"See? It's no wonder I didn't recognize you at first glance. Even you yourself are dumbfounded now, aren't you?"
Seeing Yan's appearance, Xie Yue Yue's face immediately lit up with a smile. Yan, on the other hand, took the mirror and carefully examined his current face. His originally unremarkable features had completely changed. His face was now sharply defined, with sword-like eyebrows, bright eyes, a straight nose, and slightly pursed thin lips, giving him a cold and aloof air. He was definitely handsome and dashing, especially with the black and red flame pattern between his eyebrows, which added even more charm. At this moment, Yan's handsomeness far surpassed that of Xie Yue.
"Is... is this really me?"
Yan never expected to become so handsome.
"No, you think you can become handsome just by self-immolating once? Why don't you do it a few more times? Maybe you'll become the most handsome man in the Douluo Continent."
Seeing that Yan was indeed mostly recovered, Xie Yue immediately started teasing him.
"Come on, I'm lucky I survived. You have no idea how much pain I was in. I never want to experience that again. If Jun Yi hadn't saved me, I probably would have been burned to ashes."
Yan waved his hand to refuse, then looked at his extremely handsome face in the mirror again, pinching his chin and nose to confirm that this was what he looked like.
Xie Yue then walked to Jun Yi's side, bowed to him, and said, " Jun Yi very much, Junior Brother Jun Yi, for saving Yan's life."
Seeing that Xie Yue wasn't surprised at all upon seeing his face, Jun Yi smiled slightly and said, "We're all classmates at the Spirit Hall Academy, so helping each other is only natural. But Senior Xie Yue didn't seem surprised to see me. Did you already guess my identity?"
"Yes, the only boy who can get so close to Junior Sister Zhu Zhuqing is probably Jun Yi. Before, at the academy, Zhu Zhuqing never spoke more than a word to any other boy. And in such a dangerous place as the Mist Grand Canyon, the only person she can trust so much is probably Junior Brother Jun Yi."
Xie Yue smiled and explained that he had once helped his sister investigate information and past experiences about Zhu Zhuqing, so he knew a little about Zhu Zhuqing.
"I see, Senior Xie Yue is really thoughtful. It really is a coincidence. Zhu Zhuqing and I have only been in this Mist Grand Canyon for a little over half a month. We just happened to be passing by today and happened to see the two of you fighting against the Evil Soul Master, so we stepped in to help." Jun Yi said to Xie Yue.
" Evil Soul Master? By the way, Xie Yue, what happened to that Evil Soul Master? Did you kill him?"
Upon hearing the words " Evil Soul Master," Yan quickly turned around and asked Xie Yue.
"You're dead. We killed you together; otherwise, how could we have saved you?"
Xie Yue lied, saying that he had promised to conceal Zhu Zhuqing's strength, and thus claimed that the three of them had joined forces to kill the Evil Soul Master.
Upon hearing that the Evil Soul Master was dead, Yan breathed a sigh of relief and said, "That's good. There are just too many Evil Soul Master in this Mist Grand Canyon. In the six months we've been here, we've killed at least a hundred. I think it's necessary to take some forceful measures against this place."
"It's not that easy. The terrain of the Mist Grand Canyon is so complex. Even though our Spirit Hall has mastered most of the terrain, the fact that the mist never dissipates makes it impossible for us to establish order and rules here," Xie Yue sighed.
"Then let's come back and continue killing after I've absorbed the Soul Ring, until these Evil Soul Master dare not harm people again!"
Yan made up his mind that he would return to continue his training after absorbing all the Soul Ring, and then go back when the All-Continent Advanced Soul Master Elite Tournament began.
"Absorbed Soul Ring? You broke through too?" Xie Yue asked curiously.
"Of course, it's all thanks to Jun Yi's help."
Yan told Xie Yue everything about his current physical condition, the Martial Soul Evolution, and the breakthrough in his Soul Power, leaving Xie Yue stunned.
After listening to Yan's story, Xie Yue came to Jun Yi's side, bowed to him, and said, "Thank you, Jun Yi. We will never forget this kindness. If you ever need us in the future, we will do anything, even die for you."
"Senior Xie Yue, you're too kind. I see your Soul Power fluctuations have already reached level 50, so you must have broken through after the battle just now. It's perfect that you can break through to Soul King together with Senior Yan, and it will be much easier to come back for training then."
Jun Yi said to Xie Yue that as soon as he arrived here, he noticed that Xie Yue's Soul Power had increased from level 49 to level 50 Soul King. It should be because the life-and-death battle just now stimulated his potential and thus he improved.
" Xie Yue, you're level 50 too?" Yan looked at Xie Yue in surprise.
"Yeah, we've been stuck in this godforsaken place for half a year now, it's time to get out and breathe some fresh air."
"Good."
Yan nodded in agreement. Their original plan was to stay for half a year to familiarize themselves with the environment before returning to the academy to prepare for the All-Continent Advanced Soul Master Elite Tournament. They had only brought half a year's worth of rations, so they could use the time with the added Soul Ring to go back and replenish their supplies. They would return after he improved his strength.
"By the way, why didn't we see Senior Nana with you? If she were here, that Evil Soul Master wouldn't have been able to do anything to you." Jun Yi asked curiously.
" Nana's original plan was to come with us, but the Pope later assigned her other tasks, the specifics of which I don't know."
Xie Yue replied that she had asked Hu Liena what she was going to do, but she was being mysterious and didn't tell her, so she didn't ask any further questions.
Immediately afterward, Yan spoke up, "I know some inside information, it seems to be related to Soul Tool. Didn't our Spirit Hall just build a new branch hall dedicated to those who know about Soul Tool? Nana was sent there."
"Oh, I see."
After listening, Jun Yi understood the whole story. He remembered that in the original novel, the three of them came to the Mist Grand Canyon together for training. In this life, Bibi Dong obtained the blueprints for making Soul Tool from Ning Fengzhi and needed to find someone to learn how to inscribe magic arrays. This required some Soul Master with strong Divine Power, and Hu Liena became that person. Jun Yi also understood all of this and knew that the Spirit Hall had indeed begun to prepare to seize the blue ocean market of Soul Tool.
However, Jun Yi wasn't particularly worried. After all, he had only given Ning Fengzhi the blueprints for level one and Level 2 Soul Tool. The Spirit Hall could handle the low-end Soul Tool; Jun Yi would focus on the high-end and dominate the entire high-end market...
(End of this chapter)