Although they couldn't just stand by and watch Xuan Zi be killed, both Han Ruoruo and Wu Ming were quite happy for Xuan Zi to suffer a bit.
After all, Xuan Zi's negligence had led to the deaths of many Shrek Inner Court disciples. If they hadn't encountered Lu Jingming's group of three, Han Ruoruo and Wu Ming would have also died in the Star Dou Great Forest.
So, with a tacit understanding, they put Lu Jingming's second martial soul out of their minds. After quickly giving Xuan Zi some simple bandaging, they bid farewell to Lu Jingming's group and departed.
Lu Jingming watched their receding figures, a slight smile playing on his lips. He turned to Zhang Lexuan, a hint of amusement in his eyes: "Sister Lexuan, your luck is good. You just entered the core area and already found a 100,000-year soul beast suited for you."
"Indeed," Zhang Lexuan sighed softly, "I just never imagined the renowned Gluttony Douluo (Taotie Doulu) would be like this; it truly surprised me."
She had once visited Shrek Academy. The ancient Shrek City, the magnificent academy buildings, the statues of legendary figures, the shimmering Sea God Lake, and the golden tree that overshadowed Sea God Island—everything had astounded her.
But who would have thought that Xuan Zi, the Gluttony Douluo, who was the face and pillar of Shrek Academy, would be so utterly disappointing?
Xuan Zi was disheveled and paid no attention to his appearance. While one could explain it as being free-spirited and uninhibited, his reckless impulsiveness and utter lack of responsibility made it difficult for Zhang Lexuan to feel any goodwill towards him.
In the perilous core area of the Star Dou Great Forest, he abandoned his students and ran off to eat and drink alone, completely disregarding their lives and safety. Such irresponsible behavior was truly disheartening.
In contrast, Jingliu, despite her unfathomable strength, remained by their side, always keeping a distance of less than a hundred meters.
This hundred-meter distance was the safe zone where, under Jingliu's protection, no one could cross and harm them.
This diligent and responsible guardianship formed a stark contrast with Xuan Zi's actions.
"What the Gluttony Douluo is like is Shrek Academy's concern, not ours. The urgent matter is to absorb the Silver Moon Flood Dragon King's soul ring first, Sister Lexuan, to avoid any complications," Lu Jingming said calmly, his tone steady.
He had no intention of getting too involved in the various issues concerning the Gluttony Douluo, as those were internal matters of Shrek Academy.
Zhang Lexuan nodded slightly, secretly lamenting that she had indeed overthought things just now.
Soon, with Jingliu's help, Zhang Lexuan successfully located the Silver Moon Flood Dragon King's soul core.
As the soul core was successfully shattered, the massive body of the Silver Moon Flood Dragon King instantly lost its vitality, and its life fire completely extinguished.
In an instant, a scarlet soul ring slowly emerged above the colossal corpse, emitting terrifying soul power fluctuations that sent chills down one's spine.
Even though the Silver Moon Flood Dragon King was dead, its majesty and fierce aura as a 100,000-year soul beast still lingered.
Without Jingliu needing to deliberately release her aura to drive them away, the surrounding soul beasts all sensed the powerful deterrent force and retreated far away, not daring to approach even a little.
Because of this, Zhang Lexuan could confidently absorb this precious 100,000-year soul ring on the spot.
Zhang Lexuan slowly sat cross-legged. A clear silver moon shimmered faintly above her head, and two yellow, two purple, and three black soul rings, totaling seven, appeared on her body in sequence.
At this moment, she was fully concentrating on gradually drawing the blood-red glowing Silver Moon Flood Dragon King's soul ring onto herself, attempting to make it her eighth soul ring.
Lu Jingming quietly leaned against a nearby tree trunk, slowly closing his eyes and resting.
He knew that absorbing a 100,000-year soul ring was by no means easy. Zhang Lexuan not only had to withstand the冲击 of the soul ring's immense power but also engage in a fierce struggle with the Silver Moon Flood Dragon King's remnant soul. This was destined to be a long and arduous battle.
The duration of soul ring absorption not only depended on the Spirit Master's physical constitution and mental strength but also on the resistance of the soul beast's remnant soul and the compatibility between the Spirit Master and the soul ring.
Zhang Lexuan's physical strength and mental power had already reached the Titled Douluo level. Theoretically, absorbing a 100,000-year soul ring should not pose a significant obstacle.
However, the Silver Moon Flood Dragon King's remnant soul would undoubtedly resist fiercely, unwilling to easily let go of its killer.
Fortunately, Zhang Lexuan's own attributes perfectly matched the Silver Moon Flood Dragon King's soul ring. Thus, the biggest challenge in this absorption process lay in how to defeat the Silver Moon Flood Dragon King's remnant soul.
Based on common sense, Zhang Lexuan's absorption of this 100,000-year soul ring would likely take around three days to a week.
But the exact duration would ultimately depend on Zhang Lexuan's own effort and willpower.
In the world of Spirit Masters, most Spirit Masters choose to absorb soul rings on the spot after successfully hunting a soul beast.
However, this process must have reliable guardians present.
If there is no guardian, or if the guardian betrays them, the Spirit Master absorbing the soul ring could very likely fall into an irreversible predicament.
After all, at the critical moment of absorbing a soul ring, a Spirit Master's body and mind are in their most vulnerable state; even a slight mishap could lead to a fatal attack.
Because of this, the Sun Moon Empire spent a great deal of effort to successfully develop a soul tool capable of storing soul rings.
With the help of this miraculous soul tool, Spirit Masters could directly absorb and store the hunted soul rings within it, then take them to a safe place for absorption.
However, such soul tools were extremely rare, and the time they could store soul rings was very limited, at most three days to a week.
Once this time limit was exceeded, the soul ring would automatically dissipate and turn into nothing.
Fortunately, Zhang Lexuan did not need to worry about this.
With Jingliu, a powerful guardian, by her side, she could absorb the soul ring with peace of mind, without having to worry about any external interference or threats.
Just as Zhang Lexuan was fully engrossed in absorbing the soul ring, in the distant forbidden area of the Star Dou Great Forest, the calm ground suddenly split open with a huge crack without warning.
In an instant, golden light shimmered, and an enormous Tian Meng Iceworm, over seven meters long, slowly crawled out of the crack.
"Brother, I'm finally out! A whole ten thousand years! I finally see this brilliant sunlight again." The gigantic white Tian Meng Iceworm actually spoke human words. It squinted its eyes, looking up at the sky with a blissful expression, its eyes filled with the emotion and joy of regaining freedom.
"No, I must quickly find a human with strong spiritual power, otherwise brother's life will truly be in danger." After a moment of excitement, the Tian Meng Iceworm suddenly came back to its senses, realizing the urgency of its situation.
It hurriedly spread its massive spiritual power without reservation, frantically fleeing towards the southern periphery of the Star Dou Great Forest, while urgently searching for a Human Spirit Master who could meet its requirements within the vast forest.