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Xu Yuan watched Yao Yao scheme the entire time without exposing it.
It was bullying how compliant the Five-Element Spear Spirit and the Phantom Beast were.
The Five-Element Spear Spirit wasn't interested in such trivialities. Its core focus was on its own strength—its sole ambition was to evolve and grow stronger.
Yao Yao as the boss?
Let's see if she can withstand my spear!
As for the Phantom Beast, it truly was honest and straightforward. Even though it had only been fused for less than a day, Xu Yuan could already sense that this soul spirit, with intelligence comparable to that of a human teenager, had a calm and subdued personality.
"Xu Yuan, why don't you give these two names too?" Yao Yao flew up to Xu Yuan, cutely pouting.
'Hmph, your names are all thanks to me. If you dare not acknowledge me as your boss, that's biting the hand that feeds you.'
Yao Yao had her own little agenda, but neither the Five-Element Spear Spirit nor the Phantom Beast cared about it.
"Alright, Yao Yao. This time, naming them is necessary," Xu Yuan said, grabbing Yao Yao and giving her a playful squeeze before setting her aside. He then turned his attention to the other two soul spirits.
"Phantom Beast, since you'll be assisting me in developing stellar energy, I'll name you 'Huan Xing' (T/N: Phantom Star)."
The Phantom Beast had no objections.
After choosing to become Xu Yuan's soul spirit, it didn't care about minor details like this.
"As for the Five-Element Spear Spirit, your ambition is to become the ultimate divine spear under the heavens. I'll name you 'Jue' (T/N: Absolute, unparalleled, peerless), as in 'the unparalleled divine spear.' You originated from Uncle's Void-Breaking Spear Intent, unexpectedly gained the five-element attributes, and merged with my blood essence. You're still in the process of integrating these powers. When you fully refine your strength and unlock your true potential, I'll give you a more complete name."
In terms of expectations, Xu Yuan held higher hopes for the Tianyuan Five-Element Spear.
Unlike Yao Yao and the Phantom Beast, the Five-Element Spear Spirit would become the sole soul spirit for Xu Yuan's Blood Essence martial soul.
In the future, his Blood Essence martial soul—the Tianyuan Five-Element Spear—would rely solely on his Five-Element Spear Spirit. Through this, he would add one soul ring after another, using each soul ring opportunity to forge the Tianyuan Five-Element Spear into his personal divine artifact, achieving the pinnacle of divine spears.
"Alright, naming is one thing, but more importantly, let's discuss our future cultivation plans," Xu Yuan said. After giving the Phantom Beast and the Five-Element Spear Spirit a few minutes to process, he moved on to the main topic.
"I'm now a Soul Ancestor, so this doesn't affect much. However, with the addition of a new soul spirit—Phantom Star—our interactions will change slightly, and we'll need to incorporate more into our training regimen."
"Yao Yao, from now on, the Dreamscape must be maintained at all times to assist Phantom Star in developing stellar energy. Additionally, Phantom Star, you'll cooperate with me to master multitasking techniques."
Xu Yuan outlined their future cultivation plans one by one.
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Time passed once again.
After obtaining his fourth soul ring and breaking free from soul power level restrictions, Xu Yuan returned to his normal cultivation routine.
During this time, he received daily guidance in spear techniques from Yun Ming. However, as his cultivation progressed, he grew increasingly perplexed.
There was still no word from his uncle.
At first, he could joke about reverse pressuring his uncle into marriage, but as time dragged on, Xu Yuan couldn't help but feel worried.
"Another year has passed, and it's once again time for Shrek Academy's triennial recruitment period." Xu Yuan emerged from his meditation.
This year's recruitment was different.
Even while cultivating in the inner court, Xu Yuan could hear many rumors. The overall quality of this year's soul master prodigies was exceptionally high, far surpassing previous batches.
Starting from the last batch, there were a few particularly outstanding students who entered Shrek Academy, but compared to even earlier batches, their performance wasn't as remarkable.
However, this year, even before the entrance exams began, rumors spread that the incoming freshmen were far superior to any previous group.
This was all due to the so-called Youth Genius Rankings.
The Youth Genius Rankings were a sub-list of the Continental Power Rankings, which were created by the Spirit Pagoda specifically for soul masters. Their purpose was to promote the development of the soul master community by listing the strongest soul masters across various stages and conditions.
The main list was the Continental Power Rankings, featuring the top 100 most powerful battle armor users.
The sub-lists included rankings for four auxiliary professions—forging, mech design, mech manufacturing, and mech repair—as well as the Youth Genius Rankings.
The Spirit Pagoda didn't possess divine artifacts, nor could they collect data on every single soul master, so these rankings were merely references. There might be soul masters not listed who should rightfully rank at the top.
However, without a doubt, the number of soul masters the Spirit Pagoda failed to record was extremely small.
After all, they monopolized the soul spirit industry. Whether it was tracking soul masters' cultivation progress or evaluating their combat abilities during Ascension Platform tests, they gathered enough data to refine these rankings.
While the auxiliary profession rankings might have some overlooked talents, the Youth Genius Rankings almost entirely encompassed the most gifted young soul masters on the continent.
To qualify for the Youth Genius Rankings, candidates had to be under 18 years old. They were evaluated based on a combination of factors, including talent, strength, auxiliary profession levels, and soul power levels, with the top 30 being selected.
Generally, those who ranked at the very top of the list were between 15 and 18 years old.
Or, to be more precise, most of them were students already enrolled at Shrek Academy. They were already on the list when they entered Shrek and remained eligible for inclusion within six years.
However, despite fierce competition from older Shrek students, several 13-year-olds still made it onto the rankings—and one ranked exceptionally high.
Jade Serpent Zheng Yiran ranked 30th, Dark Bear Yang Nianxia ranked 27th, Immortal Xu Yucheng ranked 19th, Shackler Luo Guixing ranked 17th, and there was one in the top 10—Hell Wu Siduo ranked 9th!
(T/N: These aliases are awkward as hell to translate so I just went to the wiki lol)
These five were prodigies who had entered the Youth Genius Rankings at just 13 years old.
The Youth Genius Rankings considered a variety of factors. Talent was a relatively fixed proportion, while strength improved over time. Auxiliary profession levels and soul power levels could also increase with age.
Aside from talent, which remained constant, the other factors favored older candidates.
Typically, those who made the rankings were around 17 or 18 years old.
Yet these five had entered the rankings at just 13 and still had five years ahead of them. Barring any accidents, in five years, even the lowest-ranked Emerald Serpent Zheng Yiran would likely break into the top 15. The remaining four would probably enter the top 10, and Wu Siduo would likely dominate the rankings as the number one prodigy for a year or two.
All five had expressed interest in applying to Shrek Academy.
Or rather, they had already been invited by Shrek Academy.
Unless something unexpected happened, they would undoubtedly be part of this year's freshman class.
Thus, even before the recruitment process began, rumors spread within the academy that this year's freshman class would far surpass those of the past few decades.
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