Xu Yanli didn't understand, and he knew he wouldn't figure it out anytime soon.
But he wasn't one to make things hard on himself. If he couldn't figure it out, he wouldn't bother, and he wouldn't force himself to learn what he had no way of knowing.
Xu Yanli glanced again at Long Xiaoyao, who sat before him wearing a mask. He sighed, then looked away.
"When are you planning to return to Shrek Academy?" Long Xiaoyao asked.
"In a couple of days." Xu Yanli paused when he heard the question before answering.
Xu Yanli turned his gaze back to the window. As he watched everything outside, he suddenly paused, then smiled and called to the coachman, "Stop for a moment. I'm getting off to buy a bowl of wontons."
"Street stalls aren't clean." Long Xiaoyao spoke up when he saw how eager Xu Yanli was to get out and buy wontons.
Xu Yanli smiled. "A little dirt never hurt anyone."
Then, like a real child, he hopped down and bought himself a serving of wontons. But instead of eating them by the roadside, he returned to the carriage and ate them slowly, one bite at a time.
After a couple of bites, Xu Yanli glanced at Long Xiaoyao and asked with a smile, "Would you like some, senior?"
"No need." Long Xiaoyao shook his head. His voice was hoarse, but it seemed to hold a hint of warmth.
Xu Yanli looked at the wontons and took a bite, sighing inwardly. This stall was certainly generous with its filling: skin wrapped in skin, the pig had gone full circle and shed only a layer of skin.
Still, the broth tasted pretty good.
It even tasted a little like the food his mother used to make in his previous life. Unfortunately, his parents had both died in a car accident when he was young, leaving him alone to face the relatives who wanted to seize his family's assets.
But he didn't dwell on it anymore. His memories of them were practically limited to this bowl of wontons. He might even have a stronger impression of the unscrupulous Imperial Father in this life than of them.
After finishing the wontons, Xu Yanli slowly stirred a wisp of Soul Power from his Second Martial Soul and completely disintegrated the bowl and chopsticks.
"Your Second Martial Soul is a dragon?" Even though the aura had lasted only an instant, Long Xiaoyao had caught it immediately.
Xu Yanli nodded, then fell silent.
Long Xiaoyao curled his fingers twice, but in the end he said nothing. His gaze simply remained fixed on Xu Yanli's face.
No one spoke for the rest of the journey.
Back inside Xiaoyao Pavilion, Xu Yanli sat cross-legged and cultivated. He felt that the Soul Power in his body could break through to level 58 at any moment.
But he chose not to keep cultivating. Instead, he sank his consciousness into the Sea of Consciousness to study Necromancy with Electrolux.
As Electrolux watched Xu Yanli cast a spell, he nodded in satisfaction and said with a smile, "You brat, if you'd been on the Holy Demon Continent in my day, you'd probably have been a genius capable of surpassing me."
"You flatter me, teacher. Without you planting the tree, how could I, your student, enjoy its shade?" Xu Yanli smiled faintly, his voice full of respect.
"I saw you were busy the past couple of days, so I never got around to asking. What is that little Unicorn?" Electrolux looked toward the three Soul Spirits living in a separate area and asked, "They seem unusual, but also like pure spirits."
Xu Yanli glanced that way and smiled softly. "They're Soul Spirits. Here, whenever someone breaks through a major bottleneck, they need to hunt a Soul Beast. Soul Spirits are formed from the souls of those Soul Beasts."
Xu Yanli thought helplessly that it was a pity none of the Soul Beasts he had hunted could transform into Soul Spirits. So he suspected that only the Soul Beasts corresponding to the Soul Spirits Ya Li possessed could become Soul Spirits when hunted.
Xu Yanli was fairly lucky; it had happened twice, so he had two Soul Spirits. At the same time, he could clearly feel that the strength of his Soul Rings wasn't normal—not that of thousand-year or Ten Thousand Year Soul Rings.
If his guess was right, the strength of his Soul Rings and Soul Skills had inherited the Soul Ring ages of that true god-level powerhouse—the world's greatest healing-type Limit Douluo, a thousand years in the future.
It simply hadn't shown itself.
Xu Yanli smiled as he explained the Soul Spirit System to Electrolux, though his own knowledge of it was incomplete. He had only learned about it from books.
Electrolux nodded beside him, evidently having gained some insight. After carefully observing the Unicorn's condition, he soon grasped the theory well enough. He stopped asking questions and began to study it instead.
It took a while for him to come back to himself. Realizing Xu Yanli was still there, Electrolux said a little awkwardly, "Let's stop here for today. Go back and cultivate your Soul Power."
Xu Yanli cupped his hands, then left the Sea of Consciousness and resumed cultivating.
Over the next two days, cooperation offers from the Xuanming Sect and the Body Sect came one after another.
There was no denying that these two sects could be considered the first and second greatest in the Heaven Dou Empire. With them backing Xiaoyao Pavilion, the routes it had been unable to open before were suddenly accessible.
The next day, the Xuanming Sect also sent an apology. Xu Feng admitted that he had "acted on impulse and spoken out of turn," and said that the Xuanming Sect was willing to establish a long-term partnership with Xiaoyao Pavilion.
Only then was Xu Yanli satisfied. He drove the Soul Guidance Carriage toward Shrek.
As for Huo Yuhao, he naturally stayed at the Body Sect. They agreed that someone would come to pick him up after Shrek Academy's vacation began.
Before leaving, Xu Yanli took a look around the Body Sect. After a moment of silence, he had the people from Xiaoyao Pavilion in Heaven Dou City renovate part of it.
The renovations weren't extensive. They at least installed lights, along with flush toilets, washing machines, and other household necessities.
At first, the Body Sect had been rather resistant when they heard about it. But about a week later, they were all giving the new amenities rave reviews.
Of course, that was a story for later.
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 and fell silent for a moment before asking, "Aren't you afraid Dragon God Douluo Mu En will spot you at Shrek Academy?"
"I promised someone I'd protect you," Long Xiaoyao replied in his hoarse voice. "As long as you're not in danger, I won't act, and I won't be discovered. Don't worry."
Reassured by Long Xiaoyao's answer, Xu Yanli let the matter drop.
Who he had made the promise to had nothing to do with Xu Yanli. It could only have been one of a few people. If Long Xiaoyao didn't say, Xu Yanli wouldn't ask.
Gu Yuena never spoke. Her gaze, however, never left Xu Yanli's face, and now and then a hint of violet flickered in her eyes.
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