"Phew—finally, I've arrived."
After leaving the Crown Prince's manor, Zhao Liuyun packed his bags briefly and endured a ten-day carriage ride from Heaven Dou City to Fasinuo City.
As soon as he stepped off the carriage, he paused only long enough to exchange brief pleasantries with the members of the Ye family stationed there before heading straight toward the Blue Sunshine Academy.
Though he wasn't in a desperate rush, appearing slightly eager might make Teacher Shi Nian's expression a bit more pleasant. Besides, the sooner he saw Shi Nian, the sooner he could learn new things.
It had been a year and a half since he last returned. During that time, he had consumed an Immortal Herb and absorbed two soul rings; the changes in Zhao Liuyun were staggering. The academy's gatekeeper failed to recognize him, and fortunately, only recognized the academy's identification badge.
Zhao Liuyun entered the academy without stopping, bypassing the teaching buildings and taking the side path directly into the bamboo forest. Shi Nian had always ignored worldly affairs, spending most of his time in this area of swaying bamboo shadows, devotedly cultivating the secret trump cards the academy was preparing for the Continental Advanced Spirit Master Academy Elite Tournament.
When Zhao Liuyun stepped into the bamboo forest, he saw seven soft mats neatly lined up on the ground. Seven youths were lying there with their eyes closed, sleeping with steady breaths. With Jewel martial souls, these seven had mastered a Seven-in-One Fusion Skill—the Seven Asura Illusion. They were currently immersed in a dream trial laid out by Shi Nian.
This was a marvelous method for tempering mental power, far more efficient than simply exhausting soul power and waiting for it to recover. It was much better suited for mental power cultivation than a mental cage.
The only problem was that Zhao Liuyun was a "Dream Master." Within a dream, he would inevitably maintain a clear and tranquil mind. Even if he suppressed the Demon Dragon Silver Pupil's rejection of external mental power, Shi Nian's dream could not trap him.
This was, of course, a cause for joy. In Shi Nian's eyes, the Moonlit Lotus inherited by Zhao Liuyun was a mental-type martial soul far more profound and powerful than his own Vague Dream. A disciple should excel beyond their master. If each generation were worse than the last, then destruction would not be far off.
"Teacher, I'm back." Zhao Liuyun looked at the stern-faced old man before him who was sitting with eyes closed in concentration, and a look of sincere respect appeared on his face.
"You actually remembered to come back?" Shi Nian squinted his eyes, his tone sounding displeased. "What, now that you've become the esteemed disciple of the Jade Phosphor Douluo, have you forgotten this old bag of bones who is only at the Soul Saint rank?"
He paused, his voice sinking slightly: "Or were you so indulged in the 'Village of Gentle Dreams' that you couldn't bear to see the beauties weep?"
There had indeed been gentle dreams, but Ye Lengleng's nature was shy; she would never delay Zhao Liuyun's cultivation. As for forgetting Shi Nian, that was even more impossible. The records of Spirit Hall contained methods for using mental power, but how could those profound, obscure, and ethereal descriptions compare to Shi Nian's personal demonstrations, which were as direct as copying an answer sheet?
"Look at what you're saying," Zhao Liuyun gave a cheeky grin and stepped closer. "Teacher, haven't you been looking forward to using this tournament to make a name for yourself across the world?"
Shi Nian remained silent, but his gaze suddenly became sharp.
"Please look at your disciple's cultivation."
Shi Nian's mental power was sufficient to rival a Soul Douluo. With one sweep of his gaze, he discerned the earth-shaking changes in Zhao Liuyun.
"Hmm?" He froze suddenly, a massive wave of shock surging through his heart. "Level 43?"
How was this possible! In just a year and a half, he had broken through from Level 24, rising a total of 19 levels? Even among the fallen Spirit Masters Shi Nian had encountered in the past who took shortcuts, he had never seen such a terrifying rate of promotion!
For a moment, countless thoughts swirled in his mind—doubt, surprise, horror, and worry—various emotions intertwined like a tide.
"Did you... become a fallen Spirit Master?" he asked hesitantly.
Shi Nian's personality was sinister and extreme; he would do anything to achieve his goals and felt a sense of pleasure in killing genius Spirit Masters. However, fallen Spirit Masters were the public enemies of the Spirit Master world, to be executed by anyone on sight. After Bibi Dong took power, Spirit Hall had changed much, yet it still hunted fallen Spirit Masters to total extinction.
"I consumed a celestial treasure, and my physique strengthened enough to absorb a ten-thousand-year soul ring beyond my rank," Zhao Liuyun explained calmly. Before his voice faded, he confidently released his martial soul.
An ink-black soul ring suddenly emerged, its deep radiance nearly startling the eyes out of Shi Nian's head. His mind was severely shaken, and for a time, he was speechless.
"Using external force... will it affect your future growth?" Shi Nian treated Zhao Liuyun as his true successor. He didn't just count on him to win the tournament; he hoped the boy would justify the reputation of the mental-type Spirit Master lineage. He absolutely did not want to ruin his disciple's future prospects for the sake of a single competition.
"Please rest assured, Teacher. I am confident I can break through to the Soul King rank before the tournament," Zhao Liuyun said with a sonorous tone, a burning fire in his eyes. "When the time comes, I will definitely take the championship and prove to the world your excellence in teaching!"
The corners of Shi Nian's mouth twitched upward. "It is good that you have this heart." Due to his personality, the smile still carried a hint of gloom, but Zhao Liuyun could see clearly that it was a smile from the heart—silent yet sincere. This was the Shi Nian he was familiar with.
"Teacher, the sixth soul ring... we can move it up to be the fifth." Zhao Liuyun gave a soft reminder. This was his ultimate goal. Back then, Shi Nian was afraid he wouldn't return, so he hadn't revealed the location of the soul beast intended for the sixth ring. He had only dangled the information about a precious and rare beast to keep him hooked. Now that Zhao Liuyun had returned and was about to break through, the hunt should be put on the agenda.
"In the northern border of the Empire, the Frozen Forest." A trace of pain flickered in Shi Nian's eyes. "Years ago, my father led a team for a soul hunt, and in the end... he perished beneath its claws."
"What is it?"
"A dragon."
Mental-type, dragon... wouldn't that be a Silver Dragon?
"A pureblood Silver Dragon?!" A brilliant light instantly erupted from Zhao Liuyun's eyes. If it really were a pureblood Silver Dragon, it would be a gift from the heavens. The progenitor of the mental-type and the master of all elements. If Moonlit Lotus absorbed a Silver Dragon soul ring, it would essentially open a door to the elements. In the future, he might even be able to lay claim to the authority of the Silver Dragon King.
"It's not a Silver Dragon." Shi Nian gave his daydreaming disciple a helpless look, his tone tinged with a mix of amusement and annoyance. Silver Dragons were merely ethereal legends, rarely even recorded in ancient texts. And pureblood? That was more delusional than a dream!
Shi Nian continued: "All we know is that it is a twenty-thousand-year mental-type colossus. Pureblood dragons have long since vanished into history; this one is only a hybrid."
"But even a hybrid is a dragon! A twenty-thousand-year mental-element dragon suited for you!"
"I can't beat it," Shi Nian admitted the gap in power quite bluntly. Top-tier soul beasts like the Dark Golden Dreadclaw Bear or pureblood dragons can often rival hundred-thousand-year soul beasts even with only ten thousand years of cultivation. Shi Nian judged this based on the combat power of his father's hunting party. The team was wiped out; not a single person survived. When Shi Nian went to search later, he only found some hastily written secret codes indicating the opponent was a mental-type dragon of roughly twenty thousand years.
"The original plan was to ask the Academy Principal to take action, and then invite your Ye family's Soul Douluo and several Soul Saints to go together." Such a lineup would still be a bit of a stretch against a mental-type dragon with impure blood. It was, however, the best option Shi Nian could find for Zhao Liuyun's soul hunt. "But now, we can have the Jade Phosphor Douluo step in."
The Dragon Clan has high resistance to all attributes, but they find it difficult to withstand the erosion of potent poison. If a Title Douluo personally took action, capturing a twenty-thousand-year hybrid dragon should not be difficult.
"The Frozen Forest..." Zhao Liuyun mused. This place was not one of the existing three major soul beast habitats, but it was the barrier between the Heaven Dou Empire and the human forbidden zone of the Far North. It was a land of ice and snow, with raging blizzards and an extremely harsh environment. There might truly be something significant hidden inside.
"You're only Level 43 now, don't think too much," Shi Nian interrupted his thoughts. "First, let your master see how your mental power has progressed during your time in Heaven Dou City."
The second soul ring rippled with a layer of distorted light and shadow, and a faint but sharp mental shock shot straight for Zhao Liuyun's brow. Zhao Liuyun's brow twitched slightly, and his mental power surged out like a tide to meet it head-on. The two forces collided with a roar; Zhao Liuyun used more mental power, yet he was clearly at a disadvantage. However, Shi Nian was not being serious; it was merely an evaluation.
"Peak Soul Emperor..." Feeling the level of his disciple's mental power, Shi Nian was ecstatic, but a trace of complexity rose in the depths of his eyes. "I need to think about how I should teach you now."
When a disciple's talent is too high, it is sometimes a kind of burden.
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