"Xie Xie, are you all okay? Is everyone all right?"
Li Zha flashed a sunny, boyish smile.
Xie Xie rubbed his nose.
"I'm fine, not really hurt. But Wulin..."
"Wulin is fine."
Gu Yue walked over, supporting Wulin.
Li Zha took a quick look and nodded.
"Yeah, probably a few broken ribs. Guang Biao's kick was no light blow."
Of course, he was only putting on a show. How could someone with the Golden Dragon King's power be kicked to death by Guang Biao?
"Sorry for dragging the three of you into this and getting you beaten up along with me."
Xie Xie waved a hand. "Don't say that. We're the ones who dragged you into it. If you and Na'er hadn't been here today, Guang Biao probably would've killed all three of us."
Li Zha glanced at the night sky. "That fight took forever. It's already so late. Are you going back to the academy tonight?"
"Well..."
Xie Xie scratched his head.
The three of them had come out on their own and stirred up such a huge mess. With Wulin's injuries in particular, he probably wouldn't be able to train for days. Wu Changkong would scold them to death, wouldn't he?
"Hey, looks like you three don't want to go back either. How about coming to the Spirit Pagoda with me?"
"I'll have my teacher talk to your academy and say the Spirit Pagoda is opening its doors especially for you for a few days. What do you think?"
With the map fully unrolled, Li Zha finally revealed the dagger beneath.
Dealing with Guang Biao was merely incidental. Taking Tang Wulin away was his real purpose in coming to Eastsea City this time.
Xie Xie hesitated.
"Well... isn't that a bit much...? I heard it's pretty expensive inside the Spirit Pagoda..."
Xie Xie's family was wealthy and influential, too.
But compared with the Spirit Pagoda, they were only a single hair on nine oxen.
Gu Yue's eyes suddenly lit up as she looked at Na'er.
Hiss...
Isn't this a perfect opportunity?
Maybe I can use this chance to take back my power!
Besides,
Gu Yue thought it over carefully. Wasn't her goal to join the Spirit Pagoda anyway?
Now that she looked at it, Li Zha's teacher was clearly no ordinary person. Her standing within the Spirit Pagoda was probably quite high. If Gu Yue showed her talent, perhaps she would catch her eye directly!
Thinking of it that way,
Gu Yue felt this was a perfect plan to kill two birds with one stone!
She immediately spoke up.
"Xie Xie, if the three of us go back now, we definitely won't be able to explain things to Teacher Wu Changkong. We might as well do what Li Zha suggested."
"All right, then... Wulin's injuries really do need proper treatment and some rest."
Xie Xie looked at Li Zha. "Brother Li Zha, sorry for troubling you for the next few days."
Li Zha replied with a beaming smile.
"Hey, we're good brothers who'd take a blade through the ribs for each other. What's with all that? It's not like I'd ever hurt you, right?"
As he spoke,
Li Zha smiled at Tang Wulin.
Li Zha immediately explained things to Leng Yaozhu, who naturally had no objections.
Guang Biao had already been reduced to a cripple. His Martial Soul and Soul Power Level had both been destroyed, and he lay on the ground with his heel tendons severed, his face ashen.
Just then,
A large force of soldiers suddenly rushed in from all around.
The officer leading them looked at Leng Yaozhu, trembling. "R-reporting in! This subordinate arrived late!"
Guang Biao had used his authority as Mecha Team captain to seal off the area, leaving them unaware of what was happening here for a time.
When they discovered that Guang Biao was actually fighting the two geniuses brought by Pagoda Master Leng of the Spirit Pagoda, the soldiers erupted into a frenzy and rushed over.
Now,
All these members of the City Defense Army kept their heads lowered, not daring to speak.
Leng Yaozhu didn't even glance at them. "Get out of here and accept your punishment. Strip off those uniforms."
With that,
Leng Yaozhu flew away with Li Zha and the others.
Her figure swiftly disappeared into the horizon.
The next moment, the enormous Black-Grade Mecha Guang Biao had arrived in suddenly burst into flames on its own.
Lying on the ground, Guang Biao stared blankly at his mecha burning in the flames, like a gravestone marking the end of the two brothers.
The officer's face turned ashen.
Leng Yaozhu's words had undoubtedly cut short his future, along with those of all the brothers behind him.
The next moment,
The officer and a crowd of soldiers turned toward Guang Biao on the ground, their fury beyond restraint.
"You fucking bastard!"
"If you wanted to die, you should've looked at who you were provoking!"
The officers charged forward, hauled Guang Biao up, and gave him a beating together.
If Guang Biao hadn't frantically shouted that Li Zha wanted to keep him around to sweep the streets, he figured they probably would have beaten him to death.
"Just you wait, Guang Biao."
"Once my brothers and I finish taking our punishment and resign, we won't do anything else. We'll come take care of you every single day."
Grinding his teeth, the officer pulled off his military cap and left with his men, his expression vicious.
Guang Biao lay on the ground with a swollen, bruised face, his expression terrified.
He seemed to have foreseen the misery awaiting him.
His Martial Soul cultivation had been destroyed,
And he had thoroughly enraged the local City Defense Army.
Not only that,
Guang Biao looked around.
The neighbors lining the street were now looking at him with ill intent as well.
Clearly,
Everything he and his younger brother Guang Long had done before was about to be repaid twofold by their former victims!
At the Spirit Pagoda,
Leng Yaozhu arranged rooms for Li Zha and the others, then immediately began looking through reference materials.
"This is truly strange. Why exactly were Li Zha and Na'er able to use a Martial Soul Fusion Skill?"
"I don't understand."
Leng Yaozhu was puzzled.
A Martial Soul Fusion Skill,
Was a special Soul Skill that could only be used by two people whose Martial Souls were highly compatible and whose coordination was exceptionally strong.
For example, there was the Two-Pole Static Domain of the Spirit Hall's Chrysanthemum Ghost twenty thousand years ago.
Or the Purple-Gold Dragon Butterfly Transformation of Spirit Ice Douluo Huo Yuhao and his wife, Tang Wutong.
Martial Soul Fusion Skills were immensely powerful, and their requirements were correspondingly stringent.
Li Zha and Na'er might have the necessary coordination.
But the Fire-Tipped Spear countered the Silver Dragon Spear!
How could they still use a Martial Soul Fusion Skill?!
"Wait, all things engender and counter one another. That also means countering can lead to engendering..."
"The one who understands you best might be your enemy."
"A silver dragon amid a sea of fire, wearing flames as armor..."
Leng Yaozhu's eyes flickered as she carefully considered the circumstances under which Li Zha and Na'er had performed their Martial Soul Fusion Skill.
Both of them had faced a life-or-death crisis.
That manifestation had also perfectly matched their surroundings at the time.
A silver dragon falling into a sea of fire, dancing once before death.
The Fire-Armored Silver Dragon.
There was even the fact that,
This Martial Soul Fusion Skill clearly centered on Li Zha, with Li Zha holding active control.
"Could it be that mutually countering Martial Souls can also perform a Martial Soul Fusion Skill if one of them is exceptionally powerful?"
The idea surfaced in Leng Yaozhu's mind.
She carefully recorded it.
At that thought,
Leng Yaozhu had a faint feeling that perhaps even Shrek, the Monster Academy, might not know about this situation.
"Hehe..."
Leng Yaozhu was now even more pleased with Li Zha and Na'er.
"Choosing Na'er back then was the right decision. With her by Zha'er's side, he'll have another powerful source of support when he faces the Holy Spirit Cult in the future!"
Meanwhile,
Late that night,
Li Zha was sleeping soundly,
But a dark figure secretly crept into the room he shared with Na'er.
It was Gu Yue.
Leng Yaozhu had put them on the same floor. When Gu Yue arrived, she had used a visit to Na'er as an opportunity to memorize the room number.
Thus,
Gu Yue successfully slipped inside.
Gu Yue tiptoed to Na'er's bedside. Na'er had been sleeping ever since losing consciousness, showing no sign of waking.
Gu Yue sneered and immediately prepared to devour this thirty percent of her power.
When Gu Yue reached out, ready to begin the absorption, she suddenly felt that something was wrong.
Why did she feel,
That Na'er's bloodline power was actually greater than her own?!
Gu Yue looked down.
At that moment, Na'er suddenly opened her eyes and smiled.
"Jailbird Yue, I've been waiting for you for so long!"
Before you continue