a meaningful look.
To be living in the Inner Academy at his age and to have instantly defeated Xu Sanshi
was enough to show how terrifying Lu Ran was.
Bei Bei had fought the Mandala Snake head-on, so he knew just how troublesome it was.
Yet Lu Ran had dealt with it in mere seconds.
It was... truly terrifying!
Stung by the shock, Huo Yuhao redoubled his efforts to cultivate Soul Power, afraid of wasting even a second.
Bei Bei went over to the Mandala Snake and carefully examined each wound.
Lu Ran and Jiang Nannan sat together,
waiting for Tang Ya to finish absorbing the Soul Ring.
As for why Lu Ran hadn't tried to stop Tang Ya from absorbing a more suitable Soul Ring,
ten thousand years ago, people might have argued over whether Mandala Snakes suited Blue Silver Grass. Some would have said they did, while others would have disagreed.
But ten thousand years later,
especially for Tang Ya, they were quite suitable.
After a Soul Master absorbed a Soul Ring, the Martial Soul would inherit some of the Soul Ring's power and pass it on to the next generation.
During the next generation's awakening, there was a tiny chance that certain attributes would manifest,
causing the Martial Soul to change.
That was how Mutated Martial Souls came about.
And over the past ten thousand years,
every Blue Silver Grass Soul Master in the Tang Sect had followed in Tang San's footsteps,
choosing Mandala Snakes, Ghost Vines, Man Faced Demon Spiders...
After some Soul Masters had been overwhelmed and killed while absorbing Soul Rings, the Tang Sect had settled for less demanding options, choosing gentler snake- and spider-type Soul Beasts of the same general type.
They continued absorbing them.
The first generation of Blue Silver Grass absorbed snake-type Soul Beasts, spider-type Soul Beasts, and vine-type Soul Beasts...
The second generation of Blue Silver Grass continued absorbing snake-type Soul Beasts, spider-type Soul Beasts, and vine-type Soul Beasts...
The third, fourth, and fifth generations...
They were all the same.
Generation after generation absorbed them, accumulated their traits, and changed, until the generation of Tang Ya.
Their appearance seemed unchanged,
but in essence, they were completely different from the original Blue Silver Grass.
For ten thousand years, they had never absorbed Soul Rings with other attributes. Under this deliberate selection,
whatever Soul Rings Blue Silver Grass might have suited in the past,
absorbing a Mandala Snake's Soul Ring now
was actually quite suitable.
Half an hour later,
"Mmm~~~ Ah!"
Tang Ya stretched with a satisfied sigh, in high spirits.
"Bei Bei, look at my Soul Skill!"
She happily showed off her Entanglement Soul Skill, spreading Blue Silver Grass across a stretch of forest.
She was one step closer to revitalizing the Tang Sect.
With all their objectives accomplished,
the group returned to Shrek Academy.
Compared to when they had left, Tang Ya and Bei Bei felt as if they'd returned from another world when they saw the eastern gate of Shrek City.
Though it had only been four or five short days,
it felt like an eternity.
When they reached the eastern gate, the student guards let them through without stopping them.
As they entered,
a very elegant old man with a white beard stood in the sunlight ahead, dressed in a simple, well-fitting white robe.
His hands were clasped behind his back.
His smile was warm and kind.
Just standing there, he was a sight to behold.
The dean?!
Bei Bei, Tang Ya, and the others were startled.
Why was the dean here?!
They put aside their playful mood
and walked over respectfully,
greeting him in unison:
"Dean."
Huo Yuhao was at a loss. He had never met Yan Shaozhe,
but he bowed along with the others.
They couldn't imagine why Yan Shaozhe had suddenly appeared in the Outer Academy, right inside the gate.
Yan Shaozhe's voice was gentle, carrying the concern of an elder for the younger generation.
"I was worried something might happen to you, so I waited here..."
Everyone was startled again.
What did he mean?
How did Dean Yan know they'd gone to the Star Dou Great Forest?
The others didn't understand,
but Lu Ran could tell what he meant. It wasn't that he was worried something might happen to them. He was clearly worried something might happen to Lu Ran—
worried he'd run off halfway.
Lu Ran had already intended to return and register, and since Yan Shaozhe had come all the way here, there was no need to deliberately stall.
"Dean Yan, we were just about to go register for enrollment."
Yan Shaozhe's eyes lit up.
Before you continue