In front of Zhu Ziyang, a diamond-shaped crystal interwoven with gold and silver spun rapidly. It emitted intense spiritual fluctuations along with a unique and wondrous energy. This was his first soul core.
His mind was immersed in the soul core, every detail of it clearly presented before his eyes. The soul core was diamond-shaped, fully transparent and colorless. The upper half was patterned with golden veins, and the lower half bore silver designs. These patterns mirrored the hues within Zhu Ziyang's eyes.
The Spirit-Fate Soul Core—Zhu Ziyang's Heaven-ranked soul core located in the upper dantian among the Three Essence Soul Cores. It represented the "spirit" aspect of essence, energy, and spirit. It had been condensed through the fusion of Zhu Ziyang's spiritual power, golden fate energy, silver fate energy, and pure soul power. In a sense, it was a triple-attribute soul core that embodied spirit, time, and space.
Excitement surged within him, but after housing the soul core in his upper dantian, he forcefully suppressed the elation in his heart.
His soul power and spiritual power had both been completely drained during the process, leaving him with a hollow emptiness. Yet he felt no anxiety. With the soul core in place, both his soul power and spiritual power recovery speeds were now several times faster than before.
This marked a breakthrough beyond imagination—Zhu Ziyang no longer had any bottlenecks left in the ranks before Super Douluo!
A flood of insights filled his heart. Cultivation level, spiritual realm, soul ring techniques, soul bone abilities—he would need time to reorganize all these gains.
He opened his eyes to see Mu En and Xuanzi watching him with concern. He smiled and nodded reassuringly.
"Good child, don't speak yet. Focus on recovery first," said Mu En, his face full of warmth and satisfaction. "A six-ring Soul Emperor with a soul core… You've already made history, and I have no doubt about it!"
Zhu Ziyang responded with a silent smile. He then took out half of the hundred-thousand-year-old snow lotus from his Starflame Ring. This snow lotus was exactly what he needed now. It was a sacred tonic worthy of its name. The restriction Snow Empress had left on it had long since become meaningless after Ice Empress joined the pact.
Without hesitation, he devoured it in two or three bites, closed his eyes, and began his full recovery.
About an hour and a half later, Zhu Ziyang had returned to his peak condition. He stood up, feeling better than ever before.
"Ziyang, congratulations!" Mu En looked at him, eyes gleaming with joy. "To successfully condense your first soul core, and one of the spirit attribute no less… this means the Three Essence Soul Core method holds no barriers for you now!"
"Hehe, it's all thanks to you and Elder Xuan," Zhu Ziyang replied with a smile.
"In the end, it's because you earned it!" said Xuanzi with emotion and admiration on his face. He had once tried to condense three soul cores himself, but lacked the talent and mental stability to succeed.
"Indeed! You earned it!" Mu En nodded in strong agreement. "Without exceptional talent and unwavering resolve, no external help could lead to such a monumental success! Ziyang, your soul power level should be close to rank 64 now, correct?"
"Peak of rank 63!" Zhu Ziyang responded after sensing his current level.
"Hahaha! Rank 63—I already look forward to the good news from this year's Elite Tournament!" Mu En's eyes shone. "With your current strength, unless another team has a Soul Douluo—and not just one—I really don't see how our team could lose! Ziyang, showcase your talent on that battlefield. This era… belongs to you!"
"I will, Teacher!" Zhu Ziyang smiled confidently.
Mu En didn't ask further and turned to Xuanzi. "Alright, let's return. Xuanzi, take the Illusory Sky Violet Spirit Dragon's corpse with us. That's a real treasure!"
"Hehe, Elder Mu, even if you didn't say it, I was going to anyway," Xuanzi grinned. "Dragon meat—now that's the finest delicacy in the world. Once we get back, I'll treat the inner court kids to a feast!"
His face beamed with anticipation. Zhu Ziyang couldn't help but feel a tinge of sympathy for the Illusory Sky Violet Spirit Dragon. Truly tragic—it must have offended heaven itself to end up like this!
On their way back to Shrek Academy, Zhu Ziyang finally had time to inspect his gains.
Undoubtedly, the soul core was the greatest reward. Apart from that, the elevation of his spiritual power was also remarkable.
Before forming the soul core, his spiritual power realm had been at the peak of the "Formless with Substance" level. But now, bolstered by the hundred-thousand-year dragon skull and the spirit core, his spiritual power had advanced to the "Formed and Substantial" realm—stable and refined.
This third tier of spiritual strength allowed soul masters to project their consciousness, manifest tangible spiritual entities, and even develop spiritual awareness. At this stage, a soul master's soul could temporarily exist outside their physical body.
Zhu Ziyang's spiritual sea had greatly expanded. It was now filled with crystal-clear spiritual energy in its purest, primordial form. At the center of the sea stood a greatly enlarged spirit island, no longer barren and lifeless but crowned with a majestic palace.
Inside the palace were the soul spirit eggs of the Snow Empress and Ice Empress, the soul crystal of the Silver Dragon Wolf—and a magnificent throne.
As for Electrolux, he sat leisurely at the edge of the island, holding a rodless fishing pole with a carefree look.
In the sky of the spirit domain, there was no longer a trace of the Soul Canopy, nor the projections of ultimate light, ultimate ice, or death energy—only a golden and silver sun glowing softly. This was the reflection of the Spirit-Fate Soul Core within the spiritual space.
With the spirit core formed, Zhu Ziyang's spiritual power now grew on its own, even without cultivation. The speed was slow, yes—but to reach his current state from scratch would likely take 300–400 years.
Moreover, because the golden and silver fate energies had fully fused into the soul core, Zhu Ziyang had truly gained control over them. The golden fate energy granted spatial attributes, the silver fate energy bestowed temporal ones—thus making his soul core truly triple-attribute. His abilities—Time Freeze and Space Shift—were now significantly enhanced.
"Teacher, you really know how to enjoy life," Zhu Ziyang said with a laugh, standing beside Electrolux. That's right—with his spiritual power now at the "Formed and Substantial" level, he could finally manifest his body in the spirit sea.
"Hahaha, with a student like you, why shouldn't this old man enjoy himself?" Electrolux chuckled. "Ziyang, you've grown so far already… I have a feeling that very soon, some god out there will start taking notice of you."
"Hahaha, I certainly hope so!" Zhu Ziyang laughed.
After withdrawing from his spiritual space, Zhu Ziyang examined the four soul skills he had obtained from the Illusory Sky Violet Spirit Dragon.
First were the soul bone skills. The dragon skull provided two techniques: Illusory Heaven Gaze and Purple Spirit Shield.
Illusory Heaven Gaze was the strongest skill of the Illusory Sky Violet Spirit Dragon. It fired beams from its eyes that pierced directly into the soul of its opponent. Those struck by its gaze would fall into a dream state. Weaker enemies might even wither away in that dream world. Once transferred to the soul bone, this skill manifested as a phantom purple crystal eye above Zhu Ziyang's head, from which the dream-inducing gaze could be released.
Purple Spirit Shield originated from the dragon's unique body. Its scales were immune to mental attacks. This technique allowed a defensive shield resembling those scales to form around Zhu Ziyang, absorbing any spiritual-type attacks.
With these two soul bone techniques, Zhu Ziyang had effectively filled his weakness in spiritual defense and offense.
Then came the soul ring techniques. From the soul ring, his Scythe of Stillness and Ended Fate obtained two powerful skills: Soul Judging Light and Radiant Judgment Halo.
Soul Judging Light empowered the scythe with ultimate light energy, unleashing multiple sweeping light strikes. These would inflict heavy mental damage and crush the opponent's will to fight.
Radiant Judgment Halo created a glowing halo infused with light energy through the scythe. Allies and Zhu Ziyang within the halo would receive a 50% boost in soul power and spiritual power.
Though not as impactful as the soul bone skills, these techniques still satisfied Zhu Ziyang—after all, they were from a hundred-thousand-year soul ring. How bad could they possibly be?
By the time they returned to Shrek Academy, it was already deep into the night. Zhu Ziyang retired to his room, ready for some rest.
The night was deep, black, and quiet.
(End of Chapter)
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