Chapter 162: Pre-Mod

At this moment, all the elders around the table were staring at Yan Shaozhe.

"In last semester's final assessment, a total of three pairs of students performed Martial Soul Fusion Techniques. If I remember correctly, Wang Dong's team was rather unlucky, encountering two of those teams in succession, and ultimately failing to make it into the top three." Yan Shaozhe mused.

His words were quite tactful.

After all, since the student's guardian had stated that their child could use a Martial Soul Fusion Technique, he couldn't outright say that Wang Dong didn't have one, could he?

"Interesting. Even under the immense pressure of the final assessment, Wang Dong still didn't reveal his trump card? Or was it that his partner wasn't in the same team? No… Those capable of performing Martial Soul Fusion Techniques are like the two poles of a magnet, naturally drawn to each other." Mu En tapped the table, as if speaking to himself. "If the Hao Tian Sect is certain that their 'young master' must have a partner capable of fusing with him... I initially thought it was that junior with the dark attribute from my old friend's family, but clearly, it's not. No, Wang Dong's light attribute isn't strong enough to qualify… When did the Hao Tian Sect contact us?"

"At the end of last semester, before the assessment. I had considered using this spirit bone as the final reward," Elder Lin replied. "But in the end, Wang Dong's team didn't win first place, so we saved ourselves the trouble."

Shrek Academy was wealthy, so they didn't particularly mind sparing the reward.

"What kind of spirit bone?" Mu En asked.

"A left arm bone from a ten-thousand-year-old golden light dragon king. Its age isn't very high, but it is speculated to have the ability of 'Light Flame,' making it quite suitable for light-attribute soul masters," Elder Lin stated impartially.

"Hah? Only ten thousand years?" Xuan Lao exclaimed. "The Hao Tian Sect is giving their young master a mere ten-thousand-year-old spirit bone? With their ten-thousand-year-old heritage, they could at least put together a set of fifty-thousand-year-old light-attributed spirit bones! After all, those two hidden elders—"

"Xuan Zi."

Mu En set his magazine down on the table with a soft "pa" sound.

The Gluttonous Douluo immediately shut his mouth.

"Wang Dong's situation is special," Mu En said indifferently, casting a discreet glance at the red-robed youth. Seeing that the young man remained expressionless, like a finely crafted statue, he averted his gaze again. "The spirit bone the Hao Tian Sect is giving him is certainly not that simple. Did they bring it?"

"Mu Lao, I personally inspected it." Elder Lin frowned but still took out the spirit bone.

The golden-red left arm bone, named the 'Radiance of Gold,' shimmered with a warm glow. However, overall, its energy fluctuations did not exceed the typical levels of an ordinary ten-thousand-year-old spirit bone.

Yet, around the elliptical long table, Yan Shaozhe's expression suddenly changed. He abruptly stood up, his chair scraping against the floor with an ear-piercing "screech." Across from him, Xian Lin'er also held her breath, staring at the spirit bone in shock. Even Qian Duoduo, who sat beside Xian Lin'er and had a comparatively calmer reaction, seemed to sense something unusual, furrowing his brows.

Even Xuan Lao, who had been pretending not to exist after Mu En reprimanded him, instinctively raised his head.

Elder Lin immediately realized he had misjudged the spirit bone.

Among those who reacted, Yan Shaozhe's Martial Soul was the Bright Light Dragonfinch, Xian Lin'er's was the Azure Flame Dragon, Qian Duoduo's was the Black Dragon Shield, and Xuan Lao's was the Gluttonous Beast—what was their common trait?

Their Martial Souls were all related to dragons.

Elder Lin instantly looked toward Mu En.

Mu En's expression remained unchanged. He reached out and grasped the golden-red spirit bone, and it landed in his palm.

The old man closed his eyes, his index finger gently brushing over each bone segment of the left arm bone. Warm golden light emanated from where his fingertip touched the spirit bone, moving along with his fingers.

As the two forces intertwined, the gradually intensifying golden glow formed a circulating pattern, pulsating between them as if an invisible heart had been awakened.

Elder Lin suddenly realized that the core of this circulation was not Mu En, but the spirit bone itself.

It wasn't Mu En who was awakening the spirit bone—it was the spirit bone that was activating Dragon God Douluo's soul power!

When he reopened his eyes, Mu En's pupils had already transformed into a pair of radiant golden vertical slits. Even faint platinum dragon scales had appeared on his cheekbones. At the same time, all the elders present heard a distant and ancient dragon's cry resounding from the void.

An invisible pressure suddenly descended upon the room, as if some vast and sacred, formless entity had descended upon this modest table.

A dazed expression, tinged with both fervor and sorrow, flickered across Yan Shaozhe's face.

It took several seconds before he finally broke free from this inexplicable reverence. His expression turned wary, though only barely so.

"My Martial Soul, the Bright Holy Dragon, is considered the equivalent of an elder among the Bright Giant Dragons, according to my old friend. It stands above the ordinary Bright Giant Dragons." Mu En gently placed the spirit bone down, blinking forcefully, as if it had also affected him. "Yet the drop of blood within this spirit bone... its origin is far nobler than a Bright Holy Dragon's."

"The bloodline of the Light Dragon King from the ancient era... This tiny trace of diluted blood is likely far more valuable than the spirit bone itself." An elder murmured. "The Beast God, the Dragon City Clans, and even those hidden deep within the forests—anyone with dragon bloodline would fight desperately for this single drop of blood. What exactly is the Hao Tian Sect trying to do?"

Dissatisfaction simmered in the shadows along both sides of the long table.

Shrek Academy and the Hao Tian Sect were not aligned, but they weren't in direct conflict either—as long as their interests weren't threatened.

If this spirit bone contained blood from the Light Dragon King, then just how much could it benefit Mu En's lineage, or any soul master with a dragon bloodline?

If this spirit bone hadn't come from the Hao Tian Sect…

"The soul beast that produced this spirit bone—even if it was merely an earth dragon—its dragon lineage, no matter how diluted over the millennia, still originates from the ancient Light Dragon King." Mu En said. "So, when did this soul beast die? And how did it die?"

"This is the descendant of the Light Dragon King! For the past ten thousand years, the Star Dou Forest's savage beasts have treated true-dragon-blooded soul beasts like their own lifeblood. If such a soul beast had really fallen..." Elder Lin murmured.

"If it was killed in the past ten thousand years, when the savage beasts became active, they wouldn't have let it slide. And we in Shrek would have caught wind of it. That means this Golden Light Dragon King did not die within the last ten thousand years."

"That's not necessarily the case," Xuan Lao snorted. "Do the savage beasts control every soul beast forest? There are plenty of islands overseas where soul beasts thrive. Didn't we once stumble upon a hundred-thousand-year-old Thunder Hell Prison Vine?"

"But this is different," Mu En shook his head. "Moreover, earth dragons typically live in groups. What soul beast forest could sustain such a high-level communal soul beast? It's easier for savage beasts to travel overseas than humans."

"So the greater likelihood is... this spirit bone was a collection of those two elders from the Hao Tian Sect." Yan Shaozhe smiled bitterly. "Then who exactly is Wang Dong?"

The elders' eyes fell subtly on the red-robed youth's forehead—where the eight-pointed star of the Sea God's trials glowed faintly.

The Seagod's Sacred Pillar had not issued a top-tier Eight Trials in ten thousand years. The last person to receive the Seagod's Eight Trials was none other than the legendary Grand Priestess Bo Saixi, who sacrificed her life to open the gates to the Divine Realm for the ancestor Tang San.

And now, ten thousand years later, the Seagod's Eight Trials had reappeared, and the one being tested—his martial soul was the Seagod Himself.

Those two figures closely tied to the Seagod, who were in seclusion within the Haotian Sect, the enigmatic Wang Dong, and the spirit bone that had been specially delivered to him.

These so-called coincidences weren't really coincidences at all.

Did this signify that after ten thousand years, Shrek was about to welcome another deity?

Meanwhile, the red-robed youth, who had remained as still as a stone statue all this time—the future Grand Priest of the Seagod—now revealed an expression of fervent fanaticism that seemed completely natural on his face.

Mu En tapped the table, interrupting the various thoughts of the Elders.

"Regardless of what Wang Dong's true situation is, I don't want anyone to leak any speculations," he said solemnly. The others lowered their heads in acknowledgment. He then continued, "As for the student from the Haotian Sect who can use Martial Soul Fusion Techniques with him, we still have no leads. But this spirit bone…"

He paused for a moment.

"We must not hold on to it for too long. Among Wang Dong's acquaintances, the student he is closest to…" He nodded at Yan Shaozhe. "Give Jiang Lan a red invitation card for the Treasure Appreciation Gathering."

"…" Yan Shaozhe opened his mouth but didn't immediately speak. His hesitation could have stemmed from concern or some other personal emotion. "What if the Haotian Sect takes their anger out on Jiang Lan?"

"He's a boy, isn't he? Having enough charm to make a beautiful girl spend extravagantly on him isn't a bad thing. What can the Haotian Sect say? Complain that their own young master is too handsome?" Mu En chuckled oddly.

"What if the Beast God Sect intervenes and tries to seize it? This batch of students includes a core disciple from their sect—"

"The Haotian Sect and the Beast God Sect clashing… what does that have to do with us, Shrek?" Mu En said indifferently.

Rather than worrying about the conflicts this spirit bone might spark, Mu En was more concerned with why the Haotian Sect had given Wang Dong such an ill-fitting spirit bone in the first place.

The power of a Dragon King wasn't exactly compatible with the Bright Goddess Butterfly, nor was it the best match for the power of the Seagod. Blindly introducing an unsuitable yet powerful force was never the optimal choice.

Or perhaps… this drop of Dragon King's blood was meant to serve as a catalyst—a stepping stone for integrating an even higher-tier bloodline? A key?

If Wang Dong's true identity was what he suspected…

But a butterfly martial soul fused with a dragon's bloodline—what would it evolve into?

Mu En couldn't figure it out no matter how he thought about it.

(End of Chapter)