The immortal herb Li Zhexian gave to Huo Yuhao was called "Condensing Spirit Jade Essence Grass."
The plant had three leaves and two flowers.
From the center of the flowers hung a single drop of dew condensed from pure spiritual energy.
Its medicinal nature was balanced and gentle.
Its only effect was to increase Spirit Power.
For Huo Yuhao, it was perfectly suited.
Bang!
A slight tremor of Spirit Power sounded, and the immortal herb shattered instantly, transforming into a cloudlike mass of spiritual liquid.
Visible ripples of spiritual energy spread outward from the liquid at its center.
Wherever they passed,
even the air shimmered faintly with soft light.
Rustle…
Rustle…
Even the Ancient Golden Tree above them was drawn by this pure energy.
Its branches and leaves moved without wind,
emitting clear, trembling sounds.
"This…"
Mu En showed a look of astonishment.
As the once-renowned Dragon God Douluo who had roamed the continent, he had seen countless spiritual treasures in his life.
Yet the immense energy contained within this immortal herb
still shook him deeply.
"Yuhao possesses twin Martial Souls—Ultimate Ice and Spirit Eyes."
"Every step of advancement requires far more Spirit Power than ordinary Spirit Masters."
"And the energy contained in this herb is enough to carry him from Level 65 directly to the threshold of Level 70, with even some left over to solidify his foundation!"
Thinking of this,
Mu En couldn't help but look again toward the lakeside.
There sat the white-robed youth leisurely ferrying himself across the water, a lotus leaf shading his brow.
Every movement of his seemed perfectly natural,
carrying an aura untouched by worldly dust.
Mu En couldn't help but sigh softly.
"He truly is a Banished Immortal."
...
Time quietly passed.
From morning until noon.
Huo Yuhao still sat beneath the Ancient Golden Tree, Spirit Power circulating as he absorbed the herb's effects.
Li Zhexian politely declined Mu En's invitation to a banquet.
Instead, he caught several plump silver-scaled fish from the lake
and leisurely roasted them by the shore.
He had just finished one fish
when his eyebrows suddenly twitched slightly.
"It's done."
The moment his words fell—
BOOM!
A vast aura suddenly burst from Huo Yuhao's body.
Flowers and grass across the island bent low,
trees trembled as if bowing in welcome.
Whoosh!
Whoosh!
Above Sea God Island, the energy of heaven and earth gathered frantically.
It formed a multicolored tide covering several miles.
The tide churned and spiraled,
forming a giant funnel of energy descending from the heavens,
pouring directly into Huo Yuhao's seated figure beneath the tree.
Such a phenomenon caused cries of shock among the passing Shrek Academy students.
Bei Bei, Xu Sanshi, and the others—who had already finished refining their own herbs—looked up in shock.
"Is this really just a Spirit Saint breakthrough?!"
Mu En stroked his beard and sighed.
"Yuhao breaking through to Spirit Saint produces a spectacle greater than an ordinary Spirit Master advancing to Super Douluo."
Whoosh!
Whoosh!
Across Shrek Academy,
powerful auras shot into the sky.
The elder experts hidden throughout the academy emerged one after another, staring toward Sea God Island in alarm.
"Who is breaking through?!"
"This aura is as vast as the abyss—even Xuanzi cannot match it!"
"Yuhao is breaking through. Everyone disperse." Mu En's voice spread across the academy.
Since he didn't know whether Li Zhexian wished to be disturbed, Mu En had not informed the academy elders about the honored guest.
After learning the reason,
the elders still felt shocked by the heaven-shaking phenomenon, but they nodded and withdrew.
Huo Yuhao suddenly opened his eyes.
Divine light burst from them, extending three meters outward.
Wherever his gaze reached,
ripples spread through space itself.
Boom!
Boom!
The residual force surged toward Sea God Lake.
The surface exploded with more than a dozen towering water columns, white waves soaring like dragons.
He let out a long shout and flew to Li Zhexian's side. "Brother Zhexian, I've broken through to Level 70!"
Li Zhexian glanced at him calmly.
"Your foundation isn't bad."
Li Zhexian bent down and scooped up a handful of lake water, washing the ash from his hands.
At his level of cultivation,
countless laws of existence and destruction could be created or erased with a single thought.
Yet he increasingly enjoyed this feeling of personally touching the mortal world.
"Next, I'll help you turn the Ancient Golden Tree into a Spirit Ring."
Huo Yuhao nodded heavily, but a trace of hesitation appeared on his youthful face.
"Brother Zhexian, the Ancient Golden Tree is the core of life in this world."
"If I absorb it as a Spirit Ring…"
"Will it affect this world?"
Li Zhexian remained relaxed.
"Since I'm the one handling it, naturally there will be no problem."
In truth,
even if Huo Yuhao did not take this Ancient Golden Tree,
many years later it would become the vessel used by Tang San's mother, Ah Yin, to reconstruct her body.
And that Divine King Tang would even arrange for his father to become the plane master of this world.
One could say he had arranged things quite thoroughly for his own family.
"I will refine the Ancient Golden Tree into a Spirit Ring that retains the origin of its spirit soul."
"At that time it will become the foundation of your Martial Soul True Body. It will cause no harm to this world, nor will it affect the lingering souls of the past Sea God Pavilion masters within the tree."
Hearing this, the last trace of worry in Huo Yuhao's heart vanished. Mu En, standing nearby, also breathed a sigh of relief.
Huo Yuhao had originally thought that refining such a heaven-and-earth spiritual root would create a world-shaking spectacle.
Yet unexpectedly…
the white-robed youth simply raised his hand and lightly beckoned toward the towering ancient tree.
The Ancient Golden Tree—which had once shaded half the lake—
began to slowly shrink.
Its branches folded inward, its roots curled.
In the end it transformed into a delicate, radiant golden projection, floating above his palm.
The Sea God Pavilion, which had been built around the tree, was gently lifted by an invisible force and separated completely from it.
At the tree's original location,
a simple three-story wooden pavilion appeared.
Huo Yuhao, Mu En, and the others stared blankly at the scene. "This... it is done?"
Li Zhexian's mind stirred slightly.
The miniature tree in his palm suddenly became translucent.
Golden roots twisted and intertwined like living creatures,
resembling countless coiling dragons merging together.
Finally, the phantom of the ancient tree remained above, while its roots condensed into a mysterious Spirit Ring—as if forged from pure gold, engraved with ancient tree patterns.
Before Huo Yuhao could even react, Li Zhexian pointed lightly toward his forehead.
Despite his cultivation, Huo Yuhao felt like an ephemeral mayfly looking up at the high heavens from just a sliver of the aura leaked by Li Zhixian's projection.
Buzz… Buzz…
A burning sensation suddenly came from his brow. His third eye opened uncontrollably, flowing with a light like molten gold.
Behind him, the phantom of the Titan Snow Demon King materialized. Huo Yuhao's Spirit Power surged. His two Martial Souls were drawn out by an invisible force, and one Spirit Ring after another rose.
The ancient Spirit Ring formed from the Ancient Golden Tree and its roots slowly floated before him.
"The Ancient Golden Tree is split into the Ancient Tree Spirit Body and the Ancient Tree Spirit Ring. It perfectly matches the characteristics of your two Martial Souls."
BOOM!
The moment the ancient tree touched Huo Yuhao,
his entire body was dyed in dazzling gold.
Vast life force like a surging ocean spread outward from within him.
The blue-white fur of the Titan Snow Demon King was coated with flowing golden light,
adding a divine aura to its already imposing majesty.
Meanwhile,
the Life God Eye, which had originally shone with golden brilliance,
became more restrained.
At the depths of the pupil seemed to lie the accumulation of ages,
while ancient and mysterious patterns formed around the eye socket.
Both Martial Souls underwent another transformation! The seventh Spirit Ring materialized—the Martial Soul True Body descended!
The Titan Snow Demon King roared toward the heavens.
Its once-illusory giant figure rapidly solidified,
its body swelling violently within a raging blizzard,
reaching over three hundred meters tall within mere breaths.
At the same time, an ancient and hazy golden divine eye appeared behind Huo Yuhao.
Threads of spiritual fluctuations and life energy spread outward.
All the teachers and students of Shrek Academy instinctively looked up. The pressure emitted by the two Martial Soul True Bodies that blotted out the sky made them tremble uncontrollably.
Those with weaker cultivation felt dizzy and disoriented just from the stray waves of spiritual power.
Even someone as strong as Mu En
was forced to step back several paces by the aura of the Titan Snow Demon King's True Body.
And when he met the gaze of that distant golden divine eye,
he momentarily lost focus.
"Yuhao... just how strong has he become?"