After the entire preliminary round concluded, there was a full month of rest period. Yu Xiaogang planned to organize everyone for intensive training during this break. It seemed everyone respected this decision, especially Yu Tianheng, who almost regarded Yu Xiaogang as his primary mentor and guide.
However, Yang Xiong directly requested a month-long leave from Yu Xiaogang, primarily explaining that his cultivation had encountered a significant bottleneck and he wanted to enter seclusion for focused development. Initially, Yu Xiaogang had some reservations about this request, but since Tang San had already requested leave for the same reason, it would be impossible to show favoritism, so he finally agreed to both requests.
The entire preliminary round had been a tremendous blow to Tang San's confidence. He had originally believed his talent was absolutely unparalleled, but his performance during the preliminary round had not been satisfactory by his own standards.
Many opposing teams had thoroughly researched Tang San's Blue Silver Grass and devised numerous methods to counter it effectively, especially by employing fire-attribute Spirit Masters. Blue Silver Grass would basically be quickly incinerated upon encountering fire-based attacks, disrupting both formations and tactical approaches.
It could be said that the Shrek Academy team had stumbled through the entire preliminary round. Even though their average spirit power rank was the highest in the Heaven Dou region, they gained no significant advantage in challenging matchups, especially after their crushing defeats to Wind Spirit Academy and Heaven Water Academy, which had made Tang San lose face completely.
Compared to Tang San's struggles, Yang Xiong had also been contemplating various important issues recently, particularly regarding future development paths, so he simply took leave to return to the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Clan for seclusion and cultivation.
Of course, the Shrek Academy team faced another significant opportunity: the entire team now had three Spirit Masters at Rank 39. They might be able to achieve breakthroughs again in a short period, which would significantly increase their overall strength by the time of the final tournament.
Originally, according to Yang Xiong's carefully developed plan, all of his spirit rings would absorb strength-type spirit rings, and then extend from that foundation. All spirit rings would possess the Five Elements of metal, wood, water, fire, and earth, and finally, incorporate some high-level attributes, such as space, light, and darkness.
However, after visiting the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well again this time, Yang Xiong felt that he had always underestimated the potential method of Five Elements spirit rings, and similarly underestimated the true power of Body Martial Souls.
Although he had successfully absorbed the two Silver Horn Tyrannosaurus external Spirit Bones this time and even gained considerable benefits, Yang Xiong always felt that this world was not as simple as he had initially imagined. His dual claws seemed to represent some kind of deeper power, especially that unexpected sensation he had experienced at the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well.
The Body Martial Soul proved even more mysterious than he had originally imagined. Since the martial soul was his own physical body, and everyone's body contained infinite potential, it was completely different from ordinary martial souls.
For example, it was extremely difficult for ordinary martial souls to change their fundamental form, and even harder to achieve true evolution. However, the Body Martial Soul seemed to be growing stronger every single moment. From its awakening at six years old to now at fourteen, the originally very weak martial soul had gradually become comparable to top-tier martial souls through Yang Xiong's diligent training and substantial investment in body refinement.
The remarkable changes in his pair of dragon claws could prove the terrifying adaptability and malleability of the Body Martial Soul. Especially since the Body Martial Soul encompassed a tremendous amount of content: skin, blood, muscles, bones, bone marrow, pores, and even hair—these were all integral parts of the martial soul, and each component seemed to possess the potential for development and awakening.
It should be understood that in later generations, Body Martial Souls were extraordinarily rare, yet also extremely powerful, like a special opportunity bestowed by Heaven itself.
The Body Martial Soul was also renowned as the martial soul with the highest body-spirit compatibility. It should be noted that in the entire Douluo World, only the three Limit Douluo could perfectly integrate their bodies and martial souls, but the Body Martial Soul could achieve this remarkable realm without any special cultivation, which represented a genuine miracle.
A full-body Body Martial Soul possessed another tremendous advantage: both the eyes and the brain were integral parts of the martial soul. With continued body refinement and growth, mental force developed very rapidly, far exceeding Spirit Masters of the same rank.
Over the next month, Yang Xiong directly entered seclusion for meditation, contemplating the development and changes of his martial soul, as well as his upcoming plans, and even some subsequent long-term strategies.
According to the current situation, traveling to Spirit City this time was probably unavoidable, but what role should he play in the upcoming events? Should he allow Spirit Hall to win the championship, reach the peak of their influence, and then dominate the world in one decisive stroke, or should he truly fight an outstanding battle against them?
After two years of collaboration, Yang Xiong had developed some genuine feelings for the Shrek Academy team. Although his relationships with Tang San, Xiao Wu, Dai Mubai, and others were not particularly deep, and these people had their own character shortcomings, it had not reached the point of mutual hatred.
Especially regarding Tang San, although his behavior could be quite extreme, and even somewhat hypocritical, it was far from as disgusting as in later timeline developments. One could only say that power corrupts people and distorts human nature. Perhaps this was also the influence of the martial world on people's hearts and minds.
Time flew by swiftly, and soon a month had passed. The promotion round was about to begin.
After a month of intensive seclusion, Yang Xiong felt as if he had completely re-understood his Body Martial Soul. His entire being, both mind and body, became incredibly clear, and things he couldn't comprehend before now became much clearer.
One of his biggest gains was that his Purple Demon Eye finally cultivated to the peak of the Subtle Realm. It could be said that in terms of mental force, he had already surpassed Tang San, but there remained a significant gap to reach the third realm, Mustard Seed. To achieve the Mustard Seed Realm, mental force needed to undergo a qualitative transformation and externalization. It was estimated that this would only be possible upon reaching the Spirit Saint rank. Of course, if he possessed a head Spirit Bone, it could be significantly accelerated.
The entire Shrek Academy team seemed to have undergone some notable changes. Liu Erlong and Xiao Wu seemed to have developed a closer relationship, but the biggest transformation was in Tang San.
Tang San had actually achieved a breakthrough to the Spirit Ancestor realm during this month, and he had also absorbed his fourth spirit ring, reaching Rank 41 in spirit power.
According to Ning Rongrong's account, Tang San's fourth spirit ring came from a six-thousand-year-old Man Faced Demon Spider, which was absorbed beyond the normal spirit ring age limit. The Spirit Ability was called Spider Web Restraint, a decent control-type Spirit Ability that could form a huge spider web with Blue Silver Grass to trap enemies. It could control a single target or multiple targets, depending on his tactical application.
However, this Man Faced Demon Spider did not provide Tang San with an external Spirit Bone. Yang Xiong noticed that Tang San's Blue Silver Grass seemed to have become much tougher and more resilient, but its fundamental weaknesses remained obvious.
If the preliminary round had been a test of team cooperation, then the promotion round was purely a test of individual ability and skill.
The promotion round was held in the training grounds outside Heaven Dou City, surrounded by tens of thousands of imperial troops. It was also a completely closed competition; apart from the relevant participants, only some high-ranking Empire officials and nobles could attend, and it was not open to ordinary citizens.
The promotion round arrangements were still managed by Tang San. It was clear that Yu Xiaogang had invested tremendous effort into cultivating Tang San, and his favoritism was quite obvious. At least Dugu Yan, who was also a control-type Spirit Master, did not receive such preferential treatment.
Whether by intentional arrangement or coincidence, Yang Xiong was always scheduled as the seventh contestant in every match, serving as the team's final trump card, which basically ensured the team would not suffer defeat.
Compared to the preliminary round's stumbling performance, the Shrek Academy team's performance in the promotion round was absolutely excellent, practically overwhelming their opposition.
The entire Heaven Dou Royal Academy Shrek Academy team now boasted six Spirit Ancestors, and the combat power of Yu Tianheng, Dai Mubai, Dugu Yan, and Tang San was particularly formidable. They could basically perform one-against-many victories with relative ease.
Half a month passed quickly, and there were no surprises during the promotion round. The Shrek Academy team topped the rankings without any suspense. Both Yu Tianheng and Tang San performed exceptionally well throughout.
Yang Xiong remained very casual about these arrangements and didn't particularly care whether he participated or not. Anyway, the promotion round served more like a selection of talents by nobles and sects, which held no particular meaning for him.
Compared to Yang Xiong, who did not participate in any battles from beginning to end, Tang San was definitely the most dazzling presence in the entire promotion round, either arranged to compete first or third in the lineup.
There were a total of fifteen advancing teams from the entire Heaven Dou Empire. Besides the five teams from the Heaven Dou region, the teams from other regions were relatively weaker. Tang San and several others frequently achieved one-versus-three or one-versus-four victories, and their powerful combat strength proved remarkably surprising.
The most exciting and intense battle in the entire promotion round was Tang San against Feng Xiaotian. Unfortunately, even though Tang San exerted all his strength and capabilities, he ultimately lost to Feng Xiaotian, despite Tang San revealing his Mantis Leg Exoskeleton Soul Bone during this crucial battle.
However, the Blue Silver Grass remained too fragile against wind attacks, and his Clear Sky Hammer lacked spirit rings for enhanced power.
Finally, after a fierce and exhausting battle, Tang San's body could no longer sustain the intensity and he ultimately fell to Feng Xiaotian's devastating Hurricane Magic Wolf Thirty-Six Successive Slashes technique.
Tang San's confidence was once again dealt a significant blow, but in comparison, Tang San's talent and potential were even more highly valued by Salas and other observing officials.
However, although Feng Xiaotian won the individual battle against Tang San, both of them were only the first fighters to compete, and Feng Xiaotian himself was greatly exhausted afterward. The other members of Wind Spirit Academy did not possess Feng Xiaotian's exceptional combat power, and their team was quickly defeated by the Shrek Academy team, without even requiring Yang Xiong to take action.
It was clear that Feng Xiaotian felt quite frustrated; no matter how strong his individual abilities, he ultimately couldn't overcome the sheer number of Shrek Academy's Spirit Ancestors.
Tang San's performance also attracted the attention of those with ulterior motives, especially the host of the conference, Spirit Hall's Platinum Bishop Salas.
From every perspective, with his twin martial souls and external Spirit Bone, Tang San would likely become Spirit Hall's number one enemy in the future.
However, neither Tang San nor Yu Xiaogang seemed to understand the dangerous undercurrents at play, and of course, Yang Xiong cared even less about political implications.
Yang Xiong carefully observed this duel with great interest. Tang San's Tang Sect cultivation techniques were indeed very effective, especially Mysterious Jade Hand and Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track. Mysterious Jade Hand allowed Tang San to directly block Feng Xiaotian's ordinary wind blades with his bare hands, while Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track enabled Tang San to contend with Feng Xiaotian in terms of speed and mobility.
However, Yang Xiong was also very clear that the foundation of all Tang Sect cultivation techniques was actually the Mysterious Heaven Skill. Without Mysterious Heaven Skill as a fundamental base, other cultivation techniques would develop much slower, especially Purple Demon Eye, which would be even more difficult to reach higher realms.
Ning Rongrong had also cultivated Purple Demon Eye for over a year. Although she had also entered the Subtle Realm, her cultivation speed significantly slowed down after that achievement, at least not showing the same talent and rapid advancement as when she first started learning.
However, Yang Xiong felt that his Yin Yang Meditation Method seemed to have a complementary effect with Purple Demon Eye. Both the Yin Yang Meditation Method and Mysterious Heaven Skill originated from Daoist philosophy. In terms of depth and scope, the Yin Yang Meditation Method seemed more profound and extensive, basically serving as the foundation of all Daoist principles, just like the source of all cultivation techniques.
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