Chapter 68 The calm before the storm After Jing Hongchen left, the Sea God Pavilion seemed to be covered by a layer of gloomy clouds. It was so quiet that one could even clearly hear one's own heartbeat. The eight soul guides were quietly taken away under the gaze of everyone. Such shocking strength and means were really hard to fathom. Mu Lao closed his eyes slightly, and the wrinkles on his weathered face seemed to deepen a little, and he fell into deep thought. "Even I can't detect the strength of the person who came. Could it be that another Extreme Douluo suddenly appeared on this continent? Alas, my time is running out..." In the early morning, the sky was slightly gloomy, and four figures quietly left Shrek Academy. However, they stopped as soon as they went out. Old Xuan held his huge wine gourd and looked at Huo Yuhao, Xiao Xiao and Wang Dong in front of him with drunken eyes. Elder Xuan said slowly: "Okay, you guys go on your own. You know the location of the Star Dou Great Forest, right? Go and find a soul beast that suits you. I will protect you in secret." Huo Yuhao and the other two responded in unison: “Yes.” Originally, only Huo Yuhao and Xiao Xiao needed to obtain the third soul ring from the soul beast, but Wang Dong took the initiative to follow. His reason was very simple. The three of them joined forces to deal with the thousand-year soul beast without any problem. After Master Xuan finished explaining everything to the three people, he disappeared quietly in a flash. After Elder Xuan left, Huo Yuhao, Xiao Xiao, and Wang Dong spread out, identified the direction, and headed straight for the Star Dou Great Forest south of Shrek Academy. In just two days, the three of them arrived at the outer area of the Star Dou Great Forest. On the other side, Ye Qian'an and Gu Yuena had already returned to the core area of the Star Dou Great Forest. Ye Qian'an looked at the eight soul guides in front of him with curiosity in his eyes, and then began his own exploration. At the same time, he did not forget to release the Dragon God Core and let the life core in his body gather a large amount of life force.
Gu Yuena felt the sudden surge of life force in the Lake of Life, and her gaze slowly turned to Ye Qian'an. At this moment, Ye Qian'an's forehead was covered with green and gold lines. The lines seemed to contain endless vitality. As the force of life continued to gather, ripples appeared on the water of the Lake of Life. A rich breath of life instantly filled the entire space. Under the cover of this life force, Gu Yuena could feel her injuries gradually recovering. She closed her eyes slightly and accepted the nourishment of the life force wholeheartedly. "Mr. Yi, can you understand the soul guide formations in these soul guides?" Ye Qian'an asked Alex in the sea of spirit while fiddling with the soul guide in front of him. The old and steady voice of Alex sounded in Ye Qian'an's spiritual sea: "The formations in these soul guides are just for show. Some of them are even useless, which greatly restricts the attack power of the soul guides." Ye Qian frowned slightly and continued to ask: "Master Yi, is there any way to improve these soul guides?" After a moment of silence, Alex said, "There is a way, but it will take a lot of time and effort. There are some defects in the core structure of these soul guides. If you want to improve them, you need to make fundamental adjustments. First, you need to re-sort out the soul guide array, remove those useless parts, and strengthen the effectiveness of the key array. Secondly, find more suitable materials to replace some of the poorly performing parts to improve the overall performance of the soul guide. However, I don't think this is your purpose, right?" Ye Qian nodded, his eyes became particularly cold, and he said in a deep voice, "I do have other purposes. Researching soul guides is just to pave the way for subsequent plans. Now soul beasts are decreasing, while soul masters are thriving. I want to give them back in their own way. I want to let them have a taste of what it feels like when the soul guides they have researched fall on them one day." He knew that he was not a good person in the absolute sense. Since he stood on the opposite side of mankind, he had to seek enough benefits for the soul beast clan, even if it meant becoming an enemy of everyone in the end. Ye Qian'an stared at the soul guide in front of him, and the plan in his mind became clearer and clearer. At the same time, Huo Yuhao and the other two had already entered the Star Dou Great Forest. Since the Three-Eyed Golden Lion was refining the dragon pill during this period, and Ye Qian'an had already taken away the Three-Eyed Golden Lion's luck and power, now apart from avoiding the invasion of the Stitched Monster's spiritual consciousness and interference with the Three-Eyed Golden Lion, Ye Qian'an was not worried at all about other emergencies. In the absence of interference from external factors, Huo Yuhao and his two companions' journey to the Star Dou went exceptionally smoothly. With the assistance of Elder Xuan, Xiaoxiao obtained a thousand-year-old dark gold terrorclaw bear's soul ring and an external soul bone. Due to some dramatic accidents, this dark gold terrorclaw bear's external soul bone fell into Huo Yuhao's hands. It was not known whether it was due to luck or other reasons, but even without the appearance of the Three-Eyed Golden Lion, Huo Yuhao seemed to have been arranged and still obtained a ten thousand year spirit ring. After the three of them returned to Shrek Academy, Huo Yuhao began the extreme training plan under the arrangement of Mu Lao. During their time in the Star Dou Great Forest, Ye Qian'an and Gu Yuena's lives returned to their normal routine. In the morning, Ye Qian went to the Siyuan Blacksmith Shop in Shrek City to continue learning spirit forging. He had to fully master spirit forging before officially starting to make battle armor. At noon, he returned to the Xingdou Great Forest to study the soul guide formation, and spent the rest of the time practicing with Gu Yuena. More than a year has passed while everyone has been improving. He Caitou and Jiang Nannan's soul power has both reached level 49, just one step away from becoming a soul king. Wang Dong has already reached level 44 in more than a year. Xiao Xiao is slightly inferior to Wang Dong, but has also broken through level 40. Among the Shrek Seven Devils, only Huo Yuhao's cultivation remains at the soul master level, and his soul power has just broken through level 38. Compared to them, Ye Qian'an, who was in the Star Dou Great Forest, had his soul power level raised to level 59 with the nourishment of a large number of spiritual objects and life force given by Gu Yuena. He was only one step away from being promoted to Soul Emperor and unlocking the sixth seal. As for forging, Ye Qian'an's progress is huge. He can spiritual forge almost all metals. Such progress once made Siyuan, the master craftsman, doubt his life. With the recovery of that huge life force, Gu Yuena's injuries have recovered by 70% to 80%. Now the cultivation she can mobilize is enough for the two of them to handle many things.
The three-eyed golden lion, the auspicious beast of the emperor, also completely refined the dragon pill during this period. According to Gu Yuena's estimation, the three-eyed golden lion's cultivation level after its transformation is almost close to that of a soul saint. Now the three-eyed golden lion follows Ye Qian'an every day. Whenever Ye Qian'an feels tired from studying the soul guide, she will act as a pillow and let Ye Qian'an lean on her. During this year or so, the Douluo Continent suddenly became unusually peaceful. The Sun-Moon Empire's original restlessness disappeared, and the Body Sect that once appeared in Shrek Academy was also fleeting like a flash in the pan, and did not cause any waves on the continent. It seemed that the continent had entered a short period of peace, waiting for the arrival of the next storm. At Shrek Academy, a figure slowly walked over from a distance. The person was wearing a half-covered black and gold mask, revealing only a pair of red eyes, and his long golden hair was casually tied up with a ribbon. Ye Qian'an walked into Shrek Academy. His steady steps seemed to carry a unique aura. His long golden hair shone in the sun, and his black and gold mask added a bit of mystery. Some students who were leaving get out of class cast curious glances at him, secretly speculating about his identity. Ye Qian'an did not stay for too long and walked straight towards the inner courtyard. At this moment, in the Poseidon Pavilion on Poseidon Island, Beibei, He Caitou, Xu Sanshi, Jiang Nannan, Xiaoxiao, Huo Yuhao, and Wang Dong, seven people stood quietly in a row. Mu Lao lay quietly on the recliner. A year and a half had passed. Mu Lao's hair had all fallen out. His vitality seemed to have reached its end. He even rarely opened his eyes. Originally, Mu Lao could have held on for a while longer, but because Ye Qian took away the life core and 60% of the authority of the golden tree, and Mu Lao faced the immortal body without the assistance of the golden tree, Mu Lao could only use himself as a carrier to forcibly cast the light of the sea god, which accelerated the disappearance of Mu Lao's already little vitality. Ye Qian'an stepped into the Poseidon Pavilion, and his unique aura instantly drew everyone's attention to him. Beibei and the others looked puzzled, not knowing who this man wearing the black and gold mask was. Elder Xuan stood quietly beside Elder Mu, and standing with him were all the elders of the Poseidon Pavilion, including Yan Shaozhe, Cai Meir, Xian Liner, and Qian Duoduo. Ye Qian'an slowly walked towards Mu Lao and stopped a few steps away from him. He lowered his head slightly and looked at the old man whose life was about to come to the end. A complex emotion surged in his heart. He slowly took off his mask, revealing a cold face. Everyone was shocked. They had never seen this person before, but they felt an inexplicable sense of familiarity from him. "I'm back." Ye Qian'an said seriously, his voice like a low bell, echoing in the air. When Ye Qian'an's voice came out, everyone was shocked. Beibei was the first to react, with a hint of surprise in his eyes and a voice full of confusion: "Are you Qi'an? How did you..." Ye Qian'an glanced at everyone and said calmly, "For more than a year, Nana and I have been out training. Due to some circumstances, we passed by Shrek Academy and came back to take a look. As for my appearance, it's because of the evolution of my martial soul. In order to avoid unnecessary trouble, I put on a mask." After hearing Ye Qian'an's explanation, everyone had different expressions. Old Xuan nodded slightly and explained the situation to Ye Qian'an and asked him to stand next to the seven people. Ye Qian'an also put on the mask in his hand and stood there quietly. The atmosphere in the Poseidon Pavilion was heavy at this time, and everyone was worried about Mu Lao's condition. Outside the Sea God Pavilion, a total of 69 inner court disciples quietly sat cross-legged in front of the door. Sitting in the front was a girl about 25 or 26 years old, with long black hair that reached down to her waist. Her delicate face was white and flawless, as if it was carved from a beautiful jade. Except for the thumbs, the other eight fingers of her hands were crossed, and the thumbs were touching each other, quietly placed on her calves where she was sitting cross-legged. Behind her, the other sixty-eight inner court disciples, none of whom were over thirty years old, sat quietly in ten rows. Ma Xiaotao and Dai Yaoheng were in the second row behind her, while Ling Luochen, Yao Haoxuan, Chen Zifeng, Xixi, and Gong Yangmo were also there, but their seats were different according to their individual cultivation. Except for Ma Xiaotao and Dai Yaoheng who were in the first row, the others were in the back. The girl sitting in the front slowly opened her eyes, and her bright and wise black eyes revealed deep sadness. "Mr. Mu, are you really leaving?" Thinking of this, two lines of tears flowed down Zhang Lexuan's perfect face. Inside the Poseidon Pavilion, Mu Lao slowly opened his eyes. His originally dim eyes suddenly became extremely clear. His gaze slowly moved to Bei Bei who was standing on the far left, and then slowly moved horizontally, clearly lingering on He Cai Tou, Xu Sanshi, Jiang Nan Nan, Xiao Xiao, Huo Yuhao, Wang Dong, and Ye Qian who had just returned. "Children, don't be sad. I have stayed in this world for more than two hundred years. I have spent almost all of my life in Shrek Academy. It is my greatest pride in my life to be able to protect the academy and watch children like you grow up one after another. Today, I am leaving, but I hope you will send me off happily. Looking at you and all the students of Shrek Academy, I am happy enough to die with a smile on my face." Elder Mu's words echoed softly in the Poseidon Pavilion, but everyone's mood became increasingly heavy. Ye Qian'an stood aside, his eyes beneath the mask revealing complex emotions. All he could do was leave a little room for Shrek Academy, as for other people, they were not something he could consider. Beibei took a step forward, his voice trembling slightly: "Xuanzu" When the title of Great Ancestor came out, except for Ye Qian who knew the inside story, the other Shrek Six Monsters were all shocked. Great Ancestor? This is clearly a title of generation. Father, grandfather, great grandfather, and then great grandfather. Beibei is actually the descendant of Mu Lao. Mu Lao nodded and said, "I am about to leave. I have something to tell you. Xuanzi." Old Xuan hurriedly squatted down beside Old Mu. Mu Lao sighed and said, "Xuan Zi, you are not young anymore, don't be so emotional, I am not leaving completely! Even if I die, my old bones will always protect our Shrek. You all listen, after I leave, Xuan Zi will take over the position of the head of the Sea God Pavilion."
"Yes." All the elders agreed respectfully at the same time. After deciding on the candidate for the leader of the Poseidon Pavilion, Elder Mu looked at Yan Shaozhe and the others, and arranged the next steps for Shrek Academy. Yan Shaozhe and the others just kept nodding in agreement. Mu Lao sighed and said, "As the Lord of the Sea God Pavilion, I will issue one last order." After hearing what he said, all the elders came forward and knelt on one knee. Mu Lao's voice slowly spread out from the Poseidon Pavilion and spread throughout the Poseidon Island. "From today on, we will focus on developing the Soul Guidance Department and promoting the integration of the Martial Soul Department and the Soul Guidance Department. If one day the Soul Guidance Department can produce a Level 10 Soul Guidance Teacher, then the position of Sea God Pavilion Master will be inherited by him." "Yes -" the old men agreed respectfully at the same time. ......... Please recommend and monthly tickets, collection and check-in are also fine. Recently, I feel that I am about to be ruined... (End of this chapter)