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Seeing Shen Yi remain insistent, the administrator had no choice but to agree.
An exhibition match between the junior division team and the previous year's youth division champion team would surely ignite the atmosphere at the event.
However, if Shrek were to actually win, it might be difficult to handle the aftermath…
The administrator mulled this over in his mind.
Shen Yi could easily read what he was thinking and spoke frankly: "There's no need for any fixed matches. If they can defeat us, Shrek Academy will grant the Tianhai Alliance ten additional special recruitment slots for the inner court every year."
Ten!
Whistle~
The administrator was momentarily stunned by the sheer magnitude of Shen Yi's offer.
In total, the entire Tianhai Alliance only had a limited number of slots every three years—now they were being offered an extra ten!
Special recruitment slots for the inner court meant that candidates with scores of 85 or higher could enter the inner court, while those with scores of 60 or higher were guaranteed entry into the outer court. Although the assessment for the inner court was more difficult than the outer court's, the pass rate was significantly higher.
Ten slots meant at least five students could enter the outer court.
Graduating from the outer court meant achieving at least the rank of a one-character battle armor master.
For a developing region like the Tianhai Alliance, even one-character battle armor masters were rare.
"Yu Yuanfeng, tell this administrator your soul power level," Shen Yi instructed.
Despite being young, Yu Yuanfeng exuded a calm and steady aura, though not without a sense of pressure. He stepped forward slowly and stated, "Yu Yuanfeng, first-year student of the outer court, soul power level forty-five."
After the holidays, he would be in his second year. At this point, whether he claimed himself as a first-year or second-year student made no difference.
The administrator felt a headache coming on.
Forty-five levels!
Was this what Shrek was all about?
"Alright, I understand," he said, his heart filled with both excitement and heaviness.
"I'll show you around first so you don't get lost when the competition starts the day after tomorrow. It'll be crowded then, so make sure you don't wander off," Shen Yi told Xu Yuan and the others.
Of course, her words were primarily directed at Ye Xinglan and Xu Lizhi.
Over the past three years, Xu Yuan had consistently demonstrated maturity and composure. Ye Xinglan, on the other hand, retained a childlike air, her pride manifesting as a form of tsundere behavior. As for little fatty Xu Lizhi?
He was harmless, the type who might happily accept candy from strangers when hungry.
"Yes, Teacher Shen, we understand," Xu Lizhi replied obediently.
"Brother Yuan, the competition is the day after tomorrow. Where are you going?" After checking out the venue, Xu Yuan requested to leave the group.
"My family lives in Tianhai City, and my uncle asked me to come home," Xu Yuan explained dryly.
Did this little fatty have some clingy tendencies?
Xu Yuan wished the little fatty would go bother Ye Xinglan instead.
Thanks to his influence over the past three years, although Xu Lizhi was still chubby, he wasn't excessively so—he was now adorably plump.
As for becoming a future tank-type soul master?
That depended entirely on Xu Lizhi's self-discipline.
Xu Yuan's Great Devouring Heaven and Earth Technique not only promoted digestion but also emphasized energy absorption. Provided training kept up, energy shouldn't accumulate as fat.
Unless the technique was solely used to increase appetite.
Over the past three years, Xu Lizhi had been actively assisting Xu Yuan in refining the technique.
To a certain extent, Xu Lizhi's talent in this area was remarkable. His ability to digest so efficiently purely through his own constitution was itself a form of innate talent.
When improving the Five-Element digestion enhancement aspect of the technique, Xu Yuan referenced the Five-Element structure within Xu Lizhi's body, resulting in significant improvements.
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At the Xu Family Residence
"Uncle, I'm back," Xu Yuan announced as he entered his uncle's study.
At that moment, Xu Shengqun was deeply engrossed in studying materials—mostly related to spear techniques and spatial theories obtained through the Spirit Pagoda under Xu Zhi's influence. In his twenties, Xu Shengqun had begun shifting his habits, placing greater emphasis on theoretical learning.
Cultivation sometimes required studying.
A deeper understanding of the essence of space undoubtedly benefited the refinement and completion of the Void-Piercing Spear Technique.
It wasn't just the Void-Piercing Spear Technique—any soul master's cultivation also relied on learning.
"Little Yuan, the grand competition should be the day after tomorrow. Why are you coming home today?" Xu Shengqun chuckled.
Xu Yuan was speechless.
Didn't you know what you did just a few days ago?
"Uncle, what exactly is this 'surprise' you mentioned during the soul-guided communication?" Xu Yuan asked curiously. "It's not like I suddenly have an aunt or a cousin, right?"
"Cough, cough…" Xu Shengqun choked momentarily, coughing twice before replying irritably, "What nonsense are you spouting, kid?"
He glared at Xu Yuan.
"It's all for your spirit soul."
"My spirit soul?" Xu Yuan was surprised. "Which martial soul's spirit soul?"
Xu Yuan had previously outlined plans for his spirit souls to his uncle, making it easier for him to search and find suitable candidates through the Spirit Envoy channels.
For each martial soul, Xu Yuan had prepared detailed plans regarding the next spirit soul or preferences for specific types of spirit beasts. These plans were all documented in Xu Shengqun's hands.
Thus, Xu Yuan couldn't immediately determine which martial soul's next spirit soul had been secured.
"This time, it's a spirit soul suitable for your Tianyuan Brush."
"The Tianyuan Brush?" Xu Yuan had been debating whether to first find a spirit soul for the Tianyuan Brush or reserve the slot for his brain martial soul's second spirit soul fusion at level forty.
He had planned to leave it to chance.
Whichever came first would be fused first.
Spiritual power issues weren't a concern for him—they could be resolved.
He hadn't expected news of a spirit soul for the Tianyuan Brush to arrive so soon.
"What kind of spirit soul? Is it a Five-Element attribute? Or does it involve morphological changes? Or perhaps special effects?"
These were all directions Xu Yuan had envisioned for the Tianyuan Brush's development. Among them, the Five-Element attribute was primarily intended to replace the position of the Five-Element Spear Spirit within the Tianyuan Brush. Xu Yuan was somewhat averse to repeatedly fusing multiple Five-Element spirit souls, stacking attributes to create techniques like Five-Element Divine Light, Great Five-Element Divine Light, or the Great Five-Element Divine Light Array.
Fundamentally, if he wanted such abilities, he could develop them himself.
Moreover, the ultimate Five-Element spirit soul in his mind was the Five-Element Kirin, which already possessed these techniques. After directly replacing the Five-Element Spear Spirit, a single spirit soul would suffice.
As for morphological changes, it involved enhancing the flexibility of the brush's tip hairs, enabling infinite transformations.
Special effects naturally referred to abilities like corrosion or armor-piercing.
If Xu Yuan had to choose which he most anticipated, it would undoubtedly be special effects.
Regarding Five-Element spirit souls, none compared to the Five-Element Kirin, and Xu Yuan still had reservations about fusing them. Morphological changes, though promising, entailed a tedious development process. Since he already had elemental control, Xu Yuan didn't want to add another project to his workload—at least not until his brain martial soul advanced further and his spiritual power increased.
As for special effects, they mostly directly enhanced combat strength and allowed for more intuitive development. Special effects suited for spear techniques could be incorporated into his spear skills or directly handed over to the Five-Element Spear Spirit for refinement.
"It's none of those three," Xu Shengqun shook his head.
"Then what is it?"
Xu Shengqun held up the reference book in his hand.
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