At the edge of Sea God Island in the inner courtyard of Shrek Academy, inside a two-story wooden attic.
Meng Hongchen, who had been curled up on the wooden bed, gradually woke up. Her wine-red long hair cascaded over her snow-white, fragrant shoulders. She sat up in a daze and tightly wrapped herself with the dry, thin cotton quilt.
Her long eyelashes trembled slightly. In her ice-blue, beautiful eyes, sweet, happy, puzzled, and aggrieved emotions appeared one after another. A few crystal tears slid from the corners of her eyes, causing a layer of misty moisture to cover her eyelashes.
Shrek Academy's research on martial souls was indeed far beyond what their Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineering Academy could compare to.
After just a few days of guidance from the teachers of Shrek Academy's inner courtyard, she had gained a much deeper understanding of her Vermilion Ice Toad martial soul's abilities. During this time, she had cultivated extremely diligently. It wasn't until late last night, when she realized her mental state was somewhat exhausted, that she finally rested a little.
She had slept very well this night, as if she had fallen into an intoxicating dream. Although the outcome of the dream didn't seem very pleasant.
But strangely, she had no recollection whatsoever of the contents of that dream.
She only felt her longing for Yu Tianhuang become even stronger, and there were even some unusual sensations in her body.
Immediately afterward, as if sensing something, her pretty face instantly turned crimson. She stretched out her right hand and tentatively stroked the bedsheet under the quilt a few times.
"Meng." Xiao Hongchen's voice sounded outside the wooden attic. Meng Hongchen's delicate body trembled slightly, like a startled little deer, and her gaze dodged away.
The ten students from Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineering Academy who had come for the exchange were treated by Shrek Academy the same as inner courtyard disciples.
Normally, two people lived in a wooden attic like this. Meng Hongchen, being the only girl, lived alone.
However, every day Xiao Hongchen would come to call her to receive guidance from the inner courtyard teachers of Shrek Academy together, just like now.
"Brother, you go ahead. I haven't freshened up yet." Meng Hongchen replied in a panic and directly yanked off the bedsheet.
Xiao Hongchen, who had stopped outside the wooden attic, frowned but didn't think much of it and turned to leave.
At the same time, in Ming Du.
In the capital, many tall buildings can't be seen in other countries. Thanks to the widespread use of soul tools, the Sun Moon Empire also led the continent in the field of architecture.
In a room on the upper floor of a majestic domed building, a graceful young girl leaned against the window. One jade hand supported her fragrant cheek, while her golden eyes stared blankly, lost in thought.
In her other hand, she toyed with an exquisite ring carved from blue-purple crystal. On this ring, no larger than a pigeon egg, lifelike dragon patterns were engraved.
Dragon claws, dragon head, and even every single dragon scale.
It was clearly a majestic Blue Electric Tyrant Dragon!
The girl wore a golden dress. The dress was one-piece, woven with golden threads, without excessive decorative patterns, and elegant in style. Her long golden hair of the same color was casually draped behind her.
From her position, she could overlook this prosperous commercial district of Ming Du. The shorter buildings below had vine trellises in their courtyards covered with various plants, blocking the line of sight from the sky.
This added a touch of vitality to this capital filled with too much metallic atmosphere.
Such arrangements were very common in Ming Du. After all, there were too many tall buildings, and no one wanted to expose their privacy, so they used these vines to shield the view from high-rise buildings.
At this moment, a flicker suddenly passed through the girl's calm, water-like golden eyes. An illusory elderly figure emerged from the void behind her. The golden robe was adorned with magnificent patterns, white hair and beard, and his vicissitudinous gray-black eyes carried an ancient and profound aura.
The girl turned around in surprise, revealing her stunningly beautiful face. The golden hair and dress further highlighted her snow-white skin.
"Old Yi?"
The illusory elderly figure spoke words that shocked people.
"I sensed a power on the same level as my peak. Because part of my divine consciousness has assimilated into your sea of spirit, you were not affected by it."
"A power on the same level as Old Yi at your peak?" The girl couldn't help widening her eyes.
Wouldn't that be a god?
Because of her own origins, she could be certain that gods truly existed in this world.
…
In the lush Ming Dou Great Forest, Xu Zihuang only felt his spirit daze for a moment.
Looking up at the Nightmare Man-eating Flower in the distance that had retracted its vines and returned to calm, his gaze couldn't help but narrow slightly.
The nightmare toxin of this Nightmare Man-eating Flower was actually so terrifying that it could even affect him, who possessed the attribute of destruction. He immediately circulated the soul power within his body.
The soul power carrying the destruction attribute instantly cleared the remaining nightmare toxin in his body, and his groggy consciousness became clear.
"Zihuang, the physiques of these two little girls are far inferior compared to the soul masters of the same level. The nightmare toxin has already begun invading their seas of spirit. I'm afraid they won't be able to hold on much longer. Hurry." The voice of the Tianmeng Ice Silkworm sounded once again in Xu Zihuang's sea of spirit, putting away its previous lewdness and becoming a bit more serious.
Xu Zihuang was never an indecisive person. He released that all-terrain exploration soul tool from Ju Zi's storage soul tool, then carried Ju Zi and Ke Ke, one in each arm, into it.
However, before undoing the clothes of Ju Zi and Ke Ke, he did not forget to use his spiritual power to shield the Tianmeng Ice Silkworm.
Although the Tianmeng Ice Silkworm possessed a million-year cultivation, its spiritual power was only at the same level as his material but intangible realm.
If back then the Tianmeng Ice Silkworm's spiritual power had reached the material and tangible realm, just using that vast spiritual power would have been enough to protect itself in front of ferocious beasts like Di Tian and the Beast God, and the Evil Eyed Tyrant Ruler. How could it have ended up in such a miserable state later?
Moreover, this was Xu Zihuang's own sea of spirit, so dealing with the Tianmeng Ice Silkworm was naturally very easy.
A plump, pure-white silkworm baby poked its head out from the golden ocean, its shining golden little eyes filled with indignation.
"Zihuang, do you think I'm that kind of perverted person? I have no interest in the bodies of you human women. My heart has always belonged only to Bing Bing."
However, its words were destined to receive no response.
When mentioning Bing Bing, a strange emotion appeared in the Tianmeng Ice Silkworm's voice. It let out a very proud and tsundere hum.
"Bing Bing, back then you ignored me, but in the future I'll make you unable to reach me."
From Xu Zihuang, it saw the hope of eternal life. With Xu Zihuang's current cultivation speed, there was no doubt that in the near future, there was a high chance he could touch that realm.
Thinking of this, the Tianmeng Ice Silkworm's mood became very good. When happy, of course, it had to reward itself with a nice sleep.
Xu Zihuang took a deep breath and placed both hands on the wrists of Ju Zi and Ke Ke. Using his spiritual power, he precisely controlled his soul power to circulate within the two girls, clearing the toxin of the Nightmare Man-eating Flower.
The slippery sensation transmitted from his hands, together with the faint fragrance that filled the entire all-terrain exploration soul tool, constantly assaulted his mind.
His self-control was strong, but as a normal man, how could he not be moved at all?
Ju Zi and Ke Ke did not have Xu Zihuang's powerful physique nor the protection of destruction-attribute soul power. Completely clearing the nightmare toxin from their bodies took Xu Zihuang a full hour.
Fortunately, Xu Zihuang's spiritual power was strong, and he could multitask; otherwise, Ju Zi and Ke Ke would have perished here today.
However, after waking up, the two girls would inevitably be weak for a period of time.
Ka— After closing the blue crystal window of the all-terrain exploration soul tool, Xu Zihuang steadily landed on the ground. Helping Ju Zi and Ke Ke detoxify didn't consume much soul power, so he didn't need to hurry to meditate and recover.
He carefully observed the surroundings of this Nightmare Man-eating Flower. The plants in the vicinity were clearly much more lush, and he could vaguely see the remains of soul beast skeletons. With the Nightmare Man-eating Flower here, it was no wonder they hadn't encountered any soul beasts along the way.
At this moment, realization appeared in his eyes.
That mutated Double-headed Nether Wolf had probably fled in this direction precisely to lure them into the area where the Nightmare Man-eating Flower was located. And the Double-headed Nether Wolf itself, relying on its Void Light soul skill, could exactly be immune to this nightmare toxin.
Xu Zihuang glanced back at the all-terrain exploration soul tool, then walked toward the direction of the Double-headed Nether Wolf's corpse.
He planned to first retrieve the Thunder Rocket. With the protection of the all-terrain exploration soul tool, soul beasts below five thousand years of cultivation could not pose any threat to Ju Zi and Ke Ke. Moreover, the location of the Double-headed Nether Wolf's corpse was less than two thousand meters from here. If anything unexpected happened, he would be able to react in time.
With the improvement of his spiritual power, the maximum attack range of his second soul skill, Mirror Destruction, and fifth soul skill, Mental Storm, had reached a diameter of two kilometers. His released spiritual power could also cover this entire area.
That mutated Double-headed Nether Wolf was indeed very cunning. It had deliberately lured them closer while keeping a safe distance from the Nightmare Man-eating Flower itself.
Soon, Xu Zihuang found the Double-headed Nether Wolf's corpse one thousand meters south of the Nightmare Man-eating Flower.
The peculiar flowers and plants unique to the southern forest nearby were stained with dark red blood. The two huge heads of the Double-headed Nether Wolf had been pierced through simultaneously by the Thunder Rocket, connecting them.
At the wounds on both heads, faint green light flickered. Two streams of soul power fluctuations were released, intertwining and forming an even denser soul power fluctuation.
Xu Zihuang raised an eyebrow. He took out the long sword Shark Tooth from his storage soul tool and lifted the Double-headed Nether Wolf's skull. Two completely emerald-green skull soul bones rolled onto the ground.
The emerald-green halo gave people an unreal, illusory feeling.
They were actually two skull soul bones—two identical skull soul bones.
This Double-headed Nether Wolf's cultivation was only around four thousand five hundred years, not yet five thousand. Producing even one soul bone was already a pleasant surprise, but unexpectedly, two skull soul bones appeared at once.
This was probably due to the peculiarity of this mutated Double-headed Nether Wolf. Mutated soul beasts could not be judged by common sense.
From the memories of his previous life, Xu Zihuang knew that in the Star Dou Great Forest, a tri-headed mutated wolf-ape soul beast had once produced three identical leg soul bones at the same time.
Feeling the special soul power fluctuations inside these two soul bones, he could roughly guess the soul skills attached to them.
They were very likely the Void Light soul skill that the Double-headed Nether Wolf had used earlier—capable of simultaneously immunizing against both physical and energy attacks while increasing speed to a certain extent.
One must know that Void was a divine skill comparable to Invincible Golden Body and Teleportation. For any soul master, it was a life-saving skill they dreamed of.
Although these were only two-thousand-year soul bones and would be lacking in amplification and ability compared to ten-thousand-year soul bones, one should not forget the highest-end research on the original Douluo Continent—soul bone fusion.
Soul bone fusion refers to combining several related soul bones through a special method to form a brand-new soul bone.
Like the two soul bones in front of him, produced from the same soul beast and with completely identical attributes, there was almost no possibility of damage during fusion.
This was not simply one plus one equals two, but a qualitative sublimation.
In other words, once these two-thousand-year soul bones completed fusion, their quality would definitely surpass many ten-thousand-year soul bones. Coupled with the attached Void Light soul skill, they were even more precious.
It had to be said, Xu Zihuang's luck was truly excellent.
Xu Zihuang used soul power to guide the two soul bones into his hand. The moment they touched his skin, they felt ice-cool, somewhat like stroking cold jade. The faint light reflected in Xu Zihuang's pupils.
But there was not the slightest trace of intoxication or obsession in his eyes. With his experience, he would not lose his composure over two mere soul bones.
He stored these two skull soul bones that countless soul masters dreamed of into his soul tool, then began to return the way he came. He also extracted the materials from the Double-headed Nether Wolf's body that could be used to make soul tools.
As for the tough and sour wolf meat, he left it on the spot. Perhaps that wolf meat had some nourishing effect for ordinary people, but for him, it held no great value.
Xu Zihuang leaned against the all-terrain exploration soul tool, closed his eyes to rest, and remained vigilant of the surroundings.
Sunset, moonrise, moonset, sunrise. The cycle repeated.
Only on the second night did Ju Zi finally regain consciousness.
When Xu Zihuang had detoxified Ju Zi and Ke Ke earlier, the nightmare toxin in Ju Zi's body had been cleared first. This caused Ju Zi, whose physique was slightly weaker, to wake up first instead.
At this moment, her body was extremely weak. Her originally rosy complexion was somewhat pale, and her limbs lacked strength. These were all symptoms of severe overdraft.
Ju Zi only felt that she had had a very long and very happy dream.
Although she could not remember anything that happened in the dream, when she woke up, the corners of her mouth still curved into a faint arc.
Immediately afterward, she recalled the previous incident with the terrifying vines and also discovered that her clothes had been moved.
A reddish firelight flickered not far away. Ju Zi subconsciously looked through the blue crystal glass window of the all-terrain exploration soul tool. She saw Xu Zihuang sitting by the campfire, cooking a pot of steaming meat soup.
She guessed that the traces on her clothes were caused by Yu Tianhuang, but for some reason, she felt no rejection in her heart.
Perhaps she felt that Yu Tianhuang had no choice but to do so, or perhaps it was for some other reason.
Ju Zi raised her hand and opened the crystal window in front of the all-terrain exploration soul tool, preparing to come out.
Xu Zihuang, who had originally intended to give Ju Zi some time to recover, could no longer continue pretending. He stood up and looked at Ju Zi.
Ju Zi, whose limbs had no strength, missed a step and almost fell, but Xu Zihuang caught her in time.
"Be careful, Senior Ju Zi."
Her knees and waist were supported by Xu Zihuang. To maintain balance, Ju Zi unconsciously placed one hand on Xu Zihuang's shoulder.
Their eyes met, the firelight dancing in both pairs of eyes. Their breaths intertwined, and an ambiguous atmosphere spread.
Looking into Xu Zihuang's deep purple eyes, Ju Zi always felt an inexplicable sense of familiarity and security.
After a long while, Ju Zi, who had come back to her senses, blushed slightly and struggled free, hurriedly leaving Xu Zihuang's embrace.
Xu Zihuang calmly walked to the campfire, scooped a bowl of meat soup, and handed it to Ju Zi.
"Senior Ju Zi, drink a bowl of meat soup first. About what happened earlier, I think it's necessary to let you know. The plant-type soul beast we encountered was a Nightmare Man-eating Flower. Both you and Senior Ke Ke were poisoned by its nightmare toxin. That nightmare toxin can penetrate the skin. To detoxify you, I had no choice but to undo your clothes."
"So you saw everything, and that's it?" Ju Zi's expression softened a little. She sat down opposite Xu Zihuang, took small sips of the meat soup, and muttered quietly.
Even she herself hadn't noticed the thirst and anticipation deep in her heart.
Xu Zihuang's eyelids moved. In a half-joking, half-serious tone, he replied, "Then what should I do? How about… Senior Ju Zi marries me?"
Hearing these words, Ju Zi instantly froze in place, her entire body trembling uncontrollably.
At that moment, a complex emotion she herself couldn't even discern surged from the depths of her heart. Deep within that emotion, there seemed to be an obsession and gentleness engraved into her soul.
She didn't understand why she was so deeply moved.
Could it be… that I've really fallen for him?
Ju Zi lightly bit her red lips, her voice carrying a slight tremble.
"Don't casually say such things to girls in the future. They might take it seriously."
Regarding the timelines of Ju Zi and Meng Hongchen, there will be side stories to supplement them. I feel that writing too many emotional lines in the main story would become tiresome. For a Douluo fanfic, it's still better to focus on being refreshing. Of course, that reincarnation only maxed out their favorability toward the protagonist; the subsequent relationship development will still be written in detail as it progresses gradually.
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Here are the chapters for today (づ￣3￣)づ╭～
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