After seeing the fall of the Earth King, everyone's tense nerves relaxed greatly.
When they turned their gazes back to Xu Zihuang, he had already sat cross-legged on the ground, entering a cultivation state.
Although they were astonished by Xu Zihuang's first soul skill, which was practically heaven-defying, and his fourth soul skill, which was extraordinarily powerful, now was clearly not the time to dwell on these matters.
In fact, if Xu Zihuang didn't take the initiative to mention them, they wouldn't ask too much.
Back then, even the straightforward Wu Ming only confirmed with Xu Zihuang whether his third soul skill was a time-attribute one.
Because the effects of a soul skill were an absolute taboo for any soul master.
Wu Ming looked at Zhang Lexuan and sighed regretfully:
"Senior Sister, with Tianhuang's talent, I feel it won't even take ten years before he completely leaves me behind. He's simply a freak. I really don't know how he's been cultivating since childhood."
Always proud, this was the first time she had been convinced by a junior who was more than ten years younger than her.
"Having some pressure is a good thing. With pressure comes progress." Zhang Lexuan smiled slightly, then shifted the topic with a serious tone.
"Ming'er, are you sure you want to absorb this Earth King's soul ring? With your physical constitution, absorbing a soul ring around fifty thousand years shouldn't be a problem. This Earth King's cultivation is still a bit low. If you're not satisfied, you don't have to force yourself. This concerns your future, so you must think it over carefully."
Generally, the seventh soul ring a Soul Sage could absorb ranged between thirty to fifty thousand years. Wu Ming came from Shrek Academy's inner court, her martial soul was powerful, and her foundation was deep. A fifty-thousand-year soul ring was most suitable.
It was close to her limit, but the risk during absorption would not be too great.
Wu Ming hesitated for a moment, then decisively nodded.
"Senior Sister, this Earth King's ninth tailbone was about to grow out. Its cultivation is very close to forty-five thousand years. And the Earth King species itself is extremely strong. I'm already very satisfied. Obtaining a soul ring depends on luck anyway. Who can guarantee we'll encounter a more suitable soul beast later? I've decided to absorb this soul ring."
She was quite open-minded.
"In that case, there's no time to lose. Ming'er, hurry and absorb the soul ring now." Since Wu Ming had decided, Zhang Lexuan said no more.
Wu Ming then excitedly began the fusion of her seventh soul ring.
Obtaining a soul ring to advance to the next rank was a joyous event for any soul master.
Even though Elder Xuan was secretly following them, in the Star Dou Great Forest's core area, Zhang Lexuan didn't dare relax for a moment.
Fortunately, she hadn't consumed much soul power earlier. She stepped forward a few steps to stand beside Xu Zihuang.
Chu Qingtian and Ye Liuyi followed Zhang Lexuan's prior instructions, focusing on guarding the surroundings. Both of their martial souls specialized in speed, able to react quickly if anything happened.
Almost every soul beast hunting team had agility-attack system soul masters for this very purpose.
Because Xu Zihuang possessed an ultimate martial soul, the quality and quantity of his soul power far surpassed ordinary soul masters. But accordingly, to fully restore his nearly exhausted soul power would also take more time.
This wasn't because his recovery speed was slow. As an innately full soul power cultivator, his meridians were incomparably clear. It was only because the quality and quantity of his soul power were too high that it caused this situation.
And once he obtained a soul core that could rapidly restore soul power, this problem would naturally be resolved.
There were also advantages to being in the core area. This place mostly belonged to the Earth King's territory. After its death, no other soul beasts came for a short while.
An hour later, Xu Zihuang finished cultivating and returned to peak condition.
The sun slanted westward, and the temperature in the Star Dou Great Forest seemed to drop significantly, especially within the lush core area.
A ray of golden sunlight pierced through the canopy, falling upon Zhang Lexuan's delicate face. Paired with her serene smile, it was like a scene from a painting.
Her autumn-water-like eyes turned to Xu Zihuang, clear and radiant.
"Tianhuang, may I ask you a question?"
"Please go ahead, Senior Sister." Xu Zihuang smiled gently.
Zhang Lexuan pondered:
"Your first soul skill earlier seemed to be some kind of group control-removal ability. Can this soul skill remove negative effects caused by martial souls?"
Xu Zihuang's heart stirred, and he immediately thought of Ma Xiaotao, who was troubled by evil fire.
Now that Zhang Lexuan asked this, it was surely for Ma Xiaotao's sake.
When he revealed his first soul skill, he had already anticipated this development.
If his feeling was correct, his first soul skill did indeed have some effect on Ma Xiaotao's evil fire. Perhaps it couldn't completely resolve it, but temporarily suppressing it shouldn't be a problem.
Zhang Lexuan asking this gave him the perfect opportunity to get close to Ma Xiaotao. Her talent could rival Zhang Lexuan's. If not for the evil fire problem, she might have broken through rank seventy before the age of twenty.
He definitely couldn't miss the chance to build ties with her.
Although confident, he deliberately put on a thoughtful frown.
"Senior Sister, I'm not certain. After all, I've never tried. Is there perhaps a senior brother or sister in the inner court suffering backlash from their martial soul? If needed, I'm willing to try my best."
"Mm, there's no rush. Let's talk about it after we return to the academy." Zhang Lexuan looked at Xu Zihuang with satisfaction, her beautiful eyes shimmering.
She had applied to lead this group to hunt soul beasts in the Star Dou Great Forest partly to observe Xu Zihuang.
Facts proved that this junior's talent, strength, temperament, and character had no flaws.
Ye Liuyi and Chu Qingtian, guarding on either side, couldn't help glancing repeatedly at Xu Zihuang and Zhang Lexuan.
They exchanged a look, both seeing surprise in each other's eyes.
As the senior sister of the inner court, Zhang Lexuan was always kind to every student. But they still felt she seemed to have a special closeness toward Yu Tianhuang.
During Wu Ming's soul ring absorption, the effects of attribute and martial soul suppression became evident.
Although Wu Ming absorbed a nearly forty-five-thousand-year soul ring to advance to Soul Sage, her Golden Crow martial soul's fire attribute surpassed the Earth King's, and a flying martial soul countered a scorpion-type martial soul. Throughout the process, she completely suppressed the Earth King soul ring's resistance.
Her aura remained incomparably stable, and she didn't even suffer the slightest pain.
In just two hours, the fusion was complete.
Two yellow, two purple, three black—the seven soul rings pulsed in perfect rhythm. When her eyes opened, they seemed like two burning golden-red flames, radiating an imposing aura.
Zhang Lexuan smiled and nodded:
"Congratulations, Ming'er."
"Congratulations on officially advancing to Soul Sage, Senior Wu. It seems this Earth King's soul ring suits you well." Xu Zihuang also congratulated her.
Wu Ming happily stretched her body.
"Senior Sister, Tianhuang, I won't waste words on thanks. If you ever need me, just say the word."
It's over, it's over. From now on, I'll forever live in Senior Wu's shadow.
Chu Qingtian and Ye Liuyi howled inwardly, but dared not show it. Instead, they gave Wu Ming their brightest smiles.
At that moment, as Wu Ming withdrew her martial soul, Xu Zihuang and Zhang Lexuan both turned to look at the Earth King's massive right pincer.
Wu Ming, facing them, naturally noticed their strange reaction.
Puzzled, she subconsciously followed their gaze. Her expression instantly froze.
As a seasoned inner court student, she understood exactly what this meant.
Earlier, because of Wu Ming's martial soul and soul power aura, they hadn't noticed. But now, from the cracked carapace of the giant pincer, a strange soul power fluctuation completely exposed itself.
Even Chu Qingtian and Ye Liuyi, who were farther away, felt it.
Zhang Lexuan's smile remained unchanged as she said:
"Ming'er, go and check."
"Yes, Senior Sister." Wu Ming responded. Her heart pounding, golden-red soul power surged into her palm, then she struck the Earth King's thick, dark-blue-armored right pincer.
Without the soul power defense of life, the Earth King's body was easily shattered by the newly-advanced Soul Sage Wu Ming.
Cracks spread across the giant pincer, deepened, and with a loud boom, it broke apart.
Brilliant fiery-red light burst forth, followed by an overwhelming surge of scorching energy, instantly making the surrounding space feel frozen in heat.
The fiery glow gradually subsided, revealing a strange soul bone shaped like a miniature human right arm, suspended quietly in midair, wrapped in rich soul power.
It was undoubtedly a soul bone—and one of the most precious, a right arm bone, second only to the torso and skull.
This soul bone was entirely fiery red, semi-transparent like a beautiful ruby, with flowing light within. It was completely intact, proof of its extremely high quality.
Waves of heat radiated out, raising the air temperature significantly. If an ordinary person breathed it in, their lungs might be scorched.
"This… this is a soul bone?!" Wu Ming's voice trembled.
As a senior inner court disciple, she herself had fused with a soul bone before. But the quality of that one was nothing compared to this.
It was no exaggeration to say that this right arm bone, from a nearly forty-five-thousand-year Earth King, would start at no less than five million gold soul coins in any auction house on the continent.
Its quality was absurdly high.
Xu Zihuang and Zhang Lexuan remained calm, but Chu Qingtian and Ye Liuyi were filled with envy, their eyes burning hot.
"Senior Wu, only when a soul ring and soul bone from the same soul beast are absorbed by the same person can their effects be maximized. This soul bone rightfully belongs to you." Xu Zihuang's warm voice steadied Wu Ming's emotions.
Meeting Xu Zihuang's clear gaze, she felt ashamed, her cheeks heating up.
Her first thought upon seeing the soul bone had been to claim it for herself.
Wu Ming, how could you?! Not even as good as an outer court junior.
She silently rebuked herself.
Zhang Lexuan's approving gaze fell on Xu Zihuang. To maintain one's heart in front of such a treasure was truly rare.
She then spoke:
"Ming'er, take it. When we return to the academy, find a chance to fuse with it."
Wu Ming looked at both Xu Zihuang and Zhang Lexuan, took a deep breath, and heavily nodded.
"Mm."
Her character wasn't one to say "thank you" often, but she would remember this bond more deeply than anyone.
With Zhang Lexuan's words, the ownership of the soul bone was settled.
The Earth King had been slain by Zhang Lexuan, Xu Zihuang, and Wu Ming together. Since Xu Zihuang and Zhang Lexuan gave it up, the soul bone naturally belonged to Wu Ming.
Chu Qingtian and Ye Liuyi had nothing to say.
By now, night was falling. Zhang Lexuan decisively led everyone out of the core area before darkness fully descended.
Earlier, they hadn't encountered any soul beast attacks during Xu Zihuang's cultivation and Wu Ming's absorption, but that was merely luck. At night, the Star Dou Great Forest was even more dangerous than in the day. The wisest choice was to spend the night where soul beasts were weaker.
They retreated to the outskirts of the mixed area to rest for the night, then continued searching for a suitable soul beast for Ye Liuyi the next day.
Perhaps their luck had changed since meeting the Earth King, because the very next day they encountered an extremely suitable soul beast for her.
It was a ten-thousand-year Swift-Tailed Swallow.
Before the decline of the Clear Sky Sect, one of the four affiliated clans—the Agility clan—had this very martial soul. Although such a soul beast had little offensive power, its speed ranked among the fastest of all speed-type beasts.
The reason their luck was so good was that Swift-Tailed Swallows rarely reached the ten-thousand-year level, since they lacked strong offensive soul skills. Most encountered were only at the thousand-year level.
Under the group's encirclement—especially with Xu Zihuang's powerful control-type skills—the Swift-Tailed Swallow had no escape and became Ye Liuyi's sixth soul ring.
Thus, this trip was perfectly concluded.
That very day, they headed straight for the forest's outskirts, traveling until late at night before stopping. Along the way, they encountered several soul beasts, but none that could threaten them.
After half a night's rest, they set out again at dawn, moving at top speed. In less than two days, they had left the Star Dou Great Forest.
Back to the academy. There'll be another update later. There's a group link in the description—feel free to join if interested. Please vote, wahhh.
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