Going Home

As soon as Ye Han returned to the academy, he went to his dorm, took a bath, and prepared to sleep. After all, he had not had a good night's sleep during those days in the Star Dou Great Forest.

Lia and Esdeath were truly bursting with energy. After returning and taking baths, they went to the training grounds for a fierce, satisfying battle.

They had gone from clashing over their differing ideals to becoming friends through battle. Though conflicts still arose between them, things were at least much better than before.

Kurumi, meanwhile, went to study her Time-Eating City after it transformed into the Soul Devouring City, wanting to see whether it still needed to absorb energy in advance like before.

The moment Yoruichi returned, she went to the highest point of the academy to practice Sword Meditation. She had also tried directly using her Zanpakuto's previous name, but the Zanpakuto showed no reaction at all.

So Yoruichi decided to start over from scratch and reclaim her Zanpakuto.

Todo continued training his body with the same meticulousness as before.

The moment Honjou Kaede returned, Zhao Lei took her away. Naturally, he wanted to test whether Honjou Kaede's first Soul Skill truly ignored level restrictions.

They found Dean Wang Hu and explained their purpose. Wang Hu was also very curious about Honjou Kaede's Soul Skill.

With someone standing by to protect them, Zhao Lei did not hold back and directly unleashed his eighth Soul Skill. The sky darkened at once, but the moment it touched Dark Night, it was rapidly devoured. Before long, everything returned to normal.

The five gems on the Dark Night Shield instantly lit up, gleaming brightly.

After a series of tests, they discovered this skill's weakness: it could only devour energy-based skills. Even so, it was already absurdly powerful.

Ye Han had originally planned to relax for a few days, but early the next morning, Esdeath yanked off his blanket. It had been one thing when Todo did it, but now it was a girl, and he slept naked.

"Esdeath, I think you should respect my privacy!" Ye Han said helplessly as he looked at the utterly unresponsive Esdeath.

Esdeath did not care in the slightest. "What is there to look at? You are only six. Get up and train!"

"Damn it, you... forget it!" Ye Han had wanted to say something, but for a moment, he did not know how to refute Esdeath and could only swallow his anger.

"Hurry up and cultivate your Soul Power, and train your body while you are at it! Otherwise, your room will not be very warm today. Believe me!" Esdeath said calmly as she looked at the unwilling Ye Han.

Seeing the faint chill emanating from Esdeath, Ye Han quickly got dressed and said helplessly, "Didn't we just get back? Let me rest for a while!"

"I'm level 12."

"Congratulations, congratulations!"

"You're level 12 too."

"I know."

"If you don't level up, I can't level up either."

At that, Ye Han understood. In the next instant, he could already sense his miserable future.

"Well, I think occasional rest is necessary too." Ye Han looked at Esdeath cautiously, hoping to find approval on her face.

"Todo, Kurumi, Lia, Xiao Feng, Yoruichi, and I are all level 12."

Hearing Esdeath's words, Ye Han knew he could not escape. He could only resign himself and say, "Fine! I'll work hard."

During this time, Ye Han began an intensive training regimen. In truth, when Esdeath said everyone had already reached level 12, Ye Han had already felt that he was holding them back.

So during this period, Ye Han trained more actively than anyone else. From actual combat to Soul Power, he neglected nothing.

Thanks to Ye Han's persistence and hard work, he raised his Soul Power to level 18 in just half a year.

As time flew by, another year quietly passed. Remembering how he had said he would go home once vacation began, Ye Han started packing his things.

Ye Han thought that the people he had summoned were alone in this world just like him, so he quickly opened the Guild Chat.

Ye Han: "I'm going back to my home in this world! Do you want to come with me?"

Honjou Kaede: "Home? I kind of miss my dad and mom too! I wonder if I can ever go back."

Ye Han: "Maybe we can return once we become gods of this world! At least there's some hope. Still, I was the one who summoned you here. I'm sorry!"

Honjou Kaede: "It's okay. I've met a lot of people here, and I'm very happy."

Kurumi: "Going to Xiao Feng's home? Sure! Things have been pretty boring lately anyway. Besides, if Xiao Feng leaves and stops cultivating, I'll be stuck at level 18 too."

Kurumi had brought up the very thing Ye Han did not want to mention, leaving him speechless.

Esdeath: "I'll go back with you. I'll supervise your training!"

Lia: "It's not much fun staying cooped up in the academy all the time. I'll come along and take a look."

Yoruichi: "Since everyone is going, I'll go too! I've been feeling a slight bottleneck in my Sword Meditation lately, so relaxing a little would not be bad."

Seeing that everyone agreed, Ye Han went straight to find Zhao Lei. Though Zhao Lei could not make a move once they left, he was excellent at intimidating people and escaping.

Ye Han led everyone back along the path he had once taken, walking slowly toward home. He was overwhelmed with emotions. Back then, he had walked step by step all the way to the Star Dou Great Forest, and he did not even know how he had endured it.

But when he looked at the people beside him, Ye Han finally felt somewhat comforted.

The journey back went quickly. With the support of Soul Power, they reached Gemstone Village in fifteen days. Arriving at the village entrance, Ye Han led everyone inside without hesitation.

The first place they visited was the Village Chief's home. After all, the Village Chief had taken him in back then and had cared for him more than anyone else in the village.

The moment he entered, he saw the Village Chief being lectured by his wife. Ye Han smiled and said, "Village Chief Grandpa, Grandma Cui, I came back to see you!"

Hearing the familiar voice, the Village Chief looked at the familiar child and became somewhat excited.

"Xiao Han, come over to Grandma! Let Grandma see whether you have gotten thinner! This old man has something wrong with his head. What academy would let a six-year-old child go there alone?" the Village Chief's wife, Cui Yu, said heartbrokenly.

Both the Village Chief and Ye Han felt awkward when she brought that up. Back then, Ye Han's excuse had been that traveling alone to the academy was part of its test, but now that he thought about it, it really did not sound very reasonable.

Fortunately, he had brought someone to take the blame. Ye Han immediately pointed at Zhao Lei and said, "This is a teacher from our academy. He was responsible for our safety this time!"

Zhao Lei, who had merely been watching the show, was startled when he suddenly became the scapegoat. "Uh, yes. It's a tradition at our academy. But we also send people to secretly protect those who travel there, so you misunderstood."

After hearing Zhao Lei's words, Cui Yu's expression finally improved a little. The Village Chief immediately said, "Lord Soul Master, you must be tired. I'll make arrangements so everyone can rest!"

His wife could be so blunt, but the Village Chief did not dare to be. In the eyes of ordinary people, Soul Masters were lofty figures.

Early the next morning, Ye Han got up at dawn without anyone waking him for the first time, making Esdeath and the others think they had seen a ghost.

But Ye Han had a purpose. Carrying the gifts he had brought, all ordinary items, he went out. It was not that Ye Han was stingy; he understood that giving the village anything too valuable would bring disaster upon it.

He visited every household, and by noon, he had finally finished.

"The villagers really are simple and honest! Britain used to be like this too!" Lia liked the village very much. There was no conflict, only peace and tranquility.

Esdeath said disdainfully, "They are merely people content with the status quo. Only by constantly striving can you control your own future, rather than hoping for charity from others!"

Lia said somewhat unhappily, "Why do you always argue with me? Back in Britain, what I wanted most was for peace to come. This place is very nice."

Esdeath did not yield in the slightest. "I'm not saying this place is bad. I'm saying your mindset is bad. The strong prey on the weak—that is the main theme of this world."

Seeing the two on the verge of arguing again, Ye Han hurriedly said, "Don't dwell on these things. Everyone has their own choice. Maybe this is already the best way for them to live?"

Afterward, Ye Han realized that he had overestimated himself. The two ended up discussing the topic all afternoon and even had a fight.

Ye Han seriously suspected that Esdeath simply wanted to fight, but fortunately, the two did not cause any trouble.

After staying in the village for several days, Ye Han finally relaxed for a while.

Incredibly, Todo hit it off with the village's unmarried men and completely integrated into their group. Perhaps this was the victory of a pervert.

Yoruichi, on the other hand, successfully completed her Shikai after changing environments. To be honest, Ye Han was dumbfounded, and even Yoruichi, who had completed her Shikai, was equally dumbfounded.

Most importantly, the Zanpakuto's name was still the same one from before, yet she had only succeeded in releasing it after coming here.

However, those were matters Yoruichi would need to study later. Being able to achieve Shikai was naturally a good thing, and the change it brought was an alteration to her outfit.

Her Flash Step became faster, and it consumed less Soul Power. Overall, it was quite good.

They stayed in the village for an entire month before Ye Han and the others prepared to set out. Their destination was Heaven Dou Imperial City. A month earlier, Ye Han had asked Zhao Lei to take the Soul Bones to an Auction House in the Heaven Dou Empire.

Because it was the first time someone had auctioned Soul Bones, the owner was thoroughly shocked. At this point in time, Soul Bones were extremely rare.

Even major sects did not possess many Soul Bones. Perhaps only Spirit Hall had slightly more.

So auctioning off two Soul Bones at once had truly caught the Auction House owner completely off guard.

In the end, to secure a good price, the Auction House promoted the sale for a month. That was why Ye Han and the others stayed in the village for an entire month.