Lin Ge and Ye Jie, May You Live Happily Ever After!!

When the Void Demon Leopard's left leg bone was brought before Lin Yao, he felt the soul imprint of his Ender Dragon Martial Soul grow slightly hot. Immediately after, the soul bone was repelled by the Soul Power radiating from Lin Yao's body, sliding backward a short distance.

Du Weilun watched this scene and frowned slightly. He had originally intended for this soul bone to go to Lin Yao, but seeing this, he knew he had tried to curry favor only to end up on the receiving end of a kick. He feigned composure and said, "It seems your compatibility with this soul bone is extremely poor. Even if you were to fuse with it, it would be as agonizing as trying to stuff a watermelon up your nose. You had best give it up."

Lin Yao nodded. He hadn't been interested in this soul bone to begin with; after all, when Du Weilun introduced it, he hadn't even been willing to mention its age. It was clearly of low quality, likely even lower than the ten-thousand-year Radiant Earth Dragon King Soul Bone Wang Dong possessed.

For Lin Yao to carry such a soul bone, unless it possessed some heaven-defying special ability, he wouldn't be able to forgive himself. His Ender Dragon Martial Soul would probably give him two hard slaps in his dreams for it.

Lin Yao shrugged and said to Du Weilun, "Give it to Xu Ye. His Soul Power is the weakest among the three of us, and he needs a soul bone the most to improve his abilities."

Ye Guyi nodded. She didn't even think to refute Lin Yao's decision, echoing his sentiment to Du Weilun: "I agree with Lin Yao. Director Du, just give this soul bone to Xu Ye. He has teamed up with us before; he's a friend."

Xu Ye, who had been watching from the sidelines, was completely stunned. For a moment, he couldn't even process what Ye Guyi and Lin Yao had said.

To a student from an ordinary background like him, a soul bone was a priceless treasure in the world of soul masters, regardless of its age.

Yet, the two people before him had just given it away so casually.

It was as if, to them, this soul bone was nothing more than a piece of common junk.

Xu Ye's eyes instantly grew moist. He stammered, "Brother Lin, Sister Ye, you two..."

Lin Yao patted Xu Ye on the shoulder and said magnanimously, "I come from a great noble family in the Dou Ling Empire. If I want a soul bone, I can get a better one immediately. It's the same for Ye Guyi, so you don't need to feel any psychological burden."

The fact that Lin Yao had been conferred the title of Prince Xuelin was not widely known. After all, the Dou Ling Royal Family, out of a desire for secrecy and stability, had not immediately granted Lin Yao a fiefdom, promising instead to bestow a proper princely territory once he graduated from the outer courtyard of Shrek Academy.

Lin Yao didn't really care about that. The Dou Ling Empire wasn't the ultimate victor like the Sun Moon Empire, so the title of prince didn't mean much to him. If they actually gave him a fiefdom, it would only serve to bind him to the Dou Ling Empire's sinking ship.

Trying to hold off a top-tier, peak-strength Sun Moon Empire while burdened by the long-standing poverty and weakness of the Dou Ling Empire would be a difficult task indeed.

After all, the gap in military strength between the two nations could no longer be bridged by simple military strategy; it was the difference between an adult and a child.

When this topic crossed his mind, Lin Yao felt a bit dazed. During these relatively stable years at Shrek Academy, besides cultivation and regular studies, he had to seriously consider how to improve the strength of the Dou Ling Empire.

Lin Yao was not an ungrateful person. The Dou Ling Empire had raised him to this point and provided him with the confidence to refuse a soul bone so easily.

If possible, Lin Yao did not want the Dou Ling Empire to follow the path of the original timeline and become a fallen nation.

Xu Ye looked at Lin Yao, unaware that he was lost in thought, his gaze shifting back and forth between Lin Yao, Ye Guyi, and the soul bone.

After a long while, the somewhat reserved youth suddenly picked up the soul bone, stowed it away in his storage pouch, and bowed deeply to Lin Yao and Ye Guyi.

"Brother Lin, Sister Ye, I will never forget your kindness in yielding this bone today. If there ever comes a day when you need me, no matter how far the journey, I will be there to do my part!" Xu Ye said to them earnestly.

Lin Yao waved his hand at Xu Ye and said, "Don't take this to heart, because if you dwell on it, it will inevitably affect your Soul Power cultivation."

Watching Lin Yao and Ye Guyi standing together, Xu Ye straightened his posture and suddenly said to them, "By the way, Brother Lin, Sister Ye."

Lin Yao and Ye Guyi looked at Xu Ye simultaneously, wondering what else he had to say, only to hear him say with great seriousness:

"Little brother wishes you a hundred years of harmony!"

Silence. A long, heavy silence followed Xu Ye's words. Du Weilun, leaning against his desk, looked the most shocked of all. Although Shrek Academy did not forbid early romance, Xu Ye and his companions were arguably the first in history to pull such a stunt right in front of the Dean of Students.

During that silence, Du Weilun even considered whether he should report this to Elder Xiu so they could study it and record it in the history of Shrek Academy. Students jumping the gun on their teachers wasn't uncommon at Shrek—they were all geniuses with pride, and combined with the restlessness of youth, it was understandable.

But to brazenly jump the gun on a Director like this was truly explosive.

Xu Ye seemed to realize the situation had turned sour. Seeing Lin Yao begin to roll up his sleeves, he bolted toward the door.

"I see your skin is itching today! Let me show you how to properly 'open' it!" After the silence, Lin Yao instantly manifested his Ender Dragon Martial Soul, activated all his enhancements, and dashed out of Du Weilun's office.

Ye Guyi followed right on Lin Yao's heels, the angel wings of her Holy Angel Martial Soul echoing the black wings of Lin Yao's Ender Dragon. From a distance, they truly looked like a pair.

"If they could receive the blessing of the Sea God's Fate, they could truly be called a divine couple," Du Weilun muttered to himself, watching the three of them chase each other across the campus. He felt as if he were catching a glimpse of his own youthful, heroic self.

Once upon a time, he too had been like them, with friends and a sweetheart, bickering and chasing each other over trivial matters.

Du Weilun leaned against the window, lamenting the fleeting nature of time, while Xu Ye, at that moment, was in a completely different state of mind...