Invitation

After a night of practical combat training, Xiling had experienced the joy of punching the Golden Dragon King, kicking the Silver Dragon King, and casually one-shotting the future Space-Time Douluo.

Wu Zhangkong had also figured out the others' conditions. Tang Wulin was specially exempted from physical training and instead began cultivating his control over Blue Silver Grass.

The next day, Wu Zhangkong brought Xiling and the other four for a spiritual power test. Spiritual power had six major realms: Spirit Origin, Spirit Connection, Spirit Sea, Spirit Abyss, Spirit Domain, and the legendary Divine Origin Realm.

Just as in the original story, Xie Xie's spiritual power was twenty-nine, close to the middle stage of the Spirit Origin Realm. Tang Wulin's spiritual power was forty, at the middle stage of the Spirit Origin Realm.

Gu Yue's spiritual power was one hundred and nineteen, placing her in the Spirit Connection Realm. The phrase "the heart and spirit connect, intention arrives where thought reaches" described this realm.

Although that number was high, it was not what shocked Wu Zhangkong the most. Xiling's spiritual power had reached a terrifying four thousand five hundred, at the peak of the Spirit Sea Realm—the same level as Wu Zhangkong himself.

"Monster" was no longer enough to describe him, yet Wu Zhangkong could not think of a more fitting word.

Unlike the others' shock, Gu Yue merely looked thoughtfully at Xiling without saying much.

After three consecutive days of physical training, the students of Class Five could finally no longer endure it, and a large number collapsed. From that day onward, their schedule returned to physical training in the mornings and theory classes in the afternoons.

Over the next few days, life was fairly fulfilling, but Xiling had been considering one question: how he should treat Gu Yue.

As the main body, Gu Yue possessed seventy percent of the Silver Dragon King's origin, while Na'er, as her split body, possessed the remaining thirty percent. Their origins were one, so their fusion was inevitable.

That also meant Na'er would disappear completely. But Xiling could not accept that, nor would he stand by and watch it happen. Na'er was his little sister, and as her older brother, he had an obligation to protect her.

So his first thought regarding Gu Yue had been to kill her and merge the seventy percent of the Silver Dragon King's origin within her into Na'er.

But Gu Yue was not so easy to kill. Though she had transformed into a human and her strength had been affected by splitting herself in two, she could still unleash god-level combat power.

In other words, Benares could not kill Gu Yue in his current state. He would have to activate his Herrscher form.

Just then, a voice interrupted his thoughts. Xiling looked up to see Gu Yue's delicate face before him. He immediately gathered his thoughts and asked with a smile, "Gu Yue, is there something you need?"

Gu Yue carried a lunchbox in her hand. She placed it before him, her gaze slightly evasive and her tone somewhat stiff. "I made this meal myself. I wanted to ask Xiling to try it."

Xiling looked at the lunchbox, then at Gu Yue, and sighed inwardly. Forget it. Maybe I don't necessarily have to take that path.

There should be another way that works for both sides. There's still plenty of time.

He reached out and accepted it. "Thank you."

Seeing Xiling take it, Gu Yue's lips curved upward slightly. This was something she had learned from a book titled How to Win a Man's Heart.

The book said: If you wanted to win someone's heart, you first had to win their stomach. To that end, she had practiced for several days before finally making something presentable.

Completely unaware that she had just escaped disaster, Gu Yue was still quietly pleased with herself.

After Gu Yue left, Xie Xie immediately leaned over. "Brother Ling, don't tell me Gu Yue likes you?"

"She's been in our class for so many days, but she treats only you differently. Now she's even bringing you food."

Xiling shot Xie Xie a glare. "You talk too much. I'll take extra care of you during training tonight."

At those words, Xie Xie shuddered all over. Pressing his palms together, he repeatedly begged for mercy. "No, no, no! Brother Ling, I was wrong!"

Watching his fleeing back, Xiling helplessly shook his head. His gaze fell on the lunchbox before him, and his fingertips paused slightly.

He lifted the lid. A rich aroma of food instantly wafted out. The dishes were not particularly exquisite, nor did they look especially appealing, but they had been arranged neatly. It was clear that she had put thought into them.

Xiling picked up his chopsticks and slowly took a bite. In two words, the taste was average.

Fulfilling days always passed especially quickly. In the blink of an eye, more than two months had gone by, and the first match of the promotion tournament would begin next week.

The participants had already been chosen. Besides the three of them, Xiling would also take part as a safeguard, though Gu Yue and the others did not know that.

During this time, Xiling's soul power had reached level thirty-two. Xie Xie was at level nineteen, Gu Yue at level seventeen, and Tang Wulin at level twelve.

It was worth mentioning that because of Xiling's presence, the Golden Dragon King bloodline within Tang Wulin had yet to awaken.

That day, after Gu Yue delivered his meal as usual, she was about to leave when Xiling unexpectedly called out to her.

"Gu Yue, are you free tonight?"

Xiling's voice made Gu Yue abruptly stop in her tracks.

She turned around, her eyes filled with astonishment. Clearly, she had not expected Xiling to take the initiative to stop her, much less ask something like that.

For the past two months, Xiling had always kept her at neither too great nor too close a distance. He accepted her kindness but never actively drew close to her. Yet during nighttime training, he had deliberately taught her some other things.

After a brief daze, Gu Yue quickly came back to herself and nodded. "I'm free. Is there something you need?"

Could it be that her efforts during this time had finally worked?

Xiling nodded. "Then come to my house after training ends tonight."

The moment those words came out, Gu Yue froze on the spot. Her eyes widened, and a flush visibly spread across her cheeks.

G-Go to his house? No, they were still so young!

Seeing her expression, Xiling immediately understood that she had gotten the wrong idea. Annoyed, he said, "What are you thinking? There's something I want to ask you."

His blunt words instantly shattered Gu Yue's fantasies. She suddenly came back to her senses and realized that she had made a complete fool of herself. She hurriedly lowered her head, hiding the embarrassment in her eyes as she softly replied, "I-I wasn't..."

She wished she could find a crack in the ground and crawl into it.

Xiling helplessly rubbed his forehead. "Wait for me at the entrance to the training grounds after special training tonight. I'll take you back. It won't take too much of your time."

"Alright." Gu Yue nodded lightly. After saying that, she did not give Xiling time to react before quickly leaving.

Watching her retreating figure, Xiling sighed. "I hope it works. Otherwise, I can only say sorry."

He knew very well that Gu Yue's initiative in approaching him was most likely because of her wager with Na'er, so he was not particularly moved by her kindness.

To be fair, when he had read the novel in his previous life, he had had a good impression of Gu Yue. But between a little sister he had lived with for three years and someone he had known for less than three months, the choice was obvious.

That night's training ended quickly, and Gu Yue waited for him at the entrance as promised.

Before long, Xiling emerged from the training grounds. "Let's go."

The moment he spoke, a spatial passage appeared before them. Xiling stepped into it first.

Even though she had seen it more than once, Gu Yue was still amazed by Xiling's martial soul, which allowed him to manipulate space so freely. It was far stronger than the spatial element she controlled.

Following Xiling into the spatial passage, the surroundings changed in an instant, shifting from the academy training grounds to a simple, clean apartment.

Xiling casually dismissed the spatial passage, walked into the living room, and sat down to make tea. "Sit wherever you like. Don't be polite."