Zhu Ziyang's plan was to take advantage of the opportunity presented by fusing his sixth soul ring to directly condense his first soul core in one go. He hoped to form this first soul core within his upper dantian—a spiritual soul core. Only by starting with this could he ensure a solid foundation and guarantee invincibility in the future when forming the others.
The first soul core was of critical importance, and of course, also the most difficult to condense. As the saying goes, "All beginnings are hard"—not a word of that was false.
According to his original plan, his sixth soul ring should come from a spirit-type hundred-thousand-year soul beast, preferably one that could generate a head bone.
It had to possess both spiritual attributes and either light or death attributes to be compatible with his Stillness Fate Ending Scythe, and most importantly, it had to generate a head soul bone. Finding such a soul beast would be near impossible—but not entirely.
There was one that fit perfectly.
The Evil-Eyed Tyrant!
A soul beast native to the Sun Moon Continent, the Evil-Eyed Tyrant was a spiritual-type creature. Since it had only a head, the soul bone it produced was always a head bone. The Evil-Eyed Tyrant species was abundant, and individuals could vary greatly. While the standard species was purely spiritual, certain individuals had additional attributes—for example, the Fire Evil Tyrant, with fire attributes, and the Ice Evil Tyrant, with ice attributes.
Unfortunately, the Evil-Eyed Tyrant clan never possessed the light attribute. Otherwise, Zhu Ziyang would never have had to settle for a death-type variant—namely, the Death Evil Tyrant.
There existed a hundred-thousand-year Death Evil Tyrant in the Evil Eye Forest of the Sun Moon Empire. It was said to be one of the sons of the Evil-Eyed Tyrant King. Had Mu En not offered him a better option, that soul beast would have met a tragic end at Zhu Ziyang's hands.
The Illusory Sky Violet Spirit Dragon. A true dragon with both spiritual and light attributes. Whether in terms of bloodline or spirit power, it was in no way inferior to the Evil-Eyed Tyrant. It had been on Zhu Ziyang's shortlist, but due to its extreme rarity and elusive nature, he had eliminated it.
He never imagined that Mu En had once discovered such a creature—and that its cultivation had surpassed the hundred-thousand-year threshold. It truly felt like destiny.
Just like the Evil-Eyed Tyrant, the Illusory Sky Violet Spirit Dragon was guaranteed to produce a head bone. That was why Zhu Ziyang had immediately and decisively abandoned the Death Evil Tyrant in favor of this dragon.
—
The next day, Mu En took Zhu Ziyang out of Shrek Academy. They were accompanied by Xuanzi.
Their destination lay within a remote mountain in the Dou Spirit Empire. It was a desolate rocky mountain, towering over five thousand meters. Mu En had visited this place during his youth, and it was then that he discovered the Illusory Sky Violet Spirit Dragon. If he had needed a soul ring at that time, the dragon would have been his—not Zhu Ziyang's.
"Ziyang, although there aren't many soul beasts in this mountain, nearly all of them have dragon bloodlines—some are even sub-dragons. Do you know why?" Mu En asked with a deep smile.
"I don't," Zhu Ziyang replied plainly. He didn't know why Mu En had suddenly asked that question, but he answered honestly.
"Hahaha, the reason is simple," Mu En laughed. "There's an ancient ruin within this mountain. Inside it are numerous dragon corpses, and the essence of those remains has seeped into the land. That's why so many dragon-type soul beasts gather here. Even that Illusory Sky Violet Spirit Dragon likely appeared because of this place."
"Teacher, how do you know there's an ancient ruin here?" Zhu Ziyang asked with a puzzled look.
"Because I accidentally entered it when I was young!" Mu En smiled. "And I was lucky enough to find a dragon Core inside!"
"A dragon Core?" Zhu Ziyang froze in astonishment. Dragon Cores, like the Snow Empress's Snow Core and the Ice Empress's Ice Core, were the condensed life essence of a true dragon. They contained the vast majority of the dragon's cultivation and energy. He hadn't expected Mu En to have encountered such a miracle.
"That's right. And it belonged to a white dragon with the light attribute!" Mu En's face showed a trace of regret. "That dragon's strength was definitely not inferior to me at my peak. Even after so many years dead, its corpse still exuded terrifying and overbearing dragon might."
"Then that dragon must've had at least five hundred thousand years of cultivation," Zhu Ziyang speculated, deeply impressed. It was clear—anyone who reached the realm of an Ultimate Douluo had fate on their side.
"Hahaha, correct," Mu En nodded, a trace of bitter nostalgia in his smile. "But unfortunately, the energy in that dragon Core was too fierce and tyrannical. A human body couldn't absorb it directly. After I obtained it, I could only keep it with me, using its aura and the energy it released for cultivation."
"That's how I was able to condense a second soul core and break through to the Ultimate Douluo realm. That dragon Core was vital! I had planned to temper and refine the Core with my Holy Light Dragon martial soul to gradually calm its violent energy, and then absorb it."
"But plans often fail to keep up with change. After my battle with Du Bisi, I was seriously wounded but needed to attend a major meeting. So I went ahead and absorbed the dragon Core."
"I had spent nearly a hundred years nurturing it. I thought the violent energy had been neutralized—but I underestimated the might of a Core condensed from a true dragon's entire life essence. The Core was much gentler than before, but for my severely injured body, it was still far too domineering."
"The energy ran rampant inside me, damaging my origin and worsening my injuries. That's why I ended up in this state. Sigh… greed leads to ruin!"
Zhu Ziyang was stunned. He hadn't imagined that Mu En had gone through something like this. Truly, it was a case of both fortune and misfortune brought by the dragon Core.
"In the end, I had no choice but to suppress the Core's energy completely," Mu En said with a bitter smile. "Ironically, now that I'm near death, the dragon Core has finally become gentle—so gentle that even someone without a dragon martial soul could absorb it. But it's useless to me now."
"If I had obtained it a hundred years earlier, I could have used its energy to break through and reach transcendence! But time waits for no one. It was fate. I had originally planned to leave the dragon Core to Beibei. After all, he's my descendant, and his talent is no less than mine in my youth. With it, he could've become an Ultimate Douluo!"
"But your appearance changed my mind. No one is more suited to absorb this dragon Core than you. I hope it helps you—and maybe, helps you take that step toward transcendence!"
"Teacher, I..." Zhu Ziyang was speechless. He had suspected Mu En's intentions from the moment the dragon Core was mentioned, but actually hearing it left him moved.
"No need to feel burdened. This is something you deserve!" Mu En said calmly with a gentle smile. "All I hope is that you can reach the same realm the first generation of Shrek's Seven Monsters reached ten thousand years ago. Lead Shrek Academy to even greater heights! It's been ten thousand years. Shrek Academy has stood for too long. Some people are growing restless. Ziyang, do you understand how important you are?"
"I understand." Zhu Ziyang nodded. Even if one ignored his future role in reforming the Academy, the current Shrek Academy was already teetering on the edge. Many factions were just waiting—for Mu En, Xuanzi, and Elder Lin to die. Then they would pounce and carve up Shrek Academy like vultures.
"Hehe, there's no need for you to feel too much pressure just yet," Mu En said with a smile, noticing the heaviness on Zhu Ziyang's face. "This old man still has a few years left in him. And even after I'm gone, there's still Xuanzi and Elder Lin. They can protect you for at least fifty more years. That's enough time for you to grow! Those rats hiding in the shadows want to steal our nest, thinking they can play us with borrowed strength. But do they forget who founded Shrek Academy in the first place?"
Mu En's final words were laced with killing intent and a bitter chill. Shrek had its fingers in the nobility of every empire. But could the nobles say they hadn't infiltrated Shrek in return?
For a sanctuary like Shrek Academy, the only safety came from holding its reins tightly in its own hands.
Just then, Xuanzi appeared and interrupted the master-disciple conversation. In his hand, he was dragging a massive purple dragon.
The Illusory Sky Violet Spirit Dragon—had been captured and dragged in like a dead dog by Gluttonous Douluo Xuanzi!
(End of Chapter)
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