Once the selection for the main team members was confirmed, no further changes would be made. The next six months would be entirely dedicated to their training and building team synergy.
This also meant that during this half-year period, they would be assigned fewer external missions, allowing them to focus solely on preparing for the upcoming competition.
Although they now had three soon-to-be Soul Sages on the team, they didn't dare become complacent. Elder Mu's warnings rang true — while Shrek Academy had gained significant advantages, it didn't mean other academies hadn't done the same.
Although Zhou Sicheng knew some inside information, there was no need to reveal it now. Instead, it served as a good way to apply pressure and rigorously drill these geniuses.
Zhou Sicheng's expectations for them went far beyond the original story. He even had some personal ambitions mixed in.
Even though they were all studying at Shrek, if he could plant a seed in their hearts — a seed centered around Zhou Sicheng as their leader — it would undoubtedly be the best outcome.
And so far, it seemed a few had already started to lean in that direction.
The teammates he had personally selected were individuals he thoroughly approved of in both talent and strength.
After finalizing the main roster of the Shrek Battle Team, Zhou Sicheng devoted a massive amount of time to nurturing and honing them.
He conducted targeted training based on each member's abilities and organized team drills to refine their coordination.
Zhou Sicheng's life became a tight cycle between four locations: dormitory, training grounds, classroom, and the canteen — busy and fulfilling every day.
By the end of the first semester, Zhou Sicheng's soul power had reached Rank 48, and he successfully advanced to a Rank 7 Soul Engineer.
In terms of soul tool crafting, becoming a Rank 7 Soul Engineer required much accumulation and study, but this posed little difficulty for Zhou Sicheng.
The only downside was that the resources Shrek could offer for soul engineering paled compared to those of the Sun Moon Empire.
Even as a top-tier Rank 7 Soul Engineer, Zhou Sicheng still found a gap between his knowledge and that of his counterparts from the Sun Moon Empire.
However, Zhou Sicheng wasn't overly concerned. His purpose in learning soul engineering was never solely to craft the best soul tools.
After all, soul tools had inherent limitations. Even the most powerful soul tools would be nothing but scrap metal in the hands of a god.
Thus, when his progress in soul engineering hit a bottleneck, he naturally shifted his focus back to his martial soul.
Once Shrek's soul tool knowledge was further supplemented in the future, or once he grew powerful enough, he could simply find a way to access the Sun Moon Empire's resources directly.
By the end of this semester, the Shrek Battle Team's internal synergy had matured significantly.
Every member had made notable progress. In particular, Ye Guyi and Ma Xiaotao had both reached the bottleneck at Rank 70 — they only needed a soul ring to break through and become Soul Sages.
With the semester over, Yan Shaozhe personally escorted them on a soul beast hunt to acquire their seventh soul rings.
Meanwhile, Zhou Sicheng brought Cao Jinxuan and Long Xiangyue back to Tianyuan City. Along with handing them some immortal-grade herbs, he also planned to deliver some treasures to his grandfather.
Cao Jinxuan and Long Xiangyue had made considerable improvements as well. After eleven months, both had reached Rank 36.
Besides their diligent cultivation, the Soul Nourishing Pills that Zhou Sicheng had given them earlier also played a critical role.
Long Xiangyue had managed to catch up to Cao Jinxuan mainly due to absorbing a ten-thousand-year soul bone.
Following Zhou Sicheng back to Tianyuan City, they headed straight for the City Lord's Mansion — their grandfather, Zhou Zhenxuan, had been eagerly awaiting their return.
When he saw Zhou Sicheng, the old man's smile stretched from ear to ear. He had already heard about his grandson's outstanding performance at the Academy and was immensely proud.
Zhou Sicheng noticed something peculiar. After nearly a year apart, his grandfather appeared decades younger, without the slightest sign of the old-age weariness he remembered.
Sensing the powerful vitality and energy radiating from the old man, and seeing how much more spirited he looked, Zhou Sicheng couldn't help but harbor a guess.
After glancing around, Zhou Zhenxuan fixed his gaze on Zhou Sicheng and asked, "Sicheng, where's Guyi? Why didn't she come back with you?"
Zhou Sicheng explained, "Big sister has already reached Rank 70. She's out with Dean Yan to hunt her seventh soul ring."
Hearing this, Zhou Zhenxuan nodded, murmuring, "Hunting for a soul ring, huh? That child always had excellent talent…"
Then he suddenly froze, his voice rising several notches, "Wait, what did you say?! Seventh soul ring? Are you trying to make your grandfather happy? Wasn't Guyi just at five rings before? How could she jump to seven rings in a single semester?!"
Zhou Sicheng smiled, "That's exactly what I came back to explain."
He began recounting what had happened — his tale matching the version he had shared with Elder Mu and the others.
When Zhou Zhenxuan learned that Zhou Sicheng's fourth soul ring was actually a hundred-thousand-year soul ring, his eyes nearly popped out of his head.
In his seventy to eighty years of life, he had never heard of something so outrageous!
While he had always known his grandson was talented — even acknowledged by Elder Mu as a disciple — he never imagined Zhou Sicheng would encounter such an unbelievable opportunity.
It truly felt like the heavens were blessing the Zhou family. After so many years, a true prodigy had finally emerged!
When he heard about the Amorous Heartbreak Red clone body ability, Zhou Zhenxuan shuddered with excitement.
So Ye Guyi's rapid advancement was due to this unique soul skill! A clone every year? Didn't that mean their Zhou family could mass-produce geniuses?
On the side, Cao Jinxuan and Long Xiangyue were much calmer compared to the old man, mainly because they had already experienced their share of shock earlier.
When they first saw the blood-red, hundred-thousand-year soul ring encircling their big brother, they were left utterly speechless, unable to sleep for several nights.
What excited them even more was the immortal herbs Zhou Sicheng had prepared for them. With these, they could immediately break through to Rank 40 and become Soul Ancestors during this vacation.
Zhou Sicheng had told them in advance, and they had been buzzing with excitement for over half a semester.
He had even used it as motivation: whoever slacked off in cultivation would lose their chance at the treasure!
Now that they were home, they were practically trembling with anticipation. They were ready to "cheat" a little and shock everyone when they returned.
Their big brother had also informed them that after this semester, Shrek would soon hold the All-Continent Advanced Soul Master Academy Soul Dueling Tournament, and the Inner Court's main team was already set.
The Outer Court would select seven backup members from among the core disciples under fifteen years old.
If their strength was sufficient, they could participate as substitutes in the tournament — a prime opportunity to shine.
Thus, they had been training extremely hard.
Even if they had an advantage now, they understood the importance of real strength. They couldn't afford to drag their big brother down!
The two exchanged glances as they watched Zhou Zhenxuan, who was still overcome with shock and emotion.
After a long while, Zhou Zhenxuan suddenly became solemn. He looked at Zhou Sicheng and said, "Sicheng, Grandfather has never demanded anything from you, but there's something I would like to discuss."
Zhou Sicheng gently held his grandfather's hand and said warmly, "Grandpa, just say what you need to. There's no need to be so formal with your grandson."
Zhou Zhenxuan said softly, "I don't know what your feelings toward Shrek Academy are, but as for me, I am a former Shrek student myself. Shortly after you entered the Academy, Brother Yan came to our home and stayed with me for half a month."
"I understood his purpose. With your talent, becoming a core disciple was certain, and being accepted as Elder Mu's personal student — that was no small matter."
"So I told him that I wouldn't interfere in your choices, but deep down, I favored Shrek."
"So, if you have any extra plans for your Amorous Heartbreak Red clones, could you spare one for Elder Mu?"
"The old man's health is special. There's not much we can do to help him, but this would be a small token of our gratitude."
Listening to his grandfather's heartfelt words, Zhou Sicheng nodded slightly and shared his thoughts, "Grandpa, I already considered that. The clone from next year will go to Elder Mu. Hopefully, it can help improve his condition."
Hearing this, Zhou Zhenxuan smiled broadly. "With that, this old man has no more worries."
Zhou Sicheng chuckled, "When Senior Brother came to visit you, I bet he brought quite a few good things with him. If I'm not mistaken, you've probably already broken through to the Title Douluo realm, haven't you?"
Upon hearing these words, Cao Jinxuan and Long Xiangyue's eyes widened in shock. They had never doubted their boss's judgment.
No wonder Grandpa Zhou looked so much younger lately. Despite being seventy or eighty years old, he now appeared to be in his forties or fifties. It turned out he had finally broken through his bottleneck and become a Titled Douluo?!
This… this meant that Tianyuan City now had a genuine Titled Douluo among its ranks!
That was a monumental development. The power a Titled Douluo could wield was truly terrifying.
"You really can't hide anything from those sharp eyes of yours," Zhou Zhenxuan chuckled, not minding the way they referred to Yan Shaozhe.
He himself called Yan Shaozhe "Brother," while Zhou Sichen referred to Yan Shaozhe as "Senior Brother." In doing so, they had effectively placed themselves on equal footing.
Zhou Zhenxuan didn't care about these details. To him, becoming Elder Mu's disciple was a great honor. If Zhou Sichen wanted to call Yan Shaozhe "Senior Brother," that was perfectly fine.
After all, back in his youth, Zhou Zhenxuan had hung around with the likes of that flamboyant Yan Shaozhe. His own personality was just as hearty and straightforward. How they addressed each other at home was one thing; outside, it hardly mattered.
Zhou Zhenxuan continued, "Because of you, that stingy Yan Shaozhe personally brought over a ten-thousand-year soul bone and many other resources. He even entrusted several important collaborations to Tianyuan City."
"So you could say that my breakthrough this time is thanks to you."
Hearing this, Zhou Sichen nodded, feeling a surge of respect for Elder Mu.
It wasn't hard to guess: this was undoubtedly arranged by Elder Mu. Otherwise, knowing Yan Shaozhe's usual character, if he had truly gifted so many resources and even a soul bone to assist Grandpa Zhou's breakthrough to Titled Douluo, he would have either used it as leverage to guilt-trip someone or, at the very least, bragged about it.
Yet Zhou Sichen only found out that Grandpa Zhou had broken through after returning home—there hadn't been a hint of it beforehand. This kind of low-profile good deed could only have come from someone of Elder Mu's caliber.
Elder Mu clearly understood that after Zhou Zhenxuan's breakthrough, there was no need for publicity. Zhou Sichen would naturally remember this favor.
Zhou Sichen couldn't help but admire Elder Mu's foresight and broad-mindedness even more, strengthening his determination to stay loyal to him.
Even if some friction arose in the future, Zhou Sichen was willing to accept it.
Of course, based on his plans and judgment, Zhou Sichen believed it was unlikely that their relationship would ever deteriorate to the point of open hostility.
After nearly a year of working together, Zhou Sichen had gained a deep understanding of Elder Mu and the others.
If push ever came to shove, as long as he clearly explained the stakes involved, he believed that Elder Mu's judgment would allow him to distinguish right from wrong.
After all, not everyone was like Xuanzi, who only understood how to eat and knew little else—possessing great strength but little intelligence...
Zhou Sichen was genuinely happy for Grandpa Zhou's breakthrough. He asked, "So, how did you obtain your ninth soul ring?"
Zhou Zhenxuan smiled. "I went into closed-door cultivation for three months. After breaking through, Elder Xuan personally took me to the Star Dou Forest to obtain my soul ring."
At this point, Zhou Zhenxuan showed a peculiar smile. "Back when I studied at Shrek Academy, Elder Xuan was always known for being rather unreliable. But this time, he actually took it seriously. My ninth soul ring's age is close to one hundred thousand years! It took considerable effort to secure it."
Hearing this, Zhou Sichen couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. Elder Xuan had always been known for his sloppy, careless ways. It was rare for him to successfully see a serious matter through.
The fact that he not only escorted Grandpa Zhou to the Star Dou Forest without mishap but also helped him obtain a near one-hundred-thousand-year soul ring was an astonishing stroke of luck.
Considering that Elder Xuan, while tasked with protecting a group of children, once managed to get injured by a mere Soul King-level Evil Soul Master, the fact that he returned safely with Grandpa Zhou was already a cause for celebration.
The successful acquisition of a ninth soul ring was truly a blessing worth offering incense for.
No wonder Elder Xuan had been absent from the Academy for a while recently, and when he came back, Zhou Sichen happened to see him at Elder Zhuang's place seeking treatment, sporting some minor injuries.
The old man had claimed he fell because he drank too much, but Zhou Sichen figured he probably got beaten up by something—or someone—in the Star Dou Forest.
As Zhou Zhenxuan spoke, he lifted his right hand, and a Book of Records appeared in his grasp. Around him, nine soul rings emerged: two yellow, two purple, and five black, with the ninth ring tinged faintly with red.
A fluctuation of Rank 91 soul power swept out—an unmistakable Titled Douluo aura—before it was quickly retracted back into his body.
The Zhou Clan's inherited martial soul was the Book of Records, a no-attribute soul tool martial soul, originally leaning towards support abilities.
Setting aside Zhou Sichen's mutated version, the Book of Contracts, Zhou Zhenxuan's Book of Records was itself extremely powerful.
This martial soul allowed its user to retain a specific ability from each soul beast whose soul ring was absorbed.
In other words, each of Zhou Zhenxuan's soul rings was equivalent to a soul beast's unique skill, which could either be used to enhance teammates or himself.
For the Book of Records, the first four soul rings focused primarily on supportive abilities. From the ten-thousand-year soul rings onward, the abilities it absorbed leaned more toward strengthening the user's own power.
The seventh soul ring of the Book of Records was particularly unique. Because of the martial soul's special properties, instead of randomly absorbing a soul beast's ability, the seventh ring forcibly assimilated the entire soul beast.
Thus, whatever soul beast was absorbed for the seventh ring would define the form of the martial soul avatar.
Grandpa Zhou's seventh soul ring had been from a powerful soul beast personally hunted for him by Yan Shaozhe, leading to a massive leap in his strength.
This was what had allowed him to hold the position of City Lord so firmly for so long—not just because of his close ties to Shrek Academy, but primarily because of his own formidable power.
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