After his all-night talk with Ma Xiaotao, Zhu Ziyang was preparing to rest for a while. Yet before he could even close his eyes, something happened that interrupted him once again.
Inside his room, the cocoon of light where Xingcai had been slumbering for nearly four years suddenly stirred. Cracks began to spread across its surface, and from within, an intense aura of holy radiance poured out, dazzling to behold.
Zhu Ziyang blinked in surprise but quickly gathered his focus, his eyes fixed firmly on Xingcai, who was about to break free. To be honest, given his current strength, even if Xingcai had transformed and advanced by leaps and bounds, she would remain more of a mascot to him than a true ally. Unless she could one day reach the level of a hundred-thousand-year soul beast, she could not provide him with real support.
Of course, Zhu Ziyang had never truly expected her to help him anyway.
Before long, the cracks spread wider, and at last the cocoon shattered under his gaze. From within emerged a magnificent unicorn, over three meters tall and five meters long. Its body was covered in golden fur, a pair of seven-colored wings sprouting from its sides, and a crystalline horn shimmering with rainbow light atop its head. Its amber-golden eyes gleamed with intelligence.
It was none other than a fully-grown Starlight Unicorn.
"Xingcai, congratulations on reaching adulthood!" Zhu Ziyang said warmly. Truthfully, he hadn't expected her to step into maturity simply through cultivation alone. Still, even as an adult, she was destined to remain more a companion than a protector.
"Heehee! Thank you, Lord Ziyang!" Xingcai's voice remained unchanged—still filled with childlike innocence.
"There's no need to thank me. This is your own achievement," Zhu Ziyang said with a smile, stroking her mane and crystalline horn.
Her four years of slumber had allowed Xingcai to leap across the divide between thousand-year and ten-thousand-year soul beasts. Now, with nearly fifteen-thousand years of cultivation, she had also fully refined the inheritance of the Unicorn King left behind by her mother. She could finally be considered a true Unicorn Queen.
"Lord Ziyang, I want to go for a run," Xingcai said eagerly. As a unicorn, after three or four years of sleep, the urge for freedom and galloping burned hot within her.
"Alright, let's go!" Zhu Ziyang agreed with a laugh. He leapt onto her back, and Xingcai let out a clear, melodious neigh. Her seven-colored wings flared wide, lifting them both into the sky before soaring toward the grassy fields beneath the Golden Ancient Tree.
The Starlight Unicorn raced joyfully across Tianyuan Island, her brilliance attracting no small number of inner court disciples. The older students merely watched with knowing smiles, for they already recognized Xingcai as Zhu Ziyang's companion. But for the newer disciples, who had entered in the past three years, the sight of a ten-thousand-year soul beast galloping so freely on Tianyuan Island was nothing short of shocking.
Zhu Ziyang and Xingcai ignored their stares. Still, they knew Tianyuan Island was no place for such displays, and so they soon crossed Sea God Lake and reached the outer court, where vast forests and open meadows spread wide—perfect for a unicorn's run.
Xingcai galloped gleefully through the secluded clearings of the outer court until her spirit was satisfied. Then Zhu Ziyang guided her back toward the inner court.
Just as they returned, they encountered Ma Xiaotao and Wu Huan'er.
"Ziyang, is this Xingcai?" Ma Xiaotao asked in surprise. "How has she grown so much?"
"She received a gift from our teacher, which quickened her cultivation. After three years of slumber, she woke just this morning," Zhu Ziyang explained with a smile. "Sister Xiaotao, are you two heading to eat?"
"That's right," Ma Xiaotao nodded. "I'm showing Huan'er around the inner court."
"Is that… a Starlight Unicorn?" Wu Huan'er asked in a daze, her gaze locked on Xingcai, her eyes glittering with a strange light.
"Yes. Ziyang brought Xingcai back from the Star Dou Forest years ago. Back then, she was only a little foal with four or five thousand years of cultivation. Who would have thought she'd grow this much?" Ma Xiaotao explained with some amazement.
"Oh…" Huan'er nodded faintly. Yet a mysterious smile curved her lips—one that filled Zhu Ziyang with sudden curiosity and unease.
Following her gaze, he saw that Xingcai too was staring back at Huan'er, her golden eyes full of confusion and wonder.
"Ziyang, we'll head off first," Ma Xiaotao said, tugging Huan'er along with her.
As the two walked away, Zhu Ziyang lowered his voice. "Xingcai, what is it? You seemed very interested in Huan'er."
"Lord Ziyang, her aura feels so familiar. Haven't we met her before?" Xingcai asked, troubled.
Her words struck him like a bolt. He too had felt a strange familiarity when meeting Wu Huan'er, though he'd brushed it off as illusion. But now, if Xingcai sensed it as well, then surely some past connection existed.
"Who could she be?" Zhu Ziyang muttered as he walked Xingcai back toward the Golden Ancient Tree, combing through his memories for a clue.
"...Wu Huan'er… Wu…" He sifted through everything he knew about her until suddenly, inspiration struck. "Sister Xiaotao said her martial soul is the Suanni… the fifth son of the Dragon God, born of the Dragon God and a Golden Lion… the Dragon-Lion!"
"The Three-Eyed Golden Lion!" Zhu Ziyang's body jolted. At once he thought of a possibility—that Wu Huan'er's martial soul, the Suanni, might be connected to the ancestral dragon-lion, and thus… to the Emperor Auspicious Beast, the Three-Eyed Golden Lion, whom both he and Xingcai had once been entwined with by fate.
"But why?" His heart swirled with questions. "The Three-Eyed Golden Lion shouldn't have had more than fifty-thousand years of cultivation back then. How could she have taken human form? And she clearly isn't a hundred-thousand-year beast in human disguise, nor one of the fierce beasts in human form. And yet… she managed to evade even my Titled Douluo senses. How is that possible?"
For a moment, he wanted nothing more than to seize Wu Huan'er and interrogate her. But he quickly dismissed the thought. Not only was she tied to Ma Xiaotao, she also bore the Fire God's favor and was participating in Xiaotao's divine trials. Now was neither the time nor the place.
"Forget it—for now," Zhu Ziyang murmured. "She's at Shrek Academy now. There'll be plenty of time to investigate later."
After settling Xingcai by the Golden Ancient Tree, he left her to play while he headed to the dining hall. Sleep had already eluded him, but at least he could eat.
There, he ran into Jiang Nannan, Tang Ya, Xue Weiwei, and Xiao Xiao. Smiling, he joined them at their table.
"Brother, you haven't eaten yet either!" Jiang Nannan said with a happy smile, patting the seat beside her. "Come, sit!"
Zhu Ziyang sat down at once, chuckling. "What were you all talking about? You seem so cheerful."
"Zhu Ziyang, guess what? Xu Sanshi and Weiwei have agreed to join my Tang Sect team!" Tang Ya announced excitedly.
"Really? How did you convince Xu Sanshi?" Zhu Ziyang asked curiously.
"Hehe, I didn't. Bei Bei did," Tang Ya admitted with a sheepish grin. She couldn't help feeling like a rather useless sect master.
"Oh?" Zhu Ziyang said with a meaningful smile. "That's good. Xiao Xiao, what about you and Wang Dong? Any thoughts of representing Tang Sect?"
"Me?" Xiao Xiao blinked, then smiled shyly. "Sister Ya asked me, but… I want to wait for Yuhao to return before deciding."
"That's fine. Once you've made your decision, just tell Elder Xuan. He mentioned this matter to me before—he'll likely agree."
"Really? That's wonderful!" Tang Ya said in delight. "I was worried the elders wouldn't support us. After all, with me and Bei Bei leading, it could look like we're ungrateful."
"There's no need to think that way. The revival of Tang Sect is good for the academy as well," Zhu Ziyang reassured her, then turned to Jiang Nannan. "Nannan, you still haven't told me—what were you all laughing about just now?"
"Oh, it's like this…" Jiang Nannan leaned close, whispering something into his ear.
"Oh? She finally decided to come clean?" Zhu Ziyang raised an eyebrow, not at all surprised.
"You're not shocked?" Tang Ya asked, wide-eyed. His calm reaction was the opposite of what they'd expected.
"Something I've known for ages—why should I be shocked?" Zhu Ziyang said helplessly.
"What? How did you know?" Tang Ya demanded.
"Read more books, Sect Master Tang," Zhu Ziyang replied dryly, earning a round of laughter.
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