Deep Meditation, Shrek's Devastating Losses

He exhaled a breath of foul air and watched as Mu En's last remnant soul let out an unwilling dragon roar, transforming into the final phantom of the Radiant Holy Dragon.

Gu Yuena watched silently. This could be considered the last bit of dignity she had granted him.

Meanwhile, Jing Hongchen was utterly bewildered.

No matter how he looked at it, Gu Yuena's fighting style did not resemble that of an evil soul master. Yet after she had devoured Mu En, her Soul Power had now surged in a leap-like fashion.

It only made him think of those so-called evil soul masters.

And upon closer consideration, it seemed rather reasonable. Lin Yuan himself possessed the evil martial soul known as the Hades Sword, so could this woman, who looked like the Silver Dragon King, devour someone and gain an increase in Soul Power as well?

Could it be that Lin Yuan had inherited some evil god?

Jing Hongchen was still lost in wild speculation.

Meanwhile, Gu Yuena had already arrived at Lin Yuan's side.

Just as she tried to use her Soul Power to heal his injuries, Lin Yuan raised a hand and softly refused.

"No. I feel that this time... it might instead be an opportunity."

A trace of confusion flashed through Gu Yuena's eyes. Lin Yuan's Soul Power seemed to have broken through during that battle, but what else could he possibly break through?

Yet for Lin Yuan himself—

He had mastered too many powers from the very beginning, and they were far too complicated. Only during that exchange between life and death had he felt as if his potential had briefly been suppressed to some critical point.

Perhaps after this period of seclusion, he could fully integrate those two powers.

"Xiao Yuan, that Soul Tool from earlier..."

After taking a deep breath, Jing Hongchen hesitated for a long while before finally bringing it up. He could not help it; the terrifying enhancement brought by the Battle Armor was simply too frightening.

Without the Battle Armor, it would have been nearly impossible for Lin Yuan to fight Xuanzi as he had then, much less suppress him for a time. No matter how monstrous Lin Yuan's strength was—

The terrifying gap in Soul Power was still there.

"As for that, I'll give you the relevant blueprints later. But this time, I'm afraid I'll be entering seclusion."

As soon as Lin Yuan finished speaking, his aura suddenly changed.

In an instant, Lin Yuan's previously chaotic aura completely withdrew. In its place came faint, steady, tranquil Soul Power fluctuations that rose and fell with his breathing.

After a brief daze, Jing Hongchen seemed to realize something and murmured.

"Deep Meditation!?"

Jing Hongchen's expression was exceedingly complicated.

Good grief. He said he was entering seclusion, and he immediately entered Deep Meditation.

One had to know that for soul masters, Deep Meditation was a rare opportunity that could not be sought. It could almost explosively establish the foundation for a soul master's future potential.

Gu Yuena nodded, then brought Lin Yue directly to a nearby mountain peak. After casually digging out a cave, she stood there silently, clearly intending to guard Lin Yuan herself.

Once the state of Deep Meditation was interrupted, the consequences would likewise be unbearable. Taking Lin Yuan back to Mingdu right now would be an extremely risky decision.

Thus, Jing Hongchen could only sigh helplessly and attempt to communicate with Gu Yuena.

"Would you like to digest that Soul Power? I can stand guard for you as well."

"No need. The Silver Dragon Spear has already automatically converted the power and fed it back to me."

After saying this in a tone that kept others at arm's length, Gu Yuena silently stood there like a statue.

Seeing this, Jing Hongchen said nothing more.

As he turned and left, he was still dazed with astonishment.

Good grief. The outcome of this battle—of the two of them, or rather, the final result—was something he would not have dared dream of. They had forcibly driven the already half-crippled Xuanzi to his death, forced out Shrek's final trump card, Mu En, and even slain him.

That outcome alone was already horrifying enough. Gu Yuena's strength had increased, and Lin Yuan had even entered Deep Meditation.

It could be said that in this war between the Sun Moon Empire and Shrek, they had profited beyond imagination.

Meanwhile, on the other side.

Yan Shaozhe, who had burned his blood essence, narrowly returned to Shrek Academy.

After delivering this news at the Sea God Pavilion meeting—

Everyone fell silent. Xian Lin'er even rose directly to her feet and refuted him with a roar.

"Impossible! This is fake, isn't it?"

Xian Lin'er was also Mu En's disciple. Mu En had originally gone there prepared to die, so she could somewhat accept that.

But Mu En had risked his life and not only failed to defeat Gu Yuena—

He had even become fuel for Gu Yuena's increase in strength.

Such an outcome was far too absurd. Shrek Academy's former strongest and second-strongest experts had both fallen in this battle.

More importantly, this also meant that they had completely fallen out with the Sun Moon Empire.

They could no longer maintain that so-called imperial stance under the banner of an academy.

It was one piece of bad news after another.

The only barely good news was that the Dragon Core Mu En had condensed had returned to the Golden Tree of its own accord.

However, this Dragon Core was exceedingly small, pitifully so.

It was as if, after all that seizing and plundering, only the final trace of power had remained.

Helplessly, Shrek could only order that this news be temporarily sealed.

To avoid causing panic.

As for Jing Hongchen, he did not immediately report the result of this battle.

The reason was simple: when this battle began, he had only represented the Hongchen Family's position.

Besides, reporting this news immediately would mean declaring total enmity with Shrek. Though Shrek appeared to have declined—

Its former strongest and second-strongest experts were dead, but who could say whether Shrek had no other reserves?

They could clearly sense that the Sun Moon Empire wished to launch a war and gain benefits, but if they were to directly become enemies with Shrek—

At the very least, they had to ask first. Only after Kong Deming emerged from seclusion could they make a decision.

Gu Yuena, meanwhile, was merely silently guarding Lin Yuan.

Lin Yuan only felt as if his body had arrived above a vast ocean. It was none other than his Sea of Spirit.

The powers of the Hades Sword and the Heavenly Stem Qilin appeared upon his body as though summoned by a single thought.

Logically speaking, these two should not have been able to appear simultaneously.

The Hades Sword carried destiny, yet it seemed to represent its absolute opposite, symbolizing the ultimate path of slaughter and the withering of death. Although the Heavenly Stem Qilin no longer carried auspiciousness, it likewise condensed the Yin-Yang Five Elements Power.

Whenever the two powers switched, there was a clear barrier between them.

Fusing them would not be easy.

This gave Lin Yuan a faint premonition that his current Heavenly Stem Qilin was still lacking something.

Although the yin and yang Heavenly Stem Qilin allowed it to avoid conflicting with the Hades Sword, only after true conflict arose—and he then fused and mastered them—

Could he bring these two great martial souls to their fullest potential. And it seemed that his Heavenly Stem Qilin would need to wait for another opportunity as well?

After gaining this realization, his spiritual power gradually soared. As his Sea of Spirit continued expanding...

Time in the outside world continued to pass.