Beyond the teachers' improvements, Ma Hongjun experienced the most significant breakthrough. Not only did he resolve his Evil Fire problem, but his flame was also purified, substantially increasing its destructive power.
His spirit power jumped from Level 25 directly to Level 30, needing only a single spirit ring to advance and become a Spirit Elder .
Moreover, Ma Hongjun could sense this wasn't his limit. He even deliberately used the fiery energy of the medicinal pill to temper his body, using the pill's side effects for body refinement. While he couldn't match Oscar yet, he was clearly chasing Oscar's progress with full effort.
Had Oscar known about Ma Hongjun's progress, he wouldn't have been surprised. In the original storyline, Ma Hongjun gained five levels just by taking the Cockscomb Phoenix Sunflower, even when he was already in the 30s (Spirit Elder level).
Now, Ma Hongjun had only been at Level 25, and the medicine he took was an improved and refined version the Phoenix Nirvana Pill. Naturally, the effects were far superior.
The only one truly stunned was Dai Mubai. He didn't know about the teachers, but Ma Hongjun's advancement was impossible to hide.
Dai Mubai knew that Teacher Gai Yue had brought Ma Hongjun a pill from Oscar to cure his Evil Fire, but what he didn't expect was
Ma Hongjun took the pill that night and went back to his dorm to cultivate. The very next day, he came back with his Evil Fire resolved and his spirit power at Level 30.
Dai Mubai had just broken through Level 26 himself and hadn't even gotten around to reporting it to the Academy. Meanwhile, this freak Ma Hongjun just popped up and stole the spotlight!
"You leveled up five times in one night?! What are you, a rocket?! You sure you took a detox pill and not some mythical elixir?!"
After learning this, Dai Mubai couldn't help but ask Zhao Wuji if Oscar had any more of those pills. He was willing to pay any price, letting Oscar name it.
Zhao Wuji, however, could only respond helplessly. Gai Yue had already told them the pills were brought back by Oscar, but all of it was done with the approval and resources of Dugu Bo, the Poison Douluo. Oscar was just an assistant.
In fact, just getting that one pill for Ma Hongjun already cost Oscar a year of servitude to Dugu Yan he had essentially "sold himself" for it.
Hearing this, Dai Mubai wanted the pill but couldn't bring himself to ask again.
Besides, this was Dugu Bo a man with legendary status, rarely seen in public, but every appearance of his was earth shaking.
After all, not everyone can earn the title of "One man razes a city."
Although Dugu Bo hadn't actually done that , his reputation alone had that effect.
The spirit master world had a saying:
"He may not beat other Title Douluo in combat, but he can make sure only Title Douluo remain."
Implying: even if he can't kill you, he'll kill everyone below you.
A man like that, who even a genius like Oscar had to work under what gave Dai Mubai the right to ask? His temper? His title as a runaway prince?
So even though he envied Ma Hongjun's fortune, Dai Mubai could only accept it bitterly, left with nothing but overwhelming jealousy.
He also regretted not joining Shrek Academy earlier. If Oscar was so good to Ma Hongjun, what if he had come earlier? Could he have earned such a loyal brother too?
Now that he knew about Oscar and Ma Hongjun's orphan backgrounds, Dai Mubai thought that if he cultivated strong bonds with them, there might be a chance to pull them into his faction in the future.
After all, he was the third prince of the Star Luo Empire. If he could win over Oscar and Ma Hongjun two top tier talents his odds in future power struggles would increase dramatically.
Eventually, the two would graduate from Shrek Academy. Given their backgrounds, they would inevitably need to choose a faction. Why couldn't it be his?
With this in mind, Dai Mubai resolved to work even harder. If his strength was lacking, or if he was too lazy and lost the respect of Oscar and Ma Hongjun there'd be no point dreaming about brotherhood.
But he was also mentally exhausted. He never imagined Ma Hongjun's schedule was packed to the brim no time to rest a pure cultivation machine.
And according to Ma Hongjun, Oscar was even scarier. Ma Hongjun's current results were all achieved under Oscar's strict supervision.
If not for the mistaken news about Oscar's death, Ma Hongjun would've slacked off while Oscar was away getting his third spirit ring. But once he heard Dugu Bo's news that Oscar had died, he dropped all thoughts of slacking.
Now that the misunderstanding had cleared, and with Gai Yue's explanation and the pill Oscar left behind, Ma Hongjun became even more diligent, not daring to disappoint Oscar's kindness.
"It's definitely not because I'm afraid of getting beaten,"
Ma Hongjun told himself,
"I just want to beat Oscar fair and square and make him call me 'Brother Jun'!"
Meanwhile, life at Shrek Academy continued as usual.
Although Oscar missed Ma Hongjun, with Dugu Yan by his side, he didn't feel the need to return.
Over these nearly two months, Oscar's own spirit power advanced from Level 33 to 34.
He discovered that ever since taking the Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass and Infernal Delicate Apricot, his cultivation speed increased noticeably, and the road ahead became much smoother.
He had a clear plan: once he fully absorbed the medicinal power of the two immortal herbs, he would take the Clear Autumn Dew Elixir refined into a Spiritual Sight Pill.
This pill didn't boost spirit power directly instead, it greatly enhanced spiritual power. With Oscar's current mental strength and physical constitution, absorbing a 10,000 year spirit ring for his fourth ring would no longer be a problem.
Post IceFire Body Refinement, Oscar's body had evolved tremendously. He could now likely withstand even a 15,000 year spirit ring.
After fully absorbing the herbs, his fourth spirit ring might even exceed 20,000 years, and the mental strength boost from the Sight Pill would ensure compatibility.
And thanks to his recent rapid progress, it was possible his fourth ring would go even higher.
He had already decided what his fourth spirit ring would be all that remained was to reach Level 40, and he would go spirit ring hunting.
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