A Girl Named Leng Yaozhu Invited Lin Xiu to Team Up, and He Wanted to Bring One More Person

Beneath the swirling snow of the Far North, a boy walked alone across the snowfield.

"Ah-choo!" Lin Xiu suddenly sneezed and rubbed his nose. "Who's thinking about me? It couldn't be Old Ghost, could it?"

Just as he wondered who was thinking about him—or badmouthing him—some strange sounds reached his ears.

Rustle, rustle, rustle...

It sounded like creatures wriggling underground.

"As expected, the Far North has more Soul Beasts than that other place." As Lin Xiu's voice faded, boom! A huge figure burst out of the ground, and an enormous insect appeared before him.

The giant insect suddenly opened its mouth, which was lined with fine, sharp teeth. A stream of dark green venom shot out like an arrow, aimed straight at Lin Xiu. It clearly meant to kill him in one blow and wipe him from existence.

Faced with this deadly attack, Lin Xiu showed no hint of panic. Instead, he lazily yawned.

Just as the venom was about to touch him, the space around him suddenly warped. A dark red, vertical eye, like a demon's, appeared out of nowhere. The moment it opened, a heart-chilling killing intent surged within its pupil.

The next second, countless pitch-black chains poured out of the eye. A faint Haze curled around their links as they wove together, instantly forming an airtight, indestructible shield of chains.

"Bzzzt!"

The venom smashed into the shield and instantly turned into wisps of foul-smelling white smoke, leaving not even a trace.

Before the insect could react, the intertwined chains suddenly unfurled. Like pythons that had lain in wait for ages and finally caught the scent of prey, they shot toward the insect with a sharp whistle.

The chains' pointed tips glinted with a cold light, as if they could easily tear through anything in their way.

Sensing death closing in, the giant insect's whole body shuddered. Extreme terror flashed in its eyes, and its massive body staggered as it tried to turn and flee. But the chains were astonishingly fast; in the blink of an eye, they had pierced its body through and through.

Several sharp cracks rang out as the insect's shell shattered and dark green fluids gushed forth. It let out a shrill cry, then its enormous body slowly toppled to the ground and fell still.

Right after, a yellow Hundred-Year Soul Ring slowly rose from its corpse, drifting gently through the air.

Lin Xiu watched the Hundred-Year Soul Ring floating up from the giant insect's corpse and said regretfully, "I forgot to hold back. I should've left it on the brink of death; I could've sold it for a good price."

He didn't linger and continued onward. He had to hurry and register at Shrek Academy.

On a distant, icebound mountain, the Demon Empress stood watching Lin Xiu's retreating figure below. Only after he had vanished from sight did she slowly disappear.

Several days passed. When Lin Xiu entered a human city again, he felt a little like a primitive man stepping into the modern world. Perhaps he had grown used to the Far North; looking at the bustling streets before him, he felt somewhat out of place.

He had just asked around and learned that registration at Shrek Academy didn't start for a while. So, for now, he planned to register at the Spirit Pagoda, and take the chance to play around in the Spirit Pagoda's monster-fighting, level-up attraction.

Both the Spirit Pagoda and Shrek Academy were in Shrek City. A thousand years ago, the two factions had been one family. But their interests diverged, and with the rise of the Sun Moon Federation, the family had split apart for good.

On top of that, the people at Shrek Academy were a bunch of old-fashioned fools. Huo Yuhao had only just opened the door to Soul Tools, and a few years after he became a god, they shut it again. No wonder Shrek Academy ended up getting blown to pieces.

Fail to keep up with the times, and you get swept aside.

Lin Xiu finally reached the Spirit Pagoda. Just as he was about to go in, someone outside stopped him. "Young man, this is the Spirit Pagoda Headquarters. You can't just walk in."

"Even if I have money, I can't get into the Spirit Ascension Platform?" Lin Xiu now had a heap of treasure from the Demon Empress. He was so rich that money was no concern.

The two staff members exchanged glances. Then one of them said, "Young man, you may need to wait in line."

The Headquarters' Spirit Ascension Platform wasn't somewhere just anyone could enter. What did it matter if you had money? In the end, you still had to make way for those in power.

Hearing this, Lin Xiu understood that he couldn't use the Spirit Ascension Platform here. He didn't mind much and nodded. "I understand."

He had just turned to leave when a clear, melodious voice called out, "Hey, are you trying to get into the Spirit Ascension Platform?"

At the sound of it, Lin Xiu stopped mid-step and turned back curiously. A red-haired girl stood there with her hands on her hips, looking at him.

"Yeah. What's up?" One look at the girl, and Lin Xiu recognized her. The Heavenly Phoenix Douluo, Leng Yaozhu. It had to be her.

Leng Yaozhu studied the boy before her for a few seconds, then invited him, "I need a few companions for the Spirit Ascension Platform this afternoon. Want to come along?"

"Why are you inviting me?" Lin Xiu asked, puzzled.

"You don't look ordinary. But you'll have to pay first." Leng Yaozhu had clearly seen that Lin Xiu was no ordinary person. She had gone downstairs to head home and escape a certain hopeless simp, then happened to run into this unusual boy. So she decided to invite him.

"Sure, but..."

"But what?" Leng Yaozhu hadn't expected him to hesitate instead of agreeing right away. Her interest was piqued, and she asked curiously.

Lin Xiu had a bold—and frankly terrifying—plan in mind. He slowly said, "I need to bring someone with me. Is that okay?"

The two staff members standing nearby hadn't expected the boy to be so bold as to make a condition to Miss Leng.

She was already doing him a tremendous favor by bringing him along, and now he still dared to make a request...

What guts. Seriously, what guts!

After hearing Lin Xiu, Leng Yaozhu touched her chin and fell into thought. She was already considering giving up. She had invited him only because he seemed a little different, and now he was pushing his luck.

"If it's not okay, forget it." Seeing Leng Yaozhu hesitate, Lin Xiu didn't press her. It didn't matter; next time he got a chance to enter the Spirit Ascension Platform, he'd figure something out.

Seeing him turn to leave, Leng Yaozhu couldn't help calling after him. "What's your Soul Power Level?"

"Level thirty-seven."

"What?"

The three of them were stunned. Leng Yaozhu prided herself on being a genius, yet she was only level thirty-four. And this boy was already level thirty-seven. Where had this monster come from?

"I understand." Leng Yaozhu nodded. "You can bring one more person. See you this afternoon." With that, she turned and left, without another word.

Lin Xiu was a little surprised she had agreed. In that case, he really did have to go get someone. He immediately turned around and headed back to the hotel to get ready.

Inside the Sea of Consciousness, Lin Nuo was examining the changes to his Throne of Time when Lin Xiu's voice sounded behind him. "Ano, I've got a big job. You in?"

"Tell me." Lin Nuo didn't turn around; he let Lin Xiu continue.

"I'm going to the Spirit Ascension Platform this afternoon. You coming?"

"?" Lin Nuo immediately tore his gaze away, hopped down from his Throne of Time, and looked at Lin Xiu. "How did you get in?"

"I guess I got lucky." Lin Xiu recounted everything that had happened that morning.

After hearing him out, Lin Nuo was tempted, but a problem soon arose. "How am I supposed to get there?"

"Aren't you time itself? Try using my existence as an anchor in the past and see if you can travel through. If it doesn't work, never mind." Lin Xiu offered his suggestion. "It's just a little experiment, anyway."

He wanted to see if Ano could travel through time using this method. If so, it meant the others could exist within the timeline too. If it failed, no harm done; they were only testing it.

Lin Nuo nodded and immediately gave it a try.