Six full years had passed since they left Holy Soul Village for Nuoding Academy, and Xiao Yan and Tang San had finally graduated from Nuoding Junior Soul Master Academy. Given their talent, Nuoding Academy had originally planned to recommend them for guaranteed admission to an Intermediate Soul Master Academy.
But Grandmaster had turned down every invitation on Tang San's behalf, telling him to apply to Shrek Academy south of Suotuo City instead.
Over those six years, Tang San and Xiao Wu had grown as close as a young married couple. Since Tang San had chosen Shrek Academy, Xiao Wu naturally followed him.
As for Xiao Yan, he planned to obtain his third soul ring first, then travel the continent for a while in search of heavenly flames before deciding which Soul Master Academy to apply to.
Even if the academies were no longer accepting students by then, it would not matter. With Xiao Yan's current strength, their teachers had little left to teach him. All he lacked was a good Mimicry Cultivation Environment.
Returning to Star Dou Great Forest, Xiao Yan was already familiar with the road.
However, after six years of studying martial souls, Xiao Yan had developed a new understanding of adding soul rings. He believed that a soul ring was a vessel for storing energy, and that the attributes of a soul master's own martial soul did not inherently conflict with those of the soul beast whose ring they absorbed.
What mattered was whether the soul beast was powerful enough. The stronger the soul beast, the more powerful the soul skill its ring bestowed.
Having a fire-attribute martial soul did not mean one had to choose a fire-attribute soul beast.
Soul beasts with other attributes could also be chosen for their soul rings, provided they were strong