Yan Shaozhe's Headache, Targeting the Deep Sea Demonic Whale, and a Letter from Heavenly Tyrant Bixi (Seeking Collection and Recommendation)

Shrek Academy, Outer Courtyard.

Du Weilun, wearing a strange expression, knocked on the door to Yan Shaozhe's office. "Dean, I have some news to report to you."

"Wei Lun? Come in, then." The door opened automatically. Yan Shaozhe, seated behind his desk, replied without looking up, his brows tightly furrowed as he stared at the document in his hand.

"Yes."

Du Weilun entered and took out a letter. "Dean, spies from Xuanming City have sent word that not long ago, the third young master of the Xuanming Sect, Xu Tianxi, left home with an old servant. However, this matter did not cause much of a stir within the Xuanming Sect."

"Xu Tianxi? The third young master of the Xuanming Sect whom I told you to keep an eye on two years ago—the half-brother of Xu Sanshi? He ran away from home?"

Yan Shaozhe finally shifted his gaze from the document to Du Weilun. After a brief moment of thought, he quickly recalled who Xu Tianxi was.

An arrogant brat who knew nothing of the immensity of heaven and earth.

Du Weilun nodded. "That's him. According to the spies, Xu Tianxi had kept a very low profile within the Xuanming Sect these past two years. He was almost never seen anywhere except the Library, never socialized with disciples of his generation, and never grew close to any elders. He was extremely withdrawn.

"Only an old servant left behind by his mother and the Study Companion assigned to him by the Xuanming Sect remained by his side. He had no one else close to him. The one who left with him this time was that old servant."

"Because he had little presence within the Xuanming Sect, and because it was not unusual for Soul Masters to cultivate in seclusion for ten days or half a month, the Xuanming Sect only realized he was gone half a month after his departure. It was not for the purpose of hunting Soul Rings either. They searched his room and found a letter saying he had run away from home."

Surprise appeared in Yan Shaozhe's eyes. "He was fed and clothed well in the Xuanming Sect. Why would he suddenly run away from home?"

Du Weilun said, "Perhaps he could no longer endure the ostracism within the sect. He never participated in social interactions there, so those clan members inevitably treated him coldly. Moreover, Xue Lingxun agreed to keep him under strict control for us. According to the spies, he had been unwelcome in the sect these past two years."

Yan Shaozhe considered this, understanding dawning in his eyes. "That must be the only reason. What about his father? And Old Monster Xu—any news of him?"

In just two years, Xue Lingxun had driven that brat to run away from home. Her efficiency was quite high. He could relax his guard around Xu Sanshi somewhat in the future.

"Xuanming Sect Master Xu Fu entered seclusion two years ago and has yet to emerge. Old Monster Xu's whereabouts are beyond our ability to investigate. However, he had long since declared that he was entering seclusion to cultivate. In fact, before you told us that old monster was still alive, we never even knew the Xuanming Sect had such a person."

By the end, Du Weilun's tone carried some helplessness. He could hardly send people to investigate the whereabouts of a Level 98 Super Douluo. It simply was not realistic.

"That's true. I made things difficult for you. If you can't find him, then don't bother. Old Monster Xu has many descendants, and he is already quite old himself. He probably doesn't have much energy to spare for that brat."

Yan Shaozhe nodded, and his tightly knit brows relaxed. He could not help but chuckle. "Heh heh, I've been worrying over Xiaotao's matter, and you bring me good news. Not bad at all."

"Xiaotao's matter? You mean the Evil Fire within her Martial Soul?"

Du Weilun's eyes shifted. Ma Xiaotao had reached the Soul King realm at only sixteen years old. She was visibly the next-generation leader of the Shrek Seven Monsters. There was only one problem: the Evil Fire inherent in her Martial Soul.

"Yes. Xiaotao is good in every way, but this Evil Fire is harmful. Her cultivation is not high right now, so Ling Luochen and Xu Sanshi can still help suppress it. But once she reaches the Soul Emperor or even Soul Sage realm, this Evil Fire will become a major problem."

Speaking of his most valued personal disciple, Yan Shaozhe grabbed at his hair with a miserable expression, his head aching badly.

Ling Luochen was around Ma Xiaotao's age, but her cultivation talent was far inferior. She was still only a Soul Ancestor, and the gap between them would only widen in the future. Xu Sanshi had good cultivation talent, but there was quite an age difference between them. Furthermore, his Profound Tortoise Martial Soul was water-attributed, making it less effective than Ling Luochen's ice Elemental Martial Soul.

More importantly, Ma Xiaotao did not much like dealing with interpersonal relationships. Her relationship with Ling Luochen was poor, and Ling Luochen was not particularly willing to help her suppress the Evil Fire. As for Xu Sanshi... he had no way to avoid it or resist.

"Xiaotao's Phoenix Evil Fire is close in quality to Ultimate Fire. To resolve her hidden danger, only an Ultimate Martial Soul Master will do. Ultimate Ice and Ultimate Water should theoretically both work. Or we could find the legendary Immortal Herbs that Ancestor Tang San sought for Xiaotao's ancestor back then. But both of those things are practically impossible. What a headache, what a headache..."

Yan Shaozhe rubbed his brow weakly and secretly swore that if an Ultimate Ice or Ultimate Water Soul Master appeared in this age, he would definitely capture... bring that person back to Shrek for proper nurturing, have them deal with Xiaotao's Evil Fire, and perhaps even make a good match.

If they could pass down an Ultimate Martial Soul, Shrek would endure forever.

Du Weilun smiled ingratiatingly. "You need not worry too much. If it truly comes to that, we can look outside for powerful Soul Masters with ice-attributed Martial Souls and have them come to the academy to help. With our academy's strength, what Soul Master can't we find? If a Titled Douluo takes action, suppressing it for decades would be no problem."

To Du Weilun's surprise, his careless words immediately drew a sharp, blade-like glare from Yan Shaozhe.

"Wei Lun, what nonsense are you talking about? Do you know that Shrek is the number one academy in the world?"

Du Weilun immediately broke out in cold sweat. Lowering his head, he said hesitantly, "Dean, I know. I only..."

Bang!

Yan Shaozhe abruptly slammed his palm onto the desk and rose to his feet. He raised a hand to stop Du Weilun from continuing, his expression stern.

"I know you did not mean it that way, but Wei Lun, you must always remember that Shrek is the number one academy in the world, the holy land of the Soul Master world. Matters such as being unable to resolve a student's hidden danger must never be spread outside. Do you understand?"

Du Weilun nearly lowered his head onto the desk as he repeatedly agreed. "Wei Lun understands."

"It's good that you understand. Let me tell you: our academy's foundation far exceeds your imagination. The Sea God Pavilion has the Ten Thousand Year Mystic Ice Bed. Suppressing Xiaotao's Evil Fire has never been a problem! The problem is only that it cannot be easily eradicated. Do not mention asking outsiders again in the future! You may go."

"Yes."

Du Weilun retreated nervously. Yan Shaozhe's gaze returned to the list in his hand, which recorded the ice-attributed Martial Soul geniuses of past generations, and he exhaled a breath of turbid air.

"What a pity. Feng Changxiao, the Ice Phoenix Martial Soul genius of Star Luo Royal Academy, vanished without a trace decades ago. If we could have brought him into the academy back then, I would not be suffering such a headache today..."

"He should be around sixty years old now. If he had been at Shrek, he might have had a chance to challenge the Super Douluo realm. Helping Xiaotao would have been effortless. What a pity, what a pity..."

Two and a half years later.

Xu Tianxi, standing over 1.7 meters tall with broad shoulders and a sturdy back, wore a fitted martial outfit and a mask as he followed Xiao Changfeng to the docks and boarded a ship bound for the sea.

Yue Lao was still the one steering the ship. Two Soul Douluo accompanied them, both absolutely loyal people personally managed by Xiao Changfeng. Neither knew Xu Tianxi's true identity.

On the deck, Xiao Changfeng and Xu Tianxi stood facing the wind, chatting and laughing. The sea breeze brushed their faces, exceptionally refreshing.

"Tian Xi, your cultivation speed is truly remarkable. You're much faster than I was back then." Xiao Changfeng glanced sideways at Xu Tianxi, a gratified smile appearing on his face.

Three months ago, Xu Tianxi had broken through to Rank 30, his foundation solid and profound. They had originally intended to hunt a Soul Ring early on, but who would have expected Xu Tianxi to fall into Deep Meditation after exchanging only a few moves with him using the Divine Beast Celestial Phenomenon battle skill? It had truly dealt him quite a blow.

Fortunately, he was not too bad himself. After cultivating in seclusion with painstaking dedication for three months, he had unexpectedly entered Deep Meditation once as well. Although it lasted only a month, it was comparable to the insights gained from several years of arduous cultivation.

The more this happened, the more envious he became. He even felt that his cultivation speed over the past two years had increased considerably under Xu Tianxi's influence. This little martial nephew had given him far too many surprises.

Xu Tianxi waved his hand nonchalantly and smiled at Xiao Changfeng. "This little bit of speed is nothing worth mentioning. There's still a huge problem waiting for me ahead."

"Haha, no matter how troublesome it is, that's a matter for the future. You enter Deep Meditation once every two years or so. That is already an enormous opportunity that other Soul Masters would envy beyond measure."

Xiao Changfeng laughed freely, lowered his eyes to examine the nearby sea surface, and asked with concern.

"Have you decided to hunt a Deep Sea Demonic Whale for your Third Soul Ring? I remember those creatures have a mental attribute as well, but it isn't particularly powerful."

"I've decided. There are no stronger species in these nearshore waters. Since I'm hunting a Soul Ring, why not choose the strongest one?"

Xu Tianxi spread his arms to embrace the sea breeze, answering with an intoxicated expression.

Aside from that freak, Sky Dream Ice Silkworm, among the soul beasts of Douluo Continent, the Deep Sea Demonic Whale King had the highest Years, infinitely close to a million years. It had survived nine Heavenly Tribulations, enough to prove that the racial talent of the Deep Sea Demonic Whale clan was incomparably powerful.

"Fine, then. We've already prepared bait to attract the Deep Sea Demonic Whales. Once we enter the Demonic Whale Sea Area, we can make our move."

Xiao Changfeng took out several small bottles containing soul beast essence blood, clearly confident.

Xu Tianxi glanced at them and said in some surprise, "Senior Martial Uncle, you know my current physical strength. You prepared so much essence blood from Evil Spirit Orcas and Demon Soul Great White Sharks. You aren't going to attract a Ten Thousand Year Demonic Whale, are you? I can't absorb that."

Although he had consumed many supplements, his body was still far from fully developed. Absorbing a Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring would be seeking trouble, much less a Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring from a Deep Sea Demonic Whale.

"Don't worry, I know what I'm doing. Your physical constitution is extraordinarily high. At the very least, I must find you a Demonic Whale over five thousand years old, or I would be failing your talent. Deep Sea Demonic Whales vary in strength as well. You are a Mental Attribute Soul Master, so naturally we must find one with Spiritual Power as strong as possible."

Xiao Changfeng smiled as he put away the small bottles. Then he took a letter tube from his robes and said, "This is a letter our people obtained after encountering a ninety-thousand-year Heavenly Tyrant Bixi at sea a few days ago. That Bixi specifically named you as its recipient."

"A letter for me? That Brother Turtle can actually write?"