Chapter 86: She's Still Not as Good as the Little Snow Empress!
For Jiang Chen and his group, the upcoming Tianhai Tournament wasn't stressful in the slightest. If Wu Zhangkong hadn't stopped him, Jiang Chen might've entered the adult division just for fun.
Wu Zhangkong led the students to the grand square of Eastsea Academy. The academy would send multiple teams—not just their group but also participants from the senior division.
Those were the competitors aged fifteen to twenty—the adult group. Among them, Tang Wulin spotted the person who had been on his mind constantly—his beloved senior sister.
And of course, standing right next to her—an annoyingly eye-catching man.
"Brother!" Xu Xiaoyan waved cheerfully.
"Wulin!" Mu Xi, who was also competing in the adult division, noticed him and gave him a warm smile.
Mu Xi, being the daughter of a Saint Craftsman, had naturally received the best training. She was fifteen, the exact qualifying age to enter the adult competition. Just one year younger, and she would've dominated the youth division.
Still, with her exceptional background, she was well-prepared to hold her own among the older students.
This year's tournament lineup included not just the students, but also three instructors of note—Wu Zhangkong for the junior division, Liu Yuxin for the adult division, and the academic director Long Hengxu. The entire academy took this event seriously.
After all, the Tianhai Tournament affected how the Federation and the Spirit Pagoda allocated resources and judged the standings of every academy.
For example, among the five top-tier cities in the Eastern Territories, it was always Tianhai City that hosted the event. The "Tianhai Tournament" wasn't just a title—it symbolized the city's educational and political dominance.
Thus, Eastsea Academy had to go all out. That was why Wu Zhangkong insisted on Jiang Chen's group entering the youth division.
They were already Soul Sect–level, equivalent to adult-ranking competitors. In the youth division, they'd practically sweep the field.
Meanwhile, everyone couldn't help noticing how the senior teacher Liu Yuxin kept glancing very openly at Wu Zhangkong. Her eyes were full of unhidden admiration.
Xie Xie leaned in, smirking mischievously. "Teacher Wu, just look at you—wherever you go, hearts are breaking, men are jealous, women are losing sleep!"
"Shut it!" Wu Zhangkong snapped. "Everyone, pay attention!"
In total, seventeen students from Eastsea Academy were participating—nine from the junior division, seven from the senior division, plus Jiang Chen's trio competing in the team event.
The rest, like the armor and mecha specialists, were riding in another vehicle.
On the academy bus, the Little Snow Empress wasted no time taking the seat beside Jiang Chen.
Huo Yun'er glanced left and right, pouting, then reluctantly sat beside Gu Yue.
Meanwhile, at the other end, Tang Wulin's heart sank as he watched his senior sister head right over to Xu Xiaoyu's side.
"What's wrong? Not happy?"
Mu Xi frowned, spotting his expression. Her gaze flicked toward Ouyang Zixin—and instantly darkened.
"Tang Wulin!"
"N-no! I'm not unhappy! Having senior sister next to me makes me really—really happy!"
Tang Wulin forced a grin, though bitterness flickered in his eyes.
Especially now that Old Tang had suddenly gone silent. His inner guide's last words had been that only by reaching Shrek Academy could he awaken again.
But Tang Wulin didn't want to join Shrek Academy. His goal was the Spirit Pagoda.
Well, one way or another, he'd carve his own path—whether that meant bypassing or breaking through Shrek's gates entirely.
The chatter on the bus faded into quiet as they drove toward Tianhai City.
Then Tang Wulin noticed a new message notification—from Jiang Chen.
This World Will Bow: Tell Na'er to add me back.
Tang Wulin: "Huh? What happened between you two?"
This World Will Bow: Nothing. She pissed me off, so I deleted her. But now I need to talk to her.
Tang Wulin raised an eyebrow, shrugged, and opened Na'er's chat window. Their last conversation had been three days ago—basic, meaningless chatter. Their connection had been fading lately; she'd grown distant, almost hazy in his memory.
Sigh. Maybe he'd been thinking about his senior sister too much.
Meanwhile, far away in the Shrek Academy of the Star Luo Federation, Na'er had just finished practicing her spear forms when Tang Wulin's message popped up.
"Jiang Chen? Wants me to add him?"
She still felt a flicker of anger—she had stormed off last time, true, but she'd always planned to pay back what she owed him.
He could've yelled or scolded her, sure—but deleting her directly? That was a step too far! Completely unreasonable!
Still, her fingers betrayed her—before she realized it, she sent the friend request back.
Then, with a small, guilty huff, she tapped through the list of undelivered messages—the ones that had turned into red exclamation marks after he'd deleted her.
Her reactivation instantly set off a long string of ding-ding-ding-ding on Jiang Chen's phone.
"Crap!" Jiang Chen muttered, quickly switching to silent mode.
The Snow Empress beside him raised an eyebrow, staring curiously. Jiang Chen quickly turned his phone toward her to show there was nothing suspicious.
She rolled her eyes, crossing her arms before closing her eyes again.
Right. Why do I even feel nervous? he thought, shaking his head.
Scrolling through Na'er's messages, he saw a series of apologies—"I'm sorry," "please forgive me," "I shouldn't have…"
He sighed. Apologies, regrets—but why run away in the first place? I wasn't even harsh with you…
Still, he glanced sideways at the serene Snow Empress beside him, she's nothing compared to my Little Snow Empress.
For a long while, no reply came. Finally, Na'er messaged again.
Na'er: Are you there? Hello?
Jiang Chen: …
He twitched at the corners of his mouth, suppressing his irritation and focusing back on the matter at hand.
The Federation's destruction of Tang Sect and Shrek Academy wasn't something those forces would ever forgive.
Especially with that fool Gu Yue picking a direct fight with the Tang God King, the divine realm's power balance was certain to shift.
Now, the two soul beast "traitors" within the Spirit Pagoda were causing division, preaching ideals of coexistence between humans and soul beasts—that humans shouldn't rely solely on the Pagoda's contracts, but instead engage through freely chosen partnerships.
In short—
They wanted "peaceful coexistence."
And which humans did they believe represented justice and peace?
Shrek Academy, of course.
Di Tian had nearly used Dragon God's Claw on them out of sheer fury.
But as much as he wanted to, he couldn't deny they'd achieved something. They had absorbed divine aura and ascended—achieving godhood.
Their bloodlines might still yield to his, but their divine energy surpassed him completely.
Mortal versus divine—it was an unbridgeable gap.
Only their "Master" could remove them now.
Gu Yue declared that those traitors still had some use to her plans, so she allowed their existence—for the time being.
This World Will Bow: What's Shrek's situation?
Na'er bit her lip. She should've known he didn't add her back out of affection.
He just wanted information.
This World Will Bow: Say it.
Pouting in frustration, she squatted down and hesitated—but in the end, she still replied.
Na'er: Fine… but you owe me. Send me a picture of yourself first!
Jiang Chen: ?
This World Will Bow: What are you planning to do with my picture?
Na'er: Guess.
(END CHAPTER)
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