Xuan Zi

First was Mu En. His Rank 99 cultivation was indeed unmatched in the world, but due to his early conflict with Du Bisou, the previous sect master of the Body Sect, his spine had been broken. At the same time, Dragon Pill's baleful aura had continuously eroded his body, leaving him with little lifespan remaining. His body could no longer support a further evolution of his Martial Soul, making it difficult for him to reach the Ultimate.

Then there was Yan Shaozhe. Dean Yan had been a romantic youth and incurred quite a few emotional debts. As his cultivation rose, inner knots formed and problems arose in his state of mind. As a result, his cultivation had struggled to advance, preventing him from attaining the Ultimate.

As for why Wang Yan suspected that Lu Yuan possessed Ultimate Light, the reason also lay in his Martial Soul.

What was the advantage of an Elemental Envoy Martial Soul, a rare and unconventional type of Martial Soul?

Beast Martial Souls could possess their wielders upon awakening, granting Soul Masters considerable boosts to their physical abilities. Tool Martial Souls came into their own later on, with the potential to grow into bonded divine artifacts while also helping Soul Masters comprehend things such as sword intent and the sword path.

What about Elemental Envoy Martial Souls? Elemental affinity? But powerful elemental Beast Martial Souls and Tool Martial Souls were no weaker in terms of elemental affinity.

Leaving other types of Elemental Envoys aside, for a Light Elemental, its strength lay in one word: purity.

A Light Elemental controlled light, became light—simple, pure, yet powerful!

Moreover, Wang Yan had once experienced Mu En's and Yan Shaozhe's Martial Souls at close range. Although Lu Yuan was far weaker than the two of them now, in terms of the light attribute alone, Wang Yan felt that Lu Yuan's light surpassed theirs by a level.

He truly deserved to be one of the foremost theory researchers in the original work.

After hearing Wang Yan's analysis, Lu Yuan could not help but admire him. He had only been able to confirm that he possessed Ultimate Light because of the information advantage provided by the original work and Elder Yi's direct confirmation as a former Son of Light. Yet Wang Yan had reached the same conclusion merely by noticing traces revealed by his Martial Soul and combining them with theoretical analysis.

As the explanation came to an end, Wang Yan, now increasingly certain that Lu Yuan possessed Ultimate Light, could no longer sit still. This year's freshmen had given him far too many surprises: the sisters Lan Susu and Lan Luoluo and Huo Yuhao's Body Martial Souls, Wang Dong's top-tier Beast Martial Soul, and Lu Yuan's Ultimate Martial Soul!

He had to find Elder Xuan immediately and have him mobilize the other elders to take a proper look at this year's Freshman Assessment.

Shrek Academy's inner courtyard, Sea God Island.

An old man dressed in rags, slovenly in appearance and utterly unkempt, held a large chicken drumstick in one hand and an enormous wine gourd in the other. However, judging by the chicken drumstick in his hand, which had already gone cold, he had likely maintained that posture for quite some time.

This shabby old man was Shrek Academy's publicly acknowledged strongest expert, the Rank 98 Super Douluo whose Martial Soul was the Godly Taotie Bull—the Taotie Douluo, Xuan Zi.

He had maintained that pose while listening to Wang Yan's report for quite a while, but even now, Xuan Zi still found it somewhat unbelievable.

What did Wang Yan mean by saying that after watching a single day of round-robin matches in the outer courtyard, he had discovered three Body Martial Souls, one Martial Soul Fusion Skill, one top-tier Beast Martial Soul, and one Ultimate Martial Soul?!

Was this really the outer courtyard? Where the hell had Wang Yan taken him?!

After hearing Wang Yan's brief report, Xuan Zi suspected he had bought fake wine. He instinctively wanted to lift the wine gourd and take a swig, but then seemed to remember something. Silently, he set the gourd on the ground and instead bit into the somewhat cold roast chicken.

"Wang Yan, tell me in detail about what you saw today."

This time, after hearing the full report, Xuan Zi steadied himself. Although this year's freshmen were indeed quite talented, they were not nearly as outrageous as Wang Yan's condensed version had made them sound.

"First, the sisters Lan Luoluo and Lan Susu. You have studied Martial Souls too, so you should understand that hair is far too unimportant a body part. That means the quality of their Martial Souls is average, their potential is limited, and it will be difficult for them to undergo a second awakening."

Xuan Zi frankly gave his assessment, then continued, "Although sisters can share a mental connection and possess a Martial Soul Fusion Skill, allowing them to fight above their rank, the quality of their Martial Souls makes a second awakening impossible. It will be difficult for them to reach Soul Sage cultivation or above, so their value is limited."

"On the other hand, that little fellow whose Martial Soul is his eyes has great potential," Xuan Zi continued. "The eyes are the windows to the soul, and you said he is of the spiritual type. His Martial Soul may not be merely his eyes, but his eyes connected to his brain. Only then would it be possible for him to awaken a spiritual-type Martial Soul. If that is truly the case, then this child is extremely likely to undergo a second awakening. His future is limitless."

Then there was Wang Dong, whose Martial Soul was the Light Goddess Butterfly and whose second ring was a Thousand-Year Soul Ring. Xuan Zi's eyes lit up when he heard that her second ring was a Thousand-Year Soul Ring, but when Wang Yan said she was a "boy," Xuan Zi seemed to choke. He fell silent for a while.

Young people these days... they really knew how to have fun. Xuan Zi felt that an old fellow like him was truly struggling to keep up with the times.

"Tell me in detail about that child whose Martial Soul you judged to be Ultimate Light!" After listening for so long, Xuan Zi's expression became exceptionally serious. Lu Yuan's existence was the reason Xuan Zi had listened to Wang Yan ramble for so long.

"Yes, Elder Xuan."

One yellow and two purple Soul Rings, two half-self-created Soul Skills combined with his existing Soul Skills, and terrifying spiritual power—every part of it made Xuan Zi feel as though he were hearing a fantasy.

Especially the first point.

He knew that Elemental Envoy Martial Soul wielders excelled in spiritual power, but absorbing a Thousand-Year Soul Ring as one's second ring was undoubtedly inconceivable.

Even he and his martial uncle Mu En, despite possessing the top-tier Beast Martial Souls of the Godly Taotie Bull and the Radiant Saint Dragon, had failed to absorb Thousand-Year Soul Rings as their second rings. Why could Lu Yuan, with an Elemental Envoy Martial Soul, accomplish it?

He had never heard that an Elemental Envoy Martial Soul could enhance physical abilities, either.

"Interesting, interesting—" Xuan Zi did not press further. Instead, he took a deep drink of fine wine and muttered to himself.

After all, aside from Martial Souls, there were still far too many unknowns on the Douluo Continent. A top-tier heavenly treasure, perhaps, or some unexpected fortuitous encounter? Either was possible.

But none of that mattered. What mattered was that this was Shrek Academy, the Shrek Academy that admitted only monsters.

Lu Yuan had accomplished what neither he nor Martial Uncle Mu En had managed back then. That meant this was a little monster even more terrifying than they had been!

"This year's freshmen are truly interesting! Little Wang, speak to Shaozhe later and have him save me a spot in the later matches."

With that, Xuan Zi rose and flew toward Sea God's Pavilion, intending to tell Mu En about Lu Yuan.

After all, Martial Uncle Mu En did not have much time left. If he still intended to take a disciple, he should make arrangements soon. Moreover, Lu Yuan had already reached three rings. Between three and seven rings, Soul Masters with Ultimate attributes experienced a marked decline in cultivation speed due to Soul Power compression. This was precisely the crucial period for planning Lu Yuan's future path.