Early the next morning, at the Heavenly Spirit Pagoda.
Two burly men knocked on Li Chen's door, then pushed in a small meal cart.
Li Chen got up, rubbing his eyes. The two burly men, both over six feet tall, wearing white shirts and sporting buzz cuts, studied him curiously.
"Ooh, so this is Deputy Pagoda Master Leng's new disciple? He's pretty cute."
"Yeah, yeah. A fair, tender little shota like this would cry for ages if you slapped him, wouldn't he?"
"Hehe, I heard he even has a Bright Phoenix Martial Soul. Soul Masters who awaken that kind of Martial Soul really never disappoint in the looks department."
Li Chen sat up. Hearing their outrageous remarks, he felt his rear clench.
He took a closer look at the two burly men and immediately realized they were the Spirit Pagoda's sisters, Bai Haoze and Bai Zhicen.
These two sisters were Titled Douluos of the Spirit Pagoda, whose Martial Souls were the Space Unicorn and Light Unicorn, respectively.
They could also perform a Martial Soul Fusion Skill, but these two liked disguising themselves as burly men in everyday life.
Knowing the sisters were deliberately teasing him, Li Chen played along and pretended to be frightened.
"Seniors, don't say that. You're not going to do anything to me, are you?"
"Hehehe..."
The older sister, Bai Haoze, held out both hands and made grabbing motions, a mischievous expression on her face. "You guessed it. Come on, let Uncle have a look at your little pee-pee~"
The next moment,
Bent index and middle fingers struck Bai Haoze's head with their protruding knuckles, producing a crisp thunk.
Bai Haoze froze in pain. The sisters turned around to find Leng Yaozhu standing behind them, her face cold and dark.
"What are you doing?!"
The two burly men immediately cowered, standing at attention like monkeys.
"Deputy Pagoda Master Leng, y-you've misunderstood. We were just playing around with Li Chen."
"Get lost!" Leng Yaozhu said coldly. "If I catch you again, I'll punish you with a vacation to the Blood God Legion!"
"We were wrong, Pagoda Master Leng!"
The two burly men wailed and hurried out the door.
Once they had left, Leng Yaozhu turned to Li Chen and smiled. "Don't be scared. Those two just like playing pranks. They wouldn't dare actually do anything to you."
"Thank you, Aunt Leng."
Li Chen smiled.
Leng Yaozhu lifted the cover on the meal cart, revealing an elaborate, plentiful breakfast.
There was multigrain rice, bread, noodles, steamed buns, steamed sea dragon meat, vegetables, and a bowl of soup. A small bowl beside them even contained a heated piece of whale rubber.
"I didn't know what you liked, so I had the kitchen make a little extra. These are all very good for your body.
"I treated this piece of thousand-year whale rubber using the Spirit Pagoda's secret method. It can greatly improve your physique. Eat it first."
Li Chen nodded.
As the speaker's son, he had naturally eaten whale rubber before.
But when Li Chen ate the small piece Leng Yaozhu had given him, he immediately felt his body heat up. His physical constitution actually improved again.
"Thank you, Aunt Leng."
"Mm, eat up. For the first month, I'll teach you Martial Soul cultivation Monday through Friday. On weekends, arrange your own time to try out a second profession. If there's anything you have trouble adjusting to, tell Aunt Leng right away, all right?"
Li Chen nodded.
Leng Yaozhu smiled, stood up, and left.
Having finally found such a promising Bright Phoenix youngster, she certainly couldn't scare him off with harsh training right away.
Leng Yaozhu left the room and went over to Gu Yue's room. Gu Yue's meal cart had already been cleared; she had clearly eaten very quickly.
Leng Yaozhu's expression was calm, but her tone grew stern.
"Come along, Gu Yue. We're going to the Spirit Ascension Platform for combat practice. I need to see whether you've regressed during this half-semester at Shrek."
Gu Yue nodded and followed.
Gnawing on a steamed bun, Li Chen watched them leave, feeling that being a poor student was simply wonderful. Otherwise, he would have to endure brutal drilling like Gu Yue.
"Hmm, let's see how many Marriage Fate Coins I have."
Li Chen checked his body. His Soul Power had risen another level.
He reckoned Long Xiaoyao and Ye Zhaolu's relationship had probably taken another step forward.
He opened the Marriage Fate Shop,
And an illusory panel appeared.
[Current Marriage Fate Coins: 17.] [3 more needed to redeem: Dream Memory Hammer.] [100 coins to redeem the Nine-Tail Memory Manifestation Radar, 500 coins to redeem the Claw of Severed Fate, 1,000 coins to redeem...]
"That's fast. A little longer and I can redeem the Dream Memory Hammer. Won't that mean an instant matchmaking success?"
Li Chen was delighted.
The Dream Memory Hammer was absolutely a divine tool for matchmaking. Made from the leftover firewood from Nüwa's mending of the heavens, it could awaken a reincarnated person's memories of their previous life.
That way,
He would only need to knock Long Xiaoyao and Ye Zhaolu on the head with the Dream Memory Hammer. Once their past-life memories awakened, they would surely become a couple!
"Keep it up, Brother Long! You work hard at finding a wife, and I'll work hard at getting stronger. We both have bright futures!"
Closing the shop, Li Chen summoned his Martial Soul, the Tree of Sorrow, and examined it carefully.
After looking it over, Li Chen discovered that, compared to before, a tiny golden token had actually grown beneath his Tree of Sorrow's pink canopy.
"Huh? What's this thing?"
Li Chen was puzzled. He remembered that the Tree of Sorrow didn't bear fruit, right? Where had this little golden token come from?
Li Chen instinctively reached out to touch the little golden token, only for it to shoot into his body and disappear the instant it touched his hand.
Li Chen immediately pulled his hand back to look and discovered a golden token mark on his right arm.
The mark's function quickly appeared in Li Chen's mind as well.
[A golden token that can command reincarnated people to obey your orders.]
"Holy crap, there's a perk like this too?!"
Li Chen's eyes widened.
This was good stuff. If he could command reincarnated people, then if any future reincarnators tried to plot against him or harm him, he could simply control them.
Mm,
Li Chen nodded, accepting it with satisfaction.
Although he certainly had no use for it on Long Xiaoyao and Ye Zhaolu for now, there was no telling with future reincarnators.
So,
Keeping this golden token was a form of insurance.
After all, he couldn't guarantee that reincarnated people wouldn't become Evil Soul Masters.
"Speaking of which, this reincarnation mechanism seems connected to my strength. With my Soul Elder-level Soul Power, the furthest back I can trace time is the end of Peerless Tang Sect. In that case, I reckon I'll be able to reach further back next time."
At that thought,
Another question suddenly occurred to Li Chen.
"Wait, my current Reincarnation and Renewal of Fate can affect the entire world line and timeline. Then later... if I go all the way back twenty thousand years and reincarnate Tang San and Xiao Wu to renew their fate, won't the present God King Tang disappear?!"
At that thought, Li Chen immediately grew excited.
The reason he didn't dare provoke Tang Wulin now was his concern over Tang San's divine sense.
But if he erased Tang San at the root, then... would the world change completely?
"Hmm, maybe not necessarily."
Li Chen pondered.
This was only his own speculation.
Because during the first reincarnation, when Long Xiaoyao and Ye Xishui disappeared, Li Chen had felt his Soul Power dropping especially fast.
In other words,
Affecting the timeline and the entire world came at a price.
If he brought God King Tang and Xiao Wu over, the entire twenty-thousand-year history of the Douluo Continent would change. Li Chen wasn't sure whether he could bear it.
"Forget it. I'll see when the time comes."
For now, Li Chen could only take things one step at a time.
Half a month passed in a flash.
At dusk, in Mingdu, at the research institute.
Long Xiaoyao parked outside the research institute. Half an hour later, Ye Zhaolu came downstairs, climbed into the car, and sat in the passenger seat.
Since their trip to Shrek Academy, their relationship had progressed rapidly over the past half-month. This was already the fourth time Long Xiaoyao had invited Ye Zhaolu to dinner after work.
And Ye Zhaolu had agreed every time.
By Li Chen's estimate, Brother Long would win her over within a month at most.
Ye Zhaolu looked a little tired.
"Sorry for the wait. A special patient arrived at the institute's affiliated hospital, and I got held up."
"Not at all. I just got here," Long Xiaoyao said happily. "What would you like to eat tonight?"
"Hmm... how about shrimp? It's been a long time since I had steamed prawns."
"Sure. I happen to know a nearby restaurant that makes good shrimp. I'll take you there."
Ye Zhaolu waved a hand. "No need. You drive, and I'll give you directions. There's a little restaurant I really like."
"Okay!"
The corners of Long Xiaoyao's mouth lifted, and he stepped on the gas.
His palms quietly grew sweaty. Shrimp, huh?
Hehehe, the perfect chance to show off my macho shrimp-peeling skills!
Halfway there, while they were waiting at a traffic light.
Ye Zhaolu suddenly said, "Long Xiaoyao, there's actually something I want to tell you today."
"Hmm?"
Long Xiaoyao's heart gave a jolt. Could it be... she likes me? Is she about to confess?!