"Oh? Is that so?" Mu En opened his eyes, his gaze sharp as he studied Zhu Ziyang.
"Yes!" Zhu Ziyang nodded. Then, with a thought, a figure stepped out of the void—Saint Knight Komarco, who had been waiting in readiness—appearing before both him and Mu En.
"At your command!" Komarco knelt on one knee before Zhu Ziyang, his manner reverent and loyal.
"This is…" Mu En finally began to take Zhu Ziyang's claim seriously. He realized his disciple wasn't bluffing—he truly had a way to deal with a Super Douluo. The proof stood before him: someone who had appeared without warning, whose presence even Mu En had failed to sense beforehand, and whose cultivation had reached level 97!
"Teacher, this is the method I mentioned for handling a Super Douluo!" Zhu Ziyang explained with a smile. "Saint Knight Komarco—level 97 Super Douluo—whose combat power rivals that of a level 98. He is one of the Temple's Priests."
"Saint Knight? Temple Priest?" Mu En murmured, his aged eyes filled with curiosity, astonishment, and a faint tremor of excitement as he looked at Zhu Ziyang. "Ziyang… could it be that you…"
"Yes, Teacher! I have received the favor of a god, and I am now undergoing a God Position Trial," Zhu Ziyang said, his voice tinged with pride.
"This… this truly is Heaven's blessing for Shrek!" Mu En's voice quivered with excitement. He rose abruptly to his feet, his body trembling as he cried out, "Hahaha! It seems my Shrek Academy truly can remain undefeated for eternity!"
Grasping Zhu Ziyang's arm with trembling hands, Mu En's eyes shone with gratitude. "Ziyang, thank you. Now, even if I die, I can rest without regrets! With you here, Shrek Academy can endure for another ten thousand years! This is divine grace itself!"
"Teacher…" Zhu Ziyang was both surprised and moved. He hadn't expected that upon learning his disciple had been chosen by a god, Mu En's first thought would not be for himself, but for the Academy. Indeed, in Mu En's heart, nothing outweighed Shrek Academy.
After a long while, Mu En calmed down, though his face was still flushed from joy. "Ziyang, may I ask which god's legacy you've inherited? And this Saint Knight—is he the priestly servant of that god, assigned to protect you?"
"Yes, Teacher!" Zhu Ziyang answered without hesitation. Though Komarco was unrelated to the God of Death, there was no harm in allowing Mu En to believe otherwise. "The god who chose me is known as the God of Death—a being on the same level as the Sea God of ten thousand years ago."
In truth, Zhu Ziyang didn't know whether the God of Death was stronger or weaker than the Sea God. But since the Sea God was the god most familiar to Shrek, the comparison made it easier for Mu En to understand.
As expected, upon hearing that Zhu Ziyang had received the inheritance of a god comparable to the Sea God, Mu En's face flushed even deeper. "The God of Death! Excellent, excellent! In the future, Shrek Academy will not only have Sea God Lake and Sea God Island—we will have Death God Mountain and the Death God Pavilion as well! Wonderful!"
"Hehe, Teacher, isn't it a bit early to be talking about that?" Zhu Ziyang replied, scratching the back of his head with a sheepish grin. "I've only completed the second Death God Trial. I still have seven more to go—there's a long road ahead."
"It's not early at all!" Mu En shook his head firmly. "I believe in you! You're only fifteen—your talent alone ensures you have the time to complete all the trials."
"But… all the trials have time limits," Zhu Ziyang muttered under his breath.
"You wish to leave the Academy to continue your trials, don't you?" Mu En asked with a knowing smile, having caught his disciple's muttering.
"Yes, Teacher!" Zhu Ziyang admitted. "The first two trials were completed during the Continental Soul Master Tournament. The third requires me to visit the Icefire Yin Yang Well—there's something I need there."
"In that case, I won't stand in the way of your future," Mu En said without hesitation. "But you can go to the Icefire Yin Yang Well together with your two senior sisters. Once the trial is done, you must return to the Academy first. Agreed?"
"Yes, Teacher!" Zhu Ziyang replied with a bright smile, pleased by Mu En's concession.
"Good. Then don't waste any time—set out tomorrow!" Mu En said eagerly, his heart yearning to witness the day his disciple became a god.
"I understand, Teacher!" Zhu Ziyang nodded. The sooner he reached the Icefire Yin Yang Well, the sooner he could complete the third Death God Trial.
"Go and rest," Mu En said warmly, his voice still brimming with joy.
Zhu Ziyang turned to leave the Sea God Pavilion, while Mu En watched his departing figure, murmuring to himself with a grin, "My disciple… is going to become a god!"
The next morning, Zhu Ziyang, Ma Xiaotao, Xian Lin'er, and Cai Mei'er met beneath the Golden Ancient Tree.
Once gathered, the four set off immediately toward the Sunset Forest. On the way, Xian Lin'er asked, "Ziyang, is it really true that the Icefire Yin Yang Well is full of immortal herbs?"
"It's not as exaggerated as you make it sound, Senior Sister," Zhu Ziyang replied with a roll of his eyes. "But yes, there are quite a few immortal herbs there—and many other rare high-grade spirit plants. You'll see when we get there."
"Then… can we take them all?" Cai Mei'er asked with an eager look.
"Uh…" A black line appeared on Zhu Ziyang's forehead—this was exactly the same idea Mu En had voiced before. "Junior Sister, I'd love to, but if we forcefully take everything, those herbs might choose to destroy themselves along with the place. And I want this paradise to continue serving Shrek Academy in the future, so I wouldn't recommend it."
"I see… alright," Cai Mei'er said, though her disappointment showed.
"Senior Sister, Master's Wife," Ma Xiaotao joined in, "besides helping me get my spirit ring and soul spirit this time, are we also supposed to make some kind of agreement with the immortal herbs inside?"
"Yes," Cai Mei'er nodded. "That's Elder Mu's task for us. I just hope those herbs know what's good for them. Otherwise, I'll show them that strength rules all!"
"Sounds good to me!" Ma Xiaotao clapped her hands in excitement. "I'm curious to see what these sentient plants are like!"
Before long, the four arrived at the Sunset Forest. Guided by Zhu Ziyang, they followed the small path he had created on his last visit, easily reaching the cliffside outside the Icefire Yin Yang Well—and then entering the place itself.
"So this is the Icefire Yin Yang Well? It truly is extraordinary!" Cai Mei'er, Xian Lin'er, and Ma Xiaotao all exclaimed at once, staring in awe at the breathtaking scene. They suddenly felt that destroying such a place would indeed be like letting wild boars trample fine cabbages—utterly wasteful.
"Yes, this is the Icefire Yin Yang Well," Zhu Ziyang confirmed with a smile, leading them carefully toward the cluster of immortal herbs surrounding the twin springs.
Before they could go far, their arrival was noticed by the guardian plant—by coincidence, the very one they had come for: the Phoenix Chrysanthemum.
"Stop!" the Phoenix Chrysanthemum called, halting the group. "Humans, leave at once. This is no place for you."
"Phoenix Chrysanthemum!" Ma Xiaotao's eyes lit up with joy and excitement as she spotted the fiery red plant by the edge of the scarlet spring.
"Oh?" The Phoenix Chrysanthemum tilted slightly as if in surprise. "You there—the male human—have you been here before? Your aura feels familiar."
"Yes, I have been here once before. But back then, we met the Moonlit Tea Tree," Zhu Ziyang admitted freely.
"So it was you! Last time, you took one of my offspring. And now you've come again?" the Phoenix Chrysanthemum said with clear displeasure. "I'm warning you—I'm not as easy to deal with as Tea Tea!"
"Hmph! Ziyang, why waste words with it? If you ask me, we should just subdue it first and talk later!" Xian Lin'er cut in, releasing her Super Douluo pressure.
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