[Extra]
Although they couldn't let Xuan Zi die, both Han Ruoruo and Wu Ming were quite happy to see him suffer a little.
After all, Xuan Zi's negligence had caused the deaths of so many inner court disciples. If not for Lu Jingming's group, Han Ruoruo and Wu Ming would have died in the Star Dou Forest as well.
So, they tacitly ignored Lu Jingming's second martial soul and simply did a rough bandage job before bidding farewell and taking Xuan Zi away.
Lu Jingming watched their figures fade into the distance, a smile playing at his lips. He turned to Zhang Lexuan, amusement in his eyes. "Sister Lexuan, your luck is pretty good. You just entered the core area and already encountered a hundred-thousand-year soul beast perfect for you."
"Yes, but I really didn't expect the famous Taotie Douluo to be like that. It was quite a disappointment," Zhang Lexuan sighed softly.
She had visited Shrek Academy before—its ancient city, magnificent buildings, legendary statues, sparkling Sea God Lake, and the towering Golden Tree on Sea God Island had all amazed her.
But who could have guessed that the Taotie Douluo, the academy's public face, would be so disappointing?
Xuan Zi was unkempt, with no regard for his appearance. While this could be seen as unrestrained, he was also rash, impulsive, and irresponsible, making it hard for Zhang Lexuan to like him.
In the perilous core of Star Dou Forest, he abandoned his students to indulge in food and drink, with no thought for their safety. Such irresponsibility was truly chilling.
By contrast, Jingliu, for all her unfathomable strength, never left their side, always staying within a hundred meters.
Because within that hundred meters, under Jingliu's protection, no one could cross and threaten their safety.
This dedication to protection stood in stark contrast to Xuan Zi's behavior.
"How the Taotie Douluo acts is Shrek's problem, not ours. Right now, the urgent thing is for you to absorb the Silvermoon Flood Dragon King's soul ring, Sister Lexuan—before anything unexpected happens," Lu Jingming said calmly.
He had no intention of getting involved in Shrek's internal problems.
Zhang Lexuan nodded, realizing she'd been overthinking.
With Jingliu's help, Zhang Lexuan soon found the Silvermoon Flood Dragon King's soul core.
Once the core was destroyed, the beast's massive body instantly lost all life, and its life force was completely extinguished.
In a flash, a blood-red soul ring rose slowly from the giant corpse, radiating a terrifying soul power.
Even in death, the Silvermoon Flood Dragon King's aura and malice as a hundred-thousand-year soul beast lingered.
There was no need for Jingliu to drive anything away: all the soul beasts nearby felt the powerful pressure and retreated far away.
So, Zhang Lexuan could safely and boldly absorb this precious hundred-thousand-year soul ring on the spot.
She sat cross-legged, a silvery moon faintly visible above her head, and two yellow, two purple, and three black soul rings—seven in total—appeared around her.
Now, she was concentrating fully, drawing the blood-red soul ring of the Silvermoon Flood Dragon King into herself, trying to make it her eighth soul ring.
Lu Jingming leaned quietly against a tree, closed his eyes, and began to meditate.
He knew well that absorbing a hundred-thousand-year soul ring was no easy feat. Zhang Lexuan would have to endure the ring's immense power and fight a fierce battle with the beast's remnant soul—a long and arduous process. The time it would take depended not just on the soul master's physical and mental strength but also on the resistance of the soul beast's remnant soul and the compatibility between master and ring.
Zhang Lexuan's body and spirit were already at the Title Douluo level, so in theory, there shouldn't be much obstacle.
However, the Silvermoon Flood Dragon King's remnant soul would resist desperately, unwilling to let its killer off so easily.
Fortunately, Zhang Lexuan's attributes were a perfect match for the soul ring, so the biggest challenge would be overcoming the remnant soul's resistance.
Normally, absorbing a hundred-thousand-year soul ring would take three days to a week.
But the actual duration would depend on Zhang Lexuan's own effort and willpower.
In the world of soul masters, most choose to absorb the soul ring on the spot after killing a soul beast.
But this process requires a trustworthy guardian.
Without one, or if betrayed, the soul master could end up doomed, as during absorption both body and spirit are at their weakest.
That's why the Sun-Moon Empire spent vast resources developing a soul tool that could store soul rings.
With this tool, a soul master could store the ring and absorb it later in safety.
However, these tools were extremely rare and could only store the ring for three days to a week. After that, the ring would vanish.
Luckily, Zhang Lexuan didn't need to worry. With Jingliu as her protector, she could absorb the soul ring with no fear of outside interference.
…
While Zhang Lexuan immersed herself in absorbing the ring, far away in the forbidden zone of Star Dou Forest, the calm ground suddenly cracked open.
Golden light flashed, and a gigantic silkworm, over seven meters long, slowly crawled out.
"I've finally escaped! Ten thousand years—at last I see sunlight again!" The huge snowy-white silkworm actually spoke, gazing at the sky in rapturous joy.
"No, I have to quickly find a human with powerful spiritual power, or my life is truly finished." After a moment of excitement, the silkworm snapped back to reality, realizing the danger of its situation.
It spread its immense spiritual power as far as possible, fleeing south through the forest while searching desperately for a suitable human soul master.