Chapter 171: Yu Xiaogang Strikes Again

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The farce of the "Power God" had ended without him even managing to enter the gates. Li Luochen was quite satisfied with this battle. Dai Tianxing's strength was indeed formidable, and at less than fifty years old, his future was promising.

His older brother, Dai Tianyuan, was slightly behind but still close to becoming a Title Douluo. He should reach that level before turning sixty.

As for Yu Xiaogang and Tang San's issues, Li Luochen didn't bother with them. Instead, he was thinking about how to keep Xiao Wu—this was a hundred-thousand-year soul ring and soul bone after all. Originally intended for Flender, if he absorbed Xiao Wu's soul ring, it would likely drop a leg bone.

Later, when Zhu Zhuqing caught his attention, he could give the leg bone to her. However, there was a higher chance he'd give it to Qin Ming. After all, Senior Qin was still very strong. Xiao Wu's soul bone skills included teleportation and an invincible golden body—life-saving abilities.

On the other hand, Li Luochen had encountered a hundred-thousand-year Sea Azure Divine Eagle overseas that had ambushed him. He wanted to kill that soul beast. With Grandpa Dugu Bo and wife Dugu Yan by his side, surely they could hunt it down?

However, the Sea Azure Divine Eagle, the Sea Thunder Dragon Python, and the Deep Sea Titan Python were neighbors, much like the relationship between the Azure Heaven Bull Python, the Titan Ape, and Xiao Wu.

Hunting all three would be difficult—they were marine soul beasts with natural advantages in the water. Two marine soul beasts plus a flying creature made for a tough fight. If they sensed danger and self-destructed, it would complicate matters further. A meticulous plan was necessary.

Flender already had a full set of soul bones, so his body should be able to handle a hundred-thousand-year soul ring. However, the spiritual shock from such a high-level soul beast would be challenging. Flender's head bone was only over ten thousand years old, and his mental fortitude wasn't particularly strong.

Though Xiao Wu had some mental attributes, she would be suppressed by Flender's Hurricane Owl—a natural predator of rabbits. But the Sea Azure Divine Eagle was a top-tier bird-type soul beast. Whether Flender could handle it remained uncertain.

Li Luochen planned to gather some herbs from the Ice and Fire Well and have Flender take a spirit-stabilizing pill while absorbing the soul ring. It would be tough on Flender, but during the battle with the Sea Azure Divine Eagle, he could use his powerful mental strength to shatter the beast's spiritual sea.

This should ease Flender's burden considerably. However, it would be best to hunt all three soul beasts together. The problem was that Liu Erlong was only at level 83, still far from becoming a Title Douluo. And his own grandfather, Li Yusong, also had a long way to go. What to do? Luring out the Sea Azure Divine Eagle to kill it seemed difficult.

Ah well, one step at a time. For now, he would continue training the members of the Shrek team—they were the future of Shrek Academy.

Li Luochen's training regimen for the Shrek team was adapted from military training in his previous life. For example, the 400-meter obstacle course was retained, but given the extraordinary physical capabilities of soul masters, he increased the intensity. Auxiliary-type soul masters needed to complete it four times, agility-type eight times, and power-type had no limit—they just needed to push themselves to their limits each time.

Li Luochen's goal was simple: surpass yesterday's self. He also added difficulty by using the gravity-enhancing Titan Ape right arm bone to create a muddy swamp effect.

Their growth showed significant improvement. With Yang Wudi around, along with the Breaking Clan's pharmacy and the medicinal baths from the Ice and Fire Well, they could train relentlessly without fear of injury.

This Continental Advanced Soul Master Elite Tournament was a test for them, with three soul bones as the reward. Li Luochen announced that whoever performed well would receive a ten-thousand-year soul bone personally gifted by him, along with assistance in obtaining two soul rings.

For Li Luochen, this was just another outing—an opportunity to win their loyalty and motivate them.

During the second week of training the Shrek team, an unexpected visitor appeared at the training ground.

It was Yu Xiaogang, who had been knocked unconscious by Dai Tianxing. Now recovered, he inwardly cursed Flender for not controlling his "dogs" better while indulging in Shrek Academy's delicious food.

He even tried to poach a few talented students, but these geniuses were only twelve or thirteen years old and didn't know any better. Fortunately, Li Luochen had taken measures to protect them.

He specifically assigned Lin Chengkun to guard them. Lin Chengkun's soul power had reached level 82. He had consumed heavenly pills bestowed by Li Luochen to aid his cultivation.

In just two and a half years, he had advanced from level 74 to a Soul Douluo. His luck was good—he had slain a sixty-thousand-year Dark Hell Python and obtained a right arm bone.

During his travels in the Star Luo Empire, Li Luochen had also given him two ten-thousand-year soul bones. Since Dai Tianyuan had looted them and they were only twenty to thirty thousand years old, Li Luochen saw no use for them and handed them over to Lin Chengkun.

Thus, Lin Chengkun's rapid rise to Soul Douluo status was partly due to his talent, though he had been betrayed by a friend and left behind in the City of Slaughter. After being rescued by Li Luochen, he became utterly loyal to him—such a life was hard-earned.

Lin Chengkun's role was as a security guard at Shrek Academy. Being of dark attribute, his spirit possessed partial Holy Dragon bloodline, allowing him to remain stealthy. This ensured he wouldn't interfere with the students' cultivation while still protecting them.

With Lin Chengkun around, Yu Xiaogang hadn't succeeded in his schemes. Frustrated, he shifted his focus to the Shrek team members, intending to pose as a master offering guidance.

Thus, he arrived. Watching the training, he was baffled. What kind of training method was this? He understood gravity-based running drills but couldn't grasp the purpose of the obstacles.

However, Yu Xiaogang carefully observed the facilities, committing them to memory. He planned to replicate them later to train Tang San.

After repeatedly hitting walls at Shrek Academy, Yu Xiaogang had grown wiser. His title as a "master" held no weight here; Shrek Academy had many strong individuals he couldn't afford to provoke.

Once he trained Tang San, he planned to destroy Shrek Academy, cripple Flender, and punish Liu Erlong—the woman who had once loved him but ended up with Flender. Yu Xiaogang's malicious thoughts grew stronger.

Suddenly, he remembered they had a daughter. An immature idea formed in his mind but quickly dissipated. Flender, as a powerful Soul Douluo, would go berserk if anything happened to his daughter. Yu Xiaogang knew Flender's temperament well.

Still, he continued observing the Shrek team's training. Both Li Luochen and Qin Ming noticed him copying their methods but paid no heed.

Qin Ming and the other senior members of Shrek Academy knew that this training was grueling and could severely damage the body without Yang Wudi's specially prepared medicinal baths.

Every day, their opponents were Qin Ming and Li Luochen. Agility and auxiliary types fought Qin Ming, while power and defense types faced Li Luochen.

At first, Ning Rongrong and Ye Lingling didn't understand why they had to fight. Li Luochen cryptically told them, "You'll understand later."

Through this intense training, Ning Rongrong and Ye Lingling learned combat techniques, significantly increasing their physical strength and mastering fighting moves. They even learned two staff techniques from Li Luochen.

Li Luochen required them to learn various skills—whether for beast-type or weapon-type soul masters—and to familiarize themselves with their teammates' soul skills, which would prove useful in the future.

Yu Xiaogang was utterly bewildered. Auxiliary types had to fight too? This shattered his worldview. Just as he was about to sternly "correct" this mistake, he saw Li Luochen's eight soul rings—four black, four red—and Qin Ming's two yellow, two purple, and three black rings.

He cowered again but was terrified. Why did Li Luochen's soul rings look like this? Then it hit him—fallen soul masters could increase their soul ring years through slaughter.

Yu Xiaogang concluded that Li Luochen was a fallen soul master and inwardly rejoiced. He immediately left, writing a letter and taking Tang San with him.

As for why Xiao Wu wasn't with them, when they first entered Shrek City, Xiao Wu had already left Tang San. She left behind a letter saying she was returning home to undergo intense training and would only return at the Soul Emperor level.

Tang San was puzzled but sighed. Xiao Wu's identity was mysterious. Though her Flexible Bone Rabbit spirit was barely considered an advanced spirit, she had been born with full soul power, indicating a powerful family background.

Yu Xiaogang took Tang San and left Shrek City. As he looked back at the city, his eyes burned with hatred. One day, he would destroy this place—he had Tang San, his disciple!

This time, he planned to take Tang San to the Tian Dou Imperial Academy to find his nephew, Yu Tianheng, and arrange for Tang San to join the Tian Dou team. With the team's strength, he believed Tang San could achieve a good ranking.

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