Xiao Wu's Choice

"Arrogant. There are countless people in the Spirit Hall stronger than the two of us. Dealing with you would be a piece of cake," Chrysanthemum Douluo said stubbornly.

"Heh. Then send them all over. Even your Pope can come in person, for all I care."

After Ye Xuan finished speaking, he strode through the air. Swordlight flickered beneath his feet, and he pointed a finger into the distance. Two streaks of sword qi shot straight at them.

The sword qi moved incredibly fast. In an instant, it pierced both their shoulders, and they plummeted from the sky.

Blood streamed from the wounds on their shoulders. Without them maintaining the Polar Static Domain, it collapsed in an instant.

Once the Polar Static Domain collapsed, the people who had been frozen began to recover one by one.

Everyone stared at Ye Xuan in shock. Flender and the others were especially stunned. They realized they had known far too little about him.

Ye Xuan was far stronger than they had imagined.

Ye Xuan drifted down and landed in front of Chrysanthemum Douluo and Ghost Douluo.

The two looked at him in terror. "Y-You... are you going to kill us?"

"If I wanted to kill you, you'd already be dead. Go back and deliver a message to your Pope for me: I, Ye Xuan, am right here. If the Spirit Hall wants to cause me trouble, it's welcome to try anytime. Also, you can come after this friend of mine if you like, but if anything happens to her, I'll hold the Spirit Hall responsible. I wonder how many Titled Douluo the Spirit Hall has—and how long they'll last against me."

Ye Xuan made no effort to hide his threat. The Spirit Hall had schemed against him in those books about Martial Souls, even treating him as a Soul Beast and trying to capture him. He had no reason to show them any courtesy.

"Fine. We'll pass on your message," Ghost Douluo said through clenched teeth.

Then he and Chrysanthemum Douluo quickly left.

After they were gone, Ye Xuan received a notification.

[You successfully helped rescue Xiao Wu. You have obtained a third Soul Ring and unlocked your third Soul Skill.]

[Third Soul Skill: Mimicry: Xiao Wu]

[Soul Ring age: The combined ages of all of Xiao Wu's Soul Rings.]

[Skill effect: Simulate a Xiao Wu who inherits Xiao Wu's level and Soul Skills. With the Hundred Beauties Scroll's enhancement, the Soul Skill's effects are increased fivefold.]

"Hmm? It went from three times to five," Ye Xuan said, a little surprised.

But he soon came to a guess.

It had to do with the Soul Ring's age.

Xiao Wu's and Zhu Zhuqing's Soul Rings had previously been only a few hundred years old, not yet reaching a thousand.

But now Xiao Wu's Soul Ring age had surpassed a thousand years.

"Once Zhuqing breaks through to Soul Elder, I'll be able to tell whether this guess is right," Ye Xuan thought.

He flew over, and Ning Rongrong and Zhu Zhuqing hurried to him, asking with concern, "Big Brother Ye, are you all right?"

Although Ye Xuan had seemed to toy with Ghost Douluo and Chrysanthemum Douluo, they still worried that he might have suffered some internal injuries.

Faced with their concern, Ye Xuan smiled. "Don't worry. I'm fine."

Xiao Wu stepped in front of Ye Xuan and bowed. "Big Brother Ye, thank you for saving me."

"There's no need to thank me. What do you plan to do now? Have you decided?" A thread of true qi drifted from Ye Xuan's hand, gently lifting Xiao Wu back up.

Xiao Wu took his question very seriously.

That was right!

Could she still stay at Shrek Academy?

She certainly couldn't. Her identity had been exposed. Ye Xuan had warned the Spirit Hall, but she didn't dare gamble on whether the warning would work.

If the Spirit Hall really came after her, Shrek Academy would be dragged into it too.

While Xiao Wu was still silent, Tang San spoke up. "Xiao Wu can keep staying at Shrek Academy. I'll work hard to get stronger and protect you."

Ning Rongrong countered, "You'll work hard to get stronger and protect Xiao Wu? Then how long will it take you to become strong enough to fight a Titled Douluo? While you're getting stronger, if a Titled Douluo comes after Xiao Wu, will you be able to protect her?"

Ning Rongrong's words left Tang San speechless.

At that moment, Yu Xiaogang was deeply conflicted. He wrestled with whether he should reveal Tang San's identity.

But after agonizing over it for a long while, he decided against it.

After seeing Ye Xuan's strength today, he believed what Zhao Wuji had said was probably true.

Ye Xuan had likely fought Tang Hao before.

Then he should already know Tang San's identity. Telling him wouldn't change how Ye Xuan treated Tang San.

Xiao Wu turned to Ye Xuan. "Big Brother Ye, I want to return to the forest. Maybe I never should have come to the human world."

"Go back to the forest? You don't have to be so downhearted. If you're willing, you can come stay with me. I can protect you just fine. You can live with Zhuqing and Rongrong. At least you'll have company," Ye Xuan said.

The moment Ye Xuan said this, Tang San's heart sank.

"Did he target Xiao Wu all along? Was Teacher's guess right? Did he deliberately expose her identity so she'd move in with him?"

At that thought, Tang San suddenly felt that this young man before him, who looked only a year or two older than he was, was terrifying.

He was practically a demon.

Tang San wanted to speak up and stop it, but after thinking it through, he knew that objecting would be pointless.

What mattered most was Xiao Wu's own decision.

If he spoke up to stop her now, he would be putting her safety at risk.

Xiao Wu was hesitating too. She had seen how things stood between Ye Xuan and Shrek Academy.

If she went to stay with Ye Xuan, her ties to Shrek Academy—and to Tang San—would surely grow more distant.

While she hesitated, Ning Rongrong urged her, "Xiao Wu, you're leaving Shrek Academy either way. Instead of going back to the forest, why not stay here and work hard to get stronger with us? With Big Brother Ye here, the Spirit Hall won't dare do anything to you."

"Xiao Wu, stay and train with us!" Zhu Zhuqing urged as well.

Selfishly, Zhu Zhuqing didn't want more people around Ye Xuan.

But sometimes, you had to set selfishness aside.

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

Whether she was a Soul Beast or a human, she was Zhu Zhuqing's friend.

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

After the two of them spoke up, Xiao Wu no longer hesitated.

She said to Ye Xuan, "Thank you for saving me, Big Brother Ye. I'll be in your care from now on."

Then she turned to Tang San. "Third Brother, I'm going to train with Rongrong and the others. Even if we're apart, we're still family. From now on, let's see which of us becomes stronger."

"Okay!" Tang San had a thousand things he wanted to say, but none of them were right to say now.

The only thing he could say was that one word: "Okay."

Then he looked at Ye Xuan and said solemnly, "Young Master Ye, I'll be counting on you to take good care of her from now on."