A few days later, the first phase of the Grandmaster's devilish training finally came to an end. Every time Yin Yang saw his little princess, Ning Rongrong, panting and utterly exhausted, he felt the urge to unleash his ninth spirit ability on the Grandmaster out of frustration.
However, after a moment's thought, he realized that although running endless laps seemed meaningless, it did help to strengthen Rongrong's willpower. Furthermore, with the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Clan now allied with the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan through marriage, even if he found the Grandmaster unpleasant, it wasn't appropriate to act against him right now.
After all, despite being expelled from his clan, the Grandmaster's bloodline remained unchanged. He was still Yu Yuanzhen's biological son.
Now that Yin Yang had revealed himself, he decided to live openly within Shrek Academy. While protecting Ning Rongrong, he also took the opportunity to look after Tang San.
This fulfilled the request of the Clear Sky Douluo and adhered to Tianlin's instructions: to monitor Tang San's every move. After all, Tang San carried many treasures that could be exploited.
"This Tang San… just where did he learn such secret techniques?"
At dawn, Tang San practiced his Mysterious Heaven Skill and Purple Demon Eye under the rising sun, completely unaware that every move he made was being watched by a pair of sharp eagle-like eyes.
Eagle Eye, Yin Yang's sixth spirit ability, initially seemed unimpressive to Tianlin. He had wondered why such an ability, which merely enhanced perception, would be chosen as a sixth spirit ability—it seemed like such a waste.
But later, he understood that Eagle Eye was far more than it seemed. Not only did it allow one to see through an opponent's attack patterns during battle, but it could also discern the flow of their soul power.
After several days of observation, Yin Yang had almost completely figured out the soul power circulation patterns of Tang San's Mysterious Heaven Skill and Purple Demon Eye. With pen and paper, he could easily transcribe the first few levels of these techniques. However, since Tang San hadn't yet reached the higher levels, Yin Yang couldn't obtain them for now.
As for other techniques like Controlling Crane Catching Dragon, Mysterious Jade Hand, and Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track, they were even simpler to decipher. By watching a few of Tang San's battles, Yin Yang, with his Title Douluo-level strength, had grasped them nearly in their entirety.
In short, aside from the Hidden Weapon Hundred Separation, Yin Yang had practically become a living half-copy of Tang San's Mysterious Heaven Treasure Record.
Though stealing knowledge was shameful, Tianlin, as a transmigrator, had long grown accustomed to being shameless. While he possessed extraordinary skills of his own, he had already decided that when he passed down the techniques of the Shu Mountain and the Nuwa lineage, there would be a strict hierarchy of disciples: core, inner, and outer sect members.
Not everyone would have access to the highest-level techniques. Such a system was necessary to prevent the leakage of these methods.
Tianlin had already planned that once his sect grew stronger, only the most loyal and talented core disciples would be allowed to cultivate his techniques. Ordinary inner sect disciples would practice the methods and martial arts from Tang San's Mysterious Heaven Treasure Record, which were still considered top-tier compared to the standard techniques of Douluo Continent. After all, Tang San had used them to dominate the continent.
As for outer sect disciples, they would only learn the sect's basic meditation methods. However, given the foundation of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Clan, even these basic methods would still be considered high-grade in the outside world.
"This eye-training technique of Tang San's pairs so well with my Eagle Eye. Hahaha! Damn you, Tang Hao! You wanted me to protect your son, but me charging a bit of extra 'protection fees' isn't unreasonable, is it?" Yin Yang mocked with a self-satisfied laugh. He muttered to himself, "As for that hundred-thousand-year soul beast, you think you can save it for your son to marry? If I can see through it, you think Xiao Tian can't?"
Yin Yang knew that Tianlin, after years of cultivation, had gained the ability to see through illusions with his external soul bone, the Flame Gold Eyes. Tianlin had long uncovered Xiao Wu's identity as a hundred-thousand-year soul beast.
While Yin Yang was bound by a martial soul oath to keep this secret, Tianlin wasn't. Yin Yang even suspected that the reason Tianlin had given Xiao Wu the Concealing Pill was to prevent other Title Douluo from discovering her and hunting her prematurely. He was essentially keeping Xiao Wu under his control.
If Tang Hao weren't still alive, Tianlin would likely have been even more ruthless, directly abducting Xiao Wu back to his sect.
Yin Yang's speculations were amusing to Tianlin. If he knew, Tianlin would simply respond, "Elder Eagle, your imagination is truly wild." Tianlin had no interest in Xiao Wu's soul ring.
On the contrary, he intended to use Xiao Wu to provoke conflict between the Spirit Hall and the soul beasts of the Star Dou Forest. With the ferocious beasts ending their slumber 10,000 years earlier than expected, if the Spirit Hall recklessly attacked the Lake of Life as they had in the original story, they would undoubtedly suffer heavy losses.
When the time came, Tianlin could reap the benefits. Whether it was dealing a final blow to the Spirit Hall or seizing a few Holy pearls from the ferocious beasts, it was all to his advantage.
In the past few days, the other members of the Emperor Battle Team had also arrived as scheduled. However, unlike the original story, they didn't face the Shrek Seven Devils. This was because, at present, the Emperor Battle Team was a gold-ranking team with all members above level 40.
In contrast, the Shrek Seven Devils, due to Tang San losing the Eight Spider Lances, had good but not exceptional records. Their team battles had achieved 26 wins and 2 losses instead of the original 28-win streak. The two losses had been to teams with members close to the Soul Ancestor rank.
As a result, the Shrek Seven Devils were still a silver-ranked team and would naturally not face a gold-ranked team like the Emperor Battle Team.
That day, after the Emperor Battle Team easily defeated a Soul Ancestor-level team, Qin Ming brought them to Shrek Academy.
"Dean Flender, Teacher Zhao, Qin Ming has returned!" As soon as he entered the academy, Qin Ming called out excitedly, as if returning home.
"Haha! Qin Ming, you rascal! After visiting three years ago, you didn't even send a single letter. Do you still consider me your teacher?" Zhao Wuji walked out quickly upon hearing the voice.
"Teacher, please forgive me. Over these years, all my energy has been focused on teaching these children, and I've neglected other matters," Qin Ming apologized.
"Teaching children?" Flender frowned. "Qin Ming, it's fine to teach, but you must never neglect your cultivation. What level are you at now?"
Flender had high hopes for Qin Ming, wanting him to become the first Title Douluo to graduate from Shrek Academy and bring glory to the school. The last time Qin Ming visited with his girlfriend, he had been at over level 50, which had greatly pleased Flender. But if Qin Ming hadn't reached level 60 by now, Flender would give him a stern lecture.
"Dean, Qin Ming is already level 66. Just a few days ago, while traveling here, he advanced by another level," Zhou Yan, holding Qin Ming's arm proudly, chimed in. She was proud of her boyfriend's achievements.
"Sixty… sixty-six?!" Flender was first shocked, then overjoyed. "Haha, excellent! Excellent! As expected of a monster who graduated from Shrek. Qin Ming, you've made me proud. It seems it won't be long before you surpass me!"
"Dean, you flatter me. The children I've been teaching are the true monsters. Kids, these are my teachers. Introduce yourselves," Qin Ming said, turning to the Emperor Battle Team.