Just as Chu Mo awkwardly struggled to come up with an explanation, a message interrupted everyone's excitement.
[Soul Tools Are Evil: Image (Tang Ya was lying on her bed, her hair spilling over her chest, her long legs wrapped around a soft pillow. She looked enticing, her beautiful phoenix eyes fixed on the screen as if curious about how the photo had been taken.)]
The other girls were all drawn to the picture too.
They were all beautiful girls, so why were they interested in a picture of another girl? Of course, they wanted to see if she was prettier than they were!
"Not bad! She really is a lively young girl."
Chu Mo enlarged the picture to inspect the details. Her oval face was slightly flushed, as if she were embarrassed. She was really pretty.
Before he could take a closer look, someone started sending messages.
[Grilled Fish Girl: Sister Tang Ya is so beautiful!]
[Ice Frog is Stronger than Poison Frog: Hmph, she's pretty good, but she's still not as pretty as me.]
[Dong'er is Not a Girl: ...]
[Revenge Girl: ...]
[Chu Mo: Tsundere girls are out of fashion.]
[Ice Frog is Stronger than Poison Frog: Group owner! Should I transfer you some money?]
[Chu Mo: Heh, those 10 Gold Soul Coins will cover my travel expenses. I'm on my way to Shrek City to take a look at the number one academy.]
[Ice Frog is Stronger than Poison Frog: Hmph, fine. But can I ask how this chat works? I've never heard of anything like it, and there isn't even the slightest energy fluctuation. It's as if it appeared out of thin air.]
Chu Mo froze when he saw the question. How was he supposed to answer? Should he tell them he was a transmigrator and this was his personal cheat?
[Chu Mo: I'll tell you when the time is right, but not now. This will only benefit you, though. For example, the camera function can identify certain things and help you find hidden treasures at the Treasure Pavilion or street stalls.]
[Grilled Fish Girl: Really?]
Huo Yu'er was the first to respond. She was the one who needed money most, and she had been thinking of selling grilled fish from a stall after joining Shrek Academy. When she heard about this feature, her eyes lit up—brighter than when she'd awakened her Martial Soul!
[Soul Tools Are Evil: Then how are you still so poor?]
Something like this was practically a miracle. Tang Ya mostly believed what Chu Mo had said, but she was still a little worried he might be tricking her newly initiated junior sister, so she replied instinctively.
[Chu Mo: Obviously, I have to keep my abilities hidden. If I show off something like this without having any way to protect myself, won't people capture me and use me as a treasure-finding mouse?]
[Ice Frog is Stronger than Poison Frog: Oh, no wonder. That makes sense.]
[Dong'er is Not a Girl: Finding hidden treasures sounds like such a hassle! Group owner, if you just ask me, I'll transfer you 20,000 Gold Soul Coins.]
Chu Mo sat in the carriage, his lips twitching. He hadn't expected Wang Dong'er to want him to beg her.
["Ice Frog is Stronger than Poison Frog sent Chu Mo a red packet!"]
[Ice Frog is Stronger than Poison Frog: Heh, if the group owner needs money, why should he ask anyone? Meng will keep you!]
At the new message, Chu Mo's eyelid started twitching. Should he accept it or not? Why did it feel like he was trading his dignity for money?!
In her bedroom, Meng Hongchen lay on her bed, gently swinging her legs and even humming a tune. She looked delighted.
She wasn't stupid. She hadn't sent him money just because she had too much to spare; she simply wanted to be nice to Chu Mo.
When something so miraculous had appeared, he hadn't shown any sign of alarm. And he was the group owner. The group rules said the owner ranked highest, followed by the administrators, active members, and ordinary members. All of that was enough to prove it belonged to him.
Something this miraculous could only be a divine miracle—unless it was some kind of mental illusion!
So Meng Hongchen felt that befriending him could only be a good thing. If he was handsome, she wouldn't be opposed to making a move herself.
After all, Meng Hongchen thought there was no one at her academy worthy of her. If anyone could measure up, it would probably be a genius from Shrek.
But being a genius wasn't enough; he also had to be handsome. Meng Hongchen was a top-tier beauty addict. Otherwise, she wouldn't have fallen for Wang Dong'er, who was disguised as a boy.
[Chu Mo: Heh, no need. I can make plenty by looking for hidden treasures before I join the academy. You don't have to keep me.]
[Revenge Girl: That's the spirit!]
[Revenge Girl: I want to see that so-called number one academy on the continent too. It even trained a god. Group owner, could you record a video when you get there?]
Chu Mo fell into thought when he read that. Had the academy really helped Tang San?
Hunting Spirit Rings certainly counted, but with Tang Hao there, it wasn't really the academy's help. It had just been someone else doing it instead. Making friends probably counted.
[Chu Mo: Recording a video is no problem, but calling it an academy that trained a god doesn't seem quite right.]
[Revenge Girl: ?]
[Soul Tools Are Evil:?]
[Ice Frog is Stronger than Poison Frog:?]
[Dong'er is Not a Girl:?]
[Grilled Fish Girl:?]
[Ice Frog is Stronger than Poison Frog: What's wrong with that, group owner? I hear about Shrek Academy all the time in the Sun Moon Empire. It's the academy that trained a god. If my status weren't an issue, I'd want to visit too.]
[Chu Mo: With Tang San's talent, anyone could have trained him to become a god. He had the Blue Silver Emperor and the Clear Sky Hammer, Twin Martial Souls, an External Soul Bone that could devour things, and he must have eaten at least three Immortal Herbs.]
[Soul Tools Are Evil: No, no, wait!]
[Chu Mo: What is it? Did I get something wrong?]
Chu Mo was about to send a second message when he was suddenly interrupted. He was confused. He hadn't even started talking conspiracy theories yet—he'd only been explaining things simply. Why was Tang Ya, the Tang Sect's leader, getting so worked up?
He lightly knocked on the carriage window and waited. He had nothing to do right now, so he might as well explain it to her and boost their activity and enthusiasm. That would help the group chat level up.
Of course, the most direct way was to pay for it!
But he was so broke he had less than nothing, so that was out.
[Ice Frog is Stronger than Poison Frog: The group owner is sending a message. Why are you interrupting?]
Meng Hongchen still seemed bothered by Tang Ya's nickname in the group and sounded a little unhappy as she retorted. But this time, Tang Ya surprisingly didn't argue back. Instead, she asked Chu Mo:
[Soul Tools Are Evil: Wasn't our ancestor Tang San's Martial Soul Blue Silver Grass? Even if he later upgraded it to the Blue Silver Emperor through hard work, wouldn't it still be Blue Silver Grass?]
Chu Mo laughed out loud when he saw the question.
Even if it was called Blue Silver Grass at first, it still carried the Blue Silver Emperor Bloodline. Once that bloodline awakened, it could serve both offensive and supportive roles.
[Chu Mo: Your Tang Sect should have records of it. The one who helped Tang San and the others secure their first piece of the victory puzzle was the Poison Douluo named Dugu Bo.]
[Soul Tools Are Evil: There are records, but the ones he poisoned were all evildoers from Spirit Hall, and they deserved to die. I don't think he did anything wrong.]
[Chu Mo: Heh, we can discuss that another time. But when Dugu Bo first met Tang San, he said something to him: the two Martial Souls in a Twin Martial Soul must be of equal quality. Either both are Trash Martial Souls or both are powerful Martial Souls. If one is weak and the other is strong, the strong one will devour the weak one, and they can't coexist.]
[Soul Tools Are Evil: What do you mean?]
[Ice Frog is Stronger than Poison Frog: Are you stupid? The group owner is saying that Twin Martial Souls have to be of equal quality. So the Blue Silver Grass that pairs with the Clear Sky Hammer couldn't possibly be ordinary Blue Silver Grass.]
Wang Dong'er:
Before you continue