Bragging Isn't Illegal

When he took over the body, Xu Yu noticed that the first four soul rings felt different to him. That was what misled him into thinking it was the soul rings that had mutated.

In truth, both the martial soul and the soul rings had mutated. The effects of the dual positive and negative buffs came precisely from the Spirit Mutation.

Xu Yu had reached this conclusion after discovering that his fifth soul skill, Whale Swallow, could be released in reverse.

As for the soul ring mutation, he had some vague guesses as well.

It was a mutation in age. The soul rings' age had become similar to an External Soul Bone, continuously increasing alongside the host. For example, although his current soul ring configuration was still yellow, yellow, purple, purple, black, a careful look would reveal that his second soul ring was richer in color than before, to the point that purple showed through the yellow.

Excellent. More importantly, Xu Yu discovered that he did not necessarily need to hold the Brilliant Gold Scepter to release soul skills. It could automatically float in the air and provide support.

This ability might seem useless, but in Xu Yu's eyes, it had enormous value. It freed both his hands, which greatly enhanced his combat strength and ability to protect himself.

This was necessary. Otherwise, he could hardly assemble a personal guard just to protect him, could he?

If you wanted something done, you had to do it yourself!

Having thoroughly understood his martial soul, Xu Yu was in a good mood. Then he sensed it with his mind and found that the Contract Tome had actually been taken away. He glanced at the Blue Silver Grass, which swiftly tossed the Contract Tome aside as though saying, The tome wasn't stolen by me. Xu Yu frowned slightly.

Wasn't this Blue Silver Grass a little too independent? It could actually operate his Contract Tome on its own. Was the Contract Tome's grade too low, or was there some other reason?

Or was the Blue Silver Grass's grade too high? But the Chaos Ancient Tree was quite intelligent too, and this had never happened with it.

It would have been fine if this had happened with the Chaos Ancient Tree. After all, it was his Life Guardian Battle Beast, and betrayal was not a possibility. But if the Contract Tome could not suppress the Blue Silver Grass, an ordinary summoned beast, then there would be nothing he could do if it betrayed him.

A creature that might betray him and could mobilize the summoned beasts in his tome—Xu Yu was not unconcerned about that. He had a suspicion: could Ah Yin have awakened?

Sensing her master's displeasure, disgust, and wariness, the Blue Silver Grass felt wronged. She only wanted to become stronger and preserve her consciousness.

Why did he have to hate her?

Having evolved into a Ten Thousand Year Spirit Beast, the Blue Silver Grass possessed the intelligence of a normal seven- or eight-year-old human girl. Her two roots trailed behind Xu Yu like little legs, while her bent main stalk drooped listlessly.

"It..." Zhu Zhuyun pointed at the Blue Silver Grass following Xu Yu so pitifully, unable to speak. Everything she had seen today had overturned her understanding of the world.

Whether it was the "book" in Xu Yu's hand or these miraculous spirit beasts, she had never heard of any of them before. And earlier, when Xu Yu had opened that book while carrying her on his back, what had those moving images been about?

Pictures in a book could move? How strange.

"Ignore her. Get on, we're leaving!"

Xu Yu crouched halfway down, and Zhu Zhuyun immediately understood. She hurriedly climbed onto his back. When they took off, the pitiful Blue Silver Grass hastily wrapped herself around Xu Yu's wrist.

She was going to be abandoned. Homeless. Sad.

After giving himself the buff from the Fifth Soul Ring, Xu Yu's endurance increased dramatically. However, he did not land directly on the southern coast of Star Luo City.

Instead, he bought a boat on an island near a small fishing village, sailed around the western coastline to the border between the Two Great Empires, and came ashore there.

Still, the churning waves along the way were rather alarming.

In the small sailboat, Xu Yu had installed a Propeller at the stern. He had modified it from a Soul Tool left behind by the Netherworld Spirit Cat Family, saving himself quite a bit of time rowing.

On the boat, Xu Yu stared for a long while at Zhu Zhuyun across from him, her hair coiled into a bun that exposed her smooth, slender neck. Zhu Zhuyun could not stand his gaze any longer. Her body even felt slightly strange, and she shot him a glare.

"Actually, I'm curious. Why hasn't Dai Weisi touched you?" Though he had not had overly intimate contact with Zhu Zhuyun, a little probing was enough to tell him that she knew nothing of relations between men and women. Even when he told her a dirty joke, her eyes would dart away. If he touched her hand, she would pull it back as if shocked. Someone who had been with a man would definitely not react like that.

Zhu Zhuyun shot him a strange glance with her beautiful eyes and said coldly, "How do you know I'm a virgin? Do you think I'd save the most precious thing a woman has for you?"

Fine! Xu Yu admitted it. He could not actually tell what Zhu Zhuyun's situation was. As for whether she was a virgin, he did not truly care. Their relationship was merely one of cooperation; he needed to leave himself a way out through Zhu Zhuyun.

But Zhu Zhuyun now knew many of his secrets. Originally, he had planned to scheme against her. After all, a woman always had extremely complicated feelings toward the man who took her first time. That way, Xu Yu could at least ensure that Zhu Zhuyun would not betray him or reveal his secrets.

Without that kind of relationship, their cooperation would be weaker. After all, without that intimate bond as a guarantee, it would be harder to maintain deeper exchanges.

"Let's not talk about this. Let's talk about something happier."

Then why did you bring it up? Zhu Zhuyun shifted over and sat at the bow, too lazy to bother with him. She had also noticed the slight disappointment on Xu Yu's face. He should know what he needed to know; there was no need for explanations that made it seem as though she cared deeply about him. In truth, if not for the half month they had spent on the Sea Island, she could have changed partners whenever necessary.

Traveling at sea was simply too dull and tedious. There was no one aboard besides Zhu Zhuyun, so after two or three hours, Xu Yu had no choice but to move closer to her and resume the conversation. "By the way, your younger sister is still in Spirit City. Do you want to go see her?"

Would he ever stop? Zhu Zhuyun found Xu Yu's constant buzzing at her ear as irritating as a fly, but when she heard mention of her sister, her interest was piqued.

She turned to face Xu Yu, frowned, and asked, "You can let me meet her alone?"

"That depends on your sincerity." Xu Yu spread his hands indifferently. In reality, he could not even get to see the people from Shrek himself, much less arrange for Zhu Zhuyun to meet someone alone. He could not even bring someone in with him.

But a man's pride, you know. Bragging wasn't illegal. Besides, he had phrased it vaguely. He never said how sincere she would have to be before she could meet her sister.

Zhu Zhuyun curled her lips. She had long seen through this pathetic vanity of men. Did he really take her for some innocent little girl who knew nothing of the world?

Back in the small fishing village, Xu Yu had even hinted that he wanted to get into her bed. Zhu Zhuyun had nearly punched him twice. Before he had even helped her rise to power, he wanted to sleep with her?

Did he really think she was some naive fool? She had emerged as a formidable figure from palace intrigues. If Xu Yu had not prepared sufficient bargaining chips, whether their deal could continue was still unknown.

He wanted to get her for free? No chance.

Xu Yu rubbed the tip of his nose, depressed by Zhu Zhuyun's disdainful gaze. He thought she had seen through his little trick and felt baffled. Wasn't he just bragging a little?

What law said a person wasn't allowed to brag?

He might be bragging now, but once he returned to Spirit Hall, that might not be the case.

Others might not know what Bibi Dong was thinking, but Xu Yu understood it perfectly. She was a woman of towering ambition, with grand aspirations of unifying the continent and being crowned empress.

And Xu Yu could help her realize that ambition. Only he could make up for Spirit Hall's shortcomings and bring her dream to fruition.