Shrek Academy, Sea God Island.
After exactly forty days away, Zhu Ziyang, Jiang Nannan, and Song Lao had finally returned to the island.
Upon arriving at the academy, Song Lao wasted no time in introducing Jiang Nannan to the other elders and the four deans. Jiang Nannan received many gifts, and also learned the truth about Mu En's identity—as well as the fact that Zhu Ziyang's teacher was none other than Mu En. This left the young girl both shocked and excited.
However, for Zhu Ziyang, all of this was secondary.
At this moment, he had arrived at the base of the Golden Ancient Tree. Following Mu En's directions, he found the wooden hut and stepped inside. After briefly surveying his surroundings, he sat down and took out the high-grade spirit herb he had obtained a month ago—Qingxin.
Zhu Ziyang looked at the Qingxin in his hand and chuckled. He hadn't expected it would take this long to finally use it. He hoped it wouldn't let him down.
He plucked the petals one by one, placing them into his mouth—one, two, three... until all had been eaten. The now-worthless flower stalk was tossed aside. Closing his eyes, he began meditating to absorb the herb's medicinal power.
As one of the rare high-grade herbs that enhanced spiritual cultivation, Zhu Ziyang was relying on it to push his spiritual power into the Formless Substance realm.
As soon as the Qingxin entered his system, a cool current surged into his spiritual sea. Under its influence, his spiritual power instantly began accelerating. The silver cyclone within his spiritual sea sensed the cool current's wonders and eagerly devoured it, spinning faster and faster. Soon, his entire sea of consciousness became active—the blue spiritual waters revolving with the silver cyclone, forming an even larger vortex. At the vortex's center, the silver cyclone began subtly changing color.
This scene reassured Zhu Ziyang. He concentrated on running the Great Light Mantra, refining the Qingxin's energy and ramming against that invisible barrier.
—
Time passed unnoticed during cultivation.
Zhu Ziyang awoke from his trance, only to hear a deafening boom in his mind, followed by the shattering of something invisible. Then came a euphoric sensation like hearing divine music. His mind had never felt so clear—he had broken through!
Without hesitation, he dove into his sea of consciousness and was stunned by what he saw.
Silver. Radiant, dazzling silver filled the entire sea—that was his spiritual power, now even denser and richer, like a flowing Milky Way in dreamlike beauty.
He discovered that his sea of consciousness had expanded by more than double. The vast spiritual power had condensed into a silver ocean, and at its center stood a sizable island. Though barren and desolate, it held two familiar objects: Electrolux's soul pearl and the spiritual crystal of the Silver Dragon Wolf.
The golden stars still hung in the sky above, but now a new celestial body— a silver crystal orb with etched dragon-wing patterns—floated beside one of the golden stars. This orb, representing the link between his right eye and the spiritual sea, had grown noticeably larger.
But Zhu Ziyang was fixated on the spiritual island—proof that he had reached the second stage of spiritual power cultivation.
Once a soul master broke through to the Formless Substance realm, their spiritual power gained greater precision: sensing surroundings, enhancing soul skill control, and more. The spiritual island was the first sign of manifesting this power into substance.
"So this is the Formless Substance realm? Amazing," Zhu Ziyang whispered.
Even without opening his eyes, he could clearly sense the surrounding Light Element. Previously, he'd needed his martial soul to achieve this level of sensitivity. Now, his spiritual power alone was sufficient.
He remained seated, carefully feeling the changes brought by his breakthrough.
The most notable improvement was his Silver Right Eye. With enhanced spiritual power, its Time Freeze ability had extended from one second to three seconds, and could now affect targets up to the Soul Emperor level. This greatly increased his combat strength.
His soul power had also risen with his spiritual breakthrough, jumping from Rank 37 to 38. This thrilled Zhu Ziyang—now he was just one step away from becoming a Soul Ancestor. Once he reached Rank 39, using the Soul Ascension Pill he'd earned from winning the freshman competition would instantly bring him to Rank 40!
Just the thought excited him.
Feeling fulfilled, he was about to end this session of seclusion when the gray pearl floating over his spiritual island suddenly trembled. Though a subtle vibration, it resonated clearly within his consciousness.
Zhu Ziyang instantly refocused, guiding his consciousness to hover over Electrolux's soul pearl, locking his gaze on it.
It had been about half a year since Electrolux fell into slumber. Could he be waking up? Zhu Ziyang's anticipation grew.
What surprise would this teacher from another world bring him upon awakening?
Time passed quietly. The gray pearl trembled again and again, the movements becoming increasingly intense. Then, it floated into the air and stilled. After three seconds of silence, it released a ring of gray mist.
The mist resembled chaotic fog laced with specks of golden light. It grew thicker, eventually flooding the entire spiritual sea, even numbing Zhu Ziyang's senses.
And yet he felt no fear. Instead, he felt warmth and care from the gray mist, as if it were a gift from a caring teacher.
As expected, the gray mist began to change again. It ignored the boundaries of the soul world and seeped directly into his body—his meridians, pressure points, bone marrow, and flesh—tempering every part of him. Even more mist traveled via his bloodstream into his heart, and from there, to the Dan Zhong acupoint, where it began influencing his martial soul—Stillness Fate Ending Scythe.
Under its touch, the scythe manifested on its own. The three soul rings whirled restlessly around it. The gray mist bypassed the two purple rings and wrapped around the first yellow one.
Zhu Ziyang felt something shatter within his body. The warmth carried a chilling aura that lulled him into a daze. Before he realized it, he had drifted into unconsciousness.
When he next opened his eyes, everything had returned to normal. Only the intuitive control he now felt over the power of death reminded him that what had just occurred was real.
Zhu Ziyang summoned Stillness Fate Ending Scythe. The martial soul seemed unchanged—but the first soul ring had deepened from pale yellow to a rich golden hue.
He was astonished. His teacher had somehow elevated his first soul ring's age—how had he done that?
Moreover, he could sense that the previously separate powers of Light and Death within him were now beginning to approach each other. They still couldn't fuse, but compared to before, when they had been completely isolated, this was a massive improvement.
He was overjoyed. Retracting his martial soul, he prepared to enter his spiritual sea to check if Electrolux had awakened—when a hoarse voice echoed beside his ear.
"Since you're awake, come up now."
It was Mu En's voice.
(End of Chapter)
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