Journey to Shrek Academy
The morning sun painted the ruins of the Tang Sect in golden hues as we packed our meager belongings. There wasn't much to take—just some old books, a few personal items, and whatever little food was left. Elder Xuan stood outside, watching us with his usual stern expression, though I could see a glint of approval in his eyes.
Tang Ya was the most eager among us. Her fiery determination fueled her movements as she double-checked everything, ensuring nothing important was left behind. "I swear, when we return, this place will be restored to its former glory!"
Jiang Nannan was quieter, but her resolve was just as firm. She helped pack without complaint, though I noticed how she occasionally glanced my way, as if reassuring herself that I was still there.
"Ready?" Elder Xuan's voice snapped us out of our thoughts.
We nodded, and with that, we began our journey toward Shrek Academy.
The trip was relatively uneventful at first, the three of us walking closely together as Elder Xuan led the way. However, I knew that this was just the beginning. The path ahead would be filled with challenges, and I had every intention of overcoming them all.
As soon as we left the ruins, a carriage was waiting for us to take us to Shrek City. It was located bordering the Tianhun Empire, the Star Luo Empire, and the Star Dou Forest. It would take at least a few days to reach there by carriage.
As we journeyed, I diverted my attention toward my status panel in the System.
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MC Status:
Name: Tang Xiao - by Mother / Chen Tian - by Father / Xiao Tian - alias
Age: 6
Martial Spirit: (Unawakened)
1. Seven Kill Sword - Weapon
2. Clear Sky Hammer - Weapon
3. Heavens Gate - Exclusive living sub-space world that grows with the addition of spirit rings. Just like a monster ranch. Each monster starts cultivating from 0 years. They can naturally grow stronger by consuming other monsters and natural treasures. The Host also gains an ability when he first gets the spirit ring and will also get other abilities as the soul beast cultivates.
Innate Soul Power: Level 10
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WTF!! It seems my soul's travel through caused the soul power in this body to reach the maximum, which in turn caused a mutation in this body to inherit both my parents' martial spirits. And my own martial spirit resulted in a triple martial spirit. Even more awesome is that all three martial spirits are of peak rank quality. Maybe ROB might have also contributed to this result. Let me check the girls' status.
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Name: Tang Ya
Age: 6
Martial Spirit: Blue Silver Emperor (Unawakened)
Innate Soul Power: Level 10
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Name: Jiang Nannan
Age: 6
Martial Spirit: Vigorous Vajra Rabbit (Unawakened)
Innate Soul Power: Level 10
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Well, the ROB seems to have made some nice changes with consideration. Now Tang Ya doesn't have the devouring power that made her an Evil Soul Master. Both the girls can now grow strong independently without always needing me to protect them.
Along the way, Elder Xuan was very caring, like a grandpa spoiling his grandchildren. He learned that we had yet to awaken our martial spirits, and he promised to personally help us awaken when we reached Shrek City.
After a few days, we reached Shrek City. Instead of entering the city, we went straight to the Academy gate. Upon entering the outer academy, Elder Xuan took us directly to the martial spirit awakening hall, which was overseen by an old man who seemed to be a Soul Saint.
The old man greeted Elder Xuan with respect and guided us inside to one of the Awakening rooms before leaving. Following his exit, Elder Xuan awakened our martial spirits one by one, starting with the girls.
Even Elder Xuan seemed surprised after seeing the quality of the girls' martial spirits and both of them having innate full soul power. Having already experienced quite a lot in his life, he felt happy for us and called me forward for my awakening.
I decided not to hide my triple martial spirits in front of Elder Xuan. We needed someone strong to support us in our early development, and I'm completely sure that Elder Xuan is that person, given how he cared for us in the past few days.
Once the soul power entered my body, a blinding golden light filled the room and only receded after a full minute. Once the light faded, I was standing in the center of the room with a mini Seven Kill Sword hovering in my left hand, a mini Clear Sky Hammer hovering in my right hand, and a huge Heaven's Gate behind me. This sight shocked Elder Xuan like never before, while Tang Ya and Nannan, not understanding the situation fully, only felt happy for me that I had three martial spirits.
Suppressing his shock and excitement, Elder Xuan reached forward and asked me about my martial spirits to confirm his doubts. Wanting Elder Xuan to be my main backing in the future, I confirmed the identities and also explained the use of my third martial spirit to him.
Not wasting time, I kneeled down in front of Elder Xuan and asked him to accept me as his disciple. Following my actions, both Tang Ya and Nannan also joined beside me. Elder Xuan was moved by our determination and immediately accepted our apprenticeship and helped us stand back up.
Elder Xuan: "Okay. From today on, you are not just my students. I am going to adopt you three as my grandchildren. So quickly, call me Grandpa."
It seemed I had achieved my goal, but I didn't know why—I genuinely felt a connection with Elder Xuan. Looking beside me, I found that it was not just me feeling this; both Tang Ya and Nannan were crying with tears of joy and ran up to Grandpa Xuan. This scene put a smile on my face.
From that day, the three of us lived on Sea God Island with Grandpa Xuan. Only the members of the Sea God Pavilion were aware of my triple martial spirits and were ordered by Elder Mu En to keep it a secret. In the council meeting, I told them my wish to cultivate the Heavens Gate martial spirit as my main and first martial spirit. After some discussions, everyone accepted this idea of cultivating soul beasts to fight for me.