After the Martial Soul Awakening ceremony ended, Mu Yueye and Bei Bei were taken back to their respective rooms to rest.
Not long after Mu Yueye returned to his room, a bowl of black-looking porridge was brought in.
According to the person who brought it, this was a special tonic Shrek Academy had simmered from a particular kind of sea fish and exactly eighty-one other ingredients.
For the next week, this would be Mu Yueye's only food.
It went without saying that its effects had to be terrifyingly potent. Whale Rubber might even be among those eighty-one ingredients.
He had no idea what Mu En had sent Xuan Zi to do. Xuan Zi had been in such a rush that Mu Yueye hadn't had a chance to ask.
Mu Yueye picked up the black porridge and examined it for a long while before tentatively taking a sip.
Dry and astringent-that was the first sensation. It was nothing like drinking porridge.
The instant the porridge entered his mouth, Mu Yueye felt all his saliva being squeezed dry.
Then the porridge seemed to come alive, burrowing straight into his mouth.
After painfully swallowing the first mouthful, Mu Yueye felt a faint warmth spreading through his lower abdomen.
The stuff really did work.
Having reached that conclusion, Mu Yueye paused for half an hour to make sure it wouldn't send him to his grave. Then he picked up the bowl and began eating in large mouthfuls.
Taking big mouthfuls and chewing them actually made it much easier to eat than that first tentative spoonful.
Mu Yueye had just finished eating and was sitting cross-legged on the bed, absorbing the porridge's medicinal effects, when Mu En suddenly pushed the door open and entered.
Mu Yueye had yet to enter a full meditative state. He opened his eyes, and when he saw Mu En approach, he hurriedly prepared to get up and greet him.
After all, he was playing the part of a great-great-grandson now, so he still had to observe the proper courtesies.
As Mu Yueye was thinking this, Mu En reached out a hand that was somewhat withered but strong and pressed him back into place.
"Don't move." Mu En's tone was gentle, yet carried an authority that subtly inspired deference.
Mu Yueye pursed his lips but remained where he was, without defying his great-great-grandfather.
Mu En climbed onto the bed and sat behind Mu Yueye, then began kneading the muscles of his back with both hands.
Mu Yueye immediately let out a long breath. As Mu En worked, he felt the medicine he had just swallowed begin to circulate more swiftly through the meridians throughout his body.
At the same time, a faint layer of black matter seeped out onto Mu Yueye's skin.
Mu Yueye felt his meridians grow comfortable and unimpeded, and his young body stretched involuntarily.
Mu En nodded in satisfaction, then pressed two fingers against Mu Yueye's Dazhui point.
A vast surge of Soul Power then carried Mu Yueye's own Soul Power rapidly through his limbs and bones.
A moment later, Mu En withdrew his hand, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and asked Mu Yueye,
"How much of the route the Soul Power just followed did you remember?"
Mu Yueye glanced back at Mu En, then answered with exaggerated seriousness,
"I remembered all of it just now, but I seem to have forgotten it again already."
Mu En's fingers slid lightly across Mu Yueye's back a few times. Then he smiled with even greater satisfaction and said,
"Not bad, not bad. You forgot it so quickly. With talent like this, our Shrek will surely produce a powerhouse who can reign supreme over the world for three hundred years."
Mu Yueye couldn't help asking, "Great-great-grandfather, what was that just now?"
"That was our Mu family's exclusive cultivation method, specifically suited to cultivating Martial Souls of the Sacred Dragon bloodline." Mu En stroked his beard as he explained to Mu Yueye,
"Originally, when this cultivation method was used on a Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon with Sacred Dragon blood, it had only one effect: stabilizing that bloodline so it would endure."
At this point, Mu En seemed to think of Bei Bei. He sighed and said to Mu Yueye,
"Stabilizing the Sacred Dragon bloodline is only the most basic function of this cultivation method. If someone already has a stable Sacred Dragon Martial Soul, using it can greatly increase the speed of their Soul Power cultivation. Although you haven't attached a Soul Ring yet, there's no harm in starting to practice the method early."
Mu Yueye nodded. He had already felt the changes when cultivating with the method: the Soul Power entered different meridians according to the characteristics of his Martial Soul.
He had just experienced it himself: the Radiant Sacred Dragon and the Dark Sacred Dragon offered entirely different experiences.
"You must eat that ration porridge every day. Whatever you do, don't stop just because it tastes bad," Mu En instructed Mu Yueye. Mu Yueye nodded, then asked Mu En with some curiosity,
"Great-great-grandfather, Shrek Academy is full of talented people. Has no one tried to make the porridge taste a little better?"
Mu En shook his head, then said mildly to Mu Yueye, "If a person can't even endure this little bit of bitterness that's good for them, they won't be able to survive in the Soul Master World."
Mu Yueye nodded, and Mu En patted him on the shoulder and said earnestly, "Settle your mind and wait. The Soul Ring meant for you will arrive soon."
Mu Yueye nodded. A week later, he truly understood what Mu En had meant.
A golden dragon-type Soul Beast with a pale golden dragon head and a pair of crimson wings was thrown down before Mu Yueye.
Somewhat surprised, Mu Yueye looked up at Xuan Zi, who stood there looking immensely pleased with himself, and Mu En, who wore a kindly smile.
"Great-great-grandfather, don't I need to go Soul Hunting in the Star Dou Great Forest myself?" Mu Yueye asked Mu En curiously.
Mu En smiled and stroked his beard as he said to Mu Yueye, "Don't worry, Xiao Ye. Once your cultivation is high enough to ensure your safety, you'll naturally be allowed to go Soul Hunting yourself. For now, though, for your safety, absorb your First Soul Ring here at Shrek Academy."
The corner of Mu Yueye's mouth twitched. Shrek was truly terrifyingly efficient when it got fully underway; they had caught a live Soul Beast and brought it back for him to kill as casually as if they had been chatting and laughing.
But then he thought of the heap of Hundred-Year Soul Beasts and Thousand-Year Soul Beasts Shrek Academy currently kept, as well as its handful of Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts.
It seemed plausible enough that they had decided on the spur of the moment to catch a Soul Beast suited to his Martial Soul.
What surprised Mu Yueye, however, was that they hadn't used the Dark Sacred Dragon as a stepping stone for his first Martial Soul, choosing instead to develop the Radiant Sacred Dragon first.
It seemed Mu En's ambitions were considerable too. He likewise hoped that one of Mu Yueye's Martial Souls could possess some Ferocious Beast-level Soul Rings.
With that thought, Mu Yueye stopped dwelling on it, drew a short knife, and looked at the golden dragon.
He had already read Shrek Academy's illustrated guide to Soul Beasts thoroughly, so he recognized the dragon almost immediately.
It was a Soul Beast called a Dawn Sub-Dragon, possessing an exceptionally pure power of light...