Chapter 15: Xiao Wu's Persuasion, Time Will Tell Everything

A few hours later, Xiao Wu had eaten her fill and successfully condensed her third Soul Ring.

As they were about to leave, Xiao Wu still couldn't help but look at Ye Feng with reluctance and couldn't resist persuading him, "Young Master, are you really not considering it? Shrek is truly a great academy. With your talent and the help of Shrek, you will undoubtedly become even stronger..."

The Lexical Trait only caused Xiao Wu's affection for Ye Feng to skyrocket, but it wouldn't immediately affect her feelings towards Shrek and the people there in the short term.

Moreover, Xiao Wu had been deeply indoctrinated by Shrek. Upon seeing Ye Feng's talent, her first thought was to convince him to join Shrek, to contribute to Shrek, and to propagate Shrek's ideals.

"No need. You think Shrek is good only because your experience is limited and you haven't seen better academies," Ye Feng replied, gently waving his hand and directly refusing.

He didn't even bother to explain further, as time would prove everything.

...

In fact, without Tang San and Xiao Wu, the people at Shrek were basically trash.

Before reaching the Soul Grandmaster level, they might have had the advantage of talent, allowing them to cultivate much faster than their peers.

But after reaching the Soul Grandmaster level, Shrek's poor academy couldn't keep up with the cultivation resources, and the Shrek group was essentially doomed.

In the original story, after the Shrek group reached the Soul Grandmaster level, their cultivation hit a bottleneck. That's when they thought of "borrowing a hen to lay eggs" by going to the Royal Academy to mooch some resources, but unfortunately, they failed.

Soon after, the Shrek group joined the "Blue Tyrant Academy," and thanks to Yu Xiaogang's connections, they managed to live off a wealthy woman's support, allowing them to continue developing.

However, the Blue Tyrant Academy's financial resources were ultimately limited, so before the Soul Master Tournament, Shrek's development had already hit a bottleneck.

It was only by relying on the sudden appearance of the "Immortal Herb" that they were able to cheat their way to success, defying fate and subsequently staying far ahead of their peers.

Of course, now, because of the Lexical Trait, Shrek probably wouldn't last much longer...

"Alright..."

Upon hearing this, Xiao Wu slightly lowered her head, feeling both wronged and unwilling.

"Since time will tell everything, I'll prove it to you!"

Xiao Wu secretly made up her mind, determined to cultivate diligently in the future and lead Shrek to greatness together.

When Ye Feng saw Shrek's glory, he might change his mind and choose to join Shrek.

...

...

Meanwhile.

On the other side of the Star Dou Great Forest.

While searching for Xiao Wu, Tang San encountered his own opportunity, the "Human-Faced Demon Spider." With the help of Zhao Wuji and the others, Tang San easily killed the Human-Faced Demon Spider.

Since Meng Yiran had already obtained her third Soul Ring and advanced to the Soul Grandmaster level, she had long since left the Star Dou Great Forest.

Therefore, naturally, no one was competing with Tang San for the Soul Ring.

The events unfolded smoothly, and Tang San successfully absorbed the thousand-year Soul Ring of the Human-Faced Demon Spider. Moreover, he even obtained the External Soul Bone, the Eight Spider Lances.

"Ah, you're all here!"

Just as Tang San finished absorbing the Soul Ring, a surprised voice suddenly came from the dense forest behind them.

Everyone was startled and turned around abruptly, only to see Xiao Wu suddenly appearing behind them, seemingly out of nowhere.

"Xiao Wu!"

"Xiao Wu, where have you been! Do you know how worried Xiao San was about you!"

"Xiao Wu, what exactly happened?"

"It's good that you're safe, it's good that you're safe..."

Everyone quickly gathered around Xiao Wu.

"I don't know what happened either... I only remember being grabbed by a giant ape, and then..."

Xiao Wu lowered her head, stammering as she fabricated a story. Although she felt a bit bad about deceiving her friends, she couldn't possibly tell the truth.

"What? You're saying not only did you escape danger, but you also unexpectedly encountered a dying Soul Beast, and even stumbled upon a thousand-year Soul Beast on the brink of death, and obtained your third Soul Ring!!!"

Everyone was somewhat incredulous upon hearing this.

It all sounded like a tall tale.

But if it weren't true, no one could explain how Xiao Wu had returned unharmed and with an additional thousand-year Soul Ring.

"Alright, alright, no matter what, today all three of us from Shrek Academy have advanced to Soul Grandmaster. Congratulations! Hahaha!" Zhao Wuji, due to his [Laziness], naturally didn't bother asking too many questions.

Although the process had been a bit convoluted, the outcome was ultimately good.

"By the way, where's Third Brother? You said he also broke through to Soul Grandmaster?"

At this moment, Xiao Wu looked around and noticed that Tang San was suddenly missing, which made her somewhat puzzled.

Although she wasn't particularly fond of Tang San, the years of genuine affection were still there. For Tang San, she now purely regarded him as an older brother, with only the familial bond of years of companionship, and no romantic feelings.

And Tang San, on the other hand, was quite the opposite.

After all, before he came to his senses, Tang San had always treated Xiao Wu as a younger sister.

But now, Tang San realized that he truly liked Xiao Wu and wanted to marry her.

"Xiao Wu! Is that you! Xiao Wu!!!" At this moment, Tang San, having just finished absorbing the thousand-year Soul Ring, heard Xiao Wu's voice and instantly sprang up from the ground.

He was so overjoyed that he seemed almost frantic.

"Xiao Wu, do you know how worried I was about you!"

Tang San, with his Eight Spider Lances, covered in blood and grime, instinctively rushed towards Xiao Wu.

"What's the matter? I just went missing, it's not like I died. Why are you so worked up?" Xiao Wu quickly sidestepped to avoid him.

For some reason, seeing Tang San in such a frantic state made her feel a bit disdainful, and she couldn't help but compare him to Ye Feng.

Tang San losing his composure over such a trivial matter was just too lame.

If it were Ye Feng in this situation, he would definitely handle it a hundred times better than Tang San.

"Third Brother, what's that thing on your back? Can you put it away? It's not good if it pokes someone."

Ma Hongjun said, somewhat exasperated.

The others also instinctively moved away to avoid being pricked by the spider lances.

"I... I don't know what this is either. I don't think I can control it yet." Tang San scratched his head.

"Alright, let's not talk about this anymore. It's getting late, let's head back quickly. We've had a long day and I'm exhausted." Zhao Wuji waved his hand dismissively.

As for catching up and reminiscing, they could do that however they wanted once they got back. Right now, all he wanted was to go back and sleep.

Today had truly worn him out.

He swore that the next time they needed help obtaining Soul Rings, he would absolutely not come. He'd let that old man Flender handle it himself.

"Alright!"

Everyone nodded in agreement.

After all, they had deeply felt the dangers of the Star Dou Great Forest.

It wasn't just the threat of the Soul Beasts—the people within were even more dangerous.

If it hadn't been for Zhao Wuji's protection, they would have been bullied to death by that old woman, Chao Tianxiang.

(End of Chapter)