After Shrek Academy's battle against Qianling Academy ended, the atmosphere in the rest areas of the other teams noticeably relaxed. Compared to the earlier shock of five red soul rings, the two white rings on Huo Yuhao were clearly fake too—but at least it proved one thing: that Huo Yuhao wasn't a Soul King. He definitely didn't have five hundred-thousand-year soul rings.
From the fact that Shrek's team still had a Grandmaster-level soul master, it was highly likely Huo Yuhao was one too. And as long as he wasn't a Soul King with five terrifying red rings, the others could accept it. That would've been far too frightening, and no one wanted to face such a monster in this or any future tournament.
In the rest area of the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy, Elder Ma, the team's supervising teacher, looked thoughtful as he turned to his students.
"Ru Long, Xiao Hongchen, Meng Hongchen—what do you think?"
"Ha!" Xiao Hongchen gave a dismissive snort. "I thought Shrek Academy had actually produced some kind of genius. Turns out he's nothing more than a fraud putting on an act! Elder Ma, if our main team doesn't feel confident about beating Shrek, why not just let us—the pre-selection team—handle them? Am I right, Meng?"
"Absolutely," Meng Hongchen agreed with a laugh. "Shrek Academy really sent out their pre-selection team. Do they seriously think they can beat us with four Soul Ancestors, one Soul Elder, and two Grandmasters? That's hilarious!"
"Hmph!" Ma Rulong's expression darkened at their mockery. "You two seem to have forgotten Ma Xiaotao and Jiang Nannan. Maybe you don't know Xiaotao, but let me tell you—she was part of Shrek's pre-selection team in the last tournament. She was already a Soul Ancestor at fourteen, and it's been five years. She's at least a Soul Emperor by now."
"As for Jiang Nannan, you've both seen her. She's only fifteen. Can you be so sure she's not part of the pre-selection team? Xiao Hongchen, you may have reached Soul King at fifteen, but you and I both know how that happened. Are you certain you could hold your own against her five years from now?"
"Oh, and there's Zhu Ziyang—he's also fifteen, and hasn't fought yet. How do you know he's not pre-selection as well?"
"You're feeling smug way too early."
Ma Rulong's barrage of words left both siblings looking slightly embarrassed. While they were arrogant, they weren't stupid—and they realized they had indeed underestimated Shrek.
For once, Xiao Hongchen didn't talk back. He responded seriously, "You're right, Elder Ma. Still… no matter how many tricks Shrek has up their sleeves, I'll use my soul tools to crush them."
Back in Shrek's rest area, the seven members of the pre-selection team had returned, all of them in high spirits.
"Whew! I'm so glad I don't have to act all mysterious anymore!" Huo Yuhao sighed with relief. "You have no idea how terrifying it is to be stared at by thousands of people at once. I thought I was gonna die!"
"You did great, Yuhao!" Tang Ya said, hugging him with a smile. "Ziyang, Nannan—you guys didn't see the looks on Qianling Academy's faces when they realized Yuhao was just a Grandmaster! They were priceless!"
"Haha, we didn't see it," Zhu Ziyang and Jiang Nannan chuckled, "but we sure heard the crowd's reaction. That was enough!"
"Yeah, I didn't expect the audience to react that strongly either," Wang Yan sighed. "Well, let them complain all they want."
He smiled and looked around at the team. "You all did well. I'm very satisfied."
"Their lineup gave us the perfect opportunity," Bei Bei added. "They were running a single-core formation, and with Xu Sanshi in our team, executing a decapitation strike was easy."
"Of course!" Xu Sanshi grinned. "My Xuanwu Swap isn't just for show. If a target's within my range, even a Soul Sage isn't safe!"
"Yeah, yeah, don't get too full of yourself!" Tang Ya rolled her eyes. "Don't blow yourself up with all that hot air!"
"No way!" Xu Sanshi laughed.
"Alright, back to the hotel," said Wang Yan. "Nothing else worth watching today. Our real battle will be the day after tomorrow—against Zheng Tian Academy. That'll be a tough one. Get some rest."
And so, the Shrek team left Star Luo Plaza.
That night, in Zhu Ziyang's room…
He sat quietly on the bed in meditation, his face calm, eyes closed. Under the influence of his soul core, his soul power swirled rapidly, accumulating steadily and reinforcing his cultivation.
Inside his Spiritual Sea, two Soul Spirit Eggs—Snow Empress and Ice Empress—had reached the final stage of hatching. In about half a month, they would be fully born.
Meanwhile, Electrolux, the ancient necromancer, was silently working to restore his soul. As only a fragment of his original self, his recovery was slow. Even after years of nurturing, he had only regained 30% of a complete soul.
But Electrolux wasn't in a hurry. With his divine-level spiritual cultivation, all he lacked was vital energy. Once Zhu Ziyang ascended to godhood, there would be plenty of that to spare. After all, a soul was just a fusion of spirit and vitality.
Next to the Soul Spirit Eggs sat a silver-white crystal—the Soul Crystal of the Silver Dragon Wolf.
After four years of silence, the crystal finally stirred. A crack appeared on its surface.
The moment it happened, both Zhu Ziyang and Electrolux felt it. They materialized in the grand hall at the center of Ziyang's Spiritual Island, standing before the shimmering, cracking crystal.
"She's waking up," Zhu Ziyang said softly. There was a trace of emotion in his voice.
If not for the Silver Dragon Wolf's sacrifice, he wouldn't have reached his current level. Perhaps his scythe, Judgement of Light and Life, would still have evolved due to the Great Radiant Art—but it might've taken ten or twenty years. And his second martial soul would never have transformed into the Heavenly Frost Holy White Dragon, with its Ultimate Ice element.
In other words, the Silver Dragon Wolf was a major reason Zhu Ziyang had become who he was today—and he felt gratitude for that.
"I should thank her too," Electrolux said. "If not for her, we'd never have crossed paths."
As they watched, the soul crystal shattered—revealing a small dragon with gleaming silver scales. The dragon's form was nearly identical to Ziyang's second martial soul, except the scales were bright silver instead of icy white.
The Silver Dragon Wolf—no, she was now truly a Holy Silver Frost Dragon—opened her silver eyes, blinking in confusion and wonder like a newly born hatchling. She began devouring the fragments of her soul crystal.
Neither Zhu Ziyang nor Electrolux interrupted. They watched in silence.
With each bite she took, her body grew slightly larger, and Ziyang could feel subtle changes occurring. His first soul ring on the Holy White Dragon was shaking, as if evolving.
Before long, the silver dragon had finished consuming the crystal. Her form had grown into that of a mature dragon. Her pupils shifted from silver to icy white, the mark of the ice element.
Her gaze locked onto Zhu Ziyang, and her voice rang out with surprise and joy:
"Zhu Ziyang! I knew you were the right choice!"
"You remember me?" Ziyang asked, surprised.
"Of course!" the silver dragon said happily. "Even though I've been asleep, I could still sense everything in your Spiritual Sea."
She turned to Electrolux and added respectfully, "You must be Electrolux—the Death Spirit Sage, Necromantic Deity. It's an honor to meet you!"
"Haha, well aren't you a polite little dragon," Electrolux laughed, accepting her greeting.
"If you know everything about my Spiritual Sea," Zhu Ziyang asked, "then you must also know about soul spirits, right?"
"Of course!" the silver dragon nodded. "And I'm honestly amazed. I can't believe you even won over the Ice Jade Empress Scorpion. Looks like that oath I made you swear really was nothing!"
"So… do you want to become my soul spirit?" Ziyang asked bluntly.
"Why not?" the silver dragon answered cheerfully. "Honestly, I should've been your first! I can't believe I ended up being your third… I feel so robbed!"
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