Zhu Ziyang and Qian Lingyi didn't stay long in the seaside town. After a night's rest, they immediately rushed southward, entering the territory of the Dou Spirit Empire. However, just as Zhu Ziyang was preparing to press forward and locate the final two targets, a transmission arrived from the academy—delivered in Huoluo City, a fortified northern border city of the Dou Spirit Empire.
The message was short. Only two words: "Return urgently!"
The moment Zhu Ziyang saw this, a dreadful suspicion took root in his heart. Only the most critical matters would warrant such a brief and direct message. And of the possibilities, only one fit—Mu En was dying!
Without hesitation, Zhu Ziyang abandoned the southward mission and veered west at full speed. Qian Lingyi didn't understand his urgency, but she still followed closely, her curiosity growing by the second.
Zhu Ziyang had no mind to explain. After traveling nonstop for a day and night, he finally returned to Shrek Academy and made his way straight to Sea God Island.
No sooner had he set foot on Sea God Island than Xuanzi appeared and dragged him directly to Sea God Pavilion. Inside, Mu En's aura was extremely unstable—flickering as if it might vanish at any moment.
When Mu En saw Zhu Ziyang, a smile spread across his pale face, so weak it felt like even the smile might fade away with him.
"Good… You made it back in time, Ziyang."
"Teacher, how did your condition deteriorate this badly again?" Zhu Ziyang was shocked and grieved. Before he had left, Mu En had claimed he still had half a year to live. But now, just over a month later, he was at death's door.
"Heh heh…" Mu En smiled with relief and said, "Rather than waste my final days dragging it out in pain, I decided to use my last strength to do something worthwhile for you."
As he spoke, he took a pure white orb the size of an egg from his robes. It radiated a gentle warmth mixed with faint majesty, and inside it, one could faintly see a dragon coiled within.
"Here!" Mu En grinned with satisfaction. "I've finally finished refining this dragon core. I spent half my life wrestling with it. Now that I'm dying, I won't let it go to waste. Ziyang, you've reached Rank 68 already. Use this dragon core to break through to Rank 70 and condense your second soul core."
"Teacher!" Zhu Ziyang's throat felt dry and tight. His heart ached bitterly. He finally understood the real reason Mu En's condition had worsened so quickly.
With a thump, he knelt before Mu En's rocking chair, grasping his teacher's withered hand as tears slid down his cheeks. Grief and gratitude surged within him.
"Come now, you're not a child anymore. Stop with this display of emotion!" Mu En's eyes flashed with warmth, though he forced himself to sound stern. "If you act like this, you're no better than your senior brother. How can I entrust the academy to you like that? Do you want me to die with regrets?"
"Teacher, I…" Zhu Ziyang quickly wiped his tears, choked up, unsure how to respond.
"Ziyang, your goal is the stars above. Why be weighed down by sentiment?" Mu En said lightly. "I've long accepted my fate. When you truly reach that height one day, be sure to let me know. Now go—absorb the dragon core and condense your second soul core!"
"I will, Teacher!" Zhu Ziyang's eyes gleamed with determination as he accepted the dragon core Mu En had battled with for half his life. Without hesitation, he swallowed it, sat cross-legged, and closed his eyes to begin refining.
This dragon core, condensed from a genuine dragon's essence cultivated over half a million years, had already been purified by Mu En to remove its violent tendencies. Still, its immense energy burst forth immediately, flooding Zhu Ziyang's limbs and meridians, forcing him to summon the Stillness Fate Ending Scythe to begin full-force absorption and refinement.
The Great Light Mantra surged to its peak. His spiritual soul core spun furiously. Zhu Ziyang's soul power skyrocketed, and in mere breaths, he shattered the barrier at Rank 68 and stepped into Rank 69. His cultivation continued to climb rapidly, and within the span of a quarter hour, he would break through to Rank 70.
Outside, Mu En and Xuanzi watched with satisfaction—but they did not dare to relax. Cultivation was only the beginning. The true challenge still lay ahead. Even though Zhu Ziyang had already formed his first soul core, the process of condensing a second one was still an extremely dangerous ordeal.
As expected, Zhu Ziyang's soul power quickly reached Rank 70. His Stillness Fate Ending Scythe now glowed with five black rings and one red ring, and the seventh soul ring was slowly forming.
First the soul ring, then the soul core—Zhu Ziyang followed the same approach as before. As the seventh soul ring gradually stabilized, he focused all his mental energy.
Zhu Ziyang had long planned the formation of his second soul core. Unlike improvising under pressure, he had laid out the structure and goals already. Even minor surprises wouldn't throw him off as long as his foundation remained firm.
His first soul core was a spiritual core—a composite energy crystal formed from his spiritual power, golden fate energy, silver fate energy, and the time-space power within them. To reach the ideal configuration of the Three Essence Soul Core Method, the second soul core had to be composite as well—its internal forces balanced to match the spiritual core.
As the seventh soul ring fully stabilized, his soul power surged toward his qi sea—the narrow sense of the dantian. There it began to rotate rapidly, churning with immense force. Unlike the first soul core, the second had to be condensed internally, placing tremendous pressure on the body. High-speed spinning soul power had force equivalent to a soul master's attack.
This meant Zhu Ziyang was essentially being attacked by his own energy—and still had to focus on forming the soul core. Mu En and Xuanzi's concern stemmed from this very difficulty.
But Zhu Ziyang's physical strength was far beyond ordinary. With four soul bones and seven 100,000-year soul rings, he wasn't afraid of the backlash. He focused intently, compressing his soul power within his qi sea.
The Stillness Fate Ending Scythe began to tremble. The ultimate light and death energies within it became more restrained than ever. They were pulled, guided, twisted, absorbed, and fused.
In the qi sea, a small rhomboid crystal began to form—at first only the size of a grain of rice. As it spun and devoured energy, it gradually grew—first to the size of a date pit, then a green plum, and finally nearly as large as a pigeon egg. At that size, it stabilized.
With the formation of this pigeon-egg-sized rhomboid crystal, the chaos in Zhu Ziyang's body subsided. His intense concentration slowly relaxed. Outside, Mu En and Xuanzi both sighed in relief.
"Xuanzi," Mu En said, voice utterly exhausted, "go gather everyone."
"Yes." Xuanzi's voice held a trace of sorrow, but he obeyed and left the Sea God Pavilion.
The most dangerous part was over. Only one step remained—placing the newly condensed soul core into Zhu Ziyang's dantian to integrate it into his soul power circulation. This step required no special technique—because Zhu Ziyang's second soul core was a true, fully-formed core.
In the Three Essence Soul Core Method, this second core resided in the qi sea, the lowest of the body's three dantian, making it the Earth Core—representing the "Qi" of the "Essence, Qi, Spirit" triad.
"Qi," broadly, included all forms of worldly energy—like natural elemental energy or spiritual energy. Narrowly, it specifically referred to soul power.
Therefore, Zhu Ziyang's second soul core was the Light and Death Soul Core—a crystal of his exclusive soul power fused with ultimate light and death energy.
With the Light and Death Soul Core in place, his internal soul power circuit immediately formed a massive loop—from the upper Spiritual Fate Soul Core down to the lower Light and Death Soul Core. This interconnected structure, symbolic of the Heaven-Earth unity within the Three Essence Soul Core Method, caused Zhu Ziyang's energy circulation efficiency to multiply several times over.
Now, his cultivation speed, soul power recovery, and even soul skill activation all experienced dramatic improvements.
He couldn't help but feel proud. A sixteen-year-old Soul Saint, with dual soul cores and five black, two red soul rings—was there anyone else in history like him?
Zhu Ziyang opened his eyes. The excitement on his face entered Mu En's weary gaze and stirred a ripple of joy in the old man's dying heart.
But that joy quickly faded as Zhu Ziyang turned to Mu En. Seeing his teacher, he was reminded that the one who had made this all possible was about to leave this world. And with that, he could no longer smile.
(End of Chapter)
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