Breaking Through to Soul Elder!

A year passed in the blink of an eye.

During this past year, aside from that very first class, Jiang He and Xue Qinghe met quite a few times.

The most frequent encounters took place during internal academy combat tournaments. Students above level twenty-five participated, and Xue Qinghe came to watch.

The point of these combat tournaments was to give students with better talent but ordinary backgrounds a chance to earn scholarships.

This also showcased the financial strength of Heaven Dou Royal Academy, making them willingly stay at the academy or serve the Heaven Dou Empire after graduation.

Initially, Jiang He still had some expectations for this tournament. After all, those participating were basically the academy's geniuses, and perhaps they could pressure him to push further.

Yet when he slapped a level-thirty-five soul elder flying with a single strike without using Martial Soul Possession, every subsequent contestant directly surrendered upon seeing him.

What kind of fun was this?

Among these contestants, the highest cultivation was only level thirty-seven, and that was forcibly stayed behind to prepare for the next Elite Tournament, or else that strength would have graduated long ago.

As a result, Jiang He batted away a level-thirty-five soul elder with one slap, and that was without Martial Soul Possession—who would play with him after that?

Thus, without any difficulty or pressure, Jiang He easily won the internal tournament and collected his scholarship.

During this period, Xue Qinghe did not miss a single match, and afterward even proactively gifted Jiang He a token of congratulations, so the two could be considered acquainted.

Following this introduction, Jiang He's life fell into a routine of three points on a line.

Theory class in the morning, the Gravity Training Room in the afternoon, and going home to sleep at night.

At the very beginning, he occasionally had to rest, going to spar with Qin Ming in the afternoons instead of heading to the gravity room.

Until one day, a sound of an explosion came from the soles of Jiang He's feet, and he vanished from right in front of Qin Ming, reappearing behind him to send him flying with a single punch even though Qin Ming hadn't used Martial Soul Possession, and then told him this was a self-created soul skill he had recently researched, promptly getting the actual combat class canceled.

Over this past year, Jiang He's soul power cultivation also surged from level twenty-eight to level thirty-two.

A growth of four levels of soul power in a year, and that was without absorbing any soul rings!

One had to know that the original Tang San was at level thirteen after absorbing his first soul ring, and reached level twenty-nine six years later when heading to Suotuo City.

Sixteen levels of soul power growth in six years, averaging less than three levels per year.

Yet Jiang He directly grew by four levels in a single year, and the tier he currently occupied was already higher than that of the original Tang San, meaning his cultivation growth rate should theoretically be slower.

The most crucial thing was that in this past year, Jiang He spent a lot of time practicing the Six Styles and strengthening his physical body, rather than wholeheartedly plunging into soul power cultivation.

Now, according to the system display, the age limit of the third soul ring Jiang He could withstand had violently surged from the initial estimate of twenty-eight thousand years directly to thirty-nine thousand years!

Half a year of tempering had increased his absorbable soul ring age limit by over ten thousand years!

The soul power amplification brought by this ten-thousand-plus-year limit could completely make up for the time spent over the past year or so on refining his physical body.

Moreover, it could bring stronger enhancements to his body, letting his fourth soul ring absorb an even higher age limit!

If not for this point, Jiang He would have gone to absorb a third soul ring and break through to a soul elder long ago.

It's time to find my teacher and then hunt a soul beast to acquire my third soul ring.

Jiang He muttered to himself.

Yet right as his voice fell, a familiar voice drifted over from the side.

"You brat, I thought you hadn't broken through to a soul elder after a whole year."

Hearing this voice, Jiang He instinctively turned his head to look.

He saw Dugu Bo appearing by the stone table in the courtyard at some point, watching him.

"Teacher."

Jiang He first cupped his fists in salute toward Dugu Bo, then said, "Your disciple reached the threshold of level thirty half a year ago, but spent the past half year and more strengthening the tempering of my physical body in order to absorb a soul ring of a higher age."

Hearing this, Dugu Bo slightly raised his chin. "Not bad, two levels in half a year; this cultivation speed lives up to the immortal herb you consumed. However, you brat shouldn't be overly obsessed with the soul ring's age limit. Above ten thousand years and below one hundred thousand years, aside from some special soul beasts that grant special soul skills, most are pretty much the same."

"Understood, Teacher, I know."

Jiang He nodded, indicating he had taken the lesson to heart.

Seeing this, Dugu Bo continued to ask, "Then what do you estimate the age of your third soul ring to be roughly now?"

"Um..." Jiang He feigned deep thought, then replied, "Your disciple estimates the age of my third soul ring should be above thirty-eight thousand years and below forty thousand years."

Dugu Bo's eyes lit up as he said, "Could it actually be above thirty-five thousand years? Not bad, not bad. Following this rate of soul ring strength improvement, your fourth soul ring will have to be above fifty thousand years—that's comparable to an ordinary soul master's seventh soul ring!"

Jiang He smiled slightly. "That is all thanks to Teacher's cultivation. Without you, where would Jiang He be today?"

"Flatter me less. It's just that you brat have guts; it has nothing to do with this old man."

Despite saying that, the corners of Dugu Bo's mouth still couldn't stop curving upward, and his hand couldn't help stroking his beard.

Recovering his composure, Dugu Bo looked at Jiang He and said, "Let's go, I'll take you to acquire your third soul ring."

"Thank you, Teacher."

The moment his words fell, Dugu Bo carried Jiang He and flew toward the Sunset Forest.

Arriving outside the Sunset Forest, Dugu Bo pondered for a moment before saying, "There aren't many soul beasts in the Sunset Forest whose age exceeds thirty thousand years, especially those above thirty-five thousand years, which are even rarer. I'll take you inside to look around first; if there isn't a suitable one, then we can only head to the Star Dou Forest."

Although the Sunset Forest was also a major soul-hunting forest for high-rank soul masters, it still fell far short compared to the Star Dou Forest.

Especially when it came to high-level soul beasts, they were simply not on the same level.

Whether in quantity, quality, or danger, it was far inferior to the core area of the Star Dou Forest.

Soul beasts over ten thousand years old were especially sparse.

Particularly after Dugu Bo occupied the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well in the core territory of the Sunset Forest, one could hardly find a few fifty-thousand-year soul beasts left in the entire forest.

And although Jiang He's requirement of over thirty-five thousand years hadn't reached the limit of the Sunset Forest, it was close, which was why Dugu Bo felt they might not find one.

"I'll listen to Teacher in everything."

Actually, Jiang He also felt that his third soul ring would probably require a trip to the Star Dou Forest.

The number of high-tier soul beasts in the Sunset Forest was too small, and on top of needing one that matched his martial soul, he was afraid they would run a fruitless errand.

Yet this thought did not last long.

After barely the span of an hour, Dugu Bo said to Jiang He with a smile, "Our luck isn't bad; there really is one. Jiang He, what do you think of this fellow?"

Jiang He followed Dugu Bo's words and looked over, just in time to see a soul beast coiled up and resting on a tree crown...