The Fourth Trial's Reward: All One Hundred Thousand Years

In the afternoon, the sun shone brightly at the Sea God Pavilion.

"Yun Ming, it's time to put the list of the Shrek Seven Devils on the agenda."

"Um... Elder Long, what's your opinion?"

Long Yeyue took a sip of tea. "Hmm... I have no objections except for Xiao Jing Heng, who must be included."

As soon as Long Yeyue finished speaking, the teacup rang crisply as it hit the table, and the Sea God Pavilion fell silent for a moment.

Yun Ming tapped his index finger twice on the armrest, about to speak, when Cai Yue'er spoke first.

"I agree with what Elder Long said. Jing Heng is fourteen this year, right? Just talking about cultivation level, his Soul Power is so strong that even Wu Zhangkong can't suppress it. It's a sure thing that he'll be on the Shrek Seven Monsters list."

Cai Yue'er sat on a low chair by the window, legs crossed, twirling an unpainted brush in her hand. "But the Shrek Seven Monsters need seven people, so how do we allocate the remaining six spots? There are a few promising talents in the Inner Court, but they're all still a bit lacking in experience."

Ya Li picked up a piece of pastry. "How are Jing Heng's classmates doing?"

Lan Muzi rested her chin on her hand, "My age and cultivation level are both insufficient; at most, I'm a reserve officer."

Tang Yinmeng patted his shoulder, "Aren't you in charge of a class? I haven't heard you mention it much before."

Lan Muzi pinched the bridge of her nose. "They're all a bunch of troublemakers. They're nowhere near as good as Jing Heng, and they're not even as good as that girl Ye Xinglan."

Zhuo Shi leaned against a pillar by the door, arms crossed, eyes closed as if dozing, but he replied slowly, "No rush. The list isn't going to be finalized until next year anyway. What we're talking about now is just drawing a rough outline."

"Even a picture frame needs a direction."

Feng Wuyu sat on the sofa, rubbing his round belly. "We can't just grab someone at the last minute. I've heard there's a pretty good kid in the Outer Court who's good with a gun, fifteen years old and a fifth-ring player, with solid fundamentals."

Yun Ming shook his head. "Five rings aren't enough. The Shrek Seven Monsters represent Shrek Academy, so they need at least six rings."

"That leaves only Jing Heng, the sixth-ring finisher." Feng Wuyu shrugged.

"So this isn't a discussion, is it?" Yun Ming leaned back in his chair, reached for the teapot on the corner of the table, and paused when his fingers touched the handle.

The pot was full and still warm, but he remembered that he hadn't asked anyone to make tea when he came in.

"Who brewed the tea?" Yun Ming looked up at everyone.

The people in the room looked at each other in bewilderment.

Cai Yue'er shook her head, Zhuo Shi didn't even lift his eyelids, Lan Muzi and Tang Yinmeng looked at each other, Ya Li took a sip, and Long Yeyue slowly skimmed the foam from her teacup without even raising her eyelids.

Then a suppressed laugh came from the corner.

"I brewed it."

All eyes turned to the source of the sound. To the left of the doorway, Yun Jingheng stood there, holding a small purple clay teapot. He took a sip from the spout, his expression one of barely suppressed amusement.

Behind him was a small charcoal stove, with an iron kettle perched on it, wisps of white steam rising from its spout, indicating he had been sitting there for quite some time.

"... What are you doing here?" Yun Ming's brow twitched.

"I came in to deliver tea."

Yun Jingheng shook the teapot. "Didn't we agree to bring you some new tea today? I passed by the door and saw you guys having a meeting. The door wasn't closed, so I didn't say anything, and no one paid any attention to me. I just found a corner to squat down and brew some tea."

"How long have you been squatting there?" Cai Yue'er asked, squinting.

"Hmm... it started around the time Grandma Long mentioned the list of the Shrek Seven Devils."

Yun Jingheng counted on his fingers, "About ten minutes? I refilled all your tea, didn't you notice?"

The room fell silent.

Long Yeyue put down her teacup and probed the area with her Divine Power, but sensed nothing.

Long Yeyue's teacup stopped in mid-air, and her Divine Power once again overflowed from between her brows, sweeping towards Yun Jingheng like a silent ripple.

Still nothing was scanned.

Her brow twitched almost imperceptibly as she scanned the area again. This time, she deliberately slowed down, condensing her Divine Power into an extremely fine wisp and probing it inch by inch along the ground until the wisp of Divine Power touched the edge of the charcoal stove at Yun Jingheng's feet. Only then did she catch a faint trace of aura from the residual heat of the stove fire.

Like a silvery reflection of moonlight on water, it's almost imperceptible unless you look for it specifically.

Long Yeyue raised her eyelids slightly, looked at the young man carrying a teapot at the door, and remained silent for three breaths.

Then he placed the teacup back on the table and spoke unhurriedly, "Little Jing Heng, when did you reach this level of concealment?"

Yun Jingheng was taking his second sip of tea when he was almost choked by the question. He coughed twice and put down the teapot. "... Huh?"

"I just used my Divine Power to probe you three times. I didn't detect anything the first and second times."

Long Yeyue's voice was calm, but a subtle light flickered in her eyes. "It took me three tries to get even a little bit of it, and that was only by following the heat from the charcoal stove."

The room fell silent for a moment.

Then everyone's gaze changed. Cai Yue'er put down her crossed legs, Lan Muzi lowered her hand that was supporting her chin, and Zhuo Shi opened his eyes.

Yun Ming paused in his teacup, then turned to look at his son with a look of re-examination in his eyes.

He knew better than anyone how sharp Long Yeyue's Divine Power was; with the perception of Titled Douluo, she could count the number of legs of an ant crawling across the entire Sea God Pavilion.

Now, Long Yeyue says she searched three times before she could barely find Yun Jingheng.

Yun Ming frowned, carefully sensing the surroundings. Indeed, he couldn't detect anything, only a faint... very light aura?

"Did you learn the reward from your Second Trial?"

"You haven't finished learning yet? What's wrong?"

"I can't find you either, there's only a faint trace, and it's very blurry."

Feng Wuyu was the first to break the silence.

He leaned halfway out from the sofa, pointed at Yun Jingheng, and said to Yun Ming, "Your son says he's low-key? He calls this low-key?"

Yun Jingheng spread his hands innocently. "I didn't hide on purpose. I was just squatting there making tea. You guys didn't see me."

Ya Li looked at her son with a smile, "Now even we can hardly sense your presence, does that mean...?" She then looked at Yun Ming.

Long Yeyue chimed in, "That means he doesn't need to be confined anymore. Being so far away only allows you to sense a little bit of something. Even if he were to launch a terrorist attack outside, no matter how fast he runs, you wouldn't be able to find him."

"Really?!" Yun Jingheng's eyes lit up.

"Don't rush off." Yun Ming's voice drifted over from the table. "There's no need for confinement, but you've just finished your Third Trial, and the Fourth Trial might be coming anytime soon. First, solidify your foundation, don't just focus on having fun."

Yun Jingheng reminded him, "The Fourth Trial are already out."

"What is it?" ×8

Yun Jingheng shrugged. "I need to equip all my Soul Bone before I can begin the Fourth Trial. Until then, I can't see the specific content, I only know the rewards."

Cai Yue'er was very concerned, "What reward?"

"Increase the age of the first to fourth Soul Ring to 100,000 years."

"Hiss~" x8