Were Soul Spirits Permitted by the Gods?

When Mu En said that the two children bore the presence of gods and were very likely the legendary candidates undergoing divine trials, the elders present descended into a pot of boiling chaos.

A middle-aged man in his fifties said excitedly, "Teacher, is that true? You couldn't have been mistaken, could you?!"

"Sit down, Shaozhe. You're a grown man, yet you're still so jumpy. What kind of behavior is that?" Mu En said, displeasure on his face. "I saw it with my own eyes. How could it be false?"

The middle-aged man realized how badly he had lost his composure. He bowed and cupped his fists. "I'm sorry, Teacher. It's just that what you said was truly hard to believe. After all, since Ancestor Tang San ten thousand years ago, no one has been able to reach that realm again. Even you, Teacher, have only sensed it."

Mu En did not immediately answer Yan Shaozhe. Instead, he slowly said, "Earlier, these two children had a friendly spar by the outer court dormitory building."

"And it was during that spar that the two of them inadvertently released the presence of gods."

Mu En looked around at everyone, his expression turning solemn. He took out Wang Dong'er's information and continued, "First is this child from the Clear Sky Sect. She has the ability to release the Sea God's Light."

"The ability to release the Sea God's Light?! But aside from you and the high priest of Sea God Island, there couldn't possibly be anyone else in the world who can release it."

"Yet the fact is that she can. And unlike me, this child releases the Sea God's Light through the power of her own bloodline. She is therefore very likely a direct descendant of Ancestor Tang San and has awakened the bloodline power belonging to the Sea God."

"'A descendant of Ancestor Tang San'?!" At those words, the elders present were at a loss for words.

After all, Ancestor Tang San was the object of Shrek Academy's faith, yet his descendant belonged to a faction that was not particularly friendly toward them! This left them feeling bitter, and the elders who had previously clashed with the Spirit Contract Pagoda looked embarrassed.

Seeing that no one was going to speak, Mu En went on by himself, turning the subject to Xu Xingyu.

"As for this young master of the Spirit Contract Pagoda, during their spar, he had no choice but to release a dragon-attribute Martial Soul to break through the Sea God's Light. From that Martial Soul, I could clearly sense a divine presence that suppressed and far surpassed the one possessed by the Sea God's Light."

"Surpassed the Sea God's Light? Doesn't that mean a god even more powerful than Ancestor Tang San has taken an interest in him?"

"Alas, I was surprised by that too." Mu En sighed helplessly. "What's more, I personally suspect that someone has already become a god in this era."

At those words, the elders present fell silent. Finally, one elder asked timidly, "Pavilion Master, are you referring to Gu Yuena, the Silver Dragon Douluo and master of the Spirit Contract Pagoda?"

"That's right." Mu En nodded. "I once paid a private visit to Gu Yuena, the Silver Dragon Douluo and master of the Spirit Contract Pagoda. I can tell you with certainty that not only was her strength above mine, but even Di Tian has never put such pressure on me."

"Therefore, I have reason to suspect that she has already reached that legendary realm. But for some reason, I have a feeling telling me that she isn't human."

"Not human? Could she be a Soul Beast? But aren't Soul Beasts unable to become gods? Could the Divine Realm have lifted its ban on beasts?" an elder asked in astonishment.

Mu En could only shake his head. "I don't know either, but I sensed something on her similar to the immortal Qi of the Vast Sea Cosmic Crystal. So what I can say for certain is that she definitely has god-level power."

After hearing Mu En's confirmation, the elders present fell silent. After all, relations between Shrek Academy and the Spirit Contract Pagoda were not particularly harmonious.

Now that a god had actually appeared on the Spirit Contract Pagoda's side, if they set their minds on ruling the continent, not even the four empires combined could stop them.

Moreover, in theory, the Spirit Contract Pagoda had already gained indirect control over the vast majority of Soul Masters on the Douluo Continent.

Because the Spirit Contract Pagoda kept a tight grip on the Soul Spirit Method, many people who wanted to grow stronger had no choice but to buy Soul Spirits suited to them from the pagoda.

The problem was that not everyone had that much money. Poor Soul Masters who wanted Soul Spirits therefore had to either join the Spirit Contract Pagoda or work for them a few times in an indirect arrangement.

That was also why the Spirit Contract Pagoda had been able to become a force that could not be ignored on the continent after only a few short years.

As for hunting Soul Beasts to obtain Soul Rings, that method had become extremely dangerous after the Spirit Contract Pagoda appeared. The pagoda had since made an agreement with the Soul Beast Clan to help them protect Soul Beast habitats.

This also allowed the Spirit Contract Pagoda to establish a ranger force on the Douluo Continent.

With the appearance of the rangers, it became much harder for humans to hunt Soul Beasts, because they had to guard against not only the Soul Beasts in the forest but also the rangers.

Although the rangers were all humans, they were employees specially trained by the Spirit Contract Pagoda. They had unknown methods that kept the Soul Beasts in the forest from treating them as enemies, and they could even call on other Soul Beasts to help drive enemies away.

Things were somewhat better in habitats covering a relatively broad area, like the Star Dou Great Forest, but if an area was too vast, the rangers could not be everywhere in the habitat.

Even so, with the appearance of the Soul Spirit Method and the rangers, the number of deaths among the Soul Beast Clan had fallen sharply over the past few years.

The practice of Soul Masters hunting Soul Beasts to obtain Soul Rings had also declined significantly.

Shrek Academy had once compared the results of Soul Masters with Soul Rings fighting Soul Masters of the same level who had fused with Soul Spirits.

The results were no surprise: in the vast majority of cases, Soul Masters who had fused with Soul Spirits were stronger than those who had hunted Soul Beasts for their Soul Rings.

The elders could only pray in their hearts that the master of the Spirit Contract Pagoda was not too ambitious. Otherwise, the continent would once again fall into crisis.

At that moment, an imposing woman asked, "Elder Mu, are you saying you want to use these two to ease relations between us and the Spirit Contract Pagoda?"

"I do have that in mind," Mu En replied. "After all, making an enemy of a god is not a wise choice. It's also because of a theory I have."

"A theory?" the elders asked, somewhat puzzled.

"A god and two people bearing divine presences have appeared on the Spirit Contract Pagoda's side, and one of them has even caught the attention of our Ancestor Tang San. Does that mean the Soul Spirit Method is a law recognized by the Divine Realm? Was it a choice made by the gods to ease relations between humans and Soul Beasts? If so, what should we at Shrek be doing at a time like this?!"

"I believe our duty is to guide the Spirit Contract Pagoda onto the right path! Because we are an academy! And an academy's duty is to guide others onto the most righteous path!"

"And when it comes to guiding the two children who will surely become gods in the future onto a path of striving for peace on the continent, only we at Shrek Academy, the number one academy under heaven on the Douluo Continent, are qualified!"

"As the current master of the Sea God Pavilion, I order that from today onward, Xu Xingyu and Wang Dong'er are to receive special training. After one year, if they perform well enough, we will consider admitting them to the inner court early!"

None of the elders present objected to Mu En's order. Although admitting two newly enrolled students to the inner court so early was somewhat against the rules, these two were very likely the legendary candidates undergoing divine trials and could not be trained in the usual way.

Besides, if Shrek Academy could once again produce two gods, as it had ten thousand years ago, who would dare question its teaching system again? Our Shrek Academy will forever be number one!