Two years and three months later.
Early in the morning, as usual, Yang Yunhai woke up early and got up to get dressed.
Suddenly, he froze, then his face lit up with joy.
"I've broken through!?"
Very naturally, he could feel the soul power in his body was full and abundant, as if it had touched some kind of bottleneck.
Closing his eyes to feel it carefully, yes, it was true.
There was no doubt, his soul power had reached Level 10.
Counting the time, it had taken him just over two and a half years to go from awakening his martial soul to reaching Level 10.
Not fast, but not slow either. Likely a bit faster than Yu Xiaogang, who had the support of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan when he was young.
Why say that?
During the battle between the Shrek Seven Devils and the Heaven Dou Imperial Academy in Soto City, Yu Tianheng and Yu Xiaogang had a conversation. The former clearly mentioned that when he was old enough to remember, he had been held by Yu Xiaogang. It was Yu Xiaogang who gave him a relatively happy childhood, which is why he had always respected him.
The age when people start to form memories is usually around 3. Very few remember anything before that.
And judging by the age of Dugu Yan, who was nearly 20 at that time, Yu Tianheng was likely around 18 or 19. So altogether, that would make Yu Xiaogang at least 21 years older than Yu Tianheng.
This means Yu Xiaogang was still with his clan into his early twenties, and he got his first two soul rings with the clan's support. That's also why those two soul rings were of optimal age. As for when Yu Xiaogang left the clan, it's speculated that he hit a bottleneck at Level 29 and couldn't break through.
If he could have broken through, with a father who was the clan leader and ample resources, why would he have left? Even if people gossiped, at least he could've continued cultivating.
The most likely reason he eventually left was the long period of stagnation at Level 29.
As long as there was hope for advancement, he might have endured the contempt of his clansmen. But being stuck for so long, the mental pressure must've been unbearable.
And this aligns with what Yu Xiaogang once told Tang San, that Level 30 is a threshold. If one doesn't break through by age 20, it becomes almost impossible later. That statement likely wasn't just based on theory.
It was his own experience.
In other words, Yu Xiaogang probably reached Level 29 before the age of 20 and then hit a bottleneck.
After that, he faced endless criticism from his clan, and eventually couldn't take it anymore and left.
Later, he went to Spirit Hall, likely trying to use their resources to find a way to break through, but failed. During that time, he met Bibi Dong, but they eventually broke up. While traveling, he later met Flender and Liu Erlong, but parted ways with Liu Erlong. Then Flender founded Shrek Academy, and Liu Erlong started Blue Tyrant Academy.
And as everyone knows, Shrek had been around for 20 years by the time Tang San joined.
So adding it all up: 20+ years in the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan, 20 years since Shrek's founding, plus some time at Spirit Hall and other scattered periods, it totals over 40 years.
That matches Yu Xiaogang's age when he first appeared in the story.
Thus, it supports the speculation that Yu Xiaogang stayed with his clan for over 20 years and reached Level 29 before age 20.
From innate soul power of 0.5 to Level 29, that's a gap of 28.5 levels. Starting cultivation at age 6, taking under 14 years to reach Level 29, on average, that's a bit more than 2 levels per year.
And the higher the level, the harder it gets. Advancing is easiest before Level 10. So calculating it out for levels 0–10, 10–20, 20–29... Damn, his speed doesn't seem all that much faster than Yu Xiaogang's!
Yu Xiaogang had cultivation resources from the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan. He, on the other hand, could train by attracting lightning.
His only real advantage might be that he was more diligent.
Alright then. I'm still just a weakling.
He calmed himself from the initial excitement, got dressed, washed up, and went through his morning routine.
Then he left the dormitory, had breakfast, and quickly made his way to the academic office.
Not long after, inside the office...
"Blue Silver Grass can cultivate this fast?" Upon hearing Yang Yunhai was requesting leave to obtain a soul ring, the Director was surprised.
If it were a major clan, and someone with 0.5 innate soul power reached Level 10 in two and a half years, he'd believe it. After all, it's easiest to cultivate before Level 10.
But Yang Yunhai was just a civilian soul master!
In this ordinary little town, with no cultivation resources at all, reaching Level 10 in such a short time was hard to believe.
Thanks to Tang San and Xiao Wu, two prodigies in the work-study group, he had paid extra attention to Dorm Seven. He knew Yang Yunhai trained hard, often running to the Blue Silver Grass-covered back mountain and staying there all afternoon, training long into the night. He was a training maniac.
Still, he didn't expect him to progress this quickly, especially with Blue Silver Grass as a martial soul.
What a pity, Blue Silver Grass.
After eyeing Yang Yunhai up and down, the Director sighed inwardly before speaking.
"Yang Yunhai, I approve your request for leave."
"But I must remind you, think carefully before joining Spirit Hall." Yang Yunhai was from Lone Grass Village, and the village chief was a retired Spirit Hall officer, with both his son and grandson serving as soul masters in Spirit Hall. Since Yang Yunhai was asking for personal leave and not requesting a teacher-led team from the academy, he was likely going back to his village to seek the chief's help in obtaining a better century-level soul ring.
As for joining a hunting party in the Soul Hunting Forest alone, considering his so-called useless martial soul, Blue Silver Grass, he didn't think Yang Yunhai would be able to find a team.
So returning to the village for help was the only plausible option.
"Not just Spirit Hall, any soul master faction is the same. Joining one might seem good, but it comes at the cost of your freedom. And with your martial soul and talent, even if you joined, you likely wouldn't get much attention or resources. You might even endanger your life." Perhaps out of admiration for Yang Yunhai's dedication, the Director spoke more than usual.
"Well, you're still young, maybe you don't fully understand what I mean." He shook his head, adding,
"In short, unless you're sure about your future path, don't rush into joining any faction."
A small academy job, collecting monthly subsidies, now that would be a comfortable life, he thought to himself.
Even Yu Xiaogang, the so-called theory master, couldn't break through Level 30. He didn't believe Yang Yunhai could do it either.
"Hmm, I'll think about it carefully. Thank you for the advice." Yang Yunhai nodded politely.
Seeing Yang Yunhai take his words seriously, the Director smiled slightly and added, "Alright then, you may go. I wish you success in finding a suitable..."
Before he could finish, knock knock, someone rapped on the door, then creak, the door opened.
Both turned to look instinctively, it was Yu Xiaogang.
"Director Su, I came to pick up this year's martial soul data." He spoke even before reaching the desk.
"Ah, it's you, Master." Director Su stood up with a smile. He glanced at Yang Yunhai, who hadn't yet left, and said with a grin, "Master, you came at the perfect time. This student just reached Level 10. Why don't you give him some advice?"
"What kind of soul beast should he hunt?"
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