Their consciousness briefly blurred. After Yue Guan and Gui Mei exited the gaming pods, they headed straight for the counter and slammed a palm heavily onto it, their tone carrying an aggressive edge:
"Boy, tell us the truth right now. This game you mentioned-after entering that other world, what exactly was everything we saw and experienced?"
"Also, we haven't received any of those benefits you promised earlier."
With that, Yue Guan gave a cold snort.
Through the system, Lin Yue had already seen everything the two had experienced in the game. He promptly gave a brief explanation of the concept of parallel worlds that he had mentioned to Zhu Zhuqing the night before.
There was little to explain; a few words made it clear.
"As for the benefits..."
Lin Yue raised a hand in an inviting gesture.
"Why don't you try summoning your martial souls?"
The Chrysanthemum Ghost Douluo exchanged a glance, their gazes falling in unison on the three people still lying quietly inside the gaming pods. Suspicions stirred in their hearts, and without further hesitation, they summoned their martial souls together.
The instant they sensed their martial souls, both were shaken to the core. Apart from their original martial souls, they could truly sense another entirely different martial soul power lying dormant within them.
Their expressions shifted as they summoned them.
They each looked down at the martial souls appearing in their palms and behind them, their faces filled with shock.
A moment later, Gui Mei spoke slowly, his voice very low.
"Then why was my counterpart in that world a man, while Yue Guan became a woman?"
Lin Yue looked at them, a trace of amusement flashing through his eyes as he smiled faintly.
"In a parallel world, anything is possible. That's all."
Hearing this, Gui Mei looked at Yue Guan with a complicated expression.
Yue Guan was looking at him too, and upon catching his gaze, even winked coquettishly at him.
After a brief silence, Gui Mei cupped his hands toward Lin Yue.
"About this matter..."
"Young friend, could you allow us to return and discuss it thoroughly before giving you an answer?"
"Of course."
Lin Yue nodded, his tone casual.
"Just come find me once you've decided."
He watched the two leave. The shop fell quiet, and a distinct growl suddenly sounded from the corner.
When the Chrysanthemum Ghost Douluo had released their martial souls earlier, Zhu Zhuqing had been silently observing from the side. After all, she had never summoned her White Tiger martial soul since gaining twin martial souls.
Having confirmed it, she was about to resume meditating against the wall when her stomach made an ill-timed sound.
Catching Lin Yue's gaze from the corner of her eye, Zhu Zhuqing instinctively covered her stomach. Her cheeks reddened slightly with embarrassment.
"Hungry? Wait here."
With that, Lin Yue turned and entered the kitchen.
Before long, a meat dish, a vegetable dish, and a soup were on the table. The braised pork gleamed a rich red, the stir-fried seasonal vegetables were vibrantly green, and a bowl of egg-drop soup steamed beside them, its fragrance spreading.
Zhu Zhuqing hesitated for a moment, but ultimately could not resist her hunger. She quietly sat down and lowered her head to eat.
Once she finished, she took out the only money she had and held it out to Lin Yue, softly asking how much the meal cost.
"No need. Put it away."
Lin Yue waved a hand, signaling for her to put her money away, then continued:
"You heard my conversation with those two earlier. More and more people will come to the shop in the future, and I'll need a few helpers."
Zhu Zhuqing froze slightly, then understood his meaning.
She stood up and nodded earnestly to Lin Yue in thanks, her tone sincere.
"Thank you, Young Master Lin. I will do everything I can to carry out the work."
Lin Yue said nothing more and merely nodded.
Several days passed at that unhurried pace.
At Shrek Academy, in a remote village outside Suotuo City.
Early in the morning, all the students had assembled on the academy grounds, with Oscar alone absent.
Flender frowned and said gravely, "Where's Oscar? Is that brat sleeping in again?"
Tang San stepped forward and replied respectfully:
"Dean, Oscar was still cultivating when I left the dormitory. He must have entered a meditative state, so I didn't call him."
At this, Flender's expression darkened.
"Tang San, go get him. We can't hold this lesson without him."
"Yes, Dean."
Tang San answered and was just about to leave when he saw Oscar racing over from the dormitories, panting for breath.
Yet his face showed none of the panic of being late. Instead, it glowed red with excitement.
"Oscar, are you asking to run punishment laps again?"
Seeing Flender glaring at him irritably, Oscar repeatedly waved his hands and shook his head, saying excitedly:
"Dean, I've broken through to rank thirty!"
"What?"
Flender froze. Dai Mubai, Ma Hongjun, Ning Rongrong, Xiao Wu-everyone present instantly turned their eyes toward Oscar, filled with shock.
Cultivation was far more difficult for a food system soul master than for a battle soul master. To take the lead in breaking through rank thirty and enter the Soul Elder realm at fourteen was truly astounding!
Flender's eyes flashed brilliantly. He strode forward, exclaiming "Good!" three times in succession.
"Oscar, you really haven't disappointed me! You're the second of our current students to break through rank thirty. The academy is proud of you!"
Grandmaster Yu Xiaogang slowly approached from the side. He raised a hand and briefly examined Oscar's soul power. After confirming his rank, he spoke slowly:
"Very good. As far as I know, only the outskirts of the Star Dou Great Forest have millennium soul beasts suited to food system soul masters."
He looked at Flender and instructed gravely:
"Rest for a day. We'll leave early tomorrow to hunt for Oscar's third soul ring and conduct wilderness combat training for everyone along the way."
At his words, everyone looked delighted.
Ma Hongjun blurted out from the side:
"Hey, speaking of the Star Dou Great Forest, isn't that mysterious shop those three kept talking about a few days ago somewhere nearby?"
His eyes lit up, and he chuckled.
"Doesn't that mean we'll get to see Zhu Zhuqing again?"
That simple remark struck precisely at Dai Mubai's most sensitive spot.
Ever since Zhu Zhuqing had insisted on going to that mysterious shop and turning her back on everyone at Shrek, frustration and resentment had remained pent up inside Dai Mubai.
If even the careless Ma Hongjun could think of it, how could Dai Mubai, bound to Zhu Zhuqing by their betrothal and caring about her the most, fail to?
His expression instantly darkened, and a complex, indescribable loneliness and anger flashed through his eyes.
Seeing this, Tang San, Oscar, and the others hurried to comfort him softly, their words full of regret and the feeling that he deserved better.
Just then, Yu Xiaogang slowly stepped forward, assuming a composed, perceptive air as though he saw through everything, and leisurely offered reassurance.
"You needn't concern yourselves too much."
"Zhu Zhuqing is wavering by nature. She readily believed an outsider's wild claims and failed to see the bigger picture. That's why she insisted on leaving the team."
"Meanwhile, you've cultivated diligently every day without slacking off. Everyone's strength has steadily improved, and your teamwork has grown increasingly polished."
Yu Xiaogang's tone was mild, seemingly consoling, yet every word carried mockery and condescension.
"If she comes to her senses later and wants to rejoin the team, then once she personally experiences your current strength and the team's cohesion, she will certainly feel ashamed."
"Only then will she truly understand how foolish a choice it was to abandon Shrek and our team."
His speech was lofty and high-sounding, fully displaying the manner of a teacher who directed everything from behind the scenes and instructed all beneath him.
Everyone from Shrek present, including Tang San, nodded in agreement, repeatedly affirming that Grandmaster was right.
It was as though they were certain Zhu Zhuqing would bitterly regret leaving Shrek.
The next day.
The Shrek group set out on schedule.
With Soul Douluo like Zhao Wuji and Flender anchoring the group, they traveled extremely quickly, reaching the town outside the Star Dou Great Forest by dusk.
After settling into their rooms at the inn, Dai Mubai, feeling troubled, took a walk through the streets with Ma Hongjun, planning to find somewhere to indulge in some pleasure.
However, as they passed a tea stall on a street corner, the idle conversation of two burly men drifted into their ears, making them stop to listen.
"Have you heard? A strange little shop opened sometime along that fork in the road outside town toward the Star Dou Great Forest."
"Apparently, it lets people play some kind of game. Getting in costs at least one gold soul coin, and there's no bargaining."
"One gold soul coin? Are they crazy?"
"Who knows? Either way, I can't afford a place like that. But I heard there's a girl in black there, with a top-notch face and figure. Her expression's just a little cold..."
After the first two remarks, Dai Mubai already vaguely suspected that they were talking about the mysterious shop those three had mentioned.
When the words "girl in black" reached his ears, his mind thundered, and he instantly became certain that it was Zhu Zhuqing.
At the thought of outsiders casually discussing his fiancée in such frivolous terms, all the emotions pent up over the past days erupted. He could no longer suppress his youthful viciousness.
Though only fourteen, he was already a rank thirty-seven power attack system Battle Soul Elder. Soul power surged around him, and without controlling his strength at all, he drove two heavy punches into the ordinary men, who possessed no soul power whatsoever.
Two dull thuds rang out. Before either man could even scream, they collapsed with serious injuries, unconscious.
Having done this, Dai Mubai did not even glance at the two men on the ground. He turned and raced out of town without looking back.
Ma Hongjun stood rooted to the spot, dumbfounded. Only after a long moment did he recover and hurriedly call out to stop him.
But Dai Mubai was consumed by urgency and would not listen. His steps never paused, and he soon ran far into the distance.
Ma Hongjun looked at the unconscious passersby on the ground, then at Dai Mubai's receding figure, scratching his ears and cheeks in agitation.
Utterly helpless, he could only turn and hurry back to the lodging inn to seek help from Zhao Wuji, Yu Xiaogang, and the others.
Dai Mubai raced onward, the wind howling past his ears.
Thoughts churned and tangled in his mind, but his feet never stopped.
Following the fork in the road as the two men had described, he soon spotted a small shop with glass doors amid the desolate hills.
He quickened his pace and shoved the door open.
The soft lighting inside made the shop seem as bright as day.
At a glance, he saw Zhu Zhuqing, dressed entirely in black, quietly wiping the tables and tending to chores with her head lowered, her movements practiced and unhurried.
At this sight, an uncontrollable surge of anger instantly rose in Dai Mubai's heart, and he shouted:
"Zhu Zhuqing, how long are you going to keep being willful?! You insisted on coming to this dump to do chores and wait on people. Aren't you ashamed?"
At the familiar voice, Zhu Zhuqing's hand paused over the tabletop. She raised her eyes and calmly looked toward Dai Mubai at the door.
Dai Mubai stepped forward, his tone growing more forceful. "You're the Zhu family's second young lady, and more importantly, my rightful fiancée! Come back to Shrek with me right now!"
As he spoke, he reached for Zhu Zhuqing's wrist. She shifted slightly aside to avoid him, let out a long breath, and said calmly:
"I'm not being willful. Everything here is very good. I won't go back with you."
Dai Mubai was about to argue further when footsteps suddenly sounded from the corridor.
Lin Yue slowly emerged in a loose outer robe, his hair still damp. He held a cloth and casually dried it, relaxed and comfortable after his bath.
Noticing an unfamiliar boy in the shop, he swept his gaze over Dai Mubai's flushed, furious face and casually said to Zhu Zhuqing:
"Zhu Zhuqing, why aren't you greeting the customer?"
His tone was perfectly ordinary, yet to Dai Mubai, it was like tossing an open flame into a powder keg.
Greeting customers? His fiancée actually had to do chores for a man of unknown origin in this remote little shop, waiting on him and everyone else?
In an instant, jealousy, anger, and humiliation surged into his heart together. Believing he had been cuckolded, Dai Mubai's eyes turned bloodshot, and his reason shattered completely.
Vast soul power poured wildly from his body. Three soul rings, two yellow and one purple, circled and lit up as the phantom of a white tiger roared at the sky behind him.
He roared through gritted teeth, each word dripping with murderous intent:
"I-want-you-dead! White Tiger Fierce Light Wave!"
"Stop!"
Zhu Zhuqing's expression changed sharply. She lunged forward to stop him, but was a fraction too slow and could not block this power attack soul skill unleashed with his full strength.
Lin Yue's hand paused as he dried his hair, and genuine confusion appeared in his eyes.
Yet facing the White Tiger Fierce Light Wave already inches away, he did not move at all, nor did the slightest ripple cross his face.
The next second, as the beam reached half a foot in front of him, it shattered and dispersed like an egg striking solid rock. It failed to stir even a breeze that could move Lin Yue in the slightest.
At the sight, Dai Mubai's pupils contracted sharply, and terror filled his heart. He could not believe his full-strength blow had accomplished nothing.
He gathered soul power in both fists and viciously attacked Lin Yue again.
Yet Lin Yue merely raised a finger, effortlessly blocked his fist, then tilted his head and said mildly:
"I don't know what's gotten into you, but you're trying to make trouble, right?"
Dai Mubai's throat bobbed. Cold sweat instantly seeped down his back, and a trace of unconcealable fear flashed through his eyes.
But his youthful arrogance quickly surged up again. Forcing himself to stand straight, he shouted through gritted teeth:
"I am making trouble! So what? I'm Dai Mubai, the Star Luo Empire's third prince! What can you do to me?"
Lin Yue stared at him for two breaths, then suddenly gave a soft chuckle.
"Oh."
He drew out the sound, an amused look of apparent realization rising in his eyes.
"So you're that famous... Piao Changhu."
Dai Mubai's face instantly went from red to livid. He opened his mouth, but before he could retort-
Lin Yue had already lost interest in listening. He raised his hand and flicked it casually.
Smack!
An exceptionally crisp slap rang out.
Dai Mubai's entire body flew sideways through the air. Half his face swelled at a visible speed before he crashed heavily onto the dirt outside the shop.
Before you continue