Yue Er's soul!
But all that was still too far away. After Nan Liujing collected his reward, he immediately told Leng Yaozhu about Xu Cang.
Leng Yaozhu smiled disdainfully and merely told him to put his mind at ease.
After bidding his teacher farewell, Nan Liujing hurried to the main door of the Heavenly Spirit Tower.
"Let's go." Nan Liujing spoke to Ye Xinglan, who was sitting on the sofa.
The two walked side by side, passing through the crowds moving back and forth through the lobby.
As the sun sank in the west, it gilded Shrek City's outline with a flowing golden edge. Traffic gradually began to pile up along the bustling streets.
After getting into a ride-hailing car, the two headed straight for Yu Hao Grilled Fish Shop, the place with soul.
By the time they arrived, the shop was already packed inside and out. The rich fragrance of grilled fish drifted down the old alleyways, tempting every passerby.
As this was their first real time alone together, Ye Xinglan's face held far more smiles than usual.
But when she thought of her future rival, who had developed much more impressively than she had, she suddenly lost her appetite.
"Nan Liujing, what kind of girl do you like?" Ye Xinglan absentmindedly pinched her straw and gently stirred the bright red watermelon juice inside.
Why were you asking me this too? Nan Liujing glanced at her and countered, "Then what kind of guy do you like?"
"Your kind."
Ye Xinglan actually answered, as fast, accurate, and ruthless as when she used her sword.
But as soon as those words left her mouth, both Nan Liujing and Ye Xinglan froze, as if struck by electricity.
With Nan Liujing's sharp eyes, it was not hard for him to see a crimson flush rapidly spread across Ye Xinglan's snow-white cheeks.
Apparently realizing she had let something slip, Ye Xinglan swiftly entered battle mode and frantically devoured fish, deaf to everything beyond the table.
Nan Liujing watched her for a while before finally saying, "You've practically sucked all the bones off that fish. Let's order a few more. We can afford it."
Ye Xinglan's pretty face was so red it seemed ready to drip blood. She could only lower her head and mumble, "Mm."
Even after they paid the bill, she still had not gotten the answer she wanted from Nan Liujing.
The moment they stepped out of the lively grilled fish shop, a cool evening breeze blew toward them.
The fresh air quickly relaxed them.
"There's a park nearby. Want to take a walk?" Since the words had already been spoken and could not be taken back, Ye Xinglan instead felt relieved. She smiled and asked Nan Liujing.
"Then let's go." Nan Liujing quickened his pace.
"Wait for me." Ye Xinglan hurried after him on her long legs.
While they walked, Nan Liujing casually bought two ice creams.
Whenever they passed pavement tiles patterned with squares, Ye Xinglan would try hopping across them.
"When did you learn hopscotch?" Nan Liujing curiously asked as he watched the girl beneath the hazy streetlights, her golden long hair hanging like tassels.
After successfully finishing a round, Ye Xinglan smiled. "I learned it online. It's my first time trying it. So, isn't my talent amazing?"
"Seriously amazing!" Nan Liujing nearly gave her a thumbs-up.
Ye Xinglan proudly lifted her snow-white chin, then noticed Nan Liujing staring intently at her legs.
"What are you looking at?" Her face reddened. The internet was so advanced these days that she knew some people had a special fondness for stockings. As it happened, she was wearing white pantyhose today.
You thick-browed, big-eyed Nan Liujing, so this was your taste.
"Didn't you notice the tiles aren't fitted tightly together when you were hopping? Friendly reminder, it rained last night." Nan Liujing glanced at her ankle, which had been stained with muddy water.
"What?" Ye Xinglan jolted and lowered her head to look, instantly seeing black.
My white stockings!
They turned into black stockings!
Amid their playful bickering, the two soon arrived at a rather small park.
Singing rose nearby as a group of women in their fifties and sixties, dressed in matching outfits, performed a synchronized dance.
A group of children played on skateboards in the open space. There were also plenty of people strolling along the park's wooded paths, all trying to walk off their meals.
The downside of the small park was that the two finished exploring it quickly. In the end, they simply found a bench and sat down. But what puzzled Ye Xinglan was that there were clearly many residents nearby, and plenty of passersby had been walking around earlier. Why had everyone suddenly disappeared now?
Not only that, but the surrounding light seemed to have taken on a faint silver tint. Yet the moon was hidden behind clouds and fog, with no moonlight leaking through at all.
"I'm so tired." As she watched, Ye Xinglan suddenly leaned against Nan Liujing's shoulder, her eyes closed as though she had fallen asleep.
Nan Liujing's gaze sharpened. Directly in front of the bench, water in a pool began to pile upward, turning into a bright silver color as it vaguely gathered into a blurry human figure.
The figure gradually became clearer, stepping out of the pool and slowly taking the form of an old woman.
She stood not far away from Nan Liujing. Strands of silver light rose from behind her head, eventually transforming into a silver moon. The surrounding vegetation was also dyed with a faint glow.
"In this world, there are two kinds of Evil Soul Masters. One is born that way, while the other gradually reveals itself as life progresses."
The old woman spoke at once, her voice entirely devoid of emotion.
Her gaze looked down imperiously upon Nan Liujing.
"The former must be eliminated with thunderous methods. The latter must have every possibility of becoming an Evil Soul Master extinguished, restoring peace to the world."
"You should be grateful that I corrected you before you could bring about a great disaster."
Nan Liujing shifted slightly to make Ye Xinglan more comfortable against him, then chuckled.
"You keep calling me an Evil Soul Master. What, can Shrek Academy casually slander someone as an Evil Soul Master and then attack them? What kind of logic is that?"
"The words Shrek Academy are logic enough!"
With her identity exposed in a single sentence, Cai Yuer, who had been putting on a solo performance, froze for a moment. Then the veins on her forehead bulged. She snorted coldly, and the bright moon behind her head released countless threadlike beams of light that all shot toward Nan Liujing.
I had intended to leave you some room for the future, but now, as long as there is even a trace of possibility that you may stray down the wrong path, I must cut it off!
Bang!
When the light threads were still a full two meters away from Nan Liujing, they seemed to strike an impenetrable wall of air and stopped in place.
Cai Yuer's expression changed drastically. To her horror, she discovered that the Soul Power she had released seemed to have sunk into a swamp, making it incredibly difficult to withdraw.
Just as she was stunned, a forceful and resounding strain of Qin Music drifted over. Heaven and earth seemed to flip, like an illusion of flowers reflected in water, sending faint ripples outward.
Under that Qin Music, Cai Yuer discovered in terror that her soul seemed about to be torn from her body.
"Sound Wave Soul Skill!"
Silver light flashed across her forehead as she tried to summon her Battle Armor.
However, at the point where those light threads had struck the air wall, space shattered. Endless darkness surged forth like a flooding torrent. Within Cai Yuer's pupil, which had shrunk to a pinpoint, a heavy, ancient halberd thrust its sharp tip directly against her forehead. A terrifying surge of Soul Power forcibly drove her Battle Armor back.
"I'd like to see how Yun Ming and Shrek Academy plan to ransom you back this time."
A cold, murderous voice rang out. To Nan Liujing's equal surprise, a tall and powerfully built figure stepped out of the darkness, one hand fiercely gripping Cai Yuer's head.
A Level 96 Super Douluo and Three-word Battle Armor Master was seized as firmly as a fish awaiting slaughter, unable to cause even the slightest ripple.
"Hmph." Qiangu Qingfeng snorted. His palm turned pitch-black and actually sank directly into Cai Yuer's body. Then he forcibly pulled out a phantom-like silhouette.
It was Cai Yuer's soul!
With her soul separated from her body, Cai Yuer truly panicked and let out a shrill scream.
"Qiangu Qingfeng, do you want to start a war between Shrek Academy and the Spirit Pagoda?"
"War?" Another cold snort rang out. Beside Nan Liujing, a beautiful middle-aged woman appeared, her features exquisite and her aura as cold as black ice. She walked to Qiangu Qingfeng's side and stared directly at Cai Yuer.
"Then I'd like to see whether Shrek Academy would dare go to war with the Spirit Pagoda over you!"
As soon as she finished speaking, the beautiful woman waved her left hand. Without a qin, music unexpectedly rang out, shooting straight into the sky before exploding across the vast heavens.
The surging sound waves swept outward in all directions, tearing apart clouds and fog and twisting space. It was as though an aurora had descended, only stopping outside Shrek Academy.
Before the astonished gazes of countless people in Shrek Academy, two bolts of light shot out of the Inner Court like lightning.
Before you continue