Next-Generation Sea God Pavilion Master Successor

Hearing this, everyone had no choice but to listen patiently to Mu En's explanation.

But his next words shattered their entire worldview.

"That child's first martial soul possesses ultimate lightning, and his second martial soul is an extraordinarily rare body martial soul."

Everyone stared, dumbstruck. The mention of a body martial soul, in particular, completely stripped away their usual composure.

At the mention of body martial souls, they could not help recalling the beast tide several decades ago. Shrek Academy had paid an enormous price to barely quell it, even signing a treaty with the Soul Beast Clan...

Seated at the head of the right side, Xuan Zi was unusually serious. He frowned and asked, "Mu En, is it truly a body martial soul? Not just a part of his body?"

Mu En glanced at him. "I'm not so old that my eyes have gone dim."

Xuan Zi pondered for a moment. He had once fought a soul master with a body martial soul, one who had even undergone a second awakening. Despite being several levels below him, that body soul master had fought him to a standstill, which spoke volumes about the power of body martial souls. But...

He said, "But Mu En, our Shrek Academy doesn't have a method for triggering a body martial soul's second awakening. And those lunatics in the Body Sect would never share theirs with outsiders."

Mu En paused at that. "I indeed overlooked that point. We'll need to give this matter careful, long-term consideration. For now, let's return to my earlier decision."

As the discussion returned to the previous topic, Xuan Zi naturally had no objections. Truth be told, he had little interest in the position of Sea God Pavilion Master. It would only leave him with a pile of affairs to handle; eating and drinking were far more satisfying.

The other three senior elders felt much the same. Besides, this was an ultimate attribute, something that had not appeared in centuries. Its rarity lay in its tremendous combat power: it could practically make its wielder invincible among peers and capable of fighting above their level.

Seeing that the senior elders had all tacitly agreed, Yan Shaozhe and the others knew that opposition would be pointless. They all stood with Shrek Academy. As long as its glory could endure, a few sacrifices did not matter.

Seeing this, Mu En immediately finalized the decision. "Very well. From today onward, all information about Chen Tianyuan will be sealed. No more outsiders may learn about his second martial soul, and he will have priority access to all the academy's resources..."

Naturally, Chen Tianyuan knew nothing of what had happened inside the Sea God Pavilion. At that moment, Bei Bei had taken him to Sea God Lake to electrocute fish.

It was worth mentioning, however, that although Bei Bei had already obtained a soul ring and reached soul power level 13, his Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon martial soul, despite possessing the Radiant Sacred Dragon bloodline, fell far short of Chen Tianyuan's ultimate lightning in terms of lightning strength alone.

Even without a soul ring, Chen Tianyuan could stun more than a dozen fish simply by dipping his hand into the water, relying only on the ultimate lightning inherent to his martial soul.

As a fellow child his age, Bei Bei naturally refused to be outdone. His competitive spirit ignited, he poured even more effort into releasing lightning.

Soon, dozens upon dozens of stunned fish floated on the lake's surface...

Zhang Lexuan had only been gone for a few minutes. When she returned to this sight, she felt utterly dismayed. She hurriedly led both children away from the shore, feigning anger as she said, "Bei Bei, how could you take little Yuan to play by the lake? It's dangerous! And you even electrocuted the fish. If an Inner Court teacher catches you..."

Bei Bei waved a hand. "Don't worry, Sister Lexuan. I know my limits."

Then he looked at Chen Tianyuan and asked curiously, "Little brother Yuan, what's your martial soul? How could you stun so many fish at once?"

Chen Tianyuan said, "My martial soul is the purple lightning tyrant dragon. It's a beneficial mutation of the blue lightning tyrant dragon."

Bei Bei exclaimed in surprise, "Really? My martial soul is the blue lightning tyrant dragon! How did yours mutate? Can mine mutate too?"

Zhang Lexuan chuckled at that. "Martial soul mutations are almost always innate, and they can't be controlled. What if yours turned into a pig?"

Bei Bei hastily shook his head. "Then I don't want that."

The Inner Court had no student dormitories. Instead, students chose houses to live in, usually one per person, though couples or close friends sometimes lived together.

Chen Tianyuan was still only a child, so naturally, he could not live alone. He joined Bei Bei in living with Zhang Lexuan. Given how early people on the Douluo Continent generally matured, to outsiders, it looked as though Zhang Lexuan had two sons.

The other students thought nothing of another child suddenly appearing in the Inner Court. After all, any child who could be here either had exceptional talent or a powerful background. There could never be an ordinary child among them.

Inside the Sea God Pavilion.

After confirming Chen Tianyuan as the Next-Generation Sea God Pavilion Master Successor, everyone plunged into a heated discussion about his training and development.

Yan Shaozhe stiffened his neck. "This child's martial soul talent is practically unmatched in the world. Only by focusing exclusively on his martial souls can he realize his full potential and even surpass Mu En..."

To his right, Xian Lin'er, dean of the Soul Tool Department, argued fiercely with him. "Bullshit! The development of soul tools is already an unstoppable tide. The soul tool bombs developed by the Sun Moon Empire can even threaten Titled Douluos..."

The two argued until their faces flushed, neither willing to yield. Their voices filled the entire Sea God Pavilion.

The senior elders on the right side of the long table also took sides. Elder Song supported Xian Lin'er, while Elder Lin supported Yan Shaozhe...

Finally, both turned to Mu En and said in unison, "Mu En, please make the decision."

Mu En sighed and said slowly, "We have indeed fallen far behind in the development of soul tools. I once visited the Sun Moon Empire, and even I felt a hint of danger from those piles of soul tool bombs. So developing the Soul Tool Department must be put on the agenda."

"But I believe that for the next several decades, or even a century, top-tier soul masters will still overwhelmingly surpass soul engineers. Therefore, I think Tianyuan should follow the traditional soul master path. We must raise him to become the next Dragon God Douluo, or even surpass me."

"Of course, if he is interested in soul tools, he may study that path as well."

Yan Shaozhe almost jumped up in excitement and shot Xian Lin'er a provocative look.

Xian Lin'er remained silent. In truth, she also wanted Chen Tianyuan to follow the traditional soul master path, but she simply had to contradict Yan Shaozhe...

Ignoring the two as they sulked at each other, Mu En turned to the white-haired elderly woman seated third on the right side of the long table. Her name was Lin Huiqun, a level 96 Super Douluo. She oversaw the allocation of resources for Shrek's students and even held the Treasure Gathering Pavilion, a veritable money tree, in her hands.

"Tianyuan's physique is too weak. We need to improve his physical strength first. Find a few pieces of ten-thousand-year whale glue to nourish him."

Lin Huiqun acknowledged the instruction. "I'll handle this personally."

Mu En then turned his gaze to Xuan Zi and said solemnly, "Tianyuan is the future of our Shrek Academy. You must protect him."

Seeing Mu En's solemn manner, Xuan Zi nodded gravely, clearly not daring to treat this as a trivial matter. But if Chen Tianyuan had known that Mu En had arranged for Xuan Zi to guard his path, he would rather have had no one watching his back...