Chapter 146: Impacting the Body Martial Soul Secondary Awakening! Elder Mu's Life Approaches its End
The sparring arena was plunged into a suffocating silence. Not a single breath could be heard.
Above the shattered stone platform, dark purple spatial fluctuations continued to warp the air, emitting faint, crackling sounds like dying embers. The acrid scent of ozone hung heavy. Hundreds of eyes remained glued to the crumpled figure of Long Aotian outside the boundary line, before slowly, mechanically, shifting upward toward the youth standing at the center of the ruined stage.
Liu Yuan.
The sheer visual impact of the preceding moment had wiped their minds blank.
"Is it... over already?" an inner sect disciple finally whispered. He swallowed hard, his Adam's apple bobbing, his voice trembling so violently it barely formed words.
"Eldest Senior Brother didn't even manage to launch a single formal attack... He was instantly defeated?"
"What exactly happened? I only saw a flash of purple light, and then Senior Brother Liu Yuan was just... there. Right in front of him. Was the kinetic force of that punch really enough to tear through Senior Brother's defense like wet paper?"
"Level 55..." Another disciple muttered, his eyes wide. "After absorbing his fifth soul ring, has Senior Brother Liu Yuan truly become this monstrous? Isn't this too terrifying?"
The stunned murmurs rippled outward, rapidly swelling into a chaotic tide of disbelief. Every face reflected the same deep astonishment.
To the younger generation of the Body Sect, Long Aotian had always been an impossible peak. An absolute standard. Yet today, that towering mountain had crumbled with fragile ease before Liu Yuan. This cross-generational leap in combat power shattered their established understanding of reality.
At the edge of the ruined platform, Elder Chen stood frozen. His weathered hands hovered mid-air, his eyes darting between Long Aotian's fallen form and Liu Yuan's calm silhouette. For a long moment, the seasoned elder completely forgot his role as the referee.
"Ahem. Elder Chen, the victor has been decided. Aren't you going to announce it?"
A booming voice rolled down from the clouds, shattering the lingering stupor.
High above, Du Busi stood suspended in the air. Though the Master of the Body Sect wore a casual smile, the brilliant green light flashing within his Double Pupils betrayed an overwhelming, fierce pride.
Elder Chen jolted back to reality. He hurriedly raised his right arm, drew a deep breath that expanded his chest, and projected his voice across the entire valley.
"The test is concluded! The victor is Liu Yuan!"
The declaration acted like a spark to dry tinder. A deafening roar of cheers erupted from the surrounding disciples, shaking the very dust from the arena pillars.
Liu Yuan paid no mind to the superficial glory washing over him. His expression remained placid. With a subtle shift of his intent, he withdrew his soul power. The five dazzling soul rings pulsing beneath his feet shrank and melted back into his body, leaving the air still once more.
He stepped down from the elevated platform, his boots crunching softly against the debris, and approached Long Aotian. He extended his right hand.
Long Aotian sat on the ground, his face a shade of sickly pale. He clutched his lower abdomen tightly, cold sweat tracking down his temples and dripping from his jaw.
Seeing the hand offered to him, Long Aotian tilted his head up. His gaze was incredibly complex as it locked onto Liu Yuan's dark eyes.
A bitter, self-deprecating smile touched Long Aotian's lips. He reached out, gripping Liu Yuan's forearm tightly, and allowed the younger boy to haul him to his feet.
"I didn't expect you to have become so terrifying, Junior Brother," Long Aotian rasped, slapping the thick layer of dust from his robes. His tone carried a heavy, exhausted weight. "Inside your Domain, I felt my soul power stagnate. My physical strength was stripped away. That kind of absolute suppression... it was truly suffocating."
Liu Yuan met his gaze, a faint, rare smile curving his lips. His voice was calm, yet carried an obvious edge of challenge.
"Senior Brother, you cannot simply admit defeat like this. If you give up now, I will be left without a decent opponent."
Long Aotian blinked, momentarily stunned. He searched Liu Yuan's earnest, unyielding expression. A beat of silence passed before a low chuckle escaped his throat, quickly building into a full-chested laugh.
The lingering dejection in his eyes shattered, replaced by a blazing, resilient fire.
"That goes without saying! I, Long Aotian, am not a man who breaks so easily." He straightened his spine, ignoring the lingering ache in his gut, and clapped a heavy hand onto Liu Yuan's shoulder. "I will catch up, Junior Brother. Next time we cross blows, I will force you to face a much stronger version of myself!"
"Hahahaha! Excellent! This is the exact spine a man of my Body Sect must possess!"
A violent gust of wind swept the dust away as Du Busi descended like a meteor, landing squarely between the two youths.
The towering Sect Master first cast a deeply approving look at Liu Yuan, then turned his massive frame toward Long Aotian, his booming laughter echoing across the grounds.
"Aotian, I am deeply gratified to see you maintain this martial spirit."
"Losing to Liu Yuan is no disgrace. The only shame lies in failing to rise again." Du Busi crossed his thick arms over his chest. "How about this: since you possess such burning motivation, I will personally oversee your combat cultivation for the foreseeable future."
A wicked, dangerous grin split Du Busi's face. "I want to see just how much potential we can squeeze out of you under my absolute pressure!"
Long Aotian's eyes widened in sheer joy. Ignoring his injuries, he immediately dropped into a deep bow. "Thank you, Sect Master!"
Watching this exchange, the heavy atmosphere among the surrounding disciples evaporated, replaced by a surging, infectious enthusiasm.
Liu Yuan's monstrous strength had established a terrifying new benchmark, while Long Aotian's unyielding resilience provided the exact direction they needed to strive toward.
As for Liu Yuan, he had no interest in lingering to soak in the admiration. Once the practical test concluded, he offered respectful farewells to Du Busi and Elder Chen, then turned and walked straight back to his secluded courtyard.
In the days that followed, Liu Yuan sealed his doors, plunging into a deep, uninterrupted state of closed-door cultivation.
And so, a strange new rhythm took hold of the Body Sect.
On the surface, the sect appeared tranquil. But beneath that quiet exterior, a nearly fanatical fever of cultivation was boiling over.
Stimulated by the sheer gap in power Liu Yuan had demonstrated, every single disciple began training with a manic intensity. Bones bruised, muscles tore, and sweat pooled on the training grounds daily.
Yet, no matter how exhausted they were during their brutal sparring sessions, their eyes would inevitably drift toward the silent courtyard where Liu Yuan resided.
Every member of the Body Sect knew the truth. Liu Yuan's soul power had officially breached Level 55.
This meant he had crossed the absolute threshold required to initiate the Body Martial Soul Secondary Awakening.
The entire sect waited with bated breath. They were waiting for the moment Liu Yuan underwent his Secondary Awakening, yearning to witness the birth of an unmatched monster.
This collective anticipation transformed into a driving force, pushing the overall strength of the Body Sect's younger generation to new heights over the next six months.
In the blink of an eye, half a year slipped away.
Throughout these six months, no devastating phenomena erupted from Liu Yuan's courtyard. However, the aura contained within his body grew increasingly dense, rounded, and terrifyingly deep.
Through endless internal simulation and deep comprehension, he had gradually touched the elusive boundary of the Body Martial Soul Secondary Awakening. The primal restlessness deep within his bloodline surged with greater violence each passing day.
Yet, his brow remained furrowed in the dark. He could feel it—he was standing right at the door, but he lacked the final key. A catalyst to push him over the edge.
On this very same day, thousands of miles away within the distant Shrek Academy, the atmosphere was suffocatingly grim.
The Sea God Pavilion.
The ancient, towering Golden Tree, which had bathed the island in lush, vibrant life for ten thousand years, now carried a distinct, tragic hue of decay. Its golden leaves were dimming, drifting slowly to the ground like falling tears.
The absolute pillar of Shrek Academy, the Master of the Sea God Pavilion, Elder Mu—his long, weary life had finally reached its absolute end.
He lay quietly upon a specially crafted wooden reclining chair. His wrinkled eyelids fluttered weakly, struggling to remain open. His chest barely rose with each faint, rattling breath.
In these final, fleeting moments before his passing, Elder Mu clung to his last shreds of vitality to enact several monumental decisions.
First, to ensure Huo Yuhao could spread his wings and reach the pinnacle of the world, he finalized the arrangements to send the boy to the Sun Moon Empire as an exchange student.
Elder Mu's vision pierced through the fog of the present. He understood deeply that in an era where soul tools were advancing at a terrifying pace, Shrek Academy could no longer afford to wallow in its ancient conservatism.
Following this, he weakly waved a hand, dismissing the other elders from the room. Only Elder Xuan remained standing rigidly beside the dying man's bed.
"Elder Xuan..." Elder Mu's voice was no more than a dry rasp, the words breaking apart as they left his throat.
"After I pass... the heavy burden of Shrek Academy will fall upon your shoulders."
"You must guide them with a steady hand. You cannot afford to be as reckless and careless as you were in the past... The ten thousand years of Shrek's glory cannot be allowed to crumble in our generation's hands."
Tears carved wet tracks down Elder Xuan's weathered face. The usually boisterous, unkempt old man fell heavily to his knees beside the chair. He gripped Elder Mu's frail, cold hand with both of his own, his broad shoulders shaking.
"Elder Mu, please rest your heart," Elder Xuan choked out, his voice thick with grief. "I swear to you... I will drain every drop of my blood for the Academy. I will never fail your trust!"
Elder Mu offered a microscopic nod. His cloudy eyes shifted, signaling Elder Xuan to open a hidden compartment built into the side of the wooden table.
With trembling hands, Elder Xuan opened the small wooden box inside.
A gentle, pure white light immediately spilled into the dim room. Resting quietly on the velvet lining was a perfectly round medicinal pill. A faint, majestic sound resembling a distant dragon's roar echoed from its surface.
The Radiant Holy Dragon Pill.
"Before I close my eyes, there is one final matter that anchors my soul to this world," Elder Mu whispered, his gaze turning incredibly deep and complex. He stared at Elder Xuan, his tone carrying the weight of a mountain.
"It is the fractured relationship between Shrek Academy and Liu Yuan."
At the mention of that name, Elder Xuan's kneeling body went entirely rigid.
Elder Mu forced a bitter, hollow smile. "I have always maintained... that child, Liu Yuan, is destined to conquer the heavens. It is no exaggeration to say he possesses the absolute potential to ascend to godhood."
"However... the animosity between him and Shrek Academy is far too deep. Especially the direct conflict he holds with you. If this hatred is left to fester, when he inevitably ascends to the pinnacle of this world, it will spell an apocalyptic catastrophe for Shrek."
Elder Mu drew a long, shuddering breath, gathering the last dregs of his strength. "I have pondered this relentlessly in the dark... and I have finally decided. You must personally make a journey to the Body Sect."
"Elder Xuan, take this Radiant Holy Dragon Pill. Seek out Liu Yuan, and place it in his hands."
"This is not merely my personal gesture of goodwill. It is a definitive signal that Shrek Academy is taking the initiative to bow its head and make amends."
Elder Mu's grip tightened weakly around Elder Xuan's fingers, his cloudy eyes burning with a desperate, final plea.
"Use this Radiant Holy Dragon Pill to bridge the chasm between you... Even if you can never become friends, you must ensure, at all costs, that you do not become mortal enemies."
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