Gu Yue's Strange Request, Tianhai Alliance Grand Competition

In the forest behind the academy, Li Moxun sat calmly atop a tall pine tree.

His gaze was fixed on the distance.

Erii was still sitting on top of his head.

Her curious eyes watched the birds flying past and the small animals that occasionally appeared below.

As she watched these little creatures, Erii's eyes seemed to be filled with curiosity.

Li Moxun did not stop her.

Just as Li Moxun sat quietly, gazing into the distance, a spatial rift appeared beside him, and Gu Yue stepped out of it.

Gu Yue looked at Li Moxun. She had been about to smile at him when she spotted the little one sitting on his head.

Her gaze locked onto Erii, her eyes full of confusion and curiosity.

After all, when some powerful Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts transformed into soul spirits, they could take on human forms, but they generally retained certain traits.

A little one like this, dressed entirely in red and without any distinguishing features whatsoever, was extremely rare and strange.

This sparked a trace of curiosity in Gu Yue's eyes.

However, seeing that the boy sitting there had no intention of speaking to her, she fell silent.

Gu Yue leaped down and plopped onto the tree branch as well, looking into the distance.

Li Moxun remained calm at Gu Yue's arrival.

He turned his head and glanced at Gu Yue, his voice devoid of emotion. "You don't visit without a reason. Tell me what you want."

Li Moxun's voice was calm.

Gu Yue was not angered by his words. Instead, she smiled at him before speaking. "My purpose in coming to see you this time is actually quite simple. First, I may need another Calm Heart Pill."

"I can feel that I'm still affected by my bloodline."

Gu Yue paused for a second.

Her eyes rested on Li Moxun, and a trace of complexity flashed through her expression.

Li Moxun was stunned by Gu Yue's words.

He could tell that Gu Yue and Tang Wulin had been maintaining a very polite distance from each other, with no boundary-crossing behavior whatsoever.

And when Gu Yue looked at Tang Wulin, there was no longer that former connection created through their bloodlines. Instead, her gaze was completely calm.

He did not quite understand why Gu Yue still needed this kind of pill.

But since she had asked, he did not mind.

After all, a single pill could earn him quite a bit of money, and he still had some on hand.

"Sure. I want one ten-thousand-year spirit herb and three thousand-year spirit herbs. Do you have any other requests?"

As Li Moxun spoke, he glanced at Gu Yue and prepared to rise and leave.

Since they had just traded for cultivation pills not long ago, he assumed Gu Yue had not yet used them all up.

However, before he could stand, Gu Yue seemed to let out a sigh. Looking at him, her voice carried a hint of helplessness. "I don't need any more pills."

"But do you have any way to make someone awaken a second martial soul? Or perhaps find a way to undergo a second martial soul awakening?"

Gu Yue's voice was soft as she spoke, her eyes fixed on Li Moxun.

Hearing Gu Yue's words, the boy turned his calm eyes back toward her and looked at her quietly.

"For Tang Wulin to awaken a second martial soul, you really do care about him."

As Li Moxun spoke, he no longer hurried to stand. Instead, he began pondering the matter as well.

In truth, what was called martial soul awakening here was nothing more than a matter of dominant and recessive genes in living beings.

Under normal circumstances, the Clear Sky Sect had been able to pass down its legacy mainly through the father's dominant genes.

That was why the Clear Sky Hammer martial soul could be inherited through most generations.

This was also why, in the era twenty thousand years ago, sect masters had always been male cultivators.

However, where there were strong dominant genes, there were naturally also relatively strong recessive genes.

The most representative example was Blue Silver Grass. Whether it was Tang San, Tang Wulin, or Little Dragon God of the later era—

The reason the three of them could still retain the Blue Silver Grass martial soul despite the mixture of Dragon God bloodlines, soul beast bloodlines, and various other bloodlines—

Was largely because Blue Silver Grass had replaced the Clear Sky Hammer and become the dominant gene.

Thus, among those alive today, aside from Tang Wutong, neither Tang Wulin nor Little Dragon God possessed the Clear Sky Hammer martial soul.

As for awakening Twin Martial Souls, it was actually a peculiar genetic mutation.

It caused what had originally been recessive genes to become dominant as well, ensuring that both martial souls would appear.

Such a thing might be difficult for others, especially for people of this world.

Even a Dragon God incarnation like Gu Yue, with a history stretching back tens of thousands of years, could never possibly understand the methods behind martial soul awakening.

But for Li Moxun—or rather, for someone who had studied biology—understanding Twin Martial Souls and martial soul mutations was not difficult at all.

Watching Li Moxun fall into thought, Gu Yue's voice remained calm. "Tang Wulin's Golden Dragon King bloodline has done me a favor."

"If Tang Wulin hadn't appeared, I might never have obtained the Golden Dragon King bloodline in my life."

"Since I've received such enormous benefits, if possible, I hope I can help Tang Wulin out."

As Gu Yue spoke, she glanced at Li Moxun, her words utterly sincere.

Yet Li Moxun did not care about Gu Yue's words at all. One moment she wanted to kill him, the next she did not—who knew what she was really thinking?

He merely nodded calmly, the contemplation in his eyes gradually fading.

Although he could not create a Clear Sky Hammer Martial Soul, turning recessive genes into dominant ones was not particularly difficult.

He could even do it himself, using the spiritual power of the White King Martial Soul to forcibly alter the genetic proportions within Tang Wulin's bloodline.

This should have been extremely difficult.

But after the Golden Dragon King had been completely stripped away, forcibly activating another powerful genetic chain was not difficult for Li Moxun.

"Fine. I can meet that request. I need three ten-thousand-year spirit herbs and five thousand-year spirit herbs."

"Once you strip away Tang Wulin's Golden Dragon King bloodline, I can help him awaken the Clear Sky Hammer Martial Soul."

Li Moxun spoke as he glanced at Gu Yue.

Then, with a single step off the ground, he leaped down. In the blink of an eye, he vanished into the back mountain, leaving Gu Yue sitting there alone.

Her gaze followed Li Moxun's retreating figure, and an indescribable complexity flashed through her expression.

Yet after a long silence, she ultimately said nothing, merely gazing calmly into the distance.

Two days passed in a flash.

To everyone else, there was no difference from an ordinary school day.

They still attended class diligently, repeating the things they needed to do.

But at the school gates, a group of five had already gathered.

All five carried small bags, while Wu Zhangkong stood at the front.

With his hands in his pockets, he calmly watched the Soul-Guide bus beside them.

Long Hengxu, meanwhile, looked utterly haggard.

Although they had the principal's support, allowing first-years to represent Eastsea Academy in a large-scale Soul Engineer competition like the Tianhai Alliance Grand Competition had still taken no small amount of effort.

Long Hengxu had even written several reports before getting all of the school's upper management to agree.

That left Long Hengxu looking especially exhausted.

But when his gaze swept over the five spirited youths standing there, the weariness in his eyes was replaced by a trace of emotion.

As he looked at the five youths before him, despite having no evidence, he could not shake the feeling that they would make a stunning debut in the coming competition and achieve something beyond words.

And what they achieved might well become Eastsea Academy's pride for generations.