This time, Leng Yaozhu had called Xia Yi and Gu Yue to the Spirit Pagoda mainly to give them the Phoenix Heart Jade.
Initially, Leng Yaozhu had planned to give the Phoenix Jade to Gu Yue first while sending Xia Yi out, and then call him back in to give him the Phoenix Jade separately.
After all, the Phoenix Heart Jade was clearly a pair of love tokens.
Giving them together seemed a bit inappropriate.
What she hadn't expected was that, during her time in seclusion, Xia Yi had quietly won over Gu Yue.
Since the two were now officially a couple, she simply gave them the Phoenix Heart Jade together.
This way, it also served as a blessing.
"Alright, you can leave now. If there's anything, I'll call for you." After handing over the Phoenix Heart Jade to Xia Yi and Gu Yue and explaining how to use them, Leng Yaozhu prepared to send them away.
"I have something else." Xia Yi took out a gold card, took a deep breath, and said, "This is for you."
"What is this?" Leng Yaozhu asked curiously.
"The money for the Ice God's Heart auction," Xia Yi replied.
"I almost forgot. You just earned five billion, and after selling some rare treasures and metals, you have fifty-five billion. For you, that's really just a small goal." Leng Yaozhu took the gold card and said with some resentment, "Since you don't want to owe me, then I'll accept it."
She did not refuse. Since Xia Yi had already brought it out, she had to take it.
"Yaozhu Jie, don't worry. I will never let Yue'er down," Xia Yi reassured her once again.
"Enough, get lost. I need to cultivate." Leng Yaozhu waved her hand, shooing Xia Yi and Gu Yue away.
Crafting the Phoenix Heart Jade had taken a great toll on her.
She needed to go back into seclusion.
If it weren't for the urgency of giving them the Phoenix Heart Jade, she wouldn't have come to the Spirit Pagoda at all today.
"Yue'er, you must be happy. Don't end up like your teacher," Leng Yaozhu silently wished while watching Gu Yue and Xia Yi leave from the window.
"This is good too. At least it resolves a long-standing regret." Thinking about how she had finally given the Phoenix Heart Jade away, she couldn't help but smile bitterly.
After being rejected by Yun Ming all those years ago, she had thought that she would never have the chance to give away her Phoenix Heart Jade.
Unexpectedly, she ended up giving it to Xia Yi and Gu Yue instead.
Although her Phoenix Heart Jade wasn't given to a lover like the other Leng family members, at least it was given out.
Love for a student was still love, wasn't it?
Leng Yaozhu comforted herself with this thought.
However, when she realized that her Phoenix Heart Jade might be the most powerful one in the history of the Leng family, she didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
Most Leng family members gave away their Phoenix Heart Jade when they were still Soul Elders or Soul Ancestors. Even the rare Titled Douluo-level Phoenix Heart Jade had only appeared a few times in the family's history.
As for a Super Douluo's Phoenix Heart Jade, Leng Yaozhu couldn't recall a single instance.
And now, she had directly created two Ultimate Douluo-level Phoenix Heart Jades.
"I wonder what level of cultivation my sister has reached now." Thinking about the Phoenix Heart Jade, Leng Yaozhu suddenly thought of Leng Yulai. Like herself, Leng Yulai was an exceptional talent.
They were both ranked among the top ten geniuses in the history of the Leng family.
Given Leng Yulai's stubbornness, Leng Yaozhu believed that she would never fall for anyone other than Yun Ming.
That meant Leng Yulai's Phoenix Heart Jade might still be in her possession.
If that were the case, there was a real possibility that Leng Yulai could break her record.
After all, though she was an Ultimate Douluo, she was still just a demi-god.
Without an extraordinary opportunity, she would never reach the pseudo-god level.
Leng Yulai was different. She had been missing for so many years, and Leng Yaozhu had no idea what her cultivation level was now.
Although she knew that the chances of Leng Yulai reaching the pseudo-god level were nearly zero, she still held onto a tiny sliver of hope.
After returning to Shrek Academy, Xia Yi and Gu Yue went straight to class.
That day marked the official resumption of classes at Shrek Academy.
Since there was nothing urgent, and Di Tian had yet to return, Xia Yi and Gu Yue attended classes and trained as usual for the next few days.
After two days of classes, Xia Yi found time to forge Gu Yue's chest armor.
He then handed it over to Wu Jin for soul inscription.
During these past few days, Xia Yi and Gu Yue had been living together.
With Leng Yaozhu's approval, their relationship had grown even closer.
They were practically inseparable.
Fortunately, ever since Gu Yue had "convinced" Mu Xi, she had moved into a regular dormitory.
Otherwise, if she had to witness Xia Yi and Gu Yue's interactions every day, she might have felt like dying.
Given Mu Xi's special status, she could technically live anywhere she wanted.
Xia Yi knew Gu Yue must have said something to her.
He didn't ask, as Gu Yue had done nothing wrong.
Tang Wulin, on the other hand, didn't have Mu Xi's privileges. He spent most of his time either in the Blacksmith Association or at the Tang Sect headquarters training.
Especially at night, he almost never returned to the working student dormitory.
Seeing Xia Yi and Gu Yue actually living in the same dormitory shattered his heart, so he chose to avoid them—out of sight, out of mind.
He had broken through to the three-ring level and was waiting for an opportunity.
An opportunity to defeat Xia Yi fair and square.
At first, he had wanted to surpass Xia Yi in blacksmithing, but after seeing that Xia Yi could already spirit forge Life Crystals, he gave up on that idea.
Among the remaining working students, many were displeased with Xia Yi and Gu Yue's public displays of affection, but most just grumbled about it privately.
Only Lin Pingzhi openly showed hostility.
Every time he saw Xia Yi and Gu Yue together, he glared at them with resentment.
Once or twice might have been tolerable, but he did it every single time.
Even Xia Yi was getting annoyed after a few days.
Unexpectedly, Lin Pingzhi approached Xia Yi today.
"I heard you can fusion forge. Can you help me forge a set of battle armor? I'll pay you in contribution points over time," Lin Pingzhi said, holding a stack of blueprints.
Since Yun Ming had refused to take him as a disciple, Lin Pingzhi had focused on training harder. In just a few days, he had broken through to the Soul King level, making him eligible to wear a full set of one-word battle armor.
Technically, he already had one piece of battle armor, but it was only thousand-refined.
After hearing from the news that Xia Yi was a fifth-rank blacksmith capable of fusion forging, he wanted a full set of fusion-forged one-word battle armor.
This way, he wouldn't have to replace the metal when upgrading to two-word battle armor, saving a huge amount of contribution points.
However, he had only just joined Shrek Academy, and his secondary profession was just a beginner-level fourth-rank mecha repairer.
He barely earned any contribution points.
Forget a full set—his current points weren't even enough to pay for a single gauntlet.
Even Yuanen Yehui had to use three years' worth of contribution points just to have Xia Yi forge one piece for her.
So what made Lin Pingzhi think he could just walk in and ask for a full set?
"Sorry, I'm not taking orders anymore. If you want alloy, buy it from the Blacksmith Association," Xia Yi refused without hesitation.
He had a stockpile of rare metals, most of which he didn't need.
Instead of forging for others, he would rather process his own metals and sell them.
Of course, the metals he sold were never forged using his unique techniques.
He reserved those for his own work.
For Xia Yi, the metals he sold were just his practice pieces.
"You!" Lin Pingzhi hadn't expected to be refused so directly. He argued, "I'm not asking for a free favor. I'll pay in contribution points later. We're all Shrek students, all working students. Can't you do me this one favor?"
"Are we that close?" Xia Yi asked flatly.
"Saint Spirit Douluo said that Shrek Academy is like a family, and that we should help each other," Lin Pingzhi insisted, as if he had every right to demand it.
"Then go ask her," Xia Yi replied indifferently and walked away.
He and Gu Yue had already taken leave to help Bi Ji forge her battle armor.
He had no time to waste on this nonsense.
(End of Chapter)