After their Martial Souls evolved, Meng Hongchen and Nana did not delay for a moment, immediately wanting to share this good news with those closest to them.
Once the news spread, Long Aotian, Xiao Hongchen, Xu Tianzhen, and Ye Guyi immediately gathered around.
They felt the pure fluctuations of Ultimate Ice within Meng Hongchen's Martial Soul.
After confirming that her Martial Soul had truly completed its transformation and was free from the troubles of fire poison, the four of them felt heartfelt joy for the two girls.
Long Aotian was usually steady, but at this moment, he could not hide his smile.
Ye Guyi and Xu Tianzhen surrounded Meng Hongchen and Nana, sizing them up curiously and constantly asking about their feelings after the Martial Soul evolution.
Xiao Hongchen was even more excited and flustered; as Meng Hongchen's biological brother, he knew better than anyone the pain his sister had suffered from the fire poison over the years.
Now that the clouds had finally cleared, the joy in his heart even far exceeded his own Breakthrough in cultivation.
While immersed in the joy of the Martial Soul evolution, a sliver of concern still lingered in Meng Hongchen's heart.
What she cared about most was whether her Martial Soul Fusion Skill with her brother would be affected by the change in her Martial Soul's attributes.
The siblings' Martial Soul Fusion Skill was their greatest reliance when facing enemies together.
If the evolution caused the Fusion skill to fail, it would undoubtedly be a great regret.
Thus, amidst the excitement, Meng Hongchen took the initiative to pull Xiao Hongchen aside, intending to test it personally.
The others watched with great interest.
The two focused their energy, their minds connected, and activated their Martial Souls according to their past rapport.
Originally, Meng Hongchen's Martial Soul carried lethal poison and the fire attribute, which, when fused with Xiao Hongchen's Martial Soul, would form a powerful effect of interwoven gold, poison, and ice.
But now, the power of Ultimate Ice flowed, fitting perfectly with Xiao Hongchen's Martial Soul without any stagnation; instead, it was even smoother than before.
Amidst the shining light, the Martial Soul Fusion Skill was successfully unleashed. Its power had not weakened at all; instead, with the enhancement of Ultimate Ice, it became even more domineering and sharp.
Confirming that the Martial Soul Fusion Skill was unaffected and its power was even greater than before, the last trace of concern in Meng Hongchen's heart vanished, and her joy grew even deeper.
She couldn't help but look at Xiao Hongchen and laugh; this confidence gave them more faith in their future cultivation and competition.
Thinking back carefully on the changes from this Martial Soul evolution, although Meng Hongchen's Martial Soul had completely lost its original lethal poison characteristic—seemingly losing an offensive method—what she gained in exchange was the incredibly precious Ultimate attribute.
In the Spirit Master system of the Douluo Continent, an Ultimate attribute was a top-tier existence, one in ten thousand, far surpassing ordinary attribute Martial Souls.
Whether in attack power, suppression, or the strength of its Origin, there was a world of difference.
Moreover, Ultimate Ice possessed an ultimate suppression characteristic; any Martial Soul or Spirit Ability carrying lethal poison would be completely frozen and locked before the chill of Ultimate Ice.
Not only would they fail to cause damage, but they would instead be countered by the ice attribute power.
As a result, the siblings' Martial Soul Fusion Skill was now almost completely immune to poison-type attacks.
The overall combat power of the two had not weakened but had instead achieved a qualitative leap, with their comprehensive strength rising by more than one level.
What surprised Meng Hongchen even more was that after her Martial Soul evolved into an Ultimate Spirit, her cultivation speed did not experience a significant drop like other Ultimate Spirit users.
Although Ultimate Spirits possessed peerless talent, they had extremely high requirements for the quality of spirit power, so their cultivation speed was often slower than that of ordinary Spirit Masters.
However, since she and Xiao Hongchen possessed a Martial Soul Fusion Skill, when they cultivated together, their Martial Souls would resonate, allowing them to draw in more of the world's energy.
This could significantly improve cultivation efficiency, making up for the shortcoming of the slow cultivation of Ultimate Spirits.
This unique advantage meant Meng Hongchen didn't need to worry too much about her cultivation progress; instead, she could use the Opportunity of the Martial Soul Fusion to steadily improve her cultivation.
For her, this was undoubtedly another great surprise beyond the Martial Soul evolution.
Carrying this good news, Meng Hongchen went to find her grandfather, Jing Hongchen.
As the Hall Master of Mingde Hall, Jing Hongchen usually planned and strategized, remaining steady and reserved.
But when he heard that his granddaughter had not only completely resolved the fire poison that had plagued her for years but that her Martial Soul had also directly evolved into the one-in-ten-thousand Ultimate Ice Martial Soul,
this elder, who was accustomed to great storms, instantly trembled with excitement. His cloudy eyes were filled with unbelievable light, which then turned into intense ecstasy.
To Jing Hongchen, power, status, and spirit tool technology were all secondary to his granddaughter's safety and future.
Meng Hongchen's fire poison had always been a major concern of his, and he had tried countless methods but failed to root it out completely.
Now, not only was the hidden danger gone, but she had also encountered the Heaven-Defying Opportunity of Martial Soul evolution; this was undoubtedly the best news he had ever heard.
In his excitement, Jing Hongchen even lost his composure a bit, holding Meng Hongchen's hand to confirm repeatedly, his words full of doting and relief.
In a moment of uncontrollable emotion, Jing Hongchen almost spoke up on the spot, wanting to betroth his precious granddaughter to Xu Tianhao, who had been a huge help this time.
In his view, only a heaven-sent genius like the Sixth Highness was worthy of his transformed granddaughter.
However, just as the words reached his lips, he considered the occasion and etiquette and forced them back.
But his recognition and gratitude toward Xu Tianhao were already clearly written on his face.
After this Martial Soul evolution, Meng Hongchen and the others no longer went out for training as frequently as before.
Instead, they devoted all their energy to preparatory work, with their goal set on the All-Continent High-Level Soul Master Academy Elite Tournament to be held nine months later.
The tournament was the most high-profile gathering for young Spirit Masters in the entire Douluo Continent.
It concerned the honor of various academies and was the best stage for young Spirit Masters to make a name for themselves.
As the champion of the previous session, the Sun Moon Empire naturally attached great importance to it and began planning early.
According to the academy's arrangements, Ma Rulong and a group of elite Spirit Masters from the Sun Moon Empire were to compete as the Main Team Members.
Meanwhile, Xu Tianhao, Meng Hongchen, Xiao Hongchen, and others were designated as Preparatory Members.
In truth, with the current strength of Xu Tianhao's group, they had long since far surpassed Ma Rulong and the other Main Team Members.
Although Ma Rulong and the others had taken the Opportunity as Exchange Students to further their studies at Shrek Academy and had made some progress in their cultivation,
compared to Prodigies with profound opportunities like Xu Tianhao and Meng Hongchen, the gap was already very obvious.
Whether in spirit power cultivation or Martial Soul strength, Xu Tianhao and his group held an absolute advantage.
If they were truly to compete on the same stage, Ma Rulong and the others would have no chance of winning.
Even so, among the ten Exchange Students led by Ma Rulong, there was one powerful individual who could not be ignored: Ji Juechen.
Ji Juechen was a natural Sword Fanatic, devoted to the sword with an almost obsessive persistence.
His studies at Shrek Academy over the past few years had given him more opportunities to exchange ideas and spar with top Spirit Masters.
He also had more profound and unique insights into the combination of Martial Soul cultivation and spirit tools, and his progress in cultivation could be described as lightning-fast.
Now, Ji Juechen's attainments in the way of the sword were becoming increasingly profound, and his swordsmanship, which combined Martial Soul and spirit tools, possessed infinite power.
Even Xu Tianhao recognized Ji Juechen's strength, considering him the undisputed strongest among the Exchange Students.
Because the Exchange Student program between the Sun Moon Empire and Shrek Academy had occurred much earlier than in the original story,
combined with the appearance of Xu Tianhao, the original plot's direction had been completely disrupted.
Without the existence of someone with cheat-like powers like Huo Yuhao, it was now as difficult as reaching the heavens for Shrek Academy to secretly steal the core spirit tool technology of the Sun Moon Empire as they had in the original story.
The Sun Moon Empire strictly guarded its core spirit tool technology with layers of encryption, giving Shrek no Opportunity to take advantage.
Therefore, Shrek Academy had not been able to obtain any very core technology from the exchange.
Although both sides had made some gains from the exchange and had a deeper understanding of each other's Spirit Master systems and cultivation methods,
the degree of benefit was very limited, falling far short of both parties' initial expectations.
After all, spirit tool technology and the traditional Spirit Master cultivation system were both essences that had been refined over many years.
To truly integrate and absorb the core essence was definitely not something that could be achieved in just a few years of exchange.
According to normal progress, such an Exchange Student program would need to last at least several decades, or even longer, for both sides to achieve their desired gains.
Now that Shrek Academy's path of trying to take shortcuts and steal core technology was blocked,
they could only settle down and learn patiently, gradually exploring and absorbing the essence of the Sun Moon Empire's spirit tool technology bit by bit.
Xu Tianhao didn't care about Shrek Academy's situation at all.
His vision and perspective were already set on the entire continent; Shrek's small actions and slow progress could not affect his plans at all.
What truly surprised Xu Tianhao and even made him feel doubtful were two consecutive events.
These two events completely disrupted his knowledge of the original plot, causing waves of uncertainty to rise in his heart.