Mu Guiyun shook his head slightly. But with Mu En's cultivation and spiritual power, he had probably discovered everything long ago.
"This..."
Hearing this, Xuan Zi's face instantly grew awkward. He looked at the enormous chicken leg he'd been longing for, hesitated for a long while, and finally chose to put it down.
"No, no! Without Mu En's permission, I can't just eat whatever I want!"
Xuan Zi swallowed, forcing down the urge rising from deep within his Martial Soul.
Mu Guiyun wasn't surprised in the least. After all, in Xuan Zi's heart, Mu En mattered most. Even Shrek Academy had to take a back seat.
If he didn't know Xuan Zi's preferences were perfectly normal, Mu Guiyun would have suspected that Xuan Zi had a secret crush on Mu En...
Seeing this, Mu Guiyun could only switch on his powers of persuasion and coax him patiently. "Elder Xuan, don't worry. With Teacher's cultivation, he discovered you long ago. He just chose not to stop you."
"Is that really so?"
Xuan Zi swallowed, but he still wasn't quite reassured.
Mu Guiyun nodded and continued, "Go ahead and eat. I'll go find Teacher in a bit and ask him to let you out."
"This... Then I won't stand on ceremony!"
At last, after Mu Guiyun talked him around, Xuan Zi could no longer hold back. He grabbed the chicken leg and began devouring it.
Watching Xuan Zi transform into a bottomless pit, Mu Guiyun couldn't help the corners of his mouth curling upward.
Mother Jiang's condition wasn't an ordinary illness. It was caused by lovesickness and years of exhausting labor that had drained her Soul Power.
On top of that, her heart meridians had always been weak. The only way to cure her completely was to take the Black Tortoise Divine Pill. Even a healing-type Titled Douluo couldn't help.
But the Black Tortoise Divine Pill wasn't in circulation on the continent at all. The only way to get one was to trade something precious for it.
And even then, he'd have to call in a favor.
Besides, the Xuanming Sect was no weakling. It had quite a few powerful Titled Douluo among its ranks. That was why Xuan Zi had become the best person in Mu Guiyun's eyes to ask the Xuanming Sect for medicine.
With Shrek Academy's reputation and Xuan Zi's cultivation at Rank 98, as long as they offered treasures of equivalent value, the Xuanming Sect would surely have no reason to refuse.
Now, some of you might be wondering: what if the Xuanming Sect was stubborn enough to say no?
That was the ultimate reason Mu Guiyun had chosen Xuan Zi.
As for asking Mu En, Mu Guiyun hadn't even considered it.
In the hearts of Soul Masters across the continent, the Black and White Holy Dragons, who had once shaken the world, had long since passed away.
Though Xuan Zi was unreliable and couldn't even catch the strongest Soul King, he had one quality that put Mu Guiyun completely at ease: loyalty. In fact, he was so blindly loyal that it bordered on foolishness.
Besides, Xuan Zi might not be able to catch the strongest Soul King, but let's see him try that with a Titled Douluo.
Giant Strength Douluo Cheng Gang was the perfect example.
"Elder Xuan, take your time eating. I'll go ask Teacher to let you out!"
With that, Mu Guiyun left the Meditation Room beneath Xuan Zi's grateful gaze.
He headed straight for Mu En's room. Before he could knock, Mu En's voice came from inside. "Come in."
"Teacher, your disciple is here."
Mu En was as he'd always been, slumped in his wheelchair and looking like a man at death's door.
Feeling the faint signs that Mu Guiyun's Soul Power was on the verge of breaking through, Mu En smiled with satisfaction. "You're here for Xuan Zi?"
Mu Guiyun nodded. He didn't even plan to hide Jiang Nannan's situation, and said frankly, "I'd like to ask Elder Xuan to go to the Xuanming Sect and trade for a Black Tortoise Divine Pill."
The Black Tortoise Divine Pill?
Mu En knew the miraculous medicine well. When he'd been crippled and left paralyzed by his injuries all those years ago, he'd even taken one himself. It just hadn't done him any good.
"Go on, boy. What scheme are you cooking up this time?"
"Heh heh, as expected, nothing gets past you, Teacher."
Mu Guiyun chuckled and laid out all his thoughts at once.
After learning Mu Guiyun's intentions, Mu En smiled with satisfaction and teased him. "You wouldn't happen to have your eye on that girl, would you?"
"How could I? I'm doing all this for the sake of the academy!"
Mu Guiyun wore an expression of righteous conviction, though he did find himself coveting Jiang Nannan's long legs, perfectly proportioned as they were.
"Fine, fine. You're doing it all for the academy."
Mu En smiled and shook his head. Then he took a jade box from his Soul Tool and said, "This is valuable enough to trade for a Black Tortoise Divine Pill. Take it."
Mu Guiyun took the jade box and opened it. What lay inside made his pupils contract.
A deep-blue bone rested quietly within.
A 15,000-Year Black Tortoise Torso Bone!
"Teacher, this is far too valuable! I can't take it!"
Without a second thought, Mu Guiyun refused. The fact that Mu En had taken this Spirit Bone from his own Soul Tool meant it was his personal property.
"Take it. Before long, this Spirit Bone will belong to you anyway."
Seeing Mu Guiyun refuse, Mu En smiled calmly and pushed the Spirit Bone toward him again.
"This... Teacher, thank you."
Mu Guiyun nodded firmly and, under Mu En's gaze, put the Spirit Bone into his Soul Tool.
Only after seeing him accept it did Mu En speak again, his words full of meaning. "Child, remember: giving endlessly doesn't always earn you something in return. Sometimes, it can have the opposite effect."
"But I believe you'll know how to keep things in balance. However..."
However what?
A flicker of confusion crossed Mu Guiyun's eyes. He looked up and saw Mu En beckoning him over with a mysterious expression.
Several months passed in the blink of an eye.
Over those months, apart from cultivating, Mu Guiyun spent nearly all his time in the Soul Tool Laboratory. Of course, he also occasionally discussed the process of interfacing Soul Tools with Xian Lin'er.
The change in Xian Lin'er was obvious. At first, she'd resisted, but little by little she'd come around. Now she even took the initiative, and sometimes agreed to some of Mu Guiyun's rather strange little requests.
At that moment, in Research Room No. 4 of the Spirit Tool Department, Xian Lin'er was studying how to interface Soul Tools with Mu Guiyun. Hearing footsteps drawing closer outside, a hint of panic appeared on her pretty face.
"S-someone's coming!"
As soon as she finished speaking, the laboratory bell rang softly.
"Mm~ W-wait a moment!"
In a fluster, Xian Lin'er straightened her slightly rumpled clothes. Panting, she looked at Mu Guiyun, who was pretending nothing had happened, and shot him a coquettish, resentful glance.
Only after finishing all this did she press the button on the table.
Looking at the person standing not far away, Xian Lin'er smiled warmly and asked, "Oh, it's Hua Ying. Is something the matter?"
The female student called Hua Ying first gave Mu Guiyun a shy glance. Then, blushing, she said, "Hello, Dean Xian. This is my Soul Tool assignment. Please take a look."
After placing the Soul Guidance Array she held on the table, Hua Ying was about to turn and leave when she suddenly caught a whiff of a strange smell.
"All right, I understand. Just leave it here for now."