Douluo: The Martial Soul Asura Armor, a Good Spirit Turning Evil

The next day, Duanmu Yan and Ye Guyi returned to Shrek Academy.

Sea God Pavilion, Dean's Office.

Yan Shaozhe sat in the main seat and listened to Duanmu Yan's report. His expression darkened.

"Evil Soul Masters have an organization?" he repeated, tapping his fingertips on the armrest. "Are you sure?"

"Confirmed." Duanmu Yan said succinctly, "Their methods were unified, their division of labor was clear, they weren't a disorganized mob. Especially that last mention of the Holy Religion, I suspect..."

Yan Shaozhe did not ask any further questions.

He stood up and walked out of the council chamber.

In less than half an hour, the long-dormant meeting of the Sea God Pavilion was urgently convened.

Duanmu Yan had nothing to do with the meeting.

He sat in the side hall waiting, and could hear several old voices arguing from the other side of the wall. He couldn't make out the specifics, but their tone was not relaxed.

The final decision was simple and clear.

Strengthen patrols along the border, especially in remote mountainous areas and areas where spirit beasts are found.

There was no large-scale mobilization, no grand fanfare.

They simply cast a few more nets in the shadows.

Duanmu Yan had no objection to this result.

The Holy Spirit Cult existed for 30,000 years in the original story, and he didn't expect Shrek Academy to do anything; that was enough.

The next few days were peaceful.

He cultivated his soul power during the day and immersed himself in the second spiritual sea at night, becoming familiar with the two parallel currents.

Electrolux occasionally offered a few words of advice, but mostly remained silent, as if gathering his strength.

He kept the Blade of Guardianship close to his body.

The blade is warm and smooth, like a piece of warm jade, constantly radiating a faint warmth.

Ye Guyi did come to see him a few times.

They would simply spar, eat, or do nothing at all, just sit in his yard and bask in the sun.

Duanmu Yan wasn't good at handling this kind of interaction, but he didn't reject it either.

A few days later, the training day arrived.

The inner courtyard's fighting arena is built on the first basement level. It has a high dome, and the surrounding walls are embedded with lighting soul guides, giving off a cool and clear light.

In the center of the arena was a sunken circular arena, with protective magic array patterns engraved on its edges.

When Duanmu Yan and Ye Guyi walked in side by side, there were already people inside.

not much.

A few people stood by the ring, talking in hushed tones.

Duanmu Yan glanced at them and saw that most of them were unfamiliar faces.

Zhang Lexuan, Han Ruoruo, Wu Ming, Chu Qingtian, Ma Xiaotao, Dai Yueheng, Ling Luochen, Gongyang Mo, Yao Haoxuan, Xixi, Chen Zifeng...

Duanmu Yan had only been in the Inner Court for a year, and he spent most of that time hunting evil soul masters outside, so he had almost no connections with people in the Inner Court.

He had met some of these people once, either on the entrance exam stage or by chance in the cafeteria.

Some I've never even met once; I've only heard their names.

No one greeted us first.

Duanmu Yan didn't mind and walked to the corner to stand.

Ye Guyi followed beside him, glanced around the area, and lowered her voice: "The people from the inner courtyard seem to have quite the airs."

Duanmu Yan did not respond.

His gaze was fixed on the center of the arena.

It doesn't mean anything else, it's just curiosity about new and interesting things.

A person stood on the arena, with his back to them, seemingly inspecting the patterns of the protective magic array.

The person turned around.

He was a young man with a cold and hard face, sharp eyes, and wore the badge of a core disciple of the inner court on his chest.

He looked at Duanmu Yan and sized him up.

"You're Duanmu Yan?"

Duanmu Yan nodded.

The young man didn't say much, but simply tilted his head towards the arena.

"Come here, let's take a test."

The young man walked to the edge of the arena and pressed a mechanism on the wall.

A dark gray metal plate emerged from the wall. The plate was smooth and engraved with fine, dense markings. A transparent crystal was embedded in the center.

"Soul Power Tester." The young man pointed to the metal plate. "Put your hand on it."

Duanmu Yan stepped forward and placed his hand on the crystal.

The moment the soul power was injected, the crystal lit up with a pale blue light.

The scale lines lit up in concentric circles from the inside out, moving at an extremely fast speed, and in the blink of an eye, they crossed the fiftieth scale line.

Fifty-one, fifty-three, fifty-five...

All eyes gradually turned to them.

Fifty-eight, sixty.

The scale line is still climbing upwards.

Sixty-two.

The light pattern stopped here, steadily and smoothly.

There was a moment of silence on the sidelines.

Level 62.

The arena fell silent for a moment.

The people who had been talking in hushed tones stopped and their eyes fell on the crystal pillar.

Level 62 is nothing special in the inner court. For example, Ma Xiaotao and Dai Yueheng are already over level 60.

The problem is time.

How old is Duanmu Yancai?

According to their intelligence, he appears to be only fifteen years old, meaning he entered the inner court before even finishing his studies in the outer court.

This is no longer a matter of cultivation speed.

"Monster," someone whispered from the corner.

Duanmu Yan withdrew his hand, his expression unchanged, and stepped aside.

Ye Guyi stepped forward and placed her hand on the crystal pillar.

Level 54.

It has risen two levels since a few days ago.

During the days she hunted down evil spirit masters, her sword never stopped.

The stimulation of soul power from life-or-death battles far exceeds that of daily cultivation. Coupled with the feedback from the Angelic Martial Soul, this increase is reasonable.

But even placed in the inner courtyard, it still stands out.

At that moment, a clear, cool female voice came from the sidelines.

"Is everyone here?"

Zhang Lexuan stepped out from the crowd and stood at the edge of the ring.

She was dressed in a neat and tidy outfit, her long hair tied back, and her expression carried the composure unique to the senior disciple of the inner courtyard.

"This training will follow the competition rules." She glanced around at everyone present. "Two-on-two, three-on-three, and finally a seven-person team battle. Opponents will be drawn by lot, and no one is allowed to hold back."

Her gaze fell on Duanmu Yan and Ye Guyi, and she paused for a moment.

"You two are new here, so get used to the pace first. You don't need to participate in the first two rounds, just observe. You can join in the final team battle."

As soon as he finished speaking, someone on the sidelines frowned.

"Senior Sister, this isn't appropriate," Wu Ming said, arms crossed, her tone tinged with dissatisfaction. "Training is training. There's no reason to give them special treatment. Their soul power isn't low either, so why shouldn't they participate?"

Most of the other trainees nodded silently, but their meaning was clear.

Zhang Lexuan glanced at Wu Ming and said calmly, "They've spent most of the year on missions outside and aren't familiar with the inner academy's training methods. It's easy for problems to arise if they go straight into the arena."

"Then they should definitely go out and try it out," Wu Ming insisted. "Once they're on the battlefield, the enemy won't give them time to get used to it."

The atmosphere paused slightly.

Ye Guyi raised an eyebrow, about to speak, when Duanmu Yan stepped forward first.

"Senior Sister, there's no need to trouble yourself," he said calmly. "Just do the testing as it's supposed to be done."

He looked at Wu Ming, his gaze neither aggressive nor warm.