Become Stronger, Strong Enough to Face Any Opponent!

A full thirty-seven Soul Guidance Batteries.

Thirty-seven.

They were everything he had saved bit by bit over the past few months, using all his spare time to make basic Soul Tools and deducting his meal expenses.

All thirty-seven batteries had been drained dry.

Scrap metal lay piled into a small heap atop the altar.

As for the crystal's glow—Zhong Shenxiu narrowed his eyes and observed it carefully—it was indeed somewhat brighter than before.

Around... three percent?

He estimated inwardly.

Thirty-seven Soul Guidance Batteries in exchange for three percent progress.

In other words, to fully activate the crystal's first stage, he would need over three hundred Soul Guidance Batteries.

Over three hundred...

That was not too many!

As long as he made a name for himself in the Class Promotion Tournament and entered Eastsea Academy's upper echelon's field of vision, he would receive a steady stream of financial support!

At that point, whether he went to the Spirit Ascension Platform to hunt Soul Beasts and absorb energy, or used funds to purchase energy storage devices like Soul Guidance Batteries, it would undoubtedly be exhilarating for Zhong Shenxiu!

With that thought, Zhong Shenxiu opened his eyes, looked at the pitch-black dormitory, shook his head, and began actively circulating the Eternal Myriad Dragon Source Art.

The spiritual energy of heaven and earth around him seemed drawn by something, forming an invisible vortex centered on his body.

The vortex was silent, yet it carried an overbearing force that seemed capable of devouring everything—the moonlight beyond the window appeared to distort for an instant, and the fine dust in the air froze briefly before returning to normal.

This cultivation art was far too domineering.

When ordinary Soul Masters cultivated, they absorbed spiritual energy into their bodies, refined it gradually, and transformed it into their own Soul Power.

But the Eternal Myriad Dragon Source Art seized it directly, like a Giant Dragon opening its jaws and swallowing its prey whole before forcibly refining it with the power of its bloodline.

The difference in efficiency was worlds apart.

It was precisely because of this that Zhong Shenxiu had broken through from Level Seventeen to Level Twenty-One in just two months—ordinary Soul Masters raising their Soul Power by four levels in two months was simply a fantasy!

Zhong Shenxiu's breathing gradually became long and deep. With every breath, faint golden motes drifted from the pores all over his body, only to be inhaled back into him. They were impurities refined by Light Power, repeatedly tempered until they fully merged into his bloodline.

Soul Power surged through his meridians like a roaring dragon.

His Level Twenty-One cultivation had already stabilized, and he could faintly sense the barrier to Level Twenty-Two.

Soon.

He calculated inwardly that at his current cultivation speed, he would break through within five days at most.

But it was still not enough.

Far from enough.

The dragon souls in Dragon Fighting Space needed energy. Those opponents who had once fought him to the death had now become his responsibility.

More than three hundred Soul Guidance Batteries were only the first stage. There would be a second stage, a third stage, and perhaps even the need to activate the complete remnant souls of the Twelve Star Dragons and the Four Great God King Dragons.

The energy required would be an astronomical figure.

The Class Promotion Tournament.

He had to win.

And he had to win brilliantly, so brilliantly that all of Eastsea Academy remembered his name.

Only then could he gain preferential resources, enter the Spirit Ascension Platform to hunt Soul Beasts, obtain an endless stream of funds to purchase energy devices, and activate the crystal as soon as possible—

Then face those remnant souls sleeping within the statues.

Zhong Shenxiu did not know what would happen once they all awakened.

But he knew that it was his choice.

Nine years of slaughter, nine years of companionship, nine years of death and rebirth.

Those dragons were his opponents, and they were also his teachers.

They were his only companions.

The moonlight beyond the window gradually slanted westward, and the darkness of night faded.

Zhong Shenxiu remained seated cross-legged, utterly motionless, like a statue.

Only the faint golden light flowing around him proved that he was still alive.

—Still becoming stronger.

The next morning.

Sunlight streamed through the gap in the curtains, casting a long, narrow patch of light across the floor.

Zhong Shenxiu opened his eyes.

There was no sleepiness in those pale golden vertical pupils, only clarity, as though he had never slept and had merely rested his eyes for a moment.

He stood and stretched his body.

His joints gave off soft crackling sounds as his muscles loosened and his blood rushed. A night of cultivation had not left him exhausted; instead, he was full of vigor and energy.

He washed up and got dressed.

His movements were crisp and efficient, without a trace of excess.

When he pushed open the door, the dormitory hallway was empty. It was a weekend morning, and everyone was still asleep.

Zhong Shenxiu descended the stairs, passed through the dormitory entrance, and arrived at the field.

The morning breeze was slightly cool, carrying the scent of grass and dew.

The field was empty, with only a few early-rising birds hopping across the lawn in search of food.

Zhong Shenxiu walked to the center of the field and stopped.

He slowly closed his eyes.

The next instant, he opened them and loosely clenched his right hand—

Sky Light Dragon Spear.

Soul Power surged as the light around him crazily gathered in his palm. The radiance was blazing and pure, as if it had stolen all the morning sunlight, compressing and solidifying in his hand before finally becoming a dragon-shaped spear covered in faint golden patterns.

The spear was about twelve feet long, its tip like a dragon's fang, while the shadow of a dragon's head could vaguely be seen by the tassel.

Zhong Shenxiu tightened his grip on the shaft, and fighting spirit instantly ignited in his pale golden vertical pupils.

He began to wield the spear.

There were no flashy moves, no dazzling techniques.

Only thrusts.

Thrusts.

And more thrusts.

Every thrust was straight as a line and swift as lightning. The spear tip tore through the air with a shrill whistle, leaving streaks of pale golden afterimages in the morning light.

This was the spear technique he had honed over nine years in the Dragon Fighting World.

Not for performance, not for sparring, but for killing.

The angle of every thrust was the most vicious; the force of every thrust was the most lethal; the timing of every thrust was the most precise—so precise that it was as though he could predict every movement of his opponent, then deliver the deadliest blow at the moment they least expected it.

Nine years of life-and-death combat had carved battle into his bones.

There was no need to think, no need to calculate.

His body moved on its own.

The spear thrust on its own.

Zhong Shenxiu's breathing gradually quickened, and fine beads of sweat formed at his temples.

Yet his gaze remained calm. Those vertical pupils were like two frozen flames, burning yet forever composed.

His final thrust shot forth.

Three inches ahead of the spear tip, the air violently trembled and released a muffled explosion.

That was a sonic boom produced by speed so extreme that it tore through the air.

Zhong Shenxiu withdrew his spear and stood still, breathing lightly.

He looked at the Sky Light Dragon Spear in his hand, and the corners of his lips rose slightly.

Its power was considerably greater than when it had first awakened.

With Level Twenty-One Soul Power and the Sky Light Dragon Spear, if he went all out—

An ordinary two-ring Soul Grandmaster would not be able to withstand a single thrust from him.

The thought flashed through Zhong Shenxiu's mind, but he felt no pride.

Because it was still not enough.

Every opponent in the Dragon Fighting World had been a hundred, a thousand times stronger than he was now. The reason he had been able to defeat them was because, in the dream, he possessed power equal to theirs.

But now, he was merely a minor two-ring Soul Master.

The enemies he would face in the future might even be the entire world.

He still needed to become stronger.

Stronger still.

Strong enough to face any opponent.

Zhong Shenxiu dispersed the Sky Light Dragon Spear, and its light turned into specks of luminous rain that scattered into the morning breeze.