Not long after Yue Hongchen left, the competition in Area Two came to a decisive end.
When they heard that they had become the champions of the freshman assessment, Huo Yuhao and the others looked at one another, unable to believe their ears.
They had thought that after using their Martial Soul Fusion Skill against Dai Huabin and the others, they'd have no chance of winning the afternoon's final against Yue Hongchen. And now they were being told they were the champions?
The results of the freshman assessment final quickly spread throughout the academy. That evening, Huo Yuhao skipped work again and didn't go sell grilled fish. He invited Yue Hongchen, Wang Dong, Xiao Xiao, Beibei, and Tang Ya to Yue Hongchen's courtyard, where he grilled fish just for them.
Yue Hongchen had the nerve to say he was bringing two friends along, and Huo Yuhao readily agreed.
At the assessment, neither Tang Ya nor Beibei had expected something like this to happen. They had both thought that Yue Hongchen was sure to become the champion of this freshman assessment, but he had been stopped in the semifinals.
"Little Yueyue, you could've just let Little Meng forfeit. Then you could've shown off your four Soul Rings in the afternoon final and shut those people up." After what Yue Hongchen had said last time, Tang Ya was no longer fixated on restoring the Tang Sect.
Whether or not they rebuilt the Tang Sect in the future, cultivation was the most important thing. So she devoted all her attention to cultivating.
Hearing her words, Yue Hongchen glanced at Meng Hongchen, who was happily eating grilled fish beside him, and thought for a moment. "If I told you this was exactly how I wanted things to turn out, would you believe me, Senior Sister Xiaoya?"
"?" Tang Ya's face filled with confusion. "You wanted things to turn out this way? Why?"
Beibei, Huo Yuhao, Wang Dong, Ning Tian, Wu Feng, and the two girls beside her all looked at him curiously.
Yue Hongchen coughed twice and unconsciously shifted closer to Xiao Ka. "I needed an opportunity to show everyone the power of Soul Tools. The final or the semifinal would both have been a perfect opportunity. Whether I faced Meng in the final or the semifinal, I would've done the same thing."
As he spoke, Yue Hongchen could already sense the resentment coming from beside him. He didn't dare look toward Meng; he could already imagine the look on her face.
To avoid getting beaten up by Meng on the spot, he hurried to finish what he was saying, speaking much faster than before. "Meng forgot to tell Ning Tian and the others about the staged match. I knew about it beforehand. She doesn't usually pay much attention to things like that, and even if she had told me, I would've signaled Ning Tian and the others to forfeit.
"At first, I planned to grab a few of the loudest troublemakers and shove a Fixed Soul Tool Cannon into their mouths. But I never expected so many people to take issue with me. They scattered into the crowd and stirred everyone up. I was so angry I lost my head. Ten Level Seven Fixed Soul Tool Cannons! If Grandpa finds out, I'm done for." By the end, Yue Hongchen wore such a miserable expression that everyone burst out laughing.
Hearing Yue Hongchen say that, Meng felt her tears from that morning hadn't been wasted after all. She lowered her head and resumed biting into her grilled fish.
"Didn't Xuan Zi take those things away? Is he really not giving them back?" Tang Ya had finally abandoned the idea of restoring the Tang Sect because of those ten Fixed Soul Tool Cannons. Tang Sect Hidden Weapons couldn't compare to them at all.
Beibei asked at the same time, "You wanted to show everyone Soul Tools, but surely it wasn't just to prove how powerful they are?"
Yue Hongchen nodded at Beibei. Before he could answer, a hearty laugh came from nearby.
"Give them back? This kid's too clever for that. Those ten Soul Tools were all single-use. Now they're nothing but scrap metal, completely useless." A middle-aged man walked over.
He caught the scent in the air, fixed his gaze on the grilled fish in Huo Yuhao's hand, and snatched one in a flash.
"This tastes pretty good!"
"Xuan Zi!" Everyone except the three members of the Hongchen Family hurried to their feet and greeted him respectfully.
Unlike the disheveled Xuan Zi from that morning, the man before them looked neat and tidy. He must have cleaned himself up before coming over.
Three more figures came up behind him.
"Dean!" Huo Yuhao and the others saw Yan Shaozhe as well.
"Pavilion Master." "Progenitor Xuan." Tang Ya and Beibei's gazes settled on the old man beside Yan Shaozhe.
Pavilion Master? Progenitor Xuan? Huo Yuhao had been avoiding the last figure, clad in fiery red, but at their words, he looked back in shock.
"The old man outside the dormitory?" His voice wasn't loud, but in the silent courtyard it rang out clearly.
"Hahaha, I don't have many hobbies. I just like to sit there and soak up the sun, taking in the atmosphere of the young people." Mu En smiled and nodded without denying it. He sat down on the stool Yue Hongchen had just brought out.
After the other three sat down too, Yue Hongchen rose to his feet. "Yuhao, you probably don't know everyone, so let me introduce them. This is Mu En, the current Pavilion Master of Sea God's Pavilion. The one beside him is Xuan Zi, the current Deputy Pavilion Master. You should know this one—he's the dean of our Martial Soul Department's outer courtyard. As for the last one..."
To be honest, Yue Hongchen had never met Ma Xiaotao in person, but her clothes and the aura she gave off made her identity clear.
"I'm guessing you're Senior Sister Ma Xiaotao, Dean Yan's direct disciple." Yue Hongchen smiled.
After introducing the newcomers, Huo Yuhao hurriedly passed around the freshly grilled fish in his hands. He couldn't very well let the academy's big shots just watch them eat.
Yue Hongchen was curious about why they'd come so late at night. "Elder Mu, did you come looking for me about something?"
Mu En first sent a Soul Power transmission, saying that there were outsiders here. Beibei was his junior, and Tang Ya was Beibei's girlfriend, so they could stay. But aside from Huo Yuhao and the others, there were also two people from the Nine Treasures Glazed Tile Sect. Yue Hongchen said they were all friends and told him to speak freely. Seeing that, Mu En stopped insisting.
"You rascal, have you forgotten what your grandfather discussed with us? Today, you've already demonstrated the power and potential of Soul Tools, so naturally we have to honor our promise." Mu En tapped him on the head, exasperated. "As the person with the greatest say on behalf of Mingde Hall in Shrek, you'll have to be involved in the next steps, of course."
Yue Hongchen nodded quickly. He hadn't forgotten; everything he'd done that day had been for this. He just hadn't expected the big shots from Sea God's Pavilion to be so impatient that they'd come to see him that same night.
"Tell us what your Hongchen Family has in mind for deepening cooperation between both sides. Your grandfather must have told you, right?" Mu En didn't mention Mingde Hall, only the Hongchen Family. Only a few people present knew why.
Yue Hongchen nodded, thinking, I was the one who proposed the cooperation. How could I not know?
But he answered earnestly all the same. "Shrek Academy is far better than Mingde Hall at training Soul Masters, while Shrek is nowhere near as good as Mingde Hall at training Soul Engineers. So our idea is to establish a branch academy."
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