The next day.
Lin En slowly stirred awake, feeling that something had appeared in his arms.
He slowly opened his eyes and discovered that Zhu Zhuqing had come to his side at some point and fallen asleep with her head resting on his chest.
"This girl..."
Lin En smiled and shook his head, slipping his fingers into her thick, silky hair and gently massaging it.
Then he picked up a lock of her hair and lightly tickled the tip of her nose.
"Mmm..."
Zhu Zhuqing's brows furrowed unconsciously before she gradually woke up.
When she saw Lin En looking down at her with teasing eyes, a blush instantly spread across her face.
She quickly pulled away from him!
"Some people really do say no while their bodies tell the truth!"
Lin En sighed softly, straightened his collar, and gave a faint smile.
After breakfast, Lin En cleared away the traces they had left at the campsite.
Then he summoned Sageross and left the Star Dou Great Forest with Zhu Zhuqing.
Up in the sky.
Zhu Zhuqing gazed down at Star Dou below. During this month of hellish training, she had fought Soul Beasts to the death, almost as though she had been tempered in blood and fire.
She had sacrificed much along this path, and gained much as well.
"Lin En, my soul power has reached the peak of level twenty-nine. I should be able to break through to level thirty in the next few days."
"Mm, that's a good thing!"
"Well... I'd like to ask you to help me hunt for a darkness-attribute Soul Ring!"
Zhu Zhuqing lightly clenched her hands in front of her chest, her voice carrying a hint of shyness and anticipation.
"Sure!"
Lin En yawned and casually agreed.
His soul power level had also reached thirty-nine. Once this trip was over, he could take Zhu Zhuqing back to Star Dou so they could hunt for Soul Rings together.
Hearing his answer, Zhu Zhuqing immediately smiled, feeling much more at ease.
"Where are we going?"
"You'll know when we get there. Don't tell anyone about what happens this time!"
"Does that make it a secret between us?"
"If you say so!"
Lin En gazed into the distance, silently thinking.
Right now should be when Tang San and Xiao Wu join Shrek Academy.
Tang Hao will follow along to protect them, too. This is the perfect opportunity for me to make my move.
Holy Soul Village.
Lin En directed Sageross to fly up into the clouds, avoiding the villagers before heading straight into the mountains behind the village.
He planned to rob Tang San of a few things first, then get himself a Soul Bone, and finally pour thick white broth over it all.
After spotting the distinctive waterfall from the sky, Lin En descended with Zhu Zhuqing.
"Wait here. I'll be right back!"
After giving Zhu Zhuqing that instruction, Lin En headed toward the waterfall with Sageross.
Once Sageross cut off the curtain of water, Lin En quickly found the mechanism that opened the cave.
Inside the cave, it was pitch-black; he could not even see his fingers in front of him.
Lin En took out a fluorescent stone he had prepared in his storage space and quickly headed deeper into the cave.
In just a moment, he spotted the Blue Silver Emperor planted on a mound of earth.
"Sageross, help me find the mechanism!"
While instructing Sageross to find the mechanism where the Soul Bone was stored, Lin En began digging the Blue Silver Emperor, Ah Yin, out of the mound.
The instant his hand touched her, blue-silver leaves threaded with gold wound up around his fingers.
"Relax. I'll let you see daylight again very soon!"
Lin En smiled faintly and sped up his movements.
Meanwhile, Sageross found the mechanism through its searching, and a black box dropped from the top of the rock face.
Sageross extended a scythe blade and caught it steadily, then walked over to Lin En.
"Sageross, well done!"
Lin En offered a word of praise, then reached out to take the black box and slowly opened it a crack.
In an instant, a terrifying pulse of life burst through the gap, filling even the air with the breath of life.
Lin En's eyes instantly shone brilliantly. That aura-yes, it was definitely a Soul Bone!
Without hesitation, he put it straight into his Storage Ring, while he planted the Blue Silver Emperor in a flowerpot.
Once that was done, Lin En cleared away every trace he had left behind, then quickly slipped out of the cave.
After closing the mechanism again, Lin En jumped onto Sageross's back. "Sageross, let's go!"
"Saa-"
Sageross answered, carrying Lin En through the curtain of water and leaping into the air.
Seeing Lin En go in and come back out, Zhu Zhuqing's face took on a curious look.
"Let's go!"
Lin En came back to pick up Zhu Zhuqing and left Holy Soul Village with her.
With that, his objective was fully accomplished!
On the way back, Lin En's feelings were complicated yet excited. This trip had gone far more smoothly than he had expected.
Zhu Zhuqing stood beside Lin En, quietly gazing at his profile, faint, hazy ripples glimmering in her eyes.
She had never truly seen Lin En clearly.
Sometimes she thought she had gotten close, but the next moment, Lin En would show her through his actions that she had not!
"Lin En, where are we going next?"
"Back to Star Dou. Go into seclusion and break through as soon as you can over the next few days. Then I'll find you the Soul Ring that suits you best."
Lin En calmly explained their next steps. Afterward, he also needed to enter seclusion to absorb the hundred-thousand-year Blue Silver Emperor Right Leg Bone.
This period was incredibly important to both of them.
"All right!"
Zhu Zhuqing nodded slightly, a sense of urgency rising within her. Compared with Lin En, she was still far too weak!
Upon returning to the Star Dou Great Forest, Lin En directed Sageross to carve two caves into a rock face for their secluded cultivation.
Both Lin En and Zhu Zhuqing carried fresh water and dry rations, preparing to devote themselves fully to cultivating in seclusion and breaking through.
"Let's begin!"
Inside the cave, Lin En adjusted his condition, then opened the black box. The Blue Silver Emperor Right Leg Bone abruptly appeared before his eyes.
Its entirety was a translucent, crystalline blue-gold, with what looked like starlight flickering inside. Vast life force dispersed into the air along with fluctuations of soul power.
The Blue Silver Emperor Right Leg Bone had been brought along at his side, and a long, slender blade of grass gently unfurled, gradually winding around his body.
"Ah Yin, stop fooling around. You wouldn't want anything to happen to Tang Hao, would you?"
Hearing his words, the slender blade of grass gradually stretched out and wound around his right leg, coiling into a nest of grass.
Lin En smiled faintly. Without hesitation, he picked up the Blue Silver Emperor Right Leg Bone and pressed it against his right leg.
As his soul power surged, the blue-gold Soul Bone vanished, turning into countless streams of air that poured into the area around his right leg.
Lin En closed his eyes and began absorbing it with all his strength.
Immersed in these gentle fluctuations brimming with life energy, Lin En felt as though his body were a sponge, frantically soaking up this terrifying life energy.
The meridians within his body were widening at a geometric rate, a luminous blue radiance shining from the inside out. It looked utterly strange.
Gradually, Lin En's perception of his surroundings grew hazy, as though, at that moment, his entire being were immersed in an ocean of life!
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