Staring at the two powerful skills inscribed in the black book, Wang Chen couldn't help but imagine the upcoming family competition a month later.
He could already see it: in front of the entire clan, with countless eyes watching, he would beat Wang Teng across realms of strength until that arrogant brat wept like a child.
And this wasn't boasting — because the skills he had recorded from Zhang Lexuan were simply too powerful.
If he mastered even one of them, Wang Teng would be left spitting teeth across the floor.
Wang Chen suspected these were likely Shrek Academy's most deeply guarded secret techniques. If Zhang Lexuan were not the chosen successor of Elder Mu, the master of the Sea God's Pavilion, she might never have qualified to learn them herself.
As a transmigrator, Wang Chen naturally knew this world well. In his past life, he had devoured the Douluo Dalu series — especially Douluo Dalu I and Douluo Dalu II. He had read both the novels and the manga.
Because of this, he knew many hidden truths of this world. And the two skills recorded from Zhang Lexuan felt very familiar.
The first one… he was nearly certain it was Sovereign Over the World (Jun Lin Tianxia), the signature ability of Shrek's current Sea God Pavilion Master — the 99th-level Ultimate Douluo, the Dragon God Douluo Mu En.
Mastering this technique would allow him to fight across realms with ease, at least until the Soul Sage level.
In the original story, Huo Yuhao had used this very technique. Even at only Soul Elder peak, with a single punch, he had flattened a Soul King-level Rank 5 Soul Engineer. That was how terrifying it was.
However, Wang Chen also worried. Even if he learned it, could he actually use it?
After all, Sovereign Over the World required spiritual power at the Soul Sage level to control the fusion of soul power, spiritual power, and willpower. Without that, it was impossible.
Wang Chen was confident in his spiritual strength — after all, he had lived two lives. Compared to peers of his rank, his spiritual power far surpassed the norm.
But right now, he was only a two-ring Great Soul Master. To reach Soul Sage-level spiritual strength… that was too great a leap.
He knew well: the mark of Soul Sage-level spiritual power was external release of spiritual power (as described in the original story).
Not everyone was like Huo Yuhao — a spiritual-type soul master with the Skydream Iceworm, a million-year-old spirit beast, charging his cultivation.
Wang Chen estimated his spiritual power was stronger than that of an average Soul Ancestor, but still weaker than a Soul King's, and far from a Soul Sage.
So the first skill had to be shelved. For now, it was useless.
Instead, he turned to the second skill. And this one also seemed familiar.
It looked almost identical to the Ring Explosion Technique (Zha Huan) of the Clear Sky Sect.
The Clear Sky Sect's supreme secret art was brutally simple: explode your own soul rings to gain overwhelming temporary power.
But the price was steep. During the explosion, the soul master's body and mind had to contain the violent force — if not, they would die from backlash.
After using Ring Explosion, all soul rings vanished temporarily. The user could no longer employ soul skills and would collapse into extreme weakness.
Only after three days would the rings slowly recover, and a full thirty-six days had to pass before the technique could be used again.
Compared to that, Zhang Lexuan's secret art was far gentler.
Though it also drew power from the soul rings to temporarily amplify strength, it didn't shatter the rings outright. Instead, it stimulated them in a controlled way.
The result: less explosive than the Clear Sky version, but infinitely more stable and usable.
Even more importantly, during use, one could still employ soul skills, and the rings remained intact afterward. The cooldown was only three days.
Wang Chen was certain: this was Shrek's improved version of the Ring Explosion, developed from the Clear Sky Sect's technique.
Otherwise, how could it resemble it so closely?
To refine it this perfectly, reducing the drawbacks so drastically… he had to admit, Shrek Academy truly had the strength to do so.
From Zhang Lexuan alone, one could glimpse the depth of Shrek's current heritage and power.
This was no longer the ragged Shrek of ten thousand years ago.
After millennia of accumulation, Shrek Academy now ranked among the top three powers on the entire continent.
They had Ultimate Douluo sitting in town, Super Douluo numbering more than five, and countless Title Douluo.
Who could have imagined that ten thousand years ago, Shrek had been so impoverished that they survived only by trickery, begging, and schemes?
Truly, time was the greatest magician.
Wang Chen sighed with emotion — then shook his head, dismissing Shrek from his mind.
Shrek was far too distant a matter for him. He was merely a Great Soul Master of a marquis' household in the Sun Moon Empire. To concern himself with such a giant was laughable.
Instead, his focus returned to the improved Ring Explosion technique. And his heart was filled with satisfaction.
Not only was this secret art immensely powerful — its conditions for use were minimal. Simply possessing soul rings was enough.
This was undoubtedly the perfect skill for him.
Delighted, Wang Chen immediately named the two abilities in the black book:
The first, Sovereign Over the World.
The second, Ring Tempering (Cui Huan).
After naming them, he nodded with contentment and withdrew his consciousness back into his body.
Though it seemed he had lingered in the black book for some time, thought moved at lightning speed. In truth, only two seconds had passed in the outside world.
He burned with eagerness to study the new skills, but this was not the right place.
He was still seated in the front-row luxury box of the grand arena. Attempting to cultivate techniques here might draw dangerous attention.
Suppressing his excitement, Wang Chen turned his focus back to the Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Soul Dueling Tournament.
On stage, Zhang Lexuan and the six Shrek teammates who had won effortlessly stood proudly in the center, basking in the cheers of hundreds of thousands.
Meanwhile, the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy members sat battered in the corner, being healed by support-type soul masters.
Some muttered brokenly about how terrifying Zhang Lexuan was.
Others clenched their teeth, swearing they would reclaim their pride one day.
As for the two instructors, Elder Ma and Elder Zhang, their faces were clouded with dread.
How could they possibly explain this disgrace to Jing Hongchen?
To be swept one-versus-seven by Shrek… even if it wasn't their fault, the humiliation was unbearable. It diminished their empire's prestige.
And if Jing Hongchen chose to vent his wrath upon them, they would not survive the storm.