A Visitor, Different Paths for Blue Silver

Tiantou City has been a bit livelier lately.

This is all because the Lanba Academy in the north of the city, which was originally deserted and sparsely populated, suddenly changed its sign.

After the craftsmen spent half a day hammering and knocking, the gold-leafed characters for "Lanba" were slowly taken down and replaced, with a brand-new, heavy plaque, featuring gold characters on a black background with sharp, aggressive strokes:

Shrek Academy.

The news was brought by Xue Qinghe.

That afternoon, the warm sun shone through the window lattice into the study of the Crown Prince's Residence.

When Chen Jieqi arrived by invitation, she had already prepared tea and refreshments.

Xue Qinghe was dressed in a plain white brocade robe, holding a celadon teacup and taking a light sip, mentioning it as if it were an offhand remark, "The Lanba Academy in the north of the city has changed owners. The new dean has quite a history with Dean Liu Erlong.

According to reports from my subordinates, the group... came from the direction of Suotuo City in the south."

She enunciated the word "south" very lightly, the tail of her voice rising slightly.

After speaking, her gaze fell on Chen Jieqi's face without a trace, as if observing his reaction.

Chen Jieqi rubbed the rim of his cup with his fingertips, his expression calm and ripple-free, "Academies changing hands is a common occurrence."

Xue Qinghe looked at him, a trace of imperceptible inquiry flashing in the depths of her eyes, but she did not ask any further.

She simply turned the conversation to trivial matters in Tiantou City, as if what she had just mentioned was truly just a casual remark.

But she knew in her heart that he had understood.

That mention of the south, that dean related to Liu Erlong, and that group of youths from Suotuo City—he knew it all perfectly well.

Flender stood at the gate of the new academy, looking up at the brand-new Shrek plaque.

His rough palms clenched involuntarily, and his heart was filled with a complex mix of emotions.

After wandering for most of his life, from a small village in Suotuo City of the Balaque Kingdom to now taking root in Tiantou City, he and those students had, after all, walked into this prosperous and complicated capital.

The sunlight fell on the plaque, making the gold characters shine brilliantly, but Flender's eyes were filled with sighs.

Liu Erlong stood beside him, her posture upright, her eyes filled with a certain expectation, her fingers slightly curled from the tension.

Flender stole a glance at her; after twenty years, she was still as beautiful as ever.

The stubbornness between her brows had not changed a bit, but that thin layer of mist in her eyes was something that hadn't been there back then.

His heart ached, but when facing her, he couldn't say a single word.

"Are San and the others all settled in?"

Flender spoke first, his voice carrying a hint of deliberate lightness.

"Mm."

She responded, paused, and then continued, "The dormitories and training grounds have all been tidied up; classes can begin tomorrow."

Silence spread.

Flender's Adam's apple bobbed; he wanted to speak several times, but swallowed the words back down.

Guilt and helplessness surged in his heart.

He wanted to say, "You've worked hard all these years,"

and wanted to say, "Actually, I've been thinking of you, too."

But these words were stuck in his throat, and not a single one could be uttered.

What right did he have to say them? It was he who had backed out first back then.

For all these years, guarding Shrek, he had almost forgotten the feelings in his own heart.

It was Liu Erlong who spoke first, "And him?"

Her voice was very soft, yet it was like a pebble thrown into stagnant water.

Flender was startled, a bitter smile tugging at the corners of his mouth, "Xiaogang... he is still on the way; he should arrive in a few more days."

Liu Erlong looked at him and nodded, her eyelids drooping, her eyelashes trembling.

When she looked up again, her eyes were already red.

"It's been nearly twenty years!" she said.

These few words were like a dull blade, cutting painfully into Flender's heart.

He wanted to say "I know,"

He wanted to say "I have also waited for twenty years,"

But he...

Watching the tears well up in her eyes, watching her swallow all her grievances.

Liu Erlong took a deep breath, stopped asking, and turned to walk out of the academy gates.

Flender gazed at her resolute back; what she was waiting for was more than just Xiaogang.

She was waiting for an explanation from Xiaogang, for him to turn back, for an answer that was twenty years late.

And what about him?

All he waited for was for her to be happy, even if the person giving her that happiness wasn't him.

The members of Shrek stood before the windows of their new dormitory, each lost in their own thoughts.

Ning Rongrong rested her chin in her hands, her eyes unfocused.

Tiantou City... she was back.

Back then, she had run off to Shrek in a fit of pique, just to avoid hearing her father nag her every day about that "twelve-year-old Soul Ancestor."

But now that she was truly back, she inexplicably thought of the words that person had said, "Because you are Ning Rongrong, not because your surname is Ning."

She bit her lip, unable to describe the feeling in her heart.

She used to think it was just a lecture, but now it felt like the only person who hadn't looked at her as "Sect Master Ning's daughter."

Xiao Wu leaned against the corridor railing, looking toward the direction outside the city; they had finally arrived.

That dream was too real.

"Tiantou City has another body of water," the words that person said in the dream were like a thorn stuck in her heart.

She wanted to see if he was truly like he was in the dream.

She took a deep breath, and her face once again wore that innocent, carefree smile, No one noticed the extra breath she took before she smiled.

Tang San stood by the window, his brows slightly furrowed.

The bustle of Suotuo City carried the scent of common life, but this Tiantou City was permeated everywhere with the majesty and weight of an imperial capital, Far more prosperous than Suotuo City, yet also more oppressive.

But the inexplicable sense of unease in his heart was growing stronger.

This wasn't a warning of danger, but a hollow sense of loss.

It felt as if a small piece of his heart had been gouged out, leaving it empty.

He always felt that something incredibly important had quietly slipped away while he wasn't looking.

He activated his Purple Demon Eye and gazed into the distance, but he still couldn't grasp a single clue.

His Blue Silver Grass martial soul lay dormant within him, showing no signs of activity, Yet that palpitation refused to fade away.

"Rongrong! Let's go out and look around!" Oscar's voice drifted up from downstairs.

"Xiao Wu! Let's go!" Zhu Zhuqing's voice rang out almost simultaneously.

"Tang San! Come out quickly!"

Dai Mubai's voice was the loudest, "We finally made it to Tiantou City, don't stay cooped up in your room, let's go explore!"

The three of them snapped back to reality at the same time and each gave a response.

Ning Rongrong pushed her thoughts to the back of her mind, turned, and pushed the door open to leave.

Xiao Wu skipped down the stairs, her footsteps so light it was as if nothing had happened.

The moment before Tang San walked out of the dormitory, he looked back out the window once more, The sky over Tiantou City was vast and high, with wisps of pale clouds drifting by, and the warm sun poured down through the gaps in the clouds, Coating the entire capital in a soft, pale gold.

Under that same sunlight, Chen Jieqi had already left the residence of Xue Qinghe, And was riding his horse toward the Heaven Dou Royal Academy.

Shrek has arrived.

This means that Tang San and the others have arrived as well.

He had no intention of visiting that newly registered academy, nor did he have any plans for a "chance encounter."

His advantage lay in the fact that no one knew what he had done, and no one would suspect a student of the Heaven Dou Royal Academy of having anything to do with the things that had disappeared from Holy Soul Village.

He did not absorb it himself; the mismatch in attributes was one reason, but more importantly, that leg bone had a better purpose.

Dugu Bo's soul power was already approaching level 95, and if he were to obtain this Blue Silver Emperor leg bone, his hopes of reaching level 96 in the future would increase by several percentage points.

With level 96 soul power, paired with his masterful poison attacks and the advantage of a Soul Core, he would have the strength to fight even if he faced Tang Hao.

This was not a transaction, nor was it an attempt to win favor; he simply wanted to make Dugu Bo stronger.

From childhood to adulthood, it was Dugu Bo who had given him a home, and without Dugu Bo, there would be no Chen Jieqi as he is today.

As for Tang Hao... Chen Jieqi calculated silently in his heart, if there were no other external factors or interference, Tang Hao had been wandering for years with old wounds that had yet to heal, his soul power being around level 94; if Dugu Bo could truly break through to level 96, then he would have a much better chance of winning against Tang Hao.

By then, even if some unforeseen event occurred in the future, he would have enough confidence to face it.

Thinking of this, a slight smile tugged at the corner of his mouth.

If his grandfather knew the origin of this leg bone, he would likely scold him for being "audacious,"

while simultaneously and carefully helping him cover his tracks.

The chess game in Tiantou City had only just begun, and he, had already placed his first hidden piece.

The night grew deep.

Only scattered street lamps swayed in the darkness.

Tang San lay on his bed, tossing and turning, unable to fall asleep for a long time.

Mother... what kind of person was she, really?

He had never seen his mother since he was small, and could only piece together a vague outline from the fleeting moments of tenderness and sorrow that Tang Hao occasionally revealed.

His father never mentioned her; every time he asked, he was met only with silence, or a cold, hard, "The time is not yet right."

Yet he always had a strange feeling, as if something that should have belonged to him, had quietly vanished without his knowledge.

That sense of loss grew increasingly intense, like an invisible thread pulling him in a certain direction, but he could neither grasp it nor see it clearly.

He clenched his fists, forcefully suppressing the chaos in his heart, and compelled himself to close his eyes and sleep.

Outside the window, the moonlight was like water, silent and still.

Meanwhile, deep in the Sunset Forest, beside the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well, a slender, blue-gold seedling swayed gently in the moonlight, its leaves unfurling a little more than they had the day before.

It shimmered with a warm, blue-gold luster, its delicate roots buried deep into the unique soil of the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well, growing visibly.

In this place known to no one, it awaited its own destined path, only no one knew that this destiny had deviated from its original course from the very beginning.