Stirring Hearts and Parting Ways! A Little Kitten's First Love!

For a moment, Zhu Zhuqing fell silent. She lowered her head and watched the bonfire flickering before her, the look in her eyes constantly shifting. Clearly, she was seriously considering what Gu Ling had just said.

She had to admit that Gu Ling's words made a great deal of sense.

What she needed most right now was to grow stronger, and a truly excellent academy should at least be able to provide its students with a sufficiently good cultivation environment and resources.

But according to Gu Ling, Shrek Academy not only lacked all those things, even its most basic food, clothing, lodging, and travel conditions were terrible. Was an academy like that really worth joining?

But soon enough,

another figure appeared in Zhu Zhuqing's mind—Dai Mubai.

At the thought of him, the hesitation in her eyes gradually turned complicated. If she were merely choosing an academy, she might truly have given up on Shrek Academy by now.

But the problem was... she had never intended to go to Shrek Academy solely for cultivation.

After a long silence, Zhu Zhuqing slowly raised her head. She hesitated slightly before speaking in a somewhat low voice.

"I'll remember what you said. If Shrek Academy truly is as you described, then it really cannot be considered a good academy."

"But... I still have to go."

Gu Ling raised an eyebrow slightly upon hearing that, as though he had long expected her to say so.

Zhu Zhuqing lowered her head, her hands unconsciously clenching tighter as she explained.

"I have some unavoidable reasons. I have to make a trip to Shrek Academy. So even if that academy really is as bad as you say, I still have to go there myself."

She did not mention Dai Mubai's name.

Nor did she explain her relationship with the Zhu Family and the Star Luo Imperial Family.

But as a transmigrator, how could Gu Ling fail to understand what was at stake? Whether Shrek Academy was good or not was not actually the most important issue for Zhu Zhuqing right now.

What truly made it impossible for her to change her destination was Dai Mubai—or rather, the cruel system of competition imposed by the Zhu Family and the imperial family of the Star Luo Empire. From the moment Zhu Zhuqing and Dai Mubai became engaged, the two of them had been tightly bound together.

If Dai Mubai won, she would have a chance to live.

If Dai Mubai lost, she would suffer the same fate.

Unless someone powerful enough to shake the entire Star Luo Empire came along to free her from her family and overturn the Zhu Family's rules directly, she had no room to choose at her current level of strength.

So even knowing that Shrek might be some backwater academy, she still had to go.

Thinking of this, Gu Ling did not try to persuade her further. Instead, he said,

"If that's the case, then go."

Zhu Zhuqing was slightly taken aback. She had thought that since Gu Ling looked down on Shrek Academy so much, hearing that she still intended to go would at least make him try to talk her out of it again.

But Gu Ling merely said calmly,

"Everyone has their own reasons."

"Since you have a reason you must go to Shrek Academy, there's no need for me to stop you."

"But... once you get there, look carefully and think carefully. Don't let someone tell you a few things about only accepting monsters and rejecting ordinary people, then make you think everything there is right."

"If you later find that place truly isn't suitable for you, leave as soon as possible. An academy exists to help you cultivate. There's no need to hold yourself back for one person."

After hearing Gu Ling's words, Zhu Zhuqing stared at him blankly for several seconds before gently nodding.

"Mm."

"I understand."

Gu Ling smiled and did not continue the subject.

By then, the night had grown very late.

The occasional chirp of insects drifted through the woods, while more than half the firewood in the bonfire had already burned away.

After tidying up a little, Gu Ling added more wood to the fire to prevent ordinary wild beasts from approaching during the night. Then he leaned beneath another tree and closed his eyes to rest.

Zhu Zhuqing likewise said nothing more. Yet before falling asleep, she could not help glancing once more at Gu Ling in the distance. Too much had happened that day.

She had been hunted down, met Gu Ling in a desperate situation, and then been saved by him. Soon after, she had fallen unconscious, and upon waking, learned so much about Shrek Academy.

Zhu Zhuqing herself had not even realized it.

This young man, whom she had known for less than a day, had already left a deep impression on her heart.

Nothing happened that night.

The next morning, as the sky had only just begun to brighten, birdsong gradually began to echo through the forest.

After a night of rest, Zhu Zhuqing had recovered considerably. Although the injury on her shoulder had not fully healed, it was no longer a problem for normal travel.

After simply eating some dried rations, Gu Ling shouldered his pack once more. Next, he still had to continue toward the Star Dou Great Forest to search for a suitable third Soul Ring.

Zhu Zhuqing, meanwhile, was heading for Soto City. Their paths did not lead in the same direction.

Beside a fork in the forest road,

Zhu Zhuqing looked at Gu Ling. After a few seconds of silence, she spoke first.

"Yesterday... thank you."

Hearing this, Gu Ling waved a hand and smiled helplessly.

"You thanked me plenty of times yesterday already."

Zhu Zhuqing lightly pursed her lips and said somewhat awkwardly,

"That's different."

Then, without explaining further, she simply looked at Gu Ling seriously.

"Be careful when you go to the Star Dou Great Forest too. It's far more dangerous than an ordinary Soul Hunting Forest."

"Got it." Gu Ling waved a hand, folding his arms across his chest with a supremely confident air. Then he said seriously, "You too. Since those people managed to find you once yesterday, they might find you a second time. Don't go foolishly wandering into remote places alone again."

Upon hearing that last sentence, Zhu Zhuqing immediately felt a little indignant.

"I only did that to shake them off."

"And didn't you still get cornered?"

Zhu Zhuqing found herself unable to say anything for a moment.

Seeing her at a loss for words, Gu Ling could not help laughing.

"All right, we'll meet again if fate allows. I'm heading out first."

With that,

Gu Ling turned and walked in the direction leading to the Star Dou Great Forest.

Zhu Zhuqing stood where she was, watching his figure gradually disappear into the distance. Only after Gu Ling had gone some way did she slowly turn around and begin walking toward Soto City.

But after taking only a few steps, Zhu Zhuqing could not help turning back for another look. After a moment of silence, she withdrew her gaze and continued onward.

Then, after several more steps, she stopped again and looked back once more. After repeating this several times, even Zhu Zhuqing herself could not help growing annoyed.

"What am I even looking at..."

She muttered softly.

Yet scenes from yesterday involuntarily surfaced in her mind: Gu Ling suddenly appearing and effortlessly dealing with those who had been hunting her down; him treating her injuries after she lost consciousness.

And the way he had sat by the bonfire last night, forcefully stuffing roasted rabbit meat into her hands.

At that thought, Zhu Zhuqing's steps suddenly halted as she thought to herself,

If it weren't for those damned rules of the Zhu Family, if I didn't have to find Dai Mubai... perhaps I really would choose to go to the Star Dou Great Forest with him right now?

But Zhu Zhuqing soon gently shook her head.

It seemed she had no other choice. After casting one final glance in the direction Gu Ling had left, she finally stopped looking back and quickened her pace toward Soto City.

On the other side, Gu Ling naturally had no idea that a single chance encounter and rescue had left an unforgettable person in Zhu Zhuqing's heart.

Several days later.

After traveling without rest, Gu Ling finally arrived at the outskirts of the Star Dou Great Forest.

Compared to the Soul Hunting Forest near Notting City, which was maintained by the empire, this place gave off an entirely different sense of pressure even when viewed from afar at the outskirts.

Endless towering ancient trees stretched to the edge of sight. The deeper one went into the forest, the taller and denser the trees became. Not far from the Star Dou Great Forest were many small towns that survived by serving soul masters.

Many soul masters preparing to enter the Star Dou Great Forest chose to resupply here first.

Gu Ling was no exception. He first found an inn in town and stayed for a night. Only after restoring the stamina drained by his continuous journey to its peak did he set off into the forest.

As towering ancient trees gradually blotted out the sky, the light within the forest slowly dimmed. Gu Ling did not rush deeper inside. Instead, he advanced while considering the ability he truly needed from his third Soul Ring. His first two Soul Rings could be said to have been exceptionally successful choices.

His first soul skill, Spatial Rift Bone Spikes, had given the bone spikes that could already leave his body to attack the ability to pass through space and alter their point of attack.

Under normal circumstances,

when facing a ranged attack, an enemy only needed to observe its trajectory to dodge it.

But Spatial Rift Bone Spikes were different. The bone spikes could slip into space during flight, then appear strangely from an enemy's side, back, or even above their head before launching an attack.

So long as they were controlled properly, it was difficult for an enemy to determine the true direction of the attack.

His second soul skill, Void Dragon Assault, made up for his own body's lack of mobility. It allowed short-range Spatial Traversal, close-range bursts of power, and even the ability to evade attacks and break free from control.

Combined with the bone claws and powerful defensive capabilities inherent to his Bone Dragon Martial Soul, Gu Ling now possessed quite respectable offensive methods at both close and long range.