"Forge many good ties?"
After Shui Yuerong spoke, Xue Furong and Han Ningshuang both froze, exchanging glances.
"Now that I've reached the Titled Douluo rank, I naturally need to raise the stature of all Tianshui."
Shui Yuerong said, already having a plan in mind, "The academy's foundation is still too weak. We need to recruit powerful people widely and build connections beyond our borders, so we can accumulate strength and prestige..."
Xue Furong pondered for a moment. "You mean, establish a sect to make a grand show of strength, letting the various powers across the continent know that Tianshui now has a Titled Douluo in charge? Then we can build plenty of connections and maintain friendly relations, making Yu Yuanzhen wary enough not to launch a large-scale attack lightly?"
"Exactly." Shui Yuerong nodded.
Han Ningshuang suddenly understood. "Now that our Skywater Academy has a Titled Douluo in charge, it'll naturally attract many powerful people who sincerely want to join us. When the time comes, our Skywater Sect can treat them with courtesy. Once we have friends in every corner and a solid foundation of our own, the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan will be the ones afraid of us!"
"The continent's situation seems stable on the surface, but it's turbulent underneath. Empires scheme against one another, fighting over resources and territory, while Spirit Hall watches the entire continent like a tiger eyeing its prey! Many independent powers are banding together to keep warm. Our Tianshui still lacks the strength to withstand every hidden threat without fear. Only by standing together can we better preserve our legacy." Shui Yuerong revealed a trace of helplessness.
Spirit Hall's existence was like a blade hanging over the heads of all people.
It was neither wholly good nor wholly evil. No one knew what it would do next, so everyone had to stay on guard.
"Indeed. That's the way of the world... Unless something unexpected happens, once Skywater Academy opens its gates tomorrow, people will surely come to congratulate us." Xue Furong paused. "There'll also be people plotting in secret about how to resist Tianshui and suppress its growth."
"All right, setting aside every other concern, you mustn't forget the rules of my Skywater Sect." Shui Yuerong clapped her hands to remind them.
"What rules?" The two looked at her.
"Even now that we've become a sect, don't think that one Li Jiuxuan is enough to make me break my precedent. My Skywater Sect can open its doors to the entire continent, nobles and commoners alike, all treated equally—but we will never accept male disciples!"
After sending Han Ningshuang away to handle various matters, Shui Yuerong kept only Xue Furong behind.
Shui Yuerong sat upright in the seat of honor, channeling her extreme ice power to help three young disciples suppress the backlash of the two sacred treasures.
After all, their Soul Power Levels were still too low. Without outside help, they would find it difficult to absorb them.
Li Jiuxuan had it relatively easy. The Ice Dragon King itself could help him suppress the Wind-Snow Tyrant Dragon's ferocity and immense energy.
With the Ice Dragon King Martial Soul, his Soul Power talent was exceptionally high. His body was also naturally capable of adapting to vast amounts of energy, letting him ignore the level gap between himself and certain external resources!
It was enough to make ordinary Soul Masters green with envy!
As he absorbed the Soul Bone, an icy-white radiance rose around Li Jiuxuan. The Wind-Snow Tyrant Dragon's left leg Soul Bone hovered three feet in front of him, crystalline and translucent, its winding dragon patterns slowly shifting.
In an instant, the residual savage pressure of the Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beast surged toward him. But as it neared his body, an even more exalted sacred aura of the Ice Dragon King forcibly suppressed it.
Li Jiuxuan kept his eyes shut. The Ice Dragon King Martial Soul quietly emerged behind him, its blue body coiled and its head held high, radiating the authority of a sacred king, as though an ancient dragon god had descended into the world.
The next moment, at a thought from Li Jiuxuan, the Ice Dragon King Martial Soul reached out with a claw and slowly drew the Wind-Snow Tyrant Dragon Soul Bone toward him. There was no resistance, not the slightest rejection. Dragon and dragon shared the same origin; the sacred king subdued all dragons. Their compatibility was natural.
The Soul Bone slowly drew close to his body, and a surge of savage energy seeped into him bit by bit through his pores, meridians, and the gaps between his bones.
Excruciating pain and freezing cold swept through him at once, as if countless icy needles were piercing his bones and sinews!
An ordinary Soul Master would have had their meridians shattered and their soul broken under the pressure of this violent Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bone.
But Li Jiuxuan merely furrowed his brow slightly. Fine beads of cold sweat appeared on his temples, yet he remained utterly still.
In an instant, the icy spiritual energy in the air and the Wind-Snow Tyrant Dragon's lingering power of origin surged toward his body like a tsunami. His meridians continuously widened and strengthened.
His Soul Power surged at a terrifying rate!
Level eighteen, level nineteen, level twenty!
Before he had fully absorbed the Soul Bone, his Soul Power had already risen by three levels!
Li Jiuxuan had stepped straight into the Soul Grandmaster realm!
Seeing how quickly Li Jiuxuan absorbed these external resources, Shui Yuerong was astonished.
"Less than half an hour has passed, and this kid has nearly absorbed the entire Soul Bone?"
"Bing'er and Yue'er, meanwhile, haven't made much progress absorbing the Ten-Thousand-Year Profound Ice Marrow. If anything, they seem close to being unable to withstand that extreme cold..."
In less than an hour, the final glimmering flecks of Soul Bone light fully merged into Li Jiuxuan's body.
"It worked!"
He shouted as the light around him abruptly drew in. He flung open his eyes, and two streaks of icy-blue, dragon-shaped light shot from them.
His bones rang out with a crisp, pleasant sound. The Wind-Snow Tyrant Dragon Soul Bone had completely fused with him, becoming a part of his body.
"So fast?"
Shui Yuerong furrowed her brow and examined Li Jiuxuan's body.
She worried that absorbing it so quickly might prevent the Soul Bone from fully adapting to his body.
But after examining him from head to toe,
she realized that the Wind-Snow Tyrant Dragon Soul Bone had completely become one with Li Jiuxuan!
It seemed to have a will of its own, savage and violent, and had tried to devour its host. But whenever the Ice Dragon King Martial Soul's energy circulated through his body, it dared not make trouble.
"Dean, my Soul Power has reached level 20, and my Spiritual Power and body have also undergone a qualitative leap after being tempered by that violent energy!"
Li Jiuxuan was thrilled.
Rarely, Shui Yuerong didn't meet Li Jiuxuan's eyes. A faint, almost imperceptible blush appeared on her cheeks as she turned her head away. "Y-your Soul Bone Skill?"
Li Jiuxuan lifted his foot. "Passive skill, Tyrant Dragon Extreme Speed: permanently increases my extreme speed. Also, if I leave an afterimage of my body at my starting point, my movement speed triples over the next thirty meters. Whether I tread on snow or walk on air, I make no sound!"
"Walk on air?"
Only then did Shui Yuerong turn back. "It seems pretty good. You're a Power Attack System Soul Master, and with the mobility of Extreme Speed, your offensive skills will become even more threatening."
"As for the active skill, it's not suitable to demonstrate here." Li Jiuxuan looked around.
Shui Yuerong immediately called to Xue Furong beside her. "Go outside with him and test it. He's at level twenty now, so he can also get a Second Soul Ring."
Xue Furong looked at Li Jiuxuan and gave a quiet nod.
Just like that, Xue Furong and Li Jiuxuan made their way outside the hall.
The people at Skywater Academy were undeniably efficient.
After half a day of repairs, the academy's facilities had all been rebuilt.
Even the huge canyon had been repaired within the academy's grounds.
"Come on, Li Jiuxuan. Let me see your left leg Soul Bone Skill..."
Xue Furong stood with her hands behind her back, her expression indifferent.
Before you continue