Ye Guyi's recent breakthrough was astonishing, and both she and Zhou Sicheng were beyond thrilled. But what excited them even more was the effect of the Red Spider Lily's sub-body.
Was this truly just half the potency of the original?
After all, in the original novel, no one ever seriously consumed a Red Spider Lily to boost their cultivation, so there was no point of reference.
However, Xiao Wu had once sacrificed her soul and consumed the Red Spider Lily, yet still managed to preserve both her body and soul. That alone was proof enough of its heaven-defying effects.
With that in mind, the distribution of the Red Spider Lily sub-bodies couldn't be taken lightly.
Used well, it could cultivate a core team. Used poorly, it could easily empower the enemy.
After all, the sub-bodies didn't require any special technique to harvest. Honghong could produce one each year.
Now, Ye Guyi had made a major breakthrough, successfully reaching Rank 60. She needed just one more spirit ring to ascend and become a Spirit Emperor.
A fifteen-year-old Spirit Emperor—something unheard of in the past.
Zhou Sicheng had already shocked Shrek Academy once. Now, Ye Guyi delivered a second shock.
Whether it came from external aid or not, opportunities were part of strength, weren't they?
Besides, Ye Guyi hadn't harmed her body or potential—instead, she'd improved her innate talent. With a gain like that, Shrek would only wish that everyone could undergo such an upgrade.
Just after dawn, Zhou Sicheng and Ye Guyi walked into the courtyard together, planning to enjoy a hearty breakfast before reporting the good news to their teachers.
But before they could do anything, Ma Xiaotao showed up.
She paused in surprise when she saw Zhou Sicheng. She had been in closed-door cultivation the day before and hadn't realized he had returned.
"Li... Little Martial Uncle?" Ma Xiaotao finally managed to blurt out after a moment of stunned silence.
Her teacher was Yan Shaozhe, and since Zhou Sicheng was now Yan Shaozhe's junior martial brother, technically, both Zhou Sicheng and Ye Guyi were her martial uncles.
Though both were younger than her—making "Little Martial Uncle" feel more appropriate.
Zhou Sicheng didn't care about formalities. "What's up, Xiaotao?"
She was already used to the way he addressed her. He used to call her "senior sister," but ever since becoming Elder Mu's disciple, he had switched to calling her by name.
Given the exceptional talents of Zhou Sicheng and Ye Guyi, Elder Mu had made no effort to keep their status as disciples secret. With such a title behind them, even the boldest would think twice before crossing the Dragon God Douluo's disciples.
Suppressing the slight shift in emotion she felt, Ma Xiaotao kept her expression calm in front of Ye Guyi and said:
"Elder Xuan has summoned all official team members and reserve members to Beishan. Since Elder Ye hadn't opened her door yet, I came to deliver the message."
Zhou Sicheng nodded slightly. He didn't know what Elder Xuan was planning, but it didn't matter. He was going along regardless.
And since he had something to discuss with Ma Xiaotao anyway, this saved him a trip.
"Let's go," Zhou Sicheng said. He and Ye Guyi followed Ma Xiaotao to Beishan.
Beishan, located on the northern side of Sea God Island, was a training area for Shrek's core team members. Ordinary students weren't allowed to enter casually.
The Shrek battle team's lineup had mostly been decided, though the final list hadn't been made official.
The current seven official team members were:
Ma Xiaotao (Rank 64)
Dai Yueheng (Rank 60)
Gongyang Mo (Rank 56)
Chen Zifeng (Rank 54)
Ye Guyi (Rank 55)
Yao Haoxuan (Rank 52)
Ling Luocheng (Rank 52)
Dai Yueheng had gone out to hunt his sixth spirit ring after breaking through to Rank 60 and hadn't returned yet. Once he did, the team would have two Spirit Emperors.
Due to Ye Guyi's arrival, she had replaced Xi Xi, who in the original story was part of the main lineup. Now, Xi Xi had been reassigned as a reserve.
Ye Guyi's publicly known level was still the same as when she'd left the academy. Only Zhou Sicheng knew she had just broken through to Rank 60.
Among the reserve members were several strong candidates—Xi Xi being the strongest, followed by Dugu Xianmeng and Li Bei.
Since the All-Continent Advanced Spirit Master Academy Elite Tournament was held only once every five years, not every core disciple of Shrek's inner court had the chance to participate.
For example, Zhou Sicheng's cohort had just entered the inner court and were around sixteen or seventeen years old. They still had a chance to compete as core members this time, but in five years, they'd be too old for the reserve team.
That's why the reserve lineup was composed mainly of outer court students—they'd be eligible to become official members in the next tournament.
This gave them valuable experience now, making it easier to perform next time.
For inner court students, being assigned as reserves was mostly symbolic, since they wouldn't be eligible by the next tournament cycle.
Ye Guyi had earned her spot on the official team by merit. Originally, she would've replaced Chen Zifeng due to the team's oversaturation of power-attack types.
However, her speed was also remarkable, and with Ma Xiaotao's soul bone boosting her speed as well, the two were almost like a hybrid of power and agility attackers. Therefore, the slightly weaker Xi Xi had been the one to get replaced.
Dugu Xianmeng's control abilities were actually superior to Ling Luocheng's. Despite her lower spirit power level, that didn't matter much, as there was still nearly a year before the tournament began. With her talent, she could easily reach the Spirit King realm by then.
However, her poison had no sense of ally or enemy. Even though she had made antidotes for her teammates, they could only resist the Green Scaled Snake's toxin—not the Five-Poison Variant.
That was why she was temporarily placed as a reserve. If she could overcome the indiscriminate nature of her poison, she would very likely replace Ling Luocheng.
But Zhou Sicheng knew that in the original timeline, Dugu Xianmeng didn't exist—likely because the poison issue was never resolved. Something had gone wrong, and she had left Shrek Academy altogether.
It wasn't hard to guess. In the original story, she would have broken through to Rank 50 two months later at most.
Probably right at the end of the semester, she would've gone home to obtain her spirit ring. But with the accumulation of poison from the Five-Poison Variant, her body couldn't take it and...
But things were different now. Zhou Sicheng had given her a fifth spirit ring with a dominant but non-toxic ability.
He had even provided her with a detox method. Her future would shine brightly now...
So much had changed in these past two months. Zhou Sicheng's arrival had altered countless outcomes. Even Shrek's top-level staff hadn't yet realized the extent of the changes.
Elder Xuan had summoned the official and reserve team members today mainly because Dai Yueheng had returned with his sixth ring. He also wanted these kids to witness Zhou Sicheng's strength for themselves—
—to remind them that no matter how strong they thought they were, there was always someone stronger.
But Ma Xiaotao and the others had already been humbled by Zhou Sicheng. This meeting was more about testing their synergy.
And to make one thing clear—the list of official team members wasn't finalized yet.
There were still six months before the tournament. In that time, reserve members still had a chance to fight for an official spot.
The final list would be confirmed in the last half-year. After that, they would focus solely on team synergy.
What Elder Xuan didn't know yet was that Ye Guyi was already at Rank 60, and Dugu Xianmeng had broken through the Rank 50 bottleneck and become a Spirit King.
He had only just returned from the Star Dou Forest a few days ago and hadn't noticed the changes yet.
That was the before Zhou Sicheng era.
Give it a few more days, and Elder Xuan would realize just how monstrous this batch of students had become.
Zhou Sicheng still hadn't had time to give the Chicken-Crested Phoenix Sunflower Seed to Ma Xiaotao. Dugu Xianmeng's poison hadn't been fully resolved either...
Once those two issues were addressed—even without counting Zhou Sicheng—this generation of Shrek would far surpass the original.
The three of them knocked on the door to Dugu Xianmeng's villa. She had just spent the whole night cultivating after receiving the All-Purpose Detox Pill.
She opened the door, her face glowing with excitement as she looked at Zhou Sicheng. The detox pill was definitely effective. She felt refreshed and full of energy.
Together, they headed to North Mountain on Sea God Island, where Dai Yueheng, Chen Zifeng, Xi Xi, Yao Haoxuan, Ling Luocheng, and Li Bei were already waiting.
A quick note on Li Bei—he was the original Spirit Tool Master whom Ma Xiaotao had replaced.
Li Bei was Qian Duoduo's personal disciple. Due to Shrek's growing emphasis on Spirit Tools, he had originally been part of the official team and the only Spirit Tool user among them.
But when Ma Xiaotao returned, her overwhelming strength earned her his spot.
In the eyes of Shrek, a powerful academy that had stood for millennia, Spirit Tool Masters were almost optional.
Ma Xiaotao, Dai Yueheng, and the others disdained spirit tools entirely. As far as they were concerned, raw power was all that mattered, and spirit tools were garbage.
The students chatted among themselves while, in a nearby pavilion, Elder Xuan gorged himself—chicken leg in one hand, wine in the other—while several teachers whispered among themselves in discussion.
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