Not long after, two new courses were added to the Martial Soul Departnt: Introduction to Soul Tools and Basic Soul Tool Operation Guide.
The students weren't expected to learn how to create soul tools, but they were required to understand them and master basic operation skills.
At the mont, the classes were only just starting, and the intensity of instruction could only gradually increase. The students would also need ti to adapt.
Initially, most Martial Soul Departnt students were strongly opposed to it. Their ti was already barely enough for cultivating their martial souls—how could they spare the effort to learn how to use soul tools?
Moreover, in their view, with the strength of their own martial souls, they had no need for such external tools.
However, rumors soon spread that even the senior brothers and sisters from the Inner Court had started studying soul tools. With that pressure, the Outer Court students, despite their reluctance, had no choice but to grit their teeth and study diligently.
Even though the effects were not imdiately visible, it still served an important role in familiarizing them with soul tool knowledge. After so ti, once they adapted, the results would surely improve.
After returning to the academy, Zhou Sichen also threw himself into cultivation. For him, increasing his soul power was of the utmost importance.
The Sea God's Pavilion, the Golden Tree, and the Soul Tool Departnt beca Zhou Sichen's three main points of focus.
In his spare ti, he would visit the library to browse Shrek's collection of books, where he often ran into Zhang Lexuan.
The senior sister was also an avid scholar. Not only was her strength formidable, but her knowledge was also profound. The two would often exchange insights on cultivation.
Zhang Lexuan greatly admired Zhou Sichen. In terms of both talent and intellect, he was one of the brightest among the younger generation.
In the blink of an eye, three months had passed. During this ti, Zhou Sichen's soul power rose from Rank 44 to Rank 46.
Considering the ti it took him to reach Rank 44 before, Zhou Sichen was advancing at a pace of nearly one rank every two months.
This cultivation speed was nothing short of monstrous, a testant to his overwhelming talent. At this rate, by the end of the sester, he would at least reach Rank 48.
By the ti of the Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Soul Dueling Tournant, Zhou Sichen would surely surpass Rank 50 and beco a Soul King with five soul rings.
Although Zhou Sichen's strength couldn't be asured by normal standards, his soul power improvent still ensured a rapid rise in his combat abilities.
After reaching the fifth ring, he would be able to contract a fifth soul beast.
The Silver Shadow Beast was indeed a rare and special soul beast. Choosing it as his fifth soul ring would be an excellent option.
A ten-thousand-year Silver Shadow Beast could replicate soul skills. If it evolved to a hundred-thousand-year level, it might even replicate martial souls!
If he truly gained the ability to replicate martial souls, Zhou Sichen's future potential would beco unimaginably versatile.
Ye Guyi had also improved significantly. After absorbing the Lightbreaking Left Arm Bone, her soul power had jumped from the peak of Rank 66 to Rank 68.
Now, three months later, she had made another breakthrough to Rank 69, just one step away from Rank 70.
With her talent, reaching Rank 70 before the tournant posed no problem at all.
It ant that within about half a year, she would have gone from a Soul Emperor to a Soul Sage!
This achievent alone demonstrated Ye Guyi's current strength. Aside from her own talent and Shrek's abundant resources, the most critical factor was the Lovesick Heartbroken Red's offspring plant she had acquired, which comprehensively enhanced and transford her constitution, pushing her talent and strength to new heights!
Ma Xiaotao was now also at Rank 69, just a step away from Rank 70.
With the essence seeds of the Phoenix Sunflower purifying her Fire Phoenix martial soul, and with the demonic fire no longer troubling her, Ma Xiaotao's growth had been extrely rapid.
She too could reach Rank 70 before the tournant, and with one more soul ring, she would ascend to Soul Sage level.
With both Ye Guyi and Ma Xiaotao becoming Soul Sages, Zhou Sichen wouldn't need to worry about revealing too much of his true strength during the tournant.
Moreover, the tournant would be held in the Star Luo Empire, where they didn't have to worry about Evil Soul Masters.
The massive purge last ti had already left the Evil Soul Masters of the original Douluo Continent fearful and hiding.
It was the perfect ti for young prodigies like them to shine without fear, unlike when facing the Sun Moon Empire's threats.
In these past months, the rest of the team mbers had also advanced by at least one rank. Among them, Dugu Xianng had reached Rank 53.
After taking Baibao Detoxification Pills for months, all the poison in her body had been completely purged.
Later, with Elder Mu's guidance, she applied the principles of the soul core thod to condense a Poison Core unique to her.
While the Poison Core didn't possess the full power of a soul core, for Dugu Xianng, it was like a venomous snake's fangs.
It allowed her to store all the toxins generated during cultivation, to be unleashed at will without harming her own body—a great solution to the deadly poison issue.
At this mont, on a hill on the northern side of Sea God's Island, Elder Xuan gathered all of Shrek Academy's main team candidates and reserve mbers together.
After nearly half a year of cultivation, including a special centralized training mission, these students had enough preparation. It was ti to finalize the main team.
Less than half a year remained before the start of the Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Soul Dueling Tournant, and the team needed ti to train together once finalized.
The team mbers were the sa ones as before.
Main Team Captain: Zhou Sichen
Martial Soul: Book of Contracts
Soul Power: Rank 46 (already rivaling a Titled Douluo in strength)
Main Team mber: Ma Xiaotao
Martial Soul: Fire Phoenix
Soul Power: Rank 69, Assault-type Battle Soul Emperor
Reserve Main Team mber: Ye Guyi
Martial Soul: Sacred Angel
Soul Power: Rank 69, Assault-type Battle Soul Emperor
Main Team mber: Dai Yueheng
Martial Soul: White Tiger
Soul Power: Rank 62, Assault-type Battle Soul Emperor
Main Team mber: Gongyang Mo
Martial Soul: Rainbow Dragon
Soul Power: Rank 57, Support-type Soul King
Main Team mber: Chen Zifeng
Martial Soul: Soulchasing Sword
Soul Power: Rank 55, Assault-type Soul King
Main Team mber: Xi Xi
Martial Soul: Lightning Leopard
Soul Power: Rank 54, Agility-type Soul King
Main Team mber: Ling Luochen
Martial Soul: Ice
Soul Power: Rank 53, Control-type Soul King
Main Team mber: Yao Haoxuan
Martial Soul: Skyshaking Ape
Soul Power: Rank 53, Control and Support-type Soul King
Reserve Main Team mber: Dugu Xianng
Martial Soul: Jade-scaled Serpent
Soul Power: Rank 53, Control-type Soul King
Reserve Main Team mber: Chen Bei
Rank 5 Soul Engineer
Among the eleven of them, only seven could officially beco main team mbers to represent Shrek Academy and defend its millennia-long glory.
Zhou Sichen had already been internally appointed as captain. He didn't need to compete with anyone for a spot; in fact, he had the authority to decide which of the remaining ten would stay or leave.
As captain, it was up to him to select the teammates best suited to complent him.
He couldn't afford to reveal all his strength during the tournant, so he needed comrades who could support and protect his secrets.
Among the others, Ye Guyi, Ma Xiaotao, and Dugu Xianng had all seen explosive growth over the past half-year.
And the reason behind it was clear to everyone — it was Zhou Sichen.
Though no one spoke openly about it, everyone had their suspicions. Anything related to Zhou Sichen was a top-level secret within Shrek Academy.
Besides envy, the overwhelming feeling among the others was pure jealousy.
Half a year ago, Ye Guyi had only been a Soul King. Now, she was on the sa level as Ma Xiaotao!
Such a terrifying rate of improvent, without any side effects, only made her even stronger and more formidable — the envy was palpable.
The sa was true for Ma Xiaotao. In just six months, she had advanced from a low-level Soul Emperor to a high-level Soul Emperor, standing just one step away from Soul Sage.
Even Dai Yueheng, who had only just entered the Soul Emperor rank, was consud with jealousy. He practically wanted to call Zhou Sichen "Big Brother" just to get a piece of his good fortune.
Ma Xiaotao not only improved her strength but also completely solved the problem of her demonic fire. Now, her Fire Phoenix martial soul was even more domineering. Aside from Zhou Sichen and Ye Guyi, no one could withstand the explosion of her flas!
Dugu Xianng, too, benefited greatly. Her Jade-scaled Serpent martial soul was naturally extrely poisonous. After cultivating the even deadlier Five Venoms Jade Phosphor Poison, her condition had made it impossible for her to qualify for Shrek's battle team.
Not only had Zhou Sicheng personally detoxified her, but he had also found a way to prevent the poison from further corroding her body.
Now, Duguxianng was able to control her own toxins. When teaming up with her, as long as her teammates took one of Zhou Sicheng's Hundred Treasures Detoxification Pills in advance, they could completely avoid being accidentally hard by her Bilin Five Poisons.
With that, she had undoubtedly beco the strongest control-type soul master in Shrek Academy so far in terms of offensive and destructive power!
Moreover, just six months ago, she had only been a high-level Soul Ancestor. Now, she had already caught up to Ling Luochan and the others, reaching the fifty-third rank.
In addition to the Bilin Five Poisons, this girl had also acquired an extrely powerful and terrifying fifth soul skill. As a control-type soul master, she was unquestionably the strongest and most lethal among her peers.
Thus, based on everyone's current strength, the lineup of the main team had basically been finalized.
The captain: Zhou Sicheng.
The vice-captain: Ye Guyi.
Team mbers: Ma Xiaotao, Dai Yueheng, Gongyang Mo, Duguxianng, and Ling Luochan.
Ye Guyi was chosen as the vice-captain for a simple reason: Ma Xiaotao could no longer defeat her.
Though Ma Xiaotao was internally dissatisfied, she couldn't find any grounds to argue against it.
Ye Guyi's strength had indeed surpassed hers. After all, with Zhou Sicheng—her "annoying little brother"—nurturing her, and her own diligent efforts, it was natural for Ye Guyi to suppress Ma Xiaotao at the sa level.
Besides that, among the seven of them, there was no pure agility-type soul master. Zhou Sicheng hadn't chosen Xixi, but instead picked Ling Luochan. The reason was simple:
Both Ye Guyi and Ma Xiaotao would soon reach Soul Sage cultivation. At that point, their speed would already rival, if not surpass, that of agility-type soul masters of the sa level. They would easily outpace even agility-type Soul Kings and Soul Emperors.
Therefore, Xixi's role wasn't as critical anymore.
The main reason for choosing Ling Luochan was that Zhou Sicheng wanted to bring her into the fold. With an ice elent approaching the level of Ultimate Ice, if nurtured properly, she could grow into a top-tier powerhouse with an ultimate martial soul.
Moreover, Duguxianng's control was extrely domineering. Sotis, they needed a gentler form of control to balance it out.
As for Li Bei, the fifth-ranked soul engineer—there was no need to even ntion it. Zhou Sicheng himself was already a sixth-ranked soul engineer, so naturally, there was no place for Li Bei in the team.
Gongyang Mo, of course, needed no explanation. Comparable to the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Pagoda, he was a top-tier support. There was no way anyone would be willing to leave him out.
With Gongyang Mo present, the team's overall strength could increase by at least thirty to fifty percent. That was the role of a top-tier support.
With two top-tier assault types—Ye Guyi and Ma Xiaotao—already secured, the reason for keeping Dai Yueheng wasn't due to any other factors. It was simply because his soul power rank was high enough.
If he had only been at five rings, Zhou Sicheng would have definitely replaced him with Xixi or Yao Haoxuan.
After all, the team already had an abundance of assault types. Even Duguxianng could be treated as an assault type when needed!
If it weren't for Dai Yueheng being a Soul Emperor and having an advantage in soul power, he too would have been eliminated by Zhou Sicheng this ti.
At the tournant level, Soul Ancestors would still form the main fighting force, with Soul Kings being relatively rare. Thus, having a Soul Emperor was still a significant advantage.
This generation of Shrek had two preeminent Soul Sage candidates. Even if Zhou Sicheng concealed his true strength, the abilities of just one of his contracted soul beasts and his soul tool mastery would already be enough to match a Soul Sage.
This ant that this year's Shrek team would be fielding three Soul Sages, one Soul Emperor, and three Soul Kings.
With such an overwhelmingly powerful lineup, even Xuan Zi and Yan Shaozhe didn't know how they could possibly lose.
Thus, they had no worries about this tournant at all. Instead, they shifted their focus toward the reserve mbers of the outer court.
Since the victory of the main team was already secured, they could now devote more thought to nurturing the next generation of the main team.
Although Zhou Sicheng, given his age, could still participate in the next tournant cycle, he would still need strong teammates, wouldn't he?
Thus, cultivating the next generation of main team mbers was an extrely important task.
After finalizing the main team lineup, they would spend the next six months training and building their teamwork.
Although their strength was unprecedented, they absolutely could not beco complacent.
Shrek was lucky enough to have obtained a treasure like Zhou Sicheng—who was to say other academies might not also find their own prodigies?
Elder Mu was deeply aware of this.
Back when he participated in the tournant, he had stood out with his sixty-ninth-ranked soul power. Yet even then, he had encountered Long Xiaoyao and Ye Xishui—prodigies who could stand shoulder-to-shoulder with him.
Thus, even though Ye Guyi and Ma Xiaotao had obtained great opportunities and treasures thanks to Zhou Sicheng and had achievents that surpassed even Elder Mu's at the sa age, he still sternly warned them not to beco arrogant or complacent.
What if another faction had a prodigy like Zhou Sicheng?
Although Zhou Sicheng was confident that there were no opponents capable of threatening them this ti around, he still saw no reason to slack off in training and team building—it was the perfect opportunity to deepen bonds among the team.
As for Duguxianng and Ma Xiaotao, they were already developing special feelings toward Zhou Sicheng after spending more than half a year together.
If Zhou Sicheng wanted to win over Ling Luochan and Gongyang Mo, he would still need to put in more effort.
As for Dai Yueheng—he ca from the Duke's Mansion of the White Tiger lineage in the Star Luo Empire and was the eldest son.
Under such circumstances, recruiting him as a loyal subordinate wouldn't be easy.
But it wasn't entirely impossible either.
****
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