Friendly Sparring Match with Shrek Academy

The slight sensation of dizziness faded, and Luo Yang's consciousness fully returned to reality.

"Click."

As the cabin door slid open at a steady speed, a gust of cool air rushed in, refreshing his spirit.

Luo Yang stretched, feeling the significant growth in his soul power, and stepped out of the cabin in high spirits.

"How do you feel? Any discomfort?" Leng Yaozhu stepped forward to meet him.

Although the Spirit Ascension Platform was safe, the mental load for a first-time user was not insignificant.

"I feel great, Aunt Leng. The harvest was even better than I expected."

Luo Yang answered with a smile, then shifted his tone, gesturing toward Yuanen Yehui, who was silently tidying her clothes as if preparing to slip away unnoticed.

"Oh, right, Aunt Leng, let me introduce someone to you."

Leng Yaozhu followed his gaze and saw the black-haired girl, whose cold and isolated temperament made her seem entirely out of place with her surroundings.

"Yuanen Yehui," Luo Yang introduced, waving at her.

Yuanen Yehui paused, clearly not expecting Luo Yang to take the initiative to introduce her to Leng Yaozhu.

"This is my Aunt Leng, the Vice Pagoda Master of our Spirit Pagoda, Her Excellency the Heavenly Phoenix Douluo," Luo Yang continued.

Vice Pagoda Master of the Spirit Pagoda!

Her Excellency the Heavenly Phoenix Douluo?!

Yuanen Yehui's pupils constricted.

At that moment, Leng Yaozhu's gaze fell upon her.

Facing Leng Yaozhu's scrutinizing look, Yuanen Yehui did not show any nervousness or awe; instead, she subconsciously straightened her back and lifted her chin slightly.

Her cold, black eyes met the gaze without flinching.

She could feel the vast, ocean-like soul power fluctuations emanating from the woman in the red dress, as well as the invisible pressure that came from long-term authority.

However, her long experience on the fringes had accustomed her to using coldness and toughness to protect herself.

The two women's gazes locked in the air.

One gaze was gentle, the other icy.

A moment later.

Leng Yaozhu suddenly chuckled softly.

Ignoring Yuanen Yehui's prickly attitude, she spoke with a hint of emotion:

"Fallen Angel martial soul... very rare, and very powerful."

Yuanen Yehui's pupils constricted again, her aura turning even colder as she retorted icily, "So what if it is? Do you have an opinion on that?"

Having this identity exposed was her greatest sensitivity.

"Little one, don't be so tense, all covered in thorns," Leng Yaozhu shook her head, her tone remaining gentle.

She truly held no deep-seated prejudice against "Evil Martial Souls" themselves.

Because she had a sister by blood, Leng Yulai, who had awakened the Dark Phoenix, a martial soul classified as evil!

Could she simply execute her own sister as a scourge just because she awakened the Dark Phoenix, preventing potential harm that might occur in the future?

She could not do it. She would never be able to.

In her view, the attributes of a martial soul had no absolute correlation with the character of a soul master.

Her sister, Leng Yulai, was not born evil; they had once been sisters who shared everything and were inseparable.

The reason her sister later joined the Holy Spirit Cult, fell into the path of an Evil Soul Master, and even became the Dark Phoenix Douluo, the Dark Phoenix of the Holy Spirit Cult...

While this was certainly due to Leng Yulai's own paranoia, a large part of the responsibility lay with her, the elder sister.

It was because both sisters had once fallen for the same man—a man as dazzling as the sun who had ultimately chosen Yun Ming.

Jealousy from unrequited love, the rift between sisters, the lack of communication, external pressures... all these factors intertwined, eventually pushing her sister into the Abyss of darkness.

Whenever she thought of this, Leng Yaozhu's heart was filled with endless regret and self-reproach.

Looking at Yuanen Yehui now, who stood like a little hedgehog with all her quills raised, using coldness to mask her fear and loneliness.

Leng Yaozhu felt as if she were seeing the shadow of her sister from years ago.

The girl who was also sensitive and stubborn because of her unique martial soul, longing to be understood yet afraid of being hurt...

The softest part of her heart was touched.

She looked at Yuanen Yehui, her expression turning serious, and slowly made a proposal that surprised both Yuanen Yehui and Luo Yang:

"Yuanen Yehui, would you... be willing to become my disciple?"

The Vice Pagoda Master of the Spirit Pagoda, the Heavenly Phoenix Douluo Leng Yaozhu, wants to take me as her disciple?!

Yuanen Yehui was completely stunned.

She wondered if she had misheard.

A "reserve Evil Soul Master" possessing a Fallen Angel martial soul, being offered an apprenticeship by a titan of the Spirit Pagoda?

She instinctively looked toward Luo Yang, only to see him offer her an encouraging smile that seemed to say, "See? I didn't lie to you."

"Aunt Leng has very high standards; this is a rare opportunity," Luo Yang added at the perfect moment, his tone light and casual.

Immense surprise, long-held yearning, deeply buried anxiety... a storm of emotions collided violently within Yuanen Yehui.

She looked into Leng Yaozhu's eyes, which seemed capable of encompassing everything; there was no hypocritical pity in them, nor any calculating probe.

There was only a sincere invitation and a trace of... a complex emotion she couldn't quite decipher, something akin to "I understand you."

In the end, all her doubts and defenses crumbled before the "recognition" and "acceptance" she had craved for so long.

She nodded forcefully.

"I... am willing!"

The simple two words seemed to exhaust all her strength in that moment, yet they also lifted a portion of the heavy burden from her heart.

"Good!"

The smile on Leng Yaozhu's face bloomed fully, like a blossoming flame rose, bright and dazzling.

"From now on, you are the disciple of me, Leng Yaozhu. In the Spirit Pagoda, you no longer need to live in constant fear. Your martial soul is your talent, not your sin."

She stepped forward and gently embraced Yuanen Yehui: "I will teach you how to control it, how to make it the cornerstone of your strength rather than the shackles that bind you."

Feeling the warmth in the embrace, Yuanen Yehui's heart felt a flicker of movement.

It was a warmth she had never felt before.

Leng Yaozhu, for her part, felt a touch of sentimentality.

For some reason, ever since this child Luo Yang had come to her side, Leng Yaozhu felt as though her luck had been improving.

First, she had found such an unpolished gem of a talent, and now she had encountered a disciple with a resilient spirit and unique gifts whom she couldn't help but want to pull up from the depths...

Could this child, Luo Yang, truly be her little lucky star?

"Aunt Leng, does that mean... I have a little junior sister now?" Luo Yang leaned in, looking at Yuanen Yehui with a grin.

Yuanen Yehui had calmed down slightly from her initial excitement; hearing this, she glanced at him: "I am older than you."

She could tell that Luo Yang was younger.

"Eh, you can't put it that way."

Luo Yang shook his head with a straight face, "For us practitioners, it's all about seniority and the order of arrival. Since I joined Aunt Leng's tutelage first (though he hadn't officially apprenticed yet, he had already assumed the relationship), I am naturally the senior brother. You joined later, so you are the junior sister. That's the rule, understand?"

Watching him deliberately put on the airs of a "senior brother," the corners of Yuanen Yehui's mouth curled up almost imperceptibly before she quickly pressed them into a straight line, turned her head away, and gave a soft huff.

She didn't refute him again, effectively accepting it.

Leng Yaozhu watched the natural interaction between the two, the smile in her eyes deepening.

There was competition, concern, and bickering—this was how young people should be.

She was very happy to see Yuanen Yehui lower her guard slightly in front of Luo Yang.

"Alright, you two, stop arguing about this for now," Leng Yaozhu interrupted the "dispute" between the freshly minted "senior brother and junior sister" at the right moment.

"In a few days, there will be an important event within the Spirit Pagoda."

Her gaze swept across both of them.

"A... friendly exchange match."

"A friendly match?"

Yuanen Yehui blinked, feeling somewhat puzzled.

There were often various sparring matches within the Spirit Pagoda, but for the Vice Pagoda Master to specifically bring it up, it was clearly of a different caliber.

Luo Yang's heart stirred as he thought of something: "Is it a selection tournament held within our Spirit Pagoda?"

"No," Leng Yaozhu shook her head, her tone carrying a hint of complexity, "it is the annual friendly exchange match with Shrek Academy."