Seeing the expression on Zhou Sicheng's face, Ye Guyi couldn't help but cover her mouth and giggle. "Honestly, I'm pretty surprised too. The effect of this sixth soul skill really exceeded my expectations. I guess this is the power of weapon-type soul skills."
Zhou Sicheng nodded in agreement. Her Holy Angel Sword was already incredibly powerful, and now she had Angel's Shield on top of it. She really was turning into a battle angel.
Naturally, this filled Zhou Sicheng with joy—the stronger Ye Guyi became, the more she could help him in the future.
And more importantly, with sufficient strength, she could better protect herself.
As Ye Guyi continued describing her soul skills, Zhou Sicheng handed her a skewer of grilled Light Dragon Turtle meat he had saved just for her. "Here, have a taste."
Ye Guyi took it and took a dainty bite. "Wow! Your cooking is as good as ever. It's delicious!"
Zhou Sicheng chuckled. "If you like it, eat as much as you want. I'm going to set up the tent. We'll head back to Shrek once it's daylight."
Ye Guyi nodded sweetly. "Okay!"
Zhou Sicheng retrieved a circular soul tool from his storage and cleared a flat patch of ground before tossing it.
As soon as the metal orb hit the ground, it unfolded and expanded into a compact camping tent, complete with micro soul-light illumination, an air purifier, temperature control, and more.
It was a level-three soul tool Zhou Sicheng had modified himself. It had no special offensive or defensive functions, but for traveling and living, it was unbeatable.
He only needed to lay out some fur from a Flame Lion soul beast inside, and it would be ready to sleep in.
Additionally, the tent had a basic enemy-detection laser function. If any creature came within 100 meters, it would sound a warning alarm.
Zhou Sicheng never traveled without it.
Watching from afar, Xuanzi's eyes nearly popped out. Sure, Shrek had soul tool tents too—but none this luxurious or well-equipped.
Xuanzi sighed internally: "Truly a soul tool genius… even his camping tent is extraordinary. I need to find a way to get one for myself…"
As Zhou Sicheng laid out the Flame Lion hide inside the tent, Ye Guyi ate the grilled meat gracefully and spoke up:
"I've been feeling something strange… a kind of resonance between my fifth and sixth soul skills. Maybe I could try developing a fusion skill between them."
Still busy setting the bedding, Zhou Sicheng replied, "That'd be great. I can help you work on it when we have time. Who knows? It might turn into something amazing."
"Heehee." Ye Guyi's smile grew even brighter.
As long as she was with Zhou Sicheng, she felt endlessly happy—whatever they were doing.
Once the bedding was done and dinner was finished, the two of them washed up using fresh water stored in another soul tool. Then they crawled into the tent together.
That night, neither of them cultivated. They naturally curled up in each other's arms, whispering about how to combine her fifth and sixth soul skills, until they drifted off to sleep.
Once they were inside, the tent activated its camouflage mode, blending perfectly with the surroundings. Unless someone was actively looking, they wouldn't spot it at all.
Had the materials for the Everchanging Core been easier to explain, Zhou Sicheng would've just cloaked the entire tent with it.
Xuanzi, still on duty in the distance, felt utterly miserable. He had just spent the entire evening watching a lovey-dovey pair cuddling up to sleep—and now had to stand night watch for them.
Not that it was really necessary. Zhou Sicheng usually had Tianmeng keep watch while he slept.
Tianmeng normally snoozed all day, and Zhou Sicheng barely slept—he replaced most rest with cultivation.
So Zhou Sicheng wasn't worried. With Tianmeng's powerful spiritual sense, any threat could be detected far in advance.
Though Tianmeng rarely extended his full spiritual range—doing so consumed too much energy—he could maintain a 1,000-meter radius effortlessly, which was more than enough for Zhou Sicheng to react in time.
That was also why, despite both Zhou Sicheng and Tianmeng noticing someone following them, they didn't bother investigating. As long as it was someone from Shrek, that was enough.
After all, with Tianmeng's spiritual power, hiding from him was basically impossible.
It was also why Zhou Sicheng didn't hesitate to take out the right arm soul bone while butchering the Light Dragon Turtle.
Beauty in his arms, and nothing left to say.
This wasn't the first time the pair had slept holding each other, but this time felt different—Zhou Sicheng had grown up.
Even though he was only twelve, he was physically and mentally mature beyond his years—possibly even more than most adults.
Ye Guyi, at fifteen and already a Soul Emperor, had both the appearance and figure of a goddess.
Thankfully, both had strong self-restraint. Otherwise, Xuanzi might've really gotten a show...
The next morning, the two packed up the soul tool tent, grilled some more Light Dragon Turtle meat for breakfast, and began their journey back to Shrek Academy.
They didn't rush as much as on the way there, and even took a detour to have a nice meal in a town called Soul Spirit Town.
The return trip took them seven full days.
For Xuanzi, those seven days were pure bliss. Whatever Zhou Sicheng and Ye Guyi ate, he followed suit.
He found that young people really did know where the best food was. He'd been stuffing his face the whole trip.
Before Zhou Sicheng and Ye Guyi reached the academy, Xuanzi returned first and reported everything to Elder Mu.
When he told him that Zhou Sicheng had taken out three powerful evil soul masters single-handedly in the blink of an eye, Elder Mu's eyes were full of approval.
Whether for his strength or his decisiveness, Elder Mu was very pleased.
Xuanzi had never heard so much praise from Elder Mu before in his entire life.
He muttered inwardly, "It was just three small fry… I've taken out way more than that. Why haven't I ever gotten that kind of praise?"
What he didn't realize was that somewhere along the way, he had subconsciously started seeing Zhou Sicheng as an equal—putting him in the same league as Yan Shaozhe and the others.
He had forgotten Zhou Sicheng was still just a twelve-year-old, and had only been at Shrek Academy for less than two months.
Xuanzi couldn't possibly know that in the original story, it was his own arrogance that led to a disaster—during the Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Elite Tournament, one dead, three maimed, and three severely injured among Shrek's main team.
Though Zhou Sicheng's presence had already altered the plot, Xuanzi was still Xuanzi.
Without experiencing true heartbreak, his mindset would never evolve.
That was Elder Mu's greatest concern.
If he really did leave, would Shrek be entrusted to a bunch of teenagers?
When Xuanzi mentioned that Ye Guyi had also obtained a 50,000-year top-tier soul bone, Elder Mu was not the least bit jealous. He was genuinely happy.
With such resources and foundations, this little angel's growth would accelerate rapidly.
Ye Guyi was destined to become the bane of all evil soul masters.
After Xuanzi finished, Elder Mu waved his hand. "You've worked hard, Xuanzi. Go get some rest."
Xuanzi thought he had done a fantastic job. He bowed slightly and sauntered off toward the cafeteria.
Despite all the delicious things he'd eaten while traveling with the kids, Shrek's chicken legs were still the best.
He probably ate 80% of the academy's chicken leg supply himself.
Elder Mu watched his departing figure and murmured softly to himself:
"Xuanzi… If only you had even one-tenth of Sicheng's mindset and decisiveness at twelve…"
Xuanzi was more mature than most, but compared to the true veterans of the world, he still had far to go.
With the Sun Moon Empire's growing ambition, the Holy Spirit Cult expanding rapidly, and the old Three Great Empires scheming against one another—and the Body Sect watching like a tiger eyeing prey…
Would Xuanzi truly be able to protect Shrek if Elder Mu were gone?
Elder Mu watched the sun sink behind the mountains, an overwhelming aura emanating faintly from his body. His gaze grew deeper and more profound.
As the sun dipped below the horizon, Zhou Sicheng and Ye Guyi arrived at the Sea God Pavilion.
Elder Mu lay on a lounge chair, quietly admiring the last rays of sunlight.
Before the pair could say anything, Elder Mu's voice floated out like a whisper on the wind:
"Sicheng, Guyi… tell me—how much light do you think remains in a sun that's about to disappear beneath the mountains?"
****
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