Seeing that Meng Hongchen actually understood what he meant, Chu Mo nodded in satisfaction. A promising student indeed.
[Chu Mo: Exactly. Meng's right. Even without awakening her bloodline, the quality is still there. She's at least a Blue Silver King, so she'll definitely be more useful than ordinary Blue Silver Grass.]
But when Tang Ya saw those words, it was as if she'd been struck by lightning. Her thoughts couldn't help drifting back to the past.
When she awakened her Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul, she had innate Soul Power at rank nine. Every day, her parents would smile as they told her stories about their ancestors, cheering her on.
It was because of the inspiring story written by Tang San—from humble Blue Silver Grass to the emperor, and then ascending to godhood—that they had chosen Blue Silver Grass as their sect master.
"Impossible. It's fake. It's all fake."
I must be tired. It's a hallucination. A dream!
Tang Ya couldn't bring herself to believe that the Blue Silver Grass they had insisted should be their sect master, and their hope of restoring Ancestor Tang San's glory, was nothing but a dream—a laughably ridiculous dream at that.
She wasn't usually so fragile. She had endured this long, and it wasn't as if no one had questioned or doubted her before.
But when something akin to a divine miracle appeared in her mind and spoke to her, it was only natural for her to have doubts. On top of that, her cultivation was getting slower and slower. Never mind rebuilding the Divine Light—even getting revenge was proving to be a struggle.
Since she'd stopped cultivating, she'd long since taken off her training clothes. Her two fair legs were still exposed, pressed against the soft pillow. The thoughts in her mind made her squeeze them tighter and tighter.
Close.
She silently thought, "Close screen," and the screen vanished. Tang Ya buried her little face in the pillow, afraid to think about it. She hoped what had happened was only a dream...
[Ice Frog is Stronger than Poison Frog: @Soul Guidance Devices are Evil, speak up. Why did you go quiet?]
["Soul Guidance Devices are Evil" has gone offline.]
Chu Mo wasn't too surprised to see that the other person had gone offline. It was only natural. It wasn't easy to recover from a collapse of faith, nor was it easy to accept. The other person needed time to process it.
[Chu Mo: They probably went to rest. Let's continue talking about how the academy helped Tang San.]
[Ice Frog is Stronger than Poison Frog: Looking forward to it.]
[Dong'er is Not a Girl: Looking forward to it.]
[Chu Mo: The biggest help was probably finding Tang San a few friends and letting him take part in the final tournament. He did win the crucial match by relying on his own strength, but we have to admit that without the others, he couldn't have competed at all. So that should count as help. He also obtained a Spiritual Head Soul Bone.]
[Ice Frog is Stronger than Poison Frog: A Soul Bone's definitely good, especially a Head Soul Bone. That's no small help. What else?]
[Chu Mo: Nothing else.]
[Ice Frog is Stronger than Poison Frog: ...]
[Chu Mo: Tang San's talent was already there, and he also had a special cultivation method that others didn't—the Mysterious Heaven Skill—along with Hidden Weapons. Even the Clear Sky Sect would have chosen to let him return to his roots.
[Chu Mo: Even if he didn't go back, he could've joined an academy. With talent like that, he'd be valued anywhere, and might even receive intensive training. But what did Shrek have to offer?]
[Chu Mo: They carried rocks and ran every day to build up their physical strength. Sure, that could improve their bodies and maybe let them absorb a Spirit Ring that was ten or twenty years older, but it required perseverance. They'd have to keep it up for years. In the end, they ran for less than a year. How much could their physical strength possibly improve?]
[Chu Mo: The other members of Shrek's Seven Devils got less out of it than they did from the bodies strengthened by the immortal herbs Tang San gave them.]
Chu Mo's explanation gave them a new way of looking at things. They no longer viewed the strong through a special, rose-tinted lens.
To gather believers and spread his own name, Tang San's story—from awakening his Martial Soul to becoming a god—had been recorded in great detail. The account mainly depicted his hard work and hardships, as well as his struggle against the evil Spirit Hall.
Although Tang San had hidden some things, putting the pieces together with Chu Mo's explanation gave them a general idea. Besides, someone who could provide such a divine technique wouldn't lie to them. They could always check for themselves later.
[Ice Frog is Stronger than Poison Frog: Then why are you still going to Shrek Academy, group leader?]
After hearing his analysis, Meng Hongchen's rose-tinted lens had shattered halfway. Still, she wanted to see the place for herself. Its reputation alone was enough to make her curious.
Historically, Shrek Academy had rallied so many Titled Douluo and defeated the Sun Moon Empire's invasion. That much was true.
Even if it had been lacking before, surely it had made some progress by now.
She was just curious why Chu Mo knew so much, why he was so dismissive of the academy, and yet still wanted to visit Shrek Academy.
[Chu Mo: I made a promise.]
[Ice Frog is Stronger than Poison Frog: To a girl?]
Girls cared most about promises and such. As soon as she realized there might be gossip, Meng Hongchen perked up. Though she was the only one talking now, everyone else except Tang Ya, who had already gone offline, was watching closely.
[Chu Mo: Yeah.]
[Ice Frog is Stronger than Poison Frog: Wow, what did you promise her? What could make you care so much, big brother group leader? Is she really pretty?]
Seeing Meng Hongchen's new question, Chu Mo didn't answer right away. He looked away from the chat screen and gazed at the moon outside.
Two years earlier, while using his cheat to search for medicinal herbs, he'd met a girl who was looking for herbs too. Her clothes were plain, but they couldn't hide her peerless beauty. She had long golden hair, and her Martial Soul was the Soft Bone Rabbit.
How could he not know who she was? Jiang Nannan. He'd used the treatment method provided by his cheat to resolve the problem that had been troubling her and ease the pressure in her heart.
In other words, he'd saved her mother.
But when Jiang Nannan enrolled at Shrek Academy, she moved away. It was too far to travel, and she couldn't easily take care of her mother from there.
When she left, the girl hugged him for a long time, crying as she asked if they'd ever meet again.
He didn't understand why she was so upset, but Chu Mo hated seeing people cry more than anything. So he made her a promise.
"Of course. My talent isn't bad either, so getting into Shrek Academy shouldn't be a problem. I'll come find you when enrollment opens again."
A year had passed since then. He wondered how she was doing.
People had hearts, after all. Even if he was a transmigrator looking down from the perspective of someone above, after spending more than a year together and having the girl cling to him and call him little brother, he couldn't help but change.
After reminiscing for a moment, Chu Mo didn't hide anything. He briefly recounted the story in the group chat.
[Ice Frog is Stronger than Poison Frog: That's so sweet.]
Meng Hongchen had once dreamed of a sweet romance, and now she realized one was unfolding right before her eyes, with the two of them growing closer.
But more importantly, Chu Mo had actually praised Jiang Nannan's looks. Her competitive spirit immediately flared up.
[Ice Frog is Stronger than Poison Frog: But am I really that pretty? Big brother group leader, hurry up and tell me—which of us is prettier, me in the picture or that Jiang Nannan you mentioned?]
[Revenge Girl: After recording the academy, can you also record the girl named Jiang Nannan? I want to see just how pretty she is.]
The other three were curious too.
[Dong'er is Not a Girl: I'm enrolling at Shrek too. Someone's taking me there tomorrow, so I'll ask around and record a video for you.]
["Everyone": Okay!]
Chu Mo didn't say much about Wang Dong'er's situation. Her looks spoke for themselves. She couldn't possibly be ordinary, and it was impossible that no one knew her. She could ask around as soon as she enrolled and find some leads.
Before you continue