Senior Sister Qin politely nodded to Tuoba Yu, then continued speaking to the group:
"If you don't mind, there's no need to go looking for a special place. You can use my shop to talk things over. Hardly anyone comes to buy flowers during the day anyway, so no one will disturb you."
At her words, both Tuoba Yu and Nanmen Yun'er turned to Xu Zihuang.
Among soul masters, strength reigned supreme. As the strongest, Yu Tianhuang naturally became the leader of their team.
"In that case, we'll trouble Senior Sister Qin."
Xu Zihuang himself didn't care. With his strength, he could crush this year's freshmen easily.
To put it bluntly, whether Tuoba Yu and Nanmen Yun'er were there or not didn't matter to him. But since they were now teammates, he had to consider their feelings.
He might remain at Shrek Academy for a long time, and he wanted to build connections. Right now, Tuoba Yu and Nanmen Yun'er, his teammates, were clearly the best people to start with.
After all, fighting side by side was the fastest way to deepen bonds. And their talents placed them among the top of the freshmen as well.
So, the three changed their plan.
Senior Sister Qin's flower shop was a delicate wooden building along the avenue, two stories tall. The first floor was for selling flowers, while the second floor held several private rooms and a rooftop garden.
Her hospitality was thoughtful. After bringing out fragrant pastries and a pot of mellow red tea, she left the space to the three of them.
Surrounded by rich floral fragrance, Xu Zihuang, Tuoba Yu, and Nanmen Yun'er sat around a wooden table in the garden and began to talk.
Tuoba Yu happily popped one of the pastries into his mouth—made personally by Senior Sister Qin.
Compared to the boys in Class Nine who spent all their time fending off older senior sisters on Xu Zihuang's behalf, he was much luckier.
Those boys ran about tirelessly, only to get a polite "thank you," if not disdainful looks. Meanwhile, he did nothing and still got to eat pastries handmade by Senior Sister Qin. The difference couldn't be greater.
He felt utterly satisfied.
"I'll start. My martial soul is the White-Armored Earth Dragon. Both attack and defense are decent. My first soul skill is White-Armored Sacred Dragon Body, a defensive buff that also boosts my strength. My second soul skill is Earth Dragon Formation, which summons two stone dragons that can attack or defend."
Hearing his introduction, Xu Zihuang and Nanmen Yun'er showed little reaction.
They had already seen Tuoba Yu use these skills during the combat assessment on the first day.
Among assault-type martial souls, they weren't especially outstanding, but not weak either—solid and reliable.
After Tuoba Yu finished, Nanmen Yun'er continued:
"My martial soul is the Jasper Azure Bird. It excels at speed. My first soul skill is Jasper Blade. My second soul skill is Jasper Slash. The two effects can perfectly stack when used together."
At her final words, both Xu Zihuang and Tuoba Yu raised their brows.
"Perfectly stackable"—those three words said a lot.
Not every soul master's skills could stack. But if they could, the combined power would be much greater. Usually only old soul master clans, after generations of trial and error, produced such perfectly stacked soul skills like Nanmen Yun'er's.
That was why many great clans had fixed early soul skills, discovered through their ancestors' experiments to be the most suitable.
Like the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan or the White Tiger Duke's lineage of the Star Luo Empire.
After a pause, Xu Zihuang set down his teacup and said calmly:
"My martial soul is the Golden Pupils, a spiritual-attribute body martial soul."
"A body martial soul?!"
—
Their talk didn't last long. Words could never compare to real combat.
One assault-type, one agility-type, one control-type. Their combination was perfectly suited for offense-heavy tactics.
Tuoba Yu and Nanmen Yun'er were both at rank twenty-four, while Xu Zihuang openly revealed his true soul power. With so many strong people in Shrek, there was no need to hide.
He wanted Shrek's upper levels to know—he was a genius.
By the time they finished, it was already afternoon. Senior Sister Qin brought them some food, and they stayed to have a simple lunch.
Nanmen Yun'er was close with her, and Xu Zihuang and Tuoba Yu weren't ungrateful people.
They didn't take Qin's efforts for granted. Out of thanks, they spent the whole afternoon and evening helping around her flower shop with what they could.
As night fell, soul tool lamps lit up the avenues with a soft glow. The area outside Shrek's East Gate grew lively again.
Only freshmen had to take the assessment. Students from other years still carried on as usual after classes.
For sixth-year students like Qin, most coursework had already been completed in the first five years. Unless exceptionally talented and preparing for the inner court exam, most sixth-years were fairly free.
They only needed to pass the graduation exam next year to officially graduate from the outer court.
While Tuoba Yu sat on a wooden chair in the shop, Xu Zihuang suddenly stood and patted his shoulder.
"Watch this for me. I'll go move those flowers from the garden."
"Oh, sure." Tuoba Yu blinked but didn't think much of it.
Xu Zihuang went alone to the rooftop garden, gazing thoughtfully at a nearby closed room.
Since sunset, he had noticed something wrong with Qin's condition. Not long ago, she had left with Nanmen Yun'er. If his guess was right, her body's poison had flared up again.
Click—
The wooden door opened, and Nanmen Yun'er stepped out, startled to see Xu Zihuang waiting.
"Nanmen, Senior Sister Qin must be poisoned, right?"
Surprise flickered in her emerald eyes, leaving her momentarily speechless.
"I'm fine, Yun'er. I feel better now."
At that moment, Qin herself walked out. Her face was pale, but she waved off Nanmen Yun'er's attempt to support her.
"Junior Yu, how did you notice?"
She didn't seem inclined to hide her condition.
"My martial soul is spiritual-attribute, so my perception is sharp. May I ask, Senior Sister, what your martial soul is?"
Qin gave a bitter smile. "My martial soul is the Jade-Scaled Serpent."
It wasn't much of a secret in the outer court. The severe poison in her body came from the heritage of her family's martial soul.
As he suspected.
Xu Zihuang nodded, then said seriously:
"If you get the chance, you should obtain a soul bone. You could push the poison into the soul bone, which might ease your condition."
He had a good impression of Qin. Sharing this didn't cost him anything, and it earned her goodwill.
But unexpectedly, Qin shrank back slightly, eyes evasive.
Nanmen Yun'er, who had been watching her closely, suddenly seemed to understand. Usually gentle, her voice turned uncharacteristically firm:
"Sister Qin, you must have known about this long ago. Why didn't you tell us sooner?"
By "us," she didn't mean herself and Xu Zihuang, but herself and her parents.
She and Qin had grown up together, their bond far deeper than it looked.
"Uh…" Xu Zihuang twitched at the corner of his mouth. He realized his good intentions might have backfired.
Sensing the awkward atmosphere, he tactfully left the garden to the two of them.