Meng Hongchen: New Genius Arrives?

"Have you heard? They say a genius from the Douluo Three Kingdoms recently arrived, and apparently, they're incredibly formidable. Despite their young age, they possess the power of a Titled Douluo while only at the Soul Emperor rank, with lightning-fast reflexes and speed. Word is they're only 14 years old and have already reached level 62."

"That's insane! Regardless, I intend to see this genius with my own eyes. If they really are that powerful, then we might finally have a chance against Shrek Academy when the Soul Master Tournament rolls around soon."

"Every single time the Soul Master Tournament comes around, we basically lose to Shrek Academy. Shrek Academy is like a massive mountain looming over our heads, crushing us down and making it impossible for us to take the championship."

"Honestly, if this genius joins us and can help us defeat Shrek Academy, that would be a great thing. It would prove that our Sun Moon Empire is definitively stronger than the Douluo Three Kingdoms and Shrek Academy!"

The students of the Royal Soul Guidance Academy of the Sun Moon Empire began to discuss this at that moment. Having heard the news about Zhong Kui and learning some information about him, they started to chatter amongst themselves.

"I've heard about this too, and I really hope it's true. If it is, we'll be able to crush Shrek in the upcoming Soul Master Tournament. We've been defeated by them every time because they are incredibly strong, and we simply can't beat them. In this world where the strong eat the weak and the weak have nothing, Shrek is the mountain pressing down on us."

"If we want to defeat Shrek Academy, we must have a powerhouse to help us. You have to remember, during the great war between our Sun Moon Empire and the Douluo Three Kingdoms, we were clearly on the verge of winning, but Shrek Academy rallied nearly 60 Titled Douluos from across the continent to defeat us."

"Honestly, I really want to complain—is it even necessary for an academy to participate in a national war? Besides, even if we defeated the Douluo Three Kingdoms, we wouldn't have wiped them out. We just wanted to unify the continent; what's wrong with that?"

After one student said this, everyone recalled the history mentioned in their textbooks regarding the war between the Sun Moon Empire and the Douluo Three Kingdoms. At the time, the continent where the Sun Moon Empire was located collided with the Douluo Continent where the Douluo Three Kingdoms resided. Everyone had been shocked back then, never expecting there to be another continent across the ocean.

Afterward, the Sun Moon Empire didn't immediately go to war with the Douluo Three Kingdoms. They first gathered intelligence, but conflicts slowly arose, eventually escalating into war.

"Honestly, the Douluo Three Kingdoms are quite backward. When they fought us back then, they used those so-called hidden weapons—supposedly the hidden weapons of the Sea God Tang San. I've never seen any god, and I don't understand why they worship this 'Sea God Tang San' so much. I think it's highly likely that this Sea God Tang San was just a strong Soul Master who ended up being deified."

"Our Soul Tool technology has been developing for who knows how many years—over 10,000 years, to be exact. It's not inferior to that Sea God Tang San at all. The hidden weapons of the Sea God they worship are basically just made with gunpowder and mechanical triggers; they aren't actually that impressive."

"Exactly, and we have defensive types, flight types, and so much more."

"The Douluo Continent actually had Soul Tool technology before, but look what happened—they lost it. I really don't understand how they could lose such important technology and instead promote something as ridiculous as hidden weapon techniques. It's laughable."

"No wonder they brought out such pathetic weapons to deal with us back then; we almost lost because of it."

"But to be fair, Shrek Academy does have some skill. We have indeed absorbed many geniuses from the Douluo Three Kingdoms over the years. The Douluo Three Kingdoms implement a feudal system, unlike our advanced Sun Moon Empire. Many geniuses there are commoners who can't obtain enough resources to develop, so they are forced to come to the Sun Moon Empire to thrive."

"True, but even so, it's still very hard to defeat Shrek Academy. As I said, they are indeed very strong. I wonder if this new genius can help us."

Just as everyone was discussing this, a pair of siblings suddenly walked up to them. These siblings were Jing Hongchen's grandchildren—Xiao Hongchen and Meng Hongchen.

"What are you all discussing?" Meng Hongchen asked the underclassmen with a smile, inquiring about the details.

"Senior, it's like this: we're discussing a newly appeared genius who is rumored to be extremely powerful, coming from the Douluo Three Kingdoms. Later, during our discussion, we started talking about the history of the Douluo Three Kingdoms era."

"Didn't the Douluo Three Kingdoms and the Sun Moon Empire go to war? Then we talked about Shrek Academy, and finally, we discussed that genius. We were all debating whether this genius could help us."

After hearing what the underclassmen had to say, Meng Hongchen also became very interested in this genius and wanted to see what kind of talent he was.

"Another genius from the Douluo Three Kingdoms. Honestly, I really hope they can help us defeat Shrek Academy, because the Douluo Three Kingdoms have always relied on Shrek Academy to maintain a strategic balance with our Sun Moon Empire. If it weren't for Shrek Academy, we might not have lost to the Douluo Three Kingdoms; perhaps we would have already defeated them and unified the continent by now," Xiao Hongchen said at this moment.

Xiao Hongchen didn't have much affection for the Douluo Three Kingdoms either.

(Note: For the appearance of the Hongchen siblings, use their manga designs. I really dislike the 3D modeling in the anime; it doesn't look good at all.)

"Brother, regardless, I'm curious: can this genius help us defeat Shrek Academy? The Soul Master Tournament—the Soul Fighting Tournament—is starting soon, and I expect it will be another display of competition between nations."

"That is indeed the case. Shrek Academy basically dominates the Soul Master Tournament. For so many years, they have always taken the championship, and no national team has ever been able to win."

"To be honest, it might sound unpleasant, but the problem is that Shrek acts like an emperor above all nations. No one dares to do anything about them." Xiao Hongchen expressed his inner frustrations and his dissatisfaction.

He felt that Shrek didn't act like an academy at all, but rather a super-power that stood above all nations.

Shrek didn't look like an academy in the slightest, but fortunately, Shrek Academy's influence was limited to the Douluo Three Kingdoms. Shrek had no influence in the Sun Moon Empire; otherwise, the Sun Moon Empire would have to look at Shrek's face before making any moves. Wouldn't that be a joke?