Xiao Xue pouted, "What kind of trash academy is this Shrek Academy? To think they'd accept a student like that. I'm losing more and more faith in Shrek Academy."
Xiao Yan nodded in strong agreement. Judging by Dai Mubai alone, Shrek Academy was indeed terrible.
If a person's heart turned evil, they were no different from a beast that only knew how to kill, no matter how strong their power was.
"Dai Mubai's strength isn't bad. The teachers there should have some skill too. This is perfect for honing my martial arts," Xiao Yan said, raising his hand.
Improving the Six Meridians Divine Sword was proving to be incredibly difficult. To use the Six Meridians Swordplay flexibly, he needed to be able to focus on six things at once.
If he wanted to reach the realm of six-meridian rotation, Xiao Yan figured that even without the hindrance of modifying his martial arts, it would take him at least three or four years.
Therefore, he decided to hone a powerful palm technique through frequent battles in the coming years.
And the reason for choosing to cultivate palm techniques was because they complemented the Six Meridians Divine Sword.
When engaging in combat with a fierce palm technique, suddenly transforming into a continuous stream of sword qi using fingers – the already formless and invisible Six Meridians Divine Sword would become even harder to defend against at close range.
The Six Meridians Divine Sword differed from ordinary martial arts. Its formless and invisible nature made its sneak attacks incredibly strong. Most Spirit Masters wouldn't even be able to detect them.
Therefore, it was impossible to gain experience by using it in normal battles. He could only explore it slowly on his own.
The manager, Mr. Wang, peeked his head out from behind the counter. Seeing Xiao Yan walking over, he quickly put on a smiling face.
"Young man, you're truly amazing. Even Young Master Dai was willing to give you his room. Luckily, you weren't injured, or we wouldn't have known what to do."
Xiao Yan looked around the hotel lobby and noticed only a broken flower pot. "Manager, how much do I owe for the damages?"
Mr. Wang quickly shook his head. "No, no, it has nothing to do with you. Young Master Dai said it's all on him. He's a VIP customer here; we just need to put it on his account."
"I'm truly sorry for the inconvenience and the near-injury I caused you three. I've decided to waive your room rent for three days. If you stay for less than three days, it'll be completely free."
"No, thank you," Xiao Yan said, waving his hand to decline the manager's offer.
Looking at the broken flowerpot, Xiao Yan thought for a moment. He took out a gold soul coin from his storage jade belt and placed it on the counter before leaving the hotel with Xiao Xue and Xiao Yi.
After what happened, he really didn't want to stay in a hotel anymore.
Dai Mubai came to the hotel in the middle of the day, and the huge hotel only had one room left. Connecting the two events, the prostitution in Soto City was really...
Anyway, he wasn't short on money. He could just rent a house in the city that he could live in directly.
After searching for about half a day, Xiao Yan rented a quiet little courtyard in the eastern part of the city.
After a delicious dinner, the three of them went up the stairs to the bedroom on the second floor.
Xiao Yan pushed open the window. The cool evening breeze swept in. Gazing at the greenery outside, he recalled the Waterfall Fury Tide he'd used at noon. His palm moved with his thoughts as he continued to study it.
The Waterfall Fury Tide was incredibly powerful; its force shouldn't be something a mere Soul Elder could negate with just two soul skills.
"Xiao Yan-gege, the bathwater is ready," came Xiao Xue's gentle voice from the bathroom.
Xiao Yan slowly lowered his hand and sighed.
"These martial arts techniques aren't like internal cultivation methods. Furthermore, there's no foundation to draw upon. Studying them is inefficient. The only way to truly improve is to fight powerful Spirit Masters, to refine them in the heat of battle."
He closed the window. Xiao Yan took off his black robe and, wearing only shorts, headed towards the bathroom.
Everyone experiences emotions and desires; Xiao Yan was no exception.
Young men and women training together for long periods inevitably develop feelings for each other.
After a few hours, Xiao Yan carried the weak and limp Xiao Yi and Xiao Xue to the bed.
Even through the veil, he could clearly see Xiao Yi's delicate and pure face flushed red. The exposed skin of her body, clad in a purple bellyband, was like jade and bloomed with an alluring blush.
Xiao Xue also had an alluring flush, lazily lying on the bed.
Xiao Yan didn't rest. He sat cross-legged between the two women, concentrating on guiding the vast inner force within his body outwards.
A flash of blue and gold light appeared. In Xiao Yan's right palm, a slender Blue Silver Emperor vine, thin as a strand of hair, emerged and swayed in the breeze.
Xiao Yan focused intently on the slender vine, continuously channeling his inner force into it.
The Blue Silver Emperor spirit was formed from his inner force. He had the idea of developing a food-based Blue Silver Emperor after learning from the Great Master that spirit could be eaten.
He hadn't had any extra time before because modifying martial arts consumed a lot of mental energy. He only had a little free time recently.
The slender tendrils, infused with internal energy, spiraled and wrapped around each other. Under Xiao Yan's control, the entire tendril quickly condensed into a blue-gold pill, about the size of a dragon's eye.
The surface of the pill was incredibly smooth, with blue and gold colors intertwined, creating a beautiful spectacle.
"Success?" Xiao Yan's eyes narrowed as he picked up the pill with two fingers.
This wasn't his first experiment. He had experimented countless times before this one fully formed.
During those experiments, two main outcomes had occurred.
The first was that the Blue Silver Emperor could contain an incredibly vast amount of internal energy, but its size – thousands of meters long and as thick as a water vat – was simply impossible for anyone to swallow.
That was the first failure he discarded.
Learning from that, he quickly made an adjustment: fix the size of the condensed tendril, and then infuse it with internal energy.
It wasn't long before the second wave of failures arrived.
The vines, the size of pills, couldn't withstand too much internal energy. Once the internal energy exceeded their limit, they would burst.
Lowering the output of internal energy worked, but the results were terrible, even worse than pills made with herbs.
Most of the subsequent experiments revolved around determining the limit of internal energy a strand of Blue Silver Emperor, as thin as a hair, could endure.
After watching for a while and confirming its stable form, Xiao Yan pulled Xiao Xue, who was wearing a white tube top, over. He said excitedly, "My Blue Silver Qi Recovery Pill is a success! Expend some internal energy and then try the effect of this thing."
"Xiao Yan-gege, you're still testing?" Leaning against Xiao Yan's embrace, Xiao Xue's long, lustrous jade legs kicked on the bed, and she couldn't help but roll her eyes.
With the effort spent on making this thing, it would be better to use bamboo skewers to make candied Blue Silver gourds.
Candied Blue Silver gourds were so delicious!
Xiao Yan raised his hand and touched his nose. "Last time, last time."
This thing, giving it to Xiao Xue to try, could only provide a preliminary assessment.
If they were to give it to other Spirit Masters on a large scale, he'd need to find a real person, a Spirit Master, to try it.
Although it sounded a bit unpleasant, the reality was that the three of them present, when all was said and done, couldn't really be considered human.
Inner strength surged, and Xiao Xue's eyes suddenly turned crimson. In an instant, her originally beautiful face gained an indescribable layer of charm.
Xiao Xue's slender fingers toyed with Xiao Yan's chest, her voice, with a captivating allure, said, "Xiao Yan-gege, can we not eat it?"
Facing the little girl's mesmerizing abilities, Xiao Yan remained completely unaffected. He pinched the Blue Silver Qi Recovery Pill between his fingers and stuffed it into her delicate, moist little mouth. "No!"
Sitting up straight, Xiao Xue pouted and chewed on the pill, complaining, "You also didn't ask for my permission just now, shoving it into my mouth so roughly."
Xiao Yi, who was lying nearby, heard this and her delicate face immediately flushed even redder, like a ripe red apple.
She, too, had been force-fed that thing Xiao Xue was talking about by Xiao Yan.
"Focus on feeling the effects of the Blue Silver Qi Recovery Pill. This stuff isn't easy to make," Xiao Yan reminded them.
Xiao Xue closed her eyes and actively guided the Mysterious Heaven Skill to circulate.
To her surprise, the Blue Silver Qi Recovery Pill she took this time really did have something to it.
A gentle energy released from within, and along with the Mysterious Heaven Skill's operation, quickly replenished the internal energy she had used during her Charm.
Xiao Xue nodded, "It can indeed restore some internal energy."
Excited, Xiao Yan immediately pressed, "Did your internal energy increase?"
That would be amazing if it could help people improve their strength.
Even if there's a difference between inner energy and soul power, and Spirit Masters can't use it, it's still great for us.
At this moment, Xiao Xue opened her eyes and lay back on the bed, yawning, "It didn't."
Xiao Yan followed suit, lying next to Xiao Xue. He wrapped his arms around her slender waist, holding her close and asking, "What's going on?"
"The energy released by the Blue Silver Qi Recovery Pill is very gentle. Even without using the Mysterious Heaven Skill, it can be absorbed quickly. But after my inner energy is completely restored, it's difficult to integrate the extra energy from the Blue Silver Qi Recovery Pill into my own inner energy."
Xiao Yan touched his nose, and he had a rough idea.
In ordinary martial arts worlds, unless you mastered techniques like the Northern Darkness Skill or the Star Absorbing Technique, transferring inner energy only served a restorative purpose and couldn't make someone stronger.
Although it was a bit disappointing, Xiao Yan didn't give up on the idea.
Now the research was just beginning, and when he obtained the soul rings of the full Blue Silver Emperor martial soul, the Blue Silver Emperor would definitely become even more resilient. At that time, he wouldn't need to be so cautious when infusing his inner energy.
The next day.
Because Xiao Yan had promised Xiao Xue to go shopping, the three of them slowly walked towards the city.
As a main city, Soto City was clearly far more prosperous than Notting City.
After browsing through a few clothing stores, Xiao Yan's head started to hurt.
The reason was simple—to speed up their cultivation, the clothes they wore were all woven from Blue Silver Emperor vines.
And the task of making the clothes naturally fell on his shoulders.
Xiao Xue said with a smile, "Brother Xiao Yan, did you remember the styles of those clothes? On the day Shrek Academy starts recruiting, I want to wear a new dress."
"Alright," Xiao Yan replied calmly.
He had over five years of experience manipulating vines to weave clothing.
At first, he only covered his clothes with the Blue Silver Emperor, but later, as long as he had a design in mind, it didn't take long to create a new outfit.
After walking for a while, Xiao Yan's gaze landed on a peculiar shop beside the street, and he slowed his pace.
"The Spirit Hall's emblem?" Xiao Yan frowned, looking at the sword, hammer, and Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon patterns on the shop's sign.
Did the Spirit Hall run businesses?
Curious, Xiao Yan, along with Xiao Xue and Xiao Yi, walked towards the shop.
The shop door was open, and it looked somewhat dim inside.
The three of them entered, and a special energy fluctuation immediately caught Xiao Yan's attention, "The energy fluctuation from a soul tool? This shop is interesting."
The shop was occupied by only one person. There was no counter, and various items hung on the three walls, all appearing quite old and seemingly worthless.
The sole occupant sat in a wooden recliner, eyes closed as the chair swayed.
He seemed to be around fifty years old. Despite his age, he was quite burly. The seemingly sturdy recliner creaked under his weight.
The man's face was rather distinctive, with a protruding chin, wide cheekbones, a flat face, and a slightly hooked nose.
If one had to compare it to something, his face resembled the sole of a shoe. Even with his eyes closed, he gave off a sly impression.
He wore a pair of black-framed, crystal glasses with rigid, square frames, which gave him an odd appearance.
Xiao Yan raised an eyebrow upon seeing him. He was actually a Soul Saint-level Spirit Master! Judging by the depth of his soul power, he was even stronger than Xiao Yan had been at six years old.
The shop owner didn't seem interested in greeting customers, remaining seated in his recliner.
Xiao Yan didn't pay it any mind, turning his head to look at the items hanging on the wall.
His gaze swept over the goods. In a corner, a watermelon-sized crystal caught Xiao Yan's attention.
The crystal didn't seem remarkable. It was transparent, but with large patches of dark yellow impurities inside.
Xiao Yan discreetly picked out seven or eight obviously worthless items, and included the crystal among them.
"Boss, how much for these things?" Xiao Yan turned and asked the person on the recliner.
"Three hundred gold soul coins," Flender said lazily.
This person had a slight lisp. His words were unclear. If not for the fact that there weren't many people around, and that Xiao Yan was powerful, it would have been difficult to understand what he was saying.
The moment the price was announced, Xiao Yan knew that although this person was a profiteer, he didn't know the value of the crystal.
"This is a little too expensive. I'll buy fewer items," Xiao Yan hesitated for a moment before removing a couple of things. He asked again, "How much is it now?"
The big-tongued voice rang out again, "Two hundred and fifty gold soul coins."
Xiao Xue seemed to understand Xiao Yan's intentions. She suddenly embraced Xiao Yi's slender waist, gently stroking her belly with her palm. With a distressed expression, she said, "Xiao Yan-gege, you have to save your money. We'll need it for milk powder later."