Douluo: Brains Over Bloodline

Xu Yuan and the others simultaneously turned their attention to the boy named Wang Jinyang.

At twelve years old, reaching Level 31 was already a remarkable achievement. Coupled with the unique characteristics of his martial soul, he was already quite outstanding. It was just unexpected that such a genius hadn't entered Shrek Academy due to circumstances.

"No, that's not right," Xu Yuan said, a smile forming as his eyes flickered. "Right now, it should be Level 32."

In the distance, Wang Jinyang sat in deep meditation, the blood-red gemstone floating above his head drawing in vast amounts of stellar energy into his body. The stellar energy refined the meridians within him.

Due to his background, Wang Jinyang's cultivation hadn't followed a steady, step-by-step process.

His family lacked the financial means to support his training. Up until now, his progress had been made possible only through the sponsorship of a soul master academy that offered both primary and advanced programs.

Throughout his journey, his heavy focus on increasing his soul power level had left his soul power itself unrefined and far from optimal.

Now, the refining properties of the stellar energy were compensating for many of the lingering issues from his past cultivation.

As the stellar energy infused his body, it seemed to resonate deeply with his martial soul, rapidly strengthening the various parts of his meridians at their core.

"It's not that his martial soul has stellar attributes—it's that he has an innate talent for cultivating with stellar energy," Xu Yuan observed the boy and quickly came to this conclusion.

By integrating his essence, energy, and spirit into the surrounding space, Xu Yuan's perception was even more profound than Zhang Tianxing's, who was a Title Douluo.

From Wang Jinyang, Xu Yuan could clearly sense a familiar fluctuation.

"He has preliminarily sensed a connection to a star associated with strength through the Observatory Platform. Although the connection isn't yet stable, he's already reaping benefits from this faint link."

After hearing Xu Yuan's explanation, Zhang Tianxing finally understood.

He watched Wang Jinyang's state and couldn't help but feel deeply moved.

To say that he had a talent for cultivating stellar energy wasn't entirely accurate—it was more like he had incredible luck.

Among the group of stars connected to the Observatory Platform, there weren't any stars or constellations with such a high affinity for Wang Jinyang.

On the contrary, the faint connection Wang Jinyang had established with a star likely had something to do with Xu Yuan.

Zhang Tianxing glanced at Xu Yuan and noticed the satisfied look in his eyes. His heart stirred.

Li Zhilong also noticed Xu Yuan's admiration for Wang Jinyang and felt a pang of unease. He thought Xu Yuan might take Wang Jinyang away to Shrek Academy.

For some reason, Li Zhilong felt a mix of relief and reluctance.

If Wang Jinyang entered Shrek, his future would undoubtedly be brighter. But as the teacher who had discovered him, Li Zhilong was reluctant to let him go so easily.

However, having personally studied at Shrek, Li Zhilong truly understood what Shrek meant for a genius. Only in an environment filled with geniuses could one's full potential be unlocked.

"This Wang Jinyang's martial soul is well-suited for my Body Sect," Xu Yuan stated.

Noticing the expressions on Zhang Tianxing and Li Zhilong's faces, Xu Yuan naturally felt the need to explain.

Taking Wang Jinyang to Shrek?

That would actually be a good outcome, but such a plan was inherently too self-centered. First, Xu Yuan had to consider how the Starry Sky Soul Master Academy would feel. Second, he didn't know Wang Jinyang's own thoughts. Lastly, what Xu Yuan appreciated about Wang Jinyang was his compatibility with the Body Sect.

The Power Gem?

Looking at that blood-red gemstone, Xu Yuan wondered if its fusion with blood essence would proceed exceptionally smoothly.

Especially since Wang Jinyang had found a connection between himself and stellar energy, with Xu Yuan's help, he could eventually form a stable connection with the stars. This would allow him to channel stellar energy to refine himself, making his blood essence cultivation much smoother.

Upon hearing Xu Yuan's words, both Li Zhilong and Zhang Tianxing wore strange expressions.

The Power Gem is suitable for the Body Sect?

Are you joking?

Seeing their reactions, Xu Yuan explained to them: "Senior Brother, Professor Zhang, do you remember my martial soul? Although I originally possessed a Body Martial Soul, I never cultivated my brain as part of it. Instead, I've always used the Heavenly Origin Five Elements Spear as my Body Martial Soul."

Both Zhang Tianxing and Li Zhilong looked surprised.

"You mean your Body Sect has now mastered the technique to convert ordinary martial souls into Body Martial Souls?"

"More or less," Xu Yuan nodded, correcting some details. "It's not that any martial soul is suitable. It still depends on its compatibility with blood essence. Take Wang Jinyang's Power Gem, for example. I sense a high compatibility with blood essence. Combined with his talent in stellar energy, his blood essence cultivation will be twice as effective. That's why I'm considering him."

In reality, the secret technique for converting blood essence martial souls was quite troublesome.

If the rewards couldn't match the effort invested, using this technique to transform blood essence martial souls would have a low cost-effectiveness ratio.

But Wang Jinyang was clearly a case where the cost-effectiveness was extremely high.

"So, you just want him to join the Body Sect?" Li Zhilong sighed in relief but still felt a tinge of regret.

This was perhaps the contradiction of being a teacher.

"I'll try to communicate with him later and bring him into the Body Sect. As for his cultivation resources and plans, the Body Sect will do its best to arrange them. Whether or not he joins Shrek ultimately depends on his own decision."

Missing out on talented individuals simply showed that Shrek's selection mechanism still had flaws.

Among the four major factions, aside from Tang Sect and Shrek Academy sharing talents, many of the strong individuals from the Spirit Pagoda and War God Hall were once overlooked geniuses in their youth.

The more one pursued perfection, the harder it was to achieve the goal.

Cultivating oneself was the fundamental path.

Li Zhilong sighed inwardly.

Sure enough, such a promising genius wouldn't be allowed to grow wild and untamed outside. Xu Yuan still had the intention of recruiting him to Shrek.

However, respecting Wang Jinyang's wishes was probably the best approach.

Wang Jinyang felt the surge of a more robust foundation and the previously turbulent flow of soul power in his meridians now becoming calm. A subtle enlightenment dawned in his mind.

In truth, his soul power hadn't been turbulent before. It was just that the current soul power was much gentler, making the earlier state seem harder to control by comparison.

"My previous cultivation focused too much on speed, neglecting the refinement of soul power. This led to my insufficient control over it."

Wang Jinyang committed all these insights to heart and slowly opened his eyes.

He looked at the three people before him, somewhat surprised, and quickly stood up to bow.

"Professor Zhang, Director Li."

"My name is Xu Yuan. If you don't mind, you can call me Big Brother Xu."

Wang Jinyang hesitated, glancing at Li Zhilong.

Li Zhilong nodded.

"Big Brother Xu." After receiving Li Zhilong's approval, Wang Jinyang addressed Xu Yuan accordingly.

Li Zhilong stepped forward to further introduce Xu Yuan to Wang Jinyang.

"This is Xu Yuan. He comes from Shrek Academy and is currently the strongest genius of his generation in Shrek. He is also the leader of the new Shrek Seven Monsters."

Wang Jinyang's eyes widened.

The strongest genius?

What kind of talent could earn such a title among the sea of geniuses at Shrek?

Leader of the Shrek Seven Monsters!

This fact alone shook Wang Jinyang to his core.

This Big Brother Xu before him appeared to be only around his teens, not much older than himself, yet he was already one of the Shrek Seven Monsters—and the leader of them, no less!

Next, Xu Yuan's words left Wang Jinyang momentarily stunned.

"Wang Jinyang, you have a connection with my sect."

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