Breaking Free of "Love's" Control? Shrek Has Money to Spare!

"No! At Shrek's Soul Tool Department, Fan Yu is second only to Dean Xian Lin'er!"

Mu Jin hurried to explain, so anxious that his words came out in a jumble.

He had no idea how the trouble between him, Zhou Yi, and Fan Yu had become known even to the freshmen.

"Enough!"

Tang Qi's voice turned cold. "I see you say one thing to someone's face and another behind their back. What did you say in class? That Soul Tools were nothing but flashy tricks.

"And now you can't wait to shove your students into the Soul Tool Department. Set aside whether they should study Soul Tools. You know what Shrek's Soul Tool Department is, don't you? I shouldn't have to remind you."

Mu Jin opened his mouth, but not a single word of rebuttal came out.

Tang Qi said no more.

He bent slightly and scooped the girl in his arms into a bridal carry. Huo Yutong let out a startled cry and instinctively wrapped her arms around his neck. A blush spread across her face.

"Xiao Xiao, let's go."

The little girl sprang from her chair as though granted a pardon and trotted after them.

At the door, Tang Qi suddenly stopped and turned his head slightly.

He looked at Mu Jin, his gaze complicated.

"Teacher Mu Jin, let me leave you with one thought—"

"Before you love someone else, learn to love yourself."

"I think my words have reached your very soul. Take care of yourself!"

Their footsteps faded beyond the door.

In the office, Mu Jin sank back into his chair in a daze, as though all his strength had been drained away.

"Brother Tang Qi, can you put me down now?" Huo Yutong mumbled, her face buried against his chest.

Even after her feet touched the ground again, she still felt light all over. She lowered her head and said softly, "Th-thank you."

Tang Qi said nothing more and turned to keep walking. Xiao Xiao trotted behind them, winking at Huo Yutong and pulling a face.

Huo Yutong glared at her and hurried after him, but her mind had quietly returned to the Sea of Consciousness.

"Sister Tian Meng, I want to study Soul Tools."

Inside the Sea of Consciousness, Huo Yutong crouched beside Tian Meng's bed and murmured to her with pleading eyes.

"Hm?"

Tian Meng rolled over sharply, revealing a swath of snow-white skin. Her face was full of irritation at being disturbed.

"I want to combine Soul Tools with Hidden Weapons and help Brother Tang Qi revive the Tang Sect!"

Huo Yutong's eyes shone as she declared with conviction, "Take the essence and discard the dross!"

"Why are you telling me?"

Tian Meng sat up and rubbed her sleepy eyes in a huff. With every movement, the pale expanse swayed, leaving Huo Yutong at a loss for where to look.

"Sister Tian Meng, you're a spirit. Why do you still sleep naked?" Huo Yutong stared in disbelief.

"So what?"

Tian Meng thrust out her chest, utterly unapologetic. "I never wore clothes when I was a Soul Beast, either. It's called returning to my true nature."

"That's not the same! You were a worm back then. Now you're a person..."

Huo Yutong's voice grew quieter and quieter. She looked away, though she could not help sneaking glances at Tian Meng.

The girl instinctively looked down at herself, then quickly turned her face aside.

They really were bigger than mine. Even bigger than Sister Xiaoya's.

Tian Meng snapped her fingers, and spiritual power covered her body like a gauzy robe, restoring her usual polished appearance.

She sat cross-legged in midair, propped her chin on one hand, and gave Huo Yutong an amused look.

"Study Soul Tools, train as a Soul Master, learn otherworldly Necromancy." Tian Meng counted them off on her fingers. "Are you trying to work yourself stupid?"

"It's fine, Sister Tian Meng. I can do it." Huo Yutong raised her head, determination in her eyes.

"Fine. Since you insist, I'll help you."

Tian Meng stood and puffed out her chest, looking proud. "As it happens, I really can help teach you about Soul Tools."

With that, she leaned close to Huo Yutong's ear, all mysterious.

"To tell you the truth, Yutong, before I sacrificed myself to you, I actually sacrificed myself to someone else."

Huo Yutong blinked, not quite taking it in.

"He was a Quasi-Titled Douluo."

Tian Meng's voice dropped lower and lower, tinged with guilt. "I spent ages choosing someone in the Star Dou Great Forest. Of everyone I found, he had the strongest spiritual power, and he happened to need a ninth Soul Ring."

"And then?" Huo Yutong could not help asking.

"And then?"

Tian Meng coughed dryly, her eyes wandering. "Without a second thought, I poured everything into the sacrifice. But right after I finished looking through his memories, he burst."

Huo Yutong: "..."

"That was a mistake. When I sacrificed myself to you, I sealed away a lot of my essence."

"That's not important." Tian Meng waved a hand and wagged a finger in front of Huo Yutong. "What matters is that the man was an Evil Soul Master from the Sun Moon Empire—and a Level 7 Soul Engineer."

Tian Meng snapped her fingers with a pop and raised an eyebrow at Huo Yutong. "So I won't boast about anything else, but teaching a little beginner like you? Easy."

"Well? You admire me now, don't you?" Tian Meng lifted her chin smugly.

Huo Yutong was silent for a moment. Then she left the Sea of Consciousness, hurried up to Tang Qi, and told him everything Tian Meng had just said.

Inside the Sea of Consciousness, Tian Meng stamped her feet in fury. "Haki Tong, what's that supposed to mean? Selling me out to get ahead?!"

Tang Qi looked somewhat surprised when he heard.

He truly had not expected that worm Tian Meng to be useful in this way. A Soul Engineer from the Sun Moon Empire was in a different league from the self-taught types in the three great empires.

Tang Qi did rather want to see Huo Yutong raise an undead army, strap magnetic bombs to every one of them, and send them charging forward as a suicide squad with howls of "Aaaah!"

Before long, evening arrived.

As for why they had not attended class that afternoon, Mu Jin had, for the first time ever, called in sick.

It seemed Tang Qi's words had struck deep into his soul.

So deeply, in fact, that Mu Jin was trying to break free of the Love Gu's control—the underlying code of the Douluo Continent.

Tang Qi was glad to see it.

At Food Street by Shrek Academy's east gate, dusk hovered on the edge of darkness.

Streetlamps lit up one after another. The aromas of countless snacks filled the air, and crowds flowed through the lively street.

At one stall, Huo Yutong was hard at work. Tang Ya stood beside her as an assistant—if drooling over the food counted as helping.

"I have to say, Mu En really knew how to enjoy himself." Tang Qi reclined in a chair just like Mu En's, his eyes narrowed in comfort.

As the great Tang Sect Leader, Tang Qi was, of course, enjoying himself in a purely critical spirit today.

Beside him, Xiao Xiao sat properly on a little stool, her chin cupped in both hands, as well-behaved as a hamster waiting to be fed.

After a while, everything was ready. Huo Yutong took a deep breath, then reluctantly picked up the price sign Tang Qi had made himself and planted it in front of the stall.

Xiao Xiao leaned over to look, and her lips immediately puckered.

"Five Gold Soul Coins for one? Limit one per person?" She rubbed her eyes and looked again to make sure she had read it right.

"Tang Qi, will anyone really buy a Grilled Herring for five Gold Soul Coins?" She could not help turning to look at him.

Tang Qi drawled, "It's called scarcity marketing. Rarity makes things valuable. Yutong has no idea just how good her grilled fish is."

"At seven copper coins apiece, you could grill until your little hands cramped and still barely make anything. Think bigger. Why save money for rich people?"

Huo Yutong looked at the price sign, her face falling slightly. Is my grilled fish really as delicious as Brother Tang Qi says?

The rich aroma of grilled fish drifted through the air, tempting everyone nearby.

But the price of five Gold Soul Coins certainly drove most people away.

Still, there was always someone willing to be the first to eat a crab.