Gluttonous Gu Yue, Cheating?

Time slipped by in silence, and in the blink of an eye, evening had arrived.

Inside the dean's office of the Soul Guidance Department, the atmosphere was so heavy it had nearly solidified.

After listening to Qian Duoduo's detailed, spit-flying, wildly gesturing description, Xian Lin'er collapsed back into her office chair, her chest heaving violently.

"No forging hammer... not even a carving knife to engrave the core formation... just the light of energy alone, breaking down and reconstructing metal at the molecular level..."

Xian Lin'er murmured to herself, her eyes flashing with utter shock.

She shot to her feet, her expression more solemn than ever before. "Qian Duoduo, are you certain that what that boy made was truly a Class 4 soul tool? And that the formation operated without the slightest obstruction?"

"I'll stake my own forehead on it! It was absolutely a perfect Class 4 soul tool!" Qian Duoduo shouted, thumping his chest.

Xian Lin'er took a deep breath and immediately decided to report it to the Sea God Pavilion.

At the same time, at Shrek's east city gate.

Night had fallen low, and the lanterns had just come on. The streets of Shrek City were packed with people, while the cries of vendors from the shops on both sides rose and fell one after another.

Gu Yue held a delicately packaged box of takoyaki in her hands, spearing one with a bamboo skewer and popping it into her mouth. Her cheeks puffed out as she ate, and she narrowed her eyes in bliss.

"So good. Really good."

Zhuang Minghui glanced sideways at her, hands in his pockets, and said leisurely, "You just finished dinner and now you're eating high-calorie after-meal snacks. Careful, or you'll get so fat you won't be able to fly one day."

Gu Yue shot him a rather charming roll of her eyes and snorted softly. "Please. I have the kind of body that never gets fat no matter how much I eat. What do you know? Besides, I can just use soul power to digest it."

Just then, a loud cry suddenly came from the noisy crowd ahead, instantly drawing the attention of everyone on the street.

"Did you hear? There's something huge happening over at the Soul Fighting Zone! Thunder Beibei, one of the twin stars of the outer courtyard, is going to have a soul-fighting match with Xu Sanshi!"

"Seriously? Why are those two going at it again? Hurry, hurry! If we're late, we won't get good spots!"

"Beibei and Xu Sanshi?" Gu Yue swallowed the last takoyaki and looked at Zhuang Minghui with some curiosity. "Those two seem pretty famous in Shrek's outer courtyard. Should we go take a look?"

Zhuang Minghui fiddled with the storage soul tool in his hand and said, "Let's go take a look."

He wondered if the match had just started, or if it was already halfway through. If it had only just begun...

"Then let's go."

Gu Yue casually tossed the empty paper box into a nearby trash can, then turned toward the roasted chicken legs on the street, which were giving off an enticing aroma. Her eyes lit up, and she hurriedly grabbed the corner of Zhuang Minghui's clothes. "Wait, no. Before we go, buy me a few skewers of roasted chicken legs too. And that lemonade over there."

Zhuang Minghui looked at Gu Yue somewhat speechlessly. "You... are sure you still want to eat?"

Why did it feel as if Gu Yue's personality had been swapped out for Na'er from the era of the Dragon King's Legend?

She lifted her delicate little chin and added with perfect confidence, "Watching while eating is what gives it flavor!"

Zhuang Minghui looked at this Silver Dragon King, who was walking farther and farther down the path of a "foodie," and sighed helplessly.

If Di Tian and the others saw Gu Yue turn into this, they would probably want to die.

By now, Zhuang Minghui's arms were already full of all kinds of food. Aside from freshly roasted chicken legs sizzling with oil, there were also steaming hot sugar-roasted chestnuts, glossy red and tempting candied hawthorns, even spicy hot pot and roast meat bibimbap packed in soul-tool thermal containers, along with two large cups of iced lemonade.

Watching Gu Yue hold a skewer of candied hawthorn in her left hand and a roasted chicken leg in her right, eating with complete delight, Zhuang Minghui's eye twitched wildly.

"Gu Yue, why don't you just go eat at a buffet? The little bit of space in the Soul Fighting Arena probably won't even be enough to hold all your takeout."

The word "buffet" entered Gu Yue's ears, and she looked back at Zhuang Minghui curiously, asking, "Buffet? What's that?"

Zhuang Minghui gave an awkward smile, then patiently explained, "A buffet means you pay a certain amount of gold soul coins, and then you can eat the food in the shop within a set amount of time."

When Gu Yue heard that, her eyes lit up. "There's actually a place like that? Take me there tomorrow!"

She didn't know what had gotten into her tonight either. In any case, the smell of all this food had stirred up her appetite.

It made her unable to stop eating these delicacies.

"Tomorrow, tomorrow..." Zhuang Minghui brought Gu Yue with him toward Shrek's Soul Fighting Zone.

If he really let Gu Yue go eat at a buffet, then with the appetite of the Silver Dragon King, perhaps all the food in Shrek City wouldn't be enough for her alone.

After arriving at the Soul Fighting Zone, Zhuang Minghui and Gu Yue paid ten gold soul coins and entered the spectator stands.

At this moment, the Soul Fighting Zone was already nearly sixty percent full. Clamor and cheers rose and fell without pause.

Around the huge fighting platform, spotlights gave off a gentle glow, illuminating the arena as brightly as day.

Zhuang Minghui had his arms wrapped around a large pile of snacks, while Gu Yue stood beside him, quite at ease as she sipped her iced lemonade.

Just as Zhuang Minghui was about to look for two empty seats, a crisp and energetic young girl's voice suddenly rang out from the noisy spectator stands.

"Eh? Isn't that Zhuang Minghui?!"

Zhuang Minghui looked toward the voice and saw, in the front-row seats not far away, a pretty, charming young girl wearing a blue-purple school uniform excitedly rising to her feet. She vigorously waved her fair little hand while loudly calling out to them.

It was none other than the current sect master of the Tang Sect, Tang Ya.

Beside Tang Ya, the thin and frail Huo Yuhao was sitting somewhat uneasily.

"Zhuang Minghui, come over here! There are empty seats on my side!" Tang Ya yelled with no ladylike image at all, even patting the empty seat beside her.

Gu Yue narrowed her eyes slightly, biting into a roasted chicken leg as she sized up that loud, excitable Tang Ya with an appraising gaze.

"Come on. Someone we know is calling us."

Zhuang Minghui gestured to Gu Yue, then walked toward Tang Ya with his arms full of food.

When Tang Ya saw Zhuang Minghui coming over, she could hardly contain her excitement.

Although they were both in Shrek Academy, seeing each other had been harder than climbing to the heavens. Ever since they parted on the first day of school, she had never seen Zhuang Minghui again.

But when she got a clear look at Gu Yue beside Zhuang Minghui, she asked in confusion, "Zhuang Minghui, who is this?"

Zhuang Minghui gave a brief reply. "Gu Yue. My classmate."

If Tang Ya found out that Gu Yue was his roommate, wouldn't everyone in the entire Soul Dueling Arena know?

So far, no one knew that he and Gu Yue were roommates.

"Ohhh, so that's how it is..." Tang Ya drew out her words, an auntie-like smile appearing on her face, ambiguous and teasing, as her gaze shifted between Zhuang Minghui and Gu Yue.

Zhuang Minghui and Gu Yue sat down beside Tang Ya.

Gu Yue glanced sidelong at Huo Yuhao beside Tang Ya.

Wasn't this that boy from Class 1? Strange. He was clearly a spectator, so why was his soul power being released...

She looked up at Zhuang Minghui.

Zhuang Minghui noticed Gu Yue's gaze and said, "I get it."

He lowered his voice and said to Gu Yue, "It's time to catch him cheating. Many thanks to our great King Gu Yue."