Chapter Twelve: The Beginning of a Fortuitous Friendship

Hearing Ye Lingling’s words, Xiao Yu finally understood—this shy young girl clearly had the makings of a top student; she wanted to catch up with her studies as quickly as possible.

“Here you go. If there’s anything you don’t understand, just ask me.”

Xiao Yu immediately handed his notebook to Ye Lingling. It was a simple gesture—nothing worth hiding. Moreover, the fact that Ye Lingling would later represent the first team of the Heaven Dou Royal Academy in the Soul Master Tournament proved that her family held some influence in the Heaven Dou Empire. It was not a bad idea to foster a good relationship with her.

“Thank you!”

Perhaps because she was so pleased, Ye Lingling’s voice was a few notches louder this time. She eagerly took Xiao Yu’s notebook and began leafing through it with haste.

Watching the studious girl before him, Xiao Yu smiled and decided not to interrupt her further. He turned and left the classroom, heading back to his dormitory to prepare for his daily meditation.

Ye Lingling remained in the classroom, flipping through Xiao Yu’s notes at lightning speed.

Having experienced the rigors of compulsory education and college entrance exams in his previous life, Xiao Yu’s note-taking skills were unmatched in the world of Douluo. His notes were meticulous where it mattered most, and thanks to his former pastime of practicing calligraphy, his handwriting was dignified and pleasing to the eye. This left Ye Lingling with an involuntary sense of admiration for him.

Gurgle~~

Who knows how much time passed as Ye Lingling lost herself in the sea of knowledge, until her stomach finally protested. Only then did she realize she had missed lunch.

“Oh no, this is bad. The cafeteria must have closed by now.” She shook her head in mild frustration, quickly closed the notebook, and hurried toward the dining hall.

She had barely taken a few brisk steps when someone pushed open the door. Unable to stop in time, she collided headlong with the newcomer.

Xiao Yu, quick on his feet, reached out just in time to steady Ye Lingling, preventing her from falling.

“Thank you!” Ye Lingling looked up and recognized who it was, quickly expressing her gratitude. Suddenly aware of their somewhat awkward posture, her cheeks turned a rosy shade.

Xiao Yu reacted swiftly as well. After helping Ye Lingling stand upright, he withdrew his hand and asked softly, “Are you all right?”

“I’m… I’m fine!” Embarrassment made her words falter even more, but after a pause, as if trying to ease the atmosphere, she asked, “Why are you in the classroom at this time?”

Xiao Yu smiled slightly, raising the lunchbox in his other hand. “I happened to walk by and saw you completely absorbed in the notebook, copying notes without noticing everyone else running to the cafeteria. I guessed you might forget to eat, so I packed you a simple meal from the cafeteria.”

As he spoke, Xiao Yu handed her the lunchbox. “This is the academy’s standard set meal. I don’t know if you have any dietary restrictions, but the cafeteria closes early. For now, just fill your stomach.”

“Thank you, I… I’m not picky!” Ye Lingling took the lunchbox eagerly, glanced at its contents, thanked him again, and hurried back to her seat to dig in.

Watching her eat ravenously, clearly famished, Xiao Yu smiled and turned to leave.

Xiao Yu’s actions were partly because he had guessed Ye Lingling would forget to eat—he didn’t want this shy, endearing girl to go hungry all afternoon. More importantly, he wanted to lay a foundation for a good relationship with the inheritor of the Nine-Heart Begonia, paving the way for future ties with her family.

On his way back earlier, Xiao Yu had thought it through. According to his recollections, if not for the curse on the Nine-Heart Begonia, it could have rivaled the Seven-Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda’s status among support-type spirits. Since he was destined to establish his own power someday, recruiting the Nine-Heart Begonia would quickly bolster his sect’s reputation.

Moreover, Xiao Yu speculated that since a celestial herb could remedy the Seven-Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda’s flaws, one must exist to cure the Nine-Heart Begonia’s curse as well—perhaps even the very same herb that allowed Ning Rongrong’s spirit to evolve into the Nine-Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda: the Gorgeous Tulip.

Thus, Xiao Yu almost instantly devised a rough plan: first, cultivate a good relationship with Ye Lingling, the new generation inheritor of the Nine-Heart Begonia; then, when the time was right, use a celestial herb to help her spirit evolve and resolve her family’s flaw. Once that was done, bringing the Nine-Heart Begonia family under his banner would be only natural.

……

Time flew by. In the days that followed, Xiao Yu continued his cultivation and studies, occasionally chatting with Ye Lingling about class topics.

Having experienced the workplace in his past life, Xiao Yu was as cunning as an old fox. Ye Lingling, an introverted girl unaccustomed to the ways of the world, was no match for his deliberate friendliness. Before long, the two became quite close; Ye Lingling spoke to Xiao Yu fluently, no longer stumbling over her words as she had before.

In this way, Xiao Yu spent more than half a year immersed in student life. In the third month after Ye Lingling broke through the tenth rank and obtained her first soul ring, Xiao Yu also reached the bottleneck of rank twenty.

Just as when he had awakened his spirit and reached the tenth rank bottleneck with innate full spirit power, the system promptly issued a mission:

“Ding. As the host’s spirit power has reached rank 20, the following missions are now available:”

“1. Red-level mission: Without external assistance, obtain a millennium soul ring on your own.”

“2. Black-level mission: With others’ help, absorb a millennium soul ring.”

“3. Violet-level mission: Without external assistance, obtain a hundred-year soul ring on your own.”

“4. Yellow-level mission: With others’ help, absorb a hundred-year soul ring.”

Unlike last time, the system had directly omitted the ten-year soul ring reward—it must have decided that if someone still went for a ten-year soul ring at rank twenty, they were beyond hope.

At the same time, the entire reward tier had dropped by one level; the previous gold-level reward was nowhere to be seen.

Gazing at the four reward tiers before him, Xiao Yu found himself momentarily torn.

Deep down, Xiao Yu wanted to attempt a millennium soul ring for his second spirit ring, but absorbing one was no simple matter. By his estimation, a soul beast of one or two thousand years was likely equivalent to a Soul Elder among soul masters. With the cultivation of a near-Great Soul Master, to hunt such a soul beast alone and unaided would be anything but easy.

Although his spirit, the Emissary of the Netherworld, was of high quality and might stand its ground against an ordinary Soul Elder, a high-quality spirit also demanded a high-quality soul ring. In other words, Xiao Yu could not simply pick an ordinary soul beast—his chosen millennium spirit beast would have to be extraordinary for its level.

After a moment’s hesitation, Xiao Yu set his sights on the black-level mission. With the help of Huihuo and Miao, obtaining a millennium soul ring would be as easy as reaching into a bag—but that didn’t mean all would go smoothly.