Credits: Quellec
Ultimately, Meng Hongchen was firmly in Su Yu's hands now.
Jing Hongchen paused again, barely managing to calm himself.
"Fine. I really can't do anything about you, brat. If you want a leave of absence, go ahead."
"But for such a long time, you need to stay diligent. Focus on both your soul power and soul tool crafting, even when you're away."
"Don't relax the moment you leave the academy."
"And one more thing: Meng will be away as an exchange student for a long time. Make sure you visit her at Shrek Academy when you have the chance," Jing Hongchen reminded him.
Su Yu nodded seriously and said, "Don't worry, Hallmaster. I'll remember."
"Good. Now get out of here."
Jing Hongchen waved him off impatiently.
Su Yu grinned, unfazed, and strolled away with his hands behind his back, humming a tune as he left.
Watching Su Yu's retreating figure, Jing Hongchen couldn't help but chuckle and curse, "That brat."
After leaving Illustrious Virtue Hall, Su Yu had lunch with Meng Hongchen before returning to his dormitory.
A year and a half had passed, and Su Yu's dormitory had changed.
When Wang Dong'er advanced to the fifth year, they moved to the fifth-year dormitory area.
Dormitory 502, Building One.
Su Yu casually pushed open the door to find Wang Dong'er cultivating on her bed.
In the past year and a half, Wang Dong'er had made considerable progress and trained diligently.
At that time, Wang Dong'er's soul power had grown from Level 38 Soul Elder to Level 47 Soul Ancestor.
The improvement was impressive, to say the least.
Moreover, Wang Dong'er's fourth soul ring wasn't a mere thousand-year soul ring but a ten-thousand-year one.
A ten-thousand-year fourth soul ring was rare, even if it didn't quite match Su Yu's accomplishments.
Not wanting to disturb Wang Dong'er, Su Yu quietly started packing his belongings. After all, he would be leaving early the next morning.
However, Wang Dong'er sensed the movement and opened her eyes, revealing her light pink and blue irises. Her long eyelashes fluttered as she looked at Su Yu with confusion.
"What are you doing?"
Without looking up, Su Yu replied, "I requested a long leave of absence from the Hallmaster. I'm leaving the academy tomorrow."
Wang Dong'er frowned in confusion. "Why are you suddenly taking a leave? What am I supposed to do if you leave?"
Su Yu chuckled. "You'll stay at the academy and keep studying, of course. You're grown up—don't tell me you can't manage without me?"
"That's not the point!" Wang Dong'er raised her voice.
Hearing about Su Yu's impending leave made her restless. She'd grown used to having Su Yu around, and the thought of his absence felt unsettling.
"Alright, I know you'll miss me, but this leave is necessary. I decided on it a long time ago."
"I've already learned most of what the academy can teach me. Now I need real-world experience."
"Reading ten thousand books is no substitute for traveling ten thousand miles. Plus, I need to get my fifth soul ring. Otherwise, you'll catch up to me soon!" Su Yu said with a laugh.
He'd already reached Level 50 about a year ago but hadn't taken the time to acquire a soul ring.
He believed that once he obtained his fifth soul ring, his progress would be just as impressive as Wang Dong's.
"So, you're determined to take this leave?"
"Absolutely."
Wang Dong'er was silent for a moment. "How long will you be gone?"
"About two years, give or take. But it won't be less than that."
"I see…" Wang Dong'er hesitated, then suddenly got out of bed, put on her shoes, and ran out.
"Wang Dong, where are you going?" Su Yu called out, but Wang Dong'er was already out the door.
"What's she up to now?" Su Yu wondered as he continued packing.
Half an hour later, Wang Dong'er returned, out of breath, clearly having run back.
"What did you do?" Su Yu asked.
Gasping for air, Wang Dong'er smirked triumphantly and said, "I went to Director Lin and requested a leave of absence too—two years, just like yours!"
Su Yu: "???"
Did I hear that right?
"Did Director Lin approve it?" Su Yu asked skeptically.
He found it hard to believe Wang Dong'er could get her leave approved so easily. Lin Jiayi wasn't the type to grant such requests lightly, especially not to someone like Wang Dong'er, who was a standout student.
After all, with just a breakthrough to Soul King, Wang Dong'er would qualify for Illustrious Virtue Hall directly!
Su Yu was aware of the inside story—Wang Dong'er had long been preselected by Illustrious Virtue Hall.
Would Lin Jiayi dare to approve such an outrageous leave for a student like that?
"Originally, Director Lin didn't agree, but I told him I was taking the leave to train with you. After he went out for a bit and came back, he agreed," Wang Dong'er said with a grin.
"What are you saying?"
"You want to train with me?" Su Yu was dumbfounded.
If Wang Dong'er followed him, what could she even do?
There were so many things he couldn't let Wang Dong'er know about yet. If Wang Dong'er tagged along, how could he roam freely?
"Yeah, is that a problem?" Wang Dong'er stared at Su Yu, her tone faintly teasing.
"Of course, it's a problem. I'm not going on a leisure trip—I don't have time to take care of you. Be good and go back to the Clear Sky Sect."
Wang Dong'er instinctively wanted to retort but suddenly thought of something. A sly glint flashed through her pink-blue eyes.
She pouted and said, "Fine, if you don't want to take me, then don't. Who cares? Hmph!"
Surprisingly, she gave up so easily.
Su Yu gave Wang Dong'er a suspicious glance. Not throwing a tantrum—was this the silly butterfly he knew? Or was the silly butterfly up to something?
The thought flashed through Su Yu's mind, but he wasn't worried. Whatever schemes she had, he'd deal with them as they came.
Noticing Su Yu's gaze, Wang Dong'er quickly turned away, her big eyes darting around nervously.
Su Yu glanced at her a few more times before withdrawing his gaze.
Wang Dong'er let out a breath of relief and started packing her belongings, imitating Su Yu.
...
Evening.
Su Yu put away the carving knife in his hand. "It's our last night here. Come on, I'll treat you to something good," he said to Wang Dong'er.
Wang Dong didn't hesitate to accept.
The two of them invited Meng Hongchen and Xiao Hongchen to join them for a gathering—a brief farewell.
...
The next morning.
After parting with Meng Hongchen with an embrace and a kiss, Su Yu and Wang Dong'er left the Sun Moon Empire together.
The distance between the Sun Moon Empire and the Heavenly Soul Empire was quite far.
Along the way, Su Yu and Wang Dong'er traveled together, flying side by side.
Thanks to their flying soul tools and the replenishment from milk bottles, even Wang Dong'er's soul power could sustain long flights.
When they grew tired, they'd rest in a town. If they found themselves in the wilderness, Su Yu would ensure they could still enjoy a delicious barbecue.
Under a sparse moonlit sky.
On a desolate mountain, a campfire burned brightly.
Su Yu was roasting a rabbit nearly three feet long. The golden oil glistened, giving off an enticing aroma that was hard to resist.
Wang Dong'er swallowed hard and said, "Rabbits are so cute—how could you eat one?"
Su Yu didn't respond. He brushed sauce over the rabbit and roasted it for another ten minutes.
Looking at the golden, juicy rabbit meat, Su Yu sprinkled chili powder and cumin powder from his travel pouch.
The roast rabbit was ready.
Su Yu tore off a rabbit leg, deliberately muttering, "Smells so good. What a shame someone doesn't eat rabbit meat."
"Looks like I'll have to enjoy it all by myself."
With that, he took a big bite of the rabbit leg.
The leg was sizable, but Su Yu had a hearty appetite.
Just as he was about to tear off the other leg, a hand reached out and grabbed it first.
Wang Dong'er took a bite of the rabbit leg, chewed for a moment, and revealed a look of pure enjoyment.
"Delicious!" Wang Dong'er exclaimed sincerely before taking another big bite.
Su Yu almost burst out laughing. Indeed, no one could resist the smells too good to refuse rule.
The rabbit was quickly devoured between the two of them.
After dinner, Su Yu lay on a smooth boulder, gazing at the moonlight above.
Feeling inspired, he opened his information panel.
Compared to a year ago, there wasn't much change.
His spiritual power was still at the high tier of the Spirit Abyss realm. At such a level, further improvement wasn't something that could happen overnight.
As for soul power, there wasn't much to mention. Other aspects hadn't changed significantly either.
The only noteworthy thing was the Seventh Anniversary Gift Pack.
When he opened the gift pack back then, he'd received a Title Douluo Summoning Card and a hundred-thousand-year soul bone.
The Title Douluo Summoning Card, of course, could summon a character equivalent in strength to a Title Douluo.
This time, Su Yu's luck wasn't as phenomenal as last time when he summoned Hai Bodong.
But it wasn't bad either. This time, he summoned Chen Xin, known as Sword Douluo from the first Douluo period.
Moreover, this version of Chen Xin wasn't the one who had lost an arm—he had a cultivation of Level 96, already a Super Douluo.
Su Yu was quite satisfied.
The Seven Kill Sword, renowned for its attack power, made Sword Douluo's combat strength quite reliable.
In the future, once he condensed a soul core, his battle power would grow even stronger.
The system assigned Chen Xin the identity of a rogue cultivator and inheritor of the Seven Kill Sword Martial Soul, rather than giving him an official position like Hai Bodong.
It made sense—after all, Sword Douluo wasn't an ice attribute martial soul user.
Moreover, during the Douluo 2 era, whether the Seven Kill Sword inheritance still existed was uncertain. Assigning Chen Xin the identity of a rogue cultivator was a more suitable choice.
As for summoning Chen Xin and whether Tang San might discover anything suspicious, there was no need to worry. Once the system assigned an identity, everyone would believe it without question. No one would suspect that he was a figure from ten thousand years ago—not even Tang San.
Such was the power of the system.
As for the hundred-thousand-year soul bone, it was the right leg bone of a Moonshadow Dragon.
Su Yu didn't need this soul bone. He intended to save it for Zhang Lexuan.
After glancing at his status panel, Su Yu stored the soul bone away.
He looked up at the sky. The moon was bright and flawless, casting a cool, serene light.
At some point, Wang'er Dong had walked over and lay down beside Su Yu on the boulder.
"Not afraid of dirt? Don't you have a cleanliness obsession?" Su Yu asked with a teasing smile.
Wang Dong'er rolled her eyes, too lazy to engage.
When had she ever been bothered by Su Yu's company?
"It's been a while since I've felt this relaxed," Su Yu sighed, his bright eyes reflecting the luminous moon.
...
Ten days later.
After traveling with breaks along the way, the two finally entered the borders of the Heavenly Soul Empire.
From here, their paths diverged. Wang Dong'er was heading to the Clear Sky Sect, which was in the direction of Heaven Dou City.
Su Yu, on the other hand, was heading to the Extreme North, located at the northernmost point of the Heavenly Soul Empire.
After much thought, Su Yu decided to visit the Extreme North Icefield to obtain the Ice Jade Emperor Scorpion as his fifth soul ring.
After all, there was no guarantee when the Ice Empress's tribulation might arrive. If he were late and the Ice Empress got struck by lightning, it would be a huge waste.
Besides, two individuals had been urging him to hurry.
One was naturally Skydream, the clingy worm, who couldn't stop chanting "Ice, Ice, Ice" all day. Su Yu had already suppressed it.
The other was Snow Empress. Unlike Skydream, Su Yu secretly cared about Snow Empress's concerns, though he pretended otherwise.
After all, she was his future little wife. A little indulgence wouldn't hurt.
"Wang Dong, let's part ways here," Su Yu said to Wang Dong'er while hovering high in the air.
Wang Dong'er gave Su Yu a deep look and said, "If you have time, come visit the Clear Sky Sect. I'll personally show you around."
"That won't be a problem," Su Yu replied with a faint smile.
Wang Dong'er looked at Su Yu reluctantly, her eyes gradually reddening.
Not wanting Su Yu to see her like this, Wang Dong'er quickly said, "I'm leaving."
With that, she activated her flying soul tool and headed toward Heaven Dou City.
Su Yu watched Wang Dong'er's retreating figure, smiled faintly, and then vanished, heading north toward the Heavenly Soul Empire's borders.
...
Several days later.
Su Yu arrived at the northern frontier of the Heavenly Soul Empire.
Compared to the prosperous regions elsewhere in the empire, the north was barren and perpetually snow-covered, with snow piled several feet deep.
Seeing the familiar border marker, Su Yu smiled faintly.
In the next moment, he stepped into the Extreme North.
The moment he entered, the Skydream Iceworm grew excited. However, being suppressed, it couldn't cause any commotion.
Returning to the Extreme North, Su Yu felt a sense of intimacy, as if the entire land was welcoming him. It felt like coming home.
Without lingering, Su Yu headed straight for the core area.
...
Two days later, Su Yu traversed the Extreme North and reached its core.
From his Wishful Hundred Treasure Purse, Su Yu took out Snow Empress.
Snow Empress was no longer a one-year-old child; now, she appeared as a three-year-old.
Dressed in an ice-blue dress, she resembled a noble little princess.
Her large ice-blue eyes sparkled like gems, her skin was as crystalline as snow, and her delicate face was utterly adorable, enough to melt anyone's heart at first glance.