Seeing Qian Chen agree to his three conditions so resolutely, Mu En immediately judged that Zhang Lexuan held immense weight in Qian Chen's heart. He said, "Lexuan, Bei Bei, stay behind for a moment. I have something to say to each of you separately. Bei Bei, go outside with Qian Chen and Tang Ya first and wait there. Once Lexuan comes out, you can come back in."
The four answered in unison, "Yes, Elder Mu." "Yes, Great-Great-Grandfather."
Then Qian Chen, Tang Ya, and Bei Bei left the Sea God Pavilion together. Once outside, none of the three went far.
When only Mu En and Zhang Lexuan remained inside the Sea God Pavilion, Mu En said, "Little Lexuan, you were still so young when I rescued you back then. Time really flies. You've been at Shrek Academy for over a decade now, and you've grown into a young woman."
On the surface, Mu En was reminiscing, but in truth, he was playing on her feelings. Since Qian Chen wanted to be with Zhang Lexuan, he would bind Zhang Lexuan to Shrek Academy as tightly as possible.
Zhang Lexuan said, "Elder Mu, I can never fully repay you for saving my life, or the academy for raising me."
"Good, good, good. Lexuan, I knew you weren't an ungrateful child. Hearing you say that puts my mind at ease. Child, for the sake of my having saved your life, and Shrek Academy having raised and trained you all these years, could you and Qian Chen stay at Shrek Academy forever and do your part for the academy?" Mu En asked.
Zhang Lexuan said, "Elder Mu, although Qian Chen and I will be together in the future, I can't make decisions for him. But rest assured, Elder Mu, I will stay at Shrek Academy forever. As for Qian Chen, as long as I'm here, even if he wants to go out and see the world, I believe he'll return to my side in the end."
With Zhang Lexuan's assurance that she would never leave Shrek Academy, half of Mu En's worries eased. "Good. Go call Bei Bei in."
"Yes, Elder Mu." Zhang Lexuan bowed to Mu En and quickly left.
Before long, Bei Bei walked in. Seeing that Bei Bei was already thirteen yet only a rank thirty-four Soul Elder, Mu En seethed inwardly. He had originally held great hopes for Bei Bei. Now that Bei Bei insisted on choosing Tang Ya as his partner, it was as good as crippling half his potential, and Bei Bei's descendants would be finished as well.
"Great-Great-Grandfather, I'm here," Bei Bei said in greeting.
Mu En ignored him, keeping his eyes closed as he forcibly suppressed the anger in his heart.
"Great-Great-Grandfather."
"Enough, I heard you. Bei Bei, your decision today has disappointed me deeply. Do you understand?" Mu En said bluntly.
"Great-Great-Grandfather, I really love Xiao Ya. Without her, I feel like the whole world would lose its meaning."
"Insolence!" Mu En snapped. Bei Bei had nothing to say. He himself didn't know why he loved Tang Ya so much.
"I won't oppose you being with Tang Ya anymore. Trying to persuade you is useless anyway. I have two demands. First, I've heard that the Tang Sect has a cultivation method called the Mysterious Heaven Skill, along with several secret arts called the Mysterious Jade Hand and Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track. In the future, you must bring these techniques back to serve as the foundations of Shrek Academy and the family of your descendants." Mu En stated his first condition without mercy.
"Yes, Great-Great-Grandfather. I agree." Bei Bei barely hesitated. As long as he was allowed to be with Tang Ya, he would do anything.
"Second, Tang Ya cannot be your only wife in the future. Her talent is too poor. You must find several more wives with exceptional talent. Do you understand?" Mu En then stated his second condition.
Hearing Mu En's words, Bei Bei felt as though the sky were about to collapse. He didn't want to wrong Tang Ya. After hesitating for a long time, he finally agreed.
When Qian Chen escorted Zhang Lexuan back to her residence and then returned to his own, he found several more figures inside.
They were Bing Ling, Ling Luochen, and Ma Xiaotao. Bing Ling hurried forward a few steps and grabbed Qian Chen's arm. "Big Brother!" Then he quickly took seven or eight golden pieces of whale rubber out of his Storage Soul Tool and said, "Big Brother, the day you returned to Shrek Academy, you had Guyi tell me to prepare whale rubber for you. Luochen, Xiaotao, and I split up and searched every town and city, large and small, around Shrek City. We bought up all the ten-thousand-year whale glue available."
Qian Chen looked at Bing Ling, Ling Luochen, and Ma Xiaotao and said, "Thank you for all your hard work."
Ling Luochen and Ma Xiaotao hurriedly said, "Senior Qian Chen, it wasn't hard at all. We're happy to be able to help you."
Qian Chen smiled slightly and said, "I've seen the affection between you and Bing Ling. Calling me Senior is far too distant. Why don't you call me Big Brother, just like Bing Ling?"
Hearing this, Ling Luochen and Ma Xiaotao immediately understood what Qian Chen meant: he had acknowledged their relationship with Bing Ling. Both hurriedly called out, "Big Brother!"
Bing Ling could only scratch his head and say, "Big Brother, Luochеn, Xiaotao, and I haven't gotten that far yet. We're still just friends."
They chatted for a long while before Qian Chen finally said, "All right, all right, enough of that. Since you've bought the whale rubber, I'll start absorbing it tonight. Bing Ling, you, Ling Luochen, and Ma Xiaotao should head back first."
Then Qian Chen turned to Qian Guyi and said, "Guyi, your uncle is going to absorb whale rubber in a little while. After absorbing it, I won't be quite so rational for a short time, so to be safe, I'll take you over to Lexuan's place. Pack up a few things. You'll stay with Lexuan tonight."
"All right, Uncle," Qian Guyi replied. She knew what whale rubber did and had taken it before herself. That scorching sensation was indeed unbearable.
At first light the next morning, absolute rationality had returned to Qian Chen's eyes. None of the scorching heat from absorbing several pieces of ten-thousand-year whale glue the night before remained.
He went out for breakfast and reminded Qian Guyi once again that he had something very important to do today. She was to stop anyone who came and not let them disturb him.
Qian Chen securely locked his room from the inside, then took out one of the two God-Given Soul Rings. But the two God-Given Soul Rings looked identical, and he couldn't tell which was Divine Light of Life and which was Absolute Purification. He picked one at random and crushed it. As the little golden sphere shattered, a white Soul Ring gradually took shape before Qian Chen.
Bibi Dong exclaimed within Qian Chen's Sea of Consciousness, "Qian Chen, how do you have a God-Given Soul Ring?"
"I don't want to tell you!" Qian Chen rejected Bibi Dong's question bluntly and mercilessly.
Qian Chen mobilized his Soul Power and placed the God-Given Soul Ring around his Angel Martial Soul. As soon as the Soul Ring encircled the Angel Martial Soul, it began slowly changing color. Gradually, white turned to pale yellow, then continued deepening, becoming yellow, purple, black, and red. But merely turning red was not what Qian Chen wanted. He felt he was still far from the limit of what he could withstand.
As the God-Given Soul Ring's color continued to deepen, golden lines gradually appeared on it. One, two, three. Only when a full five golden lines had appeared did Qian Chen feel that his body's capacity was approaching its limit.
Meanwhile, within Qian Chen's Sea of Consciousness, Bibi Dong and Qian Renxue were also watching him absorb the God-Given Soul Ring. Qian Renxue urged him with aching concern, "Qian Chen, that's enough. Five golden lines on a Soul Ring is already excellent. That's an age of five hundred thousand years. This Soul Ring is already immensely powerful."
Qian Chen replied within his Sea of Consciousness, "No, it's not enough. I haven't reached my limit yet." As he spoke, he continued trying to push toward a greater age. By the time the sixth golden line appeared on the Soul Ring, Qian Chen was already feeling tremendous pressure.
Bibi Dong also shouted sternly within his Sea of Consciousness, "Qian Chen, stop! Otherwise, you'll be in danger!"