Xuan Zi, the "Dependable" Man of Action

Where was the Body Sect located?

Shrek Academy didn't know, but if it set out to investigate, it wouldn't be hard to find.

Xuan Zi gathered information while "sightseeing" and finally found the Body Sect Gate after more than ten days.

Finding the gate alone was no use. Du Busi had clearly taken Huo Yuhao, the Child of Luck, to heart. Though he didn't stay glued to Huo Yuhao's side, he didn't let him leave the range of his spiritual detection.

So Xuan Zi had no choice but to keep watch outside the Body Sect Gate.

And just like that, another ten-odd days passed.

Mu En, who had been secretly following Xuan Zi all along, nodded in satisfaction. This was the first time he had found Xuan Zi so "dependable" in handling matters!

A month had passed without Xuan Zi doing a thing.

It was time for the monthly Current Affairs Review again.

This time, the randomly selected topic was a ranking of the ten strongest Soul Beasts.

The ranking differed from what the general public believed, and the one ranked first was even the legendary divine beast, the Silver Dragon King.

But... humans clearly didn't pay it much attention.

Most comments in the Comment Section were check-in comments like "Learned something new" and "1111."

Rather, with the appearance of the chat group, few people shared their true thoughts in the Comment Section.

The chat group's records were cleared every day, but comments were welded fast beneath the Current Affairs Review chapter. Who wasn't afraid of leaving a trace and being held to account afterward?

Oh, Du Busi wasn't afraid! He had already gone mad...

Heaven Dou City

The former capital of the Heaven Dou Empire and the current capital of the Heavenly Soul Empire.

Every blade of grass and every tree in this ancient capital of ten thousand years was steeped in history.

The Tang Sect's headquarters occupied a fairly good plot of land in Heaven Dou City.

The grounds were large, and the location was good.

But prominent factions generally couldn't be bothered to fight over a plot of land.

As the saying went, the King of Hell was easy to meet, but his little devils were hard to deal with.

After the Tang Sect declined to a certain point, even factions that hadn't previously been qualified to sit at the table dared to eye this "fat piece of meat."

Standing beneath the plaque at the Tang Sect's entrance, the middle-aged man betrayed no emotion. His spiritual detection had already revealed two or three groups of Soul Masters hidden nearby.

Their levels weren't high, and their methods of concealment and surveillance weren't very subtle. Any Soul King could have spotted them...

But if he remembered correctly, wasn't the current Tang Sect Master only a Soul Ancestor?

"Heh." The man shook his head with a smile, strode forward, and knocked on the Tang Sect's gate.

After several minutes, a weathered-looking man finally opened the gate.

"You are..." The Tang Sect Master frowned at the man and searched his memory. It really was an unfamiliar face.

"Sect Master, I'm a Soul Saint and a Level 7 Soul Engineer. I have something I'd like to discuss with you."

"A Soul Engineer?!" The confusion vanished from the Tang Sect Master's face. Drawing courage from who knew where, he suddenly shoved the man in front of him, sending him stumbling.

"Get lost! The Tang Sect doesn't welcome Soul Engineers!"

The Soul Engineer from Illustrious Virtue Hall: "???"

Are you in your right mind? I'm a Level 7 Soul Engineer, a Soul Saint expert!

"Why haven't you gotten lost yet?! You want to spy on our Tang Sect's Hidden Weapons? Not a chance!"

With that, the gate slammed shut with a bang.

The middle-aged man gritted his teeth. If not for the orders from above, he wanted to tear the Tang Sect apart right then!

A sect with such a deep foundation couldn't possibly have declined to this state for no reason!

At last, the middle-aged man took a long look at the Tang Sect's gate, then turned and left.

Inside the gate, the Tang Sect Master braced a hand against it, his heart pounding.

"What happened?" A woman with gentle features hurried out from the inner hall and asked worriedly.

"A Soul Saint came. He was probably with the same group that tried to infiltrate the Tang Sect and scheme for its cultivation techniques a few days ago."

"The Tang Sect isn't safe anymore. We need to arrange for Xiaoya to leave..." As he spoke, the Tang Sect Master took his wife's hand and walked toward the inner hall. "You should leave with her. I've already chosen a place for you to fall back to. Go to Shrek City!"

"No! Brother Tang, I want to stay with you!"

"You still need to take care of Xiaoya..."

"With Shrek's protection, Xiaoya won't need me to look after her. I want to stay with you, always!"

Silence.

After a long while, the Tang Sect Master nodded firmly. "All right!"

On the Douluo Continent, the things one never needed to doubt were love and love-brained thinking. Whether to praise the romance or ridicule the foolishness, everyone had a different answer.

"Hall Master, the plan failed!"

The middle-aged man, seething with anger, reported to his superior as soon as he was turned away.

In the end, the report reached Jing Hongchen.

"Failed?"

"Oh, oh!"

"Was it the Tang Sect?"

"If it failed, it failed. Have him come back."

Jing Hongchen, who was so busy his head was spinning, had almost forgotten this casual move he had made.

There were two unavoidable difficulties in sending Xiao and Meng to study at Shrek Academy.

The first was whether Shrek would be willing to accept them!

After all, as the grandson and granddaughter of the Illustrious Virtue Hall Master, Xiao and Meng might not pass the "political screening."

For that... he could either speak frankly with a prominent figure at Shrek. Or...

Conceal their identities and have them quietly join without Shrek knowing!

Whichever path he chose, the risks were unavoidable...

But it wasn't as though there was no way at all.

What truly left Jing Hongchen somewhat at a loss was the second difficulty.

How was he supposed to deal with the Sun Moon Empire?!

If the Illustrious Virtue Hall Master's grandson and granddaughter didn't attend the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy, was he looking down on the academy, or the empire...?

Jing Hongchen wanted an extra precaution, not to turn traitor right now.

If he hadn't seen the slightest hope in the struggle of this great era, he wouldn't have betrayed the Sun Moon Empire either.

"Next year is the Continental Soul Master Tournament, isn't it?"

If there was any occasion to meet Shrek Academy's "upper echelon" face-to-face, it was during the Soul Master Tournament.

Jing Hongchen paced back and forth. After a while, he took a file from a drawer. "If I want to lead the team to the Soul Master Tournament personally, there shouldn't be much resistance. It's just... I hope Shrek's team leader isn't that idiot Xuan Zi!"

But... even if it wasn't Xuan Zi, someone else might not be much better.

"Sigh!"

If the Child of Luck Huo Yuhao's chances of victory weren't so slim, and the Body Sect weren't so hostile toward the Sun Moon Empire and Soul Tools, he really might have considered going over to assist Huo Yuhao.

Suddenly, a thought occurred to Jing Hongchen.

If Kong Shi also held a Diary Copy, what would he do?

Or could I reveal the information in the Diary to Kong Shi?

No!

The moment the thought appeared, Jing Hongchen snuffed it out.

Jing Hongchen leaned back in his office chair and gently closed his eyes, his somewhat plump chest rising and falling. "I can't rush, I can't rush..."

"The Sun Moon Empire still has plenty of time. Even Du Busi hasn't grown anxious yet, so I can't throw myself into disarray!"