Zhu Zhuqing's Confession

"Indeed, under normal circumstances, Zhuqing would certainly be no match for Dai Mubai. However, the unique aspect of my martial soul is that it can grant certain enhancements to the mimicked figures. Zhuqing should be the one who sees it most clearly; the mimicked version is faster and stronger than you in both speed and power."

Ye Xuan did not hide anything regarding the nature of his martial soul.

As long as he did not reveal the origin of the martial soul, there was no harm in speaking this way.

"Mm! If only my speed and power could be that fast, that would be wonderful," Zhuqing said with a hint of envy.

"The matter of the broken engagement has been resolved for you; I shall take my leave now," Ye Xuan said, then turned and walked away.

Watching Ye Xuan's departing back, Zhuqing hesitated for a moment, but ultimately gathered the courage to follow him.

She followed Ye Xuan for a distance without saying a word.

Eventually, they reached a secluded area.

Ye Xuan stopped and asked, "Zhuqing, is there something you wish to say?"

"Brother Ye, do you... do you have someone you like?"

After blurting this out, Zhuqing felt as if she had exhausted all her strength, her entire body on the verge of collapse.

Ye Xuan looked at her earnestly, and after a moment of silence, he shook his head: "Not yet."

Could he say who he liked?

It wasn't quite that.

Or rather, he liked those who were beautiful.

He liked all beautiful people, but if asked what he liked about them beyond their beauty?

He had yet to feel anything.

Even regarding Zhuqing, he only felt that she was pleasant to the senses.

Moreover, Zhuqing was still young, so it was impossible for him to tell her that he liked her.

Although he knew that people in this world matured early and that ordinary people married much younger than in his previous life, he was, after all, a transmigrator. Unless one were a pedophile, it was impossible to say things like "I like you" to someone her age.

If it were Qian Renxue or Bibi Dong asking him now, he might have said it.

Hearing Ye Xuan's answer, a wave of joy washed over Zhuqing's heart.

She had been worried that Ye Xuan already had someone he liked, perhaps a childhood sweetheart or the like.

If there was no one, it meant she still had a chance.

"Brother Ye, then may I like you?" Zhuqing asked.

"Eh?" Ye Xuan hadn't expected her to be so bold. He paused for a moment, then smiled and said, "You may! If you still like me when you grow up, I will accept you."

"Okay!" Zhuqing smiled sweetly, causing Ye Xuan to lose his focus for a brief moment.

It wasn't that Zhuqing was exceptionally beautiful at this moment, but rather the sense of youth she exuded.

It made Ye Xuan feel as if he had returned to his school days in his previous life.

Such a beautiful feeling was already a distant memory for him.

After saying this, Zhuqing trotted away.

Ye Xuan returned to his room and, after a while, continued reading his books.

In the blink of an eye, three days passed.

At noon that day, Flender came to find Ye Xuan.

"Young Master Ye, I am planning to take these students to the Soto City Great Spirit Arena. Would you like to join us?" Flender asked, getting straight to the point.

"To the Great Spirit Arena? Certainly! I was just planning to go and see the Soto City Great Spirit Arena for myself," Ye Xuan said.

He had been in Soto City for some time, but he had yet to step inside the Great Spirit Arena.

After all, he had spent the previous few days listening to music in the pleasure houses.

These past few days, he had been occupied with reading books related to martial souls.

"Good, then we shall set off together tomorrow," Flender said.

The next day.

Early in the morning, Ye Xuan set off with them toward the Soto City Great Spirit Arena.

Upon arriving outside the arena, it was only natural for Flender to provide some explanations to Tang San and the others.

Once the explanations were finished, he led them inside the Great Spirit Arena to register and sign up for the competition.

Ye Xuan remained in a room with Flender and the others.

Flender couldn't help but ask curiously, "Young Master Ye, are you not interested in participating?"

"I only have one spirit ring; I fear I wouldn't even be able to register," Ye Xuan said.

"With Young Master Ye's strength, wouldn't hunting a spirit beast be an easy task? Why do you only have one spirit ring?" Flender asked, puzzled.

Flender dared to ask this because, through his observations of Ye Xuan over the past few days, he had discovered that Ye Xuan was not the type of person to be overbearing.

On the contrary, he was quite easy to talk to.

As long as one did not provoke him, he was a refined and easygoing young master.

"Because my martial soul is somewhat different from others, the way I obtain spirit rings is also different from the average person," Ye Xuan said.

"Oh!" Flender did not press the matter further.

After all, digging any deeper would involve Ye Xuan's secrets.

Prying into the secrets of a powerhouse whose background was unknown was an extremely dangerous thing to do.

"Let's go, let's head out and watch the spirit fights," Flender said with a smile, changing the subject.

"Alright, I also intend to go and see for myself," Ye Xuan said as he stood up to join Flender.

Once outside, Ye Xuan watched the people in the spirit fighting arena using their martial souls, and by combining this with the books on martial souls he had read over the past few days, he began to rapidly deduce in his mind.

He deduced how these people could maximize the power of their martial souls, how many years of spirit rings they could accommodate, and where the upper limits of their cultivation lay.

Of course, Ye Xuan knew that he hadn't read enough books yet, so his deductions were certainly not perfectly accurate, but he felt they were about seventy percent correct.

To increase the accuracy, he needed to learn more.

Just as they were watching intently, they saw Dai Mubai walking over from a distance, saying to Flender, "Dean, the match for Tang San and the others is about to begin."

"Good, let's go see how they perform," Flender said with a chuckle.

Dai Mubai glanced at Ye Xuan but said nothing, merely following silently behind Flender.

Ye Xuan followed them over as well; the battles involving the students of Shrek Academy did not result in any surprises, essentially playing out just as they had in the original story.

However, during the duo battle between Tang San and Xiao Wu, Ye Xuan noticed some issues.

Tang San seemed somewhat hesitant in his use of his martial soul.

Although they ultimately won with ease, Ye Xuan had seen Tang San's problem.

After all the battles had concluded, on the way back, Zhu Zhuqing ran over to find Ye Xuan.

She smiled and asked, "Brother Ye, did you watch my match today?"

"I did. You fought very well, though it would be even better if you could improve in a few areas," Ye Xuan said.

"What areas?" Zhu Zhuqing asked eagerly.

Being able to receive guidance from Ye Xuan was, to her, a double blessing.

"During the process of closing the distance, you need to pay attention to..."

Ye Xuan proceeded to explain the issues he had observed in Zhu Zhuqing's performance in detail.

He saw Zhu Zhuqing's problems most clearly because his first spirit skill was 'Mimic: Zhu Zhuqing', and he understood better than anyone how her spirit skills should be utilized.

As Zhu Zhuqing listened, her admiration for Ye Xuan grew even deeper.

She realized that the issues Ye Xuan pointed out were indeed the very problems she was currently facing.

If she could resolve them all, her strength would see a massive improvement.

Before they knew it, they had returned to the academy.

Not long after Ye Xuan returned to his room, he heard a knock at the door.

Then, Tang San's voice came from outside: "Young Master Ye, are you free?"