Chapter 188: The Holiday Ends
Bei Bei looked at Furina and voiced the question on his mind: "But the holiday is almost over, isn't it? Do you plan to have Gu Qiuer stay in the Water God Church or Canaan Academy, or bring her with us to Shrek Academy?"
He paused, then added: "If she goes to Shrek, given her talent, the academy's teachers shouldn't refuse. With my recommendation, enrollment shouldn't be a problem."
Of course, it ultimately depended on what Furina and Gu Qiuer themselves wanted.
Furina thought for a moment and quickly made a decision: "My plan is to have her stay at Canaan Academy, here with the Water God Church. It works out perfectly—she can serve as a substitute for Ye Guyi's competition team. She's very strong."
She had her own considerations in mind.
That place called Shrek had a Limit Douluo, Elder Mu, stationed there. Bringing Gu Qiuer over would certainly draw Elder Mu's attention. Moreover, Shrek Academy's Golden Ancient Tree might very well be one of Tang San's eyes and ears.
Letting Gu Qiuer and Wang Dong meet in advance was already pushing the limits. If they were to continue spending every waking moment together, who knew what kind of unforeseen developments might occur.
Putting these concerns aside, if she brought Gu Qiuer to Shrek, the academy would indeed be happy to accept her, and she could even become an outer court core disciple without needing to undergo an assessment.
But what benefit would that bring herself? Absolutely none.
She had gone to Shrek purely to poach talent, promote the Water God Church, and build a good relationship with Elder Mu along the way. She could afford to disregard the rest of Shrek, but Elder Mu was different. He had strength, he had status, and his voice carried immense weight within the academy. Maintaining a good relationship with him would mean fewer obstacles for her future plans to rule the continent.
Gu Qiuer flicked her long golden hair, the motion casual yet carrying a hint of innate grace.
She lifted her chin, her voice brimming with confidence: "I don't mind either way. Wherever I go is the same to me. But like Sister Furina said, I'm really strong!"
She paused, as if announcing something extraordinary: "My martial soul is the Golden Dragon Spear, and my soul power has already reached rank 41!"
Upon hearing this, everyone revealed expressions of surprise.
Furina, however, understood clearly in her heart.
She knew, of course, that Gu Qiuer's martial soul was still, in essence, the Three-Eyed Golden Lion, and her soul power was far above rank 41. In all likelihood, Gu Yuena or Di Tian, worried about her identity being exposed, had used their abilities to help conceal it—swapping her martial soul to appear as the Golden Dragon Spear, suppressing her soul power, and even helping her arrange her soul rings. As her level increased, she could break through and condense her own soul rings, much like a re-cultivated soul beast.
Even so, at this moment, among everyone present, aside from Furina herself, Gu Qiuer's soul power was already the highest.
Bei Bei looked at Gu Qiuer, an involuntary trace of envy surfacing in his eyes.
He was a few years older than Huo Yuhao and the others, and his talent was decent, but he had started cultivating techniques relatively late. His current soul power was only at the peak of rank 39, still half a step away from breaking through to rank 40. On top of that, he had to accompany Tang Ya in researching methods for martial soul evolution, which had considerably divided his time and energy.
But even setting aside these factors, he felt he still might not measure up to the girl before him. Gu Qiuer looked even younger than Furina, yet she was already a Soul Ancestor at rank 41. One could only say her innate talent was extraordinary.
Bei Bei grumbled inwardly: The Water God Church ought to be called Shrek Academy instead. How on earth do they manage to gather so many monster-level geniuses?
Furina, Huo Yuhao, and Ye Guyi were one thing, but what was the deal with Gu Qiuer? So young, so monstrous, and her martial soul was the Golden Dragon Spear, which he'd never even heard of before. But any martial soul bearing the character for "dragon" could never be lacking. Moreover, with such a rapid cultivation speed, the quality of her martial soul was surely exceptional.
Even if you excluded the four of them entirely, that group of six—Xiao Huohuo and the others—were no simple matter either. Their talents at least reached the level of Shrek outer court core disciples.
Bei Bei shook his head secretly. At this rate of development, the Water God Church surpassing Shrek was truly only a matter of time. Shrek had to take this seriously and carry out reforms.
Furina patted Gu Qiuer on the shoulder and smiled: "Since you put it that way, why not formally join my Canaan Academy and take part in the team for the Continental Youth Soul Master Competition? I believe you'll get along quite well with them."
She calculated in her heart: the original plan had merely been to casually find a few students with decent talent from the academy to serve as substitutes. After all, although a team competition allowed at most seven people on stage at once, they couldn't just let the main force fight all the way to the end, right? That would expose too many trump cards and be too draining, which would be disadvantageous for the subsequent matches.
They could add up to three substitutes, so why not? It would be a waste not to.
Now, with Gu Qiuer joining, perhaps this team could even advance a step further—breaking into the top eight and contending for the top four.
As for the finals... although they no longer had a martial soul fusion technique like Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong's, Ye Guyi's martial soul had now reached half-step ultimate attributes, and Gu Qiuer's strength was not to be underestimated. Coupled with the soul tool support provided by her side, perhaps there really was hope.
Gu Qiuer nodded, her eyes sparkling brightly: "Alright, no problem! With this young lady taking the field, the championship will be a piece of cake!"
Her voice was full of matter-of-fact confidence, as if the championship trophy was already in her pocket.
Bei Bei shook his head helplessly and reminded her with a smile: "I wouldn't be so sure about that, Gu Qiuer. Our Shrek Academy has always been the champion, and the ones competing this time are all elites from the Inner Court. I've heard there are two senior students at the Soul Emperor level, and the remaining five are all Soul King-level experts—their strength is not to be underestimated."
"Hmph!" Gu Qiuer snorted lightly and lifted her chin, her golden hair swaying gently with the motion. "So what? I'm not afraid! I'm very strong."
Bei Bei couldn't help but laugh at her demeanor: "True enough. For a genius like you, having confidence is a good thing. But... you mustn't be blindly confident or arrogant."
His tone was gentle, carrying the concern of an older brother.
Gu Qiuer pursed her lips and waved a dismissive hand: "Alright, alright, I get it. Why are you as long-winded as my Un... uncle!"
She had almost let it slip and corrected herself just in time, but a flicker of unease still crossed her face.
Tang Ya chimed in with a smile, her voice gentle: "I imagine that uncle of yours is just concerned about you."
Gu Qiuer fell silent for a moment, then responded quietly: "Mm."
Within that single sound was a trace of softness not easily detected.
Seeing this, Furina timely broke the brief silence and clapped her hands: "Alright, alright, don't overthink it. Come on, I'll take you around to look at the place, introduce you to some new friends, and help you familiarize yourself with the environment here."
Gu Qiuer's eyes lit up and immediately regained the sparkle from moments before. She nodded firmly: "Okay!"
She turned and followed Furina's steps. After walking a few paces, she looked back and waved at the group: "See you all in a bit!"
Huo Yuhao and the others all waved back in response.
Wang Dong gazed at that golden silhouette, and that inexplicable, indescribable feeling surged up in her heart once more.
That person... did she really just happen to look like her?
She couldn't shake the feeling that some kind of connection existed between them, yet she couldn't put into words what it was.
"What are you spacing out for?" Xiao Xiao leaned in and nudged her with an elbow. "She's already far away."
Wang Dong came back to her senses and shook her head: "Nothing."
Yet her gaze still involuntarily followed that golden figure gradually receding into the distance.
Xiao Xiao followed her line of sight and blinked thoughtfully, but didn't press further.
Sunlight spilled down, gilding the two silhouettes with a soft golden edge. One with blue-pink hair and blue-pink eyes, the other with golden hair and golden eyes—clearly so different, yet inexplicably... alike.