The competition in Star Luo Square was in full swing. Standing atop the imperial city wall, the Star Luo Emperor, Xu Jiawei, suddenly turned his gaze aside.
As if responding to his look, the Heavenly Fiend Douluo Huang Jinxu—who had earlier appeared in the first-floor lobby of the Star Emperor Hotel to block Yu Tao's attack on Xu Zihuang—suddenly revealed himself out of thin air.
Huang Jinxu's lips moved slightly.
Xu Jiawei's brows furrowed, then slowly relaxed again. He sighed softly.
"So, the Body Sect has indeed made their move. I suppose it's inevitable—a genius of this level is impossible not to covet. And since this young man already possesses a main body martial soul, it gives the Body Sect every justification to intervene."
"Why can't such a genius be a citizen of our Star Luo Empire?" the emperor sighed again.
In the first-floor lobby of the Star Emperor Hotel, Xu Zihuang, who had withdrawn his martial soul, now had a thoughtful light flickering in his deep violet eyes.
Judging from Lang Ya and Yu Tao's reactions just now, the second awakening of his main body martial soul was anything but ordinary.
If it were only a silver-level main body martial soul second awakening, it shouldn't have caused them to lose composure like that. But it also couldn't have been a gold-level awakening, something achievable only by those whose cultivation had reached the Titled Douluo realm.
In that case, the most reasonable explanation was that his awakening lay between silver and gold level—in other words, a semi-golden-level awakening.
However, he couldn't be completely certain, since he was still exploring the mysteries of his Golden Eyes martial soul himself.
Just then, Tianmeng Iceworm's uneasy yet solemn voice suddenly echoed within his spiritual sea.
"Zihuang, that power you were just about to use—was it your main body martial soul's second awakening ability?"
"What's wrong, Tianmeng?" Xu Zihuang asked, immediately sensing Tianmeng's strange emotion. Ever since part of Tianmeng Iceworm's spiritual essence had fused with his own, he could easily feel its shifts in mood.
Tianmeng pondered briefly before answering, "That big-headed guy just now wasn't wrong. Using that second awakening ability of yours would indeed cause irreversible damage to your body. Just now, even from that single moment when you tried to draw upon it, your spiritual power nearly dried up. With your current physical endurance and mental strength, you can't handle that kind of burden. Moreover, according to my calculations, once you truly activate it, the cost won't just be your soul power and mental energy—it might even consume your life force."
"Life force?" Xu Zihuang's expression turned grave.
Consuming life force was the defining characteristic of a gold-level main body martial soul second awakening. It was also what made such awakenings so powerful—akin to igniting one's own life flame.
For example, super Douluo like Du Bushi or Elder Xuan—both at level ninety-eight—could temporarily reach the power of a level ninety-nine Ultimate Douluo if they burned their life force.
However, for Xu Zihuang, the cost of consuming life force wasn't too severe—because he possessed the Golden Essence of Life, which could replenish his life energy at any time.
Tianmeng Iceworm clearly realized this too, and its tone soon returned to its usual lazy drawl.
"Heh, I almost forgot you've got that Golden Essence of Life. Fine, I'm just reminding you anyway—how you handle it is up to you. Oh, and by the way, I can tell your physical constitution's improved quite a bit—you must've consumed that ten-thousand-year Whale Glue. Perfect timing. Since I'm awake now, I'll release that portion of energy sealed within your fourth soul ring."
"With your current body, once your soul power reaches level fifty, you should be able to absorb a fifty-thousand-year soul ring. Not bad, eh? I sure picked the right person."
Tianmeng chuckled smugly. After releasing that portion of sealed energy, it happily drifted back to sleep.
"Alright then, I'm going back to sleep."
Every time it woke up, Xu Zihuang's strength would advance by leaps and bounds, without Tianmeng having to do a thing.
There was nothing more satisfying than that.
Most importantly, Xu Zihuang's shocking talent gave Tianmeng Iceworm a tangible hope of achieving immortality.
Xu Zihuang ignored Tianmeng's chatter, sinking his mind inward and guiding the released energy to merge with his own body.
This was where the advantage of a spiritual-type soul master truly shone. For an ordinary soul master, absorbing such a vast quantity of soul ring energy would require sitting in meditation for days. But thanks to his powerful spiritual control, Xu Zihuang could complete the process while standing.
The energy of a five-thousand-year-level soul ring posed no burden to him now, and soon it completely integrated into his body.
From that moment, the age of his fourth soul ring officially reached thirty-five thousand years, while his overall soul power cultivation also rose slightly.
Even thirty-thousand-year-level soul ring energy was tremendous, and although he possessed an Ultimate martial soul, when he'd fused with the Silver Shadow Beast's ring earlier, his soul power had already jumped to the latter half of level forty-two.
After this period of training and the fusion of the newly released energy, his current soul power was now just a single step away from breaking through to level forty-three.
Feeling the abundant power flowing within him, Xu Zihuang subconsciously clenched his fists.
At that moment, the rest of Shrek's reserve team—as well as the main team members Ma Xiaotao, Dai Yueheng, Chen Zifeng, and Gongyang Mo—came walking down the stairs.
Ma Xiaotao led the group, her fiery-red hair trailing behind her like a streak of flame. Her crimson eyes first glanced at Xu Zihuang with concern before flaring with dominance.
"Where are those two bastards? The damn Body Sect, daring to cause trouble for us Shrek Academy—let's see if I don't roast them alive!"
Ma Xiaotao's temper was indeed fiery, but she was also fiercely protective. And since Xu Zihuang had repeatedly helped her suppress her Evil Fire in the past, she was naturally even more defensive of him.
"Senior Sister Xiaotao, those two seniors from the Body Sect meant me no harm," Xu Zihuang said with a faint smile, stepping forward. "They just wanted to discuss some things about main body martial souls."
"They really were from the Body Sect?" Ma Xiaotao's delicate brows furrowed. Knowing the sect's reputation, she couldn't help but ask, "And they didn't try to recruit you into their sect?"
"They did," Xu Zihuang admitted. "But I didn't agree. I'm not ready to join any sect yet and be bound by its rules."
Seeing the curious looks in the others' eyes, he added lightly, "The Guardian Douluo of the Star Luo Empire, Heavenly Fiend Douluo Huang Jinxu, appeared just in time."
"Huang Jinxu—the Heavenly Fiend Douluo?" Dai Yueheng's expression changed slightly. As the heir of the White Tiger Duke, he knew quite a few secrets about the Star Luo royal family. That Douluo only took orders directly from Emperor Xu Jiawei himself.
With a trace of teasing in his tone, he said, "Junior Yu, the Heavenly Fiend Douluo is someone who serves right beside His Majesty. Seems you've caught the Emperor's eye."
Xu Zihuang only smiled faintly and gave no reply.
The others then began to ask about what had happened earlier.
Xu Zihuang patiently explained everything to them, not concealing even the generous offer the Body Sect had made. The only thing he kept secret was the matter of his second awakening.
After listening, Chen Zifeng couldn't help but whistle in amazement. "Tianhuang, they offered you a hundred-thousand-year soul ring and soul bone—and you actually turned it down?"
"Senior Chen, I only said I'm not joining a sect for now," Xu Zihuang said with a soft chuckle. "Who knows what the future holds?"
Keeping both sides interested, without committing to either—this was, in truth, the strategy most beneficial to him.
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