Training knows no time.
After an unknown period, under the Sea God Pavilion, Wang Nan sat cross-legged in a room. The light and aura on his body had completely retracted.
The next moment, Wang Nan suddenly opened his eyes, and a pale golden light shot out from them.
The golden Coiling Dragon Staff appeared, followed by five spirit rings: yellow, yellow, purple, gold, and black.
These spirit rings shimmered with specks of golden light under the reflection of the Coiling Dragon Staff, as if they were emitting the light themselves.
Wang Nan felt an emptiness in his stomach, as if he was even hungrier than after his last meditation session.
However, he had been in deep meditation within the Golden Tree. Besides the hunger in his stomach, he didn't feel the slightest fatigue in his body; in fact, he had absorbed a lot of life energy, feeling every cell in his body filled with vitality.
"You're awake; come out and talk," Mu En's voice seemed even older.
Wang Nan walked out of the room, and after emerging from the corridor, he saw Mu En lying on a reclining chair, gently swaying.
"Elder Mu."
"Mm, come, I'll take you out."
Having learned from experience, Wang Nan placed his hand on Mu En's arm.
He felt a vast aura of light surge towards him, and the next moment, he appeared in front of the Sea God Pavilion.
Wang Nan hadn't expected it to be night.
Standing on the peak where the Sea God Pavilion was located and looking down, he could see dozens of spirit rings of various colors shining on the Sea God Lake not far away.
"Your deep meditation lasted a full year this time.
By my reckoning, you've been in the Inner Courtyard for two years now, but this is the first time you've seen what's happening on Sea God Lake, isn't it?"
Wang Nan observed carefully for a moment and immediately realized that the event on Sea God Lake was the famous large-scale matchmaking activity of Shrek Academy's Inner Courtyard, "Sea God's Fate on Sea God Lake."
He thought for a moment. This really seemed to be the first time he had witnessed it in person.
"How about it, do you want to go down and participate?"
Wang Nan shook his head. "I'm still young."
After saying this, Wang Nan was momentarily stunned.
If he counted carefully, he would be sixteen after the New Year this year, which was no longer young in this world.
"Hahaha, then there's no hurry."
Mu En chuckled. "How about it, did you gain anything?"
Wang Nan nodded, then spoke with a hint of embarrassment. "I did gain something, but that skeleton..."
"No matter."
Mu En shook his head. "It was obtained by chance.
Being able to help a disciple is already worth it.
Let it dissipate if it dissipates."
Wang Nan said no more, standing quietly beside Mu En, listening to the continuous laughter and chatter coming from Sea God Lake in the distance.
It wasn't until late into the night that Sea God Lake slowly quieted down, with couples who had just successfully paired up whispering sweet nothings in the darkness.
The spectators who had been watching the fun also returned to their residences, and even a few elder scholars who enjoyed the spectacle didn't return to the Sea God Pavilion until now.
"Elder Mu, then I'll head back too."
"Go on, it's good for young people to be a bit lively."
Wang Nan nodded at these words, walked down the mountain, and returned to his dormitory.
The next day, around noon, Wang Nan had already arrived at the cafeteria.
As someone who loved to eat, he had to give his stomach, which had been deprived for a year, some restitution.
However, he had barely sat down and eaten a few bites when a whirlwind figure rushed in.
Wang Nan looked up and saw Ma Xiaotao before him.
With crescent brows, starry eyes, and a slender figure, her long red hair cascaded down her back. Beneath her long eyelashes were her unique pale pink eyes.
After a year apart, she no longer seemed like the young girl she had been a few years ago.
"Want to eat together?"
"Sure."
Ma Xiaotao smiled beautifully at his words.
This was no different from before, was it?
"When did you get your sixth spirit ring?" Wang Nan asked curiously.
Wang Nan's mental force had always far surpassed that of ordinary people, and with the help of the Break Evil Dragon, it continuously improved.
Finally, during this deep meditation, with the assistance of that true Dragon skeleton, he successfully completed a qualitative change, entering a new realm—Boundless Ocean.
From now on, Wang Nan's mental force could achieve self-circulation and endless vitality, and it already possessed the embryonic form for further evolution.
Therefore, although Ma Xiaotao's spirit power rank surpassed his, under his mental force perception, the spirit power fluctuations on Ma Xiaotao's body were like an undefended fortress.
Wang Nan could easily perceive her spirit power rank.
Ma Xiaotao sat opposite Wang Nan and unceremoniously picked up the food in front of Wang Nan and put it into her mouth.
"It was last year.
I wanted to tell you after I came back, but you had already entered meditation."
"How was it? Was it smooth this time? Did your Spirit not backlash again?"
Ma Xiaotao nodded. "Absorbing the spirit ring was fine, but if you don't wake up soon, I might have to stop training for a while."
Wang Nan, distracted, focused his consciousness into his mental force sea.
The Break Evil Dragon was precisely in the position where the light cluster had been before.
However, compared to when it was still a light cluster, its current Dragon form was much more playful, constantly wandering in Wang Nan's mental force sea.
"Perhaps I can try to completely eliminate your evil fire."
"Really?" Ma Xiaotao stopped her movements at his words, her eyes wide as she looked at Wang Nan.
"I can't guarantee it, but once I'm ready, I can try."
Ma Xiaotao's current situation was completely different from her original one.
The original Ma Xiaotao had been plagued by evil fire since her Spirit Awakening.
By the time she became a Spirit Emperor, the evil fire had been raging within her for over a decade.
Later, the dark side within her was drawn out by the Sword of Judgment, which then spiraled completely out of control.
But the current Ma Xiaotao, even when her spirit power rank was still at level thirty, had already suppressed her internal evil fire.
Moreover, Wang Nan's approach to the evil fire wasn't just to suppress it like an ice-attribute Spirit; instead, he was breaking and dispelling the evil part of her Spirit.
Therefore, his help to Ma Xiaotao far surpassed what a typical ice-attribute Spirit Master could provide, allowing her to cultivate without worry for extended periods after each encounter with Wang Nan.
When the Break Evil Dragon was not yet fully awakened, it could achieve this level simply by instinct.
Now that Wang Nan had completely awakened it, it was not impossible to thoroughly purify the evil fire within Ma Xiaotao.
Ma Xiaotao quickly put down her chopsticks. "I'm ready.
Where should we do it?"
"The preparation I mentioned includes not only you but also myself.
Although my Spirit has a restraining effect on your evil fire, your spirit power rank is currently higher than mine.
I can try once I acquire my sixth spirit ring."
"Okay." Ma Xiaotao nodded impatiently. "Then when will you get your sixth spirit ring? I'll ask the teacher to help you."
"Soon."
After a year of deep meditation, Wang Nan's spirit power rank had already reached level sixty.