"Do you know where Sister Xiaotao is?" Su Wen asked curiously, rubbing his full stomach.
"You mean Ma Xiaotao? You'll have to ask Dean Yan about that." Lu Xiaoxiao chuckled as she cleared away the dishes, raising her eyebrows at someone behind Su Wen.
"Dean Yan?"
Su Wen turned around.
Yan Shaozhe had appeared without Su Wen noticing, smiling kindly at him.
"Thank you, Xiaoxiao. This child just woke up, and as the dean, I haven't done my duty. From now on, I'll cover all his meals—put them on my tab."
"Dean Yan, if you want to do a favor, fine, but don't make me the bad guy." Lu Xiaoxiao rolled her eyes, then smiled at Su Wen. "Xiao Wen, if you ever get hungry, come find Auntie Lu. I may not have other techniques or pills, but I can definitely feed you well."
"What, golden crocodile meat, rain dragon tendons, millennium soul beast ingredients? I can get those too…"
"Mm-hmm." Su Wen nodded.
"Looking for Xiaotao?" Yan Shaozhe, though retorted, still maintained a calm and cordial demeanor, smiling warmly.
He was secretly delighted. Ever since he learned that Su Wen was brought back by Xiaotao, he thought, "Perfect! Xiaotao is the best way to get close to Su Wen. Xian Lin'er, you're out of luck now…"
"Yes, do you know where Sister Xiaotao is?"
"Come with me."
…
On Sea God Island.
In a secret chamber.
Su Wen saw Ma Xiaotao lying weakly on a bed, her red hair scattered messily on the pillow, her pretty face pale, a bead of sweat forming at the tip of her delicate nose.
It was as if she had just endured intense suffering.
Su Wen was startled.
He had forgotten about this!
Ma Xiaotao's evil fire needed opposing attributes—ice and water—to suppress it. It had always been like this. In the original, Shrek's inner court was full of strong ice-type soul masters, not just Ling Luochen. With so many prodigies helping her, Ma Xiaotao still lost control and nearly killed Huo Yuhao. Now, with so few ice-type experts, none could guard her all the time.
So, Ma Xiaotao often had to endure it alone. Yan Shaozhe and the others could only watch helplessly…
After Yan Shaozhe's explanation, Su Wen nodded slightly.
Looks like, for his second soul beast, he'd have to visit the Extreme North.
"Xiao Wen…"
Ma Xiaotao slowly opened her eyes, blinking in surprise and a bit of embarrassment, as if she didn't want Su Wen to see her so weak. She tried to get up.
But Su Wen pressed her shoulder, making her lie back down.
"Sister Xiaotao."
Su Wen was silent for a long time. "Get some rest…"
"Teacher!"
Ma Xiaotao's face flushed, glaring angrily at Yan Shaozhe who was smirking at the side.
"Using your own disciple as bait, do you have no shame?!"
"Heh, what bait? It's a consensual thing, don't make it sound so ugly." Yan Shaozhe chuckled. "But Xiaotao, you're really lucky. Saving him also means saving yourself."
"What do you mean?" Ma Xiaotao was stunned.
"Do you believe his next soul beast will be of the ice attribute?" Yan Shaozhe grinned.
"You mean…" Ma Xiaotao's lips parted, her expression complicated. She wasn't stupid; after knowing the downside of her evil fire, if Su Wen's next soul skill was ice-type, it would be specifically to help her suppress the evil fire…
"Hahaha! Childhood friends, a perfect match. Though you're six years apart, there's a saying: a woman three years older is a treasure, six years older is two treasures! Hahaha…"
Yan Shaozhe left, laughing.
Ma Xiaotao slowly curled up, her beautiful eyes fixed on the door, on the direction Su Wen had left.
Countless times, when the evil fire rampaged, she'd fainted in this very room.
This place was like a mental prison that trapped her.
But now, it felt like a ray of light was about to shine in.
…
…
…
A year and two months later.
Su Wen had become quite familiar with the inner court, repeating a daily cycle: cultivating, finding Aunt Lu for a meal, cultivating again, then dinner…
Lu Xiaoxiao truly lived up to her reputation as Shrek Academy's top nutritionist—her meals were delicious, plentiful, and never boring. Even Zhang Yi was envious of this special treatment, since other inner court disciples had to pay for their meals…
And the prices weren't cheap.
Just the food Su Wen ate daily would cost more than a thousand gold soul coins.
His height had grown from 1.3 meters to 1.5 meters, barely reaching Ma Xiaotao's chest, since the girl had already grown to 1.79 meters…
At the same time, his strength rose from level 15 to level 20. Just yesterday, after breaking through, a second Spirit Ball appeared—yellow, indicating a hundred years.
Examining his spiritual sea, the yellow Spirit Ball floated alongside the white one of Gale.
Su Wen pondered.
Gale's white Spirit Ball had started changing after he reached level 20—half white, half yellow, confirming Su Wen's guess.
Once he caught his second soul beast and reached level 21, Gale's Spirit Ball would likely turn fully yellow, marking it as a hundred-year soul beast.
The pet panel showed levels, but it converted to the soul beast's cultivation years (white, yellow, purple, black, red).
[Gale Baboon]
Level: 20
Strength: 10.4 (2.0)
Speed: 13.4 (2.4)
Endurance: 10.4 (1.4)
Defense: 13.1 (5.1)
Skill: Wind Blade (Normal)
Attribute: Wind (Normal) (To be refreshed)
Potential: 8 (Top quality)
Next Evolution: Storm Baboon
[]
Gale's stats had improved evenly. The first number was current, the number in brackets showed the extra gains from "you are what you eat."
For example, eating armored rhino meat (a defensive beast) improved defense stats; eating agile beasts boosted speed. Higher-year soul beasts provided more improvement.
Su Wen once ate five-thousand-year Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear meat, which raised both defense and strength by 0.1!
These boosts made Gale's overall power one and a half times stronger.
"Hmm…"
In the wooden hut, a lazy female voice sounded.
Su Wen twitched.
He looked helplessly at Ma Xiaotao, who was hogging his bed, stretching, her pretty feet exposed to the air, long legs revealed as she kicked off the quilt.
Ma Xiaotao sat up, red hair over her shoulder, rubbing her eyes—a silly beauty vibe.
"Hmm, sleep with me."
Seeing Su Wen, Ma Xiaotao hooked a leg, pulling him into her arms.
"You've slept all day…"
Wrapped in softness, Su Wen sighed expressionlessly.
"But I just had another evil fire attack the day before yesterday…" Ma Xiaotao said pitifully.
Su Wen: "…"
As time passed, Ma Xiaotao clung to Su Wen more and more, completely losing her fiery temper in front of others and acting like a spoiled beauty.
Well, it was time to bring forward the Extreme North plan.
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