Over the following days, a few scattered Evil Soul Masters still managed to escape, but all of them ultimately met their end in the Mingwang Valley, adding to the accomplishments of the assembled forces.
Five days later, Xuan Zi personally came to escort everyone back.
The operation against the Evil Soul Masters of the Holy Spirit Sect had achieved its goal. After a week of sweeping and cleansing, the majority of the visible enemies had been eliminated. The remnants, like rats fleeing the light, had gone into hiding.
Tracking them down again would be exceedingly difficult. While the three great empires would continue to pursue them, the major sects, having made their contribution, returned to their respective domains.
The harvest from this operation was substantial, and losses were the lowest in history.
After all, every team had been led by Soul Sages or stronger. The Evil Soul Masters barely had a chance to resist.
That said, this defeat would only make them burrow deeper into the shadows. Given the nature of Evil Soul Masters, it was only a matter of time before they sought revenge.
This operation, meticulously planned across the original Douluo Continent, also triggered a purge within the Holy Spirit Sect itself.
Since it was a covert mission that had somehow been exposed without warning, it was obvious a traitor had leaked the information.
Once again, Shrek Academy became the center of blame—after all, the intelligence had been leaked from them.
The Holy Spirit Sect had no idea how Shrek had learned of their actions, but their hatred for the academy had deepened.
However, Elder Mu did not expose Zhou Sicheng. To the public, he claimed that the information had been brought back by Xuan Zi. The spotlight—and thus most of the hatred—fell on him.
Zhou Sicheng held no complaints about this. As long as Elder Mu and the senior leadership knew the truth, that was enough.
He did, however, feel a little sorry for Elder Xuan. Still, as the Holy Spirit Sect's so-called Supreme Elder, Xuan Zi could handle the heat.
Given his strength, it wouldn't be easy for the Holy Spirit Sect to get revenge anyway.
Upon returning to the academy, every member of the Inner Court Inspection Group was rewarded—not only had they gained combat experience, but the rewards were plentiful.
With a Title Douluo leading each team, there were no casualties—not even in Xuan Zi's squad.
Elder Mu had repeatedly reminded him, and Xuan Zi had taken it seriously, launching multiple proactive strikes to ensure his team's safety and maintain his reputation.
Among the most delighted were Qian Duoduo and Xian Lin'er.
They had acquired a great deal of rare ores and materials, boosting the foundation of the Soul Engineering Department significantly.
Inside the Sea God's Pavilion, Elder Mu lay as usual on his recliner, deeply satisfied with the outcome of the mission—not only had they dealt a heavy blow to the Holy Spirit Sect, but they had even killed an Evil Title Douluo.
For the foreseeable future, Evil Soul Masters on the original Douluo Continent would have to lie low.
In the Sea God's Pavilion hall, only two members of the younger generation were present: Zhang Lexuan and Zhou Sicheng. Elder Mu first gave an assessment of the mission's results, then turned his gaze to Zhou Sicheng.
With his usual warm tone, Elder Mu said,
"Sicheng, you played an indispensable role in this mission. After deliberation among the Elders, I hereby, on behalf of the academy, present you with a soul bone selected from our Treasury."
Zhou Sicheng couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. Was this the academy's first official reward to him?
He quickly stood up and replied,
"Teacher, that's too much praise. I only provided a piece of information. Everything we gained was thanks to the direct efforts of the elders."
Before Elder Mu could respond, Xuan Zi chuckled,
"Don't be so modest, kid. Lexuan already told us how you performed in Mingwang Valley. This reward is well deserved."
Yan Shaozhe also nodded.
"Indeed. Who would've thought you'd already reached such a level? It really puts us old guys to shame."
Hearing all the praise, Zhou Sicheng subconsciously glanced at Zhang Lexuan. She kept her gaze steady but gave him a small nod.
She hadn't done much herself during the mission and had personally witnessed how Zhou Sicheng handled things. So her report had been honest and without embellishment.
Elder Mu finally said with a chuckle,
"Alright, if you keep praising him like this, Sicheng's going to get a swollen head."
With that, he pulled out a golden brocade box from his soul tool. The box was sealed with special runes.
Floating on a cushion of pale-golden soul power, the box was placed in front of Zhou Sicheng.
Even Xuan Zi couldn't hide a trace of envy.
"Sicheng, this is one of the most treasured items in the academy's collection—a hundred-thousand-year soul bone, for the left leg."
Zhou Sicheng's eyes widened at the mention of a hundred-thousand-year soul bone.
The other elders and deans present also looked on with envy.
A hundred-thousand-year soul bone meant two high-level abilities. But more importantly, it provided a complete reconstruction and enhancement of the body, practically like being reborn.
There were ancient tales of a soul master born with just rank 1 innate soul power who, by sheer luck, obtained a perfectly compatible hundred-thousand-year soul bone. Without any restrictions, they absorbed it, transformed entirely, and ultimately advanced all the way to Title Douluo, defying fate.
Those stories were few and unverifiable.
But the soul bone in front of Zhou Sicheng was very real, and with all the Shrek upper echelon watching, there was no way Elder Mu would joke about something like this.
Truthfully, Zhou Sicheng was a little stunned.
In the original work, Shrek had promised Huo Hang a full set of hundred-thousand-year soul rings and bones… but after so many years, nothing came of it. Most of what Huo Hang ended up with, he got on his own.
And yet Zhou Sicheng had only been at the academy for half a year, and already a hundred-thousand-year soul bone was being handed to him?
Of course, he also knew that his performance had far exceeded that of the original Huo Hang.
Zhou Sicheng understood that Elder Mu, knowing his time was limited, wanted to cultivate him personally while he was still alive.
Raising an ordinary student might take years, but Zhou Sicheng wasn't bound by the usual constraints.
He already had power rivaling a Title Douluo. Once he reached seven rings, he might well stand shoulder to shoulder with the strongest of the current generation.
This wasn't just speculation. The elders had studied his case thoroughly. Given his physical constitution and mental strength, once he reached seven rings, his Contract Book martial soul could have all its soul rings upgraded to hundred-thousand-year level.
This was why Elder Mu now gave him this hundred-thousand-year soul bone—to prepare his body in advance.
So when he absorbed those future high-level soul rings, his body wouldn't collapse under the strain.
The same thoughts had occurred to Zhou Sicheng, but Elder Mu and the others had clearly considered it just as carefully. After all, they had truly come to see him as their greatest hope.
Based on their projections, Zhou Sicheng would one day be the most powerful figure on the continent. Every investment they made now would pay off manifold in the future.
And their confidence came from his actions.
Zhou Sicheng had not hidden his fateful encounters from them—he had even promised to give Xuan Zi a live specimen of the Yearning Heartbroken Red in the future.
Upon entering a treasure realm, he had found something that could cure Ma Xiaotao's Evil Fire and didn't hesitate to risk danger to bring it back.
At the time, he had known her for barely over a month.
He had also detoxified Du Gu Xianmeng, helped Elder Gong manage the beast arena, and lent his Contract Beasts to help train Inner Court students without hesitation.
The academy had invested in Zhou Sicheng, but he had repaid them in kind.
He was more mature than others his age, capable of independent thought and making bold decisions. And that was exactly what Shrek needed to break through its current stagnation.
He understood gratitude and reciprocation. That's why Elder Mu was confident his efforts would bear great fruit. Zhou Sicheng was no ungrateful wolf.
The upper echelon of Shrek could see this as well and were deeply moved by his sincerity.
Although Zhou Sicheng did intend to make use of Shrek's resources, with so much now invested in him, it was inevitable that some genuine emotion had begun to develop.
Deep down, his sense of belonging to Shrek was slowly growing.
As long as the academy didn't insist on aligning with a certain Divine King in the future, Zhou Sicheng would surely repay them greatly.
Zhou Sicheng stared at the golden brocade box in front of him, feeling a unique soul power fluctuation emanating from it. A glimmer of excitement danced in his eyes.
If it were just a ten-thousand-year soul bone, Zhou Sicheng might not have had any particular reaction. But if it was a one-hundred-thousand-year soul bone, even he couldn't help but feel tempted.
With the amplification granted by a one-hundred-thousand-year soul bone, the age of his first three soul rings could be increased by at least ten thousand years.
Moreover, upon absorbing the soul bone, in addition to the enhancements it would bring to his physical constitution and the soul rings from his Contract Book, he could also gain two soul skills of one-hundred-thousand-year level. How could anyone resist such an incredible temptation?
Sensing the special soul power seal that Elder Mu had left on the golden box, Zhou Sicheng asked with some doubt, "Teacher, did you seal this box?"
Elder Mu gave a slight nod, and the other Elders and the Dean present seemed to understand the situation as well.
Elder Mu said calmly, "Indeed, this is a one-hundred-thousand-year soul bone. However, it's somewhat different from a typical one."
Zhou Sicheng paused in surprise. "Different? Could it be that it came from an especially powerful soul beast, and therefore has strict requirements for the soul master attempting to fuse with it?"
Zhou Sicheng was no stranger to such cases. The original series also featured many soul bones with demanding fusion conditions.
One of the most iconic examples came from the Ice Jade Scorpion clan, known for their ultimate ice attribute.
Ah Da was one such Ice Jade Scorpion—a very unique soul beast. This species was exceptional due to their naturally top-tier bloodline, which gave them an extraordinary path of growth.
Ice Jade Scorpions cultivated both ice and poison elements. After reaching the ten-thousand-year mark, most chose to specialize in the ice element. In doing so, they would abandon their poison cultivation and convert the poison they had cultivated over the past ten thousand years into ice.
That transformation process was also a pivotal opportunity. The Ice Jade Scorpion's ice poison was an incredibly potent ability, and during the transformation into pure ice, there was a chance for their ice attribute to evolve into the Ultimate Ice level.
Even if the transformation wasn't completed at that point, the refined ice—having absorbed the strength of their poison—could reach the level of Ultimate Ice after another tens of thousands of years of cultivation, usually around the fifty-thousand-year mark.
Thus, most Ice Jade Scorpions that reached the ten-thousand-year level or beyond were powerhouses possessing Ultimate Ice.
They chose to abandon their poison cultivation precisely because the strength granted by an ultimate attribute was so overwhelming that ordinary poison would be completely suppressed by it.
That's why most Ice Jade Scorpions would rather focus solely on Ultimate Ice.
Ah Da, however, was a special case. Thanks to the unique external support provided by his boss, not only did he attain Ultimate Ice, but he also continued to cultivate poison to its peak, potentially achieving the rare and terrifying feat of dual Ultimate Attributes—both ice and poison.
Even his ancestor, the Ice Empress, had never reached such a level!
This alone showed how intoxicating the power of an ultimate attribute could be.
Hearing Zhou Sicheng's deduction, Elder Mu nodded lightly, expressing his approval—not only recognizing Zhou Sicheng's knowledge but also affirming the accuracy of his conclusion.
****
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