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Half a month later
Observatory
Xu Yuan sat cross-legged, his soul power surging as stellar energy formed a small vortex, rushing into his body.
Outside his body, a pitch-black soul ring slowly emerged.
Purple, purple, purple, black, black.
Xu Yuan had broken through to the rank of Soul King, adding a fifth soul ring to his brain martial soul.
The Tianyuan Five Elements Spear martial soul could only derive new abilities by fusing and devouring other powers. It couldn't conjure a fifth soul ring out of thin air, so it couldn't solidify one for now.
As for the Tianyuan Brush martial soul, its Paper Spirit Soul was currently at eight thousand years—still two thousand years away from reaching ten thousand. Therefore, it also couldn't grant Xu Yuan a soul ring at this time.
For now, Xu Yuan could only add a fifth soul ring to his brain martial soul.
With this soul ring, the Phantom Beast had granted him two soul rings in total. It still had at least two more soul rings left to bestow upon him.
Watching Xu Yuan's breakthrough process, Zhao Quan and Li Zhilong were filled with envy.
They sighed deeply.
"Xiao Yuan, how old are you now?"
Xu Yuan did some quick calculations and realized he had already turned fourteen without even noticing.
"It's been just over a month since I turned fourteen."
His busy cultivation schedule had made him overlook this fact, and since birthdays weren't something he paid much attention to before, Xu Shengqun hadn't reminded him either.
Otherwise, Xu Yuan could have stayed in Tianhai City for two and a half months, celebrated his birthday, and then left.
Missing one birthday wasn't a big deal to Xu Yuan—he didn't care much about it.
"Fourteen years and one month!"
Li Zhilong and Zhao Quan took a deep breath, utterly shocked by Xu Yuan's age.
Fourteen years old—a Soul King!
What an incredible achievement.
Did even the Pavilion Master back in the day progress this fast?
"My breakthrough this time owes much to the environment of the observatory. I must thank Senior for allowing me to use it for half a month," Xu Yuan said.
Li Zhilong waved his hand dismissively.
"This is all thanks to your resources. My students have already benefited from you for half a month—it's I who should be thanking you."
Though the observatory belonged to the Tian Ding Starry Sky Soul Academy, keeping it open continuously for half a month could be seen as Xu Yuan providing an opportunity for the academy's students.
During this half-month period, it wasn't just the members of the Tian Ding team who qualified; even some average students, though not top-tier, were able to train there for a day or two.
"Senior, I need to return to the academy for a bit."
"Mm, go ahead."
(A/N: The official break is half a month, but the protagonist requested leave for three months.)
After bidding farewell to everyone at the Tian Ding Starry Sky Soul Academy, Xu Yuan returned to Shrek City in his mech.
Upon reflection, the first academic year was almost over.
Shrek Academy's first-year enrollment started earlier than usual, making the entire first academic year last a full twelve months.
The second academic year would begin slightly later.
The first semester lasted a full eight months, with the final assessment and vacation taking up one month. Afterward, the second semester began and had only three months. Now, they were approaching another round of screening.
According to previous requirements, this screening would eliminate five students. However, the content of the assessment differed from the previous semester.
It wasn't focused on combat anymore.
Given that the second semester was only three months long—too short for significant progress—the focus shifted.
This final assessment evaluated the students' overall cultivation throughout the academic year.
Simply put, it examined how well the students completed the tasks Wu Zhangkong assigned at the beginning of the year.
Mechs!
This was the year-long task Wu Zhangkong had assigned when they first entered Shrek Academy. The goal was to improve their secondary professions, laying the groundwork for crafting battle armor in the future.
Sensing that his soul power was nearing a breakthrough, Xu Yuan informed Wu Zhangkong via soul-guided communication and eventually received an exemption from the assessment.
His mech was already widely known across the first to third grades of Shrek's Outer Court.
At least half of the Outer Court knew how powerful his mech was.
What else was there to assess?
Thus, Xu Yuan was awarded full marks. Wu Zhangkong allowed him to complete his breakthrough before returning to the academy.
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Shrek Academy
Xu Yuan landed his mech in an open area. With a flash of light, the massive mech disappeared, merging into his body.
"Teacher Wu, I'm back."
Wu Zhangkong looked at Xu Yuan, his expression complex.
A Soul King.
A fourteen-year-old Soul King.
He had shattered records.
Reaching the rank of Soul King within just one year of entering Shrek Academy was inconceivable even in the era before battle armor existed.
In the pre-battle armor era, soul masters—especially those at Shrek Academy—practically trained around the clock. The soul power progression of top geniuses during that time was even faster than in this era.
And yet, none of them compared to Xu Yuan's extraordinary advancement.
Fourteen years old—a Soul King!
Initially, Xu Yuan had taken a full three months of leave, which Wu Zhangkong had some reservations about. But now, he had completely forgotten about that.
If taking three months off resulted in breaking through to Soul King, Wu Zhangkong would gladly approve such leaves for Xu Yuan anytime.
"Congratulations on your breakthrough. This time, no students in your class will be eliminated, so you and Wulin don't need to spend extra credits," Wu Zhangkong said.
Just over three months ago, Xu Yuan had sacrificed ten points to bring the entire class's scores above sixty.
But after three months, Xu Yuan no longer needed to subsidize anyone. The classmates had managed to reach scores above sixty-five on their own.
This wasn't solely because Xu Yuan gave them opportunities.
The key factor was that Xu Yuan provided motivation.
"Expected," Xu Yuan smiled.
This outcome was indeed within expectations.
As one of the four committee members, he had taken responsibility very seriously. During the previous semester, he coordinated the secondary professions of many classmates.
Understanding the relationships between the four secondary professions, he had always made optimal arrangements for everyone.
"With the end of the first academic year comes a one-month vacation. This month, don't go wandering around. Stay at the academy and focus on cultivation. After becoming a Soul King, the path forward changes somewhat. I recommend you consult with the Pavilion Master about your situation," Wu Zhangkong advised.
Xu Yuan nodded.
Leaving Wu Zhangkong's office, Xu Yuan went to the third-year students.
"Senior, here's the Blue Crystal you requested. During forging, I used a replicated version of your martial soul's Dark Magic Flame to induce it into a dark attribute."
Xu Yuan handed over the Blue Crystal he forged, with a fusion rate of ninety-four percent, to Mo Jue.
While in Tianhai City, Xu Yuan had successfully forged a Blue Crystal with a ninety-percent fusion rate. Later, in Tiandou City, he forged a few more, achieving a fusion rate of ninety-two percent.
By the time he reached Tianding City, he had succeeded in forging this Blue Crystal with a fusion rate of ninety-four percent.
Upon returning, he decided to give this ninety-four percent fusion rate Blue Crystal to Mo Jue.
"Unfortunately, I wasn't able to forge it into Divine Alloy," Xu Yuan sighed.
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