Sea God Pavilion's Elder Council

The Golden Tree

held a position of utmost importance in Shrek City, comparable to the Three-Eyed Golden Lion of the Star Dou Forest.

It suppressed the fortune of all Shrek City. It was not as though no one had ever set their sights on it, but upon seeing the grand six-story building beneath the tree, they abandoned that notion. That was the most important place in all of Shrek Academy.

At least... six Title Douluo guarded this place. This was Sea God Pavilion, one of the three great powers of Douluo Continent. Every generation of Pavilion Master had been a top expert of their era, sometimes even the strongest.

Whenever Shrek Academy faced a major matter, its highest-level meeting would be held at Sea God Pavilion. Those attending included the deans and vice deans of the Spirit Department and Soul Guidance Department, along with the retired elders of the Enshrinement Hall. The final decision would be determined by a show of hands.

At that moment, the grand conference hall of Sea God Pavilion was silent... because no one dared to speak first.

Ten people sat around a long table. At the innermost seat of honor stood a reclining chair, upon which lay a man in gray cloth robes. The wrinkles on his face were enough to crush more than a double-digit number of flies at once.

His eyes were murky, his eyelids drooping, and he looked as though he were at death's door. If any Outer Court students had been present, their jaws would have dropped. The old man who lay sunbathing by the dormitory entrance every day was now seated in the place of honor at Sea God Pavilion's highest meeting.

In the first seat to his lower left sat an elderly man covered in grease, with disheveled hair and clothes torn in several places. He held a chicken leg in his right hand and a wine gourd in his left. The other four elderly men looked far more normal and sat on either side.

Qian Duoduo, the vice dean of the Soul Guidance Department, sat second from last on the right side of the table. Beside him was a woman around 1.7 meters tall, who appeared to be in her fifties, with fair skin, neatly coiled black hair, and white clothes trimmed in gold.

She was Xian Lin'er, the Martial God Douluo, dean of the Soul Guidance Department, Qian Duoduo's wife in name only, and Mu Baobao's Spirit teacher. She had originally sat in the last or second-to-last seat, but with the addition of Tie Wuji, the forging director, their side now matched the opposite side in number.

At the last seat opposite them sat another woman who also appeared to be around fifty. Her expression was cold as she refused to look at Xian Lin'er. She sat below a man of about the same age, and it was faintly apparent that both had been beautiful and handsome in their youth.

They were Yan Shaozhe, dean of the Spirit Department and Sea God Pavilion Master, and Cai Meier, the vice dean.

Xian Lin'er, Qian Duoduo, Yan Shaozhe, and Cai Meier... these four deans had known one another since enrollment. Later, after they were divided into classes according to their specialties, Yan Shaozhe and Xian Lin'er, who were both in the assault-type class, got together.

Afterward, all four entered the Inner Court together. However, Yan Shaozhe was not steadfast enough in matters of the heart and constantly flirted with other female classmates, hurting Xian Lin'er again and again. In the end, they had no choice but to break up... Yet Yan Shaozhe quickly got together with Cai Meier and even married her.

Xian Lin'er also found Qian Duoduo, who had continued waiting for her, and even gave her position as dean of the Soul Guidance Department to him.

"Is everyone here? Was this meeting called by Qian Duoduo? Then you can preside over it!"

Mu En's gentle voice rang out, carrying a feeling that cleansed the soul and overflowed with an aura of light.

"Yes, Elder Mu." Qian Duoduo stood and bowed toward Mu En at the seat of honor. "More precisely, it was called by Tie Wuji and me. But since he is not a member of Sea God Pavilion, I could only be the one to initiate it."

"Oh?"

A trace of surprise appeared on Mu En's face.

Tie Wuji's Soul Power cultivation was only at the Title Douluo level, and he was not even particularly outstanding among them. In forging, he had merely supplied metal to the Soul Guidance Department and had made no notable contributions. No wonder everyone was so surprised.

Spirit Refined metal was already capable of completing Level 9 Soul Tools. Even if there might be higher grades beyond that, so what? Level 10 Soul Tools were humanity's limit. They could not create divine artifacts.

"Elder Mu, esteemed elders of Sea God Pavilion, our Soul Guidance Department has invented a new type of Soul Tool. It may change the balance between us and the Sun Moon Empire... or even the entire continent."

Xian Lin'er also stood excitedly. Her anger at Mu Baobao for standing her up throughout the entire summer vanished, and she even provocatively glanced at Yan Shaozhe and Xian Lin'er. The Soul Guidance Department now had Tie Wuji sitting here. My status is already higher than yours.

"Then I would like to ask, have you developed a Level 10 Soul Tool?" Cai Meier could not help but ask mockingly. She had not stolen Yan Shaozhe from Xian Lin'er back then. Was Xian Lin'er displeased with her simply because Yan Shaozhe had ultimately chosen her? What kind of logic was that?

Yan Shaozhe could only shake his head helplessly and remain silent. After all, he had wronged Xian Lin'er.

"That is still better than someone who has never developed anything aside from a pretty face!"

Xian Lin'er shot back without yielding. Fierce sparks nearly flew between their gazes, until an elderly woman beside Xian Lin'er, who resembled her somewhat, coughed and interrupted them.

"Lin'er, Meier, quiet down."

Elder Song, whose Martial Soul was the Azure Shadow Divine Eagle, was a rank 97 Super Douluo known as the Divine Eagle Douluo. She was Mu En's junior disciple and second only to Elder Xuan, the rank 98 Gluttony Douluo, in age and seniority. She was also Xian Lin'er's mother, Qian Duoduo's mother-in-law, and a staunch supporter of the Soul Guidance Department.

"You two girls have argued for decades. You are nearly ninety now, yet you still refuse to settle down."

Zhuang Lao, a rank 96 healing-type Super Douluo known as the Life Douluo, whose Martial Soul was the Tree of Life, spoke slowly. Lin Lao, the master of the Treasure Appraisal Pavilion, whose Martial Soul and rank were unknown in the original work, also became interested.

"I am rather interested. If it satisfies me, it could join my Treasure Appraisal Pavilion."

With several elders speaking up, the two naturally could not continue arguing. Tie Wuji stood helplessly and took several sets of armor from his Soul Tool, placing them in the hall.

"Thousand Refinement armor? There is nothing special about that. Even the commanders of my Shrek City Defense Army wear it!" Shi Xing, the lord of Shrek City, said. His Martial Soul was the Space-Time Silver Disk, and he was a rank 94 Title Douluo known as the Time Douluo.

One Sea God Pavilion Master and four Sea God Pavilion elders had already spoken. Standard Hundred Refinement armor was for soldiers, while Thousand Refinement armor was for commanders... It indeed did not surprise these seven Title Douluo and Super Douluo.

Xian Lin'er, Qian Duoduo, and Tie Wuji had long expected this reaction. They took out another set of armor... This time, the others showed a trace of emotion, because it was forged entirely from Spirit Refined metal.

"Martial Souls—surely all esteemed elders understand this well. Aside from hunting Soul Beasts every ten levels to obtain Soul Ring skills, skills can also be acquired directly from Soul Bones. But aside from Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts and ferocious beasts, which are guaranteed to produce Soul Bones, the chance of obtaining one of the six major Soul Bones is only one in a thousand. The chance of obtaining an evolvable External Soul Bone is only one in ten million. Soul Rings, however, are guaranteed to drop."

"Our Soul Guidance Department has invented something that can replace Soul Bones... this armor!"

That single sentence directly ignited the entire Sea God Pavilion meeting. Several elders spoke up at once. "Soul Bones can be replaced? How is that possible?"

Mu En coughed, stopping the commotion. He was the only one who had not become overly excited.

"There is nothing surprising about it. Do Soul Tools not also replace Soul Skills? Humans on Douluo Continent had once found that just as unbelievable. Rather than replacing Soul Bones, it is more like a humanoid Soul Tool."

"So, this is Thousand Refinement and Spirit Forged Armor?"

Xian Lin'er and Qian Duoduo provocatively looked at Yan Shaozhe. We have invented something that can replace Soul Bones. Does that not completely crush your Spirit Department and Sun Moon Mingde Hall? Tie Wuji walked over to the armor.

"Soul Tools can replace Soul Skills because Soul Guidance formations are engraved upon them. The Soul Skills granted by Soul Bones and Soul Rings actually operate similarly to Soul Tools. They possess a set of systems similar to Soul Guidance formations... Everyone present is a Title Douluo, even a Super Douluo. You should have created Self-Created Soul Skills before, right?"

"A Self-Created Soul Skill likewise functions by designing an execution system within oneself, much like engraving a Soul Guidance formation, to achieve its effect... Thus, a student from the Soul Guidance Department had a sudden idea: could Soul Guidance formations be engraved onto armor? That was how this armor came to be."

Tie Wuji felt an unprecedented excitement as well. Though he disliked Yan Shaozhe's scumbag tendencies and the fact that Xian Lin'er had gone to Qian Duoduo after being toyed with, he was not involved... so there was nothing he could do about it.

He was even extremely grateful to his disciple for allowing him to participate in this system... and for adding another seat for the Soul Guidance Department in Sea God Pavilion.

As Soul Power surged, the Thousand Refinement and Spirit Forged Battle Armor flashed with light. One multicolored Soul Guidance formation after another emerged. The elders of Sea God Pavilion found it dazzling, but they did not fear its aura.

"What is this, a humanoid Soul Tool? This is indeed a highly meaningful invention, and it is enough to let us catch up with the Sun Moon Empire's Mingde Hall. But it can at most possess the strength of three- or four-ring, five- or six-ring Soul Masters, with Soul Rings of only a hundred or thousand years. How can it replace Soul Bones?"

"It is not that I look down on it, but let alone being unable to obtain hundred- or thousand-year Soul Bones, even if one had them, no one would be willing to fuse with them. Their enhancement of strength is far too weak. Who can guarantee they will not encounter a better Soul Bone in the future? How can this be called era-defining?"

Mu En and Elder Xuan, seated to his lower left, became somewhat more alert. At their level, they could instantly kill four- or five-ring Soul Masters and hundred- or thousand-year Soul Beasts.

"Has it achieved even the most basic integration into the body like a Soul Ring? Spirit Refined metal can already be used to make Level 7 or 8 Soul Tools, yet you are using it to engrave Level 5 or 6 Soul Guidance formations. What a waste."

Everyone from the Spirit Department nodded in agreement. The cost of such armor was comparable to that of a Level 7 or 8 Soul Tool, but the increase in strength was only at the Level 5 or 6 range. The further one advanced, the more difficult it became to bridge gaps in strength.

"Hmph!"

Tie Wuji and the dean and vice dean of the Soul Guidance Department seemed to have anticipated this reaction long ago. They revealed faint smiles... then spoke slowly.

"Thousand Refinement truly cannot do it, but Spirit Refinement is no different from a Soul Bone and can already integrate into the body. Moreover, if it is nurtured with one's own Soul Power, spiritual power, and life force, it can evolve by at least one more grade... In other words, it can reach the level of a Ten Thousand Year Soul Bone."

"And if I can forge a Battle Armor at the ten-thousand-year level, then evolve it further... what grade will that set of armor be at that point?"

That statement finally made them unable to remain seated. Even Mu En's expression changed slightly.

"A complete set... hundred-thousand-year?"