This power shouldn't have belonged to this world—or, more precisely, it shouldn't have appeared in this somewhat backward world.
Yet under Neuvillette's control, this power truly began to merge with Chen Zhou's body.
Chen Zhou was the one who suffered for it. Whether it was his mental power changing or his soul power changing, both brought unimaginable pain.
The agony relentlessly tormented Chen Zhou, leaving him unable to live or die.
Fortunately, whenever he couldn't bear it any longer in the Dream World, Neuvillette would simply raise a hand and kill him. After Chen Zhou died, he would come back to life and continue experiencing the power.
This endless cycle of torment rapidly drained Chen Zhou's mental power.
That was only because his mental power was changing, he had the soul of an adult, and the strength of his mental power exceeded a thousand points.
Otherwise, an ordinary six-year-old child would have suffered a complete mental breakdown long ago, perhaps even turning into a lunatic.
Even so, this single night took a tremendous toll on Chen Zhou's mental power.
As his soul power began to transform, his physical body in the outside world also started expelling black substances, which began altering his physique.
After the final four or five hours passed, someone knocked on the door. When Chen Zhou blearily opened his eyes, an unbearable stench assaulted his nostrils.
The stench was impossible to endure—or rather, it wasn't a smell that should have come from a human being at all.
Holding his nose, Chen Zhou sat up. The bedsheets around him were covered not only in sweat stains but also in this black substance.
The sight made Chen Zhou gag before he could stop himself. He scrambled to his feet and hurried to the bathroom to take a shower.
He showered for over ten minutes, lathered up several times, and changed into fresh clothes. Only then did Chen Zhou open the door, looking somewhat drained.
Su Xin stared at their Young Tower Master and froze.
Then she caught the pungent smell, and when she saw the black substance on the bedsheets, she was completely bewildered.
But thanks to her excellent upbringing, she didn't ask any questions. She simply smiled at Chen Zhou.
"Young Tower Master, the Tower Master asked you to come eat first. I'll clean your room for you."
"Okay, sorry for the trouble, Sister Su Xin. The smell's pretty strong. If it's too much, just switch to another room."
Chen Zhou spoke helplessly. He had been killed hundreds of times last night—he'd die, then after a while, die again.
And in the midst of that torment, sometimes he'd wanted nothing more than to grit his teeth and kill himself.
But now that he had endured the pain, it felt as though he had been exhausted to the very limit, only to come back to life with renewed vigor.
He hadn't noticed, but Su Xin had: her young hall master had always had exceptionally fair skin, and now it looked like white jade.
Yet beneath that utter, translucent pallor, there was still a touch of humanity—or, rather, a tiny imperfection.
But the imperfection was so faint that he was nearly perfect.
Chen Zhou's skin tone had drawn close to Na'er's, and its translucence was almost beginning to match hers.
Chen Zhou, however, hadn't noticed any of this. He just cheerfully rode the elevator downstairs.
When he reached the ground floor, he saw Shen Mo sitting there, eating with a few documents spread out in front of him.
Shen Mo looked up as Chen Zhou came down.
"Come sit. I wanted to talk to you about something today."
Shen Mo's voice was gentle, but it was hard to miss the seriousness in his tone.
Chen Zhou felt a little uneasy. He glanced at Na'er, who was wolfing down her food, then plopped into a seat on the other side.
"A message came from the Spirit Pagoda's headquarters. They're asking all the collateral members of the Qiangu Clan to return."
"They didn't explain the reason. But from what I've found out, Qiangu Zhangting, the direct-line descendant of your Qiangu Clan, has come out of seclusion."
"He may have made a breakthrough, and then called you all back to meet the future Tower Master of the Spirit Pagoda."
Shen Mo spoke earnestly, but without much concern.
He didn't know Qiangu Zhangting well. He'd investigated this so-called first genius of the Qiangu Clan, its true Young Tower Master and future Tower Master of the Spirit Pagoda, many times.
But after looking into him, Shen Mo felt that he might not measure up to Chen Zhou.
The two were four or five years apart, and their ages alone put Chen Zhou at a disadvantage. He couldn't match Qiangu Zhangting in many respects.
But as far as character and other qualities went, Shen Mo felt Chen Zhou was already close to perfect.
In particular, Chen Zhou's every action had been faithfully reported to him by Su Xin, which left him very pleased with the boy.
Yet when Chen Zhou saw Shen Mo's complicated expression, he only gave a soft "Oh."
He knew a little about Qiangu Zhangting, but not all that much.
In the future, Qiangu Zhangting would fall for Gu Yue—or rather, Gu Yuena.
But Chen Zhou wasn't going to give him that chance.
As for Qiangu Zhangting being the future Tower Master of the Spirit Pagoda, that wasn't a joke. After all, he was a member of the direct line and the current Tower Master's own grandson.
With that identity and status, he naturally outranked a collateral descendant like Chen Zhou.
But now that Chen Zhou had Neuvillette's Ancient Dragon Compendium, the Dream World, and his new cultivation method, he didn't care about any of that.
He first glanced at his hands. His Soul Power Level had already reached level 19.
It wasn't that his Soul Power Level was rising unusually fast. Rather, as his soul power was converted into elemental power, his level itself kept climbing.
By now, his elemental power level had reached 19. Once he reached level 20, he could obtain his second Soul Ring and the second Authority bestowed upon him by Neuvillette.
Those were the things that mattered most to Chen Zhou. Everything else was useless to him.
As for the so-called future heir to the Qiangu Clan and its first genius, that had nothing to do with Chen Zhou.
Once he grew stronger, his true opponent would be that old geezer Qiangu Dongfeng, not Qiangu Zhangting from the younger generation.
Still, after listening to Shen Mo, he nodded.
"Okay, Teacher. When do I need to go back? How many days do we have?"
"No need to rush. There's still about three or four days. Of course, if you'd like, you can go back a couple of days early and see your brothers and sisters."
"We'll see. I'm not really interested in that. Then please book me a plane or high-speed train ticket, Teacher. I'll take Na'er to class first."
Chen Zhou finished off the last bite of his bun and looked at Na'er.
Na'er was rubbing her little belly. When she saw Chen Zhou looking at her, she grinned at him.
Then she held out her chubby little hand, ready for Chen Zhou to come over and take it.
Chen Zhou didn't disappoint her. He took the little girl's hand and led her to East Sea Primary Academy.