Yun Ming Takes an Apprentice

"Ah, yes, yes, of course." Tang Ziran visibly sighed in relief when he saw the outfit.

This person was clearly wearing a Shrek Academy uniform, since this kind of clothing had appeared in videos before.

Yun Ming walked in and looked at the three children eating at the table.

"May I ask about your Martial Souls?" Yun Ming asked the two boys. He could sense that the girl had no Martial Soul or Soul Power fluctuations.

Tang Ziran opened his mouth behind them and silently gestured, "Tell the truth. He's the Shrek Academy Dean."

However, he did not make a sound.

Tang Wulin smiled. "My name is Tang Wulin. My Martial Souls are Blue Silver Grass and the Clear Sky Hammer."

Yun Ming turned his gaze toward Yun Mu.

Yun Mu pondered for a moment. He needed protection—a sufficiently powerful shield. Spirit Pagoda was definitely not an option he would choose, and the Tang Sect revolved around Tang San, so Shrek Academy was his best choice.

Although Shrek Academy was still within Tang San's sphere of influence, it was not as absolute as the Tang Sect.

Moreover, Yun Ming and Ya Li were both trustworthy people. Although the book would certainly differ from reality, their fundamental character should not have changed too much.

Besides, Yun Ming had already created his own Godhood and had no children, making him the best choice.

At the very least, he would not harm Yun Mu for the sake of whether his own child could control Sea God Pavilion. And since he had created his own Godhood, it meant he did not place his hopes on the existence of the God Realm.

Still, since Yun Ming had come knocking, he had probably noticed something.

Yun Mu said, "Yun Mu. Sword of Life and Tree of Destruction."

The moment those two attributes were mentioned, Yun Ming thought of the Devil Islands.

Legend had it that it was a place formed after the God of Life and God of Destruction had fallen. If he was not mistaken, the divinity in this child's body should be related to that.

Yun Ming asked, "My name is Yun Ming. My Martial Soul is the Sky Pillar Spear. I am a rank 99 Quasi-God. Are you willing to take me as your master?"

When that rank was revealed, Yun Mu clearly felt his parents and Tang Wulin beside him suck in sharp breaths.

Yun Mu nodded. "I am willing, but I don't want to be too far away from my parents."

Yun Ming looked at Yun Mu and said kindly, "That's fine. You can choose to stay here, and I'll come to you. When I have time, I'll also take you to visit Shrek Academy. Your parents can come along too. But I have one request: when you turn twelve, I hope to see you at Shrek Academy."

Yun Ming smiled and patted Yun Mu's head. Then his gaze slowly shifted to Tang Wulin beside him. It was not for any other reason; Tang Wulin's Martial Soul combination had caught his attention.

How many years had it been since Blue Silver Grass and the Clear Sky Hammer had appeared together?

"Your name is Tang Wulin, right? When you're a little older, you can choose to join the Tang Sect. They will definitely give you the best training." Yun Ming smiled.

As for the little girl, he could not see anything special about her, so he offered no comment.

Before leaving, he gave Yun Mu an Inner Court Disciple emblem from Shrek Academy, along with a communication device used for internal contact within Shrek Academy. Then he left.

Yun Mu curiously turned the emblem over in his hands. He had to admit, it looked better than it had in the comic.

"Congratulations, little Yun Mu." Tang Ziran smiled. "You've been admitted to Shrek Academy early."

Yun Mu scratched his head, grinning happily.

Although he did not like Shrek Academy all that much, he had to admit that getting into Shrek Academy on the Douluo Continent was equivalent to getting into Qingbei in his former world.

It was an immensely proud achievement.

What was more, he had essentially been admitted in advance.

A week passed quickly. Tang Wulin and Yun Mu cultivated for an entire week, but their ranks did not increase. Still, both could feel the Soul Power within them steadily growing.

Yun Mu could actually have broken through another rank, but he did not choose to advance directly. Instead, he continually compressed his Soul Power.

This increased the density of his Soul Power.

Yun Mu thought that since he was already rank 26, far surpassing Soul Masters his age, he might as well begin steadily increasing the density of his Soul Power now.

Even if he only reached rank 30 three years later, he would still crush everyone else.

Over the weekend, Yun Mu and Tang Wulin went to Mang Tian's workshop.

The Middle-aged Man who had appeared last time smiled when he saw them and led Tang Wulin and Yun Mu inside.

"Hello, Uncle Mang Tian!" Yun Mu and Tang Wulin said in unison as they bowed to Mang Tian.

"All right, all right. You two can head back first. Come pick them up in two hours."

Mang Tian smiled. "At first, when your father said he wanted me to guide you two, I refused. But after seeing your Clear Sky Hammer, I decisively chose to take you in. Still, you'll have to endure some hardship."

That latter part had actually been directed at Tang Wulin. Their protagonist, Yun Mu, was merely included as an extra at this point.

Yun Mu remembered that when he had read Legend of the Dragon King, it mentioned that every forging session was like destroying metal before granting it new life.

He wanted to see whether, relying solely on his Martial Soul attributes, he could simplify the difficult process of forging.

Mang Tian brought the two of them into a room with two workbenches.

Those two workbenches had been specially made for them over the past two days. Beside each was a round metal block, with a Soul Guide Screen below it.

Yun Mu picked up the hammer beside him and was surprised to find that it was not very heavy. Tang Wulin also lightly picked up his hammer, but Mang Tian told Tang Wulin to try using the Clear Sky Hammer instead.

Tang Wulin obediently nodded. Meanwhile, Mang Tian smiled at Yun Mu. "I know your Martial Soul is an Auxiliary-type Martial Soul, so I don't expect you to forge much. Just do your best."

"Uncle Mang Tian, I also want to try it like Wulin. If my Arm Strength is sufficient, then even if I swing a forging hammer, can't I still attack like an Attack-type Soul Master?" Yun Mu asked.

"You mean you plan to support others while swinging a hammer at people?" Mang Tian froze. What was going through this child's head?

"Is that not allowed?" Yun Mu asked with a smile.

Mang Tian nodded. "Of course it is. But don't you plan to become an Auxiliary-type Soul Master?"

Yun Mu shook his head. He was not willing to become an Auxiliary-type Soul Master. An Auxiliary-type Soul Master who did not want to attack was no good Soul Master.

That was what he said himself. After finally obtaining such a magical Martial Soul, who would be content to be a Soul Master who could only stand at the back and support others?

Besides, with a Martial Soul as bizarre as his, who would dare let him provide support?

Yun Mu sighed softly. Why couldn't it have been the Sword of Destruction and Tree of Life instead?

In fact, Yun Mu had a slight suspicion that the attributes of his Martial Soul had been arranged this way for balance.

Life was for defense, the sword for offense; destruction was for breaking, the tree for protection.

Offense and defense complemented each other, breaking and protection depended on each other. Between hardness and softness lay the creative balance of all things generating and restraining one another.