"Could Ye Mengyang's Black Tortoise Martial Soul have some connection to that so-called external affairs director of Canghui Academy, Ye Zhiqiu? Both possess the Black Tortoise Martial Soul, and both share the surname Ye."
Watching Ye Mengyang after Martial Soul Possession, Yu Tianling could not help but think of Ye Zhiqiu from the original work, who was hassled and swarmed by the Shrek Seven Monsters.
In the original work, because Ma Hongjun flirted with a student of Canghui Academy and Dai Mubai looked down upon them, and later, when their own students were no match for the opponents, Ye Zhiqiu stood up and politely tried to make the other side apologize to no avail. Following that, the Shrek Seven Monsters besieged Ye Zhiqiu, and finally Zhao Wuji made a move and sent him flying with a single palm strike, making it utterly miserable.
As for why Yu Tianling paid attention to Ye Mengyang, it was not only because of the sense that there was some connection to Ye Zhiqiu, but also because he felt that his Martial Soul was somewhat unlike Ye Zhiqiu's, bearing a closer resemblance instead to the Xuanming Turtle of the Peerless Tang Sect.
The Black Tortoise and the Xuanming Turtle were not the same concept. One had to know that if it were a Xuanming Turtle, there was actually a possibility of it evolving into the Black Tortoise Martial Soul.
Did Xu Sanshi of later times not successfully evolve his Xuanming Turtle into the Black Tortoise and the Golden Black Tortoise?
If Ye Mengyang's Martial Soul truly was the Xuanming Turtle, then Yu Tianling intended to absorb Ye Mengyang into Spirit Hall.
In Yu Tianling's view, Ye Mengyang's talent should be considered decent; at the very least, his Innate Soul Power was around level seven or eight. If his Martial Soul successfully evolved in the future, it was very likely that his endpoint would be a Titled Douluo, which would be advantageous without a single drawback for the augmentation of Spirit Hall's strength.
Thinking thus, Yu Tianling already had a plan. After stepping outside to give instructions to the staff members stationed there, he returned to the VIP room and waited patiently.
"Ling, it will be my turn soon. Wait for my victorious return!"
After quite a while, Zhu Zhuqing looked at the numbered tag in her hand, said this to Yu Tianling, and then walked along the passageway of the VIP room toward the direction of the soul fighting stage.
"I believe you can do it."
Zhu Zhuqing, stepping into the passageway, merely heard Yu Tianling's affirmative words, and her heart felt as though she had eaten honey; her pace unconsciously quickened by a few steps.
Zhu Zhuqing's opponent was also a female Soul Master in her thirties, with a soul power of level thirty-five and a Spirit Rock Rat Martial Soul.
How should one put it? Cats and rats were naturally mortal enemies, and now the opponent's soul power was not even as high as Zhu Zhuqing's, making her thoroughly hard-countered by Zhu Zhuqing. Although the Spirit Rock Rat's speed was passable, Zhu Zhuqing's Hellfire Cat was even faster.
On the soul fighting stage, after some simple and polite formalities, Zhu Zhuqing, wearing a cat mask, initiated the attack first.
Meanwhile, back in the VIP room where Yu Tianling was, Ye Mengyang was astonishingly present as well.
That was right, it was Yu Tianling who had instructed the staff members to invite him over. Upon learning that someone in the VIP room was extending an invitation, Ye Mengyang did not refuse either, directly following them over.
"Brother Ye, let me introduce myself. I am the Holy Son of Spirit Hall, Yu Tianling."
Ye Mengyang, who had still been wearing a calm expression, felt towering waves churn in his heart the instant he heard Yu Tianling's self-introduction.
The Holy Son of Spirit Hall-this was unquestionably among the most noble handful of people on the continent, and his talent was bound to be extremely high. At the moment, he could not quite fathom why Yu Tianling wanted to see him.
He did not doubt Yu Tianling's words; a person's bearing and gaze do not lie, and furthermore, he could very clearly sense the unfathomable depth of Yu Tianling's strength. He could affirm that Yu Tianling was truly the Holy Son of Spirit Hall.
"I wonder what instructions His Highness the Holy Son has."
Ye Mengyang, unable to deduce Yu Tianling's inner thoughts, sat up abruptly and stared fixedly at Yu Tianling.
"No need to be nervous. Sit down and talk, sit down and talk."
Yu Tianling was not in a rush to invite Ye Mengyang to join Spirit Hall, because for someone with this kind of talent, either their Martial Soul had been awakened within a sect, meaning they had already joined a sect, in which case it was basically unlikely they would be willing to join Spirit Hall, or their Martial Soul had been awakened under the personnel of Spirit Hall, and then, upon receiving an invitation, they had declined to join Spirit Hall for some reason. Yu Tianling wanted to understand the reason behind this first.
Over the next few minutes, Yu Tianling also figured out Ye Mengyang's basic information through indirect probing.
The village where Ye Mengyang had lived since childhood was an ordinary village, and the person who awakened his Martial Soul at the time was his uncle-in-law, Ye Zhiqiu.
That was right; everything verified Yu Tianling's conjecture. Ye Mengyang indeed had a connection to Ye Zhiqiu.
When asked up to this point, Yu Tianling already knew why Ye Mengyang had not joined Spirit Hall. It was evidently on account of Ye Zhiqiu, and presumably Ye Mengyang had already joined Canghui Academy.
Upon asking, it was indeed so.
This time, Ye Mengyang had asked for leave from the academy to return home because someone in his family had passed away. When he was passing the Great Soul Arena on his way back to school after the funeral rites concluded, he participated in a soul fighting match, never expecting to encounter his future great benefactor.
After inspecting Ye Mengyang's Martial Soul up close, Yu Tianling confirmed another of his conjectures as well.
Subsequently, Yu Tianling treated Ye Mengyang to a round of sweet talk and cajolery, such as that his Martial Soul was not a Black Tortoise Martial Soul, but a Xuanming Turtle, and that following him, there might be a possibility of it evolving into the Black Tortoise in the future, and so on.
Coupled with the fact that Ye Mengyang also knew that following Yu Tianling's prospects for development would definitely be much better than staying at Canghui Academy, Ye Mengyang ultimately agreed to Yu Tianling's invitation, intending to follow him to Spirit City.
After writing a letter to his uncle-in-law and entrusting it to the staff of the Great Soul Arena to mail on his behalf, Ye Mengyang sat in the VIP room, filled with yearnings for a bright future and anticipating the day when his Martial Soul would evolve into the Black Tortoise.
Once everything was settled, Yu Tianling shifted his gaze back to the soul fighting stage. At this moment, Zhu Zhuqing had unleashed her second soul skill, Hellfire Claw, attacking heavily toward her opponent and thereby bringing the battle to a complete end.
Zhu Zhuqing's first soul fight had lasted a full ten-plus minutes. Originally, Zhu Zhuqing could have easily and swiftly defeated her opponent, but after exchanging blows, Zhu Zhuqing discovered that although the opponent's strength was lacking, her combat experience was extremely rich. Hence, Zhu Zhuqing deliberately held back a great deal, specifically spending this much time to elevate her own different combat experience, and only swiftly defeated the opponent after thoroughly draining her.
Then, without waiting for the host to announce the result, Zhu Zhuqing returned along the path she had taken to the VIP room.
"It truly is a cat playing with a mouse."
Yu Tianling looked at the battle traces on Zhu Zhuqing's opponent's body. Although he had not watched the majority of the soul fight just now, he had already guessed eight or nine parts out of ten, and could not help but sigh with deep emotion.
"Ling, I'm back."
As soon as Zhu Zhuqing returned to the VIP room, she removed her mask, ignored Ye Mengyang standing to one side, and walked directly to Yu Tianling's side.
She knew Yu Tianling surely had his own plans, and there was no need to ask.
Although she did not ask, Yu Tianling still made a brief introduction, letting Zhu Zhuqing understand that Ye Mengyang was henceforth also a member of Spirit Hall.
Following that, the group of three left the Great Soul Arena and returned to the Forest Hotel.
During the period of time that followed, every day Zhu Zhuqing and Ye Mengyang came to the Great Soul Arena to participate in soul fights, and then returned to the hotel to cultivate. It was a two-point line, time passed slowly, and a month and a half elapsed.
Early one morning, Zhu Zhuqing spread the joyous news that she had broken through to level forty. Afterwards, Yu Tianling's party wasted no time heading to the Star Dou Great Forest, spending a month's time to locate a suitable Soul Beast and acquire an eleven-thousand-year-old fourth soul ring for her.
After simply resting and recuperating for a night in the town, the three of them set off on their return journey to Spirit City.
After spending a week in tender intimacy with Hu Liena and Zhu Zhuqing, Yu Tianling finally decided to depart for Slaughter City immediately, so as to complete the sixth trial of the God of War's Nine Trials as quickly as possible!
At the same time, because the two women's current strength far surpassed that of ordinary Soul Kings, when the two women proposed wanting to follow, Yu Tianling did not refuse.
He had sufficient confidence to guarantee that the three of them could return safely!