Zhou Sichen had no idea that during the last Sea God's Pavilion meeting, his clearance level had already been upgraded to the highest authority within Shrek Academy.
After dinner with Ma Xiaotao that evening, Zhou Sichen returned to his villa's cultivation chamber and resumed work on his life-bound soul tool.
From Fan Yu, he had obtained a number of rare and valuable materials—enough to integrate with the Skydream Shedding and bring some of his design concepts to life.
He had also brought along several pieces of precision equipment for smelting these special materials.
Inside the secret chamber, Zhou Sichen released his main martial soul, and his platinum-colored first soul ring glowed as Spiritual Detection activated.
He began combining the pre-smelted materials with the Skydream Shedding and, with Blazing Sun in hand, began inscribing a Class 5 core soul array.
The previously inscribed Class 4 core array was removed. With Spiritual Detection and Blazing Sun, Zhou Sichen's speed and precision in crafting arrays improved dramatically.
In just a single night, he had completed one-third of the work.
Originally, he had intended to finish the soul tool in one go, but by morning, Yan Shaozhe and Qian Duoduo had already come looking for him.
When Zhou Sichen stepped out of the chamber and opened the villa door, he was met with two pairs of glowing, excited eyes.
The two men looked at him as if he were some priceless treasure. They shared the details of the Ultimate Soldier Program with him, as well as the immense resources and privileges he would receive as part of it.
Naturally, Zhou Sichen was pleased.
Though, truth be told—the Ultimate Soldier Program...
In the original story, the concept sounded amazing in the beginning. Midway through, it was still going strong. But in the later stages? It was utterly useless.
Why? Because Huo Hang's power became so absurd that he didn't need a military plan. One man alone could take on an entire city.
So, while Zhou Sichen wasn't especially excited about the label, he was definitely interested in the resources that came with it.
With a smile, Zhou Sichen replied, "I won't let the Academy down. I'll do my best to meet your expectations as soon as possible."
Neither of the two doubted his confidence. For a genius like Zhou Sichen, such self-assurance was only natural.
After that, Zhou Sichen spent his days between the Soul Tool Department and the Sea God's Pavilion.
He had no complaints. After all, he had come to Shrek to leverage its resources and become stronger.
He left Xiong Da at the Soul Duel Arena, only visiting once per weekend now. The rest of his time was spent learning soul tool theory, cultivating soul power, or crafting.
And in just three days, Zhou Sichen completed his first life-bound soul tool, which he named:
The Everchanging Core.
Originally, the Skydream Shedding was a pure-white, jade-like material. But after integrating with special metals and being inscribed with a Class 5 array, it had transformed into a translucent cube about ten centimeters in diameter.
The cube resembled a four-layer Rubik's Cube, and it functioned similarly. Zhou Sichen could use it to train his dexterity and mental agility.
On one of its faces, at the center tile, was a tiny fingerprint sensor.
With a simple tap, the cube unfolded like a nano-core, flowing across Zhou Sichen's skin, ignoring any clothing, and seamlessly wrapping his entire body.
Once fully deployed, The Everchanging Core was invisible to the naked eye, clinging to his skin like a second layer. Even his toes, groin, and face were covered.
Its defensive capabilities were incredible—strong enough to block a full-power strike from a top-tier six-ring Soul Emperor like Ma Xiaotao. It was equivalent to an invincible Class 6 defensive soul tool.
And that was just from the Skydream Shedding's natural durability. With this armor on, Zhou Sichen could theoretically withstand an attack from a Titled Douluo and still survive.
Though he hadn't tested that part yet.
More importantly, the Everchanging Core could suppress and hide aura—a unique ability of the Skydream clan.
As long as Zhou Sichen didn't actively use soul power, not even a Titled Douluo would be able to sense him.
Its expansion capability was also impressive. With the right materials and configuration, it could form bladed hands, Eight Spider Lances, even beds and tables if he wanted.
But what Zhou Sichen valued most were its defense and stealth capabilities—both of which he would rely on heavily in the future.
And aside from completing the Everchanging Core, he had also received some major news.
Elder Mu (Mu En) had reopened the door to his legacy and decided to accept Zhou Sichen as a personal disciple—his final successor.
Although Zhou Sichen had many versatile abilities, Elder Mu still believed he could guide his training and pass on his life's worth of experience.
In Elder Mu's eyes, Zhou Sichen was nearly flawless. His only shortcoming was his age—and with that, a lack of experience.
But if a man who had lived for hundreds of years taught him directly, even that flaw would be corrected.
Zhou Sichen didn't have strong feelings about becoming a disciple.
He had always known his path to strength would be accompanied by mentors, and he didn't cling to sentiment about the teacher-student relationship.
Still, being Elder Mu's personal disciple offered significant protection and prestige.
If, in the future, Zhou Sichen encountered someone like Long Xiaoyao, the legendary Darkness Holy Dragon and a peer of Elder Mu, this status would earn him some respect—maybe even a life-saving favor.
In the original story, Huo Hang had this exact identity. Thanks to it, Long Xiaoyao not only went easy on him—but even passed on his powers in the end.
So Zhou Sichen naturally accepted Elder Mu as his teacher.
With that decision made, Elder Mu quietly resolved something himself: Zhou Sichen would be his chosen successor—the future heir to the Sea God's Pavilion.
There was no one more qualified in the entire Academy.
Of course, Zhou Sichen hadn't made any public contributions yet, so it was too soon to announce it outright.
But it didn't matter. With his talent and potential, it was only a matter of time.
For example—the Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Elite Tournament in one year.
With Zhou Sichen, a walking cheat code, Shrek's victory was practically guaranteed.
In fact, given how fast he was growing under the Academy's full support, it was hard to imagine just how strong he'd be in one year.
At this rate, Zhou Sichen alone might win the tournament for Shrek—allowing the others to form a second team and claim both champion and runner-up.
Of course, this was just Yan Shaozhe's wild idea. None of the other teachers were thinking that far ahead.
But after becoming Elder Mu's personal disciple, Zhou Sichen found himself more warmly received by teachers like Yan Shaozhe and others.
In their eyes, Mu En's disciple was the future Sea God Pavilion Master—no different than the next generation's leader.
Zhou Sichen continued his soul tool training with Fan Yu, Qian Duoduo, and Xian Lin'er, while Yan Shaozhe guided him in combat techniques involving Hellfire.
Each of his contracted soul beasts had different teachers assisting in their cultivation—even combinations and cross-fusions between them could be trained.
Elder Mu had already started planning Zhou Sichen's fifth soul ring.
If he could contract a dragon-type soul beast with a light attribute, Elder Mu could pass on his full strength and techniques.
With that idea planted, Mu En grew even bolder.
If Zhou Sichen were to contract a healing-type soul beast too... maybe even Elder Zhuang's signature techniques could be passed down...
****
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