Xu Yang had to move quickly—if he didn't finish crafting the Hypnosis Lens before heading to Heaven Dou City, time would be too tight. Fortunately, it was only a Grade Two soul tool, so the requirements weren't high and the build time wasn't too long.
In the blink of an eye, a month passed, and the Hypnosis Lens was finally complete.
"Teacher Qin Ming, Yanyan and I will head out first. See you at Shrek!"
With that, Xu Yang and Dugu Yan set off ahead of schedule for Soto City. They had been invited by local nobles to attend a tournament at the Soto City Great Spirit Arena, but Xu Yang, Dugu Yan, and Yu Tianheng were only going as spectators this time.
Teacher Qin Ming's goal was to hone the combat ability of the Emperor Battle Team as a whole. Since Yu Tianheng had already reached the Soul Ancestor realm, Dugu Yan was a Soul King, and Xu Yang himself was a Soul Emperor, their strength was simply too far above the rest. So, the three were arranged to sit in the stands.
The new additions to the team were Xie Huaixin, Zhao Yi, and Yu Dongdong—one control-type and two power-type soul masters. All three were at the Soul Elder level and already possessed silver-tier spirit arena badges at the Heaven Dou Great Spirit Arena. Their strength was solid.
Meanwhile, Xu Yang and Dugu Yan weren't in a rush. The two of them took their time, enjoying the scenery and each other's company. Their relationship deepened rapidly, and one quiet night, they crossed the final threshold. After that, Dugu Yan loved leaning against Xu Yang affectionately, making it clear that she belonged to him.
Half a month later—inside Soto City.
With both hands wrapped around Xu Yang's arm, Dugu Yan clung to him intimately as they strolled through the city's southern streets, calm and carefree. At the same time, Ning Fengzhi and Chen Xin were also on their way to Soto City—their destination: Shrek Academy.
Shrek Academy was located in a small village on the southern outskirts of Soto City. The school was tiny—its facilities were lacking and the environment could be described as poor, but it made up for that with top-tier teaching.
Xu Yang and Dugu Yan hadn't walked far down the country road when they spotted seven figures in the distance, each carrying a heavy bamboo basket, gasping for breath as they ran. The exhaustion on their faces said it all—these seven had clearly been training for quite some time, pushing themselves to the limit of anaerobic endurance.
But when Xu Yang and Dugu Yan recognized the girl running in the center of the group, their faces lit up with wide smiles—it was none other than Ning Rongrong.
"Sister Yanyan! Brother Yang!"
Rongrong's eyes sparkled as she saw them. With a burst of energy, she sprinted ahead and threw herself into Dugu Yan's embrace, shouting excitedly. Dugu Yan immediately let go of Xu Yang's arm and welcomed her into her arms, completely unconcerned about the stone-laden basket on Rongrong's back.
Peeking out from Dugu Yan's embrace, Rongrong grinned.
"What are you two doing here?!"
Xu Yang flicked her forehead with a sharp "thwack," making Rongrong yelp and grab her head.
"We came to check on you, of course. You've got some guts, sneaking out of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Clan without a word. What were you going to do if something happened?"
Even though he knew full well that Ning Fengzhi had secretly allowed her to leave, he still needed to scold her in front of others—to help her remember to think things through in the future.
"I was wrong, Brother Yang… I won't do it again."
Rongrong lowered her hand from her forehead, looking slightly aggrieved.
The other six Shrek students had already stopped running and were now watching Xu Yang and Dugu Yan from a short distance. When they saw how closely Dugu Yan clung to Xu Yang, Ma Hongjun's eyes were full of jealousy and admiration.
Tang San, Zhu Zhuqing, and the rest examined Xu Yang curiously. This was the "brother" Rongrong had talked about so often—what was so special about him? But after looking for a while, they saw only a handsome, sun-kissed young man with a lazy air. Nothing particularly striking. If anything, he seemed like an ordinary person.
What truly startled them wasn't Xu Yang himself, but the green-robed Sister Yanyan standing beside him. The soul power fluctuations coming from her surpassed even some of Shrek Academy's instructors. To possess such strength at her age—there was no doubt she hailed from an extraordinary background.
After finishing his brief lecture, Xu Yang turned his gaze toward Tang San, studying the protagonist carefully. At this stage, Tang San appeared very ordinary, though his eyes did shine with a certain clarity and intelligence.
Seeing that Xu Yang was observing her classmates, Ning Rongrong stepped out of Dugu Yan's arms and introduced them.
"Brother Yang, Sister Yanyan, these are my classmates from the academy: Tang San, Xiao Wu, Zhu Zhuqing, Dai Mubai, Oscar, and Ma Hongjun."
"I'm Xu Yang, and this is Dugu Yan. Pleased to meet you all."
Xu Yang waved in greeting with a warm smile, while Dugu Yan nodded politely.
At that moment, Tang San took two steps forward, scratching his head awkwardly.
"Brother Xu… we're still in the middle of our training session. Do you think we could talk after we finish? If we don't complete it in time, we'll get punished…"
"Yeah, Brother Yang, I'll talk to you after training!"
Hearing the word "punished," all seven Shrek students visibly shivered. Clearly, Grandmaster's punishments were no joke. Rongrong adjusted the heavy basket on her back and quickly returned to her training.
"Alright, let's catch up afterward," Xu Yang said with a chuckle.
He raised his hand—and behind him, a sun appeared. Six spirit rings glowed beneath his feet: yellow, purple, black, black, black, black. The mere fluctuation of soul power that followed was faint but unmistakably profound.
"First Soul Skill: Morning Light!"
Before anyone could react, a gentle yet overwhelmingly powerful soul force surged into their bodies. Their fatigue vanished in an instant, replaced by a tingling sense of warmth and recovery.
Their overworked muscles and lingering internal injuries from long-term training were healing rapidly. Tang San closed his eyes, sensing the flow of energy within—this gentle yet tyrannical force was actually breaking through blockages in his meridians. It had just opened up his Yang Qiao meridian!
"So strong… There's barely any visible soul power, but this feels more dangerous than Teacher Zhao…"
Opening his eyes, Tang San's pupils shimmered with purple light. For the first time, his body had reacted with instinctive dread—this young man made him feel more threatened than Zhao Wuji ever had.
The rest of the group stared at Xu Yang's exaggerated spirit ring configuration in stunned silence. One by one, their jaws dropped. No one could figure out how he had pulled off a ten-thousand-year third ring.
"Consider that your welcome gift," Xu Yang said with a warm smile as he withdrew his martial soul. He reached out and ruffled Rongrong's hair affectionately before turning to leave with Dugu Yan, heading toward Shrek Academy.
Only after the two had disappeared down the road did the other Shrek students snap out of their daze. They immediately clustered around Ning Rongrong as they jogged, chattering nonstop.
"Rongrong, your brother's even more insane than you made him sound!" Ma Hongjun said, still stunned.
"I've never seen a soul ring setup like that… The common sense of the entire soul master world just doesn't apply to him!"
"…"
PS: Read Advance Chapters at https://www.patreon.com/c/ReadJin