Time passed swiftly.
Half a year later—
"Sigh…"
Inside his dorm at Shrek Academy, Zhu Ziyang slowly opened his eyes and sighed.
"If I had broken through yesterday… I would've become a Soul Ancestor at eleven. Such a shame…"
Though he lamented aloud, the expression on his young, handsome face betrayed his true feelings—joy, excitement, satisfaction. A mix of positive emotions lit up his features, and even the air around him seemed more cheerful.
"Haha! You brat—saying things like that just makes people hate you more!"
Electrolux's voice rang out in his mind, full of laughter.
"What? I was just being honest," Zhu Ziyang said innocently. "If I hadn't spent most of the last six months focusing on other things, I would've hit Soul Ancestor long ago."
"That's true," Electrolux admitted, nodding in approval.
The past half-year had been incredibly fulfilling for Zhu Ziyang. His schedule was packed daily, with only one day off per month.
During the day, he trained with Elder Mu En, studying Dominion Over the World and dragon martial soul combat techniques. At night, he trained with Electrolux, learning to wield death energy and necromancy. His soul power cultivation had been compressed to the minimum—so much so that it took him six full months just to reach rank 39. He finally used one of the Soul Ascension Pills to break through to rank 40.
The Soul Ascension Pills rewarded by the academy were specially crafted and far more potent than commercial versions. This was clear from the way his rank jumped directly from 39 to 40.
Now a pseudo–Soul Ancestor, Zhu Ziyang was in great spirits. He leapt out of bed and began humming as he went to wash up. After finishing, he had calmed himself down again. As a proper genius, Zhu Ziyang knew better than to let emotions get the best of him—moderation in all things.
He left his dorm and headed to the main gate.
Elder Mu wasn't there, but Zhu Ziyang wasn't surprised. He took out a book and began reading, waiting for Jiang Nannan to arrive.
"...The Body Martial Soul is among the rarest and most unique types known. Compared to traditional tool and beast martial souls, its awakening rate is extremely low.
But rarity implies potential. Since our sect first proposed the concept of body martial souls, their strength has become widely acknowledged across the continent…
…Compared to traditional martial souls, body martial souls are more naturally integrated. Tool soul masters must master external objects; beast soul masters draw strength from transformation. But body soul masters achieve innate unity between soul and body. Their physical bodies are inherently refined. As such, at equal ranks, they often outmatch others in combat…
…Unlike traditional soul evolutions, body martial souls possess a trait called Second Awakening—a profound enhancement of the user's own body, not just the martial soul. This is different from simple evolution, which affects only the soul spirit…
…Our sect classifies these into Bronze Awakening and Silver Awakening. Silver-level body souls can rival top-tier martial souls. A third stage, Golden Awakening, may occur when breaking into Title Douluo rank—potentially producing what we call a 'Divine Martial Soul'...
…In short, the mystery of body martial souls is as vast and unexplored as the night sky. As our sect founder, the First Body Douluo, once said:
'The body martial soul is a gift from the heavens.'"
The book was titled Introduction to the Body Martial Soul, written 3,000 years ago by a powerful expert of the Body Sect as a primer for new disciples.
Why was Zhu Ziyang reading it now? The reason traced back to Mu En and Yan Shaozhe.
First, there was Mu En's condition. He had a severe back injury and could no longer stand straight. That was why he was always slouched in his wooden chair. According to Yan Shaozhe, the injury came from a battle against the previous Body Sect master, the Body Douluo Du Bisi. At the time, both were level 98 Super Douluos. The Body Douluo, empowered by his formidable martial soul, fought Mu En to a standstill. Though Mu En won and later advanced to rank 99, he was left with a permanently damaged spine.
Second, the strength of the Body Sect itself. It was one of the only two human factions on the continent that could rival Shrek Academy. The sect had at least ten Title Douluos, and their uniquely powerful martial souls meant even their high-ranked Soul Douluos could challenge ordinary Title Douluos. Most impressively, all of their power came from within—they had no national backing. By comparison, Mingde Hall of the Sun Moon Empire, Shrek's other main rival, had the full support of the empire behind it. That made the Body Sect's accomplishments all the more astonishing.
Third, Zhu Ziyang's personal curiosity. Elder Mu had briefly mentioned life force cultivation, and even though Zhu Ziyang didn't need it himself, the idea intrigued him. How had the Body Sect—a much younger organization than Shrek—managed to uncover a method even Shrek hadn't?
Unfortunately, reliable books on the Body Sect were scarce, and fewer still had meaningful content. All that outsiders really knew was that they were powerful and secretive.
The sect itself didn't seem to favor written records. Introduction to the Body Martial Soul was the thickest book Zhu Ziyang could find—and it had only ten pages.
"Ziyang!"
Beibei approached with Xu Sanshi beside him. Though their classes had been reassigned, their dorm assignments hadn't changed—Beibei and Xu Sanshi still roomed together.
"Good morning," Xu Sanshi greeted. "By the way—your birthday dinner the other night? Amazing!"
He was referring to the birthday banquet Zhu Ziyang had hosted two days ago. Turning twelve was a big milestone. Zhu Changhe and his wife had written weeks in advance, urging him to celebrate it properly. Zhu Changhe had even visited Shrek in person half a month before, delivering birthday gifts—including a set of clothes hand-stitched by Liang Ying—before leaving in a rush, saying he was busy at home. The whole thing had left Zhu Ziyang puzzled and a little exasperated.
Elder Mu had also remembered his birthday and asked Yan Shaozhe to help arrange something. Yan Shaozhe, Xian Lin'er, Qian Duoduo, and Cai Meier had all contributed to a banquet hosted in Shrek City.
Zhu Ziyang had invited his entire class and all his teachers. Xu Sanshi, eager to impress Xue Weiwei, shamelessly tagged along for the food.
"I'm glad you enjoyed it," Zhu Ziyang smiled. After Beibei advanced to Soul Elder, Xu Sanshi soon followed. They'd even sparred—Xu Sanshi lost, but still impressed everyone with his talent. Beibei was now rank 34, and Xu Sanshi, 33.
Soon after, Jiang Nannan and Tang Ya arrived.
"Brother~" Jiang Nannan beamed, wrapping her arm around Zhu Ziyang's.
Tang Ya followed her lead and latched onto Beibei.
Xu Sanshi stood there, expression blank, watching the four walk off together. He remained at the gate, waiting for Xue Weiwei.
Half a year had passed.
Jiang Nannan's soul power had reached rank 35, though that was a result of intentional suppression. Elder Song had advised her to fully stabilize her martial soul before focusing on soul power. Now that the process was nearly complete, she could finally start training in earnest.
Tang Ya had reached rank 28. The Wood Spirit Pill and Mysterious Water Pill had helped her immensely. Combined with her diligence, she now ranked just behind the Soul Elders in their grade.