Zhou Yi's Scheme

Xuanyuan Sheng gazed at the starry sky, a satisfied smile spreading across his face as he felt the growth of soul power within his body.

Truly, it was the protection of Lexuan and the automatic growth of his soul power that gave him such a profound sense of security.

Now that he was nearing the level of a Soul Emperor, he needed to consider how to manage the Humanity's Luck he required for his next step.

This was, in essence, carving out an entirely new path within a world.

The level of difficulty was no less than matching wits and courage against the Great Luck Heavenly Emperor.

The entire world had been born under the Heavenly Dao; could he really expect someone to bear Humanity's Luck, erode their own Heavenly Dao luck, and then become the world's greatest expert?

The intelligence of the Plane Spirit was still too low. If only all those who possessed Heavenly Dao luck grew stronger, their own luck could feed back into him, just as it did for Xuanyuan Sheng now.

Then, there would be no need for it to be carved up like a cake by others.

Whenever someone grew stronger, their own Humanity's Luck would increase, and Xuanyuan Sheng could then use that Humanity's Luck to cultivate and strengthen the path of humanity.

He had no idea when his path of humanity would finally transform into that state where man could truly conquer heaven.

In the current world, the Heavenly Dao merely managed order and regulations.

Everyone was forced to follow the rule of awakening a martial soul.

It hadn't even developed a cycle of life and death; it looked impressive on the surface, but in reality, it was quite pathetic.

He stretched toward the sky, then chose to lie back on the fallen log behind him, continuing to gaze up at the stars.

Although they were supposed to be keeping watch, looking at it now, there didn't seem to be anything to guard against.

He turned his head to look at Zhang Lexuan, who was currently meditating; Lexuan was capable of sensing any movement in the surroundings.

He vaguely remembered that Lexuan was also cultivating her spiritual power, all for the sake of forming a special spiritual Soul Core when she first condensed one.

Setting aside why Lexuan had such a bold idea, could someone without a talent for spiritual cultivation actually succeed?

Of course, he was referring to the condensation of a Soul Core; spiritual power was something that could be cultivated, but it would never be as effortless as it was for someone naturally gifted in it.

However, with the protection of so much Humanity's Luck, Lexuan could certainly attempt this method of condensing a Soul Core, the origin of which he didn't even know.

After all, there were no spiritual Soul Cores in existence yet.

Suddenly, a small, warm hand slipped into Xuanyuan Sheng's.

He looked back and found that Xiao Xiao had crouched down beside him at some point, wearing a sweet smile.

[Hurry up! Use what I taught you, and don't add your own ideas! Do exactly what I just told you, understand?]

The Love System's anxious voice was outputting at maximum capacity in the depths of Xiao Xiao's mind; it was truly terrified of her.

This little girl could sit at the same table as a genius capable of creating dark cuisine; she could clearly make a normal meal without adding her own little "creative touches," yet she insisted on adding fruit to her fried rice. If that could actually taste good, she would be a true genius.

Xiao Xiao still felt a bit unconvinced.

She had clearly done a great job, that stupid system.

But she still followed the method the system had just dictated.

With her other hand, she lifted their joined hands, allowing both of them to see the brilliant river of stars through the gaps in their fingers.

The two of them just kept staring at the starry sky like that.

The campfire beside them continued to send warmth their way, and occasionally, a few wisps of wind tickled their cheeks.

A sense of sour fatigue and drowsiness washed over Xiao Xiao once again.

Gradually, her eyes closed.

And Xuanyuan Sheng's other hand remained half-suspended, serving as her support.

Just like that, Xiao Xiao fell asleep leaning against his arm.

Xuanyuan Sheng looked at her with amusement; he had thought the little thing was planning to say some cheesy romantic line, but it turned out she was just purely exhausted and looking for a pillow.

It made sense; they were on the second half of the night watch.

Having stayed up for so long, no one could resist the drowsiness without meditating.

And beside them, Zhang Lexuan.

[Spiritual Power +1]

[...]

[Spiritual Power +1]

The cultivation progress, which had been continuously adding points, became intermittent.

Because at this moment, her own heart and mind were not calm.

Her spiritual sense clearly perceived that the little girl, Xiao Xiao, had fallen asleep leaning against the arm next to Xuanyuan Sheng's chest.

Zhang Lexuan slowly opened her eyes.

The two of them by the campfire formed a warm and cozy picture.

She gazed at them, her eyes deep and unreadable, lost in thought.

Not far away.

In a tent devoid of firelight.

"Yi, does taking on a student really have to be this much trouble? Why does it feel even more exhausting than conducting Soul Tool research?" Fan Yu called out to Zhou Yi, who was pacing back and forth outside the tent.

Even though she was burning with anxiety, Zhou Yi still responded to Fan Yu.

"No, it's not as simple as you think, Fan Yu."

What she wanted was to grasp both the system rewards and a promising seedling like Xuanyuan Sheng firmly in her hands.

She could choose not to complete the system tasks, or even ignore them entirely.

But there were many things Zhou Yi craved.

She was unwilling to accept not getting what she wanted, which was why she had proactively forgotten the path of retreat.

Her appearance was only temporarily important to her; since Fan Yu didn't care whether she was beautiful or not, she had let that go herself.

But strength was something she had to hold in her own hands.

Wasn't her desire to teach and mold a true little monster a reflection of her inner craving for power?

Who was she? She was a teacher who had truly taught many Inner Courtyard disciples.

Even if the students had a poor attitude toward her, so what? The contributions she had made in sending disciples to the Shrek Inner Courtyard were something no one could erase.

"It is a foregone conclusion that he will enter the Spirit Master Department, and if we want this genius with high spiritual power to enter the Soul Tool Department, we can only resort to extreme measures."

A genius with talent in the spiritual realm was enough to make Fan Yu's Soul Tool Department shine.

Fan Yu also agreed; after all, his Ultimate Soldier Plan required test subjects.

He Caitou lacked the talent, and while his own spiritual power was decent, it was still too risky.

If there really were a monster who could make his ideals a reality, that would naturally be excellent.

Fan Yu still had some doubts: "But the Ultimate Soldier Plan has major issues. Pushing potential to the absolute limit will cause serious problems for a genius."

"If something really goes wrong, then it can only be said that he wasn't genius enough, and he isn't the person we should pin all our hopes on. Wasting time on him would just be a waste," Zhou Yi frowned.

"That's true." Fan Yu somewhat agreed with Zhou Yi's words; could a genius who didn't work hard still be considered a genius?

"Then how do you plan to forge a connection? The cultivation level of Zhang Lexuan, that Senior Sister, should be about the same as mine. We have no way to control the danger."

Fan Yu calculated carefully; for the future of the Soul Tool Department, he had no choice but to resort to this desperate measure.

Zhou Yi rolled her eyes at him: "Have you forgotten your true strength? Once a Soul Tool is brought out, that little girl is no match for you."

The Inner Courtyard Senior Sister relied on brute force to suppress others, but no one could accurately predict the power of a Soul Tool.

He had heard rumors of Zhang Lexuan purchasing materials for making Soul Tools, but how could a layman compare to them?