Shrek Splits Apart, Protect Our Damage Dealer

"Couldn't I be someone other than second on the Heavenly Ranking?" Luo Chuan asked in return. At that moment, Yan chimed in from the distance, "Nana's talent ranks fifteenth. How many people do you think have better talent than him?"

Although Yan disliked Luo Chuan, he had no choice but to acknowledge Luo Chuan's strength and talent.

Hu Liena nodded and said, "Your talent is far stronger than mine. The only person I can think of is second on the Heavenly Ranking. Third on the Heavenly Ranking clearly has a girl's name. Or... are you Oscar?"

The corner of Luo Chuan's mouth twitched. "I'm not on the Heavenly Ranking. My name is Luo Chuan."

"Not—not on the Heavenly Ranking? How is that possible? Don't lie to me." Hu Liena stared at Luo Chuan in disbelief, suspicion slowly filling her eyes.

Luo Chuan merely shrugged. "There's no need to lie to you. I really am not on the Heavenly Ranking."

Hu Liena looked at Luo Chuan's utterly sincere expression. Even Yan stopped keeping watch over their surroundings and stared at Luo Chuan in disbelief.

Hu Liena looked at Luo Chuan with her beautiful eyes. "Y-you... how old are you?"

"Twelve. Almost."

"...Y-you're in your thirties?"

"Mm, thirty-six!"

"Not even twelve years old, yet a level thirty-six Soul Elder—and your soul rings are unbelievable too. You must be Tang San or Oscar. No, that's not right. Teacher is first on the Heavenly Ranking, but even her talent isn't as great as yours.

"How could it be? How could you not be on the Heavenly Ranking?" Hu Liena still refused to believe him. Luo Chuan said helplessly, "Then where do you think my talent should rank?"

"Y-you should rank first. Even Teacher couldn't reach your level when she was young.

"But your name isn't on the Heavenly Ranking."

"So the Heavenly Ranking can make mistakes too, right?" Luo Chuan smiled, patiently guiding her. Hu Liena's eyes immediately lit up at his words, and she declared, "Right, the Heavenly Ranking must have made a mistake."

Ding! Hu Liena and Yan have developed serious doubts about the Heavenly Ranking. Reward: one Ninth Grade Immortal Exquisite, one 100,000 Year Blazing Sun Right Arm Bone. System herb garden unlocked.

Luo Chuan was delighted. Such rich rewards for deep doubt? Looks like I'll have plenty to keep me busy in the future.

Crack—

Under the burning karmic fire, the section of blade-shield in Luo Chuan's hand began to split apart. Fragments fell away one after another, until a flawless, crystalline bone appeared in his hand.

"That's... a soul bone." Hu Liena looked at the soul bone in Luo Chuan's hand. It was an almost intact left arm bone, corresponding to the Guillotine Mantis's left arm.

"Not bad." A smile appeared on Luo Chuan's face as well. This fight had not been for nothing. In the distance, Yan looked enviously at the soul bone in Luo Chuan's hand, a trace of greed flashing through his eyes. But he quickly abandoned that unrealistic thought. He could not defeat Luo Chuan.

Hu Liena had no designs on the soul bone in Luo Chuan's hand. After all, Luo Chuan had killed the Guillotine Mantis. Besides, he had saved all three of their lives.

Luo Chuan put away the soul bone and continued chatting idly with Hu Liena. Her face was rosy, and her beautiful eyes were drawn to Luo Chuan from time to time. She would stare at him for quite a while before coming back to herself.

Whenever she did, a flush would bloom across her fair cheeks. She would hurriedly turn her face aside and start another topic, only to unconsciously look back at Luo Chuan again.

Yan found Luo Chuan more and more unpleasant to look at, yet because Luo Chuan had saved all three of their lives, he could not openly target him. It was driving him mad.

"Luo Chuan, are you really unwilling to join Spirit Hall?" Hu Liena invited him again. "Your talent is so good. If you join Spirit Hall, you'll definitely be able to take a Titled Douluo as your master. My teacher might even accept you as a disciple. Then we'd become senior and junior disciples."

Expectation filled Hu Liena's face, but Luo Chuan shook his head again. "I'll visit Spirit Hall if I get the chance in the future. But not now."

Hu Liena was slightly disappointed. At that moment, Xie Yue had absorbed most of his soul ring. Luo Chuan stood up. "All right, you should leave Sunset Forest as soon as possible too. Until we meet again."

"Y-you're just leaving?" Hu Liena looked at Luo Chuan eagerly. "I—we haven't properly thanked you yet."

"How will you thank me? If you're offering yourself in marriage, I might consider it." Luo Chuan turned back. Hu Liena's face instantly burned crimson, and she stammered, unable to reply.

In the distance, Yan's eyes blazed with fury. Just as he was about to speak, Luo Chuan had already leapt away, disappearing from their sight in mere moments.

Hu Liena stared blankly in the direction Luo Chuan had left for a long while, his departing words echoing in her mind. Offering myself in marriage... It would be perfectly reasonable to offer myself in marriage in return for saving my life, wouldn't it?

"Nana, what did you say?" Yan was too far away to hear Hu Liena's muttering clearly.

"Nothing." Hu Liena shook her head. Then a black-clad figure suddenly appeared beside her.

"Ghost Elder!" Yan immediately called out upon seeing the man in black.

Hu Liena came back to her senses as well. Ghost looked at Hu Liena, then glanced at Xie Yue. "I know everything. That kid is strange—there's a powerful expert secretly protecting him. I'll report this to His Holiness the Pope later."

In the week after Luo Chuan left, he made a fortune and even flirted with a goddess along the way. Meanwhile, Shrek nearly fell apart because of him.

That was because, only a few days after Luo Chuan left, Shrek received a self-righteous scoundrel who fancied himself a learned genius capable of ruling the world.

Yes, it was that shameless scoundrel, Yu Xiaogang.

If the plot had followed the original story, Yu Xiaogang would have gradually earned the Shrek Seven Devils' recognition.

However, Luo Chuan's existence made Ma Hongjun and Zhu Zhuqing dismiss Yu Xiaogang's training methods with utter contempt.

Pushing the human body to its limits? Did he think the Seven Devils all had Saiyan physiques? That they could endure such abuse?

Ordinary people's physical potential was limited, and training had to be gradual. Yu Xiaogang's method of training people until they were half-dead every time would only leave them with hidden injuries that accumulated into permanent damage.

If not for the Immortal Herbs, the Shrek Seven Devils would have long since been ruined by Yu Xiaogang's training.

It was precisely because Ma Hongjun and Zhu Zhuqing believed in Luo Chuan's cultivation methods that they firmly refused Yu Xiaogang's training. Even Ma Hongjun, who had always feared Flender, arrogantly declared, "The cultivation technique Xiao Chuan gave us is far better than that Grandmaster's training methods!"

Flender had no solution either. In the end, he blamed all the conflicts on Luo Chuan.

Although Ning Rongrong had stayed, she was still proud and willful. While her arrogant little-princess attitude had eased somewhat, her mischievous and troublesome nature had not changed at all.

"I want to learn cultivation techniques from Luo Chuan too. I won't accept some Grandmaster's training method. He's so amazing, so why doesn't he cultivate himself? 'There are no useless martial souls, only useless soul masters'—isn't that talking about himself?"

Ning Rongrong spoke without restraint, and Yu Xiaogang's expression darkened as though a storm were about to break.

"Ning Rongrong, apologize to my teacher!" Seeing his teacher humiliated, Tang San immediately flared up. He fixed Ning Rongrong with cold eyes and ordered her to apologize.

But Ning Rongrong was not even afraid of Flender. Why would she fear Tang San?