The Glory of the Sun and Moon in the Peerless Tang Sect

His aura was deep and composed, and the brilliance in his eyes was restrained. Staring directly at him for a moment made him feel a sense of disorientation. He was certain that this boy, who looked no more than sixteen or seventeen years old, was superior to him in certain aspects.

“Grandpa, he’s from Shrek Academy,” An Lengye replied softly. Although she didn’t know what Yu Tianhuang wanted with her grandfather, the fact that he was from Shrek Academy was enough. Shrek Academy had always had a very positive image on the continent, at least in the eyes of the people who originally belonged to the three great empires of Douluo Continent.

A look of realization dawned on the middle-aged man's sharp eyes, and he quickly stood up and strode forward.

"So you are a top student from Shrek Academy. I am An Xiong, and I have failed to greet you properly. This is truly my lack of hospitality."

In his view, the extraordinary Xu Zihuang was most likely an inner disciple of Shrek Academy. Only an inner disciple was qualified to represent Shrek Academy.

Whether out of respect for Shrek Academy or to show goodwill towards a gifted inner disciple of Shrek Academy, he should have done so.

"Lord An, there's no need for such formalities." Xu Zihuang politely bowed slightly to An Xiong.

"My name is Yu Tianhuang, an inner disciple of Shrek Academy. I have come to pay my respects to City Lord An."

"Please come in, please come in."

With a radiant smile, An Xiong led Xu Zihuang to sit on the sofa opposite the table. He remained outwardly calm, but inwardly he was filled with surprise and suspicion.

Back in the day, during the All-Continent Advanced Soul Master Academy Battle Tournament, wasn't the young man who single-handedly crushed Shen Ce and his granddaughter An Lengye's team on behalf of Shrek Academy named Yu Tianhuang?

He waved to An Lengye to make tea while asking her a question.

"Brother Yu, I presume you've come here about that matter? Half a year ago, Dean Yan of your academy personally came to visit. I'm truly ashamed that I couldn't offer any assistance."

He didn't try to hide these words from Shen Ce and An Lengye. Both of them looked puzzled upon hearing them.

Shen Ce stood not far behind Xu Zihuang, arms crossed, brows furrowed. What kind of status did the Dean of Shrek Academy have? He was genuinely curious about what could possibly concern him so much.

An Lengye placed two steaming cups of fragrant black tea in front of Xu Zihuang and An Xiong on a tray. This was a unique tea from Qianling City, with an extremely low annual yield. It was known for its special effects of refreshing the mind, enhancing mental strength, and improving memory.

However, it has basically no effect on Xu Zihuang now; it's just a taste.

An Lengye handed the last cup of black tea to Shen Ce. The two exchanged a glance and prepared to leave the room. Curious as they were, they were also perceptive enough to know that this was something they shouldn't be aware of.

However, An Xiong stopped the two of them first.

"Shen Ce, Leng Ye, you two stay here for now."

After saying that, he looked at Xu Zihuang again and smiled wryly.

"Ever since Dean Yan took the initiative to visit us, I have been deliberately keeping an eye on the whereabouts of your academy's student, but so far we have found nothing. However, about four months ago, something happened in the far north, and we don't know if it is related to your academy's student. According to the soul masters who went to the far north to hunt soul beasts at the time, many powerful soul beasts suddenly seemed to be frightened and fled from the core area of ​​the far north to the outer areas. The disturbance lasted for nearly a month. During that time, even hundred-year-old soul beasts often appeared on the edge of the far north, and thousand-year-old soul beasts would occasionally roam out."

“That’s true.” Shen Ce understood An Xiong’s reason for keeping him and An Lengye.

"During that time, Leng Ye and I led the academy's students to the edge of the far north to hunt soul beasts, and we had a great harvest. We also encountered many powerful soul beasts that usually only live in the core area of ​​the far north."

The academy he was referring to was naturally the Thousand Spirits Advanced Soul Master Academy, where he and An Lengye both became teachers after graduation.

Xu Zihuang's gaze sharpened slightly, and he asked.

"Aside from that, have any other unexpected events occurred?"

After a moment of silence, Shen Ce seemed to have thought of something and suddenly said, "Not long ago, when I went to sea to obtain my sixth spirit ring with the help of the dean and several teachers from the academy, I encountered a strange thing."

"About two hundred kilometers northeast of our Thousand Spirits City, deep in the sea, there is a solitary island. On the island lives a group of extremely powerful flying soul beasts, the Golden Flame Birds, which are said to possess a trace of the bloodline of the Three-Legged Golden Crow."

"Golden Flame Bird? Three-Legged Golden Crow bloodline?" Xu Zihuang unconsciously tightened his grip on the teacup with his right hand.

Legend has it that the three-legged golden crow, like the phoenix, is the ancestor of bird-like spirit beasts and has many descendants.

Wu Ming's martial soul is said to be the Golden Crow, but in reality, it's just a firebird with a trace of the three-legged Golden Crow bloodline. In comparison, Ma Xiaotao's Evil Fire Phoenix martial soul is much more powerful; the Evil Fire Phoenix is ​​a fire phoenix with an impure bloodline.

And this Golden Flame Bird, which also possesses a trace of the Three-Legged Golden Crow bloodline, is undoubtedly qualified to be among the top-tier soul beasts.

Shen Ce nodded and continued, "At the junction of the nearshore and deep-sea areas northeast of our Thousand Spirit City, there lives a type of sea spirit beast suitable to become my spirit ring. My initial target was this sea spirit beast, but when the Dean and I arrived at that area, we encountered a severely injured and solitary ten-thousand-year-old Golden Flame Bird. This ten-thousand-year-old Golden Flame Bird eventually became my sixth spirit ring, but when I absorbed its spirit ring at close range, I discovered that some of its feathers were charred. In this area, there shouldn't be any fire-attribute spirit beasts strong enough to suppress the Golden Flame Bird. The Dean and I speculated that this Golden Flame Bird was severely injured by a powerful fire-attribute spirit master."

"Is the person you're looking for a Soul Master with a powerful fire-attribute Martial Soul?"

Xu Zihuang's heart stirred slightly, and he basically had his answer. This was Thousand Spirits City, near the far north, where Soul Masters with fire-attribute Martial Souls were extremely rare. Let alone Soul Masters with top-tier fire-attribute Martial Souls.

He then looked at the blankness in An Xiong's eyes and was speechless.

It seems that Yan Shaozhe deliberately did not tell An Xiong about Ma Xiaotao's martial soul ability, and probably only described Ma Xiaotao's appearance and figure at most.

This really suits Yan Shaozhe's personality quite well.

Just as Elder Mu commented, Yan Shaozhe's personality always lacked a certain magnanimity. Ma Xiaotao's Evil Fire Phoenix Martial Soul had hidden dangers, yet she displayed astonishing talent and formidable personal strength in the previous Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Battle Tournament.

Yan Shaozhe clearly didn't want An Xiong to deduce from his martial soul ability that the person he was looking for was Ma Xiaotao, thus creating the potential risk of information leaks and attracting the attention of Shrek Academy's hostile forces to Ma Xiaotao.

To put it bluntly, it's because they can't fully trust An Xiong.

In the Douluo Continent, when determining a Soul Master's identity, using their Martial Soul as a reference point is often of higher priority. While appearance can be altered through various means, Martial Soul abilities are much harder to conceal.

Take Ma Xiaotao, for example. Her Evil Fire Phoenix Martial Soul is unique on the continent. Once people know or have seen her Martial Soul ability, confirming her identity is incredibly easy.

However, Xu Zihuang still shook his head, feigning disappointment.

Although Yan Shaozhe seemed a bit overly cautious, it wasn't without reason. He naturally had no need to deliberately reveal Ma Xiaotao's identity.

Shen Ce and An Lengye both participated in the previous Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Battle Tournament, and with a little recollection, they could easily connect it to Ma Xiaotao. After all, Ma Xiaotao was the nominal captain of the Shrek Academy team back then.

"Lord An, thank you for your help today." Xu Zihuang stood up, nodded to An Xiong, Shen Ce, and An Lengye, and then turned to leave.

If the fire-attribute soul master who severely injured that ten-thousand-year-old Golden Flame Bird was indeed Ma Xiaotao, then she was most likely in trouble. That was a flock of Golden Flame Birds, and many of them likely possessed cultivation levels of over ten thousand years. Moreover, the island where those Golden Flame Birds lived extended two hundred kilometers into the sea, meaning they were constantly under attack from powerful sea spirit beasts in the surrounding area.

Although he didn't particularly like Ma Xiaotao's personality, given her talent for cultivation, she could potentially be of some use in the future when fighting against the Sun Moon Empire under Xu Tianran's rule. Moreover, he also needed to lend a hand out of gratitude to Elder Cheng Mu.

An Xiong sighed softly, assuming that Yu Tianhuang was in a hurry to go elsewhere to gather information, and understandingly did not try to stop him. He simply asked Shen Ce and An Lengye to see him off on his behalf.

Upon arriving at the entrance of the City Lord's Mansion, Shen Ce and An Lengye stopped in their tracks.

Shen Ce stared dejectedly at Xu Zihuang's retreating figure.

“Leng Ye, I originally thought that my strength had made a significant leap in the past four years. But my intuition tells me that the gap between him and me seems to be widening. It is for this reason that I forcibly suppressed the idea of ​​challenging him.”

……

After leaving the city lord's mansion, Xu Zihuang headed directly towards the port east of Qianling City. Because of Ma Xiaotao's matter, he planned to set sail tonight to explore the northeastern sea area.

With the Soul Core residing between his eyebrows, he didn't feel tired after two days of travel, so there was no need for him to rest.

Moreover, he had prepared all the necessary supplies for the voyage in advance at Shrek Academy, including all the detailed nautical charts for the entire voyage from north to south around the continent.

Xu Zihuang exited the east gate and was greeted by a wide road carved out of the reef, stretching all the way to the port. At least fifty huge wharves, each hundreds of meters long, jutted out into the sea, where hundreds of cargo ships and fishing boats were moored.

As the largest port in the northern part of the Douling Empire, Qianling Port is a huge source of revenue for Qianling City.

The port was brightly lit by countless soul-guided lamps. Even though it was night, many workers had gathered here, moving goods back and forth, making it even more bustling than the city itself.

The strong, salty smell of the sea, accompanied by the howling sea breeze, hit me, bringing with it a bone-chilling cold. The temperature at sea is indeed lower, but that's only relative. Combined with the damp, chilly atmosphere, it would be difficult for the average person to endure.

Most of the workers who move goods here are quite strong and have physical fitness far superior to that of ordinary people.

However, this was nothing to Xu Zihuang.

He placed the Demon Whale at a deserted edge of the dock, stood at the bow, and channeled his soul power into the groove beneath his feet. Four blue flames erupted from the stern, while a white membrane enveloped the entire Demon Whale before it mysteriously vanished into the night at sea.

This white light membrane is a special level-six soul-guided shield attached to the Demon Whale. In addition to being able to withstand the wind, waves, and attacks from sea spirit beasts, it can also achieve the effect of invisibility by distorting light.

Of course, one can see the outside world from inside this special level six soul-guided shield.

Chapter 304 Upgrading Soul Ring Age and the 100,000-Year Soul Bone Skill Evil Gaze

The ocean is vast and boundless.

The waves surged, causing the Demon Whale to rise and fall. Xu Zihuang, who was piloting the Demon Whale, felt as insignificant as a drop in the ocean.

Powered by four level-six soul-guided thrusters, the Demon Whale's speed was nothing short of lightning. Navigating through the storms, the coastline completely disappeared from sight in less than a quarter of an hour.

The ocean contains both warm and cold currents, and in this extremely low temperature, the seawater is actually only free of freezing in the area where Qianling Port is located. Outside Qianling Port, floating ice floes begin to appear intermittently on the sea surface.

Blocks of ice floated on the water, and the cold wind howled.

If Xu Zihuang continues to venture northward into the sea at this pace, he can reach the vast, boundless icy sea within half a day. This icy sea stretches from west to east, all the way to the northernmost part of the Sun Moon Empire.

The soul beast that rules the icy sea is the Sea Princess, a ferocious beast with a cultivation level of 600,000 years. However, because the Sea Princess is a sea soul beast, she is not included among the top ten ferocious beasts of the continent.

If a ranking were to be made, the Sea Princess would be a worthy replacement for the Emerald Swan, Brigitte, who ranks fourth among the Ten Great Ferocious Beasts. With her balanced spiritual and ice attributes, her true combat strength is comparable to that of the Snow Empress, who ranks third among the Ten Great Ferocious Beasts.

As Xu Zihuang continued his journey, the sea surface was not only covered with floating ice, but also with icebergs. Some of these icebergs were so large that they resembled small landmasses. There were also some sea spirit beasts on the ice and in the ocean, but none of them were particularly strong.

The Demon Whale's special level-six soul-guided shield could conceal its form, and the remains of the Heavenly Dream Ice Silkworm could also cover its aura. Naturally, these sea spirit beasts, whose cultivation level was no more than a thousand years, could not sense its presence.

But Xu Zihuang gradually slowed down. It wasn't because he was afraid of accidentally crashing into the icebergs, nor because he was afraid of the sea spirit beasts, but because he had more important things to do.

"Tianmeng".

The Heavenly Dream Ice Silkworm, which was sleeping in his sea of ​​consciousness, also vaguely sensed that the outside temperature was dropping rapidly. It woke up instantly when Xu Zihuang called out to it.

It has lived in the far north since it was a child. The cold environment does not affect it at all. On the contrary, it feels as if all the pores of its body are open up.

Tianmeng Ice Silkworm let out a cheap, groaning sound.

Wow, that feels so good!

Its plump body wriggled in the golden sea of ​​spirit, revealing its round head, and asked with some doubt, "Zihuang, why did you go out to sea so late at night?"

Xu Zihuang directly transmitted the memories of his conversation with An Xiong and the other two to Tianmeng Bingcan, and then spoke to Tianmeng Bingcan in a serious tone.

"During this sea voyage, we never know when we might encounter an attack from a powerful sea spirit beast. Tianmeng, release the seal on your spiritual essence; it's time to increase the age of my first three spirit rings."

The Heavenly Dream Ice Silkworm, which was still reading that part of the memory, was stunned for a moment, then began to wriggle wildly, its small golden eyes filled with excitement.

"Zihuang, have you made up your mind?!"

From its perspective, it couldn't be more eager for Xu Zihuang to become stronger. It had brought this up several times before, only to be rejected by the naturally cautious Xu Zihuang.

"Yes." Xu Zihuang nodded firmly.

The excitement in Tianmeng Ice Silkworm's eyes remained undiminished, and it chuckled wickedly.

"Then I'll begin. My spiritual energy is very strong, Zihuang, just bear with it."

"Stop talking nonsense and hurry up," Xu Zihuang urged impatiently.

"Don't rush." ​​Tianmeng Ice Silkworm's voice became slightly serious as it activated one of the golden light clusters floating above the Sea of ​​Spirit. It shone as brightly as the golden sun.

When the Heavenly Dream Ice Silkworm actively merged with him, it divided its spiritual essence into ten golden orbs. The vast majority of the energy in five of these golden orbs was absorbed by the Heavenly Dream Ice Silkworm into his spiritual sea, which is why he was able to achieve such rapid breakthroughs in the spiritual realm.

The other part was used to modify his body.

If all of it were used to increase the age of his spirit rings, he could have upgraded all of his first five spirit rings to the 100,000-year level.

However, Xu Zihuang didn't think it was a waste for the Heavenly Dream Ice Silkworm to use the power of its spiritual origin. Because as long as the Heavenly Dream Ice Silkworm was given enough Ten-Thousand-Year Profound Ice Marrow, it could absorb the energy of the Ten-Thousand-Year Profound Ice Marrow and thus condense even more spiritual origin power.