"Huh?"
Meng Hongchen froze.
She clearly had not expected Wang Dong'er to ask that so suddenly, but she answered seriously:
"There are ways. Drugs, secret techniques, even some new technologies that use Soul Tools to help people improve."
"But..."
She held nothing back on this subject.
She knew a Soul Master raised at Shrek Academy would never accept such methods.
And she knew how proud Wang Dong'er was.
"They all have side effects, right?"
Wang Dong'er lowered her head again.
Her chopsticks absently pushed the food around her plate.
After a long silence, she said softly:
"I just..."
"I just want to help him."
"He must be pretty tired, carrying all this, right?"
Meng Hongchen said nothing. She only watched her quietly.
She did not know what to say.
Having once faced Long Yaochen as an enemy in the arena, she knew that crushing pressure better than anyone.
With just one baffling Second Martial Soul, he had beaten the entire Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy until none of them could lift their heads.
The sun was warm... but it was dazzling, too.
Too dazzling to look at directly.
Wang Dong'er had considered all this before.
But the gap between them had not been so wide at first, and she had paid it little mind.
After all, the talent she had taken pride in since childhood had always made her believe that, if she worked hard, catching up to Long Yaochen would not be difficult.
But now...
She suddenly realized she could barely see his back anymore.
These days, Long Yaochen faced Titled Douluo-level powerhouses as a matter of course.
Sometimes even Super Douluo-level ones.
And the Soul Spirit System he had created was finally beginning to show its influence.
Why, the Three Great Nations had gathered at Shrek today.