After that incident, the Outer Court erupted.
A freshman who had enrolled less than half a month ago.
News that he had swept aside one of the Outer Court's strongest with thunderous might flew on wings to every corner of the academy.
In the dining hall, in the dormitories, on the training grounds-everywhere, people were discussing it.
The name Gu Xingyue became known to everyone in the Outer Court overnight.
The title of strongest in the Outer Court was well deserved!
But all the excitement aside, the stone truly weighing on every freshman's head was the approaching Freshmen Assessment.
Shrek's rules were clear: fail the Freshmen Assessment and you were eliminated outright, with no retakes and no appeals to sentiment.
Nobody wanted to roll up their bedding and slink home after barely a few days at Shrek. It would disgrace not only them, but their entire family as well.
Three days later, Xu Shanshi came to see Gu Xingyue in person.
Most of the color had returned to her face. Her black hime cut was neatly combed, and she had regained her composed, unhurried bearing.
She held out a palm-sized jade box to Gu Xingyue, her tone flat. "The Black Tortoise Divine Pill. I keep my word. Inspect it yourself."
Gu Xingyue took the jade box and lifted the lid for a look. Inside lay a translucent pill, and a rich, weighty medicinal fragrance wafted into his face.
He closed the lid and nodded to Xu Shanshi. "The pill's fine."
Xu Shanshi did not linger. She turned and left.
Taking the Black Tortoise Divine Pill, Gu Xingyue went straight to Huo Yutong.
When he found her in the Soul Guidance Department's practical training room, she was crouched in front of a half-finished soul tool, engraving patterns onto its tiny circuits with a carving knife. A slight sheen of sweat covered her temples, and her expression was focused.
Gu Xingyue walked over, crouched beside her, and held the jade box out before her.
"For you."
Huo Yutong looked up and took the jade box in puzzlement. When she opened it and saw the pill inside, she froze for a moment.
She leaned closer to sniff it, then jerked her head up to look at Gu Xingyue, her eyes filled with shock and disbelief. "Is this... could this be a Black Tortoise Divine Pill? The Black Tortoise Divine Pill Xu Shanshi gave you?"
"Mm."
"No, no, no." Huo Yutong pushed the jade box back as though it had burned her, shaking her head like a rattle drum. "This is too precious. I can't take it. You beat Xu Shanshi with your own abilities. This is your spoils of battle. Besides, you've already helped me so much. How could I accept something so valuable from you again-"
"Classmate Huo." Gu Xingyue did not take the jade box. He simply looked at her, his voice suddenly becoming very soft.
Huo Yutong stopped.
Gu Xingyue leaned close to her ear, lowered his voice, and said each word distinctly. "You wouldn't want to be expelled from Shrek Academy because your soul power level wasn't high enough, would you?"
Huo Yutong went rigid.
Her lips parted, but it felt as though something had blocked her throat.
Of course she did not want to be expelled.
She knew better than anyone that she had only entered Shrek thanks to special approval.
Her soul power level was at the very bottom of the Outer Court. If she failed the Freshmen Assessment, the academy would have no reason to keep her.
She had struggled so hard to get this far, to finally set foot on the threshold of soul tools, to finally find a path she genuinely liked and excelled at.
She did not want to leave. Granted, the Soul Guidance Department would not let her leave even if her soul power level was too low, but that did nothing to stop Gu Xingyue from making things up.
Under his gaze, Huo Yutong lowered her head and remained silent for a long time. Then she reached out, took the jade box back, and held it against her chest.
Her voice was soft, so soft she almost seemed to be talking to herself. "Xingyue, I'll definitely repay you someday."
"Sure. Once you become a supreme grandmaster of soul tools, just build me a Gundam," Gu Xingyue said.
Huo Yutong hugged the jade box, her nose stinging slightly, but she held back and did not let her tears fall.
She nodded firmly.
Gu Xingyue did not stop there.
He raised his right hand and turned his palm upward. A jade-green vine slowly grew out of his hand.
The vine was slender and supple, its entire length a clear, translucent green. An aura of life so dense it almost became tangible spread from it.
As though sensing something, the potted plants in the corner of the training room all tilted their leaves toward it.
Huo Yutong's breath caught slightly as she looked at the vine.
Although she could not identify it, her instincts told her it was anything but ordinary.
That aura of life was so pure that every pore on her body opened, and even the circulation of her soul power became somewhat smoother.
Top-tier food-type soul master Gu Xingyue was now officially online.
"This is the Evergreen Life Vine, my second martial soul," Gu Xingyue said without concealing it. "Used together with the Black Tortoise Divine Pill, it can improve your martial soul's aptitude. Conservatively speaking, it can raise you a notch within a day."
He continued with certainty in his voice. "Once we actually get started, within two and a half hours, I'd say."
Huo Yutong froze.
"Once your aptitude improves, your cultivation speed will increase severalfold at the very least." As Gu Xingyue spoke, he held the vine out before her as well. "Take it. Use the Black Tortoise Divine Pill and the Evergreen Life Vine as your medium, and become a top-tier soul master, Yutong."
Huo Yutong looked at the emerald-green vine before her, then at the pill held against her chest. For a moment, she did not know what to say.
She felt as though she stood before a dividing line. One step forward lay a world she had never even dared to imagine.
She drew a deep breath and was just about to reach for the vine-
A voice suddenly sounded in her mind.
The voice was ethereal and distant, as though coming from somewhere very, very deep, with a quality that did not belong to the mortal world. "Little one, if you consume that Evergreen Life Vine, perhaps I can recover faster."
Huo Yutong's consciousness abruptly sank, her vision flipped, and the next second, she was standing in that familiar mental space.
Gray mist filled her surroundings. The dark mass of gray mist that had remained dormant in the depths of her mind was now slowly rotating, a faint glimmer showing through its surface.
Tianmeng darted out from the side.
With both hands on her hips, she looked up at the mass of gray mist and shouted, "Ha! I saw at a glance that you weren't human! Now you've shown your true colors! I reckon you're a demon from beyond this realm, trying to possess Yutong!"
"I am indeed not human," the ethereal female voice replied calmly.
Tianmeng's eyes widened theatrically. She pointed at the mass of gray mist, the corners of her mouth curving smugly, then turned to Huo Yutong. "See, Yutong? She confessed without even being pressed!"
"But I am a god," the voice added, its tone still flat.
Tianmeng froze for an instant, then broke into laughter. Clutching her stomach, she said to Huo Yutong between laughs, "Yutong, this thing actually claims she's a god! As far as I know, gods are immortal beings whose strength has long since transcended the realm of mortals.
"If she really is a god, how did she end up like this? Do you think she did it on purpose or by accident?"
Once she had laughed enough, she straightened, folded her arms, and tilted her head to study the gray mist, her tone full of condescending mockery. "You're pretty good, sure, but that's about it. You say you're a god? Then what sort of deity are you? Right now, you're nothing more than a wandering ghost. Don't tell me you're going to call yourself the god who governs death, or the master of the six paths of reincarnation? Stop making your big sister Tianmeng laugh!"
The gray mist fell silent for a moment.
Then the voice sounded again, still ethereal, but now carrying the faintest chill. "A mere mayfly dares pass judgment on the boundless heavens. In the end, you are nothing but a frog at the bottom of a well. In the past, I wouldn't even have needed to lift a finger to squish you into juice."
She paid Tianmeng no further attention and turned instead to Huo Yutong.
The gray mist stirred slightly, as though watching the girl standing in the center of the mental space.
"Choose for yourself."
Before you continue