The process of absorbing and refining the whale jelly lasted for a full month. The reason it took so long was that every member of Shrek received immense improvements.
Among them, Gai Yue's physical constitution not only improved, but his spirit power also broke through from level 82 to level 83.
And not just him—every member of Shrek advanced by one level, since this was their first time absorbing whale jelly.
This leap forward made everyone ecstatic. However, because they were already at least Spirit Emperors, even though the amount of whale jelly consumed was considerable, the Spirit Saints and above—Gai Yue, Flender, and Zhao Wuji—still hadn't reached their limits.
All forty-one pieces of whale jelly were consumed. Even Oscar hadn't expected that such a huge stockpile would be used up completely, and yet the teacher, Flender, and Zhao Wuji still hadn't hit their limits!
This only proved that the three of them indeed possessed extraordinary talent.
Now, after consuming one piece of twenty-thousand-year whale jelly along with several five-thousand-year-grade pieces, Gai Yue's body had been tempered to the point of rivaling a Titled Douluo.
Flender and Zhao Wuji's physiques had also risen to at least the equivalent of level 85.
Shao Xin, Lu Qibin, Li Yusong, Oscar, and Ma Hongjun, on the other hand, had all reached their current physical limits. Any further consumption of whale jelly wouldn't provide significant benefits.
Oscar's physique now surpassed his previous limit, reaching the level of at least a rank-45 Spirit Ancestor, while Ma Hongjun's body had been strengthened to about level 30.
These two prodigies barely lifted a finger, yet they took in all the benefits without missing a share.
After resting for a full month, the group once again set sail, continuing their hunt for spirit beasts.
Still, although their harvest was immense, there was one regret: in slaughtering an entire Deep Sea Blue Whale tribe, not a single spirit bone had dropped. Their luck was indeed lacking.
But it didn't really matter. Their goals had already been achieved, and only the final efforts remained before they could return to the academy.
During their search for the next target, Oscar and Ma Hongjun didn't stay idle. With the protection of their teachers, the two sparred against century-level sea spirit beasts to hone their combat skills.
Half a month later, after bypassing several weaker sea spirit beast tribes, Gai Yue locked onto a fifty-thousand-year Sawtooth Demon Whale. This creature hunted alone, preying even on its own kind, giving them the perfect opportunity.
The battle was thrilling for Oscar and Ma Hongjun to watch. Under the joint assault of Gai Yue and the others, the Sawtooth Demon Whale was finally slain by a single sword strike from Gai Yue, its massive body taken whole.
The whale jelly from this beast alone was enough for Gai Yue, Flender, and Zhao Wuji to use. With this secured, the Shrek group began their journey back.
On the return trip, they also hunted dozens of whale-type sea spirit beasts over five thousand years old.
This had been Flender's decision. After all, Shrek's future would not only rely on Oscar and Ma Hongjun—he needed to prepare resources for the next generation of students as well.
Still, whale jelly was too precious, and its secret must never be exposed. Flender was extremely cautious.
Only those future students who could truly become part of Shrek would ever be granted access to such a treasure. Otherwise, he'd rather let the whale jelly rot unused.
As long as its value remained hidden, Shrek could continue to cultivate geniuses unique to their academy in the future.
Oscar didn't mind—this didn't conflict with his own interests.
It took them another month before they finally returned to Shrek Academy in Balak Kingdom. The journey had lasted nearly four months in total, but the gains were undeniable.
In particular, after absorbing the Sawtooth Demon Whale's jelly on the way back, Gai Yue, Flender, and Zhao Wuji's physiques all reached their absolute limits.
Although their spirit power itself didn't rise further, this refinement laid a solid foundation for future cultivation and drastically enhanced their combat ability.
Over those four months, Oscar's swordsmanship also advanced greatly. He could now skillfully wield all the techniques recorded in the Frost Moon Sword Manual, and his combat prowess had soared.
At twenty-fourth level now, Oscar was confident he could break through to level 30 before age twelve. Ma Hongjun also believed he could soon reach level 20.
Currently, Ma Hongjun was at level 16, and not yet eight years old. He might actually surpass Oscar in reaching level 20.
Back when Oscar was at the same stage, he hadn't had whale jelly to boost his growth.
Upon their return, Oscar immediately immersed himself back into training, without any hint of slackening.
It's worth noting that their daily meals were now spirit beast meat. Flender had kept the rarest cuts from the dozens of whale-type beasts they killed, selling off the rest along the way. By the time they reached the academy, he had earned a fortune.
Shrek Academy had completely changed compared to the original. Not only had the teachers grown stronger, but thanks to Oscar's influence, they also trained harder than ever. Everything was developing for the better.
Still, Flender, being a shrewd man, maintained secrecy well. Since the academy wasn't under much scrutiny, no one realized how much it had changed.
Perhaps the only ones who noticed were the villagers nearby—the rundown village now looked like a secluded paradise, with a vastly improved teaching environment and conditions.
One year later, just three months shy of his ninth birthday, Ma Hongjun broke through to level 20.
On Oscar's advice, Flender personally selected a spirit beast with a Phoenix bloodline for him. This would help suppress his Evil Fire problem.
Before this, Ma Hongjun had already suffered several violent outbreaks of his Evil Fire after refining whale jelly, causing him terrible pain.
Fortunately, with Gai Yue's powerful ice-element spirit power, he managed to suppress the fire each time, but this was only a temporary measure.
Thus, Oscar's proposal made sense: since the Evil Fire Phoenix wasn't a true phoenix, absorbing spirit rings with the Phoenix bloodline could suppress or balance the Evil Fire.
In theory, if Ma Hongjun continued to absorb Phoenix-related spirit rings—or eventually obtained a pure-blood Phoenix ring—his Evil Fire might not vanish completely, but it could at least be kept under control.
With his second spirit ring, Ma Hongjun's Evil Fire was indeed suppressed, making his cultivation much smoother. This was the beginning of a solution to his long-standing problem.
It's worth mentioning that his second spirit ring wasn't chosen from a thousand-year beast, but a 990-year one—similar to Oscar's choice for his own second ring.
After absorbing it, Ma Hongjun's spirit power reached level 22, matching Oscar's achievement back then.
Meanwhile, Oscar had already reached level 27. At just ten years and four months old, he was close to Spirit Elder level, making him Shrek Academy's new record holder.