Ning Fengzhi's words were like a heavy hammer, striking Qian Renxue's heart one blow after another, leaving her mind in a chaotic turmoil, unable to find peace.
Just as she was still immersed in the shock brought by the world-shaking power of the "Blue Silver Four-Armed Vajra," Ning Fengzhi suddenly turned his head. With an incomparably solemn expression, he gazed intently at her and said in a deep voice:
"Qinghe, there is one thing I must remind you of.
Regarding the child Tang San, you had best not, and must never, attempt to recruit or control him.
What you need to do is learn to become true friends with him."
He paused slightly, his tone carrying an unprecedented certainty and a trace of indescribable awe:
"With such an unfathomable master backing him, his future achievements will surely be limitless, perhaps even surpassing all of our imaginations.
I even suspect... that his master, Fu Shiyan, is highly likely to take that legendary step in the future!"
Upon hearing this, Qian Renxue's pupils suddenly contracted, and she froze completely on the spot.
She met Ning Fengzhi's gaze, seeing an unquestionable seriousness and profundity in his eyes. After a long while, she finally took a slow breath, suppressing the tempestuous waves in her heart, and nodded solemnly:
"Teacher, I understand. Thank you for your guidance."
......
Meanwhile, at the back mountain of Shrek Academy.
In the simulation, Tang San did not rest after finishing his routine training for the day. Instead, he followed the unique method imparted by his master, Fu Shiyan, and began a deeper level of cultivation.
He found a secluded spot, sat down cross-legged, and assumed the five-hearts-facing-heaven posture.
With his eyes slightly closed, his breathing gradually became long, thin, and faint, as if barely there.
This was his state of deep meditation.
Then, he slowly raised his right hand. Within his palm, a deep blue light surged like ripples of water.
Centering around his body, strands of deep, nearly midnight-blue Blue Silver Grass silently spread outward. Like living tentacles, they slowly dispersed into the surroundings, making faint rustling sounds wherever they passed.
As his martial soul circulated and released, Tang San's perception began to multiply at an astonishing speed.
Everything around him--the sound of the wind, the rustling of the grass, the chirping of insects--became clearer than ever before.
Every single strand of Blue Silver Grass condensed and extended by his soul power seemed to become an extension of his senses, becoming his "eyes."
An even stranger thing happened.
The ordinary, wild Blue Silver Grass swaying in the wind nearby seemed to sense some supreme, absolute summons. One after another, they began to tremble slightly, their leaves uniformly turning toward Tang San's direction, exhibiting a posture that was almost like worship.
In the simulation, Tang San clearly perceived the responses from countless wild Blue Silver Grass from all directions.
Through the wondrous resonance established between his own Blue Silver Grass martial soul and them, he felt that every single wild Blue Silver Grass emitted a trace of extremely faint, yet truly existing energy fluctuation.
Within this fluctuation, there was actually a pure and fervent emotion--it was an intimacy and attachment akin to a child separated for many years finally finding their blood relative!
Gradually, Tang San's mind seemed to connect with the entire forest of Blue Silver Grass.
Originating from this massive network of intimate emotions, all the Blue Silver Grass willingly became his eyes, ears, and nose, passing all the information they could perceive into Tang San's mind without reservation.
At this moment, Tang San seemed to transform into the absolute center of the entire forest. His perception extended infinitely along the vast network formed by countless strands of Blue Silver Grass, gradually covering a range of a thousand meters!
Any stir caused by the wind or grass could hardly escape this perceptual domain constructed by countless "grass citizens."
And the observing Tang San also keenly noticed this bizarre and miraculous scene at this moment!
He clearly "saw" that every strand of soul power Blue Silver Grass released by his simulated self, under the drive and nourishment of the energy from the surrounding countless wild Blue Silver Grass, seemed to be endowed with true vital energy, becoming more agile and resilient.
As for those wild Blue Silver Grass, they were like the most loyal subjects, continuously channeling information from all parts of the forest into the mind of their "King."
At the same time, the observing Tang San noticed a key detail that he had once overlooked!
That was, the color of his soul power in the simulation was not entirely the same as the white color of the Mysterious Heaven Skill internal strength from his very first simulation experience, or rather, his memory!
As early as his first appearance in the Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Elite Tournament, he had faintly noticed it but had not looked deeper into it.
Right now, under the reflection of the deep blue glow resonating from the surrounding countless Blue Silver Grass, this difference became particularly obvious--
In the simulation, his soul power--that faint blue soul power--was gradually becoming richer and deeper as the resonance deepened!
A long time later, Tang San in the simulation slowly withdrew from this deep-level resonance cultivation and opened his eyes.
The observing Tang San, however, discovered with shock that after his simulated self ended his cultivation, the original wild Blue Silver Grass on the surrounding ground had actually all bizarrely transformed into the same deep blue color as Tang San's martial soul!
Furthermore, they seemed to have been injected with a massive amount of vitality, beginning to grow frantically at a speed visible to the naked eye. Each stalk, like a clone of Tang San's martial soul, swayed gently in the air, emitting a faint blue halo that appeared mysterious and magnificent.
Tang San in the simulation seemed to have long been accustomed to this. He merely cast a calm glance at this deep blue sea of grass that had transformed because of him, then turned around and quietly returned to his room, without showing too much surprise.
With this kind of peculiar cultivation that triggered the Blue Silver resonance day after day, time slipped away quietly.
The intense and fierce second round of the qualifiers for the Soul Master Tournament also arrived as scheduled.
When the Shrek Academy group appeared outside the Heaven Dou Great Spirit Arena once again, clad in that iconic poop-green team uniform, they clearly felt an atmosphere completely different from their first battle.
The spectators preparing to enter the venue, upon seeing this eye-catching green, actually moved aside to both sides in unison with a few hints of awe, spontaneously yielding a clear path.
There were still discussions all around, but compared to the jeers and ridicule of the last time, the volume was lowered by far, and the content had mostly turned into speculations and amazement regarding their strength.
Those gazes that used to feel like needles on their backs, filled with disdain and playfulness, had practically vanished. They were replaced by a type of caution and awe reserved when looking at the strong.
All of this originated from that overwhelming, crushing victory of less than a minute against the Heaven Dou Royal Academy's Second Team in their debut match.
Strength would always be the fastest way to win respect.
However, this newly established majesty was shattered by Principal Flender's own hands in the next second.
This unreliable principal was still in high spirits today, and had successfully found a new advertisement sponsor again--a merchant specializing in premium toilet water.
Thus, on the Shrek crowd's already sufficiently "conspicuous" team uniforms, beneath the words "Open for Naming Rights Advertisement," a few more "exquisitely" embroidered large characters were added:
"XX Toilet Water, refreshing the mind, a must-have for Soul Masters!"
The familiar sense of embarrassment instantly flooded back, enveloping the hearts of everyone in the Shrek Seven Devils.
But unlike the students' embarrassment that was expressed beyond words, Grandmaster Yu Xiaogang and Liu Erlong, who stood to the side, did not have a trace of a smile on their faces at this moment. Instead, they carried a solemnity that was completely out of tune with the surrounding atmosphere.