Anywhere is fine, as long as it's not back to Shrek, everywhere is safe...

"Sister, stop crying... I really don't blame you."

Looking at the stunningly beautiful woman before him, her face streaked with tears and her eyes red and swollen, Su Chen ultimately softened his heart.

He let out a long sigh, helplessly reached out his hand, and gently wiped the tear stains from the corners of her eyes.

Su Chen felt bitter inside.

Clearly, in the simulator, he was the "victim" who had risked life and limb for Shrek and for her, only to be misunderstood, right?

How did the script completely flip once they reached reality?

Looking at her pitiful appearance, it made it seem as if he were the heartless one.

"Sigh, I really owe you."

Since things had already developed to this point, playing dumb was clearly no longer an option.

There was no escaping it now.

In the end, he had no choice but to lay his cards on the table.

The debts incurred in the simulator would ultimately have to be repaid by him in reality...

Immediately, Su Chen brought Zhang Lexuan back to his hotel suite.

As soon as they entered, the atmosphere became somewhat subtle.

This usually cold and aloof Shrek Inner Court senior sister was now acting like a clingy little tail.

Wherever Su Chen went, she followed.

Su Chen went to pour water, she followed.

Su Chen walked to the window, she followed as well.

Those beautiful eyes were fixed firmly on Su Chen's back, as if she feared that if she blinked, he would vanish into thin air just like he did back then.

"Sister... there are only the two of us here, you don't need to be so nervous."

Su Chen was caught between laughter and tears, turning around to look at her helplessly.

"If you have something to say, let's sit down and talk about it slowly, okay?"

Zhang Lexuan remained rooted to the spot, her hands gripping the corners of her clothes tightly, her gaze stubborn yet fragile, as if sitting down would cause her to lose some sense of security.

Su Chen sighed, walked over to the sofa first, and patted the spot beside him.

Seeing this, Zhang Lexuan carefully shuffled over and sat down right next to him.

The distance between the two was so close that they could hear each other's breathing.

As soon as she sat down, Zhang Lexuan's eyes turned red instantly.

She reached out a trembling hand and gently stroked his cheek, her fingertips icy cold.

"Little Chen... where have you been all these years? Have you been doing well?"

"Have you been bullied by anyone? Have you been eating properly? Look at you, you've become so thin..."

"It's all my fault for not protecting you back then, letting you wander and suffer alone out there..."

As she spoke, her tears fell like pearls from a broken string, unable to stop.

"Stop, stop, stop! Hold it right there!"

Su Chen felt his scalp tingle.

Here it comes again! Big Sister's "undead chant"! If he let her keep crying, the hotel would probably be flooded with tears tonight.

He hurriedly raised his hand, forcibly interrupting Zhang Lexuan's "spellcasting."

"Sister, listen to me, it really wasn't as miserable as you think."

He put on a relaxed and carefree expression and started spinning a tale:

"After I got lost back then, I was lucky enough to be picked up by an elderly person living alone in a village."

"That old person was so good to me. Although their temper was a bit strange, they truly raised me like their own grandson. Look at these muscles of mine; they were built by eating and drinking well!"

Su Chen told these lies without blushing or skipping a beat.

"Really?"

Zhang Lexuan looked at him with teary eyes, seemingly trying to confirm if Su Chen was only reporting the good news and hiding the bad.

"More real than real gold!"

Su Chen promised with absolute certainty.

As long as she didn't cry, he would say he was adopted by an immortal if he had to!

Facing Zhang Lexuan's beautiful eyes, which were filled with worry and inquiry, Su Chen kept his expression calm and began to weave the story he had already prepared in his mind.

He then began to fabricate his experiences.

Su Chen's narrative was seven parts true and three parts false, with logic so seamless that Zhang Lexuan was left completely stunned.

She listened quietly, her brows occasionally furrowing and then smoothing out, her gaze never once leaving your face.

As the eldest senior sister of Shrek Academy, she was well-traveled and knowledgeable, and would not normally be swayed by one-sided claims.

Until—

"Words are empty, sister, look."

Su Chen smiled slightly, saying no more, and directly channeled the soul power within his body.

Hum—!

The air trembled slightly, and a profound, condensed aura rose from beneath your feet.

Immediately following, three pitch-black soul rings, carrying a suffocating sense of pressure, slowly pulsed into view!

Black! Black! Black!

A uniform set of ten-thousand-year soul rings!

No white ten-year rings, no yellow hundred-year rings, not even purple thousand-year rings!

Starting at ten thousand years!

At this moment, the originally calm and pretty face of Zhang Lexuan finally changed color.

Her red lips parted slightly, and her beautiful eyes were filled with incredulous shock.

Such an extreme soul ring configuration represented extreme physical fitness and mental power!

This was enough to prove that the "encounters" and "hardships" you had just spoken of were all true.

"Hoo..."

After a long while, Zhang Lexuan let out a long sigh, and her tense shoulders finally relaxed.

She looked at the youth before her who had grown into a towering tree, the worry in her eyes transforming into relief and tenderness.

"It's good that you're alright... It seems you have truly grown up, little Chen."

She remembered that little Chen was only eight years old this year, right? At eight years old, his cultivation had already reached the Soul Master level, and his first soul ring was already ten thousand years old.

This configuration was even more exaggerated than in his previous life.

This wasn't just a genius; this was practically defying the laws of nature!

In his previous life, although you were brilliant and talented, you were nowhere near this level of absurdity.

"Little Chen, in this life... you have really given your sister too many surprises."

Zhang Lexuan's beautiful eyes shimmered, filled with both relief and shock.

The trajectory of this life seemed destined to be different from the very beginning.

As the night deepened, the two talked knee-to-knee like old friends who hadn't seen each other for years.

Zhang Lexuan softly recounted her experience of obtaining her eighth soul ring in this life.

Because she carried the memories of her past life, she knew full well the tragedy of that soul-hunting mission.

So this time, she pestered and pleaded until she convinced Elder Song to follow in secret.

The result was as expected; when that hundred-thousand-year soul beast went on a rampage, if not for Elder Song's timely intervention, the elite disciples of Shrek would likely have repeated the same mistakes.

Fortunately, this time, everyone was safe.

The gears of fate had been set right by her own hands.

"As for Elder Xuan..."

Mentioning this name, Zhang Lexuan's expression became somewhat strange.

"Because of his serious dereliction of duty, which nearly cost the Inner Court its future, he was severely reprimanded by Elder Mu. Not only was he stripped of his position as the head of the Inspection Group, but he is currently reflecting on his mistakes in the Sea God Pavilion."

"Pfft—"

Hearing this, Su Chen couldn't help but laugh out loud, the corners of his mouth twitching wildly.

He deserved it! He really, damn well deserved it!

No matter how many times things started over, this guy Xuan Zi always performed with consistent stability—either eating chicken legs, going AFK, or simply being late.

The title of "Honorary Supreme Elder of the Holy Spirit Cult" was truly well-earned.

After the laughter died down, the atmosphere gradually became somewhat heavy.

Zhang Lexuan looked at Su Chen's slightly devilish face, hesitated for a long time, and finally asked that question.

"Little Chen, what are your plans... for where to go next?"

She did not mention "returning to Shrek."

These words had turned over a thousand times in her throat, but in the end, she swallowed them back down.

She knew better than anyone what kind of terrifying, evil aura Su Chen's martial soul, the Pluto Sword, emitted.

In the eyes of those stubborn old masters at Shrek, this was the standard profile of an "evil soul master" in the making.

The tragedies of her past life were still vivid in her mind—those so-called righteous trials, those endless suspicions...

In this life, she would never allow anyone to hurt little Chen again!

Even if it meant she had to personally push Su Chen toward a place far away from her.

Anywhere was fine; as long as he didn't return to Shrek, anywhere was safe...