Curtain Call

After the incident in which an Evil Soul Master injured people, Shrek City went under martial law. Several Titled Douluos joined forces to search the city for days, but in the end, they only caught a few small fry and found none of the Holy Spirit Cult's higher-ups.

It seemed that once they had drawn Shrek City's attention, the Holy Spirit Cult's people had immediately withdrawn.

Time flowed like water, and Huo Yuhao became increasingly valued in the Soul Tool Department.

His strong mental fortitude and focused state of mind earned him more and more of Fan Yu's admiration.

Huo Yuhao's talent for Soul Tools was gradually coming to fruition. He had become a Level 1 Soul Engineer in just six months, rewriting the speed record for the entire Douluo Continent.

Now, he was working toward becoming a Level 2 Soul Engineer.

As for Qi Xuan, he had stopped attending classes altogether after that day.

The official explanation was that he needed a few days to recuperate, but Huo Yuhao and the others all knew the truth: the academy intended to train him individually.

First, they planned to recruit him into the Sea God Pavilion in the future, so devising a tailor-made program for him was perfectly normal.

Second, the normal teaching schedule had long since fallen far behind him-after being firmly stuck at the rank-thirty bottleneck for four months, he had attained Yin-Yang Mystic Thunder through a savage heavenly tribulation.

After absorbing his third Soul Ring, Qi Xuan's Soul Power had shot straight up to rank thirty-six.

That was downright shocking.

Normally, even absorbing a Soul Ring of great age would raise someone's rank by two at most.

And Qi Xuan possessed an ultimate attribute, no less.

The cultivation speed of all ultimate attributes declined after rank thirty, because they required energy that was both purer and far greater in quantity.

It was like trying to fill a lake with the water from a small pond.

But as long as one patiently developed into the later stages, the terrifying advantages of an ultimate attribute would gradually reveal themselves.

Yet Qi Xuan seemed to have no such hurdles at all. The guy seemed to gain Soul Power just by breathing.

They called it tailor-made training, but in truth, Shrek itself did not really understand how to train Qi Xuan.

You probably couldn't find anyone on the entire continent with experience training ultimate lightning.jpg.

Although Shrek Academy was hailed as the continent's greatest academy, that only meant the vast majority of Soul Masters could unlock the vast majority of their potential there.

Shrek itself lacked experience with some of the more unusual types of Soul Masters.

In terms of depth of understanding and how fully they could develop someone, it was probably inferior to sects that had spent countless millennia specializing in such Martial Souls.

For example, Shrek Academy fell far short of the Body Sect when it came to developing body Martial Souls.

After all, their importance to the two institutions was completely different-body Martial Soul wielders made up less than one percent of Shrek Academy, but for the Body Sect, whether a body Martial Soul could undergo a second awakening was nothing less than a matter of life and death.

With certain rarer attributes, such as Cao Jinxuan's Time Flows Clock, they were even more completely at a loss.

At least the Body Sect had a sect headquarters and gathered Soul Masters with body Martial Souls from all across the world. If someone really wanted to find them, there was somewhere to go.

But wielders of Martial Souls with such rare attributes almost always had their own unique experiences if they managed to become Titled Douluos.

Those experiences were difficult to share and impossible to replicate.

Shi Xing, for instance, also possessed a Martial Soul with space-time attributes, and his cultivation speed was simply astonishing.

He was nearly a Super Douluo before the age of fifty.

That was because he had once encountered certain fortuitous opportunities that distorted his personal time, making its flow roughly half that of the outside world.

In other words, he had actually cultivated for nearly a hundred years before becoming a Titled Douluo.

Cao Jinxuan could hardly copy something like that by tracing the shape of someone else's gourd.

Qi Xuan was comparatively lucky, however. Around four thousand years ago, one of Shrek Academy's former headmasters had possessed an ultimate fire Martial Soul.

He had recorded all his cultivation insights in full, and they had been passed down within the academy ever since.

Those records also formed the foundation of Qi Xuan's training program.

In addition, Mu En had specifically made time to visit the Heavenly Dragon Sect and seek some advice from the Heavenly Dragon Douluo on cultivating lightning attributes.

After returning, he had drawn on the strengths of many schools to create a cultivation program tailored to Qi Xuan.

Its core came down to one thing-absorb all kinds of high-quality lightning element energy. The more, the better; the higher the quality, the better.

As a result, Qi Xuan had recently gone without anything non-electrified in his three daily meals, making him seriously question whether he could still distinguish the flavors of food.

Besides wolfing down heavenly treasures, actual combat was also an important part of the program.

Because his current identity was being kept secret, Xuan Zi volunteered to serve as Qi Xuan's sparring partner.

That made Qi Xuan seriously wonder whether the old man had anything worthwhile to do each day besides drinking and eating chicken legs.

Still, the Godly Taotie Bull was earth-attributed, which gave it an advantage over his attribute, and it did help him accumulate plenty of valuable combat experience.

Qi Xuan's past battles had mostly fallen into two extremes-either he was blasting small fry, or he was the small fry getting blasted.

The only time he had been forced into a desperate struggle from a losing position was against the Hell White Tiger in the freshman assessment finals.

If he had possessed his current stats back then, even the Hell White Tiger would not have been unbeatable.

Although the academy wanted to prepare a room specifically for him on Sea God Island, just as it had for Ma Xiaotao, he insisted on returning to his own dormitory to sleep every night.

Clearly, raising Huo Yuhao's affection for him was a little more important.

Although they now spent more time apart than together and could almost only see each other for an hour or two at night.

Their friendship had not weakened. Even in the brief gaps while washing up, they would share the day's experiences and what they had learned.

Qi Xuan did not understand Soul Tools, and Huo Yuhao did not understand ultimate lightning.

But the act of communicating was itself the most important thing.

After six months of peaceful cultivation like this, Qi Xuan suddenly received a mission.

"Are you kidding me? I won't even be thirteen next year, and you're already making me work? This is child labor!" Qi Xuan leveled a tearful, blood-soaked accusation at the heartless capitalist that was Shrek Academy.

Across from him, Xuan Zi looked at him speechlessly. "Where's that youthful energy a thirteen-year-old should have? You look like an even more seasoned old hand than I do."

Qi Xuan laughed and decisively changed the subject. "So, what's the mission?"

Xuan Zi himself had a lively disposition, much like a mischievous old child. Through their sparring sessions, the relationship between the old man and the boy had gradually improved, developing into a peculiar sort of camaraderie.

With a rare look of seriousness, Xuan Zi asked, "Do you know Snowcloud City?"

Qi Xuan's general education classes had covered the distribution of powers across the continent, so he quickly remembered. "If I recall correctly, it's in the Heaven Dou Empire. Its specialty is snowcloud silk, a very high-grade silk fabric that sells well across the continent."

"Correct." Xuan Zi took a deep swig of wine. "According to an informant, the Blood Soul Old Ghost has been spotted within the Heaven Dou Empire. And at a treasure exhibition in Snowcloud City a month from now, they'll be displaying an immortal herb capable of repairing the soul."

Qi Xuan seemed to understand. "So we're really luring the snake out of its hole?"

"Exactly. Your mission is to go and confirm his identity. The Blood Soul Old Ghost is extremely cunning, and he certainly won't dare show his true face. You've fought him at close range before, so all you need to do is identify him."

Xuan Zi said gravely, "Remember, you only need to confirm whether it's him. Even if you can't be certain, that's fine. Your own safety comes first."

Qi Xuan thought for a moment. "Fighting an Evil Soul Master is a pretty serious matter, right? What kind of protection will I have this time?"

Xuan Zi thumped his chest. "This time, I'll personally escort you and keep you safe."

Qi Xuan was so frightened that he jumped straight up. "How about I just go by myself instead!"

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