After making all the necessary preparations, early the next morning, Oscar and Dai Mubai were ready to set out with Zhao Wuji. However, before the three of them could leave, some good news arrived.
Flender, who had previously consumed the Nine-Rank Hunyuan Pill and pushed his strength to the peak of level 79, finally broke through. After months of consolidating his foundation and closing himself off for intense training, he succeeded in crossing the level-80 threshold.
This was at least five or six years earlier than in the original timeline—after all, even two years later in the original story, Flender was still only at level 78.
Flender's breakthrough clearly disrupted Oscar's original plans again. With Flender reaching level 80, Zhao Wuji would naturally need to accompany him to hunt for his eighth spirit ring.
But for Oscar personally, this breakthrough was cause for celebration. It meant the power of his backing forces had once again grown stronger. No matter what he wanted to do in the future, he now had more reliable protection and support.
Before the group could finish celebrating, even better news came. Ge Yue had also advanced smoothly, breaking through to level 88, raising his strength yet again.
With these two breakthroughs, Shrek Academy was in high spirits. The teachers' advancement meant the academy's overall power had risen.
Still, Flender's situation didn't necessarily throw Oscar's plan off track. With Ge Yue's current strength, helping Flender obtain his eighth spirit ring would be no problem at all.
After all, when Ge Yue had just reached level 80, he had already been able to personally hunt a seventy-thousand-year soul beast. Now that he had reached level 88, coupled with the power of two ten-thousand-year spirit bones and the enhancement of the Black Jade Divine Bamboo Pill on his martial soul, Ge Yue's might had reached terrifying levels.
Even against a hundred-thousand-year soul beast, Ge Yue would have the ability to fight. With some effort, he might even kill one.
So even if Flender required a flying-type spirit beast, Ge Yue's power was more than enough to assist. There was no need for Zhao Wuji or anyone else—Ge Yue could go with Flender alone.
After discussing this, the group rested for another day. The following morning, Ge Yue, Flender, and Zhao Wuji led the party as Oscar and Dai Mubai followed, setting out toward the Star Dou Forest.
Since Ge Yue was already going to help Flender secure his eighth spirit ring, he could also take care of Dai Mubai's third ring along the way. After all, with an expert like Ge Yue, who had already reached level 88 and was comparable to a Titled Douluo, helping Dai Mubai get his third spirit ring was as easy as lifting a finger.
On the journey, Flender was glowing with pride. At this moment, he felt his decision to keep Oscar at Shrek Academy had been the wisest choice of his life.
Without Oscar, perhaps he might have eventually broken through to Spirit Douluo, but it would have taken him many years, maybe over a decade.
But since meeting Oscar, how long had it been? Oscar was only twelve and a half now—barely six years since he entered Shrek. And in that time, Flender had advanced from level 75 all the way to level 80.
That meant an average of one level per year, and not at the early stages of cultivation, but at the Spirit Sage level!
At this tier, each level normally required years of painstaking effort. Yet now he was enjoying the kind of rapid growth only the top geniuses of the continent experienced.
This was an enormous blessing, not only for him but also for Zhao Wuji. When Oscar first enrolled, Zhao Wuji had only been level 73. Now he had already reached level 78, just two levels away from Spirit Douluo.
At this pace, Zhao Wuji might also break through to Spirit Douluo within the next two years.
Dai Mubai felt the same sense of fortune. From his perspective, he had merely run away from home at age twelve, wandering for a few months before arriving at Shrek Academy. But that choice had completely changed the trajectory of his life.
At Shrek, he met the prodigy Ma Hongjun, and from him and the teachers, he constantly heard legendary stories about Oscar.
After spending over a year with Ma Hongjun and listening to the teachers and Ma often speak of Oscar's feats, Dai Mubai's mindset began to shift.
Then, just a few days ago, he had inexplicably received the academy's "genius student reward"—Whale Gel, which dramatically boosted his spirit power and physique.
Although he had only spent just over a month directly with Oscar, Dai Mubai felt that wherever Oscar was, everything seemed different.
He also realized how fortunate he was. Shrek might be a small, obscure academy, but it gathered so many geniuses, and the teachers here were frighteningly strong!
Flender and Zhao Wuji were already amazing, but especially Oscar's teacher, Ge Yue—he was now at level 88, just a step away from Titled Douluo.
That was a high-rank Spirit Douluo, the kind of powerhouse who held tremendous influence even in an empire. Even the head of the Zhu family of the Duke's Mansion was only at this level. Yet such a person was willingly serving as a teacher in this small academy.
Dai Mubai couldn't help but feel deeply grateful for his luck. Without coming here, without meeting Oscar and Ma Hongjun, he might have lived his life in decadence and decline.
———
It took the group more than half a month to finally reach the Star Dou Forest. During that time, Flender had made all the preparations for his eighth spirit ring, identifying several soul beasts of at least fifty-thousand-year cultivation.
As for Dai Mubai, he told Ge Yue the type of spirit ring he needed. He didn't have to worry much, since the Dai family had already worked out the optimal configuration for the first few spirit rings over generations.
His third spirit ring was to be from the Diamond White Tiger, a top-tier spirit beast perfectly compatible with the Dai family's inherited White Tiger Martial Soul. Absorbing this ring would give him a powerful amplification ability called White Tiger Vajra Transformation.
This ability would become one of Dai Mubai's core techniques in the early stages of cultivation, giving him tremendous combat strength.
But there was one adjustment—after consuming Whale Gel, the limit on the age of the spirit ring he could absorb had increased. His third ring could now be at least 2,700 to 3,000 years old.
This shocked Dai Mubai himself. By traditional standards, his third ring's age would never exceed 2,000 years. Yet now he could absorb one a full thousand years older.
For him, this was a massive step forward.
It was also the true beginning of him catching up to—and surpassing—his elder brother, Dai Weisi.