Chapter 129 Electrolux instructs Liu Yuan, Xuanzi returns to Shrek City.
As always, the main gate of the Body Sect stands atop a precipitous mountain peak shrouded in clouds and mist.
The moment Liu Yuan stepped into the sect, he did not look through the mountain of congratulatory letters sent by the empire, nor did he linger in the sect's martial arts arena for even a second.
He bowed slightly to the Undying Poison, then walked straight to his own secluded meditation chamber.
For Liu Yuan, the cheers at Xingluo Square and the red carpet at Tianhun Imperial City were certainly proof of his strength, but the worldly clamor was also draining his energy and spirit to some extent.
What he needs most now is absolute tranquility and to cross the threshold of level fifty that has been blocking him for so long.
As the heavy stone door slowly closed, Liu Yuan sat cross-legged and entered into deep meditation.
Liu Yuan's almost "martial arts fanatic" behavior instantly caused a huge shock among the younger generation of the Body Sect.
"It seems I can't slack off either!"
Long Aotian stood at the edge of the martial arts arena, looking in the direction where Liu Yuan was in seclusion. His eyes, which had been slightly relaxed due to winning the championship, sharpened again.
He clenched his fist, feeling the still restless soul power within him, and said, "If I don't work harder soon, I'm afraid it won't be long before my junior brother completely leaves me behind. As the senior brother, I absolutely cannot let that happen."
"You're too much trouble, Senior Brother Liu Yuan." Chen Lu sat on the stone steps to the side, wiping his martial spirit spear, and sighed deeply.
"Sigh, if you're going to roll, I'll have to roll too! I was hoping to follow you guys and win another championship in the next Soul Master Tournament. If I fall too far behind in level, I might not even qualify to compete."
"Let's go, let's go cultivate, stop wasting time talking!"
Wang Yanfeng also stood up and patted the dust off his backside.
Under his leadership, Gu Tong, Chen Lu, and other team members who originally wanted to rest for a few days all put aside their playful thoughts and chose a training ground to begin their seclusion.
This spontaneous diligence greatly pleased Poison Undying, who had originally planned to let them relax for a few days.
Poison Undying stood with his hands behind his back on the high platform of the sect's main hall, looking down at the disciples who were sweating profusely or lost in meditation.
A satisfied light gleamed in his emerald green double pupils.
"To remain humble and even more diligent after achieving such a victory is truly a blessing for the Body Sect," Du Busi thought to himself.
He had initially worried that these children would lose their Daoist heart for the sake of temporary fame and fortune, but Liu Yuan's leading role clearly exceeded his expectations.
Seeing how promising the younger generation of the sect was, Du Busi was completely relieved and turned back to his innermost thoughts to comprehend the breakthrough opportunity after reaching level ninety-eight.
However, Liu Yuan's situation in the secluded chamber was not as smooth as the outside world had expected.
As the level of soul power increases, the barriers between each level become stronger than ever before.
Liu Yuan had been sitting in the secret chamber for half a month. Although the soul power in his body had become so dense that it had reached a critical point, he was still unable to break through that thin membrane and enter the level 50 domain.
This sense of stagnation even made the usually calm Liu Yuan feel a touch of indescribable frustration.
The pulse of the double pupils beat in the eye sockets, but because it lacked that spark of qualitative change, it could not awaken a deeper level of consciousness.
There's no need to be so impatient.
Just as Liu Yuan's mind was slightly disturbed, an old, sacred voice with a hint of deathly silence resounded directly from the depths of his consciousness.
Liu Yuan was slightly taken aback, then looked inward into his sea of consciousness. Above the gray ocean constructed of the gold of life, Electrolux's semi-transparent divine consciousness figure was slowly emerging.
"Elder Yi, you're awake," Liu Yuan replied in his mind, his tone filled with respect.
Electrolux nodded slightly, his wise and world-weary eyes fixed on Liu Yuan's soul power vortex, and said gently, "Since you can't break through the soul power threshold from the front for the time being, how about changing your cultivation direction? Blindly forcing your way through the barrier can sometimes backfire."
Liu Yuan's eyes lit up.
Ever since Electrox took up residence in his sea of consciousness, this former undead Scourge has spent most of his time in a state of slumber or repairing his consciousness.
Now that Electrolux has offered to teach him, it is undoubtedly a tremendous opportunity for him.
After all, Liu Yuan knew very well that the knowledge that Electrolux possessed, which was called "magic," was essentially the ultimate application of mental power and the laws of life, which had a very high degree of compatibility with his Double Pupil Martial Soul.
"Please enlighten me, Elder Yi," Liu Yuan said solemnly.
"Hehe, perfect timing, I haven't really taught you anything yet." Electrox smiled calmly.
"Your spiritual talent is the best I've ever seen, but your current way of using it is still too crude. While the Soul Master system certainly has its unique features, it is still in the primitive stage when it comes to the micro-management of spiritual power and the borrowing of power from the undead plane."
In the days that followed, Liu Yuan gave up his forced push to increase his soul power level and began to devote himself wholeheartedly to Electrolux's teachings.
Electrolux didn't start by teaching him those world-destroying forbidden spells, but instead began with the most basic mental energy wave control.
He taught Liu Yuan how to separate the spiritual power in his sea of consciousness into thousands of fine threads, each of which had to sense the death energy and vitality floating in the space.
Next comes the basic necromancy.
In the dimly lit secluded training room, Liu Yuan, guided by Electrolux, began to attempt to use his mental power to outline a complex necromancer contract array in the void.
"The dead are not purely evil; they are another form of existence after life has faded away. What you need to do is not to enslave them, but to guide them."
Electrolux's voice, like a resounding bell, shook Liu Yuan's soul.
Liu Yuan benefited greatly.
He discovered that as he began to learn about these alternate dimensions, his double pupils' observational abilities became even more acute.
He could clearly see every node where the necromantic energy flowed within the formation, and he could refine these formations through fine-tuning with his mental power.
In this highly focused cross-system cultivation, Liu Yuan's state of mind became increasingly calm and undisturbed.
Meanwhile, on the other side, at the other end of the Douluo Continent.
While Liu Yuan was immersed in the ocean of knowledge, Xuanzi finally led the dejected Huo Yuhao, Ma Xiaotao, and others to the outskirts of Shrek City.
The setting sun cast an extremely long, distorted shadow over the magnificent walls of Shrek City.
Xuanzi stood on a hill not far from the city gate, looking at the city he had protected for a hundred years. His face was no longer filled with arrogance, but only with a sense of desolation and loneliness.
In the past, whenever the Shrek team returned victorious, the gates of Shrek City would be opened wide, and countless civilians, teachers, and students would spontaneously flock to the area for miles outside the city to welcome the heroes back.
Flowers, cheers, and even the salute of the city's defensive cannons—these were the treatments they were most accustomed to.
But this time, the city gate was deserted.
Although the guards on the city wall still stood tall, when they saw Xuanzi's iconic tattered wine gourd and the wounded, silent team members behind him, their eyes no longer showed fanatical worship, but rather an extremely complex silence tinged with scrutiny and embarrassment.
This stark contrast felt as if Xuanzi's heart had been struck by a heavy hammer.
"Elder Xuan..." Ma Xiaotao called out softly.
Xuanzi did not turn around; his back appeared somewhat hunched.
He could feel the emotions of the children behind him; the despair of falling from the clouds into the mud was spreading in the hearts of every team member.
They began to feel fear.
They feared facing the commoners in Shrek City who once regarded them as gods, feared facing the teachers and students in the academy who placed high hopes on them, and feared even more facing the elders in the Sea God Pavilion who were about to judge them.
Xuanzi gripped the wine gourd in his hand tightly, his knuckles turning white from the excessive force.
He knew very well that the moment they stepped through the city gates, the recordings and images of him kneeling and kowtowing in Xingluo Square had probably already spread throughout the city through various channels.
They are no longer heroes, but the greatest sinners in Shrek's ten-thousand-year history.
"Let's go."
Xuanzi's voice was so hoarse that it was almost inaudible.
He took a deep breath and, leading his defeated and humiliated troops, walked slowly with heavy, leaden steps toward the city that had once given them boundless glory but now suffocated them.
(End of chapter)