The three of them didn't stay long at Ice Spirit Stream. After Dugu Yan absorbed her spirit ring, they immediately returned to Gai Yue's residence in the Frozen Mountains.
This trip had been a complete success for both Oscar and Dugu Yan. Oscar gained a fourth spirit ability comparable to one from a hundred thousand year spirit ring, while Dugu Yan's martial spirit evolved, and she also absorbed a ten thousand year fourth spirit ring.
They didn't linger in the Extreme North either, but chose to head straight back to Shrek Academy.
On the journey home, they weren't in a hurry; instead, they took their time, playing along the way. It took them a full month before they finally returned to Shrek Academy.
During this period, it was mostly Oscar and Dugu Yan's "two person world," with Gai Yue tagging along like a light bulb.
Because of this, Oscar and Dugu Yan even teased Gai Yue, telling him to find himself a wife, since spending a lifetime alone would indeed be too lonely.
But Gai Yue didn't think much of it and simply let things take their natural course.
In Oscar's opinion, given his teacher's personality, unless the woman was very proactive, it was unlikely his teacher would ever find a wife.
In fact, when it came to the matter of a "teacher's wife," Oscar had always had one candidate in mind: Liu Erlong.
In the original story, Liu Erlong ended up with Yu Xiaogang, but in Oscar's eyes, Yu Xiaogang was not worthy of her.
Instead, his own teacher and Liu Erlong might actually be a better match one was ice, the other fire; together, they would form the perfect balance of ice and fire.
Of course, that was a matter for the future. But if he ever had the chance, Oscar was determined to play matchmaker between his teacher and Liu Erlong. After all, Liu Erlong's talent wasn't bad at all surpassing even Flender and Zhao Wuji.
If his teacher could end up with Liu Erlong, it would also be a way of saving her from falling into the hands of scumbag Yu Xiaogang.
Back at Shrek Academy, Oscar didn't hide his progress. He openly showed Flender and Ma Hongjun his ten thousand year fourth spirit ring.
When everyone at Shrek learned about the terrifying spirit power levels of both Dugu Yan and Oscar, none of them could remain calm.
Oscar at level 43 was still within reason. After all, Dai Mubai's third spirit ring had been absorbed beyond his level, which had instantly boosted him to level 32. So Oscar reaching 43 with a ten thousand year fourth spirit ring made sense.
But Dugu Yan reaching level 47 after just gaining a spirit ring was almost unimaginable. She explained that it was due to a special pill from Dugu Bo.
Oscar and Gai Yue had already agreed on this cover story with her. As long as they pushed the blame onto Dugu Bo, then no matter how much Dai Mubai and Zhu Zhuqing envied her, all they could do was sigh that she had a Titled Douluo grandfather, with no other suspicions.
After all, it was just a granddaughter enjoying the benefits of her grandfather. They couldn't complain.
Even though Dai Mubai had personally experienced the benefits of absorbing a spirit ring above his level, he still couldn't believe someone could absorb a ten thousand year fourth ring.
As a royal, Dai Mubai had learned enough about spirit beast theory to know that beyond the physical strain, such a spirit ring would also cause terrifying soul shock.
If one's spiritual power couldn't withstand it, the lightest outcome would be a shattered mind turning into a fool!
But there was no helping it Dugu Yan had a good grandfather. Poison Douluo was famous across the continent, and someone who mastered poison naturally had an extraordinary understanding of medicine.
To others, Oscar had also reaped benefits from Dugu Yan. After all, as her boyfriend and Dugu Bo's adopted grandson, it was only natural for the elder to give him some advantages too.
The most envious, however, was Dai Mubai. He too had a Titled Douluo grandfather, yet had never enjoyed such treatment!
Still, after so long at Shrek, Dai Mubai knew better than to let envy cloud his judgment. Though jealous, he had no improper thoughts.
Besides, he had already gained unexpected benefits like the whale glue that strengthened his body and his third spirit ring absorbed beyond his level.
During the month Oscar and Dugu Yan had been away, Dai Mubai and the others had also made progress. His spirit power had risen from the late stage of level 35 to level 36. Zhu Zhuqing had gone from late level 25 to level 26. Each had advanced by one level.
Ma Hongjun, too, had risen from early level 39 to its peak, just one step away from the bottleneck at level 40.
Now, there was about a year left before Tang San arrived at Shrek. Within this time, each of them would gain even more strength. By the time Tang San came, even Dai Mubai and Zhu Zhuqing the lowest in spirit power would surpass their original levels in the story.
Since Flender and the others had observed Zhu Zhuqing's progress firsthand, they decided to also give her whale glue, boosting her physical strength and letting her spirit power grow faster.
That way, when she obtained her third spirit ring, she too could absorb beyond her level.
With Zhu Zhuqing stronger, her martial spirit fusion with Dai Mubai would also improve drastically, which was a huge benefit for their whole team.
After taking whale glue, Zhu Zhuqing's body grew stronger, and her spirit power rose from level 25 to the peak of 26just a step away from 27.
This meant that before Tang San arrived, Zhu Zhuqing would very likely break through to level 30, advancing into the Spirit Elder realm.
And all of this was thanks to the "butterfly effect" brought by Oscar, which caused Shrek Academy to change, making the Shrek Seven Devils even more monstrously talented than in the original story.
Of course, Tang San, Xiao Wu, and Ning Rongrong were exceptions, since they had not yet arrived at Shrek. Naturally, their paths hadn't diverged from the original yet.
But once they joined, everything would change. After all, Oscar and the others were already far stronger than they had been in the original.
Oscar and Dugu Yan's powerups weren't even the most shocking part the real surprise for Shrek was Oscar's terrifying fourth spirit ability.
Oscar intended to keep it secret from outsiders, but within Shrek his second home he had no reason to hide it. Even Dai Mubai and Zhu Zhuqing had become true members of this family.
When everyone at Shrek learned of the effect of Oscar's fourth ability, they were dumbfounded.
They realized, just as Gai Yue and Dugu Yan had earlier, that this ability was no weaker than one from a hundred thousand year spirit ring!
Especially Dai Mubai just hearing about it filled him with relief. Even if he lost his future struggle against his elder brother, he no longer feared.
After all, with Oscar's clone sausage allowing him to feign death, this skill was practically a universal trump card.
If used well, it was definitely a terrifying, bug level ability. Oscar thought the same himself.
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