Lin Feng and Xiao Wu returned to Nuoding Academy after a week, their absence explained away as an intense, private meditation session suggested by the Grandmaster's theories. The change in Lin Feng was palpable: his aura was deeper, calmer, and infinitely more focused, despite the continued guise of the low-level White Rings.
Yu Xiaogang (The Grandmaster) was beside himself. Lin Feng had risen an astonishing nine ranks in a single week—from Level 14 to Level 23—an impossible feat that should have taken years, all while supposedly using only a ten-year soul ring.
The Grandmaster believed Lin Feng's progress was the ultimate proof of his theory: that a genius with high Martial Soul Purity could bypass the conventional limits of soul ring energy absorption by perfectly refining the Soul Power quality. He declared that Lin Feng's White Ring was, in fact, the legendary, mythical 'Pure Quality Ring,' a result of perfect talent and perfect knowledge—his knowledge.
He presented Lin Feng's progress to the entire academy, proclaiming him the definitive proof of his academic life. The other professors, unable to refute the visible progress, reluctantly accepted the Grandmaster's wild theory. Lin Feng had now not only stolen the Grandmaster but had become the foundation of his entire academic identity.
Lin Feng's achievement—becoming a Spirit Grandmaster at age seven—sent shockwaves through the academy. He was now the undisputed authority. Students below Level 20 feared to even look at him.
Tang San, who had just painstakingly reached Level 13 through hard training and the use of the Blue Silver Grass—still suffering from the subtle suppression Lin Feng had placed on him (Chapter 9)—was utterly crushed. He was now eleven ranks behind the boy he was meant to surpass.
Tang San watched Lin Feng and Xiao Wu training together. He saw the genuine awe and devotion in Xiao Wu's eyes as she watched Lin Feng effortlessly deflect attacks with his mysterious Twin Fusion Barrier. Tang San felt a cold sense of dread. Lin Feng wasn't just stronger; his power was alien, immune to conventional logic, and constantly accelerating. He was losing the race before it even began.
Lin Feng used his new authority to further solidify his control. He used a subtle Fusion Threat to warn off any noble student who dared to look at Xiao Wu the wrong way. He ensured that every academy resource—from cultivation rooms to specialized herbs—was directed toward his team.
Lin Feng and Xiao Wu, now Level 23 and Level 18 respectively (Xiao Wu's growth was accelerated by the fused consumables), operated as an unchallenged unit, ready to leave the primary academy and begin the next stage of domination at the elite level. The era of the Fusion Phoenix had officially begun.