"Brother Bei Bei, are you really planning to give Sister Tang Ya every last bit of the resources Mystic Ancestor gave you?"
On Sea God Island at Shrek Academy, two boys with remarkably similar faces but completely different hairstyles seemed to be having a heated discussion.
The shorter one, whose sharply angular hairstyle looked a little like a crab, spoke first.
His companion, whose smooth, shampoo-commercial-worthy hair and refined, gentle air made him look even more scholarly, seemed a little awkward at the question.
"Xiao Jie, my cultivation is already on track, and I have access to more than enough resources in Sea God Pavilion.
"As for Xiao Ya, although her talent is indeed excellent among Blue Silver Grass Soul Masters, the Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul is inherently weak. And now she has no home to return to. Since Mystic Ancestor asked me to help her, of course I have to do everything I can."
Bei Bei tried hard to justify his actions, but in You Jie's eyes, it was all just excuses.
What kind of genius with Innate Soul Power at rank nine slowed down so much after breaking through to rank thirty?
Did he really think Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon was an Ultimate Attribute Martial Soul, saddled with the debuff that made cultivation crawl between ranks thirty and seventy?
If Turtle Xu, who was in cahoots with Bei Bei, had slowed down because his Martial Soul had "evolved" and left him with a psychological knot, Bei Bei's sluggish cultivation was entirely because he was wasting resources—and even squandering precious time on romance and studying Soul Tools.
Soul Tools might be the mainstream of the future in this era, but starting with blacksmithing to learn how to make them? That was far too much wasted time.
Even Prisoner Huo, the original version's chosen one, had been advised by Xuan Ziwen to focus his efforts on design and stop trying to handle Soul Tool manufacturing himself.
"Hmph, 'Xiao Ya'! You make it sound so affectionate! Brother Bei Bei, you still claim you haven't fallen in love with her?
"Mystic Ancestor only asked you to help her. He never said you should help her so much that you'd neglect your own cultivation to this extent, or drag down even yourself, the one who bears the burden of carrying on the family legacy!
"Forget that the gap between our cultivation levels is getting smaller and smaller. What do you think Sister Lexuan will make of you?
"You even used your status as my older brother to pressure me back then, when you told Sister Lexuan..."
"Xiao Jie, stop!"
It seemed You Jie had struck a nerve. Bei Bei's refined smile vanished at once, replaced by a grimace of pain, and his expression visibly crumpled.
A surge of Soul Power burst from him, forcing You Jie to step back.
"Brother Bei Bei, you really have grown lazy. Your Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon's dragon might can only force me back one step now.
"At this rate, once I reach rank thirty in a few days and ask Sister Lexuan to help me get my third Soul Ring and become a Soul Elder, you won't be able to beat me."
You Jie's expression as he stepped back was one of exasperated disappointment.
He had known his cheap older brother was a lovesick fool, but he hadn't expected the symptoms to already be at the incurable stage.
"...Xiao Jie, you don't know how much our Shrek Academy, and our family, owe the Tang Sect.
"And Xiao Ya really is different. She's a wonderful person. If only..."
"Fine, brother. Whatever you have to say, go tell Mystic Ancestor and Sister Lexuan.
"But since you've chosen Tang Ya, you can't shut me up anymore, can you?"
Bei Bei's symptoms were even more hopeless than You Jie had imagined. You Jie couldn't help making the same expression as that famous doctor's twelve-panel reaction meme.
Still, if his cheap older brother had chosen the weeds beneath the wheels, then...
"...All right. Since you know about Sister Lexuan, and I've wronged her, I can only leave her in your hands. You have to..."
Before he could finish, Bei Bei turned and fled, leaping into a small boat beside a wooden pier not far away and rowing hard toward the outer court.
You Jie strolled onto the pier. Watching Bei Bei put even his Soul Power into rowing, he couldn't help sighing.
Because his cheap younger brother had come along, Bei Bei could more easily cast aside Zhang Lexuan—the "nanny" and "child bride" Mu En had assigned to their family—and toss her feelings over to You Jie.
But judging from Bei Bei's attitude just now, he seemed more like someone who was "eating what's in his bowl while eyeing what's in the pot."
Otherwise, he wouldn't have fled Sea God Island so miserably before he'd even finished speaking.
Last year, when they had run into Ma Xiaotao on the island after her Evil Fire flared up and she couldn't suppress it, Bei Bei hadn't run nearly so fast!
"Bei Bei, how can you be even more wishy-washy than Aojia?"
Thinking of this, You Jie finally gave up on his cheap older brother completely. Once Bei Bei had disappeared across the lake, he planned to return to his lodgings and get back to cultivating.
The Twin Martial Souls he'd awakened alongside his Martial Soul Mutation, "Synchron" and "Resonator," wouldn't be able to reach their full potential until You Jie became a Soul Elder.
By then, even if Bei Bei changed his mind on the spot, kicked Tang Ya aside, and tried to crawl back into Zhang Lexuan's arms, You Jie would be able to handle him easily.
Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon? It could take that up with my Scrap Iron Fist and Tamashii!
But before Bei Bei's figure had completely disappeared, a gentle presence appeared behind You Jie and wrapped him in an embrace from behind.
The soft sensation against the back of his head was wonderfully pleasant, but You Jie could tell the person holding him wasn't at peace.
Otherwise, with her Soul Douluo-level cultivation, why was her body trembling slightly?
"Sister Lexuan? When did you get here..."
Sensing Zhang Lexuan's reaction, You Jie immediately had a pretty good idea what had happened.
Clearly, Zhang Lexuan had heard the conversation between him and Bei Bei.
There weren't many things that could unsettle Zhang Lexuan. It was either some Supreme Elder of the Holy Spirit Cult continuing to stir up trouble, or that firebrand whose Evil Fire had flared up and gone out of control causing more havoc.
But Mu En hadn't left Shrek Academy, Xuan Zi hadn't taken his team away lately, and Ma Xiaotao hadn't had a chance to start any fires.
So...
Zhang Lexuan didn't say anything. She simply held You Jie from behind.
She had indeed heard his conversation with Bei Bei, though it had been an accident, and she hadn't heard the whole thing.
She had probably started listening when You Jie told Bei Bei to "go tell Mystic Ancestor and Sister Lexuan whatever he had to say."
Zhang Lexuan had realized Bei Bei's affections had shifted even earlier than You Jie had. But because Mu En's original instructions had left room for interpretation, and because the upheaval in her family had made her meekly accept whatever came her way, she had calmly accepted it.
Still, You Jie's words today had stirred her heart once more and made her reconsider how she saw him.
Perhaps the one who deserved the devotion she had given for ten years was the crab-haired boy standing before her.
"Xiao Jie, what do you have in mind for your third Soul Ring?"
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