Long Yue had been at Monster Academy for a full month, spending nearly every day cultivating so obsessively that he forgot to eat and sleep, as well as studying the theories of soul masters and soul beasts.
Dai Yueyan could no longer bring him wine, and Su Mu could no longer accompany him on nighttime outings.
Although Monster Academy's Heavenly Spring Pool was available for Long Yue to swim in, he still felt stifled.
Monster Academy, the dean's office.
"If you feel stifled, train harder."
En Ci no longer indulged Long Yue. "Weren't you looking forward to enrolling in Monster Academy?"
Long Yue wanted to cry, but had no tears. "I thought it wouldn't be this exhausting."
He now understood why En Ci had wanted him to stay at the Imperial Junior Soul Master Academy until he had three rings. At least that had given him a childhood of fine clothes and spirited steeds, rather than the miserable, monotonous cultivation he endured now.
"Your Mountain Dragon King martial soul does cultivate very quickly, but the world balances yin and yang. As your cultivation deepens, the pain you endure will grow. Ordinary medicines that nourish your blood and vital energy can no longer meet your needs, can they?"
En Ci put his finger squarely on Long Yue's problem.
According to legend, the Mountain Dragon King had transformed its body into mountains, rivers, and continents, so what Long Yue most needed to cultivate was his physical body.
Only when his body could withstand that terrifying power would Long Yue truly be able to unleash the Mountain Dragon King's strength. For that very reason, every level he gained was a trial of both mind and flesh.
"Yep." Long Yue nodded in acknowledgment. He had already felt the strain of cultivation himself, which was why he frantically sought out things to eat that replenished his blood and vital energy.
Long Yue consumed spirit wine that nourished his blood and vital energy to cultivate his body, so that he could bring out the Mountain Dragon King's best possible state in the future.
Getting drunk, singing, and dancing were merely things he did along the way.
"You're different from me. My cultivation was difficult at the beginning, but grew easier as I progressed. It only slowed down when I reached level ninety-five.
"But you have innate full soul power, and every improvement brings a qualitative leap in your strength. By a conservative estimate, you can already fight a Four-Ring Soul Ancestor, can't you?"
En Ci took a box of bright red medicinal pills from his office drawer and placed it on the custom-made redwood table.
"Once you reach six rings, your cultivation speed will drop sharply. Almost every level you gain will bring tremendous pain. Even these pills of mine can only ensure that you cultivate to seven rings."
Long Yue's eyes darted around, and he immediately reached out to grab the pills.
Seeing this, En Ci frowned and delivered a solid slap to Long Yue's hand.
"What do you need so many for?"
"Extra oil won't spoil the dish." Long Yue sucked in a breath of pain.
En Ci glared at Long Yue. "You little rascal! One of these pills is enough for an entire week of cultivation. Are you planning to eat too many and burst to death?"
"Got it, got it."
Long Yue cradled his reddened hand and blew on it twice before saying seriously, "Old man, I have an idea. I could turn my soul spirit into a thousand-year soul spirit at the Spirit Ascension Platform. That way, I wouldn't need to absorb a new soul spirit for my third soul ring."
"Why would you think of that?" En Ci asked.
Long Yue smiled, showing his canine teeth. "Suppose-and I mean suppose-the Spirit Pagoda lost the use of the Spirit Ascension Platform, or couldn't provide soul spirits anymore. What then?"
"Don't worry. There's no possibility of a shortage of soul spirits. Zhang Geyang and his people have been capturing soul beasts in the Big Dipper Mountains to make soul spirits. As for the Spirit Ascension Platform..."
En Ci narrowed his eyes.
Zhang Geyang really had never mentioned how the Spirit Pagoda's Spirit Ascension Platform was doing, or whether it could still be used after their transmigration.
The Spirit Ascension Platform was a secret of the Spirit Pagoda. In Long Yue's view, its greatest function was increasing a soul spirit's age.
"Generally speaking, an ordinary soul master's spiritual power tops out at the Spirit Sea Realm, meaning they can absorb three soul spirits.
"I currently have one hundred-year soul spirit, which provides two soul rings. When I become a Soul Elder, I can absorb a purple soul spirit that provides another three soul rings. That would be enough for me to cultivate to Soul King.
"Then, at five rings, I could absorb a ten-thousand-year soul spirit that provides four soul rings, giving me exactly the nine rings of a Titled Douluo.
"But my soul rings' ages would be two yellow, three purple, four black.
"If the Spirit Ascension Platform can't be used, I might as well follow the example of soul masters from Tang San's era and hunt soul beasts directly."
"I'll take you there." En Ci set off as soon as he said it.
As imperial preceptor, Holy Dragon Douluo En Ci was naturally very busy. He had therefore left Long Yue alone for a month while he dealt with the surrounding hundred-thousand-year soul beasts and built the Soul Guidance Technology Factory.
But once the Divine Realm Empire's expansion and construction were on the right track, En Ci finally had some free time to look after his final disciple.
Heavenly Spring Pool.
One of Monster Academy's scenic landmarks, it was an artificial lake covering two hundred hectares, modeled after Shrek Academy's Sea God Lake.
En Ci's dean's office stood on the small hill north of Heavenly Spring Pool.
As En Ci carried Long Yue through the air, Long Yue happened to see a statue being erected in front of Monster Academy's Heavenly Spring Pool.
The statue's eyes were particularly bright, and several figures surrounded him: the Snow Empress, the Ice Empress, Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass, the Ice Bear King, and the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm.
With these soul spirits standing guard around him, the young man was encircled by soul rings that shone with extraordinary colors.
"Is that Huo Yuhao?" Long Yue asked as En Ci held him aloft.
"That is Huo Yuhao, the Spirit Ice Douluo, a god, the founder of the Spirit Pagoda, and the ancestor of the Divine Realm Empire," En Ci emphasized.
Long Yue quipped, "That statue's too small. You can't fit that many people on it."
En Ci shot his disciple a fierce glare. He had thought Long Yue was merely a little unruly, but had never expected his tongue to be so cutting.
"As the facts show, the dead can sometimes be more useful than the living. Putting the words of today's people into the mouths of the dead is something of a time-honored art. Huo Yuhao may not be dead, but you're not in this world anyway."
En Ci glared fiercely at Long Yue. That last remark was even more taboo.
Emperor Dai Tianling truly intended to invent the Divine Realm Empire's history of origin himself. He would probably devote the rest of his life to it.
As Long Yue gradually moved farther away, he murmured silently to himself:
What a shame you don't know.
With a sense of regret, Long Yue looked at the woman beside Huo Yuhao. A pair of butterfly wings spread behind her, radiating an intense, dazzling brilliance.
Dragon Butterfly Douluo Tang Wutong is actually Tang San and Xiao Wu's daughter.
Whether in the Sun Moon Federation or the Star Luo Empire, the Spirit Pagoda's buildings were much the same in design.
Their octagonal bases occupied vast areas, and every ten floors, the buildings narrowed inward until they reached the spires at the top.
From the moment Long Yue entered the West District, he could see the Spirit Pagoda towering more than five hundred meters high.
As they approached the Dingchuan District, the immense Spirit Pagoda's majestic presence became even more palpable.
Although it had only been a branch pagoda on the Star Luo Continent before their transmigration, it was now the Spirit Pagoda Headquarters on the Spirit Ice Continent.
En Ci brought Long Yue inside the Spirit Pagoda, where Pagoda Master Zhang Geyang personally received them.
"What brings you here?"
For a moment, Zhang Geyang could not work out En Ci's intentions.
The disappearance of the Tang Sect members last time had frightened him so badly that he had only dared to hole up inside the Spirit Pagoda for several days. He had not ventured out again until they went hunting hundred-thousand-year soul beasts.
"We're going to the Spirit Ascension Platform," En Ci said bluntly. "My disciple intends to improve his soul spirit."
Zhang Geyang's expression turned odd. "Go ahead if you want, but I won't take responsibility if anything unexpected happens."
En Ci heard the implication behind his words. "What do you mean?"
Zhang Geyang gave an odd smile.
"We worked hard this month to capture large numbers of soul beasts and turn them into soul spirits. Naturally, that produced some failed creations.
"Some became soul spirits available through random draws, while others were thrown into the Spirit Ascension Platform and became virtual soul beasts.
"I forgot to tell you: because of the transmigration, the beginner, intermediate, and advanced divisions that were separated through technological means inside the Spirit Ascension Platform no longer exist."
"So I might encounter a ten-thousand-year soul beast inside? Doesn't matter."
Long Yue's little mouth was practically coated in honey.
"The strongest virtual soul beasts in there are only at the ten-thousand-year level anyway. After all, you'll never be able to make hundred-thousand-year soul spirits."
"..." Zhang Geyang.
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