"What secret?"
Yu Xiaogang's hoarse voice carried both confusion and curiosity.
Yu Tianheng smiled as he explained, "At our Heaven Dou Imperial Academy, there's a student named Ye Yu. His Martial Soul was originally Blue Silver Grass, but he found a way to evolve it—three times already!"
"I was thinking, maybe we could ask him to help you, Uncle. Maybe he could find a way for your Martial Soul, Luo Sanpao, to evolve too!"
"I believe that, as long as our Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan is willing to pay the right price, Ye Yu would definitely agree."
Yu Xiaogang's expression froze. An awkward look flashed across his face.
Because this… was absolutely impossible.
Back when he was still at Nuoding Academy, Yu Xiaogang had clung tightly to the hard-earned knowledge he'd scraped together from the Spirit Hall—knowledge on Martial Souls, Spirit Masters, and Spirit Beasts. He hadn't wanted to trade it, instead hoping to freeload access to Ye Yu's Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul data.
At the time, he assumed Ye Yu was just some poor brat from a low-class background, someone easy to manipulate.
But unexpectedly, Ye Yu had the audacity to refuse.
Later, when he sensed Ye Yu had secrets, he'd tried to guilt-trip him with moral pressure—only to fail again.
He'd already thoroughly offended Ye Yu back then.
And then, at Shrek Academy, he'd only made it worse—getting slapped twice, hard enough to dislocate his jaw.
There was no way Ye Yu would ever help him now.
For a moment, Yu Xiaogang was filled with deep regret.
He didn't think he'd done anything wrong at Shrek Academy. He had simply misjudged Ye Yu's background.
If only he had known Ye Yu would discover a method to evolve Martial Souls—he never would've tried to freeload. He would've offered his stolen research from Spirit Hall and formed a proper alliance.
But there were no do-overs in life.
"Tianheng! In your heart, do you really think your uncle—someone who's studied Martial Soul theory for decades, known as a famed theoretical master in the Spirit Master world—can't find a way to evolve Luo Sanpao?!"
Not wanting to explain the truth about his conflict with Ye Yu, and unwilling to lose face, Yu Xiaogang feigned offense to cover his guilt.
"Uncle, I didn't mean it like that!" Yu Tianheng quickly tried to explain. He didn't want to upset him.
Yu Xiaogang suddenly sighed, forcing a bitter smile.
"Tianheng… I'm sorry. I overreacted just now."
"Helping Luo Sanpao evolve… has been the dream of my entire life."
"I want to accomplish that with my own strength—not by relying on others. Do you understand?"
"…I understand, Uncle," Tianheng said guiltily, nodding repeatedly.
"Alright, Tianheng."
"It's getting late. You should get some rest."
"I need to meet your teacher Qin Ming for dinner," Yu Xiaogang added, now satisfied that Tianheng wouldn't bring it up again.
With that, he turned and headed to the restaurant where Qin Ming had invited Flender, Zhao Wuji, and the others for dinner.
Everything proceeded just as it had in the original timeline.
During the meal, Qin Ming half-jokingly commented that if Dai Mubai, Tang San, Ma Hongjun, and Oscar weren't students of Shrek Academy, he'd already be trying to poach them.
Yu Xiaogang, who had just arrived, seized the opportunity and added:
"Even if they are Shrek students, they can still join Heaven Dou Imperial Academy."
Not only them—Yu Xiaogang proposed that all Shrek teachers join as well, essentially moving the entire academy.
Naturally, Flender was upset. Shrek Academy was his life's work—his dream.
But under Yu Xiaogang's relentless persuasion, and with Ma Hongjun chiming in for support, he had to face the facts:
Shrek Academy didn't meet the qualifications to apply for the Continental Advanced Spirit Master Academy Elite Tournament
They only had four students left—nowhere near enough to form a full Spirit Master team
However, if they joined Heaven Dou Imperial Academy…
The Academy had two slots for the tournament.
Flender could register the Shrek students as members of Team Two, letting them test the waters this year—and then aim for dominance in the next tournament five years later.
Proving Shrek Academy's glory to the entire continent.
In the end, Flender agreed.
Of course, transferring the entire Shrek faculty came with conditions.
Yu Xiaogang discussed the terms with Qin Ming:
Shrek instructors would retain full control over their teaching methods
Their students would participate in Team Two of Heaven Dou
Heaven Dou Imperial Academy would not interfere with Shrek's educational approach
Meanwhile, back at the Zirui Grand Hotel…
After returning from the Soto Great Spirit Arena, Ye Yu had the girls—Dugu Yan, Ye Lingling, Ning Rongrong, Zhu Zhuqing, and Xiao Wu—take turns enjoying a hot bath.
Then, he had Dugu Yan, Ye Lingling, Ning Rongrong, and Zhu Zhuqing sit before him to cultivate the Xuantian Technique, while he personally guided their training.
Under Ye Yu's hands-on instruction, the four girls were progressing well.
It helped that all of them were already Spirit Elders or higher, so their level of Spirit Power accelerated their absorption of spiritual energy.
On top of that, Ye Yu brought out several medicinal herbs—hundred-year-old ginseng, spirit mushrooms, and others—from the Wishful Hundred Treasure Purse.
Although these herbs were no longer useful to him, they were a great help to the girls in raising their cultivation.
Within just half a month, the girls' Mysterious Heaven Skill cultivation had broken through to Level 5 Spirit Scholar!
That night, while the girls were cultivating…
Ye Yu moved into a separate room and began practicing one of the Tang Sect secret techniques he had learned: Mysterious Jade Hand (Xuanyu Hand).
Among the four secret arts Ye Yu had secretly learned from Tang San—
Purple Demon Eye
Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track
Controlling Crane, Capturing Dragon
Mysterious Jade Hand
—three of them were immediately useful in battle:
Purple Demon Eye – A powerful eye technique granting piercing insight and enhanced perception. Essential for reading enemy movements and gaining the upper hand.
Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track – A movement technique. When combined with Thunderstorm Step, it dramatically increased his speed and agility.
Controlling Crane, Capturing Dragon – A force-manipulation art, somewhat like a martial version of a domain ability, allowing him to control energy and manipulate enemy movement—disrupting their stance and creating openings.
Used properly, these three were immensely effective in combat.
However, in Ye Yu's eyes, the one with the most long-term potential was still—
Mysterious Jade Hand.
PS: Read Advance Chapters at https://www.patreon.com/c/ReadJin