Soul Land:The Dragon King's God of Nature

The unexpected encounter with Ye Xinglan and Xu Lizhi didn't dampen Jing Shaoyu and his companions' spirits. They continued exploring Guanglin Street with great enthusiasm.

The trio played and wandered until late in the evening before returning to their inn, where they happened to run into Wu Zhangkong, who had also just returned.

Wu Zhangkong glanced at them, frowning slightly, but he said nothing more than a simple reminder: "Be cautious when going out."

"Understood!" They nodded obediently in response.

Wu Zhangkong left without further comment. In truth, he wasn't worried about Jing Shaoyu, Gu Yue, or Xu Xiaoyan failing the Shrek Academy entrance exam. With their soul power levels already among the top for past applicants and their unique martial souls, their acceptance was all but guaranteed.

A rare top-tier healing martial soul, a multi-elemental control martial soul, and a star-based absolute control martial soul—each of them could easily be considered a prodigy.

What truly concerned Wu Zhangkong was Xie Xie and Tang Wulin. Both of them had weaker cultivation levels, especially Tang Wulin, who hadn't even reached the Soul Elder stage. Although he possessed a special dragon bloodline, his martial soul was merely Blue Silver Grass. If his dragon bloodline failed to show significant potential, passing the Shrek Academy entrance exam would be extremely challenging.

As for Xie Xie, despite his twin martial souls, both were relatively ordinary and lacked the uniqueness to stand out.

Thus, Wu Zhangkong's main worry was the two of them, though he didn't show it outwardly. Thankfully, Tang Wulin and Xie Xie were self-aware enough to stay behind and focus on their training rather than venturing out to enjoy Shrek City.

As Wu Zhangkong walked away, Xu Xiaoyan watched his departing figure, pouting. "Teacher Wu is so strange, warning us about safety. Who would dare cause trouble in Shrek City?"

Xu Xiaoyan's thoughts echoed those of many soul masters visiting Shrek City for the first time. With Shrek Academy's presence, Shrek City was widely regarded as the safest place on the continent—a belief deeply ingrained in the minds of nearly 90% of soul masters in the Douluo Federation.

Gu Yue's expression darkened slightly at Xu Xiaoyan's remark, while Jing Shaoyu smiled faintly and replied, "Maybe Teacher Wu just cares about us."

It wouldn't be long before certain "benevolent individuals" shattered the illusion of Shrek City's invincibility. As for Shrek Academy's stance on the matter, they remained silent.

The three of them returned to their rooms. Xu Xiaoyan's room was to the left of Jing Shaoyu's, and Gu Yue's was on the right. As they passed Xu Xiaoyan's door, she called out excitedly, "Brother Shaoyu, are we continuing tomorrow?"

"Of course," Jing Shaoyu replied with a smile. "We still have six days before the exams begin. No rush."

"Yay!" Xu Xiaoyan cheered before disappearing into her room.

"Gu Yue, I'll head back too. Good night—" Jing Shaoyu began to bid Gu Yue farewell as he reached his door, but she suddenly pressed herself against him and followed him into his room.

"I'm sleeping here tonight," Gu Yue declared unapologetically. Without waiting for his response, she lay down on his bed and closed her eyes. Within moments, her breathing became steady.

She had fallen asleep.

Jing Shaoyu stood there for a moment, unsure how to process what had just happened. His myriad thoughts condensed into a sigh filled with a mix of helplessness and amusement. After a quick wash, he gently removed her shoes and outerwear, tucked her into bed, and lay down beside her. He soon drifted into a peaceful sleep.

What Jing Shaoyu didn't know was that after he fell asleep, Gu Yue opened her eyes. Her beautiful, deep gaze was filled with tenderness and love, along with a hint of struggle and inner conflict. Her eyes lingered on his serene and handsome face, and she found herself mesmerized, lost in thought.

Over the next two days, Jing Shaoyu continued to take Gu Yue and Xu Xiaoyan around Shrek City using the bus system. By the end of their explorations, they had developed a general mental map of the city's layout and marked the most interesting places to visit. While they had only scratched the surface of these locations due to time constraints, they planned to explore them more thoroughly once they were admitted to Shrek Academy.

With the academy's twelve-year curriculum, they would have plenty of time to grow familiar with Shrek City, perhaps even to the point of exhaustion.

On the third evening, they returned to the inn and coincidentally encountered Wu Zhangkong and Tang Wulin, who were coming back from the auction house. As expected, Tang Wulin had opted to bid instead of directly purchasing the materials he needed, which ended up costing him even more—both financially and in terms of Wu Zhangkong's patience.

However, this had nothing to do with Jing Shaoyu. He had already decided to part ways with Tang Wulin when the latter inevitably missed the start of the exams due to breaking his second seal. Jing Shaoyu had no intention of bearing the consequences of Tang Wulin's mistake. He wasn't Tang San.

In the original story, Tang Wulin's position as Class Zero's captain and Wu Zhangkong's favoritism led the team to collectively accompany him for the make-up exam. But now, with Jing Shaoyu as captain and Tang Wulin as the weakest member of the group, along with the wildcard presence of Ye Yingluo, there was no chance they would allow Tang Wulin's oversight to affect their plans.

"Captain, what a coincidence! You're back too?" Tang Wulin greeted Jing Shaoyu cheerfully. His face beamed with excitement, clearly pleased with the auction's outcome despite its complications.

"It is a coincidence," Jing Shaoyu replied with a light chuckle. "Teacher Wu, you're back from the auction? Did you manage to get what Wulin needed?"

"Of course!" Tang Wulin said enthusiastically. "Now I can activate more of my Golden Dragon bloodline. With this, I'll have a better chance of passing the entrance exam in a few days. I won't drag you all down!"

He offered this explanation while keeping the true nature of his breakthrough a secret.

"Let's hope so," Gu Yue said coldly. Her gaze toward Tang Wulin was as frosty and indifferent as ever, devoid of any warmth.

For Gu Yue, Tang Wulin was nothing more than a catalyst for her hatred. Without the ties established in the original story, he was merely a thief stealing and exploiting the power of her dragon lineage.

Tang Wulin's talk of activating his bloodline was, to her, akin to a thief flaunting stolen goods. The fact that she hadn't erupted in fury was a testament to her self-restraint.

Tang Wulin, blissfully unaware of her thoughts, laughed and said, "Well, I'll go prepare now. See you tomorrow!" He ignored Gu Yue's cold demeanor and headed upstairs.

Wu Zhangkong nodded to the trio before following Tang Wulin.

Jing Shaoyu and the others watched them leave before heading to their own rooms.

"Brother Shaoyu, are we continuing tomorrow?" Xu Xiaoyan asked.

"I'll rest tomorrow," Gu Yue said before Jing Shaoyu could respond.

"In that case, let's take a break tomorrow," Jing Shaoyu agreed after a moment's thought.

"Great! I was about to suggest the same," Xu Xiaoyan said with a grin.

Xu Xiaoyan returned to her room, and while Jing Shaoyu half-expected Gu Yue to join him like the previous nights, she silently entered her own room instead. Her expression was dark and somber, clearly still affected by earlier events.

Jing Shaoyu shook his head with a sigh and returned to his room.