By the time Jiang Yu woke, Mu En and the others had long since left the spacious hall. Only Illusion Douluo remained, looking bored, while Ning Tian and Wu Feng stood nearby with their heads together, talking quietly.
The three women brightened when they saw him wake and crowded around him, chattering all at once.
The noise left Jiang Yu's head spinning. It took him a while to piece together the important points from their overlapping accounts.
Fortunately, what Mu En had discovered was largely to his benefit. Yan Shaozhe and Xuan Zi might not be the most reliable people, but they were highly unlikely to spread the news.
All in all, it was no big problem.
With that settled, it was time for the main event.
Three jade boxes sat quietly on the hall's plain wooden table.
Noticing Jiang Yu's gaze, Illusion Douluo smiled and used her Soul Power to send one of the boxes over to him.
"Time to split the spoils... Ahem! I mean, it's finally time to reward you for your courage and quick thinking yesterday. The Sea God Pavilion really spared no expense this time. All three Soul Bones are exceptional, especially yours. I've never seen anything quite so strange in my life."
Jiang Yu opened the jade box. A soft silver glow faded, revealing a peculiar Soul Bone that was almost invisible, yet shimmered silver when viewed with Spiritual Power.
"What is this?"
Jiang Yu stared at it in surprise.
Ever since Mu En's power of light had stimulated the Space-Time Dragon's power within him and awakened it ahead of time, Jiang Yu had felt his connection to and understanding of light and space deepen considerably.
To his eyes, the thing before him seemed less like a Soul Bone than a space node made solid. There was little Soul Power inside it, only an immense amount of pure spatial power.
Illusion Douluo smiled and explained,
"Mu En said this Soul Bone came from an extremely rare elemental being called a Space Spirit. It has one extraordinary trait: it can evolve by absorbing spatial power from its surroundings. The process is slower than a turtle crawling, but given enough time, it could become a genuine Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bone."
Jiang Yu listened in stunned silence. When he finally recovered, he frowned.
"Great-Grandma, I can tell this Soul Bone is only a little over ten thousand years old. At its current rate, how long would it take to reach a hundred thousand years?"
Illusion Douluo scratched her head awkwardly and stammered,
"Mu En said that, at its current rate, it would probably take at least... about ninety thousand years."
Ninety thousand years!?
Jiang Yu's mouth twitched.
No wonder Shrek Academy had been generous enough to give him a precious Soul Bone that could evolve to the hundred-thousand-year level. After all that, it really only gained one year for every year that passed?
Illusion Douluo guessed what he was thinking. She gave his shoulder an exasperated pat and said,
"This Soul Bone may only be ten thousand years old right now, but its quality is exceptional, and spatial Soul Bones are rare. Keep it safe and absorb it as soon as you get back. If we find a way to speed up its evolution someday, Shrek Academy will be the one that got the short end of the deal."
Jiang Yu nodded and put away the Space Spirit Right Leg Bone. Then his gaze shifted to the other two jade boxes on the table.
Illusion Douluo looked over as well. With a thought, she opened both boxes.
One contained a crystalline skull bone that reflected the light. It looked as though it had been assembled from countless tiny mirrors, glimmering faintly under the light around it.
The other held a right-leg Soul Bone streaked with blue-green and red, radiating a substantial aura of Soul Power.
"A sixty-thousand-year Mirror Shadow Beast skull bone and a thirty-thousand-year Flamewind Demon Wolf Right Leg Bone. Both are rare treasures. I intend to have Tian absorb the Mirror Shadow Beast skull bone immediately. As for the Flamewind Demon Wolf Right Leg Bone, I'll take it with me."
Wu Feng, whose eyes had been full of anticipation, froze. Her head drooped in disappointment.
Ning Tian was taken aback too. She was about to speak when Illusion Douluo smacked Wu Feng on the head.
"What are you thinking? This Soul Bone's wind and fire powers are both focused on speed. It's completely unsuited to a Battle Soul Master like you."
"I have another use for it. I'll leave you the Flame Lord left-leg bone you bought at the auction. You earned it."
Wu Feng blinked. Then she promptly clung to Illusion Douluo's leg and wheedled,
"Great-Grandma, you really do care about us the most."
The three of them were so close that Wu Feng privately called Illusion Douluo Great-Grandma too, following Jiang Yu and Ning Tian's lead.
"Look at you, sucking up to me."
Illusion Douluo smiled, then reminded her,
"Take the Soul Ascension Pill and refine it as soon as you get back. Then ask for leave and have Ghost Blade, who's staying in Shrek City, take you to obtain your third Spirit Ring. Put more effort into cultivating from now on, understand?"
Wu Feng nodded at once, looking uncharacteristically obedient.
Illusion Douluo smiled in satisfaction and went on,
"Good. That settles the Soul Bones. Next are the Soul Refining Pills. I thought they were for refining Soul Power, but it turns out they're made primarily from the Spiritual Core of a ten-thousand-year spiritual-type Soul Beast and are used to refine Spiritual Power. There are a few things you must avoid when taking them. Come here, and I'll explain everything. Then you can refine the pills here in the Sea God Pavilion before you leave..."
Time passed quickly. In the blink of an eye, seven days had gone by.
When Yan Shaozhe saw Illusion Douluo finally preparing to leave with Jiang Yu and the two girls, he was so moved he nearly cried on the spot.
For the past seven days, she had brought all three of them to the Sea God Pavilion to eat, drink, and stay for free. She had even treated him, the esteemed dean of the Martial Soul Department, like an errand boy. He hadn't dared protest and could only shed a few quiet tears in private.
Now that this difficult guest was finally leaving, peace and sanctity would return to the Sea God Pavilion. Yan Shaozhe was so thrilled he wanted to set off a couple strings of firecrackers at the entrance!
As they left, Jiang Yu looked at the unassuming three-story building with considerable reluctance.
The Sea God Pavilion was rich in the powers of light and life. For him, it was a cultivation spot beyond anything a Mimicry Training Ground could offer.
During his seven days there, Jiang Yu had gained one level of Soul Power by absorbing the powers of light and life Mu En had poured into him, then barely gained another by absorbing the Soul Bone. His Soul Power had now reached level thirty-seven.
Meanwhile, the powers of light and life he had drawn in over those days had transformed the Soul Power Vortex within him, born from the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's inherited foundation-building method, into its final form.
He had a feeling that if he could stay in the Sea God Pavilion for another ten days or half a month, he could use Vortex-Breaking Tide to raise both his physical strength and Soul Power Level to new heights. It would also give him the firmest possible foundation for his approaching Eight-to-Ten-Year Golden Cultivation Period.
Unfortunately, the Sea God Pavilion was the heart of Shrek Academy. The three of them were outer-court students who had only been allowed to stay there for a week thanks to Illusion Douluo. Strictly speaking, they weren't even qualified to set foot on Sea God Island.
With their business at Shrek settled, Illusion Douluo promptly washed her hands of them. She waved and took off. In the end, it was the helpful Zhang Lexuan who flew the three of them across the broad Sea God Lake and back to the outer court.
Looking at their surroundings, at once familiar and strangely unfamiliar, and thinking back on the twists and turns of the past few days, all three felt as though none of it had quite been real.
But whatever had happened, the matter was resolved, and life had to go on.
Jiang Yu glanced back one last time at the hazy outline of Sea God Island in the distance. Suddenly, the words Mu En had left him with echoed in his mind...
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