Two blazing clouds of fire collided in the sky, and it was only when Ma Xiaotao's soul power was completely depleted that the clash finally ended.
She had lost again—to Zhou Sichen, who had only used a single contracted soul beast. But she didn't mind at all. After holding back for so long, the release of her full strength in battle felt incredibly satisfying.
Zhou Sichen's power was beyond what she had imagined. Just a few weeks ago, he hadn't been able to defeat her so easily.
Now? If he had used Ice Jade Scorpion or Darkgolden Terrorclaw Bear, Ma Xiaotao knew full well she wouldn't have lasted more than a few moves.
This guy was an absolute monster.
After the battle with Ma Xiaotao, no other student dared to step up and challenge Zhou Sichen. The red-grade Soul Duel badge was tempting, sure—but only if you survived to claim it.
If even a Level 64 Ma Xiaotao had been defeated, what chance did the others have?
Since no one dared to challenge him, Zhou Sichen dismissed his Hellfire and let Xiong Da return to the arena to "educate" the others.
As for himself, he escorted Ma Xiaotao out of the arena. With her soul power drained, she returned to her villa to meditate and recover. Zhou Sichen headed back to his own villa to rest before beginning the creation of his life-bound soul tool.
Back when he was in Fan Yu's lab, he hadn't wanted to reveal the abilities of his main martial soul. But now that he was alone in the cultivation chamber, he had nothing to worry about.
With Blazing Sun in hand, inscribing a Class 5 core soul tool array would be no problem—and he could even attempt to break through into Class 6.
For someone else, this would be monumental. But for Zhou Sichen, whose spiritual power was overwhelmingly strong, it wasn't out of reach.
After all, even Huo Hang in the original story had reached Class 5 while only in his 30s.
Aside from not having the Ice Empress as a third martial soul or a 400,000-year torso bone, Zhou Sichen at this point had already surpassed Huo Hang at the same age in nearly every other regard.
Speaking of the Ice Empress, Skydream Iceworm had already brought up the idea to Zhou Sichen. Since the Book of Contracts was so unique, why not just contract a 400,000-year soul beast directly?
At first, Zhou Sichen pretended not to understand the connection between Skydream and the Ice Empress, simply refusing to believe him.
Eventually, Skydream had to reveal some things—but Zhou Sichen still wasn't planning to absorb the Ice Empress as a contracted soul beast.
First, because Ah Da was already from the Ice Jade Scorpion clan. If he contracted the Ice Empress too, their abilities would overlap.
But not contracting her didn't mean he wasn't tempted.
Zhou Sichen definitely wanted the Ice Empress' 400,000-year soul ring and soul bone. If that was the case, it made more sense to give them to his second martial soul.
His main martial soul was non-elemental, so absorbing the Ice Empress' ring and bone wouldn't be a problem.
She could still reside within his spiritual sea, and in the future, once Yi Lao had recovered and developed the soul spirit method, he could convert both Skydream and the Ice Empress into soul spirits.
But there was another, more personal reason.
With the Book of Contracts, no matter how powerful the contracted beast, Zhou Sichen wouldn't receive direct boosts to soul power—and he wouldn't gain soul bones either.
While contracting did allow the beast's energy to cleanse his body and strengthen him physically, most of that energy returned to the soul beast afterward. That's why, even after contracting multiple beasts, he had only reached Rank 41.
If he really did contract the Ice Empress, he'd gain the strength of a 400,000-year beast at Rank 40, but not much actual soul power.
However, if he absorbed her ring and bone using his main martial soul, he could likely reach at least Rank 47 or 48—maybe even break through Rank 50 outright.
Zhou Sichen had thought this through. The strength of a 400,000-year beast was tempting—but with Ah Da's similar ability already in play, the overlap made it less worthwhile.
Besides, the one he truly wanted to contract was the Snow Empress.
At this point in time, the Snow Empress was likely already in soul beast embryo form. Zhou Sichen wanted both the Ice Empress and Snow Empress, but the Snow Empress was better suited as a contracted soul beast.
Her unstable energy as a soul beast embryo could be stabilized by the Book of Contracts, keeping her alive and maintaining her strength. With her contracted, Zhou Sichen would gain power comparable to a Super Douluo.
Plus, her abilities didn't overlap with Ah Da's, meaning no slot would be wasted.
In fact, between the two, only the Ice Empress presented a dilemma.
Given Zhou Sichen's talent and strength—and with Skydream's god-making plan in play—the chances of the Ice Empress agreeing were high.
The only downside was that absorbing her as a soul ring wouldn't instantly push Zhou Sichen to Titled Douluo level.
But the long-term gains in power and foundation from ring and bone absorption far outweighed contracting her.
After all, you don't get the 400,000-year soul bone from a contract.
Of course, this was just Zhou Sichen's plan for now. What the future would hold, only time would tell.
Once his life-bound soul tool was complete, he would head for the Extreme North to find the Ice Empress.
Sea God's Pavilion
Aside from Elder Xuan and Elder Song, who had gone out to help Zhou Sichen find his fourth soul ring, the rest of the Pavilion Elders were present—including Qian Duoduo, Yan Shaozhe, and others.
Yan Shaozhe had only returned to Shrek earlier that day. He had spent the past ten days in Tianyuan City, visiting the Zhou Family—and the visit had gone quite well.
Zhou Zhenxuan, Zhou Sichen's grandfather, had only said one thing: he would never forget Shrek's kindness, but Zhou Sichen was no longer a child. If Shrek could keep him, the Zhou Family would not interfere, and would even speak on Shrek's behalf.
Yan Shaozhe had brought extremely generous gifts, and Zhou Zhenxuan had accepted them without issue.
But Zhou Zhenxuan was a wily old fox. He knew Zhou Sichen had always been independent, and no amount of persuasion would move him if he had made up his mind. Still, he had said what needed to be said—the choice was Zhou Sichen's.
That said, Zhou Zhenxuan was Shrek-trained himself. He still had some emotional attachment to his alma mater. If Zhou Sichen chose to stay, he'd support it.
Now, the Sea God's Pavilion had convened again—this time because of Zhou Sichen's soul tool talent.
He was only Rank 40, yet already a peak Class 5 Soul Engineer at age twelve. It wouldn't be long before he reached Class 6.
He was the perfect candidate for the Ultimate Soldier Project.
The project aimed to train individuals capable of fending off armies alone—combining the peak of martial soul talent with advanced soul engineering. One person could shift the tide of an entire war.
Zhou Sichen had unmatched talent in soul tools. Combined with the Book of Contracts, Shrek couldn't find a second candidate like him.
At the meeting, Qian Duoduo and Xian Lin'er detailed Zhou Sichen's achievements—his soul tool crafting, his week-long training with Fan Yu, and his rapid advancement.
Even Elder Mu couldn't help but nod in approval. Shrek had truly struck gold.
Yan Shaozhe also brought good news: the Zhou Family wouldn't interfere with Zhou Sichen's decision—and even wanted to help him stay.
With all these favorable conditions lining up, the proposal to place Zhou Sichen into the Ultimate Soldier Program passed without resistance.
There simply was no one else in the academy qualified for it.
After thorough discussion, Elder Mu gave the final decision:
"The Sea God's Pavilion unanimously approves. Effective immediately, the Ultimate Soldier Project will begin. The academy will allocate all necessary resources, and Qian Duoduo, Xian Lin'er, and Fan Yu will be fully responsible for guiding Zhou Sichen's soul tool cultivation."
"May Sichen bring about a new era of glory for Shrek."
With those words, everyone in the Pavilion rose and bowed in unison.
"Yes, Elder Mu."
****
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