The state of affairs a year later

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Chapter 47: The state of affairs a year later

Looking at the buildings of Maple Leaf City bathed in the setting sun, Ye Xixuan no longer dared make any other move. Yet what had happened that day seemed to have stirred some seal deep within his heart, and was certain to leave a lasting mark on him.

The two sat side by side, watching the sun sink beneath the western horizon as darkness spread across the sky from afar. The soul guidance lamps around Maple Leaf Square lit up automatically, lending this border city an air of peace and tranquility.

Everywhere they could see, children chased one another and played. The adults, finished with their day's work, were also enjoying this rare leisure, chatting and laughing together.

Once the Sun Moon Empire unleashed another war in the future, even this simple everyday life might become a happiness beyond the reach of these ordinary people.

Neither Ye Xixuan nor Ling Luochеn spoke again, maintaining a delicate silence between them.

An unknown amount of time passed. The night gradually deepened, and the chill in the air grew stronger.

Ye Xixuan could not help softly reminding Ling Luochеn.

"Senior Sister Ling, shouldn't we head back?"

"Call me Sister Luochеn from now on." The usual light returned to Ling Luochеn's distant, unfocused eyes. She stood, looked down at Ye Xixuan, and held out her fair, slender right hand.

Ye Xixuan froze for a moment, then instinctively raised his right hand and let Ling Luochеn take it, while wondering to himself.

Why does what Senior Sister Ling just said sound so familiar?

Holding Ye Xixuan's hand, Ling Luochеn walked along the edge of Maple Leaf Square toward the hotel. Again and again, they passed beneath soul guidance streetlamps, then slipped back into darkness. Amid the overlapping light and shadow, they seemed to cross through time and space. For one fleeting instant, their figures seemed much smaller.

The boy's face brimmed with a cheerful smile. The petite girl wore a faint smile of her own, her deep-blue eyes unable to conceal their tenderness and affection.

Then, in the next instant, reality returned.

The boy was still sunny and cheerful, but the girl, now much more mature, had sealed her heart away like ice frozen for ten thousand years, leaving only a narrow opening for him.

After resting for a night in Maple Leaf City, Ye Xixuan and his two companions set off for Shrek Academy the following day.

This time, they hired a spacious carriage, allowing them to cultivate without any disruption during the journey.

Ye Xixuan was immensely grateful for this choice. By concentrating on cultivation, he could avoid the somewhat peculiar atmosphere between the three of them.

On the evening three days later, the carriage finally arrived outside Shrek Academy's East City Gate.

After returning to Shrek Academy, Ye Xixuan resumed his usual routine. Until Zhang Lexuan recovered, he cultivated under Mu En's guidance in the mornings and went to the Soul Tool Department in the afternoons to learn how to engrave core arrays.

Through the effects of his first soul skill, Condensed Shadow, he could condense shadows into any shape he wanted, while maintaining excellent soul power conductivity.

Compared with traditional soul engineers, he saved himself much of the effort involved in making the outer casings and inner shells of soul tools. He only needed to engrave the all-important core arrays. With the Mind Demon Mark enhancing his spiritual power as well, he made rapid progress in engraving core arrays.

As for his evenings, he spent most of them meditating inside the Sea God Pavilion, only visiting Tang Ya's residence in Shrek City on weekends.

However, whenever he was on Sea God Island, Ye Xixuan found himself running into Ling Luochеn much more often. At her request, the two occasionally took private walks along the shore of Sea God Lake.

Given Ling Luochеn's temperament, she rarely spoke much with him. She seemed simply to enjoy being alone with him.

As the start of the Outer Court's school year approached, Ye Xixuan also kept his promise and accompanied Jiang Nannan to the Treasure Gathering Pavilion in Shrek City. With him vouching for her, Jiang Nannan successfully raised her credit limit and purchased medicine to cure her mother's heart defect.

At last, the melodramatic plotline from the original story had been avoided.

In the blink of an eye, another year passed.

Zhang Lexuan's body had essentially recovered completely. All that remained was to gradually guide her meridians back into their proper positions with soul power, after which she could resume cultivation.

Although absorbing the Hundred-Thousand-Year Blood Moon Wolf Emperor's soul ring and soul bone had subjected her to severe backlash, it had all been worthwhile compared with the tremendous gains.

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Even among Titled Douluos, possessing a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring and a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bone made a difference as vast as heaven and earth in both combat strength and potential for further advancement.

It was no exaggeration to say that, since Zhang Lexuan had successfully fused with a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring at rank eighty, she would be able to reach at least the Super Douluo realm in the future-in other words, rank ninety-five or above.

However, with Zhang Lexuan busy cultivating during this period, Ye Xixuan spent considerably less time with her. For that very same reason, Ling Luochеn gained a few opportunities.

Laboratory 12, Soul Tool Department, Shrek Academy Outer Court.

This was Fan Yu's private laboratory.

Only Ye Xixuan and He Caitou were inside the exceptionally spacious laboratory.

He was officially entering puberty.

Ye Xixuan's body had begun developing even faster. In just one year, he had grown to over 1.75 meters tall. Even among fellow soul masters his age, he stood out like a crane among chickens.

Of course, he still could not compare with He Caitou's hulking physique, which was more imposing than even an adult's.

Overall, Ye Xixuan looked slightly lean, with all his bodily vitality held within. Only when he took off his clothes and revealed the contours of his muscles, each worthy of being called a work of art, could someone truly appreciate the terrifying strength hidden inside his body.

Restricted by the effects of his ultimate martial soul, he had only reached the peak of rank thirty-six after an entire year of cultivation, remaining one step away from breaking through to rank thirty-seven. Even at this cultivation speed, however, he was confident he could reach the rank-forty bottleneck at twelve years old.

His most significant improvement was not in his soul power level, but in the ages of his first three soul rings.

Thanks to the evil qi that had flowed back into him after he killed the Death Messenger, as well as the evil fire Ma Xiaotao had generated over the past year, Ye Xixuan's three soul rings were now approximately three thousand, five thousand, and nine thousand years old, respectively.

Just then, a tall middle-aged man walked into the laboratory.

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The middle-aged man was about 1.8 meters tall, with broad shoulders. He wore simple cloth clothes, leaving his thick, sturdy arms exposed. His face had sharply defined features, and his gaze was steady and composed. Merely standing there, he gave off the weighty presence of a mountain.

"Caitou, what did you need me for?"

"Teacher, it wasn't me. Little Brother Ye wanted to show you something." He Caitou rubbed his large bald head and gave an honest smile.

Fan Yu immediately turned his gaze toward Ye Xixuan. Over the years, he had witnessed Ye Xixuan's talent for engraving core arrays. Unfortunately, Ye Xixuan's aptitude for martial soul cultivation was even more outstanding, so he was destined never to become a core disciple of their Soul Tool Department.

Thus, every time Fan Yu saw Ye Xixuan, his feelings were rather complicated.

"What did you want to show me?"

Ye Xixuan gave Fan Yu a slight nod. Without keeping him in suspense any longer, he released his martial soul.

Purple, purple, purple.

Three magnificent purple soul rings rose from beneath his feet in succession. The last purple soul ring, in particular, already contained distinct traces of deep black.

His second soul ring shone, and thick, pitch-black shadows instantly spread across an area two hundred meters in diameter. Then humanoid knights condensed within the shadows, numbering over a hundred. All wore heavy armor and held shadow weapons of various shapes.

Ye Xixuan raised his hands. Amid dazzling flashes of light, the silver Heavenly Spider Claws encased them. As his sharp, slender fingertips moved rhythmically, these previously lifeless Shadow Knights actually began trembling as though they had been given life.

"What is this?!" Fan Yu lost every trace of his earlier composure, his eyes widening in shock.

Beside him, He Caitou was even more horrified. He stumbled, nearly losing his footing. Back when he had still been the Sun Moon Empire's Crown Prince, he had seen something similar in a top-secret location.

"A humanoid soul tool?!"

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(End of chapter)