"You certainly had some ideas, but it was too soon for you to be thinking about that."
Yun Ze didn't try to pull away from Yun Ming. He simply looked at him and said,
"Father, I'm already a Soul Elder. I'm qualified to travel around ordinary cities now. Couldn't you let me go out and take on some missions?"
Yun Ming looked at Yun Ze and said,
"And then I'd have to assign a senior member to keep an eye on you everywhere you went, while worrying about you every now and then, right?"
Yun Ze clicked his tongue and said,
"But Father, you know what my Soul Spirit is like. The best way for me to cultivate right now is to kill the criminals who deserve it."
"Besides, if you want me to shoulder Shrek's future, I can't be some useless shut-in who never leaves the house. I have to go out and broaden my horizons, don't I?"
Yun Ming waved his hand. A surge of Soul Power pushed Yun Ze out of the room, and then he said,
"Stop pestering me. For this examination, go with Yue Zhengyu and Yuanen Yehui. I'll see how you perform before I decide."
Yun Ze: "..."
The door to Yun Ming's office had already closed. As someone who had been coming and going from there since childhood, Yun Ze knew just how incredible its soundproofing was, so he didn't bother saying anything else.
At least it was progress. The old man had finally relented, giving him the chance to go out and get things done.
After Yun Ze returned to his room, the First Under Heaven remained in his office, gazing at the night sky. The tea in his hand had been replaced by a glass of wine.
As he savored the wine, he considered Yun Ze's suggestion.
Of course, he knew how special the Three-Eyed Golden Lion's inherited Soul Spirit was. With its Power of Fate, the fastest way for it to grow was through combat, plundering fortune as it grew stronger.
The main reason Yun Ming had given Yun Ze this Soul Spirit was to provide his hard-won son with an extra safeguard of fortune.
He simply hadn't expected his son to grow so quickly after receiving this Soul Spirit of fortune.
In just two short years, Yun Ze had reached level thirty-five. At his current rate of cultivation, he was already nearing level forty.
His spiritual power had also reached the middle-to-lower range of the Spirit Sea Realm.
Yun Ming was torn. Should he let Yun Ze go out and gain experience while he himself was still in his prime, so that he could protect him? Or should he keep him safely at the academy until his cultivation reached a sufficiently high level before letting him leave?
After three glasses of wine, Yun Ming finally chose the former. First, beneath him—the strongest person on the continent—there were several others whose strength came very close to his own.
If he waited until his strength began to wane before sending Yun Ze out, one of those people who rivaled him might have aged better than he had.
Then he might not be able to protect the boy.
The second reason was that Yun Ming had realized the scenery one saw changed with one's cultivation.
What one saw at high cultivation was entirely different from what one saw at low cultivation. High- and low-level Soul Masters could practically be said to live in two different worlds.
While Yun Ming made his decision, Yun Ze wasn't idle either. He took out the special nutritional meals assigned to him by Shrek Academy.
As Yun Ming's son, Yun Ze received a small portion of the special food given to the senior members, though his portions were far smaller than theirs.
After breaking through to Soul Elder, Yun Ze had stopped eating it, saving it for a push like this.
After eating several of the black steamed buns he'd stored away, Yun Ze sat cross-legged on the bed and began cultivating.
Boundless battle energy swirled around him, while a hint of purple gradually emerged behind him.
Only when Yun Ze opened his eyes did the special purple aura behind him finally vanish.
Feeling the oppressive atmosphere around him, which made it difficult to breathe, Yun Ze couldn't help wondering,
"Was my cultivation really that intense this time? Did I drain all the heaven and earth energy in the area?"
Still, he had gained something that night. Yun Ze's cultivation had reached the peak of level thirty-six.
His mind also seemed a little sharper than before, though without specialized equipment to measure it, he couldn't give an exact figure. There had probably been some improvement.
Yun Ze looked at the sun just rising on the horizon, straightened his collar, and murmured,
"In that case, let's get started."
"Just do it—let's go!"
"So this is what fighting for freedom feels like!"
After giving himself three strange little pep talks about the examination requirements, Yun Ze left his room.
The Outer Court was much livelier during the day than at night. Today was the examination, and as Yun Ze looked at the crowd before him, he stepped forward.
Yun Ming might not have gotten much rest the night before, since he had already made all the necessary arrangements. No one questioned Yun Ze's identity, and the examiner silently placed him in a group with Yue Zhengyu and Yuanen Yehui.
The moment they saw Yun Ze, the two owners of Angel Martial Souls, who had been attacking each other with their glares, both turned to look at him.
Yun Ze smiled and said,
"Sorry, you two. I'm adding a little trouble to your day by joining your examination group."
Yuanen Yehui looked at Yun Ze in confusion. Then she stepped forward and asked quietly in his ear,
"What do you mean? Are they short on people this year?"
Yun Ze smiled and said,
"You must be joking. Shrek Academy could always find enough people for this. It's not like it was twenty thousand years ago."
"I'm a special student from the Inner Court. Because of certain circumstances, I'm basically no different from someone trapped there."
"This examination is my ticket to leaving. If I do well, I'll be able to go out. Otherwise, I'll have to keep squatting around in there."
Yue Zhengyu and Yuanen Yehui exchanged a glance. Though they still couldn't stand each other and would have loved to kill one another on the spot, they both saw a trace of wry amusement in the other's eyes.
They now understood what Yun Ze had meant by adding trouble to their day.
Since this examination determined whether Yun Ze could leave, there was no need to ask: their test would certainly be much harder than an ordinary one.
Yun Ze smiled faintly at their sour expressions, smoothed the fringe on his forehead, and said,
"Getting to share this experience with me isn't a bad deal for you. Ordinarily, it would've been quite difficult for you to meet me."
Yue Zhengyu protested,
"I know you're a special student from the Inner Court, but the Southern Legion isn't to be trifled with either."
Yun Ze smiled, then tapped his chest with a finger and said,
"Let me introduce myself properly. My name is Yun Ze. Yun, as in white clouds."
"And here's a little inside information for you: the current Sea God Pavilion Master of Shrek also has the surname Yun..."
Before you continue