Three Years

Hearing Chen Ye's words, Alersuhode flapped the wings on its back, then bowed slightly.

"I will obey your command." As it spoke, it took flight and settled on Chen Ye's shoulder.

Because they shared the deepest possible connection, Chen Ye could sense the immense value the other held for him.

At this stage, while they were both still very weak, Alersuhode was only equivalent to an ordinary Century Soul Beast.

Even so, its power was far greater than Chen Ye had imagined.

Aside from being able to create nightmares, Alersuhode could also kill enemies within dreams.

Of course, its greatest use was that if Chen Ye were killed, it could directly borrow his body to resurrect him.

And as its age increased, its strength would recover much faster than Chen Ye expected. In the early stages, it could serve as his bodyguard.

After all, even with the Dragon of Imagination Martial Soul, Chen Ye's abilities in every area were nowhere near top-tier in the early stages.

For example, the Soul Skill Psychological Invisibility made him quite good at escaping and hiding, but it wasn't much use in a fight.

Besides that, after the Dragon of Nightmare descended, the Power of Imagination within him had also grown much stronger.

A faint glimmer passed through Chen Ye's eyes. As he raised his hand, black flames kindled in his palm, and a gigantic Dark Phoenix slowly took shape behind him.

"Although I can't maintain its reality for long, I should still be able to conjure it for a few minutes, or even ten or so."

A hint of amusement colored Chen Ye's voice. In the shadow at his shoulder, shrouded in mist—

Alersuhode emerged, a wicked grin on its face, then slowly melted into Chen Ye's body.

The minutes ticked by. Leng Yaozhu didn't return until evening.

After taking Chen Ye out for a meal, she had him publicly display the Evil Phoenix Soul Spirit he had fused with.

It was Alersuhode in disguise, but it was indistinguishable from the real thing. It could even imitate its abilities.

"I've already arranged a school for you. You'll start tomorrow."

"Once you finish at East Sea Elementary Academy, you can go straight to Eastsea Academy."

"With your Martial Soul, as long as you show enough talent, you can choose to join either Spirit Academy within the Spirit Pagoda or Shrek Academy."

As Leng Yaozhu spoke, she glanced at Chen Ye. His face, however, was clouded with confusion, and he looked at her uncertainly.

"Teacher, is Spirit Academy already around? Why have I never heard of it?"

"It's perfectly normal that you haven't. Spirit Academy only accepts children from within the Spirit Pagoda. It doesn't recruit outsiders."

"All right, hurry up and eat. Starting tomorrow, I'll arrange teachers for you. Every day, you'll study the history and culture of the Douluo World."

"Although you're only six this year, I hope you'll learn everything there is to know about the history of the Douluo World before you graduate from elementary school."

As she spoke, Leng Yaozhu glanced at Chen Ye, an unusual seriousness on her face.

"By the way, you're at the age to choose a second profession. What are you planning to pick?"

Leng Yaozhu briefly explained the second professions to Chen Ye.

There were really only four main choices: blacksmith, mecha designer, mecha maker, and mecha mechanic.

"Which one do you want? I'd advise you to choose mecha mechanic. The other three take up too much of your time."

"Mecha mechanic is the easiest, and you don't even need to do any real work."

"With your talent, becoming a top Battle Armor powerhouse won't be difficult."

"And once Battle Armor reaches the Three-Word level, minor flaws repair themselves automatically. For major damage, it's better to remake the whole thing."

"Of course, you could also choose blacksmithing. Battle Armor made with metal you've forged yourself will be much more effective."

Leng Yaozhu spoke bluntly as she looked at Chen Ye.

In truth, blacksmiths, mecha designers, and mecha makers were all professions for people with less talent—or, more precisely, for those who were poor.

People like Leng Yaozhu, who came from the Spirit Pagoda, or those with resources and connections, would never waste time on a second profession.

After all, that sort of thing really did take up a lot of time.

Whether it was mecha design, mecha making, or blacksmithing, they were ultimately just tools for making Battle Armor.

"Teacher, what did you study?" Chen Ye looked at Leng Yaozhu with curiosity.

"Mecha mechanics. The other professions are pointless. As long as you're willing to provide twice the materials, plenty of people will make Battle Armor for you."

"You don't need to worry about Two-Word or One-Word Battle Armor. You can find someone to make Three-Word Battle Armor with a few resources. As for Four-Word Battle Armor, don't even think about it for now."

Leng Yaozhu spoke casually. She genuinely thought a second profession was a burden and that he was better off devoting himself entirely to cultivation.

Chen Ye didn't really care either. Tang Wulin would become a Divine Blacksmith in the future.

Once Tang Wulin became a Divine Blacksmith, Chen Ye could simply conjure up a version of him to make Battle Armor.

He wouldn't even need to pay. By then, he could conjure up top masters from various fields and have them do the work for him.

And once the job was done, they could simply disappear.

"Then I'll choose mecha mechanics, Teacher. It takes the least time, and I want to focus on cultivation."

"Fine." Leng Yaozhu nodded at Chen Ye. "Train hard here. Someone will be assigned to teach you about mecha mechanics."

"Of course, you only need to learn the basics of mecha mechanics. But don't neglect your studies of Douluo history or your cultivation."

Leng Yaozhu paused and raised her hand slightly. A dark-red fruit appeared in her palm, and she handed it to Chen Ye.

"This is a Ten-Thousand-Year Dragon Blood Fruit. You can use it to cultivate."

"Absorbing its life force every day will greatly accelerate the rate at which your Soul Power grows, at least in the short term."

"I don't care about anything else, but there's one requirement: within three years, you must become a Two-Ring Soul Master."

Leng Yaozhu looked at Chen Ye. He was briefly stunned, then nodded with complete seriousness.

"Understood, Teacher. I won't disappoint you."

Chen Ye spoke earnestly. He knew that she would take Gu Yue as her disciple three years later.

He also had to wait three years before he could meet the main cast, once he arrived at Eastsea Academy.

So these would be the most leisurely three years of Chen Ye's life—and the three years in which he began to learn about the Douluo World.

As Leng Yaozhu went off to attend to her own affairs, Chen Ye's life fell into a steady routine.

He went to school during the day and studied in the evenings. On Saturdays and Sundays, when he had time off, he cultivated and trained in actual combat.

Amid those calm, steady days, three years passed in the blink of an eye...