"Yali, why are you back so soon? So, did Zhenhua pass on the Divine Forging Technique to Xia Yi?"Seeing Yali return so quickly, Long Yeyue and Cao Dezhi immediately stood up in unison.
They only knew that Zhenhua had returned and that Yuan Baor had asked Yali to help examine his body. They had no idea what happened afterward.
"No." Yali shook her head and replied truthfully, "Zhenhua suspects that Xia Yi is colluding with soul beasts and refuses to teach him the Divine Forging Technique."
"That's great! Hmph, Zhenhua still has some sense, after all." Long Yeyue snorted coldly, though her excitement was clear. She added, "There's hope for Shrek Academy's reconstruction now."
In terms of forging talent, across the entire Douluo Continent, the only one who could rival Xia Yi was Tang Wulin.
Once Tang Wulin became a Divine Blacksmith, all the powerhouses who wanted four-word battle armor would have to turn to him—and to Shrek Academy.
By then, who could still stop Shrek Academy's revival?
"Yue-jie, I've broken through my limit. Do you know why?" Yali bit her lip and finally voiced the question.
"With your talent, isn't a breakthrough normal?" Long Yeyue replied nonchalantly.
"My life was shared with Ming-ge. With life-sharing, if something happened to him, I should have been affected too. But not only was I unharmed, my cultivation surged and I broke through to become a Limit Douluo." Yali clenched her teeth, trying to keep her tone calm, but the heavy rise and fall of her chest made it obvious she wasn't at peace.
"This..." Long Yeyue's face slightly changed. She gave a stiff laugh and said, "Isn't that a good thing?"
"It is a good thing, but I want to know the truth." Yali looked up at Long Yeyue's evasive gaze. "Yue-jie, I respect you, which is why I'm talking to you calmly. Don't push me. Things have reached this point—I can already guess most of it. I just want confirmation from you. I know what you're worried about—you think if I learn the truth, I'll leave Shrek Academy in anger, right?"
"Yali, you're overthinking it!" Long Yeyue laughed awkwardly again. "What's done is done. You're the Sea God Pavilion Master. We should be looking ahead, working together to rebuild Shrek Academy. Isn't that also Yun Ming's wish?"
"So that means I should just let myself be used and lied to for a lifetime?" Yali's gaze turned cold. She wanted to get angry, but when she spoke, it was only a quiet sigh. "Yue-jie, I don't want to fight with you. Over all these years, my feelings for Ming-ge were real, and his feelings for me were real too. My feelings for Shrek Academy are real as well. During my time at Shrek, I was genuinely happy. No matter what the truth is, I can accept it. It won't change how I feel about the academy. I'm mentally prepared—I just want to know the truth."
Facing Yali's stubborn gaze, Long Yeyue knew that if she didn't give some kind of answer today, Yali wouldn't let it go.
After taking a deep breath, Long Yeyue looked up at her and asked solemnly, "Yali, what do you think of Yun Ming's talent?"
"It was excellent. In his generation, without a doubt, he was number one among his peers." Yali answered honestly.
"Exactly. Yun Ming's talent was on par with the Ice Spirit Douluo of ten thousand years ago and the Tang San of twenty thousand years ago." Long Yeyue sighed deeply. "Back then, Yun Ming's teacher—the Heavenfavored Douluo—saw Yun Ming for the first time and swore to raise him to become a god like those two, to restore Shrek Academy to its former peak. To maximize Yun Ming's chances of becoming a god, his teacher came up with a plan—God-Making. And you were a key part of that plan."
"It was all about the power of faith," Yali said, biting her red lips.
"And your boundless life force. You are the most powerful healing-type soul master in human history. Across the entire Douluo Plane, only one of the Ten Great Beasts—the Emerald Swan—could surpass you. Your life force, infused with the power of faith, not only increased Yun Ming's chances of becoming a god but also allowed him to keep his body in peak condition. That way, he could attack the divine seat at full strength," Long Yeyue said with a trace of regret. If not for the absence of a God Realm and the heavy suppression from the Douluo Plane's will, Yun Ming would've already ascended.
If he had succeeded, Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect wouldn't be in such dire straits now.
"That's impossible. If Yun Ming had been drawing from my life force, I would've sensed it. I really felt it before—a current of life flowing between us. It was mutual. It was clearly life-sharing," Yali said, shaking her head. Her beautiful eyes filled with tears. Though she had suspected this, hearing Long Yeyue confirm it still broke her heart.
"It wasn't sharing—it was an exchange," Long Yeyue took another deep breath. "It was a win-win. Besides the faith energy, your strong and pure life force was exactly what Yun Ming needed. It helped prolong his prime years. And Yun Ming's life force, while not as pure as yours, carried immense strength. That power, in turn, nourished your injured body."
"Why didn't you tell me from the start? If it was really for Ming-ge's sake, I would've accepted it," Yali asked through her tears.
"Yun Ming didn't know at the start either. And if we told you, you'd tell him. His teacher and I didn't want him to carry that psychological burden," Long Yeyue explained.
"So he knew later on," Yali asked.
"Yes." Long Yeyue nodded. "At first, Yun Ming truly believed that your lives were linked—that if he died, you would too. So after getting together with you, he became extremely cautious. But a god-candidate needs to be decisive and fearless, bold and reckless. Losing that edge meant losing his chance to become a god. Yun Ming knew this very well, but he still chose to give it up. He didn't want to risk your life on a failed godhood attempt. He told me, he'd rather never become a god and live the rest of his life with you than risk losing you forever."
"Yun Ming!" Yali's eyes filled with tears. As Cold Yaozhu had speculated, Yun Ming really had not taken part in the deception.
"Seeing Yun Ming 'fall' because of you, his teacher and I were left with no choice. That's why we eventually told him the truth. Otherwise, he might not have even made it to demi-god level." Long Yeyue sighed again. "But now, I regret it. If he had kept believing in the life-sharing bond, he might have run when Shrek faced disaster—just to avoid dragging you down."
"Then why didn't he tell me the truth?" Yali asked again.
"He was afraid you'd leave him once you knew," Long Yeyue said.
"Fine, one more question. If I was part of Shrek's God-Making plan, then that plague back then—was it orchestrated by Shrek Academy just to help me gather faith energy?"Yali's eyes suddenly turned sharp. She could accept being used, being deceived—even if it was by the Academy—so long as Yun Ming's love was real.
But if innocent people were sacrificed just to exploit her, then she would never forgive herself for being a part of it.
Yes, she had saved tens of thousands during that epidemic.
But those who died were ten times more than the ones she saved.
Because the situation had been so dire, she hadn't hesitated to burn her own life force to speed up the healing process.
Before, she would never have doubted Shrek Academy.
But now that Long Yeyue had already admitted to one manipulation, how could she not question another?
"Yali!"Long Yeyue slapped the table and stood up, glaring at Yali with eyes nearly spitting fire. Her voice turned icy: "Do you even realize what you're saying? Shrek Academy carries the will of the Sea God and the God of Emotions. How could it possibly do something like that? If you keep slandering the Academy like this, don't blame me for turning on you!"
Long Yeyue knew—it no longer mattered whether the plague had been orchestrated.
What mattered now was what Yali believed.
She had to show anger to crush this dangerous thought in Yali's mind.
"Let's hope you're telling the truth," Yali replied coldly. Though still technically part of Shrek Academy's faction, that didn't mean she trusted the leadership—especially not Long Yeyue. She might be kind, but she wasn't naïve.
Long Yeyue's earlier explanations—half-truths, half-lies—were carefully curated to please her.
But truth or lie, Yali would judge for herself.
(End of Chapter)