Being Shameless in One's Old Age!

Douluo Continent, on the main road outside Shrek Academy.

Ji Jing strolled leisurely along, still savoring the sweetness of having made things official with Wang Dong that day.

Moonlight spilled over the road, and the evening breeze was especially refreshing.

Without warning, a golden pillar of light descended from the sky and enveloped him. A vast, oceanlike divine power he couldn't resist instantly wrapped around him.

The scenery around him shifted at high speed, and the laws of space twisted wildly before his eyes.

Ji Jing didn't even have time to react before he vanished from where he stood.

The next moment, when his feet touched solid ground again, he found himself in a completely different place.

He stood inside a magnificent palace, its every corner suffused with the sacred aura of water.

Directly before him stood a handsome man in splendid blue robes, holding a Golden Trident. The man fixed him with an exceedingly unfriendly stare.

Ji Jing: "..."

He stared at Tang San, utterly bewildered and with no idea what was going on.

"Kid."

Tang San spoke slowly, his voice full of authority and scrutiny.

"We need to talk."

Ji Jing's mouth twitched despite himself.

"U-Uncle San?"

He ventured the address while discreetly taking a small step back to put a little more distance between them. A hint of caution showed on his face.

"You're not going to bully someone weaker than you, are you?"

Hearing "Uncle San" softened Tang San's expression a little. But when he saw Ji Jing's guarded stance, his face darkened again, and he said coldly,

"I won't."

As soon as Tang San finished speaking, Ji Jing didn't relax. Instead, he cautiously took another step back.

That finally set Tang San's temper ablaze.

The veins at his temples bulged, and he nearly ground the words out through clenched teeth.

"What do you mean by that?!"

"I don't believe you."

Ji Jing shook his head, his answer decisive.

"You!"

Tang San felt his blood pressure rising. Anger rushed straight to his head, and he nearly lost control and attacked him on the spot.

He took a deep breath, then another, forcing down the fury about to erupt. After all, he was a God King. He had to maintain his dignity.

"You little brat..."

Tang San got his temper under control and decided to get straight to the point.

"I don't care about anything else, but you and Xiao Qi had better not do anything like that before you're both adults. If you do, I'll beat you myself!"

Ji Jing looked puzzled. His gaze at Tang San gradually turned strange, as though he were looking at someone with an unhealthy mind.

"You dragged me all the way up from the lower realm just to talk about this?"

His tone held a note of disbelief.

"Uncle San, I was practically raised under your eye, wasn't I? I'm not going to do anything like that, okay?"

As Ji Jing spoke, the disdain in his eyes grew stronger and stronger.

That look stung Tang San deeply.

He felt his fists clench.

What was this kid implying?

Was he saying that, as her father, Tang San was judging a gentleman by the standards of a small-minded man?

But there was no way Tang San could actually beat him up.

Never mind that the kid was his brother's son. The safeguards left in him by two primordial gods alone would be enough to give Tang San a hard time.

All he could do was let out a cold laugh and try to save face.

"Heh. You've got some nerve, kid. You're that sure I won't hit you?"

Ji Jing nodded solemnly to show that he was.

At that, Tang San was utterly at a loss. It felt like he'd thrown a punch into cotton—he had strength to spare, but nowhere to put it.

Defeated, he sat back on his divine throne and casually recalled the Golden Trident. The pressure in the temple faded along with it.

"Hmph, I really can't hit you."

Tang San spoke leisurely.

"But I can keep you here. One day in the Divine Realm is a year in the lower realm. I could hold you a little longer, then send you back to Douluo Continent and make the rest of your vacation disappear."

The calm composure vanished from Ji Jing's face. He stared at Tang San in shock and blurted out,

"You old... old gentleman! You're playing dirty tricks on a kid like me?"

Ji Jing was mortified.

That had been close. He'd nearly let the word "old geezer" slip out.

Tang San simply crossed his legs and closed his eyes to rest.

Silence fell over the temple.

Ji Jing was completely speechless.

He'd figured it out: the Sea God was willing to use any trick he could.

He couldn't beat him, and he couldn't reason with him, so he could only accept his fate.

Time passed slowly in the Divine Realm. On Douluo Continent, day and night had alternated more than twenty times.

When Tang San reckoned that over half a month had passed in the lower realm and Shrek Academy's vacation was nearly over, he finally opened his eyes at leisure. He glanced at Ji Jing beside him, a smug smile tugging at his lips.

With a satisfied wave of his hand, he enveloped Ji Jing in golden light once more.

"Kid, remember to treat my daughter well."

Before his words had even faded, Ji Jing vanished from the Sea God Temple.

Light and shadow twisted, and the stars wheeled overhead. When Ji Jing's feet touched solid ground again, he found himself in the familiar dormitory at Shrek Academy.

Standing in the middle of the room, he recalled what had happened in the Sea God Temple and sighed helplessly.

"Bully the young and shameless in your old age!"

Ji Jing grumbled inwardly.

"Uncle San, just you wait. Once I become a God King too, I'll drag Uncle Destruction along and have a proper spar with you!"

Of course, that was only wishful thinking.

For now, the most practical thing was to plan how to use the time ahead.

He checked the calendar in the dormitory and saw that there were about five days left before classes began.

Judging by the timing, Wang Dong had gone to the Clear Sky Sect to visit her family and wouldn't be back at the academy for another three or four days at the earliest.

There was no point sitting around alone. He might as well do something worthwhile.

An idea flashed through his mind—

Combine Tang Sect Hidden Weapons with Soul Tools.

He'd had this idea for a long time. Now he finally had a good stretch of free time to put it into practice.

No sooner had the thought struck than he set to work.

With a thought, Ji Jing took a sturdy metal worktable from his Storage Soul Tool, along with various rare metals, crafting tools, and carving knives for Soul Tool Core Arrays.

He was now capable of crafting Level Six Soul Tools on his own.

More importantly, as a born deity, his comprehension was terrifying. He could learn complex Soul Tool theories and manufacturing techniques in an instant, understanding them at a glance.

His gaze first fell on one of the Tang Sect Hidden Weapons' signature creations—the Godly Zhuge Crossbow.

"I'll start with you."

Ji Jing picked up a blueprint, his gaze focused and sharp.

He planned to pursue research in two directions:

First, the ultimate evolution of individual weapons.

This would be a direct improvement on the original Godly Zhuge Crossbow.

The core idea was to replace its purely mechanical mechanism with Soul Tool Technology.

This improved Godly Zhuge Crossbow would become an incredibly formidable individual Soul Tool weapon.

It would retain the concealment and suddenness of a Hidden Weapon while gaining the power and convenience of a Soul Tool. For Soul Masters below the Soul Emperor rank, it would be a nightmare.