Xiao Xiao Blushed

"Teacher, if I defeat the opponent, wouldn't that make me the perfect support?" Wang Dong said with some embarrassment.

Xu Yanli stood to the side and rubbed his forehead, feeling a strange sense of familiarity with those words...

"You—you are trying to compete with Xu Yanli, aren't you? He chose the support path, so you followed suit. Do you have any idea how much this concerns your future? How can you be so reckless?" Mu Jin's voice betrayed her anger, though her tone remained gentle.

"Teacher, I was wrong." Wang Dong slowly lowered his head, muttering under his breath.

"Fine, change yours back before you do anything else. Hand it to me once you're finished. You may go down now," Mu Jin said with a sigh of resignation.

"It's your turn, Xiao Xiao. Don't think I didn't see you staring at Xu Yanli the whole time he was writing his," Mu Jin said, a flash of helplessness crossing her face.

Xu Yanli suddenly felt his head ache again. A scene flashed through his mind: Jianqiu, this palace's head aches again~

Xu Yanli shivered, instantly dropping his hand and moving to a seat nearby to sit down.

"T-Teacher, I really am a support type. My Three Lives Soul Suppressing Cauldron uses both attack and defense for protection, so it could barely be considered a mutated martial soul," Xiao Xiao said, her fingers fidgeting against her chest.

Mu Jin said helplessly, "Then you should belong to the defense or power attack category."

"But I have another martial soul that is a support type," Xiao Xiao whispered.

"Ah?" Everyone present, except for Xu Yanli, wore an expression of shock.

"Twin Martial Souls!!!" Wang Dong and Tang Ling both exclaimed in disbelief.

Xu Yanli's hand paused for a moment; after all, he was also a user of Twin Martial Souls, though he had barely ever used them.

But what kind of soul rings should he add to his second martial soul?

They would have to be at least one hundred thousand years old, wouldn't they? Otherwise, how could he live up to the talent of having Twin Martial Souls?

Xu Yanli rested his chin on one hand, his fingers tapping rhythmically against the tabletop, looking utterly bored.

Wang Dong quickly finished writing down his power attack path and handed it in.

Mu Jin glanced at the slip of paper and said, "Alright, you may return."

Seeing that no one else in the room was paying attention, Wang Dong could only stomp her foot in frustration and turn to leave.

"Student Xiao Xiao, would you mind letting me see your second martial soul?" Mu Jin asked gently.

"Of course, Teacher," Xiao Xiao said with a smile, a Jade Flute appearing in her hand.

Xu Yanli's hand paused, his gaze shifting to the martial soul in her hand. It was a jade-green vertical flute with a lifelike phoenix relief carved into it.

At this moment, Xiao Xiao didn't look like a soul master, but rather a fairy of music.

"Very well. Tang Ling, it's your turn. If I recall correctly, you are a power attack type, right? Your martial soul is the Wind-Thunder Staff, possessing both wind and thunder attributes," Mu Jin sighed. None of these children were easy to manage.

"Teacher, I just saw that they all thought that way, so I followed along..." Tang Ling scratched his head sheepishly and gave a simple, honest laugh.

"Alright, let's not talk about this today. Change your forms back. Especially you, Tang Ling—let me be clear: I expect you all to win the championship. After all, with a heavy hitter like Xu Yanli on your team, it would be inexcusable if you didn't take the title," Mu Jin sniffed, then said softly.

"Don't worry, Teacher. We will definitely be the champions," Xu Yanli said, stepping down from his seat with a smile.

"Good, you may go back now. Make sure to get some rest during this time. I'll tell you in advance: the rewards Shrek Academy offers for the championship are quite generous," Mu Jin smiled.

"Understood, Teacher," Xu Yanli and the other two said in unison. Once they had spoken, the three of them walked out of the classroom together.

"Brother Yanli, um, why don't we go chat somewhere?" Xiao Xiao asked, looking a bit nervous.

Xu Yanli hesitated for a moment before flashing a polite smile. "Of course, it would be my honor."

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

"Brother Yanli, you, you..." At this moment, the young girl's blushing face said it all.

A flash of helplessness crossed Xu Yanli's eyes. Is everyone in the Douluo Continent so precocious? They're only twelve years old.

Xu Yanli shivered. Forget it, he has no interest in romance right now.

A trace of resignation flickered on Xu Yanli's face. He had originally intended to buy grilled fish, but suddenly he remembered Huo Yuhao, whom he seemed to have left behind at the Body Sect.

Forget it, eating something else is the same; there's no big difference. Sigh, I want some milk tea.

Even though I died from drinking milk tea...

Forget it, let's not bring up such embarrassing things. Xu Yanli's gaze blurred for a second before returning to normal, and he led them off to buy other snacks.

Naturally, Xu Yanli was the one paying.

"You should try these too; they're quite delicious. Later, we can find a small grove to learn about each other's martial souls and soul skills. That way, it'll be easier for us to coordinate better during the competition," Xu Yanli said with a smile.

"Okay, okay!" Xiao Xiao said excitedly after swallowing her food.

Xu Yanli didn't quite understand; he hadn't really done anything, so why was Xiao Xiao looking at him with such fervor?

Forget it, never mind. Xu Yanli bought some more snacks and headed toward the small grove behind the school, but after walking for a while, he stopped.

"How about we don't go to the grove, but instead go to my Xiaoyao Pavilion? The environment there is more secluded, and there are no outsiders," Xu Yanli asked with a smile.

"Sure, no problem," Tang Ling and Xiao Xiao agreed.

Xu Yanli nodded, slowly pulled out a communication device, entered a few codes, and sent the message.

It wasn't for anything else, but at least the markings of the Sun Moon Empire needed to be covered up. Their relationship wasn't close enough yet; it wasn't the right time to expose it.

In his own mind, he had hoped that the Xiaoyao Pavilion would only be revealed after the war ended, but that was clearly impossible.

As for the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineer Academy, he would certainly have to represent them in the competition; that much was beyond doubt.

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

Xiaoyao Pavilion.

"Wow! Is this the number one Soul Tool merchant guild, the Xiaoyao Pavilion? It's so beautiful." Xiao Xiao looked around with an expression of wonder.

Xiao Xiao's eyes lit up, and she walked up to her with a smile: "Are you Senior Jiang Nannan?"

Jiang Nannan was stunned for a moment, but upon seeing them, she gave a gentle nod.