At that moment, Yu Tianhuang received a transmission from Elder Xuan, finally allowing him to temporarily set aside that feeling of disgust.
"Luo Li, cultivate on your own for now. The academy's team heading to the Star Dou Great Forest to hunt soul beasts will gather at the academy's main gate tomorrow morning. Make sure you don't miss it."
"Yes, Brother Yu!" Dai Luoli responded excitedly.
No soul master could resist the temptation of advancing.
Dai Luoli had long yearned to obtain his fourth soul ring. Moreover, following a team composed of Shrek Academy's inner court disciples would greatly reduce the danger.
"If there are no surprises, I will also be on the team tomorrow." As he spoke, Yu Tianhuang had already circulated his soul power and flown toward Sea God's Pavilion.
Dai Luoli kept watching Yu Tianhuang's figure until it disappeared.
Amid his excitement, gratitude overflowed from his heart. He knew all of this had been fought for by Brother Yu, even going along for his sake.
Dai Luoli lowered his head to look at his own hands, his expression firm, filled with longing and sincerity.
"Brother Yu, I will definitely perfect this Si Dong Fist, rely on my true strength to enter the inner court, and follow in your footsteps."
However, Dai Luoli was clearly indulging in a bit of self-delusion.
Yu Tianhuang joined this inner court disciple team to go to the Star Dou Great Forest entirely for his own purposes.
First, naturally, to try his luck and see if he could encounter a soul beast suitable for his second martial soul, the Purple Radiance Thunder Prison Dragon. The other reason was that, in his memories from his previous life, Wang Qiu'er would also follow this team into the Star Dou Great Forest. During this trip, they would encounter the evil soul master trio, Zhong Li Tian, Zhong Li Di, and Zhong Li Ren. These three eight-ring Soul Douluo evil soul masters had set their sights on a heavily injured ten-thousand-year-old mother Darkgolden Terrorclaw Bear and her two Darkgolden Terrorclaw Bear cubs.
The training field and the mountain peak where Sea God's Pavilion was located were the two highest points on Sea God's Island, not far apart.
Because of the Golden Tree, Sea God's Pavilion was perpetually shrouded in misty clouds in the early morning, as if they were the breath exhaled by the Golden Tree, filled with vigorous vitality.
Amid the swirling mist, Yu Tianhuang's figure appeared and steadily landed on an open area in front of Sea God's Pavilion.
Elder Xuan's voice rang in his ear once again.
"Come in, Tianhuang."
Inside the first-floor hall of Sea God's Pavilion, Elder Xuan, dressed in a white robe, sat in the main seat. Ever since inheriting the position of Pavilion Master of Sea God's Pavilion, he no longer appeared as slovenly as before, especially on more formal occasions.
To Elder Xuan's lower right sat an old lady with a kindly face. Her hair was snow-white, the wrinkles on her face were not many, and her gaze was extremely gentle.
This seemingly benevolent old lady was none other than Elder Song, whose strength and seniority in Sea God's Pavilion were second only to Elder Xuan.
Elder Song had been meditating with her eyes closed earlier and only slowly opened them when Yu Tianhuang entered the first-floor hall of Sea God's Pavilion.
Yu Tianhuang respectfully bowed to Elder Xuan and Elder Song.
"Elder Xuan, Elder Song."
Elder Xuan said helplessly, "You little ones really don't give anyone a moment's peace. Tianhuang, do you know what your identity as the generational heir of Sea God's Pavilion truly means to the academy?"
Yu Tianhuang could only give an apologetic smile.
"Forget it, Old Xuan. Talking more is pointless. The path to becoming strong inevitably requires all kinds of tempering and experience. Forcibly keeping Tianhuang in the academy doesn't align with our original intentions," Elder Song said with a faint smile.
"With me following, ensuring their safety won't be a problem."
"Elder Song, you're personally leading the team this time?"
Although Yu Tianhuang had already guessed as much, confirming it still left him somewhat surprised.
Elder Song was a Super Douluo with soul power as high as level 97. On the current continent, the number of people stronger than her could be counted on one hand.
Originally, Yu Tianhuang had thought that having Yan Shaozhe or Cai Meier lead the team would be sufficient.
The smile on Elder Song's aged face did not fade.
"I'll only follow in secret. I won't act unless necessary. The ones truly leading the team are you and Lexuan."
No matter what, having Elder Song, a super powerhouse, as backup was always reassuring.
A Super Douluo who had just entered level 95 could easily suppress several ordinary Titled Douluo without them being able to resist. If they really encountered that evil soul master trio on this trip, with Elder Song's cultivation, wiping them out would hardly be difficult.
Elder Xuan continued, "Tianhuang, if you've truly made up your mind, then after everyone else has successfully obtained their soul rings, Elder Song will personally take you deeper into the Star Dou Great Forest to search for a soul beast suitable for your second martial soul. Although our Shrek Academy has an agreement with the ferocious beasts of that great ominous land in the Star Dou Great Forest and cannot proactively hunt ten-thousand-year soul beasts, helping you hunt an eighty- or ninety-thousand-year soul beast is completely fine. I believe what matters most to you is the compatibility between the soul ring and your martial soul; the age limit of the ring is comparatively less important."
At this point, Elder Xuan's gaze became somewhat meaningful. However, he did not ask too many questions.
The more opportunities Yu Tianhuang had, the more prosperous the future of their Shrek Academy would be.
At this moment, Yu Tianhuang could no longer continue pretending to be ignorant. He bowed deeply to Elder Xuan and Elder Song once more.
"Elder Xuan, Elder Song, thank you, and thank all the elders of Sea God's Pavilion for your trust. I do indeed carry many secrets..."
Before Yu Tianhuang could finish, Elder Xuan interrupted him with a gratified expression.
"I called you here today not for these things. We won't force you to confess anything. We believe you have your own considerations."
Moreover, he trusted Elder Mu's judgment.
After saying this, Elder Xuan changed the subject.
"Tianhuang, I heard you've recently been teaching the White Tiger Duke's youngest son a method to fuse mental power and soul power?"
Yu Tianhuang nodded.
"Luo Li's mutated Blood Tiger martial soul innately possesses this talent and has already shown initial results. I believe that if he can receive the academy's nurturing, his future achievements should surpass even Senior Dai Yueheng and Dai Huabin."
Although Elder Xuan had not paid special attention to Dai Luoli and only knew the general situation from Wang Yan, he could still tell from that brief information that Yu Tianhuang was not exaggerating.
The mutated Blood Tiger martial soul was a positive mutation based on the traditional White Tiger martial soul, now with added mental attributes. Its martial soul quality was even higher than the White Tiger's. Now Dai Luoli's potential had also been stimulated.
Furthermore, soul masters with mental attributes, once they broke through to Titled Douluo, would almost certainly be able to advance further to Super Douluo in the future.
Titled Douluo-level powerhouses needed to circulate solidified soul power within their soul cores for cultivation, which was both difficult to control and fraught with danger. A single mistake could even cause the soul core to shatter and lead to a drop in rank. Thus, many soul masters who felt their talent was limited would choose to stop cultivating after reaching Titled Douluo.
But soul masters with mental attributes had far superior control over their soul power compared to ordinary soul masters. They held an absolute advantage in this regard.
Elder Xuan and Elder Mu back then valued Yu Tianhuang so highly for this very reason as well.
With his mental power already having reached the tangible and qualitative stage, he would never be troubled by such issues in the future.
Elder Xuan pondered for a moment and said, "Then, when the timing is right, arrange an assessment for him."
Rules were dead; people were alive.
Sometimes rules seemed overly rigid simply because one lacked the ability or capital to change them.
Dai Luoli's talent was no issue, and he was the White Tiger Duke's son. Making an exception for him was perfectly reasonable.
At that moment, faint footsteps could be heard outside Sea God's Pavilion.
Elder Xuan laughed helplessly. "Alright, Tianhuang, you can go now. Ning Tian's martial soul has evolved into the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda, and she is the heir of the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Schoolperfectly worthy of you. Once you've grown, with the assistance of Ning Tian's Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda martial soul, this era will undoubtedly belong to you."
Elder Song beside him also sighed with emotion, smiling as she looked at Yu Tianhuang.
Yu Tianhuang respectfully took his leave and stepped outside Sea God's Pavilion.
As Elder Xuan had said, the owner of those earlier footsteps was none other than Ning Tian.
Today, Ning Tian wore an elegant white long dress, pristine and spotless. The hem fluttered slightly, adorned with deep blue leaf-like patterns derived from an extremely rare plant-type soul beast.
The patterns started at Ning Tian's slender and delicate waist and extended all the way to the hem.
Her platinum-blonde long hair was tied back with a deep blue floral hair tie matching the patterns on her dress, complementing her water-blue eyes perfectly.
Yu Tianhuang stepped forward and took Ning Tian's jade-like hand.
"How did you know I was here?"
Ning Tian hooked her arm through Yu Tianhuang's and said softly with a smile, "I went to the training field earlier and didn't see you, so I knew you'd come here. Senior Sister Xiaoya just went to the Tang Sect to prepare some things. Their Tang Sect soul tools will be auctioned at the Nine Treasure Pavilion in the next few days."
"By the way, what did Elder Xuan and the others say?"
"Elder Xuan agreed. But Elder Song will be coming with us to the Star Dou Great Forest. Looks like your status as the little princess of the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile School is too special, it had to draw the academy's attention." Yu Tianhuang couldn't help teasing.
Ning Tian slightly restrained the smile on her pretty face and said seriously, "Tianhuang, if there's no harvest on this trip to the Star Dou Great Forest, after the Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Soul Dueling Competition ends, you can come back to the sect with me. Then let Great-Grandfather take you to the sea to hunt that Deep Sea Demonic Whale."
"There's no rush for those things yet." Yu Tianhuang gave a meaningful chuckle. He was now basically certain that the Deep Sea Demonic Whale Ning Tian mentioned was the Lan Fozi he had encountered not long ago.
With the transmissions he had given Lan Fozi, plus the scenes he had seen through the future vision of his Golden Pupil martial soul's true body, all the foreshadowing had already been laid.
However, he couldn't tell Ning Tian these things for the time being.
With that thought, Yu Tianhuang turned to look at Ning Tian and said meaningfully, "So eager to take me home?"
Ning Tian, whose thoughts had been seen through, didn't hide anything. Her pretty face flushed slightly as she glared at Yu Tianhuang.
"Then are you willing to come back with me or not?"
Unknowingly, the two had already reached the mid-slope of the mountain. Lush green tree branches blocked the newborn sun, leaving only thin strands of warm light falling on their faces.
Yu Tianhuang reached out with his right hand, lifted Ning Tian's smooth chin, and said gently.
"It's never a question of whether I'm willing, it's whether you want it or not."
Receiving the satisfactory answer, a sweet smile bloomed on Ning Tian's pretty face. She placed both hands on Yu Tianhuang's shoulders and took the initiative to stand on tiptoe.
Starting from yesterday, Shrek Academy has officially begun its break. Of course, a small number of inner court disciples chose to remain on Sea God's Island. Unlike the outer court, Sea God's Island was open to inner court disciples at any time.
Xu Sanshi and Jiang Nannan had gone home, Tang Ya and Beibei were busy with Tang Sect matters, and He Caitou was at the outer court's soul tool department researching and producing soul tools.
Only Yu Tianhuang and Ning Tian were relatively free.
Thus, Yu Tianhuang accompanied Ning Tian as they strolled through Shrek City, spending another leisurely day.
The next morning, the two arrived early at Shrek Academy's main gate.
Although they arrived earlier than the agreed time, the others had arrived even earlier.
Five people stood beneath the tall gate tower. Leading them was naturally the inner court senior sister, Zhang Lexuan. Besides Dai Luoli, the other four included two male disciples Yu Tianhuang had seen at the Sea God's Fate blind date event.
However, these two male disciples ranked at the bottom among the inner court disciples in terms of cultivation talent and hadn't shown anything particularly outstanding at the Sea God's Fate blind date event.
As in Yu Tianhuang's memories from his previous life, these two male disciples were Li Yongyue and Mo Xuan.
The last person was undoubtedly Wang Qiu'er.
Wang Qiu'er was dressed exactly as Yu Tianhuang had seen her that day: a veil covering her peerless beauty, her pink-blue, wavy, long hair tied into a ponytail at the back. She had changed into a light green tight outfit, which formed a strong contrast with her pink-blue long hair.
She was also the first to sense Yu Tianhuang and Ning Tian approaching, gazing from afar toward the official road connecting to Shrek City's south gate.
Their eyes met, and Yu Tianhuang's heart stirred slightly. Wang Qiu'er, however, maintained an indifferent expression, withdrew her gaze, and acted as though her earlier action had been merely casual.
Yu Zihuang said hello to Zhang Lexuan together with Ning Tian with a normal expression.
"Senior Sister."
Dai Luoli, who had never interacted with the other inner court disciples of Shrek Academy before, lowered his head nervously. Seeing Yu Tianhuang and Ning Tian, he hurriedly moved closer to them as if greatly relieved.
"Brother Yu, Sister Ning."
Zhang Lexuan clapped her hands, drawing everyone's attention.
"As inner court disciples, everyone should have seen each other before and have some understanding of one another. However, since there are new members joining this operation, for better coordination inside the Star Dou Great Forest, it's still necessary to introduce ourselves. Everyone, please simply state your name, martial soul, and cultivation level."
She then took the lead as an example.
"My name is Zhang Lexuan, inner court teacher and student. My martial soul is the Moon, assault-system battle soul master. I'm in charge of leading the team this time, level 86 soul power, no soul ring requirement."
Upon hearing Zhang Lexuan's words, everyone except Yu Tianhuang trembled inwardly, and even Wang Qiu'er was no exception.
The one with the strongest reaction was naturally Dai Luoli. He subconsciously swallowed and stared in disbelief.
"Level 86 soul power? Soul Douluo?!"
Zhang Lexuan, who looked only about twenty-six or twenty-seven years old, was actually a Soul Douluo?
After the shock came burning fervor.
This was the true caliber of the number one academy on the continent!
Zhang Lexuan looked at Yu Tianhuang with a gentle smile and said, "Tianhuang, you're the vice-leader of this operation and also the main control soul master. It's your turn to introduce yourself."
Yu Tianhuang nodded slightly and introduced himself knowingly: "Yu Tianhuang, inner court disciple. Twin martial souls: Golden Pupil and Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon. Control and assault-system battle soul master, level 69 Soul Emperor. The purpose of my trip is to attach a soul ring to my second martial soul, but my requirements are quite strict; it's mostly up to luck."
This time, Dai Luoli's shock deepened to the point of numbness. He stared blankly at Yu Tianhuang, unable to snap out of it.
Although Yu Tianhuang's cultivation couldn't compare to Zhang Lexuan's, his age was right there. At seventeen years old, with level 69 soul power and twin martial souls.
Ning Tian followed right after: "Ning Tian, inner court disciple. Martial soul: Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda, support-system tool soul master. Level 57 Tool Soul King, no soul ring requirement. I'm joining this operation to support Tianhuang."
Both introductions were brief, but to the ears of the other disciples, they were anything but ordinary. Especially Li Yongyue and Mo Xuan, they had personally witnessed Yu Tianhuang's terrifying strength at the Sea God's Fate blind date event. Yu Tianhuang's simple description couldn't even begin to convey his astonishing talent.
And Ning Tian's Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda martial soul alone was enough to explain everything. She was the second possessor of the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda martial soul in ten thousand years.
Li Yongyue and Mo Xuan introduced themselves next.
"Li Yongyue, inner court disciple, agility-attack system battle soul king, level 60, requires sixth soul ring. Martial soul: Moonblade."
"My name is Mo Xuan, long-range omnidirectional support-system battle soul king, level 60, requires sixth soul ring. Martial soul: Light Ring. My close-combat ability is quite poor, so I'll be counting on everyone this time."
Li Yongyue had an ordinary appearance, while the clear-faced Mo Xuan seemed somewhat shy, as if he rarely interacted with people he wasn't familiar with. Both were over twenty-five years old; Li Yongyue was already twenty-seven. Reaching the Soul Emperor realm at that age would qualify as genius outside, but at Shrek Academy, it was only barely enough to enter the inner court.
However, this special omnidirectional support-system battle soul master drew an extra glance from Ning Tian, who was also a support-system soul master.
Zhang Lexuan timely explained Ning Tian's confusion.
"Mo Xuan is a specially trained talent in our inner court. In both individual and team battles, Mo Xuan's support ability isn't particularly outstanding, far inferior to your Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda, Ning Tian. However, he is the only long-range omnidirectional support-system battle soul master our academy has produced in nearly a thousand years. You'll understand once we're in the Star Dou."
Next was Wang Qiu'er's introduction. Her voice was slightly cold.
"Wang Qiu'er, assault system. Martial soul: Golden Dragon Lion. Level 60 soul power requires the sixth soul ring."
Her introduction was the briefest, and during it, her eyes were fixed on the air, carrying a certain proud and aloof demeanor.
Finally, it was Dai Luoli's turn.
Dai Luoli was even more embarrassed than Mo Xuan.
"My name is Dai Luoli. Martial soul: Blood Tiger, assault-system battle soul master. Level 40 soul power requires the fourth soul ring."
"Level 40?" The only ones who reacted were Li Yongyue and Mo Xuan. Yu Tianhuang and Ning Tian already knew that Zhang Lexuan had heard about Dai Luoli from Han Ruoruo, and Wang Qiu'er simply didn't care.
Yu Tianhuang spoke up for Dai Luoli: "Luo Li is not yet an inner court disciple. His martial soul has mutated, and he's temporarily staying on Sea God's Island to cultivate."
Zhang Lexuan said, "Alright, everyone has introduced themselves. Tianhuang, as the main control soul master, you'll plan the formation for entering the Star Dou Great Forest along the way. If there are no issues, we'll set off now."
No one raised any objections to Zhang Lexuan's arrangement. The group thus set off toward the southeast, heading for the Star Dou Great Forest.
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