After exchanging a few pleasantries, Dugu Xianmeng took the initiative to sign up for a Soul Duel. Meanwhile, Zhou Sichen headed straight to the room where Xiong Da was staying.
Xiong Da was his third contracted soul beast, the Darkgolden Terrorclaw Bear.
Since this was a temporary assignment, Xiong Da was currently resting in an ordinary room. However, the academy had already begun constructing a special space in the northwest corner of the Soul Dueling Arena, which would eventually serve as a resting area for Zhou Sichen's contracted soul beasts.
As soon as his master entered, Xiong Da affectionately approached him—there was not a trace of the fearsome aura typical of a ten-thousand-year soul beast.
Several students who were either spectating or waiting for their own Soul Duels peeked through the half-open door and couldn't help but feel waves of envy, jealousy, and frustration.
Just yesterday alone, several students had learned a painful lesson from this Darkgolden Terrorclaw Bear.
Most of them were Soul Kings—geniuses in their own right—but they couldn't even break through the bear's defense before being beaten to the point where they could barely take care of themselves.
Thankfully, they only had to fight this beast once a week. Any more than that would be a nightmare.
Although Zhou Sichen could communicate with Xiong Da remotely through his Martial Soul, the Book of Contracts, the bear had been away from him for more than a day and was now extremely clingy.
Whenever Zhou Sichen had time, he would come by to check on him.
For Xiong Da, training against these weak humans was nothing more than play—and it was a welcome break from the monotonous cultivation within the Book of Contracts.
Having experienced the thrill of growing stronger alongside Zhou Sichen, even A-Da, Hellfire, and Xiong Da had started to lose interest in the grind of harsh training.
After all, Zhou Sichen could casually cultivate and still produce results that outpaced their painstaking efforts.
That said, they still made sure to maintain their own soul power reserves. Otherwise, in every battle, they would end up draining Zhou Sichen's soul power. And no matter how much greater Zhou Sichen's reserves were compared to others of the same level, even he couldn't withstand the drain from three beastly powerhouses sucking him dry.
When Zhou Sichen was at Rank 35, he had once attempted a strategy: first have all three contracted soul beasts deplete their own energy, then summon and fuse with them one by one using only his own soul power.
Even with soul power quality that rivaled high-level Soul Ancestors at the time, he lasted only fifteen minutes.
And back then, all three soul beasts were only at the thousand-year level—just imagine how massive the drain is now.
However, fusing with just one beast at a time would naturally consume much less energy.
So Zhou Sichen came up with several creative strategies. For example, if all three had used up most of their power, he would fuse with them one by one.
Once the first beast ran out of energy, he would fuse with the second, allowing the first and third to begin recovering.
After the second was depleted, he would move to the third, giving the first and second time to recover again.
Repeating this cycle could effectively extend Zhou Sichen's combat time almost indefinitely.
The only drawback was that he couldn't use the abilities of all his contracted soul beasts simultaneously.
But in most cases, that wasn't a big deal. To Zhou Sichen, one contracted soul beast was practically equivalent to a full Martial Soul.
When fighting someone of his own level, one soul beast was usually more than enough.
Using all of them at once? That would be overkill.
Because of Zhou Sichen's soul beasts, the Soul Dueling Arena now had a specific schedule: regular duels on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, and duels against Zhou Sichen's soul beasts on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. Sundays were open for either.
In other words, Xiong Da didn't need to fight today.
Zhou Sichen originally planned to leave after Dugu Xianmeng finished her duel since he wasn't needed today.
But then he noticed Chen Zifeng sitting in the corner—and remembered they hadn't finished their duel yesterday. Today was the perfect time to settle that.
Chen Zifeng had been secretly observing Zhou Sichen. When he realized he'd been noticed, his heart sank.
Still, he wasn't someone who ran from his problems—otherwise, he wouldn't have come to duel in the first place.
They were bound to fight eventually. Even if he lost, he would lose with dignity.
The two locked eyes. With a resolute gaze, Chen Zifeng straightened his back and sat up properly, no longer trying to hide.
Once the match on the dueling platform concluded, Zhou Sichen—now wearing the uniform reserved for instructors—calmly walked onto the stage.
At this moment, Zhou Sichen was acting as a training instructor.
He spoke slowly, "Many of you haven't had the chance to witness the power of my contracted soul beasts up close. Today, I'll give you a demonstration of my Martial Soul's special nature."
Then, turning to Chen Zifeng, he continued, "We didn't get to finish our duel yesterday. Let's make up for it now."
Chen Zifeng's expression remained calm. He entered the preparation zone and stepped onto the dueling platform.
Facing Zhou Sichen, he bowed respectfully and declared, "Student Chen Zifeng. Martial Soul: Soulchasing Sword. Rank 54 Assault System Battle Soul King. I ask for your guidance, Teacher Zhou."
Smart move on Chen Zifeng's part—he lowered his stance right away and acknowledged Zhou Sichen as a teacher. That way, even if he lost, it wouldn't be shameful.
And if he somehow won… well, that was unlikely. But even an ant can dream—especially a genius like Chen Zifeng.
As he finished speaking, a long sword appeared in his hand, radiating sharpness and a thick aura of blood. His five soul rings—two yellow, two purple, and one black—rose into the air.
Chen Zifeng was one of the main members of the current Shrek Team. His strength was far beyond that of ordinary inner court students.
But no matter how strong he was, could he possibly be stronger than Ma Xiaotao?
Even back then, Zhou Sichen hadn't gone all out against Ma Xiaotao. Now, all three of his purple soul rings had evolved into ten-thousand-year rings. His strength was on a whole other level.
Zhou Sichen smiled faintly as a massive Darkgolden Terrorclaw Bear appeared at the northwest entrance of the dueling arena and then surged toward him like a beam of light.
The dark golden radiance collided directly with Zhou Sichen's body—and in an instant, his form transformed.
His original height of just over 1.8 meters shot up to more than 2 meters. His athletic build became hulking and muscular, his frame like forged steel. His black ponytail turned into rigid, dark golden strands like steel needles.
His smooth, fair skin took on a bronze hue, gaining a texture like leather armor.
The dark golden light flowed across his body, forming a suit of fitted armor. His bronze-colored arms transformed into a pair of terrifying claws gleaming with a deadly chill.
Although he was only at Rank 40, after fusing with Xiong Da, Zhou Sichen's strength was not only his own—but also that of the soul beast.
If, before, Rank 40 Zhou Sichen could only just barely contend with a Soul King, now he could easily wrestle with a Titled Douluo.
Because Zhou Sichen's fusion didn't just borrow the soul beast's power—it completely converted it into his own. The result wasn't a mere addition—it was greater than the sum of its parts.
What's more, even in this fused state, Zhou Sichen could still use his second Martial Soul—his Body Martial Soul—without any interference.
That said, Zhou Sichen had no intention of revealing his second Martial Soul just yet. He didn't want Shrek Academy to discover the full extent of his monstrous talent and possibly take actions he couldn't accept.
Now, faced with Zhou Sichen transformed into a dark golden war god, Chen Zifeng silently swallowed hard. The bit of confidence he'd just managed to muster vanished in an instant.
Seriously… who the hell would want to fight this?
Feeling the monstrous pressure radiating from Zhou Sichen, Chen Zifeng could barely hold onto his sword. Was this really just a Rank 40 Soul Ancestor with three rings?
Even a Titled Douluo didn't give him this much pressure.
Under this oppressive aura, like that of a primordial beast, Chen Zifeng's mental defenses shattered completely.
But as a top student of Shrek—and a core member of its elite team—he refused to cower before the fight. Even if he was doomed to lose, he would lose with honor, not flee in disgrace.
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