A Crime for the Present, a Merit for the Ages

"Excuse me, could I ask you for a favor?" Xu Yanli said, looking a little embarrassed. "Um, I can give you ten Gold Soul Coins. Could you help me clean my dorm room?"

"Of course. Hi, I'm Tang Ling." A dark, skinny-looking boy smiled at Xu Yanli.

Xu Yanli smiled. "Thanks. I'm Xu Yanli."

Without hesitation, Xu Yanli took ten Gold Soul Coins from his Storage Soul Tool and handed them to Tang Ling with a smile.

Meanwhile, at the Sea God Pavilion.

"Yan Shaozhe, he'll be a good kid." Mu En suddenly appeared in the armchair at the head of the table and spoke without warning.

"Elder Mu, this..." Yan Shaozhe took out the diagram and slid it over to Mu En.

"Hmm, that doesn't seem right. His mother should be her, and her Martial Soul was the Sun Moon Star Staff." Mu En fell silent for a moment.

"The Sun Moon Star Staff?" Zhuang Yusen's eyes contracted in an instant. "That was the Star Luo princess who was once its most outstanding. Wasn't she missing?"

"So it was her. In that case, Xu Yanli's identity can be tentatively trusted." Yan Shaozhe fell silent for a moment before continuing, "Then his Martial Soul must have mutated. It may not have anything to do with the Spirit Hall from ten thousand years ago, either."

Xuan Zi was busy gnawing on his chicken leg and paid no attention to the others' conversation.

Xian Lin'er suddenly said, "But wouldn't this risk offending the Star Luo Empire? After all, it was said that the current Star Luo Emperor was involved in what happened to the Eldest Princess back then."

"What's there to be afraid of? It'd be better if this had nothing to do with the Star Luo Empire. A genius like this belongs in Shrek." Xuan Zi grinned.

After the meeting, all one could say was that Mu En and Xuan Zi had argued their case well. Xu Yanli should have come under suspicion, but instead, the situation had turned in his favor.

Xu Yanli was standing outside his room, quietly watching Tang Ling clean it for him.

It didn't take long for the dusty room to be tidied up until it was spotless.

"Xu Yanli, you'll need to buy your own bedsheets and things like that. Would you like me to point you in the right direction?" Tang Ling asked with a smile.

Xu Yanli shook his head and smiled. "No need. I'm planning to wander around Shrek City. Thanks."

After that, Xu Yanli placed two books on the bed he'd chosen in dorm room 108, then set off to have a look around.

Shrek Academy was bustling, packed with people as far as the eye could see.

Xu Yanli arrived at Xiaoyao Pavilion in the outer city.

"What brings you back? Have you finished the enrollment procedures at Shrek Academy?" Kong Deming asked with a smile when he saw him.

"I'm here to pick up some things. I really didn't expect Shrek Academy to provide absolutely nothing..." A helpless look flashed across Xu Yanli's face.

"Shrek Academy really is stingy. By the way, that little disciple you took in has a decent talent for Soul Engineering." Kong Deming set down the Soul Tool in his hand.

Xu Yanli walked over and sat beside Kong Deming. "He has talent, but don't forget about his character, too. If we use him well, he'll be a sharp blade we can drive into the Star Luo Empire."

Kong Deming looked at Xu Yanli, as if he wanted to say something. In the end, he could only sigh and say nothing.

"So you approve of Xu Tianran's unification plan. But how many lives will be laid waste in the process?" Kong Deming said with a sigh. "I thought the influence of your Martial Soul on your personality would make you disagree."

"No. I understand the importance of unification. A crime for the present, a merit for the ages." Xu Yanli's eyes burned with fervor.

Xu Yanli's heart was ablaze. He now possessed extraordinary talent and a noble status.

With such a vast stage before him, he felt that if he didn't fight to do everything he wanted, he would be letting down the gifts he'd been given.

It was the obsession with unification that came with being a transmigrator. Of the four countries, if any resembled the homeland he'd once known, it was the Sun Moon Empire.

Of course, more importantly, the Sun Moon Empire had granted him enough power to let him reshape the empire.

"That's quite a saying: 'A crime for the present, a merit for the ages.' Go ahead and do as you see fit. I'm old now, but as for your brother Xu Tianran, you should still be on your guard. He seems to treat you well at the moment, but emperors are all cut from the same cloth..." Kong Deming said with two sorrowful sighs.

Xu Yanli nodded, returned to his room, and put most of his belongings into his Storage Soul Tool.

The next morning, the people tidying up made a thunderous racket: "There's been a thief in Xiaoyao Pavilion!"

Xu Yanli had no idea any of that was happening. He carried his things back to the dorm and arranged them, then set up a screen around his bed.

By the time he'd finished, evening had already fallen.

Xu Yanli decided to try the food in the cafeteria. Whatever else he went without, he wasn't going to go hungry.

As soon as he stepped out of the dorm, he saw Mu En apparently reclining on a lounge chair, watching every student come and go.

When Mu En saw him, he smiled and nodded. Xu Yanli put on a respectful expression, bowed slightly to him, then headed for the cafeteria.

After turning around, Xu Yanli could still feel Mu En's gaze on him. It seemed as though Mu En was watching him closely.

Xu Yanli clicked his tongue inwardly. If he wasn't mistaken, it was probably because of his Angel Martial Soul.

It seemed that the Angel Martial Soul had remained obscure throughout all these years on the Douluo Continent. It was clearly a super Martial Soul, and might even have become a god-level Martial Soul, yet it had ended up in such a state. Someone must have been suppressing it.

What he hadn't expected was that no one from Shrek Academy had come looking for him. Who had stepped in to stop them?

Xu Yanli couldn't figure it out, so he stopped thinking about it and went straight to the cafeteria to buy something to eat.

With Xu Yanli's current means, there was no way he'd buy anything cheap. Naturally, he chose the most expensive food.

Still, he had to admit that, although Shrek Academy's cafeteria had no stools, the food was packed with energy.

But it still fell short of the food at the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineer Academy. After all, meals there were subsidized by the Sun Moon Empire...

For one thing, the prices alone would put many students off. It seemed that Shrek Academy no longer wanted talented Soul Masters from ordinary families to appear among its students at all.

As Xu Yanli ate, his mind continued racing.

Xu Yanli finished his meal quickly, cleared away his dishes, and left. He happened to pass Bei Bei and the others on their way to eat.

After returning to his dorm, Xu Yanli hesitated, then hung a sign with two lines of writing on his screen: "Cultivating. Please do not disturb."

Once he'd written and hung it up, he returned to his bed and sat cross-legged to cultivate, absorbing the moonlight and the last glow of the setting sun.