Heavenly Lock and the Bottleneck

Shrek Academy, Sea God Pavilion.

"Teacher, something's wrong with Xiaotao. Her brain seems to have been affected by a strange energy, and she won't wake up anytime soon.

"I've done my best to dispel it, but I've had very little success..."

Yan Shaozhe stood respectfully before Mu En, pleading with him to intervene and save Ma Xiaotao.

Though Ma Xiaotao had been subjected to a furious bombardment of attacks from Fan Yu, those injuries were all easy to treat.

However, without Bai Jingtian himself noticing, his Sea Tiger Explosive Kick had already begun to produce a slight Magnetic Field Heavenly Lock effect.

This might have had something to do with Bai Jingtian's state of mind at the time. When he saw Ma Xiaotao go on a rampage with her Evil Fire, he had wanted to cripple her Martial Soul, and that had led him to unleash Magnetic Field Heavenly Lock without realizing it.

Still, Bai Jingtian's mastery was far too unpolished, so his Heavenly Lock was very weak for now.

By sheer coincidence, however, Bai Jingtian's attack had struck Ma Xiaotao squarely in the head, allowing his weak Heavenly Lock to act directly on her brain and leaving her unconscious.

"Shaozhe, I already know about Xiaotao's condition. She'll have to sleep a little longer, but she's in no serious danger.

"But why, with both you and Xuan Zi present, was Xiaotao still able to go to the outer court and hurt its students when her Evil Fire flared up beyond her control? And she even nearly hurt Bai Jingtian?"

Mu En opened his eyes slightly. Rather than treating Ma Xiaotao immediately, he began by grilling Yan Shaozhe.

The whole incident was outrageous. Mu En had only been away for one night, and Yan Shaozhe and Xuan Zi had managed to let Ma Xiaotao escape the inner court and nearly cause a disaster.

If the first person Ma Xiaotao had encountered hadn't been the exceptionally powerful Bai Jingtian, and Fan Yu hadn't arrived shortly afterward, the entire outer court might have been thrown into turmoil.

"Teacher, I..." Yan Shaozhe was at a loss for words, because it really was his own fault.

If he had been more careful, it would never have come to this...

"Forget it. I'll go check on Xiaotao first.

"But if you and Xuan Zi cause a similar problem again, don't blame me for being ruthless and sending you both back into seclusion in the little black room for a while."

Mu En sighed, then rose with the help of his cane and slowly walked toward Ma Xiaotao's room.

Yan Shaozhe and Xuan Zi were a constant worry. With a disciple and a martial nephew like them, Mu En felt he would die twenty years sooner.

If his body had been in better condition, he would have given Yan Shaozhe and Xuan Zi a resounding slap each and then scolded them soundly.

But Mu En's body was now a candle flickering in the wind. Even if he did that, he would only waste what remained of his life.

To live a few more days and shelter the people of Shrek Academy from the wind and rain, Mu En had worn his heart out with worry.

"Oh? This power feels a little like King's Landing... No, it's different. This is an entirely different approach from King's Landing!"

Mu En raised a hand and placed it on Ma Xiaotao's head, sending his pure, abundant Soul Power into her body to envelop her head as he examined her carefully.

Then his eyes suddenly lit up, and a hint of surprise appeared on his face.

Unfortunately, Yan Shaozhe wasn't there. Having just been scolded by Mu En, he was standing outside the door, dutifully reflecting on his mistakes.

Otherwise, he would have been astonished all over again: the King's Landing technique, which even he had found exceptionally difficult to learn and still hadn't fully mastered, had manifested in Bai Jingtian in an entirely different way.

"Level thirty at last... Next is my third Soul Ring. I wonder if I can get a Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring."

Early one morning, Bai Jingtian opened his eyes and let out a long breath.

After a period of cultivation, he had finally reached level thirty, officially becoming a Quasi-Soul Elder.

As a threshold that a certain Grandmaster had been unable to cross for almost his entire life, level thirty marked a Soul Master's first qualitative transformation.

Bai Jingtian also looked forward to seeing what would happen when he used Sea Tiger Five Extremes with more Soul Power at his disposal.

After breakfast, he went to the teachers' office again and found Mu Jin, telling her the good news.

"Jingtian, you're level thirty? I remember Dean Yan said he would help you obtain your third Soul Ring. How about I take you to see him and ask him to help you get a suitable one?

"Oh, right, this is the Invincible Shield Fan Yu gave me. I hardly ever leave Shrek City, so I have no use for it. You should keep it for protection."

Mu Jin spoke with delight, pressing an Invincible Shield into Bai Jingtian's hand.

"...All right." Bai Jingtian hesitated for a moment, but ultimately agreed.

The reason he had dithered was Yan Shaozhe. Still, Yan Shaozhe wasn't Xuan Zi. Though he had fired one shot and produced a vice leader of the Holy Spirit Cult, he didn't yet have a record as glorious as Xuan Zi's.

Besides, after the recent incident with Ma Xiaotao, Yan Shaozhe would surely feel guilty toward him. With Fan Yu's involvement as well, Yan Shaozhe would surely put in extra effort.

So Bai Jingtian agreed.

As for the Invincible Shield... Once Bai Jingtian had borrowed the Soul Tool Department's equipment a few more times, he could simply make Mu Jin a few better protective treasures. There was no need to dither over it.

And sure enough, when Yan Shaozhe learned that Bai Jingtian had reached level thirty, he immediately and happily offered to take him to the Star Dou Great Forest himself.

And so the matter was settled to everyone's satisfaction.

At noon that day, Bai Jingtian set out for the Star Dou Great Forest with Yan Shaozhe.

"Jingtian, what are you hoping for in your third Soul Ring?"

"Dean Yan, I'd like to challenge a Soul Ring with a higher age, perhaps even a Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring. As for its attribute, it doesn't necessarily have to come from a lightning-attribute Soul Beast. One with the Mental Attribute or one particularly skilled in speed or explosive attacks would do too."

With Sea Tiger Martial Arts and the Bodhidharma Sutra as his sources of techniques and skills, Bai Jingtian didn't care about Soul Skills.

He had already used Complete Realm to improve his original first Soul Skill into a physical enhancement, while his second Soul Skill had been completely replaced by his Electric Missile.

Unfortunately, he had been so focused on laying the foundations for Sea Tiger Martial Arts and Hell Martial Arts that he had forgotten to buy Whale Rubber. Otherwise, he would have been two hundred percent confident of absorbing a Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring.

Yan Shaozhe was shocked. He immediately raised a hand and placed it on Bai Jingtian to feel the strength of his body. A short while later, when he looked into Bai Jingtian's eyes again, his own were full of astonishment.

"How did you train your body? You really can withstand a Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring already, but is your mental power sufficient? You should know that a Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring comes with Soul Shock..."

"It's nothing. A mere remnant soul of a Soul Beast—if I can't blast even that down, I don't deserve to be a Soul Master."

Bai Jingtian answered confidently.