Fate's Crossroads / Butterfly's Wings

Fate's Crossroads, Butterfly's Wings

Afternoon.

Warm sunlight poured down.

Lu Yuan narrowed his eyes, planning his next moves as he stroked a certain rabbit's hair.

It was worth mentioning that—

When a certain rabbit did not wear her hair in a Scorpion Tail Braid and instead let it hang loose, it felt exceptionally nice to the touch.

Of course, one only had to look at Xiao Wu's angry yet silent expression to know whether she had agreed to it.

"Boss!"

"Boss!"

Before he had even approached, Ma Hongjun's voice had already reached Lu Yuan's ears.

This showed that having a loud voice really did have its advantages.

"What is it?"

Lu Yuan raised an eyebrow and pulled out the chair beside him, letting Ma Hongjun sit down and explain at his leisure.

"The Dean asked you and Sister-in-law to come over. He said he found some 'Grandmaster' and wanted to..."

Xiao Wu's delicate Little Eyebrows shot up. She sprang to her feet and demanded fiercely, "Who are you calling Sister-in-law?!"

"Huh?"

Ma Hongjun froze, then turned to look innocently at his boss.

Lu Yuan gave a dry cough and waved his hand.

"Don't listen to her nonsense. Go on."

A moment later.

Ma Hongjun rushed off in a flurry.

Lu Yuan remained where he was, nodding thoughtfully.

Most of what Ma Hongjun had said was nonsense. Stripped down, there were only three useful pieces of information.

First, Flender apparently intended to form a team.

Second, for certain reasons, Grandmaster had arrived at Shrek Academy ahead of schedule.

Third, Tang San was more or less recovered.

"Broken bones and torn muscles take a hundred days to heal."

Lu Yuan could not help chuckling. "He recovered pretty fast!"

In a little over a day—less than two days, even—Tang San's injuries had healed completely.

Though he had not yet regained the strength of his Peak Period, that was only a matter of time!

Of course, that was thanks to a Healing Soul Emperor Yu Xiaogang had invited over.

Otherwise, given Tang San's injuries at the time, a hundred days would already have been the fastest possible recovery!

Xiao Wu's face turned deathly pale as she tugged at Lu Yuan's sleeve.

"T-Tang San is better now. What am I supposed to do?"

"Make a cold dish of it!"

Lu Yuan rolled his eyes and replied irritably.

What kind of question was that? There was no way for him to answer it.

What could he do if Tang San had recovered?

She should be asking that Healing Soul Emperor why he had healed Tang San all at once.

Wouldn't charging by the installment have been better?

Besides, what did Tang San getting better have to do with a Ten Thousand Year Soft Bone Rabbit like her?

"No... it can't be a cold dish! Please, help me think of a good solution, okay?"

"Then teach me how to make a hot dish first."

Xiao Wu was so anxious that she nearly cried. She clutched tightly to Lu Yuan's sleeve and refused to let go.

Seeing Xiao Wu's pitiful expression, Lu Yuan sighed. He crouched down and gently flicked her forehead.

"I know what you're worried about."

"But remember this: you are mine. At the very least, you are still mine right now."

Xiao Wu nodded, neither able to laugh nor cry.

Though those demonic words did not cheer her up, nor did they change her fate of endlessly teetering between having her soul ring taken and having her soul bone taken—

Being sheltered by a stronger demon was obviously much better.

Especially since this devil was straightforward and did not like lying.

Even if nothing else, at the very least, when this devil went to obtain spirit rings or spirit bones in the future, he could give her advance notice.

As for those two devils, Tang San and Tang Hao...

Xiao Wu had silently cursed them ten thousand times in her heart.

The older one had deceived Aunt Ah Yin, and now the younger one wanted to deceive her too.

Did they have some other siblings, children, or relatives who would keep coming to deceive Transformed Soul Beasts like them in the Star Dou Great Forest?

What, exactly?

Were Soul Beasts supposed to be deceived just because they were innocent?

What kind of absurd logic was that?!

—Whoosh!

A finger carrying a chill wind sharply flicked Xiao Wu on the forehead, jolting her out of her thoughts.

"Wake up. It's not time for daydreaming yet."

Lu Yuan said with a look of utter disdain.

Then, he raised a hand to restrain the clawing Xiao Wu, picked her up, and headed toward the dean's office.

"Put me down!"

Xiao Wu was startled and struggled as she waved her little fists.

"Why should I put you down?"

"It's not like this is something shameful!"

Lu Yuan shifted his arm slightly.

"I'm declaring my ownership. Don't spout nonsense if you don't understand."

"..."

Xiao Wu fell silent.

A question: if a devil did not like lying and had skin thicker than a wall, what species of devil was it?

"Ooh!!!"

"Ooh!!!"

"Ooh!!!"

"Quit making a fuss. Keep it up, and one day Hongjun's Martial Soul might really degenerate into a turkey. Then it'll be hilarious."

Lu Yuan scolded them with a grin, then set down Xiao Wu, who was too embarrassed to raise her head, and let Ning Rongrong stand protectively before her like a mother hen shielding her chicks.

"It's a phoenix! Mine is a phoenix! It won't degenerate!"

Ma Hongjun desperately defended his Martial Soul, only for Oscar beside him to ruthlessly expose him.

"The fatty's right, it's a phoenix. But it's an Evil Fire Phoenix! Hahaha!"

The room instantly erupted in laughter.

Not to mention Zhao Wuji and the others—even Flender could not hold back his laughter.

Ma Hongjun grabbed Oscar by the neck and shook him hard, while Oscar hurriedly begged for mercy.

A support-system Soul Master trying to go head-to-head with a Battle Soul Master had better be careful. If he really provoked the Battle Soul Master, he might get snapped in half on the spot like a human bar...

After all, he had no real combat ability.

Fortunately, the two got along fairly well. A few occasional jokes were not enough to make either of them angry.

"Alright, alright, Little Monsters. Quiet down and listen to me."

Flender clapped his hands, and the laughter in the room immediately died down.

"Today, I gathered you Little Monsters together mainly because it's time for our Shrek Academy team to be established."

Flender's gaze swept across the Little Monsters one by one with satisfaction.

For the first time in all these years, Shrek Academy had finally gathered enough people for a purely "genius" team!

The young miss of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, possessor of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda—Ning Rongrong.

The Hell Spirit Cat—Zhu Zhuqing.

The White Tiger—Dai Mubai.

The food-system Soul Master with Innate Full Soul Power—Oscar.

His Close Disciple, the Evil Fire Phoenix—Ma Hongjun.

The Soft Bone Rabbit with Innate Full Soul Power—Xiao Wu.

Tang San, who had yet to arrive but likewise possessed Innate Full Soul Power, with Blue Silver Grass.

And finally, this great monster: Lu Yuan, a Soul Ancestor with a pure elemental Martial Soul.

Eight people.

First, they had passed the headcount requirement.

As for Combat Power, Flender had no worries.

After all, the initial selection had been based on the criterion of "genius." Otherwise, he would not have failed to gather a full team after so many years.

The only thing that needed worrying about was the team's coordination.

But these Little Monsters' fundamental strength was plain to see. Even if they lacked coordination, as long as they familiarized themselves with a few conventional tactics, defeating ordinary academy teams would be effortless.

What was more—

There was still a long time before the Soul Master Competition began.

With the help of his old friend and romantic rival—Grandmaster—Flender was fully confident that he could lead this team into the finals.

Besides, he still held a great monster in reserve as his trump card!

That was why, after finally assembling a hand that satisfied him after so many years, Flender remembered the matter of forming the Shrek Battle Team.

As for eligibility to participate in the Soul Master Competition—

Although Shrek Academy did not currently meet the requirements, Flender believed there was no problem that Gold Soul Coins could not solve!

If there was, it only proved that there were not enough Gold Soul Coins!

With so much time to work things out, if he still could not obtain a Soul Master Academy certification recognized by either Heaven Dou or Star Luo—

Then he might as well stop making a living in the Soul Master World!

If the review process proved too strict, Flender still had a backup plan in mind.

Of course, activating that backup plan would mean permanently losing his right to pursue the one he loved!

Unless he had no other choice, Flender would never use that backup plan.

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First update.

P.S. The favorites are increasing so quickly that this newbie author is completely dumbfounded.