"These things are fine to play with occasionally — rest and relaxation has its place — but don't get too caught up. It'll just delay your cultivation."
Xu Xiaoyun swept a soul-power-sensing glance over the gifts Xu Tianxi handed in. After confirming there were no problems, he gave his advice calmly to both boys.
Xu Tianxi and Xu Sanshi both nodded seriously, vowing to cut ties with lazy, indulgent soul masters and instead dedicate themselves to becoming proper successors of the Xuanming Sect.
"Alright then, looks like it's just about meal time. Let's eat first. After that, you two can spar a bit."
"Food?! Finally!" Xu Sanshi bolted upright. "No one's stopping me this time! I'm eating until I burst!"
In a flash, he dashed off with a speed even Xu Tianxi had to admit he couldn't match — like a Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda soul master had buffed him with an agility skill.
Xu Xiaoyun chuckled. "The way he talks, you'd think we weren't feeding him. Seems what we serve at home is still better than what he gets in Shrek's Outer Court."
Not wrong at all. Shrek might have massive resources, but how much of that trickled down to any one core disciple? Compared to the Xuanming Sect's focused support, it didn't come close.
Thinking back to the past few days of meals with Xu Xiaoyun, Xu Tianxi couldn't help but smile. Being the biggest supplier of medicinal pills on the continent certainly showed in their cuisine — the ingredients alone were absurd.
Just one of the Xuanming Sect's signature pills, the Xuanwater Pill, required the blood essence of over ten water-type soul beasts and dozens of rare aquatic herbs — many over a hundred years old. That made even their leftovers into high-grade culinary treasures.
Their higher-tier pill, the Xuanwu Divine Pill, used millennium-grade ingredients.
With Xu Xiaoyun's status, he could eat this stuff daily. Naturally, Xu Tianxi and Xu Sanshi enjoyed the benefits as well.
When they arrived at the private dining hall, they found Xu Sanshi already digging in — hunched over a washbasin-sized bowl of rice, one hand holding chopsticks, the other a ladle, facing four dishes and a soup with absolute ferocity.
The dishes: braised century-old Earth Dragon tendons, thousand-year sea urchin sashimi, giant octopus meatballs made from a century-old beast, and golden tuna sashimi. The soup? A hearty turtle broth made from a century-old hawksbill.
There was even a side dish of dried sea grapes, each one plump and glistening, to cleanse the palate.
All in all, Xu Sanshi had consumed the essence of multiple century-old soul beasts in one meal.
If they judged soul masters the way Mu En did when he thrashed the Scorpion Tiger Douluo — for "absorbing soul beast essence" — Xu Sanshi would practically be a future evil soul master.
What? You say he's a core disciple of Shrek's Outer Court? Never mind, then.
Munching happily, Xu Sanshi even began humming a little tune. When he saw Xu Tianxi arrive, he waved him over enthusiastically.
"Come on, Tianxi! We're eating like kings thanks to Old Ancestor. Let me tell you — this stuff is lightyears better than the junk they fed me at Shrek!"
Xu Tianxi grabbed a similar-sized portion, sat across from him, and began sipping the turtle soup. "Oh? How so?"
"Shrek's Outer Court doesn't even have chairs in the cafeteria. Where do you think all their budget goes? Crooked bastards!"
Lying comfortably back in a pearwood chair, Xu Sanshi gestured at the food with satisfaction.
"Even as a core disciple in the Martial Soul Department, all I ever got were soul beast stews made with ten-year ingredients. Barely worth it. This stuff? On a whole different level."
"The Soul Tool Department core disciples get even worse food. And none of them come close to what we eat at home."
"Honestly, Old Ancestor's meals have ruined me. I don't even want to go back to Shrek now — can't bear the thought of eating that crap again."
He popped a few sea grapes into his mouth with a blissful sigh.
Xu Tianxi bit into a braised shrimp ball, savoring the explosion of flavor. "Well, don't worry. I'll enjoy the good food for both of us while you're away."
"If you want, I can write you a letter every month and describe the taste in vivid detail. How's that?"
"Bah! Don't be like Beibei — always spouting nonsense."
Xu Tianxi chuckled. "By the way, I read that Shrek has strict standards for labeling someone an evil soul master — like not allowing the absorption of soul beast essence. You're eating pretty happily over there. Aren't you afraid they'll accuse you when you go back?"
Xu Sanshi waved him off. "Relax, relax. Shrek also says you can't kill soul beasts indiscriminately — but I heard from Beibei that every year, Inner Court seniors go to the Star Dou Forest to capture soul beasts."
"My homeroom teacher even mentioned 'Secret Soul Bones.' Ever heard of those? They're made by killing a hundred of the same soul beast within half an hour, forcing soul rings to merge unnaturally. Only about a 10% chance of producing a soul bone — and even then, it's usually low-grade."
Xu Tianxi blinked. "Shrek sounds kinda shady. Don't tell me… is Shrek secretly a den of evil soul masters?"
Xu Sanshi froze, then raised a finger to his lips, shushing him.
"Even if it looks like that's true, you can't say it out loud."
Xu Tianxi nodded slowly. "I get what you're saying. But… why say 'looks like'?"
Xu Sanshi sighed. "Because it kind of is. You don't know how unlucky your brother is. After I showed a bit of talent, I got targeted by this sixth-year senior…"
"She's a descendant of Ma Hongjun, one of Shrek's original Seven Monsters. Her martial soul is the Evil Fire Phoenix. Name's Ma Xiaotao."
"No idea what's wrong with her martial soul. The divine beast bloodline is less pure than mine, but the evil fire still hasn't been suppressed. She needs someone to help her regulate it — or it messes up her cultivation."
"She used to rely on a fellow ice-type soul master, but that senior got tired of it and quit. So she turned to me. Don't know which bastard told her I had strong water affinity, but that suppression process… it's like dying and ascending at the same time."
Xu Tianxi's expression twitched. "So your suffering started that early?"
"Yeah. It was awful. Though… it did help my cultivation a little. But she's so aggressive! She just grabbed me out of nowhere. First time I met her, I thought I was being attacked by an evil soul master. By the end of it, I was totally drained…"
As he recounted his trauma, Xu Sanshi vented by inhaling three massive bowls of crystal spirit rice — determined to make up for every bite he missed at Shrek.
"You don't know my pain, Tianxi. She was already at four rings — top-ranked in the Outer Court. I only had two. I couldn't even resist. My homeroom teacher didn't dare help me…"
"So tragic…"
Xu Tianxi sighed. Being targeted by Ma Xiaotao — personal disciple of Yan Shaozhe — was something no teacher would dare interfere with.
"Whoosh—"
Xu Xiaoyun suddenly appeared beside Xu Sanshi. After checking his pulse, he let out a small breath of relief.
"No damage to your foundation. Just overexertion. Good food will fix it."
The process of suppressing evil fire — Xu Xiaoyun knew what that usually entailed. Thankfully, it seemed this was just martial soul interaction, not any… other loss.
Still, better safe than sorry.
With a flick of his wrist, a glowing object appeared in his palm — radiating waves of crystalline white light.
Xu Tianxi and Xu Sanshi peered over. It was a right leg bone — translucent like fine crystal, laced with threads of golden light, gleaming with a mesmerizing aura.
Soul power pulsed from it, casting a phantom image of a fearsome sea beast in the air — a massive shark roaring toward the heavens.
"That's… a soul bone?" the two said in unison.