Joining the Expedition

"Then I'll leave it to you to take Xiaotao back."

With that, Gao Ren headed toward the Faculty Dormitory.

Usually, he was the one who took Ma Xiaotao back when she was drunk.

But today, he wasn't in the mood.

Or rather, he was eager to get back and cultivate.

The flap of his little butterfly's wings might have changed this world from the original story, but there was still a chance that an expedition led by Xuan Zi would suffer heavy casualties.

So Gao Ren intended to rise from level nineteen to level twenty before the Inner Court team set out and see if Xuan Zi would take him along.

Although his strength was meager, he believed he could influence the Inner Court's Soul Hunting expedition to some extent.

At worst, things couldn't go worse than they had in the original story.

Once back in his room, Gao Ren immediately began cultivating.

He kept his focus sharp, meditating until daybreak.

"Time to get ready for work..."

After a night of cultivation, Gao Ren felt much better physically than before.

Mentally, though, he was a little worn out.

Meditation couldn't entirely replace sleep. Sustained concentration left the mind fatigued for a while afterward.

That was why he normally never cultivated through the night, splitting his time roughly equally between meditation and sleep.

Over the next few days, Gao Ren spent nearly every spare moment cultivating.

In the end, he broke through before the Inner Court team departed!

"Level twenty at last!"

A sleepless night had left him mentally drained, but the joy of breaking through still brought a grin to his face.

Knock, knock.

Dawn had barely begun to brighten the sky when someone knocked on Gao Ren's door.

It was Xuan Zi. He was taking the Inner Court students into the Star Dou Great Forest today, so he had moved breakfast earlier.

With breakfast brought forward, Gao Ren no longer had to find him at the dining hall. Xuan Zi had come to his room instead.

"A-Ren, open up. This old man is here for breakfast."

Gao Ren opened the door. Xuan Zi walked in carrying a food box filled with Gao Ren's nourishing breakfast.

"Teacher, I just broke through. I'm level twenty now."

Xuan Zi showed no surprise at Gao Ren's words.

Even without keeping Gao Ren under constant watch with his spiritual power, Xuan Zi had noticed his breakthrough the moment he saw him.

"And?"

Gao Ren went straight to the point. "Teacher, can you take me along to the Star Dou Great Forest this time?"

"Take you? I can, but I'll have to let Mu En know first." Xuan Zi added, "You're the apple of the entire academy's eye now, and I'll already be looking after twelve others. I wouldn't dare bring you on this Inner Court Soul Hunting expedition without telling him."

"Once Mu En hears about it, he might even assign more people to the expedition."

"Then please go ask Mu En right away." Gao Ren felt his teacher had become much more cautious than before.

"A-Ren, you eat first. I'll be right back."

Without waiting for Gao Ren's reply, Xuan Zi vanished from before his eyes.

He returned before long.

Mu En had agreed to Gao Ren's request without a moment's hesitation.

As Mu En saw it, this was a good thing.

He had known Xuan Zi long enough to know the man could be careless at times.

If Xuan Zi brought Gao Ren along, Mu En believed he wouldn't dare be careless in the slightest.

"A-Ren, Mu En agreed."

"That's great!" Gao Ren exclaimed.

"Look how excited you are, kid! I don't even know what you're so worked up about." Xuan Zi shook his head and grabbed the Overlord Drumstick Gao Ren had prepared for him.

After breakfast, Xuan Zi took Gao Ren to the gates of Shrek Academy.

The twelve Inner Court students taking part had already been waiting there for a while. Xuan Zi and Gao Ren were the last to arrive.

The students were about to greet Xuan Zi when they spotted a tiny child emerging from behind him.

They all froze at once.

But they quickly caught on.

Gao Ren was famous throughout Shrek Academy now. Virtually everyone had heard of him.

Though few of the Inner Court students had met him, they guessed he was Xuan Zi's disciple.

"A-Ren, say hello to your seniors and introduce yourself."

At Xuan Zi's instruction, Gao Ren nodded and gave a brief introduction.

"Hello, everyone. I'm Gao Ren. My Martial Soul is the Overlord Drumstick, and I'm a food-type Soul Master. My Soul Power is at level twenty, and I need my Second Soul Ring."

Gao Ren said nothing about Immortal's Drunk. For now, Shrek's leadership didn't want his Twin Martial Souls to become common knowledge.

"Level twenty?!" they exclaimed in unison.

The Inner Court students finally understood why Gao Ren was here.

His Soul Power had reached a bottleneck, so naturally Xuan Zi would help his disciple obtain a Soul Ring.

Even so, Gao Ren's Soul Power Level was what astonished them most.

"Xuan Zi, if I remember correctly, didn't he awaken his Martial Soul only half a year ago?!"

Xuan Zi answered the student with a smile, plainly enjoying the chance to show off his disciple. "You remember correctly. It's been only half a year since A-Ren awakened his Martial Soul."

"Hiss!" Everyone drew a sharp breath. Xuan Zi's disciple was terrifying beyond belief!

"Quit hissing. You're embarrassing yourselves, and you're supposed to be the Inner Court's elite." Xuan Zi looked at them with disdain.

The others stared at him. As if you wouldn't be surprised if someone like this appeared out of nowhere!

"You should introduce yourselves too. Otherwise, our little friend will enter the Star Dou Great Forest without even knowing your names."

The first to step forward were three older-looking Inner Court students. All three served as teaching assistants and had reached at least the Soul Douluo rank.

After they introduced themselves in turn, a young woman stepped forward.

She was stunningly beautiful, with a gentle, graceful air. One glance told him she was a goddess admired by everyone in the Inner Court.

"My name is Zhang Lexuan, and I'm an Inner Court student. My Martial Soul is the Moon. I'm an assault-type Battle Soul Master with level-eighty Soul Power, and I need my Eighth Soul Ring."

Besides Zhang Lexuan, there were two others Gao Ren vaguely recognized.

One had the Shaking Gold Rope as a Martial Soul. The other was Wu Ming, who reminded him somewhat of Ma Xiaotao. Later, Wu Ming and Ma Xiaotao would be known as the Inner Court's two living volcanoes.

The remaining Inner Court students introduced themselves one after another. Most were level sixty or seventy, and he hadn't heard any of their names. They had probably all been on the original story's death list.

"Now that everyone's acquainted, let's set off."

As he spoke, Xuan Zi pulled something from his Storage Soul Tool that none of them had expected.