After making their preparations, the next morning, Oscar and Dai Mubai were ready to set off with Zhao Wuji. However, before the three of them could leave, some good news came.
Flender, who had consumed the ninth-grade Mixed Origin Pill and had his strength elevated to the peak of level seventy-nine, had broken through. After several months of consolidating his cultivation and secluding himself to break through, he had finally crossed the eighty-level threshold.
This was several years earlier than when he had broken through to level eighty in the original story—after all, in the original timeline, Flender had only reached level seventy-eight even after two years.
Regarding Flender's breakthrough, it was clear that it once again disrupted Oscar and the others' plans. After all, with Flender breaking through to level eighty, Zhao Wuji would definitely have to help him hunt for his eighth soul ring.
As for Flender's breakthrough, Oscar himself was naturally happy, as this meant the strength of his backing faction had increased once again, providing a more powerful foundation for whatever they might do in the future.
But before everyone could even finish celebrating, more good news came from Gai Yue. He had also successfully broken through to level eighty-eight, his strength increasing once more.
Faced with these two pieces of good news, the entire Shrek Academy was filled with joy. After all, the teachers' breakthroughs meant the academy's strength had improved.
However, Flender's breakthrough didn't seem to disrupt Oscar and the others' plans. With Gai Yue's current strength, hunting an eighth soul ring for Flender would be more than enough.
After all, when Gai Yue had just broken through to level eighty, he could personally hunt a seventy-thousand-year soul beast. Now, not only had his soul power reached level eighty-eight, but he also possessed two ten-thousand-year level soul bones to enhance his abilities, plus the improvement to his martial soul from consuming the Jade Divine Bamboo Pill.
With Gai Yue's current strength, he could even fight a hundred-thousand-year soul beast, and with his own formidable power, hunting one was not out of the question.
Therefore, even if Flender needed a flying-type soul beast, Gai Yue's strength alone would be sufficient to help him obtain it. There was no need for Zhao Wuji and the other teachers' help; Gai Yue could take Flender alone.
After reaching this conclusion, the group rested for another day. The next day, led by Gai Yue, Flender, and Zhao Wuji, Oscar and Dai Mubai left Shrek Academy together, heading toward the Star Dou Forest.
Since Gai Yue was going to help Flender obtain his eighth soul ring, they could also take care of Dai Mubai's third soul ring along the way. With a powerhouse like Gai Yue, who had broken through to level eighty-eight and whose strength was comparable to a Titled Douluo, obtaining a third soul ring for Dai Mubai would be a simple task.
On the road, Flender himself was beaming with pride. Now, he felt that his decision to leave Oscar at Shrek Academy had been incredibly wise.
If it weren't for Oscar, he might have been able to break through to the Douluo realm in his lifetime, but it would have been years, even over a decade, later.
But ever since meeting Oscar, how much time had passed? Oscar was only twelve and a half years old now, and just over six years had passed, yet he had gone from level seventy-five to level eighty.
It could be said that he was breaking through at least one level of soul power per year. And this wasn't in the Soul Grandmaster or Soul Elder realm, but the actual Soul Saint realm!
At their level, every breakthrough for a spirit master required a year or even several years of arduous cultivation. Now, he was experiencing the treatment of a top-tier genius, still able to break through one level per year even at over level seventy.
This was a great honor and opportunity for Flender, and even for Zhao Wuji.
After all, Zhao Wuji's situation was similar to Flender's. When Oscar had first enrolled, Zhao Wuji had only been at level seventy-three, but now he had reached level seventy-eight, just two levels away from becoming a Douluo.
Perhaps in two years, he might also break through to the Douluo realm.
The same was true for Dai Mubai. He also felt quite fortunate. From his perspective, after fleeing for several months at the age of twelve and arriving at Shrek Academy, the trajectory of his life had completely changed.
At the academy, he met Ma Hongjun, a super genius. From Ma Hongjun and the teachers of Shrek Academy, he had always heard legendary stories about Oscar.
After spending more than a year with Ma Hongjun at the academy, and often hearing the teachers and Ma Hongjun mention Oscar, Dai Mubai's own mindset had undergone significant changes.
Until a few days ago, when Dai Mubai mysteriously received the reward for genius students from the academy—whale glue, which greatly improved his soul power and physical attributes.
In this past year, although he had only spent a little more than a month with Oscar, he felt that wherever Oscar was, things seemed different?
Moreover, Dai Mubai felt that he was fortunate enough. Shrek Academy was just a small academy with almost no reputation, yet it gathered so many geniuses, and the teachers' strength was one after another terrifying!
Let alone Flender and Zhao Wuji, especially Oscar's teacher Gai Yue, who was now level eighty-eight, just one step away from becoming a Titled Douluo.
This was a high-ranking Douluo, a figure of great importance in the empire. The head of the Duke's Zhu family was only at this level, yet such a person was willing to be a teacher at this small Shrek Academy?
Dai Mubai couldn't help but feel that he was truly fortunate to have come to Shrek Academy and to have met Oscar and Ma Hongjun. Without the two of them, he felt that he might have lived a decadent and declining life for the rest of his life.
...
It took the group more than half a month to reach the Star Dou Forest. During this time, Flender made some preparations for his eighth soul ring, locking onto several soul beasts with at least fifty thousand years of cultivation.
Dai Mubai also told Gai Yue and the others about the soul ring he needed. There was no need to consider anything for his soul ring acquisition, because after so many years of development, the Dai family had already summarized the optimal configuration for the first few soul rings.
His choice for the third soul ring was the Vajra White Tiger, a top-tier soul beast that perfectly matched the Dai family's inherited White Tiger martial soul. Absorbing this soul ring would grant him a powerful enhancement-type soul skill called White Tiger Vajra Transformation.
This soul skill could be said to be Dai Mubai's primary soul skill in the early stages, providing a huge boost to his strength.
However, there was one thing Dai Mubai needed to change: the age limit of the soul ring to absorb. After consuming the whale glue, his third soul ring could probably absorb a soul ring with at least twenty-seven hundred to three thousand years of age.
This improvement was even unbelievable to Dai Mubai himself. After all, following traditional cultivation methods, the age limit of his third soul ring would never exceed two thousand years, yet now he could absorb one with at least a thousand years more age.
For him, this was undoubtedly a huge improvement.
At the same time, it was also the beginning of his pursuit and surpassing of his older brother, Davis!
(End of Chapter)