Meeting Shrek Again

Ten-Thousand-Year Mysterious Ice Marrow could directly increase one's cultivation, extend the age of Soul Rings, and even raise the success rate of condensing a Soul Core. To ice-attribute Soul Masters and soul beasts, it was an invaluable treasure. Even Skydream Iceworm had relied on devouring Ten-Thousand-Year Mysterious Ice Marrow to break through to a million years of cultivation.

Ice God's Crystal, meanwhile, was the companion metal of Ten-Thousand-Year Mysterious Ice Marrow. It possessed both extreme hardness and flexibility, making it a crucial material for crafting top-tier soul tools.

If they could obtain these two treasures... they could try giving part of the Ten-Thousand-Year Mysterious Ice Marrow to Vina for cultivation, while using the rest to trade with Snow Empress of the Far North.

Vina's Snow Lotus Martial Soul was also ice-attributed. The Ten-Thousand-Year Mysterious Ice Marrow should be of considerable help to her cultivation.

As for Snow Empress... her seven-hundred-thousand-year heavenly tribulation was imminent. She had no reason to refuse, either.

As for how to obtain the Ten-Thousand-Year Mysterious Ice Marrow within Earth Dragon Sect's secret realm...

Ye An inexplicably recalled how the Body Sect had risen to wealth and prosperity—its internal treasury now contained vast amounts of money, cultivation resources, and treasures, most of which had actually been plundered under the leadership of several previous Body Sect masters.

By looting smaller sects and families that had offended the Body Sect, they had gradually accumulated the abundant, prosperous Body Sect of today.

"Heavenly Dragon Sect and Earth Dragon Sect aren't particularly far from our Body Sect, but we've had little contact with them."

Hearing the voice by his ear, Ye An nodded slightly and committed the matter of Earth Dragon Sect and the Ten-Thousand-Year Mysterious Ice Marrow to memory.

The carriages of Heavenly Dragon Sect and Earth Dragon Sect stopped at the edge of Star Dou Great Forest, and several figures stepped down from them. Immediately afterward, a clear male voice suddenly rang out from behind Ye An and Zhang Lexuan.

"So it's Your Excellency Tianlong. My apologies for not recognizing you."

Upon hearing that voice, Ye An and Zhang Lexuan instinctively turned around and saw a middle-aged man in white robes, followed by two young women who looked about Zhang Lexuan's age.

One wore blue-and-white clothing and appeared gentle and elegant, while the other had long golden hair and was slightly less attractive than the girl in blue and white.

Ye An frowned. He had no impression of the man at all, but he did recognize the robust middle-aged man being addressed as Your Excellency Tianlong.

The master of Heavenly Dragon Sect, a rank ninety-two attack-type Titled Douluo, known as Tianlong. During the war in which the Sun Moon Empire invaded the Heavenly Soul Empire, Tianlong Douluo led his disciples in assisting the city guards' defense and ultimately died a heroic death.

Zhang Lexuan merely glanced at the figures behind them without paying much attention. Yet a single sentence from Tianlong Douluo made her freeze in place.

"You are... from Shrek Academy?"

Shrek Academy!?

Hearing those words, Zhang Lexuan's body suddenly stiffened. Almost instinctively, she turned to look at the middle-aged man she had not paid much attention to before.

Ye An reached out to support Zhang Lexuan, then turned his head and looked over as well.

The white-robed middle-aged man led the two young women behind him over to Tianlong Douluo, where they began exchanging pleasantries. The people from Earth Dragon Sect also stepped down from their carriage, and the three groups gathered together. However, the woman who had emerged from Earth Dragon Sect's carriage was clearly somewhat distant and wary, unlike Tianlong Douluo's warm familiarity.

"Sister Lexuan, you..."

Before Ye An could finish, Zhang Lexuan gently shook her head.

Then she took a deep breath and spoke softly. "I'm fine. Xiao An, let's go hunt for a Soul Ring."

As she spoke, Zhang Lexuan prepared to head deeper into Star Dou Great Forest, but an unusual thought arose in Ye An's mind.

They had encountered people from Shrek Academy again... so should they take this opportunity to collect some interest from Shrek Academy on Zhang Lexuan's behalf?

He did not know who that middle-aged man was, but judging by his appearance, he was probably not one of the Shrek Academy elders Ye An knew. At most, he should be a teacher from the Inner Court.

If he asked Uncle Peng and Uncle Yu to act, killing him should not be difficult. As for the two young women, he and Zhang Lexuan should be able to handle them.

If they died in Star Dou Great Forest while hunting Soul Rings due to an accident, even if Shrek Academy wanted to investigate, it would be difficult to determine who had done it. Besides, it might not even draw Shrek Academy's attention.

But when Ye An voiced this thought, Zhang Lexuan hesitated for a moment before ultimately shaking her head in refusal.

In Zhang Lexuan's eyes, her true enemies were the half-paralyzed big shot Bi Qing had mentioned and the Shrek Academy Inspection Corps that had acted against her. Shrek Academy's disciples were innocent. If she were to kill Shrek Academy students the moment she saw them, then she would be no different from those who had wiped out the Wangyue Viscount Family.

Although Ye An did not particularly agree with this notion, he still respected Zhang Lexuan's decision.

Of course, what truly made Ye An abandon the idea was the movement of Shrek Academy's middle-aged man—he appeared to be an old acquaintance of Tianlong Douluo and was now preparing to enter Star Dou Great Forest together with the people from Heavenly Dragon Sect and Earth Dragon Sect to hunt Soul Rings.

Seeing this, Ye An had no choice but to abandon the thought and focus on finding a suitable soul beast for Zhang Lexuan.

The outer region of Star Dou Great Forest posed little threat to the two of them. However, the outer region was not entirely safe either. Even ten-thousand-year soul beasts occasionally appeared there, so they ignored those people behind them and proceeded toward the mixed region with their full attention focused.

After traveling for roughly two hours, the surrounding trees gradually grew taller and thicker. Their layered canopies blotted out the sky, leaving only scattered patches of light filtering through the gaps and falling upon the ground. The damp scent of earth, along with some indescribable smell, filled their nostrils.

They had now officially entered the mixed region of Star Dou Great Forest.

Ye An slowed his pace and spread out his spiritual power, sensing the surrounding situation. Zhang Lexuan, meanwhile, kept her body tense and vigilantly scanned their surroundings. The instant anything unusual appeared, she would release her Martial Soul and fight.

Strictly speaking, this was the first time the two of them had hunted Soul Rings alone rather than relying on Du Busi and Jin Peng's assistance. Though Jin Peng and Yu Bo remained hidden in the shadows, silently protecting them, both Ye An and Zhang Lexuan maintained the necessary focus without the slightest slackness.

Hidden in the darkness, Jin Peng and Yu Bo both nodded inwardly when they saw how cautious Ye An and Zhang Lexuan were.