Shrek's Daily Life 4

With Gongyang Mo gone, the dorm room felt like it was missing something.

Yue Ling couldn't quite explain the feeling. The All-Continent Advanced Soul Master Academy Soul Fighting Tournament would last almost a full month, though he didn't know exactly when it would end.

Every morning, he instinctively looked toward Gongyang Mo's side of the room, about to wake him, only to find it empty.

He got dressed, washed up alone at a sluggish pace, ate breakfast, then headed to class.

The students of Class Three, Class One looked at Yue Ling with undisguised surprise. Their meaning was clear: Huh? Didn't he go to the All-Continent Advanced Soul Master Academy Soul Fighting Tournament? Why's he back already?

When a classmate couldn't resist asking, Yue Ling would wave it off. "The Reserve Team probably won't get many chances to compete. There's not much point in going, so I didn't."

Even Wang Yan and the homeroom teacher paused when they saw him, though they soon recovered.

As teachers, they had no say in the academy's decisions. Generally, all they had to do was comply.

The days that followed moved slowly for Yue Ling.

The crown in his Spirit Sea had fallen silent. It stood there like a lifelike stone statue, unresponsive no matter how he called to it.

And his ability to hear plants' thoughts seemed useless on plants without intelligence.

Yue Ling had tested that, too.

One day, on his way back to the dorm after class, he spotted a sprig of Blue Silver Grass growing in a crack.

He rubbed his chin and sighed. "That's Blue Silver Grass for you, I guess. Wildfires can't burn it all away; spring winds bring it back again. Its will to survive is terrifying."

"Maybe... I should try reaching out to it?"

With that