Soul Palace Xiao Yan

Su Lin took out a small black box and let out a long breath. It looked like it was time to sort through his miscellaneous items... collectibles.

Things related to system points were better kept in the system's Aether...

"You said you found one just now. Did you mean..."

Lu Mingfei pointed tremblingly at the wooden box in Su Lin's hand.

Su Lin flipped open the lid. Inside lay a transparent pearl. He pinched it between his thumb and forefinger, then casually tossed the box onto the ground.

"I don't have If Phone Booth."

"Dayan Pearl: Reflection. I'll lend it to you, useless Mingfei."

Gulp—

Lu Mingfei swallowed, his heartbeat quickening as blood rushed through his veins, thumping wildly in his chest.

"Can this thing create a happy parallel world like If Phone Booth?"

"You're dreaming." Su Lin replied bluntly.

"Whew, that scared me." Hearing that, Ye Fan took another sip of hot soup. Spiritual energy flowed down his esophagus into his stomach, and a warm power spread through every meridian in his body.

Lu Mingfei took the transparent pearl and examined it, but could not make heads or tails of it.

"What does this pearl do?"

"It lets you observe parallel worlds."

Su Lin served himself a bowl of hot soup and gently blew on it twice. With a cultivator's physique, he naturally would not get burned; it was simply an unconscious habit.

When Su Lin looked up, he discovered that the pearl in Lu Mingfei's hand had already ended up in Ye Fan's.

"Little Lu, I'm afraid you can't handle it. Let me test the waters for you first." Ye Fan covered Lu Mingfei's mouth with one hand while bringing his eye close to the Dayan Pearl with the other.

Xiao Yan grabbed Ye Fan's hand.

"Wait." Xiao Yan stood there, righteous and Rin-like, having somehow appeared beside Ye Fan without anyone noticing.

"Let me cut in line."

The moment Xiao Yan finished speaking, the Dayan Pearl in Ye Fan's hand had transferred into his own.

"You bastard!"

"Old Su, how do I use this thing?" Xiao Yan shouted.

"Hold it in your palm and put a little power into it."

"Okay."

The Dayan Pearl in Xiao Yan's hand immediately emitted a radiance that seemed to pierce through flesh.

Multicolored energy surged from Xiao Yan's palm, its dazzling power scattering through the Aether before gathering in one place.

"This is external display mode." Su Lin snorted. Normally, simply holding it would allow one to receive information from parallel worlds. Infusing it with energy activated the external playback mode.

"Where the hell did you get all this stuff?" Xiao Yan stared in astonishment. "Can I trade you the old grandpa in my ring for a cheat?"

"Ungrateful disciple!"

Xiao Yan took a slap to the head and nearly lost his footing.

"Ow, Teacher, you misunderstood." Xiao Yan hurriedly covered his head. "There are so many old grandpas. I never said I meant you."

In just a few seconds of Kung Fu Hustle, a scene appeared in the Aether before everyone.

Amid the endless yellow sands, a figure in a black cloak was walking step by step into the distance.

"That's me from a parallel world?" Xiao Yan's face was full of curiosity. He wondered what his parallel-world self was like. Was it the same as the story described in the book? Where had things reached by now? The Black-Corner Region?

An old man in white brocade robes flew over on wings and blocked Xiao Yan's path.

He was actually a Dou Wang expert.

"Yun Ling, you old dog!"

Was his parallel-world self really that unlucky? Had his whereabouts been discovered?

"Protector, sir."

Yun Ling retracted his Dou Qi Transformation Wings and respectfully bowed to Xiao Yan before him.

"By order of Sect Master Yun Shan, I have come to assist you, Protector, in acquiring the Heavenly Flames."

"Hehehehe..." The black-robed Xiao Yan laughed in a low voice. "Do you think I need your help?"

"I... would not dare." Yun Ling lowered his head even further, showing unreserved submission and fear.

"..."

Xiao Yan watched the scene, feeling as though countless alpacas were stampeding through his heart.

Han Li joked, "Is that... Soul Palace Xiao Yan?"

"Shirou, that person looks like a villain." Illya tugged on Shirou Emiya's sleeve.

"..."

"Hehehehe." Ye Fan let out an eerie laugh, imitating him perfectly. "Protector Xiao, what impressive authority you have."

Xiao Yan fell silent for two seconds, then changed the image with a thought.

This time, it showed a bamboo forest, where Xiao Yan was taking a walk hand in hand with a young woman.

"Once I leave this time, I don't know how long it will be before I return." Xiao Yan spoke in a low voice. "Xiao Yi Xian, do you really not mind that I still love another girl?"

Xiao Yi Xian said nothing and embraced him...

"It cut away just when it was getting good. Keep going," Lu Mingfei muttered.

The image flickered and changed again.

"Hehehehe."

Change it again.

"Thirty years east of the river..."

Change!

"Yun Yun, I..."

Pick another one!

Beneath a waterfall, the Xiao Yan in the image stood beneath the rushing water, his sturdy muscles on full display before everyone.

Dou Qi covered the surface of his body in a thin layer of armor.

"Phew..."

Xiao Yan sighed in relief. Finally, something normal.

Wasn't there a more dependable version of him in some parallel world?

The Xiao Yan in the image closed his eyes to rest. Birds sang, flowers bloomed, and nature thrived in peaceful harmony.

"Change the channel. This one's no good." Su Lin teased.

Xiao Yan's expression darkened. The novelty had worn off anyway. His parallel-world self was not much to look at, and he had even exposed all those personal matters.

It was fine. This was a parallel world, so it had nothing to do with him.

Yeah, as long as his skin was thick enough, what did it have to do with Xiao Yan of this world?

"Then what do you think is worth watching?"

Xiao Yan's voice rang out.

Huh?

Xiao Yan froze. I didn't say anything?

He abruptly looked up.

The scenery in the image gradually faded into gray and white, while only the projected Xiao Yan retained his color.

Then one Heavenly Flame appeared, then two... countless different flames of heaven and earth bloomed around the other Xiao Yan like stars surrounding the moon.

Everything changed. There was no longer any waterfall or nature, nor was there a youth cultivating.

Golden clouds hung high in the sky. A majestic figure stood amid auspicious light, while surging, violent spiritual power was nearly visible to the naked eye, turning into liquid radiance that slowly dripped down.

"Young brother, you still haven't answered me. What would you like to see?" the majestic figure asked, his voice gentle and calm.

"..." How could Su Lin fail to recognize him? This was the future master of the Endless Fire Domain, Xiao Yan from Great Ruler...

He was numb...

Even across worlds and time, he could feel the pressure of that higher-dimensional lifeform: perfect and flawless.

This should not be happening...

"I want to see how comfortably Xiao Yan spent these three years, and how exciting his romantic entanglements were."

Did he think Su Lin would back down?

What a joke. He was ridiculously brave!

The Xiao Yan in the image suddenly changed expression. He truly had not expected Su Lin to be so bold. His widened eyes seemed to have seen something unimaginably terrifying.

The next second, he vanished from the image.

The scene displayed by the Dayan Pearl became like an old television with poor reception.

After a while.

The future Xiao Yan appeared in the image again. His eyelid twitched slightly as he forced a smile and said:

"What romantic entanglements? There was only a young man cultivating bitterly, right?"

(End of chapter)