Douluo Continent, Shrek Academy.
When the white jade lid in front of Zhu Zhuqing was lifted on the sky screen...
And everyone saw that the celadon bowl held only a little over half a bowl of glistening plain congee and nothing else, the entire courtyard fell silent for a moment.
Then Ma Hongjun was the first to exclaim in surprise, breaking the silence.
"A bowl of plain congee? That's it?"
He pointed at the sky screen, his plump face filled with surprise. "That can't be right, can it?"
"Heavenly Court's breakfast is only this good..."
Oscar scratched his head. "Maybe... they prefer light food, or perhaps they have some special fasting rules?"
"Even if they're fasting, surely they wouldn't just drink plain congee?"
Yu Xiaogang joined the discussion too, a trace of smugness flashing through his eyes. "Not even a pickled vegetable, or so much as a little dish of pickled melon? What an austere life."
"Never mind comparing it to Mubai's imperial banquets in the Star Luo Empire-even compared to our Shrek Academy, it falls short by far more than a little!"
Tang San also nodded slightly. "It seems this Shrouding the Heavens World isn't superior to our Douluo Continent in every respect."
"At least when it comes to food, our Douluo Continent utterly defeats this so-called Heavenly Court."
For a moment, the shock White Emperor City had brought him earlier, and the slight sense of inferiority he had felt before that Heavenly Emperor...
Faced with this "paltry" bowl of plain congee, he had now more or less managed to regain a little balance.
"Exactly!" Ma Hongjun nodded in agreement. "When Zhu Zhuqing comes back in three months, I'll have to treat her to a proper barbecue and show her what delicious food really means!"
As Dai Mubai listened to his companions' discussion, the heavy pressure White Emperor City and the Nine Heavens Sword Waterfall had brought him inexplicably eased a little too.
Yes, however magnificent that world was, if even their meals were so "meager," perhaps...
It was not entirely beyond their reach.
At least in terms of quality of life, they seemed to retain some confidence.
For a time, the atmosphere within Shrek Academy grew considerably more relaxed. Everyone discussed it in low voices, their words carrying a subtle sense of superiority: "So the Shrouding the Heavens World isn't completely beyond our reach after all."
And Tang San was not the only one who thought this way.
Eastsea City, Eastsea Academy.
Tang Wulin looked at the bowl of plain congee on the sky screen and recalled the longing in Gu Yue's eyes earlier as she gazed at Heavenly Emperor Hao Lin Hao.
He could not help curling his lip. "Gu Yue, it looks like the people of that world don't eat very well."
"A bowl of rice without even any side dishes. Just looking at it kills my appetite."
Beside him, however, Gu Yuena slowly straightened up. Her purple eyes narrowed slightly as she stared intently at the almost imperceptible wisps of mist rising from the surface of the congee on the sky screen.
As the Silver Dragon King, she was extraordinarily sensitive to fluctuations in the vital Qi of heaven and earth.
She had actually detected a trace of an indescribable rhythm within that bowl of plain congee...
Although she did not know exactly what lay behind this bowl of plain congee, Gu Yuena still shook her head. "There's more to this congee than meets the eye!"
"Isn't it just a bowl of congee...?"
Tang Wulin was somewhat unconvinced.
After all, it was not as though he had never seen heavenly materials and earthly treasures, but every one of those treasures was precious and rare, whereas this was merely plain congee for breakfast...
More than meets the eye? How special could it possibly be?!
Within the nine celestial tiers of the Shrouding the Heavens World.
Zhu Zhuqing looked at the bowl of plain congee before her, still puzzled by Jiang Wanwan's words.
But out of trust in Jiang Wanwan, she asked no further questions and simply picked up the smooth, warm little white jade spoon as instructed.
She scooped up a small spoonful of congee and brought it to her mouth.
The congee was just the right temperature, warm and soothing. The grains of rice almost melted on her tongue, becoming a sweet, refreshing stream of warmth that slid down her throat.
At first, aside from the fragrance and sweetness of the rice, she felt nothing unusual.
Yet in the very next instant after that mouthful of congee reached her stomach-
Boom!
An indescribable current of warmth, gentle yet unimaginably vast, erupted from her stomach without warning!
It was not a burning pain, but something like the gentlest spring sunshine, the most fundamental essence of life.
In an instant, it became surging rivers that rushed toward every limb and bone...
Flooding into every tiny meridian, nourishing every cell!
"Ngh!"
Zhu Zhuqing let out a muffled groan, her slender body shuddering violently. The jade spoon nearly slipped from her hand.
This power was too boundless, too immense!
It was more than a hundred times purer and greater than the energy that had flooded into her when she absorbed a Thousand-Year Soul Ring!
She felt as though her entire being had been plunged into an ocean of spiritual Qi in an instant. Every cell in her body cheered hungrily, frantically devouring this sudden influx of life force.
At the same time, the spiritual power within her, which had only been circulating slowly on its own according to the foundational section of the Mystic Moon Goddess Scripture, instantly boiled and surged like cold water thrown into scalding oil!
Its circulation accelerated several hundredfold. In the blink of an eye, tiny streams of spiritual power became rushing rivers...
They charged wildly through the meridians she had yet to fully open, causing a slight swelling pain while also widening and toughening her meridian network at an astonishing speed.
"This... this is..."
As Zhu Zhuqing observed the changes in herself, she was horrified, and at the same time, she vaguely understood...
Jiang Wanwan's warning not to indulge her appetite had been no joke!
Just one small mouthful had brought such a terrifying surge of spiritual Qi!
Zhu Zhuqing even discovered that her Soul Power was rising passively despite her not practicing her meditation method.
Level 28...
Level 29...
Level 30...
Like splitting bamboo!
Without the slightest resistance!
In just a few breaths, her Soul Power Level had soared by three levels.
And that was only because she had not absorbed a Soul Ring. Otherwise, it might have risen even further.
Meanwhile, propelled by this essence of life, the spiritual power of the Mystic Moon Goddess Scripture seemed to have finally accumulated enough energy, and slammed fiercely into Zhu Zhuqing's Bitter Sea!
Rumble-!
With a deafening crash deep within her consciousness...
Zhu Zhuqing's Bitter Sea was successfully opened!
At this moment, Zhu Zhuqing had officially crossed the threshold of cultivating the Shrouding Method, becoming a Bitter Sea Realm cultivator!
Yet at the very instant her Bitter Sea was successfully opened...
An unexpected mutation occurred!
Within Zhu Zhuqing, the phantom of her Nether Civet Martial Soul, which had grown clearer and more substantial with the surge in her Soul Power, seemed to be drawn to the pure power emanating from this newborn Bitter Sea...
And suddenly plunged into the Bitter Sea she had just opened!
Hum-!
"This...!"
Observing this through her inner vision, Zhu Zhuqing was puzzled.
Her Martial Soul...
Had actually entered this newly opened "Bitter Sea," which belonged to another world's cultivation system, of its own accord?
And it seemed to be absorbing the Bitter Sea's power?
What was going on?
Could cultivating in this world not only avoid conflicting with her Martial Soul, but nourish it, and even... make it evolve?
And just as Zhu Zhuqing marveled at the changes in her Martial Soul...
At that moment, within Shrek Academy in the world of Douluo Continent, there was not a sound.