Zhu Zhuqing

"Are children of fortune really this unreasonable?"

After hearing Huo Yuhao describe his first Soul Skill, even Ye Guchen could only shake his head and sigh.

"Even though I intercepted the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm ahead of time, Huo Yuhao's first Soul Skill is still Spiritual Detection and Sharing!"

Looking at Huo Yuhao, whose gaze burned as he stared at him, Ye Guchen couldn't help but feel a measure of admiration.

"Perhaps he's still worth investing in! At the very least, I can use his luck to draw Tang San's attention first."

At this point, Huo Yuhao had no emotional connection with Ye Guchen whatsoever. If he still had value to offer, then he was worth investing in.

Ye Guchen gently patted his shoulder and gave him a fair assessment.

"Not bad! That's a pretty good support-type Soul Skill. But paired with an offensive Soul Tool, it'll be able to show off its strengths even more! It'll be like giving a missile a pair of eyes!"

Though Ye Guchen's analysis was right on the mark, Huo Yuhao wore a bitter expression.

"But... but how could I possibly afford a Soul Tool?"

Ye Guchen had indeed forgotten about that. Since he'd already decided to invest in Huo Yuhao, he might as well give him another hand. Besides, making money was ridiculously easy for Ye Guchen. He only had to trade goods between Dou I and Dou II to make a net profit of several million!

He casually took out a Gold Soul Coin card and handed it to Huo Yuhao.

"I can recommend you to study Soul Tools at Shrek Academy. If you agree, then the one hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins on this card can count as startup capital that I'm lending you. Once you've earned some money, you can pay me back."

Ye Guchen knew that Huo Yuhao had a strong sense of pride. Giving him the money outright would hurt that pride, so it was better to call it a loan. That way, it would still serve as an investment, and Huo Yuhao would find it easier to accept.

Though Huo Yuhao really wanted to study at Shrek Academy, and was fascinated by the offensive Soul Tools Ye Guchen had mentioned, he still refused to accept the money, afraid he would let Ye Guchen down.

"Brother Guchen, I..."

Ye Guchen raised a hand to cut him off.

"You may be born ordinary, but you must never resign yourself to mediocrity! I see an unyielding will in your eyes. I trust that I'm not mistaken about you!"

At those words, Huo Yuhao felt as if he'd been injected with adrenaline, and his gaze grew resolute.

"I absolutely won't let you down, Brother Guchen!"

Seeing Huo Yuhao finally accept the Gold Soul Coin card, Ye Guchen allowed himself a rare smile.

"That's more like it."

Then he headed toward the bonfire. As he passed Huo Yuhao, he patted him on the shoulder.

"I've heard that the word 'youth' and 'mediocrity' ought to be at odds. We're both in the prime of our lives, so how could we dare admit defeat?"

Huo Yuyao stood there in a daze, feeling as if his blood had been set ablaze.

"Right! How could I dare admit defeat?"

Ye Guchen saw the resolve in his eyes too, and knew that the young man had been given a new lease on life.

The next day, after they hunted a thousand-year Mandala Snake for Tang Ya to use as her third Soul Ring,

the four of them returned to Shrek Academy.

Just as in the original story, Huo Yuhao still joined the Tang Sect, and Ye Guchen didn't stop him. After all, although the Mysterious Heaven Skill was incomplete, it would definitely help Huo Yuhao a great deal. Those Hidden Weapons would also give him plenty of fresh ideas for making Soul Tools.

The Dou I timeline.

Ye Guchen had already soothed the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm and gotten it to stay obediently in his Martial Soul Space.

At that moment, he was riding in a carriage toward the Star Dou Great Forest.

Because of the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm's sacrifice, the Soul Power of both of Ye Guchen's bodies had reached level fifty. The Soul Rings for his Dou II body came from contracted Soul Beasts, which would be troublesome to find. Moreover, powerful Soul Beasts usually lived near other powerful Soul Beasts, so he would still need to go to Shrek for backup.

As for the Martial Soul of his Dou I body, all he needed was a Soul Beast that suited his Sword Martial Soul and was the right age. He could handle a Soul Beast of around thirty thousand years on his own—indeed, he had no choice but to handle it alone.

So Ye Guchen had deliberately changed his route to hunt for his fifth Soul Ring first.

Once the carriage reached the outskirts of the Star Dou Great Forest, Ye Guchen had no choice but to continue on foot, since there was no road leading deep into the forest.

Before he had gone very far into the Star Dou Great Forest, Ye Guchen spotted a female Soul Master in a black leather outfit, with a figure so good it was almost criminal, fleeing toward him in a sorry state.

"My dear little sister, you'd better come back with me obediently!"

A more mature woman pursued her from behind. Looking closely, Ye Guchen saw that Zhu Zhuyun was deliberately controlling her speed, keeping a consistent distance from Zhu Zhuqing as the latter fled.

Oddly enough, the Soul Masters hunting Zhu Zhuqing were all at least one major rank above her, yet they deliberately kept their distance. Even their attacks were carefully aimed away from her vitals.

"So it's these two sisters, bound by a cruel fate. They're clearly so close, yet some ridiculous rule about competition forces them to turn against each other. What a joke."

Ye Guchen activated his first Soul Skill, Spiritual Detection, and watched with interest as a supposed pursuit unfolded into an escort mission.

The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm's sacrifice had also given Ye Guchen four Soul Skills, and they were no different from the ones Huo Yuhao had gained in the original story.

However, for Ye Guchen, these were undoubtedly the best Soul Skills. Once Spiritual Detection and Sharing were activated, he and his pet beasts would be able to survey the whole battlefield.

With multiple pet beasts, they could precisely coordinate and distribute their firepower across the field.

By now, Zhu Zhuqing had fled right in front of Ye Guchen, mistaking him for one of the Soul Masters her sister had sent to hunt her down.

She immediately launched an attack at him.

Claws sprang from her fingertips and shot straight toward Ye Guchen's face.

But every move she made was already under Ye Guchen's control. He only needed to take a slight step back to evade her attack.

When Zhu Zhuqing saw that her attack had missed, she immediately launched another. But her Soul Power was now severely depleted, and she couldn't even use her Soul Skills. All she could manage were basic attacks.

Ye Guchen dodged one after another.

"You're so unreasonable! Why are you attacking me as soon as you see me?"

Hearing that, Zhu Zhuqing noticed something was off. The handsome young man in front of her had only been dodging and showed no intention of attacking. Only then did she realize she'd mistaken Ye Guchen for an enemy.

She apologized several times, then hurriedly prepared to resume her escape.

Zhu Zhuyun, who was chasing after her, also noticed the disturbance ahead. It seemed her younger sister had encountered an enemy.

"Not good! Zhuqing is almost out of Soul Power. She's in danger!"

She immediately ordered her subordinates to speed up.

Just as Zhu Zhuqing was about to leave, Zhu Zhuyun and the others caught up and surrounded her and Ye Guchen.

"Damn! Looks like I won't escape today!"

Zhu Zhuqing seemed to have accepted that this was the end of her road.

Dragging her exhausted body, she approached Zhu Zhuyun, her gaze resolute and unyielding.

"I accept that I'll die today! But he's innocent. Please let him go!"