The Heaven Origin Five Elements Spear was Xu Yuan's blood essence, and Xu Yuan's blood essence was the Heaven Origin Five Elements Spear.
This transformation occurred during the second awakening of his martial soul, completely fusing his spear with his blood essence at its core.
It was precisely because of this that Xu Yuan had said he could use the Heaven Origin Five Elements Spear to condense his own bloodline.
Every change in the Heaven Origin Five Elements Spear also signified a shift in Xu Yuan's blood essence origin, which in turn caused variations in his bloodline soul rings.
Of course, Xu Yuan's soul ring changes had begun earlier—back when he received the blessings of the Golden Ancient Tree.
Regardless, Xu Yuan's blood essence still fell within the normal range, so the changes were limited to variations in the conventional soul ring colors. Patterns corresponding to these changes appeared on his black ten-thousand-year soul rings.
Tang Wulin, however, was different. His soul rings were fundamentally condensed from the Golden Dragon King's bloodline, and more importantly, they contained a trace of the other party's origin, which is why they appeared golden.
This gold wasn't due to his blood essence—it was genuinely a divine-level soul ring.
However, because the amount of origin he had absorbed wasn't substantial, this divine-level soul ring was somewhat diluted. Even so, it was far more powerful than ordinary soul rings and soul skills.
Moreover, unlike Xu Yuan, Tang Wulin's soul rings were purely composed of blood essence, while Xu Yuan's soul rings were still mixed with soul power, with soul power occupying a significant proportion.
---
"Fang Yuan, Ye Xinglan, good luck!" Tang Wulin returned, visibly pleased.
Even though his treasures for replenishing blood essence had been examined once, there was no real loss, was there?
Back at Shrek Academy, he had been inspected countless times by Zuo Shi and others, but those inspections were done with his consent. En Ci, on the other hand, had rudely probed without permission.
"If only I could directly obtain the spiritual items needed for breaking the sixth seal—I'd save a fortune."
Tang Wulin was a miser when it came to money and welcomed any opportunity to benefit financially.
Of course, safety came first.
Ye Xinglan and Fang Yuan were under immense pressure as well.
Tang Wulin had the advantage of Xu Yuan's intelligence support, allowing him to devise strategies early on and maximize the use of bloodline suppression to secure a swift victory.
Their situation, however, was much tougher.
Both were already at the four-ringed stage. Ye Xinglan had broken through to level forty over a year and a half ago and was now at level forty-five, equipped with seven pieces of battle armor. She could easily dominate a Soul King without battle armor.
However, their opponent was a single-word battle armor master, fully equipped with a complete set of battle armor, and their soul power was solidly at the Soul King level.
As for Fang Yuan, his breakthrough had come much later than Ye Xinglan's. He was currently only at level forty-three and had only two pieces of battle armor.
Their opponents weren't just Sima Xian alone. While Sima Xian's partner wasn't overwhelmingly powerful, they were still at the Soul Ancestor level and wore several pieces of battle armor.
In short, this would be a grueling battle.
"Xu Yuan."
Xu Yuan suddenly heard Cai Yue'er's voice.
"Come out for a moment."
Xu Yuan was puzzled as he left the viewing box and found Cai Yue'er.
Unlike her sharp demeanor during her confrontation with En Ci earlier, Cai Yue'er now smiled warmly and appeared approachable.
"Headmaster, what is it?"
Xu Yuan asked curiously.
Cai Yue'er led him to a secluded area, then released her soul power to form a soundproof barrier.
Xu Yuan was confused—what was so important?
"You're not part of the Tang Sect, so there are naturally some complications."
Cai Yue'er's first sentence left Xu Yuan baffled.
"Hmph, sending you to the Star Luo Continent wasn't without purpose. Both you and Wulin need opportunities for growth in your blood essence cultivation. My role here is to secure slots for you."
Xu Yuan listened, growing increasingly bewildered.
He seemed to understand what Cai Yue'er was referring to.
"There's a small world on the Star Luo Continent that greatly aids soul masters in boosting their blood essence. However, this small world is controlled by the Tang Sect."
Cai Yue'er began explaining.
Xu Yuan interrupted her.
"Elder Cai, are you referring to the Dragon Valley?"
Cai Yue'er froze in place.
That couldn't be right.
The Dragon Valley was a small world controlled by the Tang Sect and was strictly confidential. Even internal members rarely mentioned the name "Dragon Valley."
How did Xu Yuan know about it?
"How do you know?" she blurted out, asking.
A flicker of light appeared on Xu Yuan's right wrist, and a file materialized in his hand.
"Here."
Xu Yuan handed the file to Cai Yue'er.
She took the materials, flipped through them, and fell silent.
The contents of the file were even more detailed than what she knew…
After a long pause, Cai Yue'er asked, "Where did you get this?"
"My senior grand-uncle. He told me to seek opportunities in the Dragon Valley," Xu Yuan replied, casually throwing his senior grand-uncle under the bus.
"Your senior grand-uncle is Hu Jie!" Cai Yue'er's lips twitched.
She knew about this.
Which was why she had used this point to negotiate with Hu Jie earlier.
"No wonder that fatso agreed so easily."
Cai Yue'er finally understood why the negotiations had gone so "smoothly" and "standard." She and Hu Jie had haggled back and forth before settling on an appropriate price for the slot.
Turns out, the slot was always intended for Xu Yuan.
Seeing Headmaster Cai's expression, Xu Yuan pieced together the situation.
Tsk, tsk, tsk.
No wonder they say squinty-eyed fat guys can't be trusted.
To think he could pull something like this.
But surely my senior grand-uncle didn't expect me, his disciple, to sell him out so directly.
"Since you already know, I won't say more. Go back for now."
After dismissing Xu Yuan, Cai Yue'er angrily took off into the air on the spot.
She charged straight toward the highest floor of the Tang Sect headquarters.
BANG!
"Hu, give me a damn good explanation!"
Hu Jie looked utterly bewildered.
He stared at Cai Yue'er, who had come to confront him.
"What's wrong?"
Hu Jie's face was full of question marks.
"You're Xu Yuan's senior grand-uncle. He came to see you earlier, and you promised him a slot in the Dragon Valley?"
Hu Jie's eye twitched.
Good grief, did Xu Yuan not keep this a secret at all?
"Elder Cai, calm down. Isn't this all for the sake of your Shrek Academy?" Hu Jie's squinty eyes darted around. If you weren't staring closely at his narrow slits, you wouldn't notice.
Upon hearing Hu Jie's words, Cai Yue'er sneered and crossed her arms.
Keep making excuses.
Go on, keep talking.
"Elder Cai, if I really wanted to screw over your Shrek Academy, I wouldn't have told you to relay this to Xu Yuan, right?
I did this so that kid would feel grateful.
When the time comes for me to seal his soul power, I'll explain everything to him. For this Dragon Valley mission, the Tang Sect provided the slot, and all the heavenly treasures for sealing soul power were provided by Shrek."
The fatso spoke convincingly, acting as if he had everyone's best interests at heart.
Cai Yue'er smirked disdainfully.
Hu Jie felt bitter inside.
This brat sold me out.
This won't do. When Mu Ye arrives, I'll make sure he pays for this!
What kind of disciple is this?
He doesn't even respect his elders!
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