Soul Spirits???

"But..." Kong Deming seemed to want to say more, but in the end he sighed and shook his head.

The emperor was right. The Sun Moon Empire truly couldn't compare to the Douluo Continent when it came to Soul Master cultivation.

Kong Deming looked helplessly at the Sun Moon Empire's emperor and said, "Your Majesty, I have only one request: keep him safe."

The emperor of the Sun Moon Empire nodded. "I will. This child will be the key to our empire surpassing the other nations of the Douluo Continent in the future. We still have far too few high-ranking Soul Masters."

Excitement filled Kong Deming's eyes, too. Perhaps he would finally have the chance to fulfill his dream.

At that moment, Xu Yanli sat cross-legged on his bed in his luxurious room, absorbing the ambient energy of heaven and earth.

The instant he fell into meditation, he seemed to be pulled into a place filled with stars.

A domineering voice rang out in his mind. "I am the God of Destruction. You will be my successor in the future. Do not disappoint me. I have discovered that some force has concealed the Douluo Continent from the Divine Realm for twenty years. How much you can accomplish during those twenty years will depend on your own ability."

"As for your divine office trials, they will begin around the time you reach Soul Sage. Work hard at your cultivation, my successor."

After he finished speaking, the voice vanished without a trace, as if everything that had just happened had been no more than a dream.

Xu Yanli panted heavily and looked at the familiar surroundings. A surge of excitement flashed through his heart.

He really had been chosen by a God King. It seemed he had a chance to challenge Tang San after all.

Innate Level 20 Soul Power, Prince Xiaoyao, the Sun Moon Empire's imperial family, successor to the God of Destruction—and the twenty-year grace period the God of Destruction had won for him. That was more than enough time for him to grow powerful and dominate the world.

In that instant, Xu Yanli seemed to shed his former timidity, transforming into the true embodiment of an otherworldly demon.

At the same time, he began to consider how he should lay his plans for the future.

He would definitely claim Electrolux. As for Huo Yuhao, that wasn't out of the question either. After all, Tang San had already been concealed from the Divine Realm.

But to obtain them, he would have to go to the Star Dou Great Forest. He didn't know whether he would get the chance in the future.

And then there was unification—the unification of the entire Douluo Continent.

A flicker of interest appeared in Xu Yanli's eyes. The idea of unification was practically carved into his bones. Even if he couldn't carry out all those reforms by himself, he could hand them over to the continent's own people.

He wasn't clever, but that didn't mean there weren't clever people in this era. Although he did have his doubts about the intelligence of the people on the Douluo Continent.

Still, he believed that when it came to underhanded schemes, they would be far better than a pure-hearted, somewhat foolish college student like him.

After all, in his previous life, he'd choked to death on bubble tea in the middle of the night.

Xu Yanli remembered his tragic death in his previous life and coughed awkwardly twice. Did my roommates manage to get into graduate school?

Xu Yanli relaxed his mind once more and resumed cultivating. The energy of heaven and earth gathered around him again.

Perhaps because he had no Soul Ring, he could feel his Soul Power growing, but he had no way to break through the bottleneck.

Early the next morning, Kong Deming arrived at Xu Tianran's residence.

Xu Yanli was already waiting at the gate for the arrival of his future teacher.

"So you're Xu Yanli. Not bad, not bad—you look full of life." Kong Deming patted him on the shoulder. "I'll take you to the Jingyang Mountain Range now."

Kong Deming lifted Xu Yanli into his arms, shielding him with Soul Power as they flew high into the sky.

Then he headed toward the Jingyang Mountain Range near the Ming Capital at tremendous speed.

"Which Martial Soul do you plan to cultivate first?" Kong Deming asked after a brief pause.

"Teacher, which one do you want me to cultivate? Or, rather, which one does my Imperial Father want me to cultivate?" Xu Yanli looked up and asked.

Kong Deming paused, then reached out and patted Xu Yanli's head. "The angel. Your father may want you to go to Shrek Academy."

Xu Yanli hesitated for a moment, then nodded. "All right, then the angel. For my First Soul Ring, I want a thousand-year-old unicorn."

Kong Deming nodded, then took out some kind of metal sphere whose purpose was unclear. It looked like a detection and reconnaissance device.

The metal sphere slowly rose into the sky and hovered high above, rotating as it carried out a comprehensive scan of the forest below.

Kong Deming held a metal panel in his hand, his eyes focused as he kept a close watch on the information transmitted by the sphere.

"Found one. It should be a Light-attribute unicorn, about 1,900 years old. Will that do?" Kong Deming asked Xu Yanli with a grave expression.

Xu Yanli nodded firmly. "I can do it."

Kong Deming sighed, then picked Xu Yanli up and carried him toward the unicorn.

When they reached the lakeside, a unicorn was drinking there.

Kong Deming took a level-two Soul Guidance Ray Gun from his Storage Soul Tool and handed it to Xu Yanli. "Do you know how to use it?"

Xu Yanli nodded. He took the Soul Guidance Ray Gun, quickly aimed, and poured his Level 20 Soul Power into it.

The unicorn was caught completely off guard. One shot blew its head apart.

"Excellent accuracy." Kong Deming's eyes lit up, excitement flashing in them. What a promising talent.

Xu Yanli slowly walked up to the unicorn and released his Martial Soul.

The purple Soul Ring was slowly drawn toward his Martial Soul.

The unicorn's remnant soul seemed unwilling to yield and struggled against it. In a sense, the Soul Ring truly exceeded what his body could withstand.

After all, he had not been well cared for when he was little, so his overall physique was not very strong. If he hadn't awakened such a good Martial Soul, his body would have been weaker than other people's.

Xu Yanli felt every inch of his meridians burning. Suddenly, the power of the sun in the sky was drawn down.

That scorching power instantly soothed all the unicorn's resentment.

The furrow in Xu Yanli's brow smoothed out, and the Thousand-Year Soul Ring settled completely around his Martial Soul.

Xu Yanli noticed nothing, but Kong Deming, standing guard nearby, was scared half to death.

The Soul Ring on Xu Yanli's Martial Soul began to flicker, turning purple one moment and black the next, as if two different forces were constantly pulling against each other.

At the same time, the unicorn seemed to transform into something about the size of a small cat.

If Xu Yanli had seen it, he surely would have cried out in astonishment. How could there possibly be a soul spirit?

Kong Deming crouched beside it, curiously poking the unicorn with a finger, looking completely bewildered.

After absorbing the Soul Ring for about half an hour, Xu Yanli slowly opened his eyes. He saw his teacher holding a little unicorn and petting it, and stared in utter shock.

"A soul spirit?" Xu Yanli cried out, unable to believe his eyes.