Chapter 207: What is This, Barbatos and the Raiden Shogun?
The process of absorbing the soul ring went smoothly—even smoother than Furina had anticipated.
She opened her eyes. The sixth soul ring was already steadily suspended behind her, its deep crimson light rippling through the dormitory, dyeing the entire wall with a faint blood-red hue.
One hundred thousand years.
By her count, she should be only the second soul master in history to have a hundred-thousand-year sixth soul ring. The first had been Tang San, but he'd had Xiao Wu's sacrifice to make it a natural progression. She, on the other hand, had truly endured it on her own.
That said, the most monstrous of them all was still Huo Yuhao. That kid's first soul ring was a million-year one, and the first ring of his second martial soul was four hundred thousand years. Truly worthy of the title King of Cheats; the guy just had too many hacks. Most ordinary transmigrators couldn't even compare—some would probably even want to come and steal a few of Huo Yuhao's cheats for themselves.
But Furina didn't really care about that. She'd transmigrated herself, and had a System in hand. Why would she need to intercept Huo Yuhao's opportunities? There was no need. It was just the difference of having a bit more or a bit less on one's plate. She'd grow strong herself, bring Huo Yuhao up along with her, and then pull along other talented individuals to grow strong together.
Let the strong lead the way for the strong, achieving shared prosperity.
She flipped off the bed, stretched her limbs, and couldn't wait to try out her new soul skills.
Her sixth soul ring had brought her two soul skills.
The first was [Whirlwind Apple Cider Cake]. After eating it, one gained the ability to fly, with flight speed increased twofold for eight minutes. After those eight minutes, the speed would further increase by an additional fold, lasting for one hour. It was essentially an upgraded, enhanced version of her second soul skill, the Blueberry Cake.
Of course, this cake had a small catch—it contained alcohol. Eating too much might get you drunk.
The second was [Lightning Grape Cake]. This one wasn't meant to be eaten; it had to be thrown. Tossing it onto an enemy would automatically trigger a lightning strike, bypassing any defense, including that of an Invincible Vajra Body. Intangibility could only reduce the damage by half, not completely nullify it. The power of the thunder depended on her own soul power.
This cake also had a side effect: if some fool was unlucky enough to eat it, they'd get poisoned and also get struck by lightning.
Furina looked at her two new skills and couldn't help but laugh.
"What is this, Barbatos and the Raiden Shogun?" she muttered to herself. "Is the Dendro Archon's and my own coming up next?"
She shook her head, tossing out these chaotic thoughts.
Her soul power had risen to Rank 69, just as she'd anticipated. The next step was simple: absorb the Divinely Bestowed Soul Bone and break through to Rank 70, becoming the youngest Soul Sage on the entire continent.
She was just about to sit down and continue absorbing the soul bone when she suddenly heard footsteps approaching from outside.
Furina raised an eyebrow.
She stood, walked to the door, and recalled Mademoiselle Chevaleyda and the others, who had been standing guard outside.
"Thank you for your hard work. Come back now."
The three figures transformed into points of light and merged into her body.
The moment the door opened, she saw two people walking her way.
Yan Shaozhe.
And Ma Xiaotao.
Leaning against the doorframe, Furina watched them with an amused, faintly mocking smile, and her opening words were: "Dean Yan, as the Dean, don't you think it's a bit improper to barge into the girls' dormitory?"
Yan Shaozhe's footsteps faltered. A flicker of embarrassment crossed his face as he reached up to scratch the back of his head.
"Er... this... I was just impatient," he said awkwardly. "Besides, the students should all be in class now; the dormitory should be mostly empty."
Furina raised an eyebrow. "Oh? Then how did you know I'd be here?"
Yan Shaozhe composed himself slightly and said, "I didn't know, but I guessed you might be here. I originally planned to look for you in your classroom, but Teacher Zhou Yi said you'd taken leave. Then your roommate Xiao Xiao said you'd gone out."
He paused, his gaze sweeping over Furina, his tone carrying a hint of complexity. "I was planning to search outside, but later I sensed someone in the dormitory absorbing a soul ring or soul bone, with a soul power fluctuation approaching the Soul Emperor level. That's why I guessed it might be you."
He spoke calmly on the surface, but inwardly, his heart was churning like a stormy sea.
Because what he had sensed wasn't just the Soul Emperor level. Furina's soul power had already reached Rank 69.
It was as if she'd jumped ten whole ranks all at once.
And that aura... he was all too familiar with it. It was the aura unique to a hundred-thousand-year soul ring.
But how had Furina absorbed a hundred-thousand-year soul ring here in the dormitory? Soul rings couldn't be carried away. Unless that Limit Douluo from the Water God Church had personally captured a hundred-thousand-year soul beast and delivered it here? That wasn't impossible. Given the Water God Church's current power, they were capable of such a thing.
Regardless, Furina was now the youngest Soul Emperor in history. And without a soul beast sacrifice, her sixth soul ring was at the hundred-thousand-year level. If she truly possessed a second martial soul, her future path might extend even further than that of the Thousand Hands Douluo, Tang San.
Ma Xiaotao stood behind Yan Shaozhe, the shock in her heart no less than her teacher's.
Yan Shaozhe had clearly told her Furina was merely the youngest Soul King. Yet the person standing before her now was unmistakably a Soul Emperor, stronger than herself, and on the verge of breaking through to Soul Sage.
An Outer Court student, a second-year new student, younger than herself, yet already at the peak of Soul Emperor. In just a short year, and a food-type soul master to boot...
This was just too terrifying.
She suddenly felt a pang of doubt: who was the real monster here?
Furina, unaware of the thoughts racing through the master and disciple's minds, simply said casually, "You guessed right. I just broke through; I'm a Soul Emperor now. Just preparing to absorb a soul bone and push it up a bit further."
Yan Shaozhe hurriedly said, "Then you absorb it first. Xiaotao's matter can wait."
"It's fine." Furina waved a hand dismissively, her tone as casual as commenting on the weather. "Let me help suppress her evil fire first. Save her from having a rampage later."
Yan Shaozhe paused, then gave a rueful smile.
"Then we're in your care." He turned to Ma Xiaotao. "Xiaotao, hurry up and thank her."
Ma Xiaotao stood in place, a sliver of unwillingness actually in her heart.
She was always proud, the favored daughter of the Inner Court, one of the Shrek Seven Devils. Yet this girl before her was younger, had higher soul power, and aside from her figure... well, being slightly more lacking in that area... she surpassed her in practically every dimension.
Furthermore, she had once rampaged and attacked her. The reason Yan Shaozhe had later sent Xian Lin'er to take her to the Far North to train was also because of a hint from Furina.
She felt guilt in her heart, compounded by Yan Shaozhe's reminders.
Ma Xiaotao took a deep breath, set aside her previously haughty demeanor, bowed deeply, and said sincerely, "Thank you very much."
Furina waved a hand. "Nonsense, it's only right."
After speaking, she turned her head towards Yan Shaozhe, and as if suddenly remembering something, smoothly changed the subject.
"Right, elder, you'd better step out now." She pointed outside the door. "The head of the academy, a grown man, staying in the girls' dormitory—what kind of image does that present?"
Yan Shaozhe was about to say something, but Furina had already continued.
"Also, I suggest you separate the male and female dormitories, build a Block A, Block B, something like that. Shrek's not short on money. Having men and women mixed in the same building—does that look proper?"
"And the cafeteria." She was getting increasingly worked up. "Is your Shrek that stingy? No tables, no chairs provided, and no takeout allowed—you call that a cafeteria? Aren't the rules a bit too rigid? What kind of cafeteria operates like yours?"
Yan Shaozhe opened his mouth but couldn't get a word in.
"If you want to recruit truly commoner students in the future, with Shrek's vast resources, you could easily set up a free meal window. As long as they're not gluttons, there's no problem. Needing a city lord's recommendation letter just to apply? Aren't those just channels that only the rich and connected can get?"
She paused, her tone growing more serious.
"And don't let a situation like the original Shrek's happen—collecting application fees and then, finding the applicants unqualified, refusing them entry without refunding the application fees. That would be far too cheap. They should first meet the entry qualifications before they can apply, and once they apply, they can enter. If it really can't be helped, at least refund the tuition fees. Surely you can't have students attend classes for a few days and then expel them with 'not working hard enough' or 'not excellent enough'?"
She looked at Yan Shaozhe, enunciating each word clearly. "I suggest not having disruptive teachers like Zhou Yi around, or repeating past mistakes."
These words had been bottled up in her heart for a long time. Today, she happened to recall them and simply poured them all out at once.
Yan Shaozhe stood there, unable to utter a single word of rebuttal. He could only nod repeatedly.
"Yes, yes, of course. Understood. Shrek will reform, we definitely will."
He knew in his heart: Elder Mu had already said to learn from Furina, that Shrek had to innovate. Otherwise, if they truly lost face one day, they'd be the ones humiliated.
Furthermore, Furina had broken through to Soul Emperor just these past few days, nearing Soul Sage. There was no need to belabor her talent anymore; she had likely already stepped onto the path of divine trials, a future god in the making.
This was a benefactor Shrek absolutely had to cling to.
The previous generation's Shrek Seven Devils had long since ascended to the Divine Realm; they couldn't help them. Even Tang San's Tang Sect—the unparalleled Thousand Hands Douluo's legacy—wasn't it now so destitute that only Tang Ya remained, ultimately submitting to the Water God Church?
Live off the glory of ten thousand years ago for a lifetime? Impossible.
Relying on heaven and earth was not as good as relying on oneself. And if one wasn't strong enough on their own... then clinging to the right benefactor was the proper path.
Ma Xiaotao stood to the side, completely dumbfounded by the sight of her own teacher in this state.
Who was Yan Shaozhe? A Titled Douluo, the Dean of the Martial Soul Department of Shrek Academy, one of the key decision-makers of the number one academy on the continent. A figure who didn't need to bow and scrape before the emperors of the three great empires.
Yet now, in front of Furina, he was as deferential as a student.
Ma Xiaotao suddenly understood something.
The status and strength of this girl before her were already beyond anything she could imagine.
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Thanks for reading the chapter!
I started a new translation and I would be very happy if you decided to check out my new translation story. It's a crossover of Toaru and One Piece... Well, the only Toaru element here is one cute Misaka. This is all that came of my desire to translate a Toaru fanfic, but I'm not complaining—even though I've only just started reading and translating it, I'm really enjoying the story. It has plenty of slice-of-life elements, and the pacing is quite slow and detailed. It's written in a sweet, positive way—at least for now. There likely won't be any romance, as there were no tags indicating such, but I won't say for sure until I've finished reading it myself. I'd recommend it to those who aren't craving violence, carnage, or excessive cruelty. In my opinion, it's a worthwhile story, though it's definitely a matter of personal taste—especially since the protagonist is a girl, which isn't everyone's cup of tea (though it doesn't really matter for now—at least as of 30+ chapters in, Misaka is still 6 years old). Anyway, I hope you enjoy this story as much as I do.
One Piece: Railgun Misaka Misaka https://www.webnovel.com/book/one-piece-railgun-misaka-misaka_37195209600636405