The meeting dispersed.
Top floor of the Sea God Pavilion.
Clouds swirled beneath their feet.
Mu En kept Su Wen behind, gazing at the youth's calm face. There was a gentle and gratified look in his eyes. After half a year, Su Wen had grown taller, and his features had become even more handsome. Judging by the bashful little girl, Ju Zi, who had returned with him, it was clear Su Wen hadn't lacked for romantic entanglements in the Sun-Moon Empire...
But just like himself when young, Su Wen wasn't actively pursuing anyone—the "flowers" just tangled themselves around him.
"What do you think of Jing Hongchen?" Mu En finally asked after a long pause.
"He's a talented Hall Master—cunning and crafty, but only to his enemies. His loyalty to the Sun-Moon Empire is still there, but compared to the Empire, blood ties seem more important to him."
"So, does Xiao Hongchen need to die?" Mu En asked. "Aren't you angry?"
"No need. Actually, I anticipated this before we even set out to sea. I only returned to test my strength. As for so-called danger... heh, there's no one in this world who can truly threaten me anymore," Su Wen smiled.
"Besides, killing Xiao Hongchen would play right into the Sun-Moon Empire's hands. It would force Jing Hongchen to rebel, only for them to use that as a pretext to dispose of him, all while playing the victim. I want them to feel like there's a bone stuck in their throat—endlessly uncomfortable."
Of course, he would never mention the reason involving Meng Hongchen...
"Heh heh, that's for the best." Mu En smiled at him, not exposing this "lie," but instead looked down from the pavilion.
At a height of a hundred meters, the entirety of Shrek Academy was visible.
"In today's Sea God Pavilion meeting, several elders already hinted that they want you to succeed as Pavilion Master. They didn't say it outright, but their praise was obvious."
Mu En spoke softly.
"The rules of the Sea God Pavilion have always been that the most capable takes the position. Once the chosen successor reaches rank 98, even if the previous Ultimate Douluo is still in his prime, he should step down."
"Of course, Xuan Zi... you know, he can't handle the responsibility, and I wouldn't feel comfortable leaving the Academy to him, so he's a rare exception."
"Let's wait a bit longer," Su Wen mused.
"Shrek Academy is a big mess right now. There are too many troublesome matters. I saw all your prior efforts, but they're far from enough. The Academy's problems are deep-rooted. What I want to do is treat the disease at the bone. If we really start cutting, the backlash will be huge. For now, let's stabilize and develop the Forging Department first."
"Heh... you!" Mu En shook his head.
"When will you bring over those beauties from the Sun-Moon Empire?"
"Uh, well..." Su Wen twitched at the corner of his mouth, a bit embarrassed. "You even know about that?"
"Na Na, Meng Hongchen, and... Ju Zi you brought back."
"At this rate, the future Sea God Pavilion meetings will be run by your family alone." Mu En chuckled.
"Ahem, I'll settle Teacher Xuan in first, have him integrate with Elder Du and the Forging Department, and then see how things develop in the Sun-Moon Empire," Su Wen said thoughtfully.
"Jing Hongchen is a double-edged sword. With his grandchildren and the Empire's suspicion of betrayal, there's a chance to win his loyalty, but he's still a former official of the Sun-Moon Empire. If we take him in rashly, it could cause trouble..."
"But if used well, as Mingde Hall's head and a top-level rank-nine soul engineer, he could raise Shrek Academy several levels."
"We'll test him first."
…
Shrek Inner Court.
Xiao Hongchen casually handed Bei Bei a cold drink. Both were sweating, having just finished an intense duel. Although Bei Bei had only just broken through to Soul King, with Xu Sanshi, their 2v1 matches were fierce and evenly matched.
Xiao Hongchen lived up to his reputation as the Sun-Moon Empire's top genius, having advanced to rank 57 Soul King in just over half a year.
Shrek Academy's research on martial souls, especially Teacher Wang Yan's lessons, had benefitted him greatly.
"Again?" Xu Sanshi leaned lazily against the wall, glancing at Xiao Hongchen.
With such sparring partners, everyone was eager to improve.
Even Xu Sanshi's strength had recently soared under the pressure, the bottleneck at rank 51 already loosening. In three or four days, he'd likely break through.
"Come on!" Xiao Hongchen put away his milk bottle and sprang up with a grin. "Watch as this genius breaks your turtle shell!"
"Yeah right..."
The three laughed and headed for the arena.
But in the next moment—
Their expressions froze as they looked toward the entrance.
A slender figure had appeared at some point. With long black hair cascading over her shoulders, wearing a white dress and canvas shoes, she walked toward Xiao Hongchen. Normally, he would have greeted her respectfully, but today...
In Senior Sister Zhang Lexuan's cold black eyes, there was a near-tangible killing intent.
"Senior Sister... wuwu..." Xiao Hongchen stammered, his mind racing to figure out what he'd done wrong.
Before he could finish, Zhang Lexuan's figure flashed before him. Her fair hand clenched around his neck.
A terrifying sense of suffocation took hold. Her overwhelming strength left him unable to think of resisting.
His face flushed red, breathing became difficult, his toes slowly rose off the floor. Despair, anger, and humiliation filled his heart.
"Senior Sister!"
Bei Bei hurried over to intervene: "If Xiao Hongchen dies here at Shrek Academy, Su Wen in the Sun-Moon Empire will be in danger too! No matter what's happened, you should get the facts first..."
"Su Wen is dead."
Zhang Lexuan said softly.
The scene went silent.
Bei Bei and Xu Sanshi stared in horror, while a question mark slowly formed on Xiao Hongchen's forehead. The absurdity of it all washed away his humiliation.
What the heck?!!
Who did you say died?!!
No way!!!
…
Mingdu.
Deepest part of a prison.
Dim light fell on Jing Hongchen's white hair. Just days ago it had been jet black, but overnight it turned white. The Sun-Moon royal family had detained him under the pretext of fearing his revenge and declaring him unfit to remain at Mingde Hall.
He had never resisted, knowing that Elder Kong was right—his grandson was almost certainly doomed. The Hongchen family needed a survivor.
He also knew how powerful Elder Kong was; with him present, Jing Hongchen stood no chance.
But he was still anxious.
Even knowing that Su Wen could hardly escape the Empire's joint siege, Jing Hongchen still held a sliver of hope. What if—just what if—Su Wen survived?
Thud!
Thud!
...
Heavy footsteps sounded.
The cell door opened slowly.
Xu Jiangliu walked in, a mocking look in his eyes. Jing Hongchen least wanted to see him, but couldn't avoid it...
"Su Wen is dead."