Xiao Xiao Blushed

"Teacher, if I beat my opponent, wouldn't that make me the perfect support?" Wang Dong said awkwardly.

Xu Yanli stood off to the side, rubbing his forehead. For some reason, those words sounded oddly familiar...

"You—you're trying to compete with Xu Yanli, aren't you? He chose the support system, so you followed suit. Do you realize this concerns your future? How can you be so reckless?" Mu Jin sounded annoyed, though her tone remained gentle.

"Teacher, I was wrong." Wang Dong slowly lowered her head, mumbling under her breath.

"Enough. Change your choice back, then hand it in when you're done. You can go." Mu Jin sounded helpless.

"Your turn, Xiao Xiao. Don't think I didn't notice you watching Xu Yanli the whole time he was writing." A helpless look flashed across Mu Jin's face as she spoke.

Xu Yanli felt another headache coming on. Then a scene suddenly sprang to mind: Qiuqiu, this palace's head hurts again~

Xu Yanli shivered and immediately lowered his hand, then moved over to a nearby seat and sat down.

"T-Teacher, I really am a support. My Three-Life Soul-Suppressing Cauldron uses both attack and defense to protect people, so I suppose it could count as a mutated Martial Soul." Xiao Xiao spoke, tapping her fingers together in front of her chest.

Mu Jin said helplessly, "Then you should belong to the defense or Power Attack System."

"But I have another Martial Soul, and it's a support-type Martial Soul," Xiao Xiao murmured softly.

"Huh?" Everyone present except Xu Yanli looked shocked.

"Twin Martial Souls!!!" Wang Dong and Tang Ling said, both unable to believe it.

Xu Yanli's hand paused, too. After all, he also had Twin Martial Souls, though he'd hardly ever used them.

But what Soul Rings should he add to his Second Martial Soul?

They'd have to be at least a hundred thousand years old, surely. Otherwise, how could they live up to the talent of his Twin Martial Souls?

Xu Yanli propped his chin on one hand and tapped the tabletop with the fingers of the other, looking utterly bored.

Wang Dong quickly finished writing down Power Attack System and handed it in. She handed it in.

Mu Jin glanced at the slip and said, "All right, you can go back."

Wang Dong saw that no one present seemed to be paying much attention to her. Helpless, she could only stomp her foot and turn to leave.

"Xiao Xiao, would you mind showing me your Second Martial Soul?" Mu Jin asked gently.

"Of course, Teacher." Xiao Xiao smiled, and a Jade Flute appeared in her hand.

Xu Yanli's hand paused. His gaze shifted to the Martial Soul in her hand: a jade-green vertical flute bearing a lifelike phoenix relief.

At that moment, Xiao Xiao looked less like a Soul Master and more like a fairy who cultivated through music.

"All right, Tang Ling, you're next. If I remember correctly, your Martial Soul belongs to the Power Attack System, right? Your Wind-Thunder Staff has both wind and thunder attributes." Mu Jin sighed. Not one of these kids ever made things easy for her.

"Teacher, it's just that I saw everyone else wanted to do it, so I followed along..." Tang Ling scratched his head sheepishly and gave a couple of honest laughs.

"All right, let's leave it at that for today. Change your choices back. Especially you, Tang Ling. Let me make this clear: I hope you can win the championship. With Xu Yanli as your secret weapon, there's no reason you can't, right?" Mu Jin gave a soft snort and then spoke quietly.

"Don't worry, Teacher. We'll definitely be champions." Xu Yanli had also risen from his seat. He smiled as he spoke.

"All right, go back. Make sure you get enough rest during this period. And I'll tell you now: Shrek Academy's rewards for the champion are pretty good." Mu Jin smiled.

"All right, Teacher," Xu Yanli and the other two said in unison. After they finished, the three of them left the classroom together.

"Brother Yanli, um, could we talk together?" Xiao Xiao asked nervously.

Xu Yanli hesitated, then immediately flashed a gracious smile. "Of course. It would be my pleasure."

Xu Yanli led them toward the snack street outside Shrek Academy.

"Brother Yanli, you, you..." At that moment, the blush on the girl's face said everything.

A helpless look flickered in Xu Yanli's eyes. Were people on Douluo Continent all so mature so young? They're only twelve!

Xu Yanli shivered. Forget it. I'm not very interested in romance right now.

A helpless look crossed Xu Yanli's face. He'd meant to buy grilled fish, but then he suddenly remembered Huo Yuhao. It seemed he'd left him at the Body Sect.

Never mind. Something else will do. It's not much different. Sigh, I could go for some milk tea.

Though milk tea was what killed me...

Forget it. No need to bring up something so embarrassing. Xu Yanli's gaze went unfocused for an instant, then quickly returned to normal. He took them to buy some other snacks.

Naturally, Xu Yanli paid.

"You should try some, too. It's all pretty tasty. Afterward, we can head into the woods and learn about one another's Martial Souls and Soul Skills. That way, we'll work together better when we compete." Xu Yanli smiled.

"Okay, okay." After swallowing the food in her mouth, Xiao Xiao immediately replied excitedly.

Xu Yanli was a little baffled, too. He didn't think he'd done anything special, so why was Xiao Xiao looking at him with such fervor?

Whatever. It's not my problem. Xu Yanli bought some more snacks and headed toward the woods behind the school, but after walking for a while, he stopped.

"Why don't we skip the woods and go to my family's Xiaoyao Pavilion instead? It's quiet there, and there won't be any outsiders." Xu Yanli asked with a smile.

"Sounds good," Tang Ling and Xiao Xiao replied.

Xu Yanli nodded, slowly took out a communicator, entered a few characters, and sent the message.

It wasn't for any other reason. At the very least, he needed to conceal the Sun Moon Empire's insignia. They weren't close enough yet; it wasn't the right time to reveal it.

Actually, he'd wanted to keep the Xiaoyao Pavilion hidden until after the war ended, but that clearly wasn't possible.

As for the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineer Academy, he would certainly represent the Sun Moon Empire in the competition. That much was beyond doubt.

After receiving a reply, Xu Yanli led them to the Xiaoyao Pavilion.

Xiaoyao Pavilion.

"Wow! So this is the Xiaoyao Pavilion, the number-one Soul Tool merchant house? It's so beautiful!" Xiao Xiao looked around in wonder.

Xiao Xiao's eyes lit up, and she smiled as she approached. "Are you Senior Jiang Nannan?"

Jiang Nannan paused, then saw them and gave a small nod.