Shadow Soul Skill, Looking for a Woman?

Chen Jianjun had intended to fleece the other party from the very start.

How could he possibly relax his conditions?

Chen Jianjun's expression remained utterly calm, his eyes devoid of any ripples: "If you find it difficult, Sect Master Ning, the door is right over there!"

Pointing toward the entrance, Chen Jianjun made it clear he was done talking.

Seeing this, Ning Buqun struggled to steady his emotions.

"In that case, Your Excellency, would you allow us some time to consider?" Ning Buqun could not afford to lose his decorum, his tone already appearing incredibly mild.

But who was Chen Jianjun? How could he not see through it?

He spoke softly: "Very well."

Ning Buqun and his party rose to their feet: "In that case, many thanks, Your Excellency."

"We have disturbed you greatly today; please forgive us, Your Excellency."

Chen Jianjun didn't care; he disliked these tedious formalities and waved his hand, paying them no further mind.

Once Ning Buqun and his group had departed, Chen Jianjun finally chuckled.

"Xin'er, oh Xin'er, it seems letting you follow that boy was the right move after all."

Chen Jianjun felt fortunate that he had hesitated back then; otherwise, there would be no Chen Xin as he was today.

To be able to suppress a Soul Elder without even using his martial soul—his son had truly shown promise.

"Since you have made your move, then I, as your father, will naturally lend a hand. The faction you have set your sights on, your father shall protect."

"Two and a half years from now, I hope you do not disappoint me, Xu Xiao."

"Otherwise, my wrath is something you will not be able to withstand."

Chen Jianjun muttered to himself while looking toward the gate; it wasn't arrogance, but rather the confidence that came with his strength.

Ning Buqun and his party left the territory of the Chen Family, their faces grim throughout the journey. No one dared to speak, and they returned to the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect in silence.

Clearly, Ning Buqun had conceded; he no longer intended to pursue the matter of an alliance with the Chen Family.

As for the Ye Family, he would have to put that aside for now; he had no choice but to wait.

Ning Buqun was out of options.

As for joining forces with the Clear Sky Sect? He would never do something as foolish as inviting a wolf into his house.

The Clear Sky Sect was far more troublesome than the Chen Family; whether the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect would even exist afterward was another matter entirely.

Perhaps they would only end up as the fifth subordinate sect—the Ning Sect!

The Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan? They were not much different from the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, so Ning Buqun didn't even consider them.

The Heaven Dou Empire was the same; just look at whether they would dare to take a single sword strike from Chen Jianjun.

Xu Xiao and his companions were unaware of the matters concerning the Chen Family and the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.

Even Chen Xin, the person directly involved, was in the dark.

At this moment, the three brothers of Xu Xiao appeared within the Star Dou Forest, specifically near the edge of the forest closest to the Shrek Academy of the original timeline.

"Big Brother, why aren't we heading straight for the depths instead of coming here?"

Gui Mei did not quite understand; since they could have gone directly to their destination, why take such a long detour?

"Coming here is just to try our luck."

Xu Xiao did not hide his intentions; it was indeed just to try his luck.

With plenty of time on his hands, Xu Xiao naturally wanted to seize every resource he could get his hands on; he didn't want to let anything slip by.

"Luck? Big Brother, Second Brother, the three of us have never had good luck."

"Back at school, the three of us were always on our own, and we encountered every bit of bad luck imaginable."

Yue Guan truly felt their luck was poor, and he wasn't just being pessimistic.

Xu Xiao himself felt the same; look at other transmigrators—which one of them didn't have a cultivation speed that soared through the roof, or find spirit bones the moment they encountered a spirit beast?

Unlike himself, who had already killed two and yet hadn't encountered a single spirit bone.

Their luck was indeed a bit lacking.

"It's fine, Third Brother. It's not like we have to find one, right?"

"Our main goal is still ten-thousand-year spirit beasts."

Xu Xiao had a good mindset and didn't force things; at worst, he would just come back to sweep the area once his strength was greater.

"Big Brother is right. To gain is my fortune, to lose is my fate; one cannot be too demanding."

"Third Brother, our luck is actually very good. Otherwise, how could we have met Big Brother?"

Gui Mei explained to Yue Guan, causing Yue Guan to burst into laughter: "That's right, that's right! Meeting Big Brother is the greatest stroke of luck."

"Our luck as brothers isn't bad at all!"

Xu Xiao laughed as well; with brothers like these, this life was worth it.

The three of them stopped wasting words and began their search.

"Big Brother, watch this."

As Gui Mei spoke, two soul rings lit up beneath his feet: one purple, one black.

"Second Soul Skill: Man is not Ghost, Ghost is not Soul—Human Ghost Shadow Soul!"

Following the activation of Gui Mei's soul skill, two black silhouettes emerged from the shadows of Xu Xiao and Yue Guan.

These silhouettes were identical in size to Xu Xiao and Yue Guan.

Xu Xiao and Yue Guan had never asked about Gui Mei's soul skills; Xu Xiao had only helped Gui Mei add his second soul ring while they were on the road a week ago.

They had been too busy traveling to ask back then.

"Second Brother, how is this soul skill exactly the same as me? It's just a different color."

Yue Guan curiously touched his own silhouette, feeling no difference at all.

Gui Mei explained, "Big Brother, Third Brother, this second soul skill of mine can summon silhouettes identical to you from your shadows."

"It's just that these silhouettes only possess ten percent of your strength."

"Since I am currently a two-ring Soul Grand Master, I can only summon two."

Xu Xiao asked, "Second Brother, can the ability of these shadows increase as your own strength improves?"

Gui Mei shook his head, "No, Big Brother, it will always be ten percent of the original's strength."

Xu Xiao felt it was a bit of a pity; if only it could grow alongside their strength.

But Gui Mei added, "Big Brother, even though it's only ten percent, they are under my control. If they put on black robes, they'd be perfect helpers for robbing and looting."

"And if we can't win a fight, we can summon them to block for us!"

Hearing this, Xu Xiao smiled amusedly, "That is true."

Yue Guan asked, "Second Brother, can this soul skill of yours only summon human shadows?"

Gui Mei shook his head, "Naturally not; it works for both humans and *Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast*s."

"It's just that they only have the strength; they can't perform sacrifices or anything like that. They are essentially just extra thugs."

The two nodded; that made sense. If they could force a soul beast to sacrifice itself, that would be heaven-defying.

If they let Gui Mei create a shadow of a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast and then controlled it to sacrifice itself, even ten percent of a hundred-thousand-year beast would be ten thousand years.

That would be an absolute windfall.

However, it wasn't possible; they could only serve as thugs or puppets.

Other than that, there was nothing else to it.

"Big Brother, tell me, which soul beast are we looking for?"

"I'll have these two silhouettes search for it while we head elsewhere."

Gui Mei patted his chest, happy to finally be of help to his Big Brother. Previously, it had always been the Third Brother helping out, while he was relegated to keeping watch.

Now that this soul skill had appeared, there was much more he could do.

Xu Xiao laughed, "Look for a Man Faced Demon Spider, and look for a woman of considerable age."

A... a woman?

"Big Brother, I can understand looking for a Man Faced Demon Spider."

"But you're looking for a woman? Are you trying to find us a sister-in-law?"

"This is good, this is great! Second Brother, hurry up!"