When he heard Mu En's voice, Zhu Ziyang immediately gave up the idea of entering his spiritual sea for now. He decided to wait until he returned to the outer courtyard — after all, Electrolux was within his spiritual sea and wouldn't go anywhere.
The root of the Golden Ancient Tree connected directly to the Sea God Pavilion. Zhu Ziyang passed through the tree hole and entered the pavilion, where he saw Mu En.
As soon as Mu En sensed Zhu Ziyang's arrival, he opened his eyes slightly from the reclining wooden chair, and after one glance, he let out a pleased chuckle and said, "Very good, very good! Substance-less yet tangible spiritual power, level 38 soul power — good child, you've truly surprised this old man."
"You're flattering me, Teacher," Zhu Ziyang responded politely, then smiled, "Hehe, even I didn't expect to break through so smoothly."
"That's the blessing of fortune," Mu En said with a smile. "Alright, you've been in seclusion for more than a month now. Go see Nannan. That girl came looking for you almost every day. I'm about to become a messenger pigeon at this rate."
"It's been that long?" Zhu Ziyang was taken aback, but then laughed upon hearing Mu En's words. "Hehe, Teacher, I'll return to the outer courtyard first."
"Go on then," Mu En nodded. "You have three days to rest. After that, come find me here."
"Understood." Zhu Ziyang didn't ask what Mu En wanted; he simply agreed and turned to leave.
——
As Zhu Ziyang stepped down from the Golden Ancient Tree, he ran into Jiang Nannan.
At the time, Jiang Nannan was standing outside a wooden cabin, chatting happily with a gentle young woman who appeared to be in her early twenties. The two were clearly close.
That young woman was Zhang Lexuan, the top disciple of the inner courtyard, the youngest Soul Sage in the history of Shrek Academy's inner courtyard, and someone said to be close to breaking through to Soul Douluo. Zhu Ziyang had seen her a few times since becoming Mu En's disciple — their relationship wasn't close, but it wasn't distant either. They just hadn't had much contact.
Zhu Ziyang was puzzled. It had only been about a month, yet Jiang Nannan was already so friendly with Zhang Lexuan? That was almost unbelievable. Was friendship between girls really that easy to form?
"Nannan," Zhu Ziyang called out.
"Huh?" The girl responded reflexively, then turned toward the voice. When she saw the boy she'd longed for day and night, her crimson eyes lit up with joy, and she leapt up excitedly.
"Brother!"
She darted toward him and hugged him tightly. Zhu Ziyang returned the embrace, wrapping his arms around her slim waist, feeling the warmth of her deep affection.
Zhang Lexuan, seeing the heartfelt reunion, smiled knowingly. Yet, in her mind, a sunny smile flashed — her heart warmed but also tinged with a faint sadness.
"Lexuan-jie, I'm heading back to the outer courtyard with my brother. I'll come visit when I have time!" Jiang Nannan cheerfully waved goodbye.
"Alright." Zhang Lexuan returned the smile.
Zhu Ziyang nodded politely at Zhang Lexuan before walking off, arm around Jiang Nannan's waist.
"Nannan, how did you become so close to Zhang Lexuan?" Zhu Ziyang couldn't hold back his curiosity.
"Hehe, actually there's no special reason. I just felt a sense of closeness when I saw her," Jiang Nannan giggled. "At first, we were just acquaintances, exchanging greetings. Then one day, Lexuan-jie approached me and said I felt familiar to her too. We were both surprised. Later, I accidentally found out that her martial soul is the Moon. Then it all made sense."
"What? A Moon martial soul?" Zhu Ziyang was shocked.
Now he understood how Zhang Lexuan had reached Soul Sage level in her early twenties.
She possessed a Moon martial soul!
The Moon martial soul — a super martial soul with lunar power. Supremely yin and gentle, it was a top-tier soul among yin-type martial souls. Though not an Ultimate Attribute, it was not inferior to one. The user could draw on the power of the moon to enhance themselves, gaining great benefits in cultivation and combat.
Zhu Ziyang hadn't expected that Zhang Lexuan's martial soul was the Moon. From what he knew, the Moon martial soul was one of the three great super martial souls from the Sun Moon Continent. It didn't even exist on the original Douluo Continent. If that was the case, then wasn't Zhang Lexuan from the Sun Moon Empire?
In fact, records in the imperial archives stated that the Sun Moon Empire was so named because its royal family inherited three major martial souls — Sun, Moon, and the Purple Radiant Heaven-Destruction Dragon.
Currently, the royal family only retained the Sun martial soul. The Moon had been lost for centuries, and the Purple Radiant Heaven-Destruction Dragon hadn't appeared in decades. The current emperor's martial soul was the Sun.
That would mean Zhang Lexuan was likely of royal blood.
With the support of three super martial souls — Sun, Moon, and Purple Radiant Heaven-Destruction Dragon — it made sense why the Xu Clan had ruled the Sun Moon Empire for so long and why its nobles didn't dare to rebel. These three martial soul inheritors, as long as they didn't die, were guaranteed to become Titled Douluo. The strength of the imperial family was terrifying.
By comparison, the Star Crown, White Tiger of the Star Luo royal family, the Swan of the Heavenly Dou and Dou Ling royal families, and the Snow Lotus of the Heavenly Soul Empire all paled in comparison.
"Brother, brother!" Jiang Nannan's unhappy voice rang beside him, pouting as she said, "Were you even listening to what I said?"
"Yes, yes!" Zhu Ziyang snapped out of his thoughts and replied quickly, "I was just surprised that Zhang Lexuan has the Moon martial soul."
"Right? I was shocked too," Jiang Nannan said. "I didn't even know the Moon martial soul still existed. Do you think the Sun martial soul still exists too?"
She asked half-jokingly, not knowing how close to the truth she really was.
Zhu Ziyang laughed. "You're spot on. The Sun martial soul does still exist."
"No way! I was just saying that randomly!" The girl looked at him with wide eyes, stunned.
"The current emperor of the Sun Moon Empire possesses the Sun martial soul," Zhu Ziyang said, squeezing her soft cheek with a smile. "Alright, no more surprises. Time to cross the lake."
"Oh, okay!" The girl quickly tucked away her shock and jumped onto the ferry, holding Zhu Ziyang's arm.
The two returned to the outer courtyard.
"You and Zhang Lexuan likely feel that closeness because of your martial souls," Zhu Ziyang said. "Your Lunar Jade Rabbit and her Moon soul are highly compatible. Becoming friends with her is good for your martial soul."
"Brother, how could you say that! Even if Lexuan-jie didn't have the Moon martial soul, I'd still be friends with her. She's such a kind person!" Jiang Nannan pouted with a smile.
"Alright, alright, I'm the petty one then," Zhu Ziyang said, ruffling her silver hair.
"Not at all. You're just looking out for me!" she said sweetly, snuggling against him.
"By the way, during the time I was in seclusion, did Yu-ge find out? And did anything happen in class?" Zhu Ziyang asked.
"Everything was peaceful while you were away," Jiang Nannan said after thinking. "The day after you went into seclusion, Dean Yan informed Yu-ge. He was excited the entire day! As for other things, Beibei reached level 29 and got an Essence Gathering Pill from home. He's now level 30 and left a few days ago to get his third soul ring."
"Really?" Zhu Ziyang wasn't surprised. Beibei had both talent and a powerful background. But now he couldn't help wondering — what exactly was the relationship between Beibei and Zhang Lexuan? Beibei was clearly from the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan, while Zhang Lexuan's Moon martial soul hinted at Sun Moon imperial blood. There's no way they were siblings, right? Very curious.
"And Xiao Ya reached level 27," Jiang Nannan added.
"Hmm? What about you?" Zhu Ziyang asked.
"Hehe, I was saving myself for last," she said with a grin. "In the past month, Teacher and Lexuan-jie taught me so much that I barely had time to cultivate. I'm still at level 34."
Of course, she didn't mention the real reason — that she'd spent most of that time thinking about him.
(End of Chapter)
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