Mu Xi's Visit

Although Su Mo could already complete Soul Forging himself, it was entirely based on the technical knowledge he had accumulated in his previous life.

But if he wanted to complete Heavenly Forging and become a Divine Craftsman, Su Mo still needed a local Saint Craftsman from Douluo Continent to give him systematic instruction.

And Mu Chen was undoubtedly the best choice.

Seeing Su Mo impatient to leave, Wu Zhangkong neither agreed nor stopped him.

When Wu Zhangkong said nothing, Su Mo promptly slipped away.

"All right, don't be too discouraged!"

"As long as you work hard at cultivation, sooner or later you'll be able to catch up to Su Mo—or even surpass him."

After Su Mo left, Wu Zhangkong looked at Tang Wulin and the others, who had clearly suffered a heavy blow, and offered them comfort.

Wu Zhangkong understood their feelings perfectly.

Back when he had studied at Shrek and saw Lan Muzi, who was in the same class as him, he had felt just as Tang Wulin and the others did now—utterly defeated.

But Su Mo was somewhat different from Lan Muzi. Lan Muzi had completely convinced him through his overwhelming talent.

Lan Muzi comprehended Blade Intent at eighteen and Blade Soul at twenty-one.

If Lan Muzi had not been so indifferent by nature and uninterested in fame or profit, his name would have long since spread throughout Douluo Continent.

Su Mo, on the other hand, had merely killed a Dark-Gold Terrorclaw Bear through opportunism.

In Wu Zhangkong's view, Su Mo's own strength was certainly formidable enough for him to kill the Dark-Gold Terrorclaw Bear, but he had relied even more on that weapon capable of breaking through the bear's defenses.

Without that weapon, no matter how capable Su Mo was, he could not possibly have killed that Dark-Gold Terrorclaw Bear.

Moreover, if it had only been a hundred-year Dark-Gold Terrorclaw Bear, Wu Zhangkong was confident that he could have done the same under identical circumstances.

But even after Wu Zhangkong said that, Tang Wulin and the others still could not lift their spirits.

Left with no choice, Wu Zhangkong put on a cold expression and said icily, "Look at yourselves. You call yourselves geniuses every day, yet when you encounter a powerful opponent, instead of thinking about surpassing him, every last one of you hangs your heads in defeat."

"And you still want to challenge Shrek? Dreaming of becoming part of Shrek is nothing but wishful thinking."

"Weak and incompetent people do not deserve to become Shrek disciples or qualified Soul Masters."

It had to be said that Wu Zhangkong's provocation worked remarkably well on Tang Wulin and the others at their age.

Children of eight or nine were at the height of their competitive nature.

Hearing Wu Zhangkong's rebuke, Tang Wulin's face immediately burned.

Just as Wu Zhangkong had said, Su Mo was indeed powerful. But if they shrank back simply because of that, what right did they have to challenge Shrek and become Shrek students?

Although he had never interacted with Shrek students, Tang Wulin knew that they had always been unyielding and fearless in the face of any opponent or challenge.

At that thought, Tang Wulin clenched his fists and lifted his head. The dejection on his face vanished completely, and his bright eyes filled with fighting spirit as he said firmly, "Teacher Wu, you're absolutely right!"

"A gap in strength isn't frightening. What's frightening is giving up on ourselves."

"If we don't even have the courage to catch up to Su Mo, then we never should have embarked on the path of a Soul Master in the first place."

"From now on, we'll cultivate twice as hard and strive to catch up to Su Mo as soon as possible."

Inspired by Tang Wulin, Xie Xie, Wang Jinxi, and Zhang Yangzi quickly pulled themselves together as well. With solemn expressions, they nodded toward Wu Zhangkong.

Seeing this, Wu Zhangkong nodded in satisfaction.

The reason he had chosen the low-cultivation Tang Wulin as the captain of their five-man team in the first place was because he had recognized Tang Wulin's potential as a leader.

He had hoped Tang Wulin would step forward to raise everyone's morale whenever the team was discouraged.

And Tang Wulin's performance just now had completely lived up to his expectations.

"Very good. When we return later, I'll carefully analyze for you the entire process of Su Mo's battle against the Dark-Gold Terrorclaw Bear."

"Then you'll realize that the gap between you and Su Mo is not actually as great as you imagine."

The moment they heard that Wu Zhangkong would analyze Su Mo's fight with the Dark-Gold Terrorclaw Bear for them, Tang Wulin and the others leaped up excitedly and shouted, "Long live Teacher Wu!"

As an outstanding graduate of Shrek, Wu Zhangkong's combat experience was far more than empty talk.

Every time they listened to Wu Zhangkong explain actual combat, they gained enormous benefits from it.

As for Wu Zhangkong's final remark, they all took it as mere consolation.

After returning home, Su Mo did not go to Eastsea Academy even once for several days.

Knock, knock, knock~

One noon, Su Mo had just finished meditating while sitting cross-legged on his bed when hurried knocking sounded outside the door. There was no need to think about it—it had to be Mu Xi.

Other than that lovestruck girl Mu Xi, Su Mo truly could not think of anyone else who would take the initiative to come looking for him.

The moment Su Mo opened the door, the sight before him was exactly as he had expected.

Mu Xi held a bulging pink handbag in both hands. As if afraid someone might spot her, she anxiously looked around in every direction. Her slender yet strong shoulders rose and fell lightly with her breathing, while her pretty, tender face revealed traces of awkwardness and unease.

"Senior Mu Xi, is there something you need?" Su Mo asked politely, looking at Mu Xi, who seemed as though she were sneaking around.

Mu Xi was dressed especially eye-catchingly today, wearing a white floral miniskirt. Its spotless hem swayed gently in the corridor's breeze.

Her high golden ponytail reflected scattered glimmers of light, making her seem as though she had been coated in a faint, warm layer of sunlight. Her lively and adorable aura rushed toward him.

The instant the extremely nervous Mu Xi saw Su Mo, her eyes suddenly brightened like stars lighting up the night sky. Then panic, restraint, joy, and other complicated emotions tangled together in her heart.

Mu Xi unconsciously pursed her lips and stammered. Her voice was so soft that it seemed ready to scatter in the wind. "Um... Junior Su Mo, I came to... I came to..."

"All right, whatever it is, Senior, come inside first and tell me."

Seeing that Mu Xi was so nervous she could barely speak properly, Su Mo directly invited her inside.

"Really? Is that okay?"

Faced with Su Mo's invitation, Mu Xi blurted it out without thinking.

But she quickly realized how improper she had sounded, and her fair little face instantly flushed crimson.

Su Mo merely smiled and said nothing as he looked at Mu Xi, whose face was so red it seemed as if blood might drip from it at any moment.

After entering Su Mo's home, Mu Xi looked around everywhere like a curious marmot.

Seeing the clean and tidy room before her, Mu Xi felt somewhat depressed.

If Su Mo's room had been a complete mess, she could have stayed behind under the pretense of helping him tidy it up.

Su Mo opened the refrigerator and looked at the full row of cola inside. Then he turned to Mu Xi. "Senior, do you drink cola?"

"Mhm, mhm!"

Mu Xi hurriedly nodded.

As long as it was something Su Mo gave her, she liked it no matter what it was.

Su Mo sat down opposite her. Looking at Mu Xi, who had clearly relaxed quite a bit, he casually handed a bottle of cola over and said, "Senior, can you tell me now why you came to see me?"