Curiosity Killed the Cat, Wen Ruan Steals Food

Not long after.

It was still the same patch of woods behind the academy.

Lin Yan was currently heating the thousand-year Whale Glue in his hands.

Wen Ruan had draped a dark coat over her light blue pajamas. Whether it was because of the night chill or something else, she looked more like a big sister from next door now.

Lin Yan couldn't help but steal a few glances. He realized that although this senior sister had the face of a cold beauty and a slender waist, other parts of her seemed slightly plump.

For instance, her hips...

Standing at a height of 1.2 meters, Lin Yan's line of sight, when facing the nearly 1.8-meter-tall Wen Ruan, fell right at her waist.

He hadn't noticed it when she wore long dresses, but now, accentuated by her pajamas, her silhouette was roughly revealed.

That voluptuous, healthy beauty was something many thin women lacked.

It was also this kind of beauty that was more likely to stir desire...

"What exactly is this thing you're eating? Is it for assisting cultivation?"

Wen Ruan's curious voice suddenly interrupted Lin Yan's thoughts. He snapped back to reality, hurriedly shifting his gaze away from her waist, and replied.

"Yeah! Something like that, my own secret recipe."

The young girl continued to press him.

"I've noticed you've grown quite a bit lately. Is it because of this?"

Lin Yan didn't answer this time, as he didn't want to tell anyone he didn't trust about the secret of the Whale Glue; after all, the stakes were too high.

But clearly, Wen Ruan wasn't going to let it go. After several months of getting along, the two had become quite familiar with each other.

Seeing Lin Yan come to her twice to ask for help while consuming that substance, combined with the fact that his aura had become significantly more powerful over the past two months, she subconsciously assumed that the transparent, gelatinous mass was definitely a treasure.

Holding this thought, the girl looked at Lin Yan with sparkling eyes.

"Hey... can you let me have a taste of what you have there?"

Lin Yan raised his eyes, a hint of surprise in his gaze.

But he quickly relaxed; it was probably just the girl's curiosity.

"You probably wouldn't like the taste, so forget it."

As he spoke, Lin Yan swallowed the now-melted Whale Glue in one gulp, leaving nothing behind.

Seeing this, Wen Ruan pouted, the expectation in her eyes turning into disappointment, and she turned her head away as if sulking.

"Tch~"

"Stingy."

However, despite calling him stingy, when she saw that Lin Yan's body had begun to heat up, she still activated her first soul skill.

At this, Lin Yan silently raised his estimation of this senior sister.

She was somewhat like a person with a sharp tongue but a soft heart!

Essentially kind-hearted, she was an innocent and lively girl. If there was a chance, he could try to save her; after all, it was a living life.

Lin Yan knew that six years later, there was no such person as Wen Ruan at Shrek Academy. In the original story, neither Ma Hongjun nor anyone else had ever mentioned this senior sister; they only spoke of the many students who died on the path to becoming powerful soul masters.

Thinking about it, if not for his intervention, tomorrow's soul-hunting mission would be the day of Wen Ruan's death.

Sigh~

How could a soul skill that only provided cooling, or at most a slowing effect, possibly hunt a hundred-year soul beast alone?

Shrek Academy! Flender, Zhao Wuji... you really do harm people deeply.

Time passed quickly.

Late at night, Lin Yan had already refined all the thousand-year Whale Glue he had, leaving only the final ten-thousand-year quality piece.

In Lin Yan's memory, after Huo Yuhao consumed ten-thousand-year Whale Glue, his soul power increased by nearly a full rank, and it directly raised his body's limit for absorbing soul rings by a full thousand years.

In other words, setting aside the thousand-year Whale Glue he had already consumed, this single piece of ten-thousand-year Whale Glue was enough to allow him to successfully absorb a thousand-year first ring.

Thinking this, Lin Yan's eyes were instantly filled with excitement.

Without another word, he began to circulate his evil fire at full strength, roasting the Whale Glue in his hands.

The melting process of the ten-thousand-year Whale Glue was not smooth. Although the temperature of Lin Yan's evil fire was high, his total soul power was limited. He had to stop and recover several times before he could melt the entire piece.

"It's truly no ordinary object; the melting process alone was this strenuous."

"I hope your effects will be equally extraordinary."

Lin Yan looked up at the sky and saw that it was already the second half of the night; he estimated that dawn would break in an hour or two.

"Whew~ still in time!"

Watching the golden, gelatinous substance in his hand emit a powerful aura, he swallowed hard.

It was clear that the energy of one piece of ten-thousand-year Whale Glue was far more than just the sum of ten pieces of thousand-year Whale Glue.

Out of reverence for the unknown, Lin Yan chose to eat a small half first.

Gulp.

The scalding temperature was wrapped in soul power, flowing down his throat and into his stomach.

The next instant, an incredibly pure, intense heat swept through his entire body. Lin Yan felt as if every corner of his meridians had been set ablaze.

That inexplicable, restless heat frantically stimulated his nerves. Even though he had already found the rhythm for refining the Whale Glue over the past thousand years, he still couldn't help but feel his blood surging.

He was truly grateful that he hadn't consumed all of the ten-thousand-year Whale Glue at once; it was hard to imagine what the consequences would have been otherwise.

Lin Yan dared not be negligent and immediately began to circulate his meditation technique, focusing intently on channeling the medicinal power.

In the clearing.

Seeing his serious expression, Wen Ruan's curiosity, which she had forcibly suppressed earlier, grew even stronger.

The young girl was now certain that what Lin Yan held was definitely something extraordinary; otherwise, there would be no need for this guy to endure such pain while also spending a small fortune to hire her for assistance.

She just wondered how good this thing could actually be.

Recalling the changes in him over the past two months, Wen Ruan moved a little closer to Lin Yan without a sound.

Since the impurities in Lin Yan's body had already been purged, the young man didn't look as disheveled as he had last time, though he was still drenched in sweat.

What on earth is it? Being all mysterious.

To avoid being discovered, Wen Ruan actually knelt before Lin Yan, leaning down and twitching her little nose as she crept toward his hand.

This extremely unladylike posture did allow her to observe that glimmering, golden gelatinous substance, but at the same time, its pungent, fishy odor assaulted her senses.

Ew, so fishy!

How did he manage to swallow that?

The young girl's brows furrowed tightly; the acrid, fishy stench even made her feel slightly dizzy.

Nevertheless, she refused to give up.

Because Lin Yan was afraid the Whale Glue would cool and solidify, he was currently holding it in his palm, continuously heating it with his evil fire.

This provided the perfect opportunity for Wen Ruan.

The young girl gently pinched a tiny piece of the golden gelatinous substance with her fingers and quickly stood up.

Just one taste shouldn't be a problem, right? At worst, I'll just charge him less next time.

Wen Ruan's guilty gaze darted between the Whale Glue and Lin Yan. She knew what she was doing was wrong, but curiosity and a longing for the unknown were the most common traits of a girl her age.

And so, she did it anyway.

Mimicking Lin Yan, Wen Ruan wrapped the Whale Glue in her soul power and swallowed it...