Xu Xiaoyan: Farewell, Shrek

The room was outfitted with a sleek, futuristic design, filled with testing apparatuses not found anywhere on the open market. Luo Yanglu brought out his soul tool optical screen to record the data. "We'll begin with the spiritual power tests, starting with Wang Jinxi." Without a word, Wang Jinxi walked up to the testing device. The apparatus scanned him and produced a reading: thirty-eight. Luo Yanglu furrowed his brows slightly, yet he offered a reassuring smile. "Don't fret. Take it slow. Spiritual power can't be rushed." "Yes." Wang Jinxi drew a deep breath and nodded. "Teacher, I'll work hard!" Spiritual power in the Spirit Origin Realm ranged from 1 to 100. If he could not raise it above 100 to reach the Spirit Connection Realm before Rank 30, he would be unable to fuse with a Thousand-Year Soul Spirit and advance to Soul Elder. In the era of Soul Spirits, spiritual power truly mattered above all else. Next came Zhang Yangzi, who scored eighty-three, followed by Xie Xie with sixty-two. As for Xu Xiaoyan and Tang Wulin... "A hundred and six and a hundred and thirty-five—Spirit Connection Realm?" Luo Yanglu looked at Xu Xiaoyan and Tang Wulin in slight surprise before breaking into a smile. "Excellent!" Xie Xie and the others turned their eyes toward Xu Xiaoyan and Tang Wulin with shock. Two one-ring Soul Masters having higher spiritual power than several Great Spirit Masters? Were they cheating? Xu Xiaoyan offered a shy, bashful smile, though inwardly she felt a flicker of joy. Finally, she didn't seem so useless. Tang Wulin, after a moment of surprise, came to realize the reason. It had to be the effect of the Golden Dragon King seal; it enhanced not only his physical constitution, but also his spiritual power. The group's astonishment lasted only a brief moment, however, before Gu Yuena's reading plunged them into silence. Four hundred! Xie Xie stared numbly at the number and turned his head toward Huo Yuhao. Huo Yuhao and Gu Yuena's Martial Souls were both clearly proportional to spiritual power. If Gu Yuena was already such a freak of nature, what about Huo Yuhao, whose Martial Soul was inherently spiritual in attribute? Wu Zhangkong also turned his gaze toward Huo Yuhao. Though he had appeared calm all along, curiosity now stirred within him as well. Just how high was Huo Yuhao's spiritual power? For it to affect him, it couldn't possibly be at the early Spirit Sea Realm. The others all focused their gazes on Huo Yuhao, but Luo Yanglu had already stowed away his soul tool optical screen. "Yuhao is in the Spirit Sea Realm," he chuckled. "I already have an idea of where he stands, so there's no need to test him." Wu Zhangkong: "..." *At least satisfy my curiosity!* Yet since Luo Yanglu had put it that way, he clearly had no intention of indulging him. Xie Xie shook his head inwardly upon hearing that Huo Yuhao was in the Spirit Sea Realm. A monster, through and through. Afterward, while having everyone test their physical condition, Luo Yanglu sent a voice transmission: "Yuhao, do you plan to upgrade your first Soul Spirit into a Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Spirit before fusing with the Evil Eye Tyrant Soul Spirit, or do you have other plans? During your last test, your spiritual power was already in the late Spirit Sea Realm. You should be nearing the Spirit Abyss Realm by now, right?" As Luo Yanglu spoke, emotion welled up inside him. Even though he had anticipated this ever since learning about Huo Yuhao's innate spiritual power, witnessing it in reality remained deeply shocking. The Spirit Abyss Realm—as deep as an abyss, as vast as a prison, spanning from the azure heavens down to the Yellow Springs, wherever intent reached, all things yielded—was the prerequisite for fusing with legendary Soul Spirits such as Hundred-Thousand-Year or Fierce Beast Soul Spirits. This realm was the absolute limit of spiritual power for the vast majority of Soul Masters. Even Hua Yichen, a Super Douluo, had been stuck at the peak of the Spirit Abyss Realm for years without breaking through. As for the Spirit Domain Realm above it, that was typically the standard for an Ultimate Douluo; and the Divine Origin Realm was already divine sense, the domain of gods themselves. Huo Yuhao was guaranteed to advance to the Spirit Abyss Realm before reaching five rings, meaning that reaching the Spirit Domain Realm in the future was set in stone, and the likelihood of attaining the Divine Origin Realm was exceedingly high! Looking at Luo Yanglu's expression, Huo Yuhao fell silent. Truth be told, the Ascension Platform and Ascension Spirit Pills were completely wasted on him. The cultivation ages of his Soul Spirits were far too high; such things held no real meaning and were nothing more than a squandering of resources. "Let's fuse with the Evil Eye Tyrant Soul Spirit first," Huo Yuhao replied via voice transmission. Luo Yanglu: "..." *When did you learn voice transmission, just like Gu Yuena?* *Well, with spiritual power that high, I suppose it shouldn't come as a surprise...* While the two were communicating, the other students finished their physical conditioning tests. Noticing that Tang Wulin's physical condition was already robust enough to withstand a Thousand-Year Spirit Ring, which paired with spiritual power at the Spirit Connection Realm, Luo Yanglu fell into contemplation before speaking up: "Wulin, you're already capable of upgrading your first Soul Spirit to the thousand-year tier, but don't rush it. Be mindful when absorbing spiritual energy and try to keep it pegged at an appropriate threshold. Crossing from the Spirit Connection Realm to the Spirit Sea Realm still poses quite a challenge. I'd like to observe the pace of your spiritual power growth first before deciding whether to elevate your first Soul Spirit to thousand-year status." If he upgraded his first Soul Spirit to the thousand-year tier too soon, and then his soul power reached Rank 40 while his spiritual power remained stuck short of the Spirit Sea Realm, he would be caught in an awkward spot. A Thousand-Year Soul Spirit could only provide three Spirit Rings; he couldn't very well absorb a Hundred-Year Soul Spirit at Rank 40 just to fill the gap, could he? It was better to stay steady, observe, and gauge Wulin's spiritual power progression rate first. "Okay." Tang Wulin nodded obediently. Luo Yanglu then went over a few precautions for entering the Ascension Platform before adding: "All right. The rest of you, follow Teacher Wu Zhangkong to the Ascension Platform. Xu Xiaoyan, please stay behind for a moment. There's something I'd like your opinion on." "Yes, sir!" Xie Xie, Wang Jinxi, and the others eagerly fell in behind Wu Zhangkong. The Ascension Platform was said to simulate the Star Dou Great Forest in its entirety, and they had long wanted to see it for themselves. Once the others had stepped out, Luo Yanglu looked at the remaining Xu Xiaoyan and asked, "Your family must have told you some news, right?" Xu Xiaoyan clutched the hem of her skirt with both hands and shook her head gently. "No." Seeing this, Luo Yanglu explained: "Class Zero serves as a program for the East Sea Spirit Pagoda to recruit local talents. Aside from you, everyone else has already joined the Spirit Pagoda. What are your intentions?" "..." Xu Xiaoyan froze. *Huh? They're all part of the Spirit Pagoda?* *I'm the only one who isn't?* Looking at the smiling Luo Yanglu before her, Xu Xiaoyan swallowed hard. This... did she even have another choice? If she refused, Teacher wouldn't do something underhanded to her, would he? Xu Xiaoyan pondered for a moment before saying in a hushed voice, "I'll join!" "Very good." The smile faded from Luo Yanglu's face, replaced by a grave expression. "Both your Martial Soul and your family's Heirloom Soul Spirit are actually on record within the Spirit Pagoda. So, has it already been decided that your Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Spirit will be your ancestral Starry Sky Beast, following the path of an alternative Twin Martial Souls?" Hearing Luo Yanglu ask this, Xu Xiaoyan knew he was privy to the Xu family's secrets, and her youthful face grew serious. "Of course. That's the best choice, and it's what my family expects of me!" Before her, there had indeed been a possessor of the Star Wheel Ice Staff Martial Soul who fused with the ancestral Starry Sky Beast—or rather, it was that predecessor who enabled the ancestral Starry Sky Beast to complete its transformation. In return, the ancestral Starry Sky Beast granted him an extraordinarily special Soul Skill: Starlight Protection! Perhaps because the ancestral Starry Sky Beast mutated into an astral attribute due to the Star Wheel Ice Staff, Starlight Protection was a specialized Soul Skill tailor-made exclusively for the Star Wheel Ice Staff! During the day, the Star Wheel Ice Staff was merely an ice staff, equipped with a set of ice-attribute Soul Skills. At night, empowered by astral force, the Soul Skills mutated into the astral attribute, becoming an entirely different set of Soul Skills. Yet with Starlight Protection, everything changed. *Eternal be the stars; sheltered by starlight.* As long as this Soul Skill was active, even in broad daylight, the Star Wheel Ice Staff could deploy astral-attribute Soul Skills, switching freely between astral and ice attributes to unleash its full power. Consequently, upon forming a contract with the Starry Sky Beast, Xu Xiaoyan would effectively possess an alternative Twin Martial Souls, wielding two complete sets of Soul Skills. Furthermore, unlike other Twin Martial Souls, she only needed to absorb Soul Spirits for a single Martial Soul—making it the ideal alternative Twin Martial Souls for the Soul Spirit era!