As for the Shrek Academy during the Peerless era, it similarly lacked any standout features. Instead, Ye Wen saw through their underhanded tactics of binding geniuses with high-interest loans.
Huo Yuhao's soul-guiding technology only laid a foundation in its early stages; everything afterward was stolen from the Sun Moon Empire. As for soul master cultivation at Shrek, Huo Yuhao was initially looked down upon due to his perceived lack of talent—a place that only valued prodigies. Later on, his progress was achieved by consuming rare medicinal herbs to compensate for his weaknesses and accelerate his cultivation. Again, nothing remarkable stood out.
Even after ten thousand years, Shrek still hadn't discovered a non-magical herb method to resolve the drawbacks of the Evil Fire Phoenix bloodline. This alone highlighted just how incompetent Shrek was in research and development.
Yet, despite being such a subpar academy, Shrek remained the only institution in the past ten thousand years capable of nurturing Title Douluos with ultimate-attribute martial souls.
What gave them this ability?
Having thoroughly studied both versions of Douluo, Ye Wen quickly identified three peculiar aspects of Shrek during the Peerless era.
First, even though Shrek wasn't the location of the Sea God's Great Priest or a sacred site for the Sea God's inheritance, Tang San had granted it the authority to use the Sea God's power.
Second, Tang San had somehow acquired the Golden Ancient Tree through questionable means.
Third, Elder Mu possessed the ability to pass down an inheritance that allowed the next generation to awaken the Holy Dragon of Light.
Elder Mu's inheritance was the least likely candidate, as its application was too specific and unsuitable for other ultimate-attribute soul masters.
Similarly, the Sea God's power, which was hyped as being more sacred than even the Angelic forces in the first series, proved useless for ultimate-attribute cultivation. It was merely a tool Tang San used for small-scale tricks.
Thus, Ye Wen narrowed his focus to the Golden Ancient Tree.
Coincidentally, Ye Wen also knew that Huo Yuhao spent a considerable amount of time training within the vast, life-energy-filled internal space of the Golden Ancient Tree.
Having personally experienced the benefits of the Blue Silver King's sacrifice, Ye Wen could confidently affirm that the harmless attribute of life force indeed accelerated a soul master's cultivation. After all, he was living proof of that.
At this moment, Ye Wen gently touched the silver streak on his forehead.
Though this theory made sense, his Blue Silver Domain could only manipulate the soul force of Blue Silver Grass during battle—it couldn't replicate the rapid cultivation boost achieved through the Blue Silver King's sacrifice.
However, Ye Wen had already figured out the underlying principle: it was all about the concentration of life force. Ordinary Blue Silver Grass life force could only serve as simple extraordinary energy, but if compressed to a certain degree, it should accelerate his cultivation.
With this, Ye Wen's theory of using life force to enhance cultivation was complete. However, implementing it required one crucial missing piece. After all, the soul-guiding technology of this era was severely lacking, and Ye Wen didn't yet know how to gather large amounts of life force, compress it, and inject it into his body for cultivation.
But coincidentally, Ye Wen glanced at the blueprints in his hand and thought to himself:
"The theory is complete—it's time to put it into practice."
In fact, Ye Wen owed the refinement of this cultivation system to Tang San. If Tang San hadn't forcefully elevated his cultivation to the Soul Sage level using the Multi-Soul Fusion Technique, allowing Ye Wen to closely observe the intricacies of such a combination skill, Ye Wen might not have found a good method for compressing life force anytime soon. Now, everything was in place—only the final step remained.
Though calling it the "Multi-Soul Fusion Technique" felt cumbersome, Ye Wen renamed it the Blue Silver Soul Ascension Array.
The meaning was simple: an array that utilized the life force of Blue Silver Grass to enhance soul power.
The ideal location to use this array was, naturally, the Blue Silver Forest.
However, Ye Wen was well aware that the Blue Silver Forest was now a ticking time bomb, prone to attracting dangerous individuals like Tang Hao. Thus, he first consulted with the relevant leaders of the Medical Alliance to inquire about the current state of the Blue Silver Forest.
Upon learning that the Blue Silver Forest had been almost entirely destroyed, Ye Wen fell into a stunned silence.
Seriously? I was just about to go there to cheat my way through cultivation, and you've already destroyed the place? Are you really this incapable of playing fair?
And that place was where your wife Ah Yin's clan lived! How could you just destroy it like that? It seems Tang Hao's supposed love for Ah Yin really was a lie.
After a brief moment of disappointment, Ye Wen suddenly thought of something and asked the leader:
"After Tang Hao destroyed the Blue Silver Forest, did a large number of soul rings emerge?"
The leader thought for a moment and replied, "To answer Young Master, according to the intelligence personnel's reports, they only saw the destruction of the Blue Silver Forest—no large number of soul rings emerged. Furthermore, when our second reconnaissance team investigated after Tang Hao left, they discovered that the Blue Silver Forest was regenerating at an incredibly rapid pace."
Ye Wen nodded in understanding. He had always known that while Title Douluos were powerful, unless they wielded fire attributes or special toxin-based abilities like Dugu Bo, it was extremely difficult to completely annihilate a medium-sized spirit beast forest in a short period of time—especially one dominated by Blue Silver Grass, known for its vitality. Tang Hao had only destroyed the surface-level branches of the Blue Silver Grass; he hadn't eradicated the deep-rooted stems buried underground, so the grass couldn't be completely wiped out.
After this analysis, a mischievous smile gradually crept onto Ye Wen's face.
Though the original Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Clan had long disbanded, Ye Wen believed that preparing a "mother shield" or inflicting "motherly emotional damage" during a fight with Tang San would still prove highly effective.
Soon, Ye Wen brought along Ah Yin and called upon Dugu Bo to accompany him back to the Blue Silver Forest.
Since the Spirit Hall hadn't caused any trouble recently, Douluo Continent remained peaceful, and Dugu Bo, bored out of his mind, decided to tag along and help.
Before long, Ye Wen's group arrived once again at the Blue Silver Forest.
Dugu Bo whistled in amazement. "I always knew Tang Hao had a bad temper, but this level of destruction is truly brutal. What was once a lush and thriving Blue Silver Forest now looks like it's been gnawed on by dogs."
Ye Wen nodded in agreement. Though Blue Silver Grass spirit beasts were known for their vitality, just as there was no water without a source, the destruction of their surface branches made it impossible for the forest to fully recover its ancient appearance in the short term.
After confirming the surrounding conditions, Ye Wen nodded in satisfaction, then chuckled as he retrieved Ah Yin from his Everlasting Treasure Pouch.
Through their time together, Ah Yin had come to understand her situation and dared not bare her fangs at Ye Wen. Instead, she impatiently communicated through their spiritual link.
"Master Ye, why exactly did you bring me out here? I still have some unfinished business—"
Ah Yin's words abruptly stopped as she noticed the surrounding environment.
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