Gu Yue stepped into the arena with something weighing on her mind.
She glanced at Jiang Xia from time to time.
She was truly surprised that Jiang Xia could even learn about this.
Was a lingering thought really that good at gathering information?
Still, Gu Yue did not mind.
Jiang Xia had explained how Broken Dream worked to her before.
She had already prepared herself mentally.
She was wary, of course, but she was still going to sit in this wheelchair.
Sitting in the wheelchair felt far too wonderful.
Especially since Gu Yue could shift the blame onto Jiang Xia and display combat strength and talent far beyond her current level.
Even her studies in mecha design could progress faster.
Why wouldn't she?
What surprised Gu Yue a little was Jiang Xia reminding her to stay safe.
Ye Xinglan pointed her sword at the three of them.
"I'll show you why Shrek must not be insulted."
Jiang Xia curled his lip.
"You're the one disgracing Shrek."
At his words, anger flashed in Ye Xinglan's eyes.
She abruptly fixed her gaze on Jiang Xia.
"How dare you!"
The referee announced the start of the match at that very moment.
Three Soul Rings appeared beneath Ye Xinglan's feet.
With the Stargod Sword in hand, she instantly entered her battle state. Sword intent spread out like fine strands of silk, mingling with starlight and gathering at the tip of her blade.
Yet her state did not draw much attention.
At that moment, more people were focused on Jiang Xia.
The spectators cried out together, clutching their heads.
"Three thousand-year Soul Rings? I must be seeing things."
"Impossible! Absolutely impossible!"
Even Ye Xinglan froze when she got a clear look at Jiang Xia's Soul Rings.
How was that possible?
Jiang Xia paid her no mind.
Gu Yue and Tang Wulin did not even get a chance to act. The blank look caused by Jiang Xia's Soul Ring configuration simply stayed on Ye Xinglan's face.
Until she fell to the ground with a thud.
Only then did everyone realize that she had passed out.
Shen Yi paled in alarm as she watched.
"She'll be fine. Jiang Xia should know his limits."
Wu Zhangkong reassured her from beside her.
Shen Yi took a deep breath and hurried out of the viewing room to check Ye Xinglan's condition.
Jiang Xia curled his lip and withdrew his Broken Dream.
"That's it? I thought your sword intent would boost your mental resistance a lot more than that."
"One Spirit Ray, and I thought I'd hit a speed bump."
Jiang Xia's third Soul Skill was called Spirit Ray.
It used his level of spiritual power as its benchmark. Enemies whose spiritual power fell far below his could not withstand the ray's damage at all.
It was perfectly normal for their minds to collapse on the spot.
Even those with spiritual power comparable to his would have their mental defenses breached and fall into a state of paralysis or unconsciousness.
And Jiang Xia's spiritual power had already reached four digits.
How could Ye Xinglan possibly withstand it?
Of course, Jiang Xia had still held back.
Ye Xinglan was merely a little arrogant and a little unreasonable. Her offenses did not warrant death.
Tang Wulin had not expected the battle to end so quickly, either.
But after thinking about Jiang Xia's abilities, he relaxed again.
This seemed to be how things ought to go.
Whether during their usual training or battles on the Spirit Ascension Platform, Jiang Xia was accustomed to supporting others. In truth, his combat strength was also terrifying.
Inside the Spirit Ascension Platform, Jiang Xia could imitate control over multiple elements. He could even use Dark Eagle Dragon!
Most terrifying of all was Jiang Xia's third Soul Skill, a purely mental attack.
Coupled with his terrifying spiritual power stat, it was practically unbeatable among his peers.
"When are you planning to study my bloodline?"
"When I have time. I've got other things to take care of right now."
Jiang Xia still chose to put it off.
This was something better done later rather than sooner.
That old bastard Old Tang was no easy customer.
Even though Jiang Xia very much wanted to achieve some results studying the Golden Dragon King's bloodline, he could not let his impatience lead him into the other party's trap.
Besides, he knew very well that studying the Golden Dragon King's bloodline would be unlikely to yield results.
There was definitely a hurdle involved that he could not comprehend.
Simply studying it blindly would not turn up anything.
This was not even a question of whether Tang Wulin cooperated.
After leaving the arena, Jiang Xia thought nothing of the battle.
He saw Shen Yi, saw her rush toward Ye Xinglan and lift her up to examine her.
Wu Zhangkong walked over.
"Well done!"
Unexpectedly, he actually praised Jiang Xia.
Jiang Xia was surprised, too.
What was Wu Zhangkong saying?
I just took out a Shrek inner court disciple in an instant.
And this guy actually said I'd done well.
But after his initial surprise, Jiang Xia quickly caught up with Wu Zhangkong's train of thought.
The man probably felt that what Jiang Xia had done would spur Ye Xinglan on and make her strive harder.
Ye Xinglan did not come to bother Class Zero again.
Xu Lizhi, however, contacted Tang Wulin twice more.
Jiang Xia did not care much about the tournament as a whole.
Whenever he had time, he would digest models within his Broken Dream.
He was getting closer and closer to rank 40, and he needed to master the illusory space's technical model before then.
Aside from that, he also had to master a small portion of the model for turning illusion into reality, just in case.
Half a month passed in the blink of an eye.
After one battle after another, Eastsea Academy's Class Zero team drew the attention of the entire Skysea Alliance's upper ranks.
With Jiang Xia there, the twin sisters with telepathy and a Martial Soul Fusion Skill failed to eliminate Class Zero.
Class Zero claimed the 3v3 championship outright.
Eastsea Academy's higher-ups had nothing left to say and stopped bringing up the issue of investing too many resources in Class Zero.
After the Skysea Alliance Tournament ended, Jiang Xia returned to Heaven Dou City once more.
At the Blacksmith's Association headquarters.
"Your physical constitution has almost caught up to mine at your age."
Mu Ye examined Jiang Xia's body again, marveling at it.
"You really still haven't felt your Blood Essence Power condensing?"
Jiang Xia shook his head.
"This time, I'll give it a try with Teacher helping me turn illusion into reality."
Mu Ye nodded, looking somewhat reflective.
"You really should give it a try. Your teacher has reached a critical point in his cultivation, and what you're doing should give him some inspiration."
Jiang Xia raised his eyebrows slightly.
He knew his teacher had been in seclusion lately and seemed to be about to break through to Limit Douluo.
Han Tianyi's cultivation was only at rank 98. Compared with Soul Masters who cultivated normally, he had condensed his Spiritual Soul Core first.
Because of his physical constitution, he had never managed to break through the barrier to rank 99.
Now he seemed to be preparing to use the method of turning illusion into reality to make up for his inadequate physical constitution.
And break through that way.
Jiang Xia intended to use turning illusion into reality to condense Blood Essence Power, which was indeed close to what Han Tianyi currently needed.
After three days of waiting, Han Tianyi emerged from seclusion.
"Connect me."
Without hesitation, Jiang Xia used Broken Dream to connect Han Tianyi's brain.
Master and disciple met within Broken Dream.
"This is the formation for opening up an illusory space?"
"Yes. I need you to serve as its vessel, Teacher." Jiang Xia nodded.
"No problem."
Han Tianyi sent his spiritual power straight into the formation model Jiang Xia had prepared in advance, quickly mastering it and beginning to activate it.
With a rumble, an illusory space was opened up within Jiang Xia's Broken Dream.
At the same time, Jiang Xia completed the superimposition of three dream layers.
While serving as the vessel for the illusory space, Han Tianyi began constructing the model corresponding to the simplest version of the technique for turning illusion into reality.