Befriending Ye Guyi (Seeking Follow-up Reads)

Ye Guyi glanced at Lin Yao, appearing quite skeptical of him. Lin Yao said to her, "My father can write a recommendation letter for Shrek Academy. If you study at Shrek Academy, it can guarantee your safe passage to a sufficiently high level of cultivation. This will also be a help to your path of eradicating Evil Soul Masters."

Ye Guyi fell into hesitation. Although she knew of the events from ten thousand years ago, she was not entirely clear on the details. However, she did know that ten thousand years ago, Tang San of Shrek Academy had defeated Qian Renxue, who possessed the Six-Winged Angel martial soul, and had even shattered her godhood, which was how this lineage came to be.

As Ye Guyi hesitated, Lin Yao said to her, "You must understand, a dragon lying in the shallows is not a fall, but a wait for the right time. Even if you have a grudge against Shrek in the future, you can still borrow Shrek's influence to improve your own cultivation. After all, Shrek Academy is an academy, not a sect. As long as you complete your studies there and pay the tuition in full, you don't actually owe them anything."

Ye Guyi fell silent for a moment, then nodded. She said to Lin Yao, "And what are your conditions? They shouldn't be cheap, right? Although recommendation letters for Shrek Academy can be bought on the black market, I assume you aren't referring to the most common ones."

Lin Yao smiled, then said to Ye Guyi, "As for payment, if I said I didn't want any, I would be lying. But I don't want much—let's just be friends. It's as simple as that."

Hearing this, Ye Guyi also revealed a smile. She placed her fair palm onto Lin Yao's hand and said, "As for being friends, we were already friends from the moment you saved me this morning. Even without this so-called recommendation letter, just for the sake of saving my life this morning, if you ever need help in the future, I will certainly come."

Lin Yao curled his lips, then gripped Ye Guyi's hand and said, "I know what kind of person you are, which is why I am willing to be friends with you."

The Soul Emperor let out a soft huff at this moment, continuing to play the role of the bad guy as he said, "By logic, such an agreement should have some form of collateral."

Lin Yao frowned at the Soul Emperor and said, "Uncle Lin, Ye Guyi is not that kind of person. She and I don't need collateral. Even if she were to deceive me in the future, I would accept it."

Lin Yao's words were spoken with complete sincerity. Not to mention that as a transmigrator, he already knew Ye Guyi's character in advance, even if he hadn't known, the ancient sages had the principle of "trusting those you employ and employing those you trust." Although Lin Yao knew he was far from those legendary kings, he still possessed the capacity to tolerate others.

Ye Guyi gripped Lin Yao's hand and said to him, "If you feel that I might deceive you, I can swear an oath by my martial soul."

Lin Yao shook his head and said earnestly to Ye Guyi, "There is no need for that. I trust you."

Lin Yao knew very well that if he truly forced Ye Guyi to swear an oath by her martial soul, their friendship would no longer be pure; it would merely be a transaction of repaying a debt, which would make it lose its meaning.

Ye Guyi clearly had not expected Lin Yao to so readily dismiss her idea of a martial soul oath. Her expression became even more complex as she looked at him, and she silently leaned to the side without saying another word.

The night passed without incident. Early the next morning, the Soul Emperor led Lin Yao and Ye Guyi out of the Star Dou Great Forest.

Once they were out of the forest, the Soul Emperor's expression visibly relaxed. They returned to the inn, retrieved the carriage they had left there, and took Ye Guyi and Lin Yao back to Douling City in the Douling Empire.

Upon returning to the Lin Mansion, Ye Guyi took in the understated yet luxurious layout of the estate and couldn't help but remark, "No wonder you were so confident about your father being able to write a recommendation letter. It turns out your family's foundation is indeed quite deep."

Lin Yao smiled and said to Ye Guyi, "Well, since we are friends, I won't hide it from you. Actually, my confidence has little to do with these resources. It is mainly because my recommendation letter wasn't written by my father."

Ye Guyi tilted her head, looking at Lin Yao with confusion, and Lin Yao slowly began to explain, "My recommendation letter was issued to me by Shrek itself. Or rather, what you call a recommendation letter, I call an admission notice."

The corner of Ye Guyi's mouth couldn't help but twitch...

Afterward, Lin Yao briefly explained Ye Guyi's situation to Lin Xueli. Lin Xueli was quite satisfied with Lin Yao's actions.

"Not bad, little Yao. I couldn't tell you had such a heroic heart; you have the style I had when I was young." Lin Xueli laughed and patted Lin Yao on the shoulder. In truth, a Soul Douluo could be considered a significant figure across the entire Douluo Continent, even if not at the very pinnacle.

However, they were still among the most elite of soul masters, and each had a magnificent first half of their lives. Lin Yao's actions reminded Lin Xueli of the drive and pride he had possessed in his youth.

As for the Soul Emperor's caution, Lin Xueli waved his hand and said to him, "It doesn't matter. At worst, we dismiss the servants. Since all of us old brothers have soul power and are of a decent level, are you afraid of death? If you are, you can take your severance pay and leave."

The Soul Emperor was naturally not afraid, and everyone in the Lin Mansion with soul power had no objections to this; even those without soul power were unwilling to leave.

Lin Xueli had spent these years dealing with cultural matters. Although he belonged to the nobility, he exerted very little pressure on the people in the mansion. He rarely scolded or beat the servants without cause, only punishing them according to established rules.

Moreover, the matter of the Evil Soul Master was still something intangible. The Soul Emperor had handled it cleanly, leaving the opponent with no corpse remaining, so the chance of an Evil Soul Master coming to seek revenge was very small.

Even everyone, including the Soul Emperor, felt that Lin Xueli had been a bit overreactive by suggesting they dismiss the servants.

However, combined with the fact that someone had been lurking near the Lin Mansion previously, the mansion had indeed strengthened its security over these days, adding two shifts of guards to watch over the area.

Fortunately, all remained peaceful. The Soul King-level Evil Soul Master was likely not even part of the Holy Spirit Cult, or if they were, they were just an insignificant character.

More than half a year passed quickly. Lin Yao and Ye Guyi had become well-acquainted. The two often sparred, testing their soul skills to feel the effects of each other's abilities and helping one another become more familiar with their own techniques.

With nothing happening over these six months, Lin Yao's mind began to stir once again.

There were still many things in the Douluo Continent that could be obtained in advance. If he just wasted three years here waiting to enter Shrek, it wouldn't be so easy to seize certain resources later on.

That evening, Lin Yao knocked on the door of Lin Xueli's room. At this stage, the fastest way to seize resources was through money, and Lin Xueli was someone he could not bypass...