Skin for Skin, the Pig Went in a Circle and Was Skinned

Xu Yanli did not understand, and he knew he wouldn't be able to figure it out for a while.

However, he was not the type to mistreat himself; if he couldn't figure it out, he wouldn't dwell on it, and he wouldn't force himself to grasp information that was beyond his reach.

Xu Yanli glanced once more at the masked Long Xiaoyao sitting before him, sighed, and then withdrew his gaze.

"When do you intend to return to Shrek Academy?" Long Xiaoyao inquired.

"In a couple of days." Xu Yanli paused after hearing the voice before responding.

Xu Yanli turned his gaze back to the window, watching the world outside. Suddenly, he paused, smiled, and said to the coachman outside, "Stop for a moment, I'm going down to buy a bowl of wontons."

"Roadside stalls aren't clean." Long Xiaoyao remarked suddenly when he saw how eager the boy was to get out and buy the food.

Xu Yanli smiled. "A little dirt never hurt anyone."

With that, he hopped down like a genuine child, bought a serving of wontons, but instead of eating them on the roadside, he brought them back into the carriage and began eating slowly, one bite at a time.

After a few bites, Xu Yanli looked at Long Xiaoyao and asked with a smile, "Senior, would you like some?"

"No need." Long Xiaoyao shook his head. His voice was hoarse, yet it seemed to carry a hint of gentleness.

Xu Yanli looked at the wontons before him, took a bite, and sighed inwardly. This bowl of wontons was truly lacking in conscience; the skin was thin, and the pork seemed to have only brushed past the filling, leaving behind nothing but a layer of skin.

Still, the broth tasted quite decent.

It had a flavor somewhat reminiscent of what his mother used to make in his previous life. It was a pity that after his parents died in a car accident when he was young, he was left alone to face relatives who only wanted to fight over his family's assets.

But he didn't want to think about that now. In any case, his impression of them was about as deep as this bowl of wontons—perhaps even less vivid than his impression of the unscrupulous Emperor from this current life.

After finishing the wontons, Xu Yanli slowly channeled a wisp of soul power from his second martial soul, completely annihilating the bowl and chopsticks.

"Your second martial soul is a dragon?" Even though the aura lasted only for an instant, it was immediately captured by Long Xiaoyao.

Xu Yanli nodded, then remained silent.

Long Xiaoyao curled his fingers twice, but in the end, he said nothing, his gaze never leaving Xu Yanli's face.

For the remainder of the journey, no one spoke another word.

Upon returning to the interior of Xiaoyao Pavilion, Xu Yanli sat cross-legged to cultivate, sensing that the soul power within his body was on the verge of breaking through to level 58 at any moment.

However, he chose not to continue his cultivation, instead sinking his consciousness into his Sea of Consciousness to study Necromancy with Electrolux.

Watching Xu Yanli perform the magic, Electrolux nodded in satisfaction and said with a smile, "You brat, if you were on the Holy Demon Continent where I once resided, you would likely be a genius capable of surpassing me."

"Teacher, you flatter me. Without your planting of the tree, how could this student be here enjoying the shade?" Xu Yanli smiled slightly, his voice filled with respect.

"I saw you were busy the past two days, so I never asked—what is that little unicorn?" Electrolux looked toward the three Soul Spirits living in a separate area and inquired. "They seem quite peculiar, as if they are pure soul entities."

Xu Yanli looked over and chuckled softly. "Those are Soul Spirits. Here, every time we reach a major bottleneck, we need to hunt soul beasts, and these are the Soul Spirits formed from the souls of those beasts."

Xu Yanli thought helplessly to himself that it was a pity every soul beast he hunted couldn't transform into a Soul Spirit. He suspected that only when one possessed a Soul Spirit like Ya Li's and simultaneously hunted the corresponding soul beast would that beast transform into a Soul Spirit.

Xu Yanli was considered lucky; he had encountered this twice, which was why he possessed two Soul Spirits. At the same time, he could clearly feel that the strength of his soul rings was not normal—they were thousand-year and ten-thousand-year soul rings.

If he wasn't mistaken, the strength of his soul rings and soul skills had inherited the level of the soul rings belonging to that true god-tier powerhouse—the world's number one healing-type Limit Douluo from ten thousand years later.

It was simply that they hadn't been fully displayed yet.

Xu Yanli explained the Soul Spirit system to Electrolux with a smile, though his own understanding was incomplete, gleaned only from books.

Electrolux nodded from the side, clearly having gained some insight. He then carefully observed the state of the unicorn, quickly grasped the theory, and stopped asking, instead beginning to study it himself.

It was only after quite a while that he realized Xu Yanli was still there. Electrolux said with a touch of embarrassment, "Let's stop here for today. Go back and cultivate your soul power."

Xu Yanli bowed, exited the Sea of Consciousness, and resumed his cultivation.

Over the next two days, cooperation from the Xuanming Sect and the Body Sect followed one after another.

It had to be said that these two sects could be considered the first and second in the Heaven Dou Empire. With them as backers, the routes that Xiaoyao Pavilion had previously been unable to open were instantly cleared.

At the same time, on the second day, an apology arrived from the Xuanming Sect. That Xu Feng admitted he had been "impulsive and spoke inappropriately," and expressed that the Xuanming Sect was willing to establish a long-term cooperative relationship with Xiaoyao Pavilion.

Only then did Xu Yanli set off in his soul guidance carriage toward Shrek with satisfaction.

As for Huo Yuhao, he was, of course, left with the Body Sect, with an agreement made to come pick him up once Shrek Academy went on break.

Before leaving, Xu Yanli took a look at the environment of the Body Sect. After a moment of silence, he had the people from Xiaoyao Pavilion in Tiantou City perform some renovations for the sect.

The renovations weren't extensive, but at the very least, they installed lighting, along with flush toilets, washing machines, and other daily necessities.

When the Body Sect first received this news, they were quite resistant, but about a week later, these items received their unanimous praise.

Of course, that is a story for another time.

Xu Yanli, Kong Deming, Gu Yuena, and Long Xiaoyao rode the soul guidance carriage toward Shrek City.

Xu Yanli looked at Long Xiaoyao in the carriage, remained silent for a moment, and asked, "Aren't you afraid of being discovered by that Dragon God Douluo, Mu En, when you go to Shrek Academy?"

"I promised someone I would protect you." Long Xiaoyao spoke in a hoarse voice. "As long as you are not in danger, I will not make a move, and I will not be discovered. Rest assured."

Having received Long Xiaoyao's affirmation, Xu Yanli stopped worrying about it.

As for who he had made the promise to, it had nothing to do with him; it was undoubtedly one of those few people. If Long Xiaoyao wouldn't say, he wouldn't ask.

Gu Yuena had not spoken a word, yet her gaze had never left Xu Yanli's face, a flicker of purple occasionally flashing in the depths of her eyes.