All around him, groups of new students walked toward the dormitory area, full of anticipation and nerves. The lively noise filled Shrek Academy's registration plaza.
Looking at the young, wide-eyed students, Su Ming wore a faint smile. The farcical scene from the new student registration earlier surfaced in his mind.
Wang Dong, a pretty, lively girl disguised as a boy, possessed the exceedingly rare Light Goddess Butterfly Martial Soul. By a twist of fate, she had been assigned to Boys' Dormitory 108. Wang Dong had entered a dormitory area full of boys, looking awkward and flustered alongside Huo Yuhao, both of them at a loss.
Watching the crowd, Su Ming gently rubbed his fingertips, thoughts quietly stirring in his heart.
He knew full well that Wang Dong and Huo Yuhao were the two most crucial pieces on God King Tang's chessboard. From the moment they met in the dormitory, their fates had been tightly bound together. They would follow God King Tang's arrangements step by step, ultimately ending up with no control over their own lives.
Su Ming wondered to himself: if he acted now and secretly changed the dormitory assignments, keeping Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong from sharing a room, could he disrupt the Divine Realm's God King's plans at their source and escape the fate that had long been ordained?
But as soon as the thought surfaced, Su Ming forcibly suppressed it.
A trace of wariness stirred in his heart. The supreme God King Tang above the Divine Realm kept his divine consciousness spread over Douluo Continent at all times. Anyone who tried to alter the fate he had set would be noticed in an instant.
That God King wielded heaven-reaching powers and was ruthless in his killing. If he discovered Su Ming secretly interfering, he would show no mercy at all and would strike without hesitation. With Su Ming's current strength, he would have no power to resist.
This move was too risky. One wrong step, and he would be doomed beyond redemption.
Besides, Su Ming knew that Wang Dong was currently pure and untainted: an arrogant, free-spirited young man who valued loyalty above all. There was not the slightest hidden danger in him.
The real danger was Tang Wutong, born later from souls and memories forcibly stitched together. She was the one who had been completely controlled and made to conform entirely to Tang San's wishes. She was the true trouble, the hardest to resolve.
What was more, Su Ming had always cherished the pure, sincere friendship among the three little ones in the comic version of Douluo.
The free-spirited, proud Wang Dong; the gentle, patient Huo Yuhao; and the sweet, adorable Xiao Xiao. From strangers at their first meeting, they became comrades who fought side by side and trusted one another, growing through their experiences at Shrek Academy and facing trial after trial together.
That friendship, untouched by self-interest and unbound by fate, was pure and precious. It was something beautiful Su Ming didn't want to destroy with his own hands.
After thinking it over carefully, Su Ming ultimately abandoned the idea of intervening for now.
There was no need to rush. Acting rashly would only invite disaster. Once his strength was sufficient and he had the confidence to stand against the Divine Realm, he could make his plans and stop the two from being forcibly brought into the Valley of Universe Inquiry.
If he remembered correctly, it was in the Valley of Universe Inquiry that Huo Yuhao had been relentlessly pressured and tormented by God King Tang, until his character had been thoroughly subdued and every rough edge ground away. He had become a puppet of fate.
As long as he avoided that calamity and protected Huo Yuhao's true self, then found a way to prevent the birth of Tang Wutong, that patchwork creature, there was still hope for a change of fate.
In Su Ming's heart, the one Huo Yuhao had loved with all his heart had always been the young Wang Dong who stayed by his side day and night and walked beside him through everything—the pure, lively Wang Dong'er—not Tang Wutong, whose memories had been forcibly fused and whose soul had been pieced together.
The latter was merely a puppet controlled by others, a patchwork creature imprisoning Wang Dong's soul. She had never been the one Huo Yuhao truly loved.
Once he had thought everything through, the knot in Su Ming's heart instantly loosened. He turned to Xuan Zi and Wang Yan beside him and casually said his farewells:
"Old Xuan, Teacher Wang, you two go ahead and deal with the new students. I'll wander around the academy for a bit and won't keep you here."
Xuan Zi was still brooding over Su Ming's having sneaked away one of his treasured braised chicken drumsticks earlier. His face was drawn, his expression full of anger. He waved Su Ming off irritably and scolded him in a disgruntled tone:
"Shoo, shoo, shoo! You loaf around all day and never do anything useful. You just hole up in your room tinkering with that scrap metal, and I've yet to see you make anything of it!"
At that, Su Ming merely lifted the corners of his lips and smiled calmly. He didn't argue with Xuan Zi or offer an explanation. He simply started walking toward Shrek's Sea God Lake.
He didn't plan to return to his lodgings to cultivate just yet. His thoughts were tangled, so he might as well clear his head by the lake and enjoy Shrek's beautiful scenery. Watching the rippling waters and lush trees might help him quiet his mind and find fresh inspiration and ideas for the continued crafting and development of Armor Beasts.
Before long, Su Ming reached the magnificent Sea God Lake. A breeze swept across its surface, stirring up layer upon layer of ripples. The emerald waters stretched beyond sight, and the air was filled with fresh, moist vapor that soothed the body and mind.
He looked into the distance, his gaze settling on Sea God Island at the lake's center. The towering Golden Ancient Tree stood in the middle of the island, its trunk straight and its branches lush. Specks of golden light lingered around it, radiating a vast, vigorous aura of life. It was the foundation of life for all of Shrek Academy—and the very core of the Douluo Plane.
Su Ming's gaze darkened, and he sneered inwardly.
He knew better than anyone that the core essence of this Golden Ancient Tree, which bore the life force of the plane, was slowly being devoured and replaced by Tang San's mother, Ah Yin. The position of Plane Master of Douluo Continent was also about to be firmly seized by Tang San's father, Tang Hao.
The entire Douluo Continent, the life force and foundations of the whole plane, were being devoured bit by bit by the Tang family until nothing remained. They were stripping it bare, leaving not a single scrap behind.
"Good grief, they're wiping it out completely, gobbling up the whole inheritance! This Great God King Tang is truly ruthless, not leaving the Douluo Plane even the slightest way out!" Su Ming murmured, a flash of anger and grim determination flickering in his eyes.
Just as he lowered his head in thought, silently plotting how to gradually dismantle Tang San's plans and protect the Douluo Plane—
Out of the corner of his eye, he suddenly spotted a glaring mass of crimson fire blazing over the distant horizon. A massive fireball streaked rapidly through the sky, trailing scorching waves of heat.
At first, Su Ming paid it no mind. He assumed it was a senior Soul Master from the academy practicing by the lake and using a Soul Skill. Shrek students often sparred and trained; it was nothing unusual.
But as time passed, the fireball grew larger and the scorching heat grew more oppressive. It carried a wild, violent, and invasive aura of evil. Not only did it not fade, it came charging toward him at a furious pace, its speed astonishing and its momentum terrifying.
Only then did Su Ming's expression darken as he sensed something was wrong. This was no ordinary Soul Skill. It contained an extreme, unnatural, and frenzied power: the power of Evil Fire gone out of control!
Without the slightest hesitation, Su Ming's gaze turned sharp. A golden radiance surged around him, and the thick power of metal swept over his body. He shouted in a low voice:
Snow Mastiff Armor, assemble!
Brilliant golden light surged, carrying the overwhelming pressure of Ultimate Gold. Silver and gold intertwined as armor instantly covered his body. Its hard, heavy plating guarded him from head to toe, sharp and imposing. Snow Mastiff Armor had fully assembled, and Su Ming entered battle mode in an instant.