--- Chapter 66 ---
Sea God's Island, Sea God Pavilion.
The Sea God Pavilion is the central power and governing body of Shrek Academy. A long table was occupied by the Sea God Pavilion members, with Mu En seated at the end of the table because he was the current pavilion master.
Everyone listened to Yan Shaozhe's report about the Dragon Nest Academy's Students coming to the Shrek Academy two days ago. Even though they just arrived and stayed for a short time, they have created an enormous wave inside the academy.
Yan Shaozhe picked a list and said, "After observing the students from the Dragon Nest Academy so far, we have concluded a few things about the youngster group."
"Every student from Dragon Nest thoroughly was trained as a martial artist and well-versed in handling weapons. Even if they are Auxiliary Spirit Masters, they are skilled enough to know how to exploit their physical ability to the extreme limit. They also seem to possess a secret technique that boosts their overall prowess significantly for a certain period."
"It's their breathing technique. After some quite ugly spars, We confirmed they used the same breathing technique to stimulate their inner organs to work beyond normal."
Sin Lin'er lifted her hand to interrupt and asked, "Pavilion Master, may I interrupt the report?"
Mu En nodded and replied, "Go ahead."
"Since Shaozhe has mentioned the Ugly Spars, I'd like to add that Lin Dong, who entered the fifth grade, defeated the whole class without breaking a sweat." Sin Lin'er made everyone in the room quiet. "And he's Auxiliary Spirit Master with food-based Martial Soul, Cotton Candy."
"Eh??" They were taken aback by Sin Ling'er second statement.
Sin Ling'er sighed inside when seeing everyone's reaction because she also couldn't believe her eyes when seeing the spar herself.
"Yeah, you hear it right. Lin Dong defeated a class full of Spirit Kings and some Spirit Emperors without breaking a sweat despite being an auxiliary type Spirit Master." She confirmed with a troubled look. "He's no more than 17 years old. And a Level 69 Spirit Emperor with two purple and four black spirit rings."
"How is that even possible??" Du Weilun muttered to himself.
"For the longest time, the Great Grandmaster Yu Xiaogang has placed a standard for us, Spirit Masters."
There is an optimal age of Spirit Ring for every bottleneck that identifies the oldest possible Spirit Ring that can get absorbed without significant risks. Spirit Master can naturally absorb younger Spirit Rings, but the absorption of an older Spirit Ring can result in serious injuries or even death upon rejection.
However, there have been a rare few cases of Spirit Masters having "successfully." absorbed Spirit Rings beyond the optimal age. Usually, this may result in serious injuries or even death upon rejection, but with an exceptional physique, spiritual power, and willpower, the odds can become more favorable. There is no official term for this event, but one could refer to this as limit surpassing.
1st Spirit Ring: Less than 423 years old Spirit Beast
2nd Spirit Ring: Less than 764 years old Spirit Beast
3rd Spirit Ring: Less than 1.300 - 1.800 years old Spirit Beast
4th Spirit Ring: Less than 3.000 - 5.000 years old Spirit Beast
5th Spirit Ring: Around 12.000 years old Spirit Beast
6th Spirit Ring: Around 25.000 (In manhua, exactly 28,756) years old Spirit Beast
7th Spirit Ring: Between 30,000 ~ 50,000 years old Spirit Beast
8th Spirit Ring: Between 50,000 ~ 100,000 years old Spirit Beast
9th Spirit Ring: More than 100,000 years old Spirit Beast
And Dragon Nest breaks this rule. The new yet mysterious organization somehow created a new standard where the start of Spirit Master's cultivation had to be Purple Spirit Ring. That means each Dragon Nest member has an exceptional physique, spiritual power, and willpower above or equal to Level 30 Spirit Elder at the beginning. That's just ridiculous, but the proof was right before them.
Mu En felt conflicted because his great ancestor Yu Xiaogang's standards have been used for 10.000 years and proven effective for the longest time. He is obviously happy because a fresh shift happened on the Douluo Continent but somewhat sad inside because the previous ideal would disappear in the future.
He shook his head and said, "Shaozhe, please continue."
"Okay." Yan Shaozhe flipped his analysis.
"After observing each student even further and knowing about confidential information about the Dragon Nest Academy, I discovered that there are at least 3 White Room Division Students who come to our Shrek Academy."
"Before continuing, I had to say that White Room Division is probably like our Shrek Seven Devil, where a group of talented and exceptional seedlings trained even better than the normal students. They are monsters who defy common sense."
"Those three students are Huo Yuhao, Qianye Ying'er, and Yang Xin."
"Fan Yu, share the data." Yan Shaozhe glanced at the white-haired man with bright golden eyes. The man was the Vice-Dean of the Spirit Guidance Weapon Facility.
Fan Yu nodded and placed a box-looking device that projected three youngsters with striking appearances. Everyone in the room stared at the three youngsters and frowned because the data showed they were 12 years old.
"This is not a joke." Yan Shaozhe laughed in defeat. "They are 12 years old because I've checked their bone's age myself."
"Yang Xin..." Sin Lin'er frowned when looking at Scathach's projection, and her martial soul caught her attention.
"Yang..."
"Is she from the Breaking Clan?"
"Most likely, yes. Nevertheless, Yang Clan hasn't made an appearance for a long time, so we don't know if Yang Xin was connected to them or not." Yan Shaozhe replied naturally.
"What about the pure-looking girl? Qianye Ying'er."
A sturdy man in his fifties rubbed his beard constantly. He has needle-like white hair and a tall yet solid figure full of sturdy muscles. His bronze-colored skin reflected a metal-like light under the sun.
"What are you thinking about Douduo?" Sin Lin'er asked her husband with a confused expression.
Qian Duoduo opened his mouth and said, "Hmm, is it just me, or does Qianye Ying'er sound familiar?"
Everyone becomes quiet again because his question reminded them of an event six years ago. In the mountain range area near the Star Luo Imperial City, an enormous volcanic eruption swallowed an unfortunate amount of lives. Among those victims, a woman from Qianye Clan is assumed to pass away. Weirdly, Qianye Clan declared the young lady of the clan missing in this accident since her corpse was nowhere in the area.
Yan Shaozhe brought out a picture issued by Qianye Clan six years ago and looked at Qianye Ying'er projection. "Name, Age, and even her older facial features match up with the image sent by the Qianye Clan six years ago." He said solemnly.
"There are no accidents..." Mu En's voice echoed in the room.
...
...
"Still, it doesn't explain how a six years old girl grows into a Spirit King within six years. Her martial soul is also not a regular one because, according to Zhou Yi, the young lady could attack and support each other at the same time." Fan Yu suddenly added.
"She's 12, but her control over Spirit Energy and Light Elements is close to a Title Douluo."
"Calling them genius is an understatement." Fan Yu sighed while rubbing his forehead because his wife, Zhou Yi, couldn't even comprehend the base level of their abilities.
"What about the boy?" That line caused everyone to move their gazes to the masked blue-haired young man.
Sin Lin'er scowled because the identity of this young man was more mysterious than the two previous girls combined. There is no record of him on the Douluo Continent so far. "Uh, can we take off that mask?" She naturally requested, to which everyone agreed.
Yan Shaozhe had a complex expression when hearing Sin Lin'er request because Huo Yuhao's face was rather eye-catching, and seeing it would make a woman's nose bleed immediately. It is proven too potent because some curious female students and teachers asked Huo Yuhao to open his mask, and they fainted from the shock upon witnessing it.
"Ladies, bear yourself." He glanced at Fan Yu.
Fan Yu chuckled wryly and pressed a button on the box-looking device, showing Huo Yuhao's appearance without his White Ogre Mask. And instantly.
"O-Oh my..."
"What a handsome young man."
"He reminded me of my late husband."
Sin Lin'er quickly pulled a handkerchief and covered her lower mouth, especially her nose. She didn't expect Huo Yuhao to have such an appearance and charm that even she couldn't resist. Her husband literally sat beside her right now.
"A-Are you sure this is not fake?" She wanted to argue with Yan Shaozhe, but there was nothing to argue with because Huo Yuhao's appearance was 100% genuine.
Yan Shaozhe shook his head and replied, "I said bear yourself beforehand."
"Anyway, the young man's name is Huo Yuhao."
"He possessed Spirit Eyes Martial Soul, a rare body-type martial soul."
"No more than 12 years and Level 52 Spirit King."
"He seemed to be an influential member of the Dragon Nest and the group's center because even the Ice Demoness Douluo regarded him politely."
"Also, We got warned to treat him well, or the Dragon Nest would be on our front door."
"What do you mean by that?" Qian Duoduo questioned immediately.
Yan Shaozhe sighed and answered, "At the bottom data we received from the Dragon nest, there is a note with the same line. Even though the sender doesn't specify the treat well part, It was a clear warning not to provoke Huo Yuhao."
"Bah, they wanted us to give a special privilege to this brat?" A drunk-looking elderly commented. "It's not even a formal request. Just how arrogant are they!?"
Mu En looked at Huo Yuhao's projection and said, "Do it. Treat him better than other students, but not to an extreme level where he could do anything."
"Eh, pavilion master?!" Everyone looked at Mu En with surprised gazes.
The pavilion master smiled weakly and added, "That young man is more mysterious than all of you had thoughts. We barely know him. Trust me, that young man holds a greater secret than this."
"if you say so, pavilion master." They responded calmly, even though some clearly didn't agree.
BOOM!
A loud explosion echoed in the Sea God Lake and caught Sea God Pavilion's member's attention. "What's that?" Du Weilun turned around and peeked outside of the pavilion.
"This presence, Oh no..." Yan Shaozhe's face becomes pale.
"Xiaotao, her martial soul went berserk again!"
Sin Lin'er saw a blue-haired young man and shouted, "Wait, there is another presence above the Sea God Lake!"
"That's..."
"Huo Yuhao!"