"Hello, Aunt. My mother asked me to bring you some local specialties from Cloud City."
Ye Xi gently set the brocade box she was carrying on the coffee table, then bowed respectfully to Ye Li.
Today she wore a moon-white dress. The cool, proud edge she usually showed at the academy had been tucked away completely, leaving her standing before her elder like a sweet, well-behaved niece. Ye Xinglan stood half a step behind her, wearing a simple, elegant pale blue dress. She lowered her lashes and bowed just as properly. "Hello, Aunt."
Ye Li accepted the box, her smile crinkling the fine lines at the corners of her eyes. She hurriedly invited them to sit, poured tea, and served them pastries. As she chided Ye Xi's mother for being too polite, she took Ye Xinglan's hand and looked her up and down, praising her without pause. "You must be Xinglan, right? When I saw you as a child, you were only this tall. And now, just like that, you're all grown up. You're such a lovely girl."
Ye Xinglan was a little embarrassed by the praise, the tips of her ears turning red. She usually wielded her sword in duels at Shrek Academy without batting an eye, and had never been intimidated even by a Titled Douluo. But now, with a gentle elder holding her hand and fussing over her, she had no idea where to put it.
Fortunately, Ye Xi hurried over to rescue her, animatedly sharing a few stories. Ye Li listened closely, nodding from time to time.
After they had chatted for a while, Ye Xi casually asked, "Aunt, is my cousin home? Xinglan was admitted early to Shrek Academy's inner court this year, and she's one of the best swordswomen among her peers. She'd love to spar with him."
"Of course. I'll call him right now."
So, less than twenty minutes after Ye Li finished her Soul Guidance Communication, two figures appeared at the door.
Ye Xinglan had only wanted to get some practice in again, to find her feel for the sword and regain her confidence. But who could have guessed that this person would be... Shen Nanxun!
In fact, after the battle in Tianhai, Shen Nanxun's identity was no longer a secret. His status as the eldest young master of the Shen Family had made him famous throughout the Soul Master World. But after losing the match, Ye Xinglan had been in no state of mind to pay attention to any of that, so she hadn't known.
At one corner of the Martial Arts Arena,
Shen Nanxun and Ye Xinglan sat on the steps. They weren't fighting. Instead, they had started talking.
"Shen Nanxun, I've thought about a lot of things."
The girl took a deep breath and looked up at him earnestly. "That day in the corridor, you asked me, 'What does Shrek's ten-thousand-year glory have to do with you?' Those words hit me like a brick. From the time I was little, everyone had told me that Shrek was the pinnacle of the Soul Master World, that getting in brought honor to my family, and that studying there meant protecting its glory.
"You were right. I'd only been enrolled for three months, and I already thought I could carry Shrek on my shoulders. Looking back, I really was foolish. No matter how illustrious the academy's name, I'm the one who wields my sword, I'm the one who sweats, and I'm the one who chooses my path. I draw my sword for no one but Ye Xinglan."
"At least you've come to your senses a little." Shen Nanxun casually pointed up at Tianyang in the sky. "What about this time? What is it?"
The girl's eyes were resolute. Without the slightest hesitation, she replied, "I am the sun!"
"You're not Li Xin."
"..."
Ye Xinglan was left speechless. Why did Shen Nanxun always say such strange things? She drew a breath, about to say something, when a sudden burst of footsteps came from the entrance to the Martial Arts Arena. There wasn't just one person. There were three.
Adolf was at the front. For once, he wasn't wearing his crisp, dark military uniform. He had changed into light gray casual clothes, but his trademark short, narrow mustache was still trimmed to perfection, and his back remained as straight as a spear.
Two heads followed behind him. On the left was Na'er, her silver hair topped by a cowlick that stuck straight up. On the right was Dong Yi'an, who had just been dragged back from the beach and still wore his flip-flops.
"Looks like I arrived just in time." Adolf skipped the pleasantries. He was a soldier, and he always got straight to the point. He beckoned Na'er and Dong Yi'an to his side, then casually picked up a wooden sword from the weapon rack. His movements were natural, just like every lesson he had taught them at North Sea Academy over the past four years.
"Shen Nanxun, Ye Xi, Na'er, Dong Yi'an. All four of you came from North Sea Academy under my care. I'm here today in a personal capacity to give you your final lesson. The location is right here, and there's only one subject: live combat. Your opponent is me."
The Martial Arts Arena fell silent for a full breath. The two wooden swords in Dong Yi'an's hands nearly slipped to the ground.
Live combat? Against Adolf?
He was a bona fide Six-Ring Soul Emperor. The strongest among them only had three rings—Shen Nanxun. And Adolf had served in the military for years, with an exceptionally high level of combat skill.
Shen Nanxun didn't need to think twice to know his elder sister had sent Adolf. Otherwise, why would there be a farewell ceremony?
"Teacher A, are you serious?" Dong Yi'an's voice trembled.
"There's no joking around in the legion. There's no time limit and no rules. You're out if you leave the bluestone platform or drop your wooden sword. I'll only use forty percent of my Soul Power."
He paused, his gaze sweeping across the familiar faces before him. "This is your last lesson in North Sea City, and the first lesson I ever taught you. On the battlefield, your enemies won't go easy on you just because you're children. Come on. Show me what you've learned over the past four years."
"Can I join in, too?" Ye Xinglan raised her hand and asked.
"Certainly."
Adolf gave a slight nod. "You're from the Ye Family, and the Stargod Sword is in your hands. You're no worse than any of them."
Ye Xinglan took a deep breath and rested her hand on her sword hilt, battle intent igniting in her eyes. Ye Xi also summoned the Star Saint Sword and took her place beside her.
Adolf held out his right hand, and a dark blue banner condensed in his palm. Its pole was long and slender, and its face rippled without a breeze, traced with fine, dark blue patterns. It was the Banner of Command.
The six Soul Rings beneath his feet lit up all at once. He raised a hand and lightly tapped the flagpole. Several dark blue halos flew from the banner and landed precisely on him. His strength, speed, and defense all increased. With the three halos stacked together, his aura surged.
"Your enemies on the battlefield won't wait for you to get ready." He raised his wooden sword and pointed it at the group. "Attack first. Don't make me take the first move."
Ye Xinglan was the first to act. She targeted Adolf's left flank, the side from which he held the Banner of Command. Since he had only just activated his enhancements, the defense on his left should have been the weakest.
Adolf stayed calm. He shifted his wooden sword sideways by half an inch, the tip striking the point on the Star Saint Sword's spine where its force was most dispersed. Ye Xinglan felt a gentle force travel up her blade, and her sword's momentum veered off course by three degrees. At the same time, he turned the flagpole in his left hand, and the banner wrapped around the Star Saint Sword thrusting in from the flank—Ye Xi's sword.
He brushed aside both girls' attacks in the same instant.
"Good teamwork, but not good enough."
Na'er's Silver Dragon Spear had already circled behind him without a sound, its tip stabbing straight toward his lower back. Adolf didn't turn around. He flicked the trailing end of the banner with his left hand, striking the side of the spearhead and knocking its thrust off course.
Dong Yi'an charged from the front, thrusting his Sky Wolf Spear with all his Soul Power. He knew he was the weakest, so he held nothing back. But Adolf didn't even use his sword. He sidestepped, letting the spearhead graze past his chest, and lightly tapped Dong Yi'an's back with his wooden sword. Dong Yi'an stumbled forward seven or eight steps and plunged headfirst into the sand pit beside the weapon rack.
"Don't rush. Again."
Ye Xinglan attacked from the front, Ye Xi supported her from the left, Dong Yi'an held the right, and Na'er circled around in search of an opening. The four of them pressed in together, forming a fan.
But Adolf's wooden sword was like an invisible wall. Every strike was gentle, yet landed precisely where it would throw each of them off balance.
Ye Xinglan had only just begun her attack when his sword tapped her a few inches above the wrist. Ye Xi had barely formed an ice wall with the Star Saint Sword when he shattered it with one kick. The banner wrapped around Dong Yi'an's Sky Wolf Spear, then flung him and his weapon out of the fighting area.
No one could last three moves against him.
Shen Nanxun had been waiting. He could tell Adolf wasn't simply defending. He was using his wooden sword to feed each of them moves, and every opening he exposed was a weakness they hadn't even noticed in their usual training. Shen Nanxun turned his head. Na'er happened to look at him too. Four years spent together day and night had built a rapport that needed no words.
Na'er circled behind Adolf again. The angle and force of her thrust with the Silver Dragon Spear were exactly the same as before. Adolf's banner-tail followed its established momentum as he flicked it back.
But this time, Na'er didn't use the force to flip away. The moment the banner-tail touched the spearhead, she twisted her wrist, winding the shaft around it. At the same time, Shen Nanxun beat his golden wings and shot into the open space in front of Adolf like a golden meteor.
"Now!" Shen Nanxun held the Golden Dragon Spear in his left hand, while Na'er stood behind him, her Silver Dragon Spear wrapped around the banner-tail. Two dragon shadows appeared above the Martial Arts Arena. A golden Dragon King phantom and a silver Dragon King raised their heads in unison, roaring so fiercely it shook the heavens.
Their combination attack, Twin Dragon Break!
It was simply a combination attack, not a Martial Soul Fusion Skill.
Adolf's pupils contracted. Almost instinctively, he shook the entangled banner-tail, wrenching it free of the Silver Dragon Spear, and raised his wooden sword across his chest. He poured all the Soul Power he could muster at forty percent of a Six-Ring Soul Emperor's strength into the sword. Dark blue Soul Power formed a layer of protection as hard as steel across its surface.
Twin Dragon Break crashed into the wooden sword. In that instant, the sword let out a sharp creak under the strain. The dark blue protective layer shattered inch by inch, and cracks raced from the tip to the hilt. Then the sword exploded into a shower of splinters.
The shockwave drove Adolf back three full steps. He only managed to regain his footing when his back struck the Old Locust Tree at the edge of the Martial Arts Arena.
He looked at his empty right hand, then down at the wooden sword fragments scattered across the bluestone, crushed to splinters by the power of the twin dragons. After a moment's silence, he raised his head and looked at Shen Nanxun and Na'er.
"Not bad. At forty percent Soul Power, I still couldn't protect this wooden sword. You've won your final lesson."
"But congratulations as well on unlocking the second stage!"
"Presenting His Excellency Yuetian!"
"!!!!(×5)"
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