The Glory of the Sun and Moon in the Peerless Tang Sect

Elder Xuan and the others remained cautiously observing him. A quarter of an hour passed, and Xu Zihuang's expression remained calm. Although his entire body was constantly flashing with silver light, and his body was somewhat swollen.

Everyone felt a chill run down their spines.

This is clearly a state where one is nearing their limit. Under such circumstances, the pain endured is absolutely unimaginable.

But Xu Zihuang remained completely still, without even a change in expression.

They are all inner court disciples, but who dares to say they have that kind of self-control?

Zhang Lexuan felt the same way.

When she absorbed the eighth spirit ring, which was 100,000 years old, she was in the same state as Xu Zihuang now. It took her half a year to recover afterwards.

"It's still too much of a stretch," Zhang Lexuan sighed inwardly, her eyes revealing deep concern.

Tianmeng Ice Silkworm was also terrified.

The Heavenly Dream Ice Silkworm condensed its form within Xu Zihuang's spiritual sea. Its small, golden eyes shimmered with light, and deeply moved, it spoke softly.

"Zihuang, you're nearing your limit. Let me seal the remaining power of your spirit rings for now."

This time, unusually, it did not refer to itself as 'brother'.

Xu Zihuang conveyed a sense of affirmation to Tianmeng Ice Silkworm, and then immersed himself once again in the realization of the fusion between the soul ring and himself.

When he began fusing the Silver Elite Beast Soul Ring, he communicated with the Heavenly Dream Ice Silkworm. The idea was to push himself to the limit as much as possible, and only let the latter help if he could no longer bear it.

His persistence paid off.

He absorbed and fused most of the energy in the Silver Elite Beast's soul ring, and in the end, the Heavenly Dream Ice Silkworm only helped him seal the equivalent of five thousand years of soul ring power.

In other words, once he completes the fusion, his fourth spirit ring will be able to unleash the power of a 30,000-year spirit ring.

With the help of the Heavenly Dream Ice Silkworm, the subsequent fusion process was no longer in doubt. After experiencing the initial painful stage, the black fourth spirit ring began to slowly imprint itself on his soul and body.

It was unclear how much time had passed in the outside world.

Xu Zihuang sprang to his feet as he reopened his eyes, stretching his body forcefully. A powerful sense of strength instantly filled his entire being. His flexibility had increased, and the breakthrough in his soul power had once again propelled his overall strength to a new level.

With a thought, golden light surged in his eyes.

Purple, purple, purple, black—four spirit rings rose from beneath his feet, and a surge of violent spirit power instantly swept across the entire arena.

Although the Silver Spirit Beast had a cultivation level of over 35,000 years, after fusing with its soul ring, Xu Zihuang's soul power level only increased by two levels, reaching level 42.

This demonstrates the immense difficulty of increasing one's soul power level with an ultimate martial soul. However, in return, the depth of one's soul power foundation is far greater than that of an ordinary soul master.

His current soul power is only level 42, but most Soul Kings probably don't even have as much soul power as him.

After a moment of reflection, a hint of joy flashed through Xu Zihuang's heart.

He successfully obtained the Silver Beast's imprinting skill. However, after combining it with his Golden Eye Martial Soul, this fourth soul skill had even more advantages.

After regaining his composure, he realized that it had gotten dark again. Elder Xuan was nowhere to be seen.

Zhang Lexuan, Wu Ming, Chu Qingtian, and Ye Liu all stood guard by his side.

Chapter 132 The Forty-Thousand-Year-Old Earth King and the Imprint of the Fourth Soul Skill

Seeing that Xu Zihuang had finished his reflections, Chu Qingtian smiled and gave Xu Zihuang a thumbs up.

He had a completely heartfelt appreciation for Xu Zihuang, his junior schoolmate with amazing talent and willpower.

He knew he could never absorb a spirit ring that was over 30,000 years old so easily.

"Congratulations, Junior Brother Yu. After fusing with a soul ring that's over 30,000 years old, your soul power must have increased by more than one level."

"I've managed to break through to level forty-two by sheer luck," Xu Zihuang said with a smile to the crowd.

"Senior Chu, Senior Wu, and Senior Ye, if you don't mind, you can call me Tianhuang like Senior Sister does."

Chu Qingtian and Ye Liu readily agreed. They were more than happy to establish a good relationship with Xu Zihuang.

The academy's high regard for Yu Tianhuang can be seen from Elder Xuan's previous attitude.

Wu Ming, a senior student who was even more forthright than the men, stepped forward, patted Xu Zihuang's shoulder with her delicate hand, and said with a hearty laugh.

"Not bad, you're just my type. A man should be straightforward like this, not like some people who are all coy and hesitant. Once you enter the inner academy, I'll protect you. If anyone messes with you, just tell them to come straight to me."

Gazing at the harmonious scene before her, Zhang Lexuan smiled slightly.

"Alright, we still need to find suitable spirit rings for Ming'er and Ye Liu tomorrow. Everyone, get some rest tonight."

"Yes, Senior Sister."

Sharing hardships is the best way to foster relationships between people. Although Xu Zihuang has only been in contact with Wu Ming and the other inner court disciples for less than three days, he has clearly already become one of them.

Zhang Lexuan was pleased with the outcome.

Assessing a Soul Master's future potential involves more than just personal strength and teamwork; character is also crucial. A solitary person is unlikely to achieve great things. To gain support, one must first cultivate good interpersonal relationships.

She was genuinely grateful that the academy had such a gifted student as Yu Tianhuang.

Although the group encountered several soul beasts during the night, they were mostly at the thousand-year level. No one else needed to intervene; Wu Ming dealt with them all single-handedly.

Taking this opportunity, the group also disposed of the corpses of the Netherworld Tiger and the Silver Beast.

Unfortunately, no soul bone was found inside.

The stronger a soul beast is in terms of cultivation and power, the higher the chance it will drop a soul bone. However, this is only in theory.

It's quite possible that you might hunt down a dozen or so ten-thousand-year-old soul beasts without any results, while by sheer chance, you might hunt down a thousand-year-old soul beast and unexpectedly obtain a soul bone.

So, most of the time it depends on luck.

The flesh of the Netherworld Tiger and the Silver Spirit Beast was not suitable for consumption, so the group only collected some of the more valuable materials from their bodies.

For example, the claws of the Netherworld Tiger can be used to create high-level melee soul tools.

All the materials collected together could be sold for at least 100,000 gold soul coins outside.

The Netherworld Tiger was dealt with by Xu Zihuang and Zhang Lexuan working together, but according to Shrek Academy's rules, those who see it get a share.

Of course, Xu Zihuang and Zhang Lexuan still make up the majority of the group.

This is also a major source of income for the inner court disciples.

The inner court disciples are always happiest when they enter the Star Dou Great Forest.

This is because it not only means that you can acquire a Soul Ring to advance to the next level, but you can also earn a lot of extra money.

After all, under the care of the teachers and instructors at Shrek Academy, accidents are ultimately rare.

In the early morning, the Star Forest was filled with mist and the morning dew was very damp, but it also made the breath of life more intense.

After eating some dry rations and drinking water, the group, led by Zhang Lexuan, began searching the mixed zone again.

Wu Ming and Ye Liu had already planned what kind of spirit beast they would choose for their next spirit ring.

The types of spirit beasts that were drawn up were far more common than the Netherworld Ghost Tiger and Silver Spirit Beast that the group had encountered before. As long as their cultivation level and age were suitable, they would be fine.

However, despite their careful search under Zhang Lexuan's guidance, they still couldn't find a suitable soul beast for the two of them after two whole days.

Two days passed. Everyone had storage soul tools, so food supplies weren't a problem. However, living daily in the perilous Star Dou Great Forest mixed zone still kept them under immense mental strain, making them more prone to fatigue.

But it was precisely because of this crisis that the teamwork among everyone became much smoother. Such teamwork is something that can only be developed through constant coordinated combat, and in this dangerous environment, it was clearly the best training ground.

Xu Zihuang also used this opportunity to get a general assessment of his overall strength.

"Roar—" A deafening roar resounded through the sky, and what appeared before everyone was a lion-like soul beast that was nearly five meters long and more than two meters tall at the shoulder.

The lion's distinctive mane spread out, and its fiery red fur appeared even more majestic and powerful under the illumination of the flames surrounding its body.

His muscles were sharply defined, and his brown-yellow eyes exuded a cold aura.

After that roar, it charged straight towards the group from the front. As the Flame Lion King ran, flames rose continuously from its body. The intense heat distorted the space around it.

"The Flame Lion King has just over ten thousand years of cultivation."

Xu Zihuang calmly made an extremely accurate judgment.

Wu Ming, who was initially very interested in the Flame Lion King, showed a hint of disappointment in his eyes after learning its exact cultivation level.

"Tianhuang, it's the same old rule, you cooperate with me."

Wu Ming was already in a bad mood because she hadn't found a soul beast with suitable attributes and age for several days. When the Flame Lion King attacked them, she immediately became furious.

There was a hint of coldness in his voice.

Chu Qingtian and Ye Liu shrank back as if by conditioned reflex.

Xu Zihuang then understood and activated his second soul skill.

A strange, dark red ripple enveloped the entire area, and under his mental lock, the massive body of the Flame Lion King was instantly covered with a thick layer of dark red crystal.

After he officially advanced to the Soul Master level, the power of his second Soul Skill became even stronger.

It might not be enough to seriously injure the ancient Flame Lion King, but it was more than enough to restrain it for a few seconds.

The Flame Lion King's charging body was suddenly enveloped by dark red crystal, causing it to stop in mid-air.

After a full two seconds of stalemate, the flames rising from its body suddenly condensed and transformed into a beam of fire identical to its body, blasting the dark red crystal into countless fragments.

Flame Lion King's innate skill: Flame Clone Strike.

But in those two seconds of stalemate, Wu Ming touched the ground with her toes and leaped out.

Golden-red Golden Crow True Fire rose from her delicate body. With a delicate shout, she pointed her right hand to the sky as she charged forward, and her fourth soul ring shone brightly.

A sphere of light, about the size of a longan but with a ruby-red hue, suddenly shot into the sky.

When the ball of light first appeared, it was indeed very small, but it grew rapidly in the face of the wind. When it rose to a height of about 30 meters above the ground, it had become the size of a washbasin. Then, like a meteor chasing the moon, it ruthlessly slammed into the ancient Flame Lion King.

The Flame Lion King's fiery clones, which broke through the dark red crystal's seal, continued to strike at full speed, but the moment they touched the ball of light, they vanished as if ice and snow were melting away.

This is entirely due to suppression in terms of attributes and cultivation level.

The Flame Lion King is indeed a very powerful existence among fire-attribute soul beasts, but it is still completely suppressed when facing Wu Ming's Golden Crow Martial Soul.

After engulfing the fiery clone, the ball of light slammed heavily into the main body of the Flame Lion King.

It wasn't that the Flame Lion King didn't want to avoid it; it was simply that Xu Zihuang's second soul skill, Mirror Annihilation, was too powerful in its restrictive force, and the timing was extremely precise. Just breaking through the Mirror Annihilation's blockade had exhausted its entire strength.

The control-type Soul Master's restrictive abilities and the explosive power of the offensive-type Soul Master are undoubtedly the best combination.

Then, this ancient fire lion king met its tragic end.