After making his decision, Su Xun packed his "class schedule" even tighter.
On Mondays and Fridays, he went to the ninety-fifth floor to study with Han Tianyi.
His morning schedule on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays remained unchanged, while his afternoon lessons were shortened, with actual combat training frequently mixed in.
After those shortened lessons, he studied mecha design with Leng Yaozhu on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and forging on Wednesdays and Saturdays.
His forging teacher was a rank-seven Saint Craftsman whom the Spirit Pagoda had spent a fortune training.
Na'er's mecha repair lessons took place on Monday and Friday mornings, under Han Tianyi.
Yes, Han Tianyi was a rank-nine mecha repairer.
While teaching Su Xun, he casually split his attention, creating a separate classroom for Na'er and instructing her there.
Occasionally, Su Xun sat in on her lessons during his breaks.
There was no other reason: some of the knowledge taught in the repair lessons was quite helpful for mecha design.
Under this tightly packed schedule, Su Xun could truly be said to live amid deep waters and scorching fire, while Na'er wailed every single day.
Three years later.
Deep within the Primary Spirit Ascension Platform, ancient trees stood lush and green beneath a gloomy sky.
Black mist filled the woods, limiting visibility to a mere dozen or so meters.
The beauty in Na'er's once-childish features had now blossomed, and the contours of a young woman's figure had begun to emerge. She was no longer as slight as she had been three years ago.
Her silver hair fluttered as she stood gracefully beside Su Xun, the Silver Dragon Spear in hand, like a goddess of war.
Su Xun stood motionless, multicolored illusory light flowing through his eyes.
A moment later, he stirred his spiritual power, sending Na'er directions.
Na'er immediately shot forward as a silver afterimage, darting nimbly through the mist.
Soon, among the jagged rocks deep within the forest, an enormous blood-red eye hovered in the air.
An Evil Eye Tyrant!
Yet its eye was now filled with confusion, and even its pupil trembled faintly.
It seemed utterly unaware of Na'er's approach.
Upon spotting her target, the two purple soul rings beside Na'er lit up in succession.
Second soul skill, Silver Dragon Leap!
The Silver Dragon Spear seemed to become one with her in her hands, transforming into an enormous silver dragon that smashed through space and appeared before the Evil Eye Tyrant in an instant.
Then silver light blazed from the Silver Dragon Spear, gathering into a silver dragon that slammed into the Evil Eye Tyrant's pupil.
At the same time, countless cracks spread, gathering into Spatial Thorns before abruptly shattering.
Bang!
The enormous Evil Eye Tyrant exploded into a rain of blood.
No spiritual energy emerged, only a peculiar eye wrapped in blood-red light.
Na'er's silver eyes brightened. She reached out, scooped the eye into her hand, and hurried back.
"Su Xun, Su Xun, I got it!"
She returned to Su Xun's side as though presenting a treasure, handing him the eye without the slightest reluctance.
Su Xun smiled faintly.
"You really don't care about this external soul bone at all?"
"This Evil Eye Tyrant bears the name 'tyrant' because it possesses the direct bloodline of the Evil Eye Tyrant Ruler from ten thousand years ago."
"As it evolves in the future, it could very well develop the power of space and time."
"Your Silver Dragon Spear has the spatial attribute. This external soul bone is an excellent match for you, too."
Na'er waved dismissively and gave a little huff.
"This great king wouldn't fight a mere One-Ring Soul Master like you over it."
"It's good for you to get stronger, anyway. That way, when you lose our matches in the future, you won't get to use my higher cultivation as an excuse."
Su Xun's expression turned strange.
"Have you ever beaten me? Why don't I remember that?"
Na'er blushed, but stubbornly retorted.
"Just tell me whether you're a one-ring ant right now!"
"Yes, yes, yes. Thank you for your reward, Your Majesty."
Su Xun did not know whether to laugh or cry.
Na'er was right. Three years ago, he had been a rank-fourteen One-Ring Soul Master.
Three years later, his soul power still remained at rank twenty, and he had not broken through to become a Two-Ring Soul Grandmaster.
However, that did not mean his soul power had only increased by six ranks in three years.
Rather, just as he had anticipated, his martial soul was too unusual. Night Owl simply could not condense a second soul ring for him.
Thus, he could only search for a suitable second soul spirit.
Following his earlier plan, he had intended to activate his Body Root first, but even after searching through the Spirit Ascension Platform headquarters' treasured collection, he had found no compatible soul spirit.
Left with no choice, he could only set that idea aside for now. Activating another root first would be fine, too.
However, none of the soul spirits he had seen within a suitable age range were compatible, either.
The only two that had elicited a reaction from the Six Desires Immortal, as Night Owl had when he absorbed him, were both over ten thousand years old.
Given the effects of absorbing a soul spirit that elicited a reaction from his martial soul, Leng Yaozhu was unwilling to let her only disciple settle for a "substandard" one.
As a result, even now, Su Xun felt that his accumulated soul power was nearly at the level of a Three-Ring Soul Elder, yet he still had not absorbed his second soul spirit.
However, the search had continued based on Su Xun's descriptions of the other three unusual beasts within his innate domain, Six Roots Tribulation Soil.
A few days ago, Leng Yaozhu had told him that she finally had a lead on his second soul spirit.
As for this encounter, it was both a trial and a reward for reaching the required level of strength.
An external soul bone from an Evil Eye Tyrant possessing the Evil Eye Tyrant Ruler's direct bloodline.
For his Eye Root, it was undoubtedly a tremendous tonic.
"Just remember how good this great king is to you. You'd better not treat me poorly in the future!"
"Otherwise, this great king will never let you hear the end of it!"
Na'er brandished her delicate fist, then said:
"Hurry up and absorb it. I'll stand guard."
Su Xun nodded at her words and wasted no time.
His soul power and spiritual power flowed simultaneously into the blood-red eye.
In an instant, a savage aura poured from the blood-red eye. Then it transformed into a streak of crimson light that landed between Su Xun's brows.
Su Xun's body trembled slightly, and cold sweat ran down his temples.
But in the next moment, his eyes snapped open.
"Hoo~!"
Night Owl appeared and gave a low hoot.
Beside him, Na'er's heart skipped a beat.
Kitty felt a little different to her today.
At that same moment, she had the strange illusion that Su Xun's eyes had merged with Kitty's.
Within those pupils, a faint ring of light seemed to shine.
It was as though two pupils had overlapped.
Na'er suddenly felt a chill over her body, as though the clothes she wore had abruptly vanished.
Before she could think further, the strange light in Su Xun's eyes faded, and the cold sweat on his temples vanished as well.
The blood-red eye that had been radiating a savage aura just moments before was now perfectly docile, its fusion successfully completed.
Between Su Xun's brows, a blood-red eye mark had appeared, resembling an ancient rune.
Instantly, Na'er felt Su Xun's spiritual power, which had already surpassed hers by a considerable margin, surge much higher.
Don't tell me it's over a thousand!
Na'er's heart skipped a beat, and she immediately grew a little nervous.
A few days ago, her spiritual power had just broken through into the Spirit Sea Realm, with a test result of five hundred and twelve.
Su Xun had broken through long before her, and his test result had been close to seven hundred.
Su Xun teased:
"Well? Regretting it yet?"
"If you'd absorbed it, your spiritual power might have surpassed mine by now."
Na'er curled her lip, then planted both hands on her hips and declared indignantly:
"Once Na'er gives her word, even eight horses can't catch it."
"But Na'er is very angry!"
"Compensation! You have to compensate me!"
Before you continue