Shrek Academy, early morning.
Sea God Island is bathed in the pale golden morning light. Usually at this time, diligent students have begun morning exercises, and the birds in the forest are chirping crisply, showing an unusual vitality.
But today, an invisible sense of depression enveloped the entire island, especially the core area under the towering Golden Ancient Tree, which was so quiet that it was disturbing.
A cyan figure stood under the outer corridor of the Sea God Pavilion and did not go in immediately. She looked at a preliminary analysis report on last night's energy fluctuations in her hand - it was based on the observations of Mu En and about the outrageous energy level of the Medical Pavilion's soul guide fleet main gun, which made her fingertips go cold.
As the dean of the Soul Guidance Department, she knows better than anyone else that Soul Guidance Technology, which Shrek has "exhausted all resources" and studied for hundreds of years, is like a toddler in front of that glimpse of creation.
"This technical generation gap..."
Xian Lin'er chewed the word silently, a feeling of shock, unwillingness and deep worry stuck in his chest.
Just last night, the teacher's solemn spiritual message directly exploded in the sea of consciousness between her and Yan Shaozhe, Qian Duoduo. It was as brief but as heavy as Qian Jun:
"Jin Yu was severely injured by Evil Soul Master on the Mingdou Mountain Range, and his life was in danger. Beast God Di Tian came in person and wanted to take him away. Xuan Zi has been defeated, the matter is urgent, prepare 'Cinderflame Dragon Might', Sea God Pavilion... or you may have to fight to the death with Star Dou Forest."
At that moment, her blood almost froze. She prepared "Cinderflame Dragon Might" - that was the trump card given to the academy by her junior brother, symbolizing absolute deterrence. The teacher was actually prepared for the worst-case scenario of dying together!
She and Qian Duoduo didn't even have time to exchange a look, and completed the combat readiness activation program for the special Soul Tool as quickly as possible. During the process, her hands were steady, but her heart continued to sink.
They Shrek were actually forced into a situation where they needed to rely on the "gifts" left by their disciples to fight to the death...
And everything that happened next completely overturned her understanding. The fleet that arrived across space, the emerald-haired dragon girl who defeated Beast God Di Tian with just her breath...
"We are still racking our brains for the stability of the eighth-level Fixed Soul Cannon Shell, but they... can already teleport a battleship of that size like origami. Junior brother, you, the 'Lord of the Medical Pavilion', have hidden... too deeply."
She pushed open the heavy attic door.
In the pavilion, the light shines through the ancient window lattice, casting mottled and stagnant light and shadow on the ground. The usual scent of tea is nowhere to be seen, the air is filled with depression, and even the dust seems to have slowed down. The important elders are almost gathered, but no one talks.
Her eyes first fell on Xuan Zi. Taotie Douluo, who was usually bold and unruly and had an amazing appetite, was now like a tarnished clay sculpture, lying stiffly on a special healing chair. His face was pale and his breath was listless. His eyes were staring straight at the dome, and there was no longer any fighting spirit in it. Or greedy, leaving only the near-dead silence of frustration and self-blame that Xian Lin'er has never seen before. Elder Zhuang is continuing to treat Xuan Zi, and the emerald green life Soul Power is slowly flowing, but it is difficult to heal the depression in his heart.
Yes.
One blow, just one blow.
The second strongest man in the academy was seriously injured by Di Tian. This was a devastating blow to Xuan Zi personally and to the confidence of all Shrek.
No wonder the teacher asked them to prepare the "Level 9 Fixed Soul Guidance Shell" immediately. If the dragon girl hadn't appeared out of nowhere, just them and a cannonball... the consequences, Xian Lin'er didn't dare to think about it.
On the main seat, Mu En's face looked older than usual, and his eyes that had seen everything in the world concealed inextricable fatigue and worry. His skinny fingers unconsciously rubbed the handrails, and his gaze looked outside the pavilion, as if he could penetrate the wall and see the building that stood calmly in the west of the city, but at this moment, it made the entire Shrek senior management restless - Yanhuang Lingyun Medical Mansion.
Xian Lin'er knows that the teacher's fatigue is definitely not from the body - he did not really take action in the confrontation with Di Tian last night.
This fatigue stems from something deeper: anxiety about the safety of the disciples, inability to control the situation, and a deep fear of "Medical Pavilion" and the "emerald-haired dragon girl".
Qian Duoduo sat in his usual position, shaking his head slightly at her, with the same heavy eyes. The other elders had either faces as heavy as water, or eyes with worries.
Xian Lin'er silently walked to her seat and sat down. She gently placed the cold report on the table. There was far more to discuss today than just one report.
One night passed.
Long Jinyu... That amazingly talented child, is he awake? How is his recovery? Those eyes... were so bright when he was teaching... Can he still open them now?"
Who is that graceful and graceful dragon girl who suppressed the entire audience? Is she a friend or an enemy? What kind of force is behind her? The legendary Nine-Colored Dragon Valley? How will they view Shrek's behavior of "poor protection" or even "exploitation and arrangement" of their young master?
And Shrek, the eternal glory, the lighthouse of the mainland, after the scars of "inability to protect", "backward technology" and "arrogant decision-making" were torn open overnight, how should we deal with it? How should we face the upcoming "negotiation" that may be the most complicated since the establishment of the institute? How should we face the "parent" and regain the trust of the disciples?
Every problem is like a huge stone weighing on the hearts of these strong men who stand at the top of the continent.
The morning light moved inch by inch, shining into the Sea God Pavilion, but it could not dispel the growing solemnity and uneasiness.
Still no one in the cabinet spoke.
But everyone knows that the silence will end soon.
Xian Lin'er lowered his eyes, and his fingertips gently brushed the Medical Pavilion emblem in his pocket.
This is the "passport" that Long Jinyu gave to the Soul Guidance Department before, saying that it is convenient for senior sister to go to the Medical Pavilion to exchange technology at any time.
She suddenly remembered that when her junior brother came to visit Soul Guidance Department for the first time, he showed a gentle and admiring smile in front of the display racks at the "contemporary masterpieces" that she was proud of.
What was he thinking at the time?
Will he feel... Shrek Soul Tool Department, like a group of children planting flags in a sandcastle seriously and announcing to the tide that "this is our territory"?
That smile was fixed in her mind for a long time.
She remembered that she rarely talked much that day, and she led him through the cabinets of Soul Tool, telling him about the posthumous manuscripts of past researchers to the embarrassing story of Qian Duoduo blowing through the roof when he was young. He listened very carefully, and the questions he asked were also tricky - not the "so awesome" that layman's pretense, but the kind of itch that can really be felt in the joints.
She thought at the time: If this child had been born decades earlier, why would Soul Guidance Department worry about having no one?
Only now did she understand that the answers to the questions he asked might have been found in Dragon Valley's library before she was six years old. He just didn't want to disappoint her.
--Just like when she later carefully brought the "Cinderflame Dragon Might" into the secret warehouse, he smiled and said, "Sister, we call this a 'toy' here."
She thought it was the modesty of young people.
It turned out that it was really a "toy".