Xiao Wu's Choice

"Arrogant! There are countless people in our Spirit Hall stronger than the two of us; dealing with you would be effortless," Chrysanthemum Douluo retorted, his tone stubborn.

"Heh, then let them come. Even if your Pope comes in person, it matters not."

After Ye Xuan finished speaking, he stepped into the air, sword light shimmering beneath his feet. With a flick of his finger, two streaks of sword energy shot directly toward them.

The sword energy traveled with extreme speed, instantly piercing through their shoulders and sending both men plummeting from the sky.

Blood gushed from the wounds on their shoulders, and as they lost the ability to maintain it, the Polar Static Domain collapsed instantly.

Once the domain vanished, those who had been frozen began to recover one by one.

They stared at Ye Xuan in shock, especially Flender and the others, who realized that their understanding of Ye Xuan was far too limited.

Ye Xuan's strength was far greater than they had anticipated.

Ye Xuan drifted down, landing before Chrysanthemum Douluo and Ghost Douluo.

Terrified, the two looked up at him and asked, "Are... are you going to kill us?"

"If I wanted to kill you, you would already be dead. Go back and deliver a message to your Pope: I, Ye Xuan, am right here. If Spirit Hall wants to cause trouble for me, I welcome it at any time. Furthermore, you may try to capture my friend here, but if any harm comes to her, I will hold Spirit Hall responsible. I wonder how many Title Douluo your Spirit Hall has, and how long they can last against me?"

Ye Xuan made no effort to hide his threat. Spirit Hall had schemed against him in those books about spirits and even treated him as a spirit beast to be hunted; he saw no reason to show them any kindness.

"Fine, we will deliver the message."

Ghost Douluo gritted his teeth as he spoke.

Afterward, he and Chrysanthemum Douluo quickly fled the scene.

Once they had departed, Ye Xuan received a notification.

[You have successfully helped rescue Xiao Wu, obtained the third spirit ring, and unlocked the third spirit skill.]
[Third Spirit Skill: Mimicry: Xiao Wu]
[Spirit Ring Age: The sum of the ages of all of Xiao Wu's spirit rings.]
[Spirit Skill Effect: Simulates a Xiao Wu who inherits her level and spirit skills. Under the enhancement of the Hundred Beauties Scroll, the skill effect is increased by 5 times.]

"Hmm? It went from three times to five times?" Ye Xuan was somewhat surprised.

But he quickly formed a hypothesis.

It was related to the age of the spirit rings.

Previously, Xiao Wu and Zhu Zhuqing's rings were only a few hundred years old, not reaching the thousand-year mark.

But now, Xiao Wu's age had exceeded a thousand years.

I can verify this hypothesis once Zhuqing breaks through to become a Spirit Elder, Ye Xuan thought to himself.

He flew up to them, and Ning Rongrong and Zhu Zhuqing hurried over, asking with concern, "Brother Ye, are you alright?"

Although it looked like Ye Xuan had easily toyed with Ghost Douluo and Chrysanthemum Douluo, they were still worried he might have suffered internal injuries.

Facing their concern, Ye Xuan smiled and said, "Don't worry, I'm fine."

At this moment, Xiao Wu walked up to Ye Xuan, bowed, and said, "Brother Ye, thank you for saving me."

"No need for thanks. But what are your plans for the future? Have you thought about it?" Ye Xuan released a wisp of true energy from his hand, gently helping Xiao Wu stand upright.

Faced with Ye Xuan's question, Xiao Wu turned extremely serious.

Indeed.

Could she continue to stay at Shrek Academy?

Certainly not. Her identity had been exposed. Although Ye Xuan had warned Spirit Hall, she dared not gamble on whether that warning would hold.

If Spirit Hall truly came for her, Shrek Academy would suffer along with her.

While Xiao Wu remained silent, Tang San spoke up, "Xiao Wu can stay at Shrek Academy. I will work hard to become stronger and protect you well."

Regarding Tang San's words, Ning Rongrong retorted, "You say you will work hard to become stronger to protect Xiao Wu, but may I ask how long it will take for you to become strong enough to contend with a Title Douluo? During the time you are growing stronger, if those Title Douluo come for Xiao Wu, can you protect her?"

Ning Rongrong's words left Tang San speechless.

Meanwhile, Yu Xiaogang was deeply conflicted, struggling with whether or not to reveal Tang San's identity.

After hesitating for a long time, he ultimately gave up.

Having witnessed Ye Xuan's power today, he believed that what Zhao Wuji had said must be true.

Ye Xuan must have crossed paths with Tang Hao.

If so, he likely already knew Tang San's identity, and speaking it aloud would not change Ye Xuan's attitude toward Tang San.

At this moment, Xiao Wu said to Ye Xuan, "Brother Ye, I want to return to the forest. Perhaps I should never have come to the human world."

"Return to the forest? There is no need to be so pessimistic. If you are willing, you can come to my side. Protecting you is not a problem for me. You can live with Zhuqing, Rongrong, and the others; it will be good to have company," Ye Xuan said.

As soon as Ye Xuan said this, Tang San's heart sank to the bottom.

Is he coming for Xiao Wu? Could Teacher's guess be correct? Did he leak the secret on purpose just to get Xiao Wu to live with him?

Thinking of this, Tang San suddenly felt that the person before him, who looked only a year or two older than himself, was terrifying.

He was practically a demon.

Tang San wanted to speak up and stop this, but after a rational analysis, he realized that any attempt to intervene would be meaningless.

The most important factor was Xiao Wu's own attitude.

If he were to speak up now, he would be disregarding Xiao Wu's safety.

Xiao Wu was also feeling somewhat hesitant, as she had seen the current situation between Shrek Academy and Ye Xuan with her own eyes.

If she went over to Ye Xuan's side, her relationship with Shrek Academy and Tang San would inevitably grow distant in the future.

While she hesitated, Ning Rongrong persuaded her, "Xiao Wu, you're going to leave Shrek Academy anyway. Instead of returning to the forest, why not stay and work hard to get stronger with us? With Brother Ye here, the people from Spirit Hall won't dare to do anything to you."

"Xiao Wu, stay and join us!" Zhu Zhuqing also chimed in to persuade her.

If she were to speak from selfishness, Zhu Zhuqing did not want more people around Ye Xuan.

However, sometimes selfishness had to be set aside.

Although she hadn't been at Shrek Academy for long, their brief time together had shown her that Xiao Wu was a good person.

Whether she was a spirit beast or a human, she was still her friend.

Of course, what mattered most to her was that Ye Xuan also wanted Xiao Wu to come over.

With both of them having spoken, Xiao Wu no longer hesitated.

She said to Ye Xuan, "Thank you for saving me, Brother Ye. I will have to rely on your care from now on."

Afterward, she turned to Tang San and said, "Third Brother, I'm going over to cultivate with Rongrong and the others. Even though we are parting ways, we are still family. Let's compete to see who becomes stronger in the future."

"Alright!" Tang San had a thousand words in his heart, but none were appropriate to voice.

The only thing he could say now was a single "Alright."

He then looked at Ye Xuan and said solemnly, "Young Master Ye, I will have to trouble you to take good care of her from now on."