Early the next morning, just as the sky began to lighten from its deep blue and the first light of dawn appeared, sunlight shone through the window onto the meditating face of Ji Lin. He opened his eyes, breathed in the crisp morning air, stretched lazily, and sat up from the bed.
It was clear he had been cultivating all night. The events of the previous evening had left him sleepless, so he spent the night training, using the spiritual discipline of Void Sword Qi – Dustless Realm to calm his turbulent emotions.
When he opened the door, he saw Xu Jiujiu and a maid pushing a breakfast cart approaching.
Obviously, our Princess Jiujiu wanted to have breakfast with her fiancé—just as they used to.
Ji Lin called over Chi Yuan from the next room, and the three of them ate breakfast together in awkward silence. Xu Jiujiu was shy due to what happened the night before—understandable for a girl. As for Ji Lin, he had a thick skin, but with Chi Yuan present, he couldn't flirt with Xu Jiujiu openly.
Chi Yuan, feeling like a glaring third wheel, quickly finished breakfast and left.
Watching her go, Ji Lin grinned mischievously and teased Xu Jiujiu.
"Jiujiu-jie, how about we continue tonight?"
Xu Jiujiu trembled, dropping her chopsticks in shock.
"C-Continue what?! What are you talking about? I don't understand!"
"Obviously, I mean what you did to me last night." Today, Ji Lin was in full attack mode.
"W-What did I do to you! Don't spout nonsense! You're just a kid—what kind of garbage are you thinking about!"
Xu Jiujiu, face flushed, tugged his ear angrily. Clearly, our Princess Jiujiu had been flustered.
"Ow ow ow! Jiujiu-jie, my ear's going to fall off!" Ji Lin, ever the drama king, complained though she hadn't pulled hard at all.
"What ow? I didn't even pull! You little rascal, stop acting!" Looks like our princess isn't as innocent as she seems—this trick of Ji Lin's had no effect on her.
Perfect timing! A flash of cunning lit up Ji Lin's eyes. As Xu Jiujiu got distracted, he leaned in and kissed her lips, even shamelessly slipping out his tongue for a lick.
Having taken advantage of Her Royal Highness, Ji Lin bolted, leaving a dazed Xu Jiujiu behind.
Staring at his retreating back, Xu Jiujiu touched her lips absentmindedly.
"Pfft."
She suddenly giggled, a smile of relief and ease on her face.
"Still just a kid. I look forward to the day you grow up."
Ji Lin, oblivious to being seen as a child, would've been furious had he known. He'd probably turn back just to prove otherwise.
After his antics, a cheerful Ji Lin bumped into the earlier-departed Chi Yuan.
Leaning against the wall, arms crossed, Chi Yuan sighed at Ji Lin's beaming expression.
"Time to get your third soul ring. You've been past level 30 for a few days now, right?"
"Yeah, the engagement stuff kept me busy and delayed things."
Though one can still cultivate without soul rings, a two-ring Soul Grandmaster can't compare in speed to a three-ring Soul Elder.
"Let's go now then. The sooner you're done, the sooner you can come back to play with Jiujiu-jie. She's just too entertaining right now."
Watching Ji Lin hopelessly infatuated with Princess Jiujiu, Chi Yuan slapped her forehead and sighed.
"Give me back my calm, disciplined disciple who only cared about cultivating! Is this goofy husky really still my student? Was he possessed or something?"
Unknowingly labeled a husky, Ji Lin could only think of Princess Jiujiu's soft lips, the feel of her thighs beneath sheer stockings during lap pillows…
Slowly, the fool began drooling.
Chi Yuan scooted away with a look of disgust.
"ε=(ο｀*))) Sigh… hopeless."
Feeling like she had raised a useless disciple, Chi Yuan stared helplessly at the sky.
This time, Ji Lin's target was a fire-element soul beast about 8,000 years old, so as before, Chi Yuan led him straight to the Mixed Zone.
Star Dou Forest – Mixed Zone
In a part of the forest, a 100,000-year Silver Moon Flood Dragon Emperor unleashed a beam of silvery-white moonlight from its mouth, shooting toward a white-robed woman. Everything the beam touched—trees, rocks—turned to white light and vanished.
"Senior sister, watch out!"
"Move!"
"Senior sister!"
Not far from her, two men and a woman cried out in alarm.
Beyond them, the battlefield was littered with destruction—collapsed trees, cratered ground, and scattered corpses of both humans and soul beasts.
The black soul rings around the soul beast corpses, and the mutilated bodies of the humans—some torn, some sliced in half—painted a clear picture.
This had been a massacre. A group of humans, while hunting ten-thousand-year soul beasts, were ambushed by the 100,000-year Silver Moon Flood Dragon Emperor.
Caught off guard and vastly outmatched, they suffered devastating losses.
These were inner court students of Shrek Academy.
Led by Zhang Lexuan, a group of 12 had come to the Mixed Zone of the Star Dou Forest to hunt soul rings.
Just a few days ago, Zhang Lexuan had reached level 80—a Soul Douluo at only 21 years old, shaking the entire Sea God Pavilion and becoming the greatest talent in Shrek Academy in 3,000 years.
Overjoyed, the academy dispatched Xuanzi, a level 98 Super Douluo, to escort the team.
Since Zhang Lexuan needed an 80,000-year soul beast for her 8th ring, she led the team deeper toward the core zone after the others had obtained theirs.
Normally this would've been safe with a Super Douluo present—even a 100,000-year soul beast would pose no real threat.
However, due to the unusual defect in Xuanzi's martial spirit, he became separated from the group.
Misfortune struck when Zhang Lexuan's team encountered the Silver Moon Flood Dragon Emperor. Several inner court disciples were instantly slaughtered by its claws.
Blindsided and grieving, Zhang Lexuan and the others launched a desperate counterattack. Though they managed to wound the beast, the cost was immense—only four of the twelve remained, all injured. Some died crying out for Elder Xuan, hoping he would save them. But he never came. Only despair followed.
As the silver moonlight approached, Zhang Lexuan, her mind filled with images of her fallen comrades and her distant love Beibei at the academy, gave a sorrowful smile.
The surviving inner court disciples watched helplessly.
Then—a flash of crimson light in the sky. A fiery red figure descended and shielded Zhang Lexuan.
Chi Yuan, martial spirit fully awakened, stood with nine soul rings—yellow, purple, purple, black, black, black, red, red, red—hovering around her, taking the full force of the Flood Dragon's blow with one hand.
BOOM!
The collision between the moonlight and her soul power shield sent shockwaves flying, flattening the surrounding forest.
Fortunately, the injured students were far enough away. Otherwise, Shrek's elite dying to collateral damage would have been laughable.
At that moment, Ji Lin, wings of flame unfurled, landed beside Zhang Lexuan.
"Lexuan-jie, are you alright?"