Zhu Ziyang had been extremely busy these past few days.
During the day, he constantly moved between the outer and inner courtyards — attending classes in the outer courtyard when scheduled, and spending his free time on Sea God Island learning "Monarch Over the World" under Mu En's guidance. At night, he studied Light Magic and Undead Magic under Electrolux's instruction.
Though both Light and Undead Magic were mentioned, Electrolux barely remembered any Light Magic. According to him, the only Light spells he still recalled were all at the forbidden curse level — far beyond Zhu Ziyang's current capabilities. In fact, Electrolux preferred that he focus more on mastering Undead Magic.
The branch of Undead Magic Electrolux taught belonged to the domains of Death and Summoning. It involved manipulating and cultivating the power of death, studying summoning contracts, and calling forth undead creatures.
Zhu Ziyang began with cultivating and manipulating the power of death.
Thanks to his powerful martial soul, he could easily mobilize the death energy within his body. However, when he activated that death power, his light attribute would go dormant — the two were like sun and moon, incapable of coexisting. Because of this, Zhu Ziyang rarely used his first soul skill. This situation would have to continue for a while, at least until he mastered the art of fusing both powers.
"...What we call death is the stripping and corrosion of vitality. To manipulate death power means to handle the Life Force that has been stripped or corroded..."
"...The most basic method is to convert Life Force into pure heaven and earth energy and then absorb it to enhance one's cultivation..."
"...The benefit is obvious, but so is the drawback — when converting Life Force to heaven and earth energy, about eighty percent of it is lost to the surroundings. Only twenty percent can be absorbed by the user. This loss is unavoidable..."
"...However, the existence of soul rings gave me an idea. What if we first infuse external Life Force into the soul ring, and let the conversion take place within it — maybe even directly converting it into soul power to be refined and absorbed? I don't know what the conversion rate would be, but it should exceed twenty percent. Still, this seems redundant — converting Life Force to increase soul ring age is the optimal route."
"...A more advanced application is to directly refine Life Force through the power of death. Life Force is one of the hardest forces to refine, but if you succeed, the benefits are unimaginable..."
"...The physical strengthening it provides is just the beginning. The greater value lies in raising one's life level — which directly translates to lifespan..."
That night, inside Zhu Ziyang's dorm.
A blooming flower sat in front of him. He extended his right hand and pressed it lightly to a petal. A faint gray glow flickered in his palm.
What happened next was shocking — the vibrant flower rapidly withered, its colorful petals crumbling away. The bright green leaves yellowed and fell off. Then the entire stem shriveled, dried up, and decayed into mush. In just the blink of an eye, the once-beautiful flower was completely gone, as if all its Life Force had been drained in an instant.
Yes, this was the result of complete Life Force depletion.
Joy lit up Zhu Ziyang's face. He knew he had succeeded.
"Excellent. You truly are the genius this old man chose!" Electrolux's voice echoed in his mind, full of excitement. "This means you've grasped the basic application of the power of death. Now, start trying to convert Life Force into heaven and earth energy — or into soul ring years!"
"I understand, teacher!" Zhu Ziyang responded happily.
The young man was completely immersed in cultivation.
—
Sea God Island.
After finishing his cultivation, Zhu Ziyang was just about to cross the lake back to the outer courtyard when he saw a figure in blue fleeing across the surface of the Sea God Lake, looking quite panicked. With every step, a thin layer of ice formed beneath her feet.
Chasing her was a fiery red figure — a woman with blazing crimson wings, her body engulfed in flames, relentlessly pursuing the one in blue.
The two figures, one ahead and one behind, entered Zhu Ziyang's field of view. He blinked in surprise and then recognized one of them.
Ma Xiaotao!
This was the first time Zhu Ziyang had seen Ma Xiaotao since the exchange event — three or four months ago. Although he had been spending more time on Sea God Island in the past month, he only really knew Zhang Lexuan from the inner courtyard. So seeing Ma Xiaotao now was a surprise. After all, his impression of this fiery senior sister was still quite vivid.
But her current state was clearly not normal. Even from a distance, Zhu Ziyang could sense that her aura was extremely unstable. Her beautiful face was unnaturally flushed, and she didn't seem fully conscious. She was chasing the blue-haired girl purely on instinct.
Only now did Zhu Ziyang notice that the girl being chased was also a Shrek inner courtyard student. Though she wore a red uniform, her striking blue hair stood out. She was stunning — easily as beautiful as Ma Xiaotao. But at the moment, she looked completely disheveled. Her clothes were scorched and tattered, revealing patches of snow-white skin. Her hair was a tangled mess. She looked like a princess in distress.
What caught Zhu Ziyang's eye even more was the soul rings floating behind her: two yellow, two purple. This girl who looked about Ma Xiaotao's age was also a Soul Ancestor. No wonder she was from the inner courtyard.
As the two drew closer, Zhu Ziyang heard them shouting.
"Ma Xiaotao, you lunatic! Stop chasing me!"
"So hot! Give me… water…"
The blue-haired girl looked ready to explode with rage but didn't dare turn back. She could only run forward, hoping the students on the island would notice the commotion.
She spotted Zhu Ziyang by the lake. At first, her eyes lit up, but then her face darkened instantly.
'Why is there an outer courtyard student here?! And a first-year at that? Isn't this dangerous?'
"Run! Go back to the island and get help — tell them Ma Xiaotao lost control again!" she shouted hoarsely, no longer caring who he was.
Though Zhu Ziyang didn't fully understand the situation, he could guess enough. It seemed Ma Xiaotao's martial soul had some flaw that could cause her to lose control. In such a case, it wouldn't be right for him to intervene, so he decided to follow her instructions and head back for help.
But just then, Ma Xiaotao seemed to hear the girl's voice and noticed Zhu Ziyang. She glanced at him, and — surprisingly — a flicker of clarity flashed in her eyes. In the next instant, her speed surged. She dashed past the blue-haired girl and, under her stunned gaze, charged straight toward Zhu Ziyang.
Ma Xiaotao's speed was terrifying. As a top-tier Beast Martial Soul Soul Ancestor going all out, she didn't give Zhu Ziyang any room for hesitation. Without wasting a second, he summoned the Stillness Fate Ending Scythe. His first soul ring lit up, and a gray-white slash shot toward Ma Xiaotao.
This was one of his few ranged attacks — if it could slow her down even a little, it was worth it.
Though her mind was clouded, Ma Xiaotao's battle instincts remained intact. She twisted mid-air in a graceful spin and dodged the death blade with ease. Then she continued charging toward Zhu Ziyang without pause.
Zhu Ziyang was speechless. He didn't know why Ma Xiaotao was targeting him, but this was clearly not the time for questions. As he racked his brain for a way to stop her, he shouted toward the blue-haired girl, "Hey, senior sister! Don't just stand there — give me a hand!"
The blue-haired girl stood frozen for a moment, her gaze locked on the three soul rings floating behind Zhu Ziyang. She couldn't believe it. Only after hearing his voice did she snap out of it and quickly acted.
"Ma Xiaotao's martial soul has gone berserk. She needs to be cooled down!" she explained as an icy staff appeared in her hand. Her fourth soul ring lit up, releasing a dense, cold mist toward Ma Xiaotao.
But before the ice fog could even get close, the flames on Ma Xiaotao's wings vaporized it instantly.
The blue-haired girl stamped her foot in frustration.
"It's no use! My fourth soul skill can't even get near her!"
But Zhu Ziyang had no time to care about that. Ma Xiaotao was already right in front of him — only three meters away!
(End of Chapter)
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