Nothing happened that night. When dawn arrived the next morning and the first rays of golden sunlight bathed Sea God Pavilion,
the world once again welcomed a bustling day.
Beneath that veil of gold, the entire Sea God Pavilion within the Golden Tree was dyed with a brilliant golden radiance.
At this moment, on the third floor of Sea God Pavilion.
Xue Mingqing, who had spent the silent night cultivating and absorbing the Soul Bone, woke up in his bed.
As he opened his eyes, a strange glint flashed through them—the proof that his spiritual power had undergone a transformation.
Having lived two lives, his spiritual power had already been no weaker than that of spiritual-type Soul Masters of the same rank, perhaps even stronger.
Now, his Spirit Sea could truly be called a sea of spirit!
Previously, the total capacity of his Spirit Sea was, at most, only the size of a lake.
But now, after being absorbed by the Wind Snow Evil Pupil, his spiritual power had faintly touched the edge of a boundless ocean...
Awakening from his Spirit Sea, Xue Mingqing instinctively raised a hand to touch the center of his forehead.
He touched nothing—
"How could you possibly feel it by touch? Use a mirror."
Feng Qingyang's voice came from beside him. Instinctively reaching out, Xue Mingqing directly caught the mirror Feng Qingyang tossed over.
Lowering his gaze, he looked into the mirror. There was no Heavenly Eye visibly manifested on his forehead like Yang Jian's.
Instead, a blue-green mark had appeared between Xue Mingqing's brows.
Its exterior resembled ice and snow—cold, sharp, and keen—while its interior possessed the nimble grace of a clear breeze. It was unmistakably the mark of a vertical eye!
That was the Wind Snow Evil Pupil Xue Mingqing had obtained by absorbing and fusing with the Soul Bone.
Raising an eyebrow, he casually put away the small mirror and turned toward Feng Qingyang.
"Teacher, how could this Soul Bone be so ridiculously powerful?"
He had already sensed that this Soul Bone currently possessed three skills.
Wind Snow Domain, Wind Snow Divine Light, and Wind Snow Amplification.
The first skill created a domain that strengthened himself, weakened and slowed his enemies. There was nothing more to say about it.
As for the other two, Xue Mingqing could not use them yet anyway, so there was no point discussing them.
Xue Mingqing had yet to fully fuse with this Soul Bone, so naturally, he could not use them.
As he gradually fused with the Soul Bone until they became one and could no longer be separated, the remaining skills would be unlocked and become usable as naturally as water flowing into a channel.
Although this Soul Bone currently had locked skills, just these three soul skills alone were enough to call it heaven-defying.
After all, this was an External Soul Bone, one that would grow alongside its owner.
In other words, these three soul skills were merely its starting point. Once it grew to the hundred-thousand-year level, became a divine artifact, or even a super divine artifact, who knew just how heaven-defying this Soul Bone would become?
At that, Feng Qingyang merely curled his lip.
"Take your time and experience it. One day, you'll understand, but that day isn't now."
After leaving behind another cryptic remark as part of his daily routine, Feng Qingyang flicked his long sleeve.
Right before Xue Mingqing's numb expression, he vanished with the wind and returned to his body.
What else could Xue Mingqing say? He could only close his eyes and choose to ignore Feng Qingyang's words.
He swore that one day, he would make Feng Qingyang honestly explain every single word he said!
But for now, looking at his hands and sensing his Soul Power Level, which had only just surpassed level 15, he let out a helpless sigh.
"The road ahead is long... Little Mingqing, you still need to work hard and become a true Grandpa Xue as soon as possible..."
With a soft sigh, Xue Mingqing said no more. He directly took out the cultivation resources Mu En had given him and began cultivating with all his strength.
Within his body, Feng Qingyang sensed his actions and slightly curled his lips.
"Keep it up, little one... I'll wait for the day you recognize me."
After leaving behind words Xue Mingqing could not hear, Feng Qingyang sank into the depths of the Spirit Sea and fell asleep once more.
This bone-refining process had appeared calm on the surface, but in truth, it had consumed a great deal from both of them. To put it bluntly, in his current state, Feng Qingyang might sleep for a year or even half a year.
But—
Xue Mingqing was at Shrek Academy, with Mu En standing behind him as a mountain. There was no need for Feng Qingyang to worry about his safety.
It was precisely because he had understood this that Feng Qingyang had refined Xue Mingqing's bones without regard for the cost.
He treated it as giving himself a long vacation.
In truth, Feng Qingyang had not guessed wrong. From the day he fell asleep, Xue Mingqing, left on his own, truly did not encounter any danger.
But his life was far from easy.
Were Sea God Pavilion's resources really so easy to obtain? Obviously not.
Almost the very next day after he received those resources, Mu En personally came to train Xue Mingqing.
In the mornings, he ate Soul Beast meat, Whale Rubber, and other highly nourishing cultivation ingredients as meals.
By noon, Xue Mingqing's hellish training began.
The first step was pressure resistance. Yes, pressure resistance in the literal sense. Mu En did not have Xue Mingqing run laps or perform other physical training.
He simply used his own Soul Power to suppress Xue Mingqing, thereby training both his spirit and body.
The second step came around the afternoon. Mu En deliberately waited until Xue Mingqing's body and spirit were nearly exhausted before arranging a practical combat assessment for him.
Every opponent was a Soul Beast Mu En had personally captured from the Star Dou Forest, and none of them was below fifteen hundred years old.
It was equivalent to making Xue Mingqing, while in a state of near physical exhaustion, fight one-on-one against a human Soul Master around level 35.
Of course, Mu En was not so perverse as to make Xue Mingqing kill them with an exhausted body.
For Xue Mingqing, the disciple in whom he placed such high hopes, Mu En merely required him to draw or avoid falling into a disadvantage. That was enough.
As for whether training Xue Mingqing like this might cause him some sort of accident—
That was entirely impossible. Not everyone was Xuan Zi. Given how much Mu En valued Xue Mingqing,
even if he truly could not defeat the Soul Beast, Mu En would absolutely slap it to death the instant before it attacked!
So, Xue Mingqing had absolutely no need to worry about safety.
The third and final step required the physically and mentally exhausted Xue Mingqing to remain in the Mental Training Room until nightfall.
Mu En had personally evaluated this training regimen. Xue Mingqing's physical constitution and spiritual strength were both exceptionally high.
In other words, this entire routine had been specially researched and arranged by Mu En for Xue Mingqing.
It made perfect use of every moment to develop Xue Mingqing's talent and potential to the greatest extent possible.
Therefore, there was no possibility that Xue Mingqing's body would fail to endure it or that it would damage his foundation.
After completing the third step, Xue Mingqing, whose body and spirit had both reached their limits, could finally rest.
However, it was not true rest. Rest here meant soaking in a medicinal bath and using Soul Power meditation to replace sleep for cultivation.
Once the night had passed and the sun rose the next day, Xue Mingqing would continue this hellish training routine.
Throughout this hellish cultivation process, Xue Mingqing suffered in pain and joy.
On one hand, this hellish routine tortured him every day until he practically wished he were dead.
On the other, his Soul Power surged at an insane rate, as though riding a rocket.
It truly left him both loving and hating it.
In barely half a year, Xue Mingqing, now seven years old, had already reached level 20 Soul Power.
Such rapid progress left even Mu En utterly astonished.
Now that half a year had passed, Xue Mingqing, who had joined Shrek Academy midway through the term, had also completed his first semester at Shrek Academy.
At this moment, Xue Mingqing sat in a steaming bath barrel, bare from the waist up, his lean and sturdy body already showing the outlines of muscle. Wearing only a pair of underpants, he completed his daily medicinal-bath meditation.
Feeling the medicinal effects nourish his body, the boy, who had grown noticeably taller, looked toward the person standing beside the bath barrel.
She was a beautiful mature woman dressed in fitted white robes, her graceful and voluptuous curves impossible to conceal.
"Aunt Lu, I'm going home this time. Will you come with me?"
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