Lu Ren's Martial Soul was his brain?

The Council Chamber fell silent for a moment.

Then, almost simultaneously, the dozen or so Elders put on expressions that said, "Just as expected."

"Go on." Mu En, seated at the head of the long table, spoke slowly, his aged voice betraying neither pleasure nor anger. "What is it this time?"

Xuan Zi fell silent for a few seconds, as though gathering his words.

Then he raised his head and recounted everything from beginning to end.

He started with finding Lu Ren at the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy, then covered their conversation, their negotiations, their wager, and finally how he had run out of time to find where Lu Ren's real body actually was.

He went into great detail, concealing nothing.

Including how a Four-Ring Soul Ancestor had schemed against him, and how he had been shackled with that bizarre Binding Vow...

"Wait."

Elder Song suddenly raised a hand, interrupting him.

Her bright eyes stared straight at Xuan Zi as she asked, enunciating every word:

"You said you wagered what?"

The corner of Xuan Zi's mouth twitched.

"...A Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bone."

At that moment, the Council Chamber erupted.

"A Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bone?!"

"Xuan Zi, have you gone mad?"

"That's a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bone! Do you know how hard it is to hunt down a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast?"

"And how many do we even have in our treasury? You just wagered one on a whim?"

"More importantly..." An Elder's voice suddenly rose. "You actually think you might lose? You called a meeting over this?"

"Aren't you guaranteed to win this wager?"

At those words, the Council Chamber fell silent again.

All the Elders realized there was an even more terrifying question.

Since Xuan Zi had dared to wager a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bone, it meant he had never considered that he might lose.

Granted, Shrek Academy's team this year was exceptionally strong overall, and there was no suspense about them taking the championship.

But what if they lost?

"Honestly." Elder Song spoke again, drawing out her words. "You really are getting more and more accomplished. Whenever we ask you to do something useful, you're either drunk or eating chicken legs. You finally take the initiative to go out on an assignment for once, and what happens?"

"We send you to recruit a genius, and look at you..."

She paused before continuing:

"Not only did you fail to bring him back, you even made a wager with him. If you lose, we'll have to hand over a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bone on top of it. Xuan Zi, oh, Xuan Zi, you truly are a genius."

Xuan Zi's face flushed crimson. His lips trembled several times, but he could not squeeze out a single word.

Some of the other Elders pressed their hands to their foreheads, some sighed, and some simply closed their eyes.

It was not that they truly cared about that Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bone.

Though they certainly did care.

More importantly, however, the whole affair was simply too absurd.

Shrek Academy's Taotie Douluo, a Level 98 Super Douluo, had been thoroughly outmaneuvered by a fifteen-year-old Four-Ring Soul Ancestor.

If word got out, where would Shrek hide its face?

Even though they did not think Shrek Academy would lose.

"Enough."

Elder Song put away her smile, her expression turning serious as she leaned forward slightly.

"Let's get down to business. You've seen that child in person. Tell everyone honestly."

"If that child really leads the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy's team into the competition, what are our chances of winning?"

Xuan Zi remained silent for a long time.

So long that the Elders' hearts gradually sank.

A while later, he finally spoke:

"That child really is strong."

"His Soul Power is only rank forty-seven, but under normal conditions, the amount of Soul Power he possesses is roughly equivalent to a rank sixty-one Soul Emperor's. I don't know how he does it either, but the feeling that state gives me is like..."

"He seems to have mastered a way to keep a percentage-based amplification Soul Skill active constantly, without any time limit or Soul Power consumption."

Xuan Zi was a Level 98 Super Douluo, after all. He still possessed the knowledge and discernment expected of one; he had, after all, seen countless people use amplification Soul Skills.

But Lu Ren's circumstances were simply too unusual.

Everyone present was shocked by his words.

"Rank forty-seven, but with roughly as much Soul Power as someone at rank sixty-one?"

"What does that mean? He's crossed more than an entire major realm?"

"And you said he can keep an amplification Soul Skill active constantly? What does that mean?"

Amplification Soul Skills were extremely valuable and exceedingly rare, only slightly inferior to domain-type Soul Skills. Whenever one appeared, it was the cream of the crop.

Because even a Hundred-Year Soul Ring remained useful in the later Titled Douluo stages, so long as it provided a percentage-based amplification.

Although these amplification Soul Skills could increase one's strength, they all had time limits, and the increases were temporary.

With so many top-tier experts among them, none had ever seen anyone maintain an amplification Soul Skill indefinitely. At the absolute most, one could last five or ten minutes, and even that consumed enormous amounts of Soul Power.

Xuan Zi nodded and continued:

"As for how he keeps that amplification Soul Skill active... I don't know either. Hopefully, you'll be able to see his condition for yourselves someday. Then you'll understand why I consider him an exceptional genius, and why even wagering a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bone on him wasn't a waste at all."

"Moreover, his physical strength is terrifying. When I released pressure at the level of a rank seventy Soul Saint, his expression didn't change. Only when I raised it above rank seventy-five did he begin to waver, but right until the end..."

He paused, a trace of complicated emotion flashing through his eyes.

"He never fell."

The Council Chamber was so quiet that a falling pin could have been heard.

"And that's not all," Xuan Zi continued. "Even I couldn't tell exactly what his Martial Soul was, but... I think it might be his brain?"

"A brain-type Martial Soul?"

Everyone was slightly stunned, before one Elder quickly reacted:

"A Body Martial Soul!"

"Yes." Xuan Zi's eyes lit up. "But I can't be certain either. I only examined him with my eyes and found that his brain was different from an ordinary person's, and much stronger than the average Soul Master's. His Spiritual Power was even more monstrous-invincible among those of the same rank."

"And one of his Martial Soul's abilities is blood manipulation. He can convert his own Soul Power into blood. Not only that, every drop contains his Soul Power and Spiritual Power. Even more outrageously, he has achieved a complete fusion of Soul Power and Spiritual Power. That's something even I haven't managed."

"That's why I think his Martial Soul might be his brain. With the brain as his Body Martial Soul, its Spiritual Power, and that perfect fusion with Soul Power-I doubt I need to tell you all just how significant that is."

At Xuan Zi's words, quite a few people present drew sharp breaths.

"Soul Power and Spiritual Power perfectly fused together, a powerful physique, Spiritual Power unmatched at his rank, and an amplification Soul Skill he can maintain indefinitely without any consumption..." Elder Song frowned and said gravely, "Xuan Zi, you were rather rash with this wager."

"I'm afraid even that child Ma Xiaotao might not be a match for him."

The other Elders could not help saying, "Exactly. Xuan Zi, since you could already tell how extraordinary that child was, why did you still agree to his wager?"

Red-faced, Xuan Zi could not help explaining, "I only wanted to take him down a peg..."

"What's even more troublesome is that ability of his called a Binding Vow. I suspect it's another ability of his brain Martial Soul, and one at the level of a rule-type Soul Skill, at that."

Xuan Zi explained how the Binding Vow worked, placing particular emphasis on the characteristics of rule-type powers and the price of breaking the agreement.

After hearing him out, the Elders' expressions changed.

"Rule-type... Wait, he said sharing information could strengthen the Binding Vow, and you actually obediently listened to his entire explanation?"

"Even you can't break free of it?"

"Does that mean we'll really have to hand over a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bone if we lose?"

Xuan Zi nodded heavily.

Even setting that Binding Vow aside, the main point was...

He had sworn on his Martial Soul when making the wager.

If he broke the agreement, the consequences...

Elder Song sighed.

"In other words, the situation we're facing now is..."

"A Four-Ring Soul Ancestor around fifteen years old, whose normal combat strength already approaches that of a high-ranking Soul Emperor, with a brain Body Martial Soul. His entire set of abilities is completely different from a traditional Soul Master's. He possesses a rule-type Binding Vow ability, a physique comparable to a Soul Saint's, blood manipulation, the ability to convert Soul Power into blood, and powerful Spiritual Power-not to mention whatever other unknown methods he has..."

"And in a few months, he'll represent the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy in the Continental Soul Master Tournament, facing our Shrek Seven Devils head-on."

She drew a deep breath.

"Xuan Zi, do you think our children can withstand him?"