The God King's Daughter and "Forbidden"

As for Lan Susu and Lan Ruoruo, You Jie thought it was a real shame what had become of them.

They were both Body Martial Soul users, yet one offhand remark from the Holy Spirit Cult's Supreme Elder had completely condemned their futures.

By the second tournament, they were only Four-Ring Soul Ancestors. Their cultivation was downright painful to look at.

Clearly, in Dead Wife Douluo's eyes, cannon fodder with hair Martial Souls didn't deserve better treatment. So it had wielded the great hand of fate and cut short the Lan Sisters' prospects.

You Jie had no plans to become a harem king, but if the Lan Sisters didn't pull some senseless stunt like courting death, then helping them out for old classmates' sake wasn't out of the question.

Soon, the class bell rang, and a mild-mannered young man pushed up his glasses and walked into the classroom. It was Wang Yan, who had put in a decent showing in the original story and, unlike most of Shrek, actually had good character.

After everyone had gone through the usual introductions, You Jie, whose Soul Power had reached level thirty-eight, was smoothly appointed class monitor. Wang Yan then began his lecture.

His lessons were lively and engaging. If You Jie hadn't already learned all the material, he might have listened with genuine interest.

His gaze had already drifted out the window, where the students from Class One were "doing the Kachidoki dance" under Zhou Yi's torturous training.

Hmm, Huo Yuhao's sharing a dorm room with me now, so the God King's daughter hasn't set her sights on him. That means she hasn't been taught a lesson by Huo Yuhao, either. She still looks as arrogant as ever.

Watching the pink-haired Wang Dong race around Shrek Square, You Jie gave a slight nod.

By rights, he shouldn't have any dealings with the God King's daughter until the Freshman Assessment, three months from now. Until then, he should be able to relax and make Dueling Runners with Qian Duoduo and Huo Yuhao...

...Yeah, right.

"So, classmate, you skipped lunch in the cafeteria and came all the way here to find me. What is it?"

Looking at the pink-haired boy who had eagerly come to seek him out, You Jie could only think of trouble.

Just before Wang Dong found him, You Jie had felt a burning sensation in both arms. He rolled up his sleeves and saw a Red Dragon head mark on one arm and a dragon-wing mark on the other.

In a sense, these were You Jie's Soul Seals, symbols of his Martial Soul.

Since his Martial Soul Awakening, there had been very few occasions when he felt the Dragon Mark appear. This was only the third time.

The first had been during his Martial Soul Awakening. The second had been when he encountered the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm in the Star Dou Great Forest and met Electrolux... afterward.

If the Red Dragon's power had driven Di Tian and the others away the second time, then the Dragon Mark lighting up now clearly meant that a crisis on par with Di Tian's arrival was about to unfold.

"I... I wanted to feel the aura of your Martial Soul. I don't know why, but the moment I saw you, I instinctively felt that our Martial Souls would be a perfect match. We might even have a Martial Soul Fusion Skill..."

Wang Dong had seemed somewhat haughty, but perhaps he sensed the "don't come near me" aura You Jie gave off. His voice turned timid, and he sounded like a delicate little girl.

"Sorry, classmate, but I don't feel that way at all. You'd better head back and get lunch."

As he spoke, You Jie suddenly went pale, turned, and walked away, leaving Wang Dong standing there in a daze, as if she had no idea what had just happened.

Why am I here?!

This is bad! Why's the cafeteria line so long? If I don't hurry, I won't get lunch in time!

Tang San, I'll curse your ancestors! You actually used your daughter to cast a curse on me. Good thing my third Soul Skill can copy 'Forbidden,' or I'd have been in deep trouble.

Cursing under his breath, You Jie headed straight for the Soul Tool Department, where he had lunch with Qian Duoduo.

During his conversation with Wang Dong, he had clearly sensed a consciousness trying to rush into his Sea of Consciousness, just like when the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm had done the same to Huo Yuhao.

Since he didn't know whether the effect counted as a monster effect or a spell/trap card effect, You Jie simply activated his third Soul Skill, Solemn Judgment. In exchange for half his stamina, he negated and destroyed the activation of the effect.

Of course, You Jie could have paid with Soul Power instead. But he wanted to eat more at lunch, so he chose stamina.

This also confirmed one thing for him: Tang San really could interfere with events on the Douluo Continent to a considerable extent, even if his methods weren't especially clever.

As for what would happen to Wang Dong after You Jie used "Forbidden" on her, he didn't have the energy to think about it just yet.

"Yu Hao, business is booming!"

After classes ended that afternoon, You Jie headed straight for the makeshift food street by the school gates.

At lunch, Huo Yuhao had mentioned that he wanted to set up a stall selling grilled fish.

After Huo Yuhao grilled a fish on the spot for Qian Duoduo to try, Qian Duoduo had torn off his shirt in excitement and grabbed Huo Yuhao by the shoulders, giving the grilled-fish business his full support.

Not only had he provided top-of-the-line grilling equipment, but he had also taken care of the ingredients and seasonings.

As for the finished product, its price had shot up accordingly. The stall accepted Gold Soul Coins as payment.

Yan Shaozhe was stingy, but Qian Duoduo was a real businessman.

With Qian Duoduo's ideas behind him, Huo Yuhao had achieved financial freedom with ease. He still couldn't afford to treat himself to the most expensive dish in Shrek Academy's cafeteria, but he was already quite satisfied.

"Yeah, Brother You Jie. I saved a fish for you and Big Sister. Could you wait a moment and come pick it up?"

Huo Yuhao nodded eagerly, his grilling movements growing more practiced by the moment.

"Keep grilling. I'm going to look at the other food stalls."

You Jie nodded in agreement and planned to buy some food Zhang Lexuan liked at the other stalls.

They cooked dinner together every night, but sampling street food now and then had its own special charm.

However, before You Jie had taken more than a few steps, he spotted someone plowing wildly through the crowd.

Judging by his direction, he seemed to be heading straight for Huo Yuhao's grilled-fish stall.

But the moment he saw You Jie, the man's face changed dramatically, and he stopped in his tracks.

"Uh... isn't that Brother You Jie? Do you know the guy selling grilled fish?"

"Xu Sanshi, were you planning to buy some grilled fish? Sorry, you're too late. Yu Hao's sold out."

"Hey, Brother You Jie, don't lie through your teeth. There's still a fish left, isn't there? Why can't I buy it?"

"That one's for me and Big Sister. If you have a problem, take it up with Big Sister."

"Or... Turtle Xu, do you want my fists to beat your mouth open and your eyes shut again?"

Seeing Xu Sanshi dare to go after the grilled fish meant for him and Sister Lexuan, You Jie felt his fists clench. He raised a hand and cracked his knuckles.