While his Martial Soul level hadn't increased, some of his abilities had been strengthened. For instance, Naruto's Instant Transmission, compared to before, the furthest single move should have increased by about twenty to thirty percent. The same consumption for a greater distance further enhanced Senior's travel speed.
"It's a pity there are no Space rifts for me to try and see if I can enter," Shi Yu wanted to test the ability he had gained even more.
Theoretically, Shi Yu should be able to enter Space rifts, but Shi Yu wasn't sure what the actual attempt would be like.
Sensing that Xuan Lao and the others were gathered outside, Shi Yu tidied Senior's thoughts and pushed the door open.
"How was it?" Jiang Nannan was the first to jog over, looking at Senior expectantly.
Everyone else also knew that Shi Yu had taken the You Xu Fruit in the room. Huo Yuhao, Wang Dong, and the others watched curiously.
Xuan Lao smiled, sensing Shi Yu's Soul Power condition. Senior had broken through.
Shi Yu smiled slightly, looked at everyone, and said, "I've broken through to level forty, and my Space ability has also been strengthened. This time, I owe the Star Luo Empire a considerable favor."
"Since you've broken through, prepare to return to the Academy. The Academy has been searching for a suitable fourth Soul Ring for you, and I don't know if they've found anything yet," Xuan Lao said.
"Okay," Shi Yu nodded, not mentioning to Xuan Lao the information Senior had learned from the Star Luo Empire about a suitable Time and Space dual-attribute Soul Beast.
Senior planned to acquire that Soul Beast to become a Soul Ring for Senior's Time Martial Soul. As for a Space attribute Soul Ring, Senior would go through the Academy.
Time is even harder to encounter than Space attributes. Having finally encountered one, Senior naturally had to use it for the rarer Time attribute.
The group set off to return to the Academy. They traveled discreetly, using a commercial caravan from the Star Luo Empire.
They blended into the commercial caravan traveling from Star Luo City to Shrek City. This made it less likely to attract ambushes from the Body Sect.
Over the past month, Xuan Lao's injuries had still not fully recovered. An expert of Senior's level wasn't easily injured.
But once injured, it was usually not a minor injury, and recovery wasn't easy.
Senior's injury would basically not heal completely for at least a year or two.
Without fully recovering from the injury, Senior lacked confidence, which is why Senior chose a relatively low-key and safe way to return.
Senior also didn't have anyone from Shrek Academy come to meet them. If Du Bu Si were to personally attack again, unless Mu Lao came, it wouldn't be safe.
Of course, this wasn't just to guard against the Body Sect, but also against other malicious individuals.
The talent and abilities Shi Yu displayed this time were too exaggerated, which might attract jealousy. It wasn't impossible for someone to take the opportunity to nip a genius in the bud.
Shrek Academy has many friends but also quite a few enemies. Sometimes being careful isn't a bad thing.
The journey went smoothly, and after five days, they successfully returned to Shrek City.
Upon their return, they received a high-level reception. The Academy held a celebration banquet for them.
Shi Yu, Huo Yuhao, Wang Dong, Xiao Xiao, Jiang Nannan, and Ma Xiaotao, the six of them, were called into a room in the Sea God Pavilion.
Mu En looked at them with a smile, scanning them before his gaze fell on Shi Yu. Senior nodded with great satisfaction and said,
"I heard from Xuan Zi about your performance. It was very good. Not only did you not disappoint me, but you also greatly surprised me."
"Thank you, Teacher, for the praise," Shi Yu said respectfully, then looked at Mu Lao eagerly, silently saying, 'Where's my reward?'
Seeing Senior's greedy look, Mu En couldn't help but smile and nodded to Yan Shaozhe beside him.
The latter flipped his hand, and a rectangular sandalwood box appeared in it. It was quite large and required both hands to hold.
There was no fluctuation emanating from inside; it looked like a relatively exquisite sandalwood box.
But Shi Yu became excited. What was inside should be that hundred-thousand-year level Space attribute Soul Bone.
"Don't be in a hurry to open it," Yan Shaozhe handed the box to Shi Yu and instructed.
Shi Yu also understood Yan Shaozhe's meaning. There were other people around, perhaps afraid of causing jealousy.
"The performance of the five of you was also very good. The Academy will give appropriate rewards based on your performance," Mu En looked at the others and said.
Yan Shaozhe began to announce the rewards for the five of them, all based on their contributions.
Among the five, only Ma Xiaotao received a Soul Bone reward. She didn't play much of a role in the first half of the competition, but she played a significant role in the second half, being the second greatest contributor after Shi Yu.
It was only right for her to receive a Soul Bone.
The three Soul Bones rewarded by the Star Luo Empire were not suitable for Ma Xiaotao. The Academy would replace one with a Fire attribute Soul Bone as a reward for her.
Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong jointly received a ten-thousand-year Soul Bone, and Jiang Nannan and Xiao Xiao jointly received a ten-thousand-year Soul Bone.
The Academy would not keep these three Soul Bones; they would all be rewarded to the participating students.
Even with the performance of Huo Yuhao and the others, they wouldn't have been qualified to receive Soul Bone rewards.
The absolute main force in this competition was Shi Yu. The roles of the others were relatively limited. They deserved rewards, but a Soul Bone reward would be too heavy.
It was decided to reward them with Soul Bones also considering that the talents of these few people were very good and worth cultivating.
Two people sharing one Soul Bone created a problem with distribution. The Academy did not intervene in how it was distributed, letting them discuss it privately among themselves.
This was indeed a difficult problem. Jiang Nannan and Xiao Xiao were silent for a long time.
It was Shi Yu who helped mediate to determine the distribution. The Soul Bone went to Jiang Nannan, but Jiang Nannan needed to compensate Xiao Xiao with a million golden soul coins.
The price of this ten-thousand-year Soul Bone was approximately over two million, so compensating with a million golden soul coins wasn't an exaggeration.
Jiang Nannan didn't have that much money and could only give an IOU to be repaid later.
As for how Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong would distribute that Soul Bone, it was unknown. Shi Yu didn't help with the distribution; they would handle it themselves.
It's worth mentioning that Xuan Lao did not give the Ice Jade Scorpion Soul Bone bought at the auction to Huo Yuhao.
This Soul Bone was worth ten million. With the contributions Huo Yuhao had made to the Academy so far, it wasn't enough to earn this Soul Bone reward.
This would only be rewarded to Senior after Senior had made enough contributions to the Academy.
"There's new progress in the search for Space attribute Soul Beasts. We just don't know if you can withstand that massive energy," Yan Shaozhe then brought up the matter of Soul Beasts.
"How many years old?" Shi Yu asked in surprise. The Academy's search efficiency was quite good.
"Close to twenty thousand years," Yan Shaozhe said.
Shi Yu also felt it was a bit high. Absorbing a Soul Ring from a Soul Beast between ten thousand and fifteen thousand years would be more suitable for Shi Yu now.
"Then how long would it take to find a Soul Beast over ten thousand years old?" Shi Yu asked.
Yan Shaozhe shook his head and said, "Finding Space attribute Soul Beasts is entirely up to luck. If you're lucky, it might only take a few days. If you're unlucky, it might take several years and you still won't find one."
"This twenty-thousand-plus year old Space attribute Soul Beast was only found by chance after we mobilized many hunting teams. We found only one in a few months. Think about how difficult the search is."
"To help you find suitable Soul Beasts, the Academy has already spent nearly two million. We will continue to spend money, and the cost to help you gather subsequent Soul Rings is estimated to reach ten million."
Shrek Academy has many experts, but they can't all be mobilized to search for Soul Beasts in the Star Dou Great Forest. They sent out some people themselves and also hired professional hunter teams to help with the search.
Nearly a thousand people were mobilized to help search within the Star Dou Great Forest, and there are considerable expenses every day.
Furthermore, it's not just the Star Dou Great Forest; people have also been arranged to search in some other Soul Beast forests, which is also a considerable expense.