To Tianlin City

"I have a lead. I heard that among the new students in Eastsea City, there's a boy with the Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul."

"With the Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul, he managed to enter an intermediate Soul Master Academy alongside the other students, without repeating a year or enrolling early. That says all you need to know about his character and hard work."

Zhuo Shi nodded at that. Behind the door, Yun Ze listened quietly, gaining a better understanding of the situation.

Had Tang Wulin's name already come to Wu Zhangkong's attention at this point? If that was what Wu Zhangkong thought, then his unexplained care for Tang Wulin and his willingness to stand up for him in the original story made perfect sense.

From this perspective, Wu Zhangkong's analysis seemed quite reasonable.

Yun Ze went into Yun Ming's room and knocked.

Ya Li opened the door. The instant she saw Yun Ze, delight shone in her eyes.

"Ze'er, you're back?!"

There was unmistakable joy in Ya Li's voice. She was clearly thrilled to see Yun Ze home.

Her aura was also much stronger than when Yun Ze had last seen her. She had evidently made a breakthrough during her recent retreat.

Come to think of it, ever since Yun Ze was born, Ya Li had gone into seclusion and made progress more and more often, as if the heavens were responding to her efforts.

It almost seemed as though Yun Ze had some extraordinary influence on Ya Li, in ways neither of them could understand.

"Mom, where's Dad?"

Yun Ze leaned against Ya Li for a moment, putting on a coquettish act. After rubbing against her, he looked up and asked.

Ya Li gave him a look, then pinched his cheek in mock annoyance.

"You little ingrate. You've only just come home, and you're already looking for your father."

"He's helping Na'er practice with her spear. Go find him."

Yun Ze smiled at Ya Li and gently shook her hand to reassure her, then hurried toward the backyard.

In the courtyard, Yun Ming was sternly correcting Na'er's grip on her spear and teaching her combat techniques for spear-type Martial Souls.

Yun Ze didn't interrupt them. He simply leaned against a tree and watched.

Na'er was practicing with great concentration, her eyes fixed on Yun Ming's movements.

Yun Ze watched quietly from the side until Yun Ming turned around and looked his way.

A hint of relief showed in Yun Ming's eyes as he came over and asked, "You're back so soon. Did something happen?"

Yun Ze shook his head, then told Yun Ming about the Dark Spirit Ascension Platform.

Yun Ming furrowed his brow, then struck a tree in the courtyard with his palm. Its branches and leaves shook.

"Those Evil Soul Masters have gotten out of hand! The problem has spread this far already!"

Yun Ze remained calm. He caught a leaf that was about to land on his head, then said to Yun Ming, "There's no stopping this. Some people want to be bad, and no amount of reasoning will change their minds."

"Others are forced into it because of their Martial Souls. You can talk to them about kindness and goodness all you want, but they won't listen."

"What I'm more concerned about is whether I can make use of the Dark Spirit Ascension Platform."

Yun Ming thought it over, then studied Yun Ze.

"In theory, yes. It's still an Ascension Platform, after all. They've just infused it with dark energy and set aside a portion of the platform."

"But your Martial Soul is completely different from those of the Evil Soul Masters. And those two guns are far too recognizable. If you go to the Dark Spirit Ascension Platform, you'll be exposed immediately."

Yun Ze considered this before asking, "If I don't use my Martial Soul, would that greatly reduce the chance of being exposed?"

Yun Ming narrowed his eyes.

"If you don't use your Martial Soul, and you use a few methods to cover yourself in the death energy and demonic aura of an Evil Soul Master, you might be able to fool them for a little while."

"But going through an entire Ascension Platform without using your Martial Soul would be far too difficult for you. If you'd already reached the fifth ring and had Battle Armor, there might be a chance."

"At your current level, even if you aren't discovered, you'd probably be knocked out in the first round."

Yun Ze looked at Yun Ming. "I'll think it over some more. I feel like everything else is manageable as long as I'm not discovered. Even if I'm eliminated in the first round, I can still kill some Soul Spirits and increase their age."

"At the very least, I can help the academy gather information on this Holy Spirit Cult stronghold."

Yun Ming nodded, then said, "If you want to go, then give it your best shot. I'll arrange for people from the academy to wait nearby. Once you release your Soul Power, they'll rush in immediately."

Yun Ze's mouth twitched. At his level, if releasing his Soul Power would be enough for the others to spot him and rush in, then they must be less than a thousand steps away.

They might even be within sight. Yun Ming was certainly taking good care of him.

Of course, by the time they were halfway there, Yun Ze no longer thought so.

Outside Shrek City, Yun Ze brought out his Soul Guidance Mecha.

As the mecha flew onward, Yun Ze suddenly felt the controls handle differently.

The machine was extremely sensitive to changes in weight. He'd felt something similar before, when Wu Zhangkong had ridden with him.

Yun Ze whipped around and saw a petite silver-haired figure sitting in the rear seat. Somehow, she had slipped aboard without him noticing.

Her big eyes blinked as she watched how he operated the mecha.

After a brief moment of surprise, Yun Ze pressed the button for the mecha's autopilot. Once he'd set it to cruise mode, he turned to face the silver-haired figure.

"Na'er? What are you doing here?"

Na'er blinked, then smiled. "Senior Brother Yun Ze, aren't you trying to disguise yourself with the dark aura of an Evil Soul Master? Take me with you. I can help."

Then Na'er took out a silver-white mask and handed it to Yun Ze.

"Once you put on this mask, a trace of evil energy will seep into your Soul Power. To other people, you'll look like a Soul Master carrying a gun with dark attributes."

"As long as you don't reveal what your Soul Spirit looks like, no one will notice anything unusual about you."

Yun Ze raised an eyebrow, then pinched the mask between his fingers and looked at Na'er.

"You followed me just to give me this?"

Na'er shook her head and replied, "I want to go and see it too. I have a feeling that going there will be good for me."

Yun Ze narrowed his eyes, unconvinced by Na'er's explanation, but still silently turned away...