Ye Xinglan: This Fatty Is So Annoying. Nan Liujing, Kiss Me So He Can See!

On a thick tree branch stood two figures, their auras restrained to the utmost.

The young man on the left was powerfully built, with resolute features, and looked no older than thirty. The person on the right was merely a teenage boy. He had handsome, refined features and wore a black shirt. He stood half a head taller than children his age, with level shoulders and a straight back. Every movement he made carried a crisp, capable air.

Before their eyes, a one-sided battle was unfolding.

Two Soul Ancestor-level Soul Masters were joining forces against a Blood Red Baboon. Their cultivation was clearly sufficient, but their offensive power was lacking. They had been suppressed by the Blood Red Baboon from start to finish and likely would not hold out much longer.

"This Blood Red Baboon should be close to eight thousand years old. Is that enough to raise your soul ring age?"

Zhang Chen turned to the boy beside him, his tone carrying a trace of respect. One had to know that he was a Two-word Battle Armor Master and a sixty-ninth-rank Soul Emperor. In some East Sea Alliances, that was enough to place him in a high-ranking position.

The boy gave a light laugh and jumped directly from the branch. "Brother Zhang, don't make a move yet. Let me test it out first."

He landed without a sound and walked steadily toward the battlefield. His right hand reached to one side, and a branch-shaped arc of electricity leaped from his fingertips, instantly transforming into a dark azure long staff brimming with fierce power.

It was covered in dense, fine scales. As its owner walked, it seemed to breathe. Invisibly, lightning elements continuously gathered wherever the boy passed, like a bomb on the verge of detonation.

At that moment, shockwaves constantly swept through the battlefield. The surrounding trees had suffered devastating damage, and as far as the eye could see, countless trunks had snapped.

The two Soul Ancestor Soul Masters were being miserably toyed with by the Blood Red Baboon.

Known among soul beasts for their cruelty and their love of tormenting prey, Blood Red Baboons were as large as bear-type soul beasts. Their dark fur was hard as iron, yet their faces were bloodlessly pale. Paired with their blood-red eyes, they looked as though they had crawled out of a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood.

A fierce ripple spread through the air. The Blood Red Baboon's nose twitched, and before the horrified eyes of the two Soul Ancestors, its fist shot out like a gale, reeking with blood.

The terrifying force instantly blasted their bodies apart. They turned into streaks of light and vanished from the Spirit Ascension Platform world.

After doing that, the Blood Red Baboon shifted its gaze and fixed it on another human less than forty meters away.

Primate soul beasts were generally more intelligent than other types. Noticing the long staff in the boy's hand, a trace of wariness flashed through the Blood Red Baboon's savage eyes.

Lightning, whether in the human world or the soul beast world, represented destruction.

Buzz—

The air gave a soft hum. Three purple soul rings slowly rose beneath Nan Liujing's feet. Looking closely, their color was exceptionally deep, even tinged with a faint shade of black.

Clang!

When the lightning elements absorbed by the Coiled Dragon Staff reached their limit, Nan Liujing's third soul ring abruptly lit up with a deep, eerie glow. An impassioned dragon roar echoed around him, while nearly translucent lightning aura coiled around the surface of his body.

Whoosh!

A dangerous gust swept past, seemingly accompanied by crackling currents. The Blood Red Baboon's pupils suddenly contracted.

The human who had been standing still flashed like lightning. With every step, he advanced several meters, leaving behind afterimages that had yet to dissipate.

"Roar."

The Blood Red Baboon immediately became alert. It slammed both arms against its chest and charged forward in a single stride. Its right elbow bent slightly backward before snapping out like a spring, the blow carrying immense force, as if it could shatter a ten-thousand-jin boulder.

Yet when the fist landed, it struck only a lightning afterimage. All the force behind the Blood Red Baboon's blow crashed into it. The afterimage shattered into spreading Lightning Ripples, instantly tearing apart the nearby grass and leaves.

A furious thunderclap suddenly rang out from above. The Blood Red Baboon hurriedly looked up.

The vanished human was gripping his long staff with both hands. His black shirt fluttered without wind, and behind him, it seemed as if a pair of dragon eyes overlooked everything. The sheer sharpness of his aura caused its blood and Soul Power to stiffen.

There was no time to retaliate, so it could only take the attack head-on. Raising both arms above its head, the Blood Red Baboon relied on its iron-hard fur and muscles. It had more than enough confidence to fear no power-type attack.

With a boom, Nan Liujing gripped the Coiled Dragon Staff and expressionlessly brought it down upon the Blood Red Baboon's arms.

Terrifying force spread outward alongside Thunder Power. Every tree within dozens of meters was scorched black by the electrical impact, while countless leaves shattered.

The Blood Red Baboon's feet sank into the ground on the spot. The nearby grassland burst apart, exposing deep trenches.

Dark blue currents dyed every strand of its fur a profound shade. The Soul Power defense covering its body was gradually torn open, after which the electricity followed the scent of blood and burrowed deep into its flesh. The sharp pain felt as though it would grind flesh and bone to pieces, constantly wearing down its will.

Feeling the abnormalities in its body, the Blood Red Baboon let out a low, pained roar. Its already blood-red eyes filled with a cold, dark crimson hue.

Just as it activated its bloodthirsty soul skill, the electric light around Nan Liujing peeled away, splitting into two clones constructed from lightning elements. One leaped left and the other right like bolts of lightning, each wielding a long staff as they struck down simultaneously, like thunder descending from the heavens.

The Blood Red Baboon only saw a flash before heavy blows struck both sides of its head the next moment. A cracking sound came from its skull, and the struck areas visibly caved in.

This time, it could not even scream. Its entire consciousness grew hazy.

In midair, Nan Liujing withdrew the Coiled Dragon Staff and stepped off the Blood Red Baboon's arm, flipping backward. Dragon scales and a fierce, tyrannical intent intertwined around the staff. Like lightning, the Coiled Dragon Staff pierced the air and savagely jabbed into the center of its brow.

In the distance, Zhang Chen wore a stunned expression as he watched the tip of the Coiled Dragon Staff pierce the Blood Red Baboon's brow like a spear. A deep dragon roar then erupted, guiding the Thunder Power that had entered the Blood Red Baboon's body earlier to explode on the spot.

With a boom, the Blood Red Baboon's head burst like fireworks, spraying a huge amount of blood. Its massive body staggered backward repeatedly before crashing to the ground.

After landing, Nan Liujing planted the Coiled Dragon Staff into the earth, folded his arms across his chest, and calmly watched the Blood Red Baboon.

The two lightning clones in the sky also immediately turned into streams of light and returned to his body.

"Roar!"

A miserable shriek tore through the deep forest's silence, startling countless soul beasts into fleeing. The Blood Red Baboon rolled continuously on the ground. Its eyes had been blown apart by nearly viscous, condensed Thunder Power, and it had completely lost its vision.

The worst part was that because it had activated its bloodthirsty soul skill, its vitality had surged dramatically. That only prolonged the time it had to endure the pain.

"You won just like that?"

Zhang Chen hurried over, staring in astonishment at the miserable soul beast on the ground.

Nan Liujing decided to see the good deed through. With a thought, the Coiled Dragon Staff shot into the sky, then descended like lightning and forcibly shattered the Blood Red Baboon's skull.

The Blood Red Baboon, which had still been struggling moments ago, burst apart with a bang and transformed into countless points of spiritual light.

Nan Liujing clenched his hand from afar, gathering the light points and drawing them into his body.

"Brother Zhang, protect me."

Sitting cross-legged, Nan Liujing immediately began guiding the spiritual energy into the Thunderous Nethervine soul spirit.

Suppressing his inner shock, Zhang Chen summoned his Red Demon Halberd and stood guard with full vigilance, preventing any soul beasts from appearing and disturbing him.

Within his spiritual sea, Nan Liujing watched the Thunderous Nethervine receive the spiritual light points. A film of light condensed over its surface, and he sensed the trembling fluctuations produced by the soul spirit's evolution. His thoughts gradually drifted away.

It had been nearly two years since he rejected Yun Ming's offer.

During that time, he had relied on the nourishment of the Golden Ancient Tree to gradually raise his soul ring ages. By today, he was already capable of challenging the ten-thousand-year level.

Other than using his third soul skill, Undying Battle Intent, to strengthen himself during his fight with the Blood Red Baboon, he had mostly relied on Staff Intent and Self-Created Soul Skills based on his soul bone.

The Thunder Dragon Soul was fierce and tyrannical, giving his Staff Intent a similar aura. Every strike was powerful and overwhelming, making it easy for opponents with weak resolve to fall into fear and expose their flaws.

However, the difficulty of entering Staff Intent and advancing toward Staff Soul troubled Nan Liujing somewhat. Each step forward would be harder than he had imagined, and this was something the Plane Imprint could not help with.

Having reached a bottleneck, he could only shift his attention to using his soul bone.

The Thunder Beast Right Leg Soul Bone Yun Ming had given him back then was absolutely perfect for Nan Liujing. It was even better than many non-lightning-element Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bones.

That was because this seventy-thousand-year soul bone retained a great deal of the Thunder Beast's memories concerning its use of lightning.

Taking advantage of that, Nan Liujing had painstakingly developed a set of Self-Created Soul Skills.

Names were difficult to come up with, so he borrowed the name of a battle technique from a certain novel about breaking through the heavens. It would be called Three Thousand Lightning Movements!

With his Thunder Dragon Soul and the special tribulation lightning tempering he had received, Nan Liujing's affinity for lightning elements had already reached an inconceivable level. It was no exaggeration to say that if he advanced one step further, he would become immune to the elemental attacks of ordinary lightning-element Soul Masters.

With those two factors combined, creating an entirely new soul skill had simply been a natural progression.

His high affinity also made the consumption of this Self-Created Soul Skill frighteningly low. That was why the Blood Red Baboon had seen him repeatedly shift like lightning.

However, Three Thousand Lightning Movements was currently only at its first stage, Lightning Flash. It allowed short-distance movement and made his movements elusive, but it was not truly traceless. Trails could still be found.

The second stage, Lightning Instant, had yet to be developed. Long-distance movement, or even teleportation, was far too difficult.

Using Thunder Power to replace spatial power and achieve teleportation was a challenge enough to make countless people balk. He still needed much more research.

As for the two clones resembling Demon Bodies, they were also Self-Created Soul Skills refined from the memories left behind by the Thunder Beast.

When condensing them, he injected a thread of Spiritual Power to maintain the connection. If the surrounding lightning elements were abundant, they would not consume his own Soul Power. Otherwise, they would consume his Soul Power. However, these clones were not particularly durable and could not compare to Demon Bodies.

The soul spirit's evolution did not last long. After advancing to a ten-thousand-year soul spirit, the Thunderous Nethervine's overall color changed from deep purple to purple-black, while the number of vines increased from ten to fourteen.

Sensing the terrifying Thunder Power compressed to an extreme within the soul spirit, Nan Liujing's consciousness immediately returned to reality. Opening his eyes, he saw Zhang Chen, who had been protecting him, look over. "How did it go?"

Nan Liujing smiled faintly. "Everything went smoothly."

The air hummed as three black soul rings rose beneath him. The surrounding air visibly distorted, as though it could not withstand the oppressive aura of the soul rings.

A trace of envy and admiration appeared in Zhang Chen's eyes. Even now, he only had one ten-thousand-year soul ring.

With the soul spirit successfully evolved, there was no need to remain in the intermediate Spirit Ascension Platform. The two immediately pressed their rescue signal devices.

Inside the vast Spirit Ascension Room, both of them woke at the same time.

"Teacher." The moment he awoke, Nan Liujing's gaze locked onto Leng Yaozhu's alluringly beautiful face.

Nearly two years had passed, but time had not diminished her beauty. On the contrary, she remained like a fine jug of wine, intoxicating to behold.

"Vice Tower Master."

Zhang Chen did not dare meet Leng Yaozhu's gaze as Nan Liujing did. After getting up alone, he respectfully bowed.

A gentle smile appeared on Leng Yaozhu's face. "Councillor Qiangu is waiting for you at the task office. Go quickly."

Zhang Chen's breathing hitched. He bowed once more, then left the Spirit Ascension Room in delight.

Taking the jade-like hand his teacher offered, Nan Liujing held it with practiced ease. It felt warm and soft in his grasp.

After leaving the Spirit Ascension Pod, master and disciple departed directly and returned to their residence on the ninety-ninth floor.

"As a Soul Elder with nothing but ten-thousand-year soul rings, how does it feel?"

Once they reached their residence, Leng Yaozhu visibly relaxed. Backlit by the sunlight, she stood before the floor-to-ceiling window, her curvaceous silhouette edged in gold. Her dress could not conceal the ripe, peach-like allure of her figure.

Nan Liujing's breathing quickened for an instant.

But as an expert in shooting games, comparable to a professional player, he quickly calmed down.

"At first, I was probably a little excited. After that, it became rather dull," Nan Liujing answered truthfully.

"I can tell." Leng Yaozhu chuckled. "Come to think of it, you have been at the Heavenly Spirit Tower for quite some time now. Other than cultivating, all you do is cultivate. You have never gone out. I happen to have a task for you, something to ease the fatigue from your long-term cultivation."

Nan Liujing grew interested and sat on the sofa beside his teacher. "Teacher, what task?"

With a flick of her finger, Leng Yaozhu sent a light screen before him. Once it unfolded, it displayed an image file of a young girl.

Nan Liujing's eyes changed the moment he saw it.

It was difficult for that peerlessly beautiful face, forty or fifty percent similar to Na'er's, not to draw his attention.

Gu Yue!

Failing to notice the strange look in Nan Liujing's eyes, Leng Yaozhu introduced her seriously.

"This girl is named Gu Yue. She studies at Eastsea Academy and is a genius recommended by the Eastsea City Spirit Pagoda. Her martial soul is the Elemental Envoy, and she can control seven elements. I am quite interested in her. That means she may become your junior sister."

Nan Liujing stared at the light screen and silently mused, It seems that because Na'er changed, Gu Yue also chose to show herself with her original appearance. I just wonder whether she is plotting to obtain Tang Wulin's Golden Dragon King Bloodline or something else.

After a pause, he asked, "Teacher, do you want me to assess her?"

Leng Yaozhu said softly, "It is not exactly an assessment. I intend to have you join Eastsea Academy. You can also get acquainted with her in advance. Since the two of you will likely spend a great deal of time together at headquarters in the future, it would be good to know each other sooner."

"Besides that, the East Sea Alliance Competition will be held in a few months. In order to attract Soul Masters from all over the continent to join them, they have gone all out and invited Shrek Academy to put on an exhibition match. Since Shrek Academy will be participating, it will definitely attract a great deal of media attention."

"Since you intend to enter Shrek Academy through the proper channels, I thought the East Sea Alliance Competition would be an opportunity. I discussed it with your great-grandfather and great-grandmother, and we will speak with the person in charge of the East Sea Alliance Competition to add a Three-on-three exhibition match."

"If you win, you will head to Shrek Academy as a victor. I will have the media controlled by the Spirit Pagoda promote you. You are going to Shrek to issue a challenge, not to pay homage."

It truly was a good idea, and Nan Liujing was tempted. "Then I'll do as you say. I'll leave for Eastsea City tomorrow."

"Mm." Leng Yaozhu nodded.

Nan Liujing was just about to leave when he suddenly stopped and asked seriously, "Teacher, should I prepare enough breakfast for you before I go?"

By now, the breakfasts master and disciple enjoyed together had long since gone beyond sandwiches.

Leng Yaozhu shook her head. "No need. If you are not there to eat breakfast with me, there is no point in eating it."

Nan Liujing laughed helplessly. "Then I'll be going."

After leaving, Nan Liujing hurried straight to Shrek Academy.

Since Na'er was about to undergo rank assessments for three secondary professions and could not come out for the time being, Nan Liujing planned to message her later when he headed to Eastsea City.

Ye Xinglan was different. She had plenty of time. A year ago, she had officially become a prospective student of the Shrek Inner Court.

Using the pass Na'er had given him, Nan Liujing smoothly entered the campus.

After scanning a code and renting a bicycle, he rode through the various buildings of the inner city.

After riding for around ten minutes, he arrived early at the place where they had agreed to meet.

Looking up, he saw a huge building. It was not very tall, but it occupied a vast area.

The words Weapon Soul Master Simulated Training Ground hung above it.

Hardly anyone was walking nearby, and the building's main doors were closed as well.

After parking the shared bicycle, Nan Liujing checked the time and casually found a shaded spot to wait.

He was about to go to Eastsea Academy and face Tang San directly. With Sister Xia protecting him, he was not afraid. He was merely curious whether the Heavenly Tribulation Bead could still seize the Golden Dragon King Bloodline from Tang Wulin.

If it could, he would delay entering Shrek Academy. Every plan would have to revolve around obtaining the Golden Dragon King Bloodline.

If Tang San resisted, that would be even better. He could take the chance to eliminate the Spiritual Sense energy Tang San had hidden inside Tang Wulin, preventing Tang San from taking a cheap shot at him in the future.

Just as he was thinking, he heard the sound of shared bicycle tires rolling across the ground.

"Ding-dong."

His phone suddenly chimed with a new message.

He picked it up and looked.

Ye Xinglan: I'll be out soon.

He returned the phone to his pocket and looked up again. Nan Liujing froze for a moment when he saw a group of people riding shared bicycles stop before the Mimicry Training Ground.

The person at the front caught his attention.

He had not changed much from the image in Nan Liujing's memories. Chubby and round, he was Xu Lizhi.

The interesting part was that the only female student in the group had a strange glow around her hands. She gestured across Xu Lizhi's face a few times, and Xu Lizhi instantly looked as though someone had beaten him up, with a swollen nose and bruised face.

After that, Xu Lizhi conveniently fell to the ground. It looked as though the group of students had been bullying him.

Suddenly, the Mimicry Training Ground's doors opened automatically, and a graceful figure walked out.

"Tch, you got lucky, brat."

Right in front of Ye Xinglan, the group of students viciously spat at Xu Lizhi, who lay on the ground, before quickly fleeing.

"Ahh..."

Xu Lizhi kept groaning on the ground, curled up as though he had truly been beaten.

Ye Xinglan frowned, shifting her gaze from the fleeing group to Xu Lizhi.

From the shade, Nan Liujing was utterly dumbfounded. You can pull something like that?

He did not hesitate and walked out directly.

"Xinglan." The moment he spoke, he immediately caught both Ye Xinglan's and Xu Lizhi's attention.

Xu Lizhi had been waiting for the goddess to show concern for him. To get those people to help, he had spent several ordinary Blackwater Pills. When he suddenly heard an unfamiliar voice, his expression changed. After secretly glancing over, his breathing hitched even more.

When did he get here?

Then what I just did...

Ye Xinglan's beautiful eyes brightened. Ignoring Xu Lizhi, she walked toward Nan Liujing with a light smile. "Why were you in such a hurry to find me?"

Nan Liujing did not immediately explain his reason. Instead, he pretended to ask, "Has your academy been planning to film a promotional video lately?"

On today's Douluo Continent, it was common for academies to film promotional videos for themselves, in all sorts of styles.

"What promotional video?" Ye Xinglan froze.

Nan Liujing's words instantly stiffened Xu Lizhi's plump body. He coughed several times to draw their attention, then stood up with an awkward smile uglier than crying.

"Could you ask where those people went? I need to report it to the teacher."

Ye Xinglan expressionlessly pointed in a direction.

Xu Lizhi immediately seemed to have his seal lifted, sprinting away at full speed without the slightest sign of injury.

"Nan Liujing." Ye Xinglan suddenly called out.

"What is it?" Nan Liujing was enjoying the show.

Ye Xinglan's voice carried Soul Power and drifted over like the wind. "Kiss my cheek."

Xu Lizhi, who was fleeing, stiffened mid-step and instinctively turned back, only to see Ye Xinglan exposing the side of her face to Nan Liujing.

Looking at that fair, tender cheek, Nan Liujing grew a little greedy.

Under Ye Xinglan's astonished gaze, a hand gripped her chin and turned her face toward him. Then, those azure pupils abruptly contracted.

Xu Lizhi did not move. He stared blankly at the scene before him, as if he could hear something crack inside his heart.

The tall, straight-backed youth held the girl's chin as they faced each other.

Their breaths brushed against each other, making one instinctively lose oneself in them. For the first time, Ye Xinglan realized the Thunder Dragon Soul's domineering nature was not limited to the martial soul itself, but extended to its owner as well.

A moment later, Nan Liujing let her go.

Xu Lizhi stood there like a wooden chicken.

By Sea God Lake.

Ye Xinglan snapped, "I told you to kiss my cheek! So that fatty would know his place and stop bothering me in the future."

Nan Liujing apologetically said, "My fault, I misheard. I thought you wanted me to kiss your lips."

Ye Xinglan's mouth twitched, and she turned away.

"I was wrong." Nan Liujing immediately apologized, though he knew the girl was not actually angry.

Ye Xinglan ignored him. Gazing at the clear lake surface, a trace of cunning flashed through her beautiful eyes.

Senior Sister Mo Jue's method really works. Using that fatty to lure out this idiot's true feelings.

He even dared to kiss me on the lips, yet he still dares to say he has no feelings for me?

Hmph, hmph.

"How about... I let you kiss me on the lips too? Then we'll be even." Nan Liujing cautiously suggested.

Ye Xinglan froze, then turned around and pounded Nan Liujing with her fair little fist. "Kiss your sister!"