"Mimi... what... did you just say?"
Ye Qiong's voice trembled almost imperceptibly. He thought he must have misheard.
"Mimi... hap...py... Mimi..."
The fluffy pink ball lifted her little face and looked at Ye Qiong with her clear, pure, wide eyes. Once again, she stammered out those two distinct syllables.
This time, Ye Qiong heard her perfectly.
Mimi could make simple sounds now!
Ye Qiong leaped straight into the air, overwhelming joy surging through his mind.
He excitedly picked Mimi up and spun around several times.
"Mimi! You can finally talk! That's wonderful! Wonderful!"
Now that Mimi could make simple sounds, it proved she would definitely be able to speak in the future—and might even recover her memories and return to her original form!
To him, this was ten thousand times more exciting than earning millions, or even hundreds of millions, of Emotion Points.
"Mimi! Mimi!"
As Ye Qiong spun her around in his arms, Mimi happily waved her little paws and squealed with delight.
It took Ye Qiong a good while to calm down.
He immediately opened the system panel, his eyes fixed on the status column for his First Martial Soul, "Mimi."
Sure enough, a brand-new progress bar had appeared beneath the Martial Soul information.
[Martial Soul: Mimi (One Star, can only make simple sounds)] [To evolve to Two Stars (can say simple words and phrases): 0/100000 Emotion Points] [To evolve to Three Stars (can speak fluently): Locked]
Seeing that number, Ye Qiong sucked in a sharp breath.
One hundred thousand Emotion Points!
Evolving from one star to two would take a full hundred thousand Emotion Points—the same price as a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring!
He had thought Mimi would evolve naturally as he cultivated.
Now it seemed he had been far too naive. Relying on cultivation alone would be a mere drop in the ocean.
If he wanted Mimi to grow quickly and return to her former self as Cyrene, he would still have to rely on the ultimate weapon: Emotion Points.
"One hundred thousand it is. They're just Emotion Points. I'll earn them!"
Ye Qiong clenched his fists, determination blazing in his eyes once more.
With the threefold bonus, he could earn a hundred thousand Emotion Points by dropping two or three more revelations.
He checked the mission rewards built into the system as well.
When the Group Owner accepted missions, he could earn additional Emotion Points. The Stellar Jade he received could also be exchanged at a rate of ten Emotion Points per Jade.
"Once I get out, I can start taking on a few missions, too."
Ye Qiong's gaze shifted to the group chat's level.
[Group Chat Level: LV3 (Still some way to go before LV4)]
First of all, Level Four would provide a fourfold Emotion Point bonus.
His current threefold bonus was already pretty good, but with a fourfold bonus after leveling up, he would earn points even faster.
As for the other features, he saw that Level Four would let him invite another batch of newcomers to the group and unlock livestreaming.
Livestreaming would be a great feature!
Recording videos in separate segments was too much trouble. Livestreaming would be more convenient.
With livestreaming, he could keep track of the plot as it unfolded and guide the group members' emotions in real time. The Emotion Points would come pouring in!
"It looks like my top priority is figuring out how to raise the group chat's level."
Ye Qiong settled on his next goal.
The next day, the Shrek group set off in earnest, heading toward the Star Dou Forest.
They traveled at an incredible pace, covering more than four hundred kilometers in a single day (their feet are faster than cars—insane).
When night fell, they arrived at a small town.
The town wasn't large, but it was close to the Star Dou Forest, so Soul Masters came and went in a steady stream, making it quite lively.
Zhao Wuji picked a hotel that looked reasonably clean, booked several rooms, and led everyone to the restaurant for dinner.
The Shrek group gathered around a table. Ma Hongjun waved a hand and ordered a whole tableful of dishes. Just as they were about to dig in, eight people from Canghui Academy walked in...
[First Cute Bunny: I recorded the first part. I'll post it in the group so you can see what Dai Mubai and the others are like. Just as the Group Owner revealed, all right.]
[Pagoda Suppresses River Demon: We'll record the rest in segments.]
Xiao Wu, Ning Rongrong, and Zhu Zhuqing tacitly left their chopsticks untouched, quietly aiming the group chat at Dai Mubai and Ma Hongjun to record them.
Ma Hongjun stared straight at one of the female students from Canghui Academy and said to Dai Mubai in a low voice, "That girl's pretty good-looking. They're from Canghui Academy, right?"
Dai Mubai gave a disdainful snort. His voice wasn't loud, but it was just loud enough for the Canghui Academy teachers and students at the next table to hear. "What's a puny Canghui Academy got to be so arrogant about?"
[Galaxy Baseball Bat Hero: A classic opening. They're going all out with the trash talk first; getting beaten up later is entirely their own fault.]
[Most Beautiful Pope: Shrek is one of a kind when it comes to raising such ill-mannered juniors.]
[I Am Not Yanzi: I'm waiting to see Dai Mubai get humiliated. After the last revelation, I already thought this guy was a hothead. Xiao Wu, make sure you record clearly. Don't miss him getting beaten up.]
Ye Zhiqiu, the teacher leading Canghui Academy, darkened his expression and murmured a few words to the young man beside him.
The young man immediately stood up. As he passed a server, he deliberately bumped into him, sending the serving tray flying straight toward Dai Mubai's head.
Tang San reacted swiftly, steadying the server with his left hand and catching the tray with his right before setting it gently on the table.
Seeing this, the young man tripped Dai Mubai's chair leg with his foot.
Furious, Dai Mubai struck out with his palm. The young man was sent flying, crashing into the tables and chairs as blood sprayed from his mouth.
The five students from Canghui Academy immediately stood up, but Ye Zhiqiu stopped them. "Which academy are you from?"
"You don't deserve to know." Dai Mubai's sinister eyes flashed, his tone arrogant.
"Teach them a lesson!" Ye Zhiqiu shouted angrily.
The five Canghui students charged at the table. Dai Mubai, Tang San, and Ma Hongjun stood to meet them, while Oscar huddled behind them, getting ready to make his sausages.
Xiao Wu, Ning Rongrong, and Zhu Zhuqing stayed seated, calm as anglers on a quiet lake. After finishing the current clip, they quickly uploaded it and took a moment to check the group chat messages.
[Begonia Blossoms: I just watched the second clip. Xiao Wu, you three didn't step in? You just sat there watching?]
[Galaxy Baseball Bat Hero: They know what happens next. There's no need for them to fight this one; let the boys deal with the consequences themselves.]
[Heavenly King Covers Earth Fox: Without Ning Rongrong's support, Zhu Zhuqing's flanking attacks, or Xiao Wu's interference from the front, they won't last long, will they? Is there more footage?]
On the battlefield, the five Canghui students summoned their Martial Souls, each with the same pair of Soul Rings: one white and one yellow.
Dai Mubai, Tang San, and Ma Hongjun summoned their Martial Souls as well. Dai Mubai had two yellow and one purple Soul Ring, Ma Hongjun had two yellow, and Tang San had two yellow.
They had expected to overpower their opponents easily, but without Xiao Wu's close-range pressure and Zhu Zhuqing's flanking attacks, the three quickly fell into a disadvantage.
[First Cute Bunny: I recorded it and posted it in the group. Look how hard Dai Mubai's struggling. He totally brought this on himself. Hehe.]
Before you continue