Chapter 420: The Representative Meeting

"Xu Yuan, what exactly is this 'exchange and learning' you mentioned?"

Li Zhilong hesitated before asking.

He was curious about this so-called exchange and learning program.

It wasn't just for Wang Jinyang's sake—he was also asking on behalf of their academy.

As the head teacher, Li Zhilong needed to understand the policies of other academies, especially activities related to Shrek Academy and various other institutions.

If exchanges were possible, it would naturally be best for some of Tianding Starry Sky Soul Master Academy's outstanding students to go there. Having experienced Shrek's environment himself, Li Zhilong knew that spending time under the pressure of Shrek was extremely important for a soul master's growth.

Xu Yuan made a sound of realization, understanding that the exchange program was still unknown to the outside world, and explained it briefly to Li Zhilong.

"This is the academy's next reform initiative—to strengthen communication and foster relationships with various academies and major factions," Xu Yuan said. "At the moment, the academy has some internal matters to resolve, so it hasn't been officially announced yet."

Li Zhilong nodded in apparent understanding.

In truth, he didn't fully grasp it.

Shrek needed to strengthen its communication and foster relationships?

Why did it sound so familiar?

After much thought, the only thing that came to mind was something similar to the exchange activities with Mingde Hall from ten thousand years ago.

But he quickly shook his head, dismissing the thought as absurd.

The current Shrek Academy was undoubtedly the holy land of the soul master world—what could possibly make Shrek resort to such tactics of taking hostages to intimidate others?

"I've already informed my teacher. He should arrive today—you can prepare."

Xu Yuan contacted Mu Ye via soul-guided communication, urging him to come over and take on a disciple.

Taking a disciple on behalf of one's teacher?

Since his teacher was still alive and not far away, it was natural to let the teacher handle it.

At the same time, Xu Yuan intended for Mu Ye to personally teach Wang Jinyang—he didn't have the time to personally pass on numerous secret techniques to his junior brother.

Of course, Xu Yuan was most proficient in the secret techniques of blood essence martial souls and planned to impart some key skills.

"Blood essence martial soul?"

Upon hearing this term, Wang Jinyang became quite interested and listened attentively to Xu Yuan's explanation.

After listening, he felt confused, his mind overwhelmed.

He didn't understand much of it, but it sounded incredibly impressive.

However, he did grasp one thing: Xu Yuan's secret technique could fuse a martial soul with one's own blood essence, creating what was called a blood essence martial soul. This allowed the martial soul to possess the characteristics of a Body Martial Soul, enabling cultivation using blood essence as a medium, while retaining the martial soul's unique traits and unlocking effects that traditional Body Martial Souls couldn't achieve.

For example, if Wang Jinyang's Power Gem martial soul became a blood essence martial soul, it would possess many abilities unique to the Power Gem that even soul masters with Body Martial Souls based on blood wouldn't have.

"It's alright. Just follow my instructions for cultivation. First, lay the groundwork. The transformation into a blood essence martial soul isn't something that happens overnight. Your soul spirits won't be like mine, where a single soul spirit remains consistent throughout. So, the fusion process can also be improved step by step."

Gradual fusion.

By fusing each soul spirit step by step, a seamless transformation could be achieved.

In Xu Yuan's case, although it seemed that extracting the essence of the Heavenly Origin Five Elements Spear caused instability in his martial soul's origin, in reality, even if it had originally been a single martial soul, he would still encounter such issues after the transformation.

Over the years, Xu Yuan had taken the time to perfect the secret technique.

Normal soul masters typically had three or four soul spirits, so the transformation into a blood essence martial soul could be achieved gradually.

The first soul spirit would establish a blood essence contract, creating a connection and granting the soul master access to the secret techniques of Body Martial Soul cultivation.

The second soul spirit would form another contract. With two anchor points, the process becomes more stable. At this stage, the second soul spirit serves as a backup while the first undergoes deep fusion, fully integrating into the blood essence. This serves as an exploration for the complete integration of the second soul spirit.

Following this gradual progression, by the sixth ring, the transformation would be complete.

At this point, the martial soul would fully possess the characteristics of a Body Martial Soul.

Using this opportunity, the soul master could attempt a second awakening of their martial soul, followed by continued cultivation to obtain the True Body Form and stabilize all these changes.

---

The Next Day

Mu Ye hurriedly arrived.

Upon learning that Xu Yuan had conveniently found a genius suitable for the Body Sect, Mu Ye began to doubt whether he had been slacking off in his disciple recruitment efforts.

He had searched several nearby cities thoroughly and hadn't found anyone particularly suitable. How did Xu Yuan seem to stumble upon someone just by stepping out?

"You're Wang Jinyang?"

Looking at the boy before him, Mu Ye reached out and placed a hand on his shoulder, sensing his physical condition with soul power. A satisfied look flashed in his eyes.

Though Wang Jinyang wasn't particularly muscular, his physique wasn't frail either. More importantly, the strength contained within his body was genuine.

Without the Body Sect's secret techniques, achieving Wang Jinyang's level of physical fitness was already commendable.

Moreover, Mu Ye had learned about Wang Jinyang's background from Xu Yuan.

"Not bad. Your Power Gem is indeed well-suited for blood essence cultivation. Once transformed into a blood essence martial soul, it will undoubtedly become a top-tier Body Martial Soul."

The apprenticeship ceremony wasn't elaborate. Considering Wang Jinyang's family background, Li Zhilong prepared a gift—a millennium-level spiritual object. Though not particularly valuable, it at least helped ease Wang Jinyang's embarrassment.

After all, Wang Jinyang didn't have much to offer.

Following the ceremony, Mu Ye took Wang Jinyang away from Tianding Starry Sky Soul Master Academy.

He brought Wang Jinyang back to Tiandou City, much like when Xu Yuan was taken in as a disciple. He planned to adjust Wang Jinyang's body first and then prepare to lay the foundation for his blood essence.

Xu Yuan had taken much longer between these two stages due to his age—he was only six when he became a disciple, so it wasn't ideal to condense blood essence too early.

---

Time passed

In the blink of an eye, a month had passed since Xu Yuan left Tiandou City.

Under Zhang Tianxing's initiative, representatives from several major factions with achievements in starry sky research gathered at Tianding Starry Sky Soul Master Academy.

Thirteen factions in total, including the Moonlight Sect, Stellar Hall, and Tianchen Group, assembled.

During the meeting, Xu Yuan stood at the main position, looking at the thirteen representatives, and calmly revealed his trump card.

Ten pieces of soul-forged metal, emanating a strong fluctuation of stellar energy. Moreover, these metals autonomously absorbed beneficial, albeit sparse, stellar energy from the surrounding environment, gathering it together.

"I have a sufficient understanding of stellar energy and can transfer this understanding to metals through soul forging. These soul-forged metals will surely aid in the research of your respective factions' technologies, right?"

------------------------------------------------------

40+ Chapters Ahead Guaranteed: patreon.com/EphemeralShadow

There's something for free patrons too! Free Patrons receive 1 chapter in advance :)