Chapter 161: Cracks Beneath the Surface
"Well done."
After the test concluded, Xiao Qiang gently rubbed Nana's head, his tone calm and encouraging.
"Thanks to the help of Master."
Nana responded with a light smile, filled with gratitude.
Originally, Nana's physical stats and soul power weren't so overwhelming. But with the soul bone Xiao Qiang had granted her, and the enhancement from the soul system he controlled, everything changed. The addition of an 85,000-year soul bone combined with Xiao Qiang's precise coordination of her soul system allowed her to fuse a 47,000-year-old Human-Faced Demon Spider soul ring as her fifth ring.
Normally, the fifth soul ring of a soul master hovered just above 10,000 years in age. But thanks to Xiao Qiang's increasing mastery over the soul system, it was now entirely possible to reverse the standard process—fusing a powerful soul bone first and then binding it with a matching ring.
The result was a stunning transformation. With two soul bones powering her body and soul, and the boost from the system, Nana managed to integrate this 47,000-year-old soul ring without much difficulty.
Forty-seven thousand years. Even among Soul Saints—seven-ringed experts—over 80% didn't have a soul ring that strong by their seventh ring. Yet Nana had one for her fifth.
Her soul system was also far different from Huo Yuhao's in the original story. Instead of the typical route, her system stemmed from the intelligence-based Wisdom Soul Ring gifted by Tianmeng. This system allowed excess power from the Human-Faced Demon Spider to be dispersed across her other soul rings.
Although that distributed power could only raise the others to one-tenth the Demon Spider's age, it was still terrifying.
That meant the average age of her other rings increased by up to 4,700 years. For example, her fourth ring now matched or surpassed 4,700 years. Even the best soul masters from Shrek Academy couldn't confidently say their fourth soul ring had reached such a level.
To put it into perspective, Nana already had four thousand-year rings and one high-tier ten-thousand-year ring. Even six-ringed Soul Emperors, who carefully selected soul rings at their limit, couldn't compare to Nana in overall soul ring age.
Moreover, the Human-Faced Demon Spider wasn't just powerful in terms of years. It was the same species as the soul beast used for the protagonist's third ring in the original novel—clearly, the quality was top-tier.
Add to that the bonus from two soul bones, and although Nana specialized in agility-based attacks, her physical strength had already surpassed Beibei, who was a power-type soul master.
With Nana's entrance, the atmosphere in the testing field drastically shifted.
Shrek Academy's confidence cracked. None of them wanted to admit it, but they had lost—completely—when it came to the physical fitness test. Even as Beibei, He Caitou, and Ling Luochen performed well in strength and reaction speed, any pride they felt would fade the moment their gaze landed on Xiao Qiang and the composed Nana beside him.
Their presence was a pressure. An undeniable reminder that a storm had arrived.
As pride faded from Shrek's team, it surged in the hearts of the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineering Academy's teachers. Backbones straightened, chests puffed with pride. All because of Nana.
Who could now claim that the Sun Moon Academy was inferior to Shrek?
In the last All-Continent Advanced Soul Master Academy Tournament, the Shrek team was practically crippled—injured and weakened. But now they had no such excuse. The competition was fair.
On one side was the renowned Soul Master Academy—Shrek.
On the other, the underestimated Soul Engineering Academy—Sun Moon.
But the results were undeniable: In terms of physical fitness, the Sun Moon side, led by Xiao Qiang and Nana, had utterly crushed Shrek.
Even more shocking, Nana was younger than most of them.
What could bring the teachers more pride than that?
Soon, all the physical tests for Shrek Academy students were completed. Dormitory assignments were handed out. The group dispersed.
In one of the dormitories, Huo Yuhao immediately locked the door as soon as he entered. He quickly retrieved a pen and paper from his soul tool and got to work.
After more than two hours of intense concentration, he exhaled deeply.
"Finally, the drawing is done. It should be correct. No mistakes. But just in case, I'll double-check it with He Caitou later."
This time, Huo Yuhao hadn't used his usual soul skill—Mental Detection—to assist with the design. He only relied on the visual-sharing ability of his second soul skill, so he couldn't be absolutely confident in its accuracy.
Thankfully, his first soul skill allowed him to share vision. By combining his sight with He Caitou's, they could both memorize the structure at the same time, and later draw it out. If they compared their sketches before the memory faded, the odds of reconstructing the correct soul tool blueprint would be high.
It wasn't perfect. It wasn't as seamless as the original novel's version. But theoretically, it was still a feasible plan.
"Hmph, you idiots from the Sun Moon Empire. Do you really think Big Brother Beibei is here to learn from you? When I ship all the technology from the Mingde Hall back to Shrek, I wonder if you'll still be smiling after your soul tools start popping up in our academy."
In the quiet dorm, Huo Yuhao muttered to himself, full of arrogance.
As the top spy dog of the Tang God King, this side of Huo Yuhao was rarely shown within Shrek or Tang Sect. But in foreign territory, his true nature bled through.
Where he had learned such unruliness remained a mystery. In the original canon, Huo Yuhao was a simple, kind-hearted youth. Yet here he was, scheming without guidance—proof that perhaps this defiant nature was always part of him, only buried deep beneath loyalty to his "masters."
Xiao Qiang, who had been observing Huo Yuhao from afar through spiritual detection, stared in silence.
"…"
He studied the designs Yuhao had sketched and remained quiet for a moment.
"Should we have someone arrest him now?"
Tianmeng's voice echoed in Xiao Qiang's spiritual sea.
Xiao Qiang shook his head.
"They're just basic testers for physical fitness. Nothing significant. There are even several errors in his design. Arresting him now would do more harm than good. He could even deny the intent behind it by playing dumb. Better not to alert the enemy."
Xiao Qiang's voice was calm, but calculating.
"Let it go for now. These three testing devices aren't valuable. But since he's here… the Body Sect shouldn't be far behind."
In the original story, Huo Yuhao made great gains during the chaos stirred up by the Body Sect's arrival. From Xiao Qiang's omniscient perspective, that would also be his moment—to plunder fate itself without exposing his hand.
"Eh? Body Sect? What do they have to do with this?"
Tianmeng was confused by the sudden mention.
"You'll find out soon enough, Brother Tianmeng. Just know this—so long as we ensure Mingde Hall doesn't suffer major damage, we can turn this situation into a huge advantage."