"Dean!"
Zhao Wuji caught Flender as he collapsed and hurriedly examined him with his soul power. When he found that Flender had only suffered damage to his mind, he let out a sigh of relief.
"You have one month to dismantle Shrek Academy and leave Suotuo City. Otherwise, I'll have no choice but to ask the Suotuo City guards to help you."
After delivering his final verdict to the people of Shrek Academy, Su Di turned and smiled at Su Zhen.
"Mr. Su, welcome to Suotuo City. Please come with me to the Suotuo City Spirit Hall Main Branch, so I can act as your host."
"No need. I have other things to take care of. Perhaps next time."
Su Zhen turned to leave, but a young girl stopped him.
"Please wait, sir. I'm Ning Rongrong of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect. You said just now that you're an honored guest of the Crown Prince's Mansion. My father is the Crown Prince's teacher. Why have I never seen you before?"
Ning Rongrong stepped forward to stop Su Zhen and asked, a hint of cunning showing on her lovely face.
"I know who you are. The Crown Prince has mentioned you to me. You've never seen me because, for the past few years, the Crown Prince has sent me to negotiate with Spirit Hall. Ask him when you go back, and you'll understand."
Su Zhen glanced at Ning Rongrong and replied coldly. Then he walked around her and left without another word. He had no intention of wasting time on her. An Auxiliary Soul Master who was destined never to evolve into the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda in this life was bound to vanish into the river of time.
Su Zhen left with Dugu Yan and the others, leaving the people of Shrek Academy and Tang San gathered together, sharing their sorrow.
"Little San, thank you for helping the academy out of this mess."
Flender had regained consciousness after Zhao Wuji sent soul power into him. He thanked Tang San weakly.
"Dean, don't say that. My teacher is your friend, and your academy is my academy."
Tang San supported Flender and comforted him.
"Alas, it seems this is the end of my Shrek Academy."
Flender sighed and turned to look at the village and academy that had been by his side for twenty years.
Tang San watched the academy fall apart. He turned toward Su Zhen and the others, now little more than blurry silhouettes in the distance, and clenched his fists at his sides.
'You humiliated me today. You've earned a death sentence. One day, I'll make you pay.'
Su Zhen left Suotuo City and headed toward the Star Luo Empire.
"You're a disciple of Spirit Hall's upper echelons, the heir to Thunder God Palace, and an honored guest of the Crown Prince of the Heaven Dou Empire. What other identities are you hiding from me?"
Dugu Yan looked at Su Zhen as she asked. Everything that had happened today felt unreal to her.
"You'll find out what other identities I have in time. For now, let's welcome our new friend, shall we, little kitty?"
Su Zhen casually answered Dugu Yan, then turned his gaze toward a tree behind them.
"You're strong."
A woman in leather jumped down from the tree, her gaze burning as she looked at Su Zhen. A man who could overpower Soul Elders and Soul Emperors with his physical strength was clearly not to be underestimated.
Dugu Yan looked at the girl who had been following them, wariness plain in her eyes. The woman in leather was an expert at tailing people; Dugu Yan hadn't noticed her at all. More importantly, she looked only eleven or twelve, yet her figure was fuller than Dugu Yan's.
Dugu Yan lifted her already well-developed chest and asked the woman in leather, "Who are you? Why are you following us?"
"Zhu Zhuqing. My Martial Soul is the Hell Spirit Cat. I'm a twenty-seventh-level Agility Attack System Soul Grandmaster. You're strong. I want to follow you and become stronger."
Zhu Zhuqing never took her eyes off Su Zhen. Her cold words carried a trace of unwillingness and stubbornness.
"Your surname is Zhu, and your Martial Soul is the Hell Spirit Cat. What's a great noble of the Star Luo Empire doing in Suotuo City? And you want to follow me?"
Su Zhen named Zhu Zhuqing's identity and chuckled.
"My fiancé came here. I want to find him."
As Zhu Zhuqing said this, her eyes filled with grievance and disgust. She had never imagined that Dai Mubai had run off here and spent all these years idling around in some sham academy. Her heart had shattered when she came to Suotuo City to find him so she could survive—and when Su Zhen beat Dai Mubai to a pulp, it had shattered like crystal.
"I wouldn't have guessed. You're a girl with a story."
"If you want to follow me, you'll have to prove your worth. My team has no room for dead weight."
"I'm not dead weight!"
Su Zhen's words enraged Zhu Zhuqing. She couldn't stand having all her years of hard work dismissed so casually with two words.
"Then prove it. Dugu Yan is a thirty-fifth-level Control System Battle Soul Elder. If you can last one incense stick's time against her, I'll let you stay by my side. Otherwise, go back to your useless fiancé."
"And you, too. You have to defeat her within half an incense stick's time."
As he spoke, Su Zhen gave the same order to Dugu Yan beside them.
Su Zhen took an incense stick from his ring, lit it, and planted it in the ground. Then he leaned against a nearby tree and closed his eyes to rest.
Although Dugu Yan was extremely displeased by Su Zhen's orders, she still stepped forward to accept the challenge.
"Dugu Yan. My Martial Soul is the Jade Phosphorous Serpent. I'm a thirty-fifth-level Control System Battle Soul Elder. Please instruct me."
"Zhu Zhuqing. My Martial Soul is the Hell Spirit Cat. I'm a twenty-seventh-level Agility Attack System Soul Grandmaster. Please instruct me."
The two women exchanged their names and ranks, then began fighting to prove their worth.
"Master, do you really want Zhu Zhuqing to stay? She is, after all, the daughter of the Duke of Nether."
Li Hao came up to Su Zhen and asked in a low voice.
"How do you know I want her to stay?"
Su Zhen opened his eyes and looked at Li Hao.
"If you wanted her gone, you wouldn't have asked her to last one incense stick's time. You would have asked her to defeat Dugu Yan."
"You're clever. Zhu Zhuqing has to stay. She'll play a crucial role in my plans for the future. As for the Duke of Nether..."
Su Zhen paused, his gaze settling on Zhu Zhuqing's graceful figure as she desperately dodged Dugu Yan's poison.
"If he knows what's good for him, there may still be a way for him to survive."
Seeing Su Zhen close his eyes again, Li Hao tactfully withdrew.
An incense stick's time passed quickly, and Dugu Yan and Zhu Zhuqing's battle was nearing its end.
"Time's up."
Su Zhen spoke, stopping their duel.
The two fighters halted. Dugu Yan's poisonous mist was only an inch from Zhu Zhuqing's body. One more second and the poison would have engulfed her.
"Damn it! If I hadn't slacked off on my cultivation these past few years, you'd never have been able to dodge my Jade Phosphorous Serpent Poison."
Dugu Yan withdrew her Martial Soul, stamped her foot, and said angrily.
Her grandfather had been missing for six years. In all that time, she'd been in no mood to cultivate, and without her grandfather providing the resources she needed, those had grown scarce as well. As a result, her Soul Power Level was much lower than it had been when she first appeared in the original story.
"There are no 'ifs.' I won."
Zhu Zhuqing's cold voice rang out. She had already exhausted her soul power from dodging again and again. She was only forcing herself to stay upright.
"Can I stay now?"
Zhu Zhuqing turned to Su Zhen, who had walked up to her, and asked.
"You can. Not just you, but you too, Dugu Yan. You can both stay. You're still too weak right now. I'll train you properly from now on."
Su Zhen held out his hands to the two women, grasping the threads of their fate. He would pull them into the web of destiny he was weaving.
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