Excited Xuan Zi Had Found a Treasure!

"Sigh~"

An aged voice rang out.

Xuan Zi was gnawing on a chicken leg, a string of gourds hanging from his waist. He stared at Su Wen in surprise, then grabbed Su Wen's wrist before he could react. His eyes narrowed slightly as he sensed the Soul Power within Su Wen's body...

"Huh?"

Xuan Zi cried out in surprise. "What damn good luck! You actually stumbled into this kind of once-in-a-lifetime treasure."

"I found him, I found him!" Ma Xiaotao said excitedly.

"Got it. Go play." Xuan Zi hummed perfunctorily and waved his hand. "Lexuan, come with me. The rest of you, don't run around."

Su Wen felt the world spin. The next moment, he appeared atop the canopy of an ancient tree.

It was extremely high up. Looking down through the layers of dense leaves, he could faintly see the bonfire below and the Shrek Inner Courtyard Disciples, who were as tiny as ants.

A moment later, Zhang Lexuan stood prettily nearby. Her academy uniform fluttered in the wind, accentuating her slender figure. When she noticed Su Wen looking over, the Senior Disciple Sister brushed back her long hair and revealed a calm smile.

"Child, can you tell me what your martial soul is?" Xuan Zi asked with a kindly smile.

"Capturing Soul Beasts. You can understand it as controlling Soul Beasts." Su Wen did not hesitate in the slightest. Since he had decided to join Shrek Academy, his first step was to display his value and absorb enough resources to strengthen himself.

Although Shrek Academy had plenty of flaws, it was generous enough toward its own people. It was especially devoted to cultivating its "core" disciples, putting in genuine effort without the slightest hint of perfunctory treatment.

Moreover, there was a deeply rooted consensus among those who transmigrated into the Douluo world: follow the technological path to the Sun Moon Empire, and the traditional path to Shrek.

The Body Sect was no less protective of its own disciples than Shrek, and its strength was comparable as well. Unfortunately, he had encountered Shrek first. All he could say was that they were not fated to meet...

Of course, the most important thing was that he would most likely be regarded as one of Shrek's "own people."

Just as he had expected, Xuan Zi could barely conceal his delight.

A six-year-old child with no one to rely on was practically a successor to the Sea God Pavilion sent by heaven. As for being able to control Soul Beasts, he was even more astonished by such a monster. This spiritual-control-type martial soul, combined with Innate Full Soul Power, would definitely occupy a place among top-tier martial souls.

"Then, might I ask whether you are willing to join Shrek Academy?"

Xuan Zi's voice trembled slightly.

One had to know that Ma Xiaotao, with Innate Soul Power of Grade 9, was known as a genius rarely seen in the academy in a century. As for the other person with Innate Full Soul Power, she was standing right beside him—the Zhang Lexuan whom the Elders of the Sea God Pavilion had tacitly acknowledged as the successor to the Sea God Pavilion, and the greatest genius in the Inner Courtyard.

"I'm willing!"

Su Wen answered without hesitation.

"Hahahaha, good child." Xuan Zi danced about in delight.

"However..." Su Wen hesitated.

Seeing this, Xuan Zi's smile immediately faded. He and Zhang Lexuan stood at the side, not daring to make a sound, and stared nervously at Su Wen.

"I still need to obtain the first Soul Beast I'll control." Su Wen scratched his head.

With Elder Xuan, this top-tier tool at his disposal, there was no reason not to use him.

"That's easy! Elder Xuan will personally take you to capture one!"

Xuan Zi thumped his chest, secretly letting out a sigh of relief. "Not to mention a thousand-year or ten-thousand-year Soul Beast—even if it's a three- or four-hundred-thousand-year Fierce Beast entrenched in the core region of the Star Dou Great Forest, Elder Xuan can still catch it and bring it right before you!"

"That won't be necessary. Ten years will do."

"Ten years? Oh, oh, that's normal too. After all, you're only starting out, and you still need to hunt your first Soul Ring to..."

"I already have my first Soul Ring." As soon as he finished speaking, the first Soul Ring, pure and lustrous as jade, lit up beneath Su Wen's feet.

Xuan Zi froze, then flew into a rage. "Who the hell gave Su Wen his first Soul Ring?!! Which little bastard was it?" As he spoke, he rolled up his sleeves and prepared to go down and give the culprit a vicious beating.

"I did it myself," Su Wen said.

Xuan Zi: "..."

"It came with my martial soul," Su Wen explained.

"Oh, I see. Then there's nothing to be done. It's just a pity about your first Soul Ring. A genius like you should have at least obtained a Soul Beast with an extreme age of over four hundred years. Sigh..." Xuan Zi said helplessly.

"However, it seems that its age can be increased." Su Wen smacked his lips.

"It can be increased... What the hell did you say?!!" Xuan Zi stared at him in a daze. Even Zhang Lexuan's beautiful eyes widened.

"As the cultivation of the first Soul Beast I capture increases, the age of my Soul Ring will increase along with it." Su Wen spread his hands.

Elder Xuan: "..."

He exchanged a glance with Zhang Lexuan.

"I think I need to go back and report this matter to Mu En." His throat bobbed as he spoke each word slowly.

"Whoosh!"

A green shadow flashed through the forest, leaving behind only a faint afterimage and causing the trees on either side to sway. It roamed freely through this sea of trees, seeming almost like a Ghost.

But in the next moment.

That green shadow was gently clutched in a fair hand. Despite struggling with all its might, it could not break free.

"Qing Feng, a type of flying bird Soul Beast with extremely high speed. Judging by the length of its wings, its age is approximately seventeen years." Zhang Lexuan slowly opened her hand. A tiny green bird lay trembling in her palm. Its feathers were a pale green all over, and it looked as delicate as a work of art.

"But its abilities are too limited." Su Wen shook his head. "It doesn't even have an attribute."

Pushing speed to the extreme would indeed be extremely overpowered, but that required paying a tremendous cost. At the initial selection stage, he preferred an all-round Soul Beast that could both attack and defend, without being too slow.

To be honest, even the Wind Baboon that had nearly slain a god back then was several levels better than this Qing Feng. At least it had the Wind Attribute and high growth potential.

Of course, the most important thing was the line of small text before Su Wen's eyes.

Qing Feng Bird, cultivation: 17.5 years, no attribute, no potential, no cultivation value.

A three-nothing Soul Beast...

That was right. Ever since he had awakened his martial soul, this Soul Beast attribute panel had appeared as well, saving him a great deal of trouble. It was practically a "humanoid Soul Beast catalog."

Along the way, most ten-year Soul Beasts were not much different. Even when the potential column was not empty, there was pitifully little in it.

There was no helping it. Ten-year Soul Beasts were at the very bottom of the Soul Beast food chain. They had either only just evolved from ordinary beasts or been born from other ten-year Soul Beasts—once ten years, ten years for life. Their bloodlines were locked tight unless they were one of the extremely rare mutated Soul Beasts...

"Buzz~"

Seeing that the two of them were no longer paying attention to it, Qing Feng rolled its jet-black eyes. Its body shot out like a bolt of lightning, circling in the air several times to build up speed before flying toward the sky. It did not dare remain on the ground any longer.

Zhang Lexuan slowly lowered her hand and watched the emerald-green sparrow fly out of the forest. She raised her head slightly and continued watching until its figure vanished from sight.

With a spirited air, she clapped her hands and glanced at the dazed Su Wen.

Her beautiful eyes softened somewhat. Her sternness was reserved for the junior brothers and sisters of the Inner Courtyard, but toward a six-year-old child—only an overflowing maternal instinct remained.

Elder Xuan had gone to report to the Inner Courtyard. An existence of this strategic level would become a key cultivation target for the academy in the future, provided nothing unexpected happened—the kind that even Ma Xiaotao could not compare with.

That was because they were on the outskirts of the Star Dou Great Forest, where the danger was extremely low, and they were very close to Shrek. At Elder Xuan's speed, the round trip would only take a day, so it would not delay their journey...