"Shrek Academy?" Upon hearing this name, Ju Hua Guan (Chrysanthemum Douluo) seemed to be in deep thought. He felt like he had heard it somewhere before, but he couldn't quite recall.
At this time, the Shrek team hadn't made a name for themselves yet. Outside of Heaven Dou City, almost no one had heard of them.
Hu Liena hadn't heard of them either and guessed that it was probably some unremarkable team.
"Elder Ju, I think this little brother doesn't seem to have any issues," she said.
Ju Hua Guan nodded, but this matter still needed to be confirmed. He decided to have someone investigate after they returned.
**In the Spiritual Space**
Chen Xuan was in the middle of a fierce battle with this strange fish spirit beast, using various techniques to erase its resentment.
"Something's wrong. A thousand-year spirit beast shouldn't have such intense resentment!" He panted heavily, feeling exhausted both physically and mentally. He seriously suspected that this fish was a ten-thousand-year spirit beast, not as simple as it appeared on the surface.
Finally, he activated his Mangekyou Sharingan, the six tomoe spinning continuously, eventually merging into a pattern resembling a Yin-Yang fish diagram.
"Die!" Chen Xuan growled, using his ocular power. A cold chakra spread out, permeating the entire spiritual world.
The moment his eyes activated, the effect was immediate. The large fish's form began to blur, its ten-meter-long body gradually dissipating, becoming more and more illusory until it lost its shape altogether.
Within a minute, the spirit beast's resentment had completely disappeared.
With no more obstacles, Chen Xuan could finally absorb the spirit ring. The process accelerated, and within a dozen minutes, he had completed the absorption of this thousand-year spirit ring.
With this, his martial spirit gained an additional spirit ring, and his spirit power broke through the fortieth level, making him a Soul Sect. His spirit power had also reached level forty-one.
A spirit power of level forty-one placed him on par with Tang San within the Shrek team. Even Dai Mubai only had two levels more than him.
Who would have thought that just a few days ago, he was still at level thirty-eight as a Soul Grandmaster? After a night with Xiao Wu and now absorbing this spirit ring, his spirit power had skyrocketed to level forty-one in such a short time.
**Outside**
Chen Xuan slowly opened his eyes, exhaling lightly. The spirit ring absorption was successful.
Hu Liena, surprised, curiously approached him and said, "It hasn't even been half an hour, little brother. How did you finish so quickly?"
Chen Xuan stood up, brushed the dust off his clothes, and glanced at her without saying a word.
"Little brother, you're really fast. My junior brother is still not done, but you finished so quickly." Hu Liena's red lips curved into a bright smile, covering her mouth as she chuckled. She made no effort to hide her amusement, teasing Chen Xuan again.
Chen Xuan was speechless. This fox spirit was definitely doing it on purpose, deliberately trying to disgust him.
Ju Hua Guan noticed the commotion and walked over from a distance, realizing that Chen Xuan had already completed his spirit ring absorption.
"Little Chen Xuan, tell me how you feel. What level is your spirit power now?"
Chen Xuan carefully sensed the changes within his body and was instantly surprised by the significant gains.
"I'm at level forty-one now, but I feel like I'm not far from level forty-two." He was telling the truth; it wasn't far. In just over half a month, he would definitely be able to break through to level forty-two.
"Ding! Congratulations to the host, Chen Xuan, for breaking through to the Soul Sect stage. The upgrade package has been delivered. Please check it."
Suddenly, a mechanical voice echoed in his mind, leaving him momentarily stunned.
Chen Xuan was initially bewildered, standing in place in a daze, and it took him a while to react.
He had forgotten that the system had this function. Every time he broke through to a new major realm, he would receive a reward. The Mangekyou Sharingan, ten thousand gold soul coins, and chakra attributes were all rewards from this system.
Chen Xuan kept his composure, suppressing the urge to check the reward immediately. He decided to wait until he returned to the academy.
Hu Liena and Ju Hua Guan didn't notice anything unusual and urged him to release his martial spirit to see the results.
Chen Xuan didn't hesitate and immediately summoned his Flying Thunder God martial spirit. Instantly, a series of spirit rings appeared beneath his feet: yellow, yellow, purple...
When the final spirit ring lit up, everyone present was stunned, staring at the fourth spirit ring in disbelief.
Chen Xuan opened his mouth, finding it hard to believe. What... what was going on?
No, what happened? Why was his fourth spirit ring black? Wasn't that fish supposed to be a thousand-year spirit beast?
At his feet, a black spirit ring rotated continuously, exuding the aura of a ten-thousand-year spirit beast—a genuine ten-thousand-year spirit ring.
Even someone as knowledgeable as Ju Hua Guan was utterly shocked, having never seen such a situation before.
If even a Title Douluo was so surprised, let alone the others. The disciples of the Spirit Hall Academy all had their mouths wide open, as if they could fit an egg inside.
They had all witnessed Chen Xuan absorbing a spirit ring that was over nine thousand years old, but now it had turned into a black ten-thousand-year spirit ring. This was too bizarre—something they'd never seen before.
Even Chen Xuan himself was dumbfounded, unsure of what was going on. What exactly had happened?
In the end, Ju Hua Guan could only offer this explanation: the fish had originally been on the verge of reaching ten thousand years of cultivation, and it might have broken through unexpectedly during the battle with Chen Xuan.
That was the only possibility now.
However, Chen Xuan was worried. Others might not know, but he was very clear that this spirit ring was at least over fifteen thousand years old, definitely not just around ten thousand years.
So, Ju Hua Guan's guess was wrong.
But he kept quiet, deciding not to reveal the truth to avoid causing trouble and getting captured for research.
"Little brother Chen, show me your spirit ability," Hu Liena was very curious, eager to see Chen Xuan's spirit ability.
The others were also curious. After all, they'd never seen a thousand-year spirit ring turn into a ten-thousand-year spirit ring before. They wanted to see how powerful the spirit ability would be.
Chen Xuan smiled wryly. It wasn't that he didn't want to show his spirit ability, but this martial spirit was really tricky. If used well, it was a top-tier martial spirit, but if not, it was practically useless—even supporting others would be difficult.
There was no real spirit ability to speak of. If he had to count something, the only ability was space substitution. With each major breakthrough, he could carve more seals.
After eating that herb, which was suspected to be an immortal herb, every major breakthrough now resulted in a significant increase.
Previously, he could only carve three seals, but now he could carve six.
Chen Xuan felt frustrated but truthfully explained the situation to Hu Liena and the others.
"Ah, little brother Chen, you're not joking, are you?" The crowd couldn't believe it. Wasn't this a complete waste of a martial spirit?
Hu Liena couldn't help but admire him a bit. With such a useless martial spirit, he had still managed to achieve so much.
To become a combat-capable spirit master, he had to come up with various methods to create his own spirit abilities. What an inspirational person he was.
In fact, there was one thing Chen Xuan hadn't revealed. Perhaps by the time he reached the Soul Sage stage, everything would improve, maybe even undergo a qualitative breakthrough.
In a pitch-black space, his martial spirit was bound by a chain, some kind of ability locked away, unable to be used.
Chen Xuan had tried to break the chain, attempting to shatter it, but had failed many times.
His spirit power wasn't strong enough to break it yet, but maybe one day he would have the chance.
"Forget it, let's take it one step at a time," Chen Xuan muttered to himself. Anyway, the current spirit abilities were sufficient.
His current goal was to obtain Wood Release. With this bloodline limit, he would have a foothold on this continent.
"Elder Ju, Sister Hu Liena, if there's nothing else, I'll take my leave."
Chen Xuan wanted to leave after picking up his sister and return to the academy to check on Xiao Wu. Would she be very upset, or would she hate him now?
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