Time flowed like water. In the blink of an eye, a full year had passed.
Now, at just eleven and a half years old, Oscar's soul power had advanced from Rank 27 to Rank 30 only one soul ring away from becoming a true Soul Elder.
And over the past two years, Oscar hadn't neglected his swordsmanship either. On the contrary, he had made tremendous progress.
Today, he could be considered a true swordsman. He had completely mastered the Frost Moon Sword Manual, and in terms of sword handling, he lacked nothing.
What pleased Oscar most was his mastery of the core ability of a true swordsman: Sword Flight.
That's right sword flight.
In addition, Oscar had also grasped Sword Qi, though his version was still different from sword masters like Gai Yue or Dust heart.
Both Dust heart and Gai Yue had comprehended true Sword Intent, allowing their Sword Qi to rival, or even surpass, soul skills in practicality and might.
In contrast, Oscar's Sword Qi was fused with the material condensing traits of his external soul bone. Although it lacked the deeper will of Sword Intent and was thus slightly weaker in power, it was still sufficient to deal with opponents who had not yet reached the realm of Soul Sage and unlocked their Martial Soul True Body.
By the time Oscar did face enemies with a seventh soul ring and a Martial Soul Avatar, he believed he would have grasped true Sword Intent, and his Sword Qi would naturally evolve with it.
Thus, although his external soul bone couldn't absorb soul rings, what it provided him in return fully compensated for the loss, essentially giving Oscar combat capabilities rivaling those of power attack type soul masters.
These past two years had seen clear and substantial progress for Oscar so much so that even his teacher Gai Yue had lost count of how many times he sighed in admiration at Oscar's extraordinary talent.
And Oscar wasn't the only one progressing.
The other Shrek Academy teachers had all improved significantly largely due to the whale gelatin they had harvested on that fateful expedition two years ago.
Gai Yue's soul power had advanced to Rank 84.
Flender and Zhao Wuji reached their original novel levels at Ranks 78 and 76, respectively.
Shao Xin, Lu Qibin, and Li Yusong had also reached their canon levels.
Shao Xin, like Oscar, had reached a bottleneck needing a seventh soul ring to officially step into the realm of a Soul Sage. At Rank 70, he was just one ring away from becoming Shrek Academy's third Soul Sage.
Meanwhile, Ma Hongjun's soul power had increased from Rank 22 to Rank 25. Though his growth rate was average, he hadn't slacked off.
His self created soul skill had become much more refined, significantly enhancing his close combat ability.
More importantly, his second soul skill remained the same as in the original novel: Bathing Fire Phoenix. When activated, it boosted his flame's power by 50%.
However, there was a new addition: it could also burn his accumulated evil fire to further enhance soul skill output.
This meant that not only could Ma Hongjun expel his pent up evil fire through this skill, but if he had enough stockpiled, he could spike his combat output significantly making his explosive potential much higher.
Thanks to Flender's careful selection of a Phoenix blooded soul beast for that second ring, Ma Hongjun was no longer burdened by his evil fire. Now, when it built up, he simply activated his second soul skill and fought a brilliant solution that mitigated his condition and gave him real combat leverage.
As both Oscar and Shao Xin stood at the cusp of breakthrough, Shrek Academy was once again celebrating. However, they hadn't gone to obtain new soul rings just yet for today was the academy's annual enrollment day.
Oscar had reached Rank 30 around noon, but he wasn't overly excited he had long foreseen this outcome.
Instead, his mind was preoccupied with something else: based on the timeline, this year should be when Dai Mubai enrolls at Shrek.
He didn't have any particular feelings toward Dai Mubai himself. Rather, from his knowledge of the original novel, Oscar knew that in recent years Shrek had faced low enrollment. If someone like Dai Mubai joined, it would surely bring much needed popularity and energy to the academy.
From the novel's perspective, Dai Mubai's talent was definitely above average. At fifteen years old, he already had soul power at Rank 37, even with all the time he wasted chasing girls and not training seriously.
If not for his lifestyle, Dai Mubai's talent might have placed him above most geniuses. His biggest flaw was simply the way his character had been portrayed cold, distant, and hard to like.
But Oscar, having transmigrated to this world, knew that fiction and reality often diverged sharply. Whether Dai Mubai was good or bad only time and personal interaction would tell.
Still wondering whether Dai Mubai had really come to Shrek, Oscar skipped lunch and headed straight for the enrollment grounds.
As he crossed the courtyard, Oscar saw quite a few newcomers. Anyone who had made it this far had already passed the first screening, though Oscar knew most of them would be eliminated in the later trials just like every year.
That said, even though the academy appeared simple, its core infrastructure was complete, and its serene, almost otherworldly environment had clearly attracted many applicants.
The only real gap was the absence of a simulated cultivation field a hall mark of elite soul master academies.
However, such fields were time consuming, expensive, and resource draining to build. Shrek simply didn't have one yet.
Oscar, however, had repurposed a kitchen into a crude simulation field, leveraging his food type martial spirit. It wasn't much, but it helped him a little. In fact, while his cultivation hadn't sped up much, his cooking skills had improved dramatically. He could now whip up quite a decent meal.
Arriving at the arena, Oscar saw two figures standing on the Soul Dueling Platform.
One was Ma Hongjun, and the other based on appearance could only be Dai Mubai.
Golden hair flying, the twelve year old stood at about 1.78 meters, with heterochromatic eyes, striking features, and a noble aura.
Ma Hongjun, now nine years old and having absorbed two soul rings, was 1.68 meters tall only ten centimeters shorter.
In terms of demeanor, Ma Hongjun lacked Dai Mubai's aristocratic bearing, but his handsome, masculine face radiated a confidence and calmness that Dai Mubai didn't possess something he had cultivated after years of following Oscar.
In Ma Hongjun's eyes, only Oscar was worthy of being called "big brother". Everyone else? Step aside.
And surprisingly, Dai Mubai's soul power was only Rank 25, the same as his own.
Oscar now stepped up onto the elevated platform beside the Dueling Stage. Both Zhao Wuji, who was acting as referee, and the two young competitors noticed his arrival.
Seeing him, Zhao Wuji chuckled, "Little Ao, broke through?"
Oscar simply nodded. "Easy."
Then he turned to the unfamiliar youth, "And this is?"
Ma Hongjun chimed in, "Big Bro Oscar, he's probably the only one this year with a real shot at joining Shrek. His name is Dai Mubai."
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