When Love Has Lasted Long

Lying back in his chair, Mu En took a leisurely sip of tea, quietly taking in the expressions of surprise and confusion on everyone's faces.

Once they realized the implications of what Mu En had said, Yan Shaozhe and the others had all but shut their mouths in resignation.

After all, setting aside the fact that Mu En's decisions were rarely wrong, even Elder Lin, Elder Song, and Elder Zhuang—nearly all of the "Elder generation"—wore expressions of calm composure.

It was clear that they were well aware of this matter; they might even have discussed and decided upon it together.

In fact, that was precisely the case.

Since the most prestigious and respected elders had all agreed, what point was there in them refusing?

There was no point.

Having realized this, the four of them, including Yan Shaozhe, essentially adopted an attitude of resignation.

Seeing this, Mu En cleared his throat, about to speak, but someone else spoke faster than him.

"Elder Mu, do you think it's possible this kid is a spy sent to our Shrek by another faction?"

"..."

As soon as these words were spoken, everyone fell silent. They turned their heads in unison, staring at Elder Xuan—Xuan Zi—who had uttered the remark, their faces filled with indescribable expressions.

Mu En turned his head, took a deep look at Xuan Zi, and closed his eyes, his heart filled with frustration at his lack of progress.

Xuan Zi's martial soul was the Gluttonous Divine Ox, a super martial soul possessing a trace of the Gluttonous bloodline.

Logically speaking, with such talent, he should have become a Limit Douluo long ago at over two hundred years old.

But what was the reality?

This old fellow spent his days doing nothing but eating and drinking, calling it "cultivating his martial soul," but in reality?

He ate and drank plenty, yet his strength showed no improvement, forever stuck at level 98, unable to advance an inch.

Returning to the topic Xuan Zi had raised: could Xue Mingqing be an undercover agent sent by another faction?

Regarding this assertion, Mu En found it nothing short of laughable.

For such a monstrous genius, which faction wouldn't hold him in their mouths for fear of him melting, or cradle him in their palms for fear of him falling?

To put it bluntly, if such a genius were truly born, let alone feeding him well and providing all kinds of cultivation resources, who would be willing to let him go out on some nonsense undercover mission? Weren't they afraid he'd be assassinated or targeted by other factions?

(Of course, excluding Qian Renxue of Spirit Hall ten thousand years ago; that was purely a case of her own poor judgment combined with Bibi Dong's deliberate arrangement.)

Besides, coming back to the point.

If he had a choice, Mu En wouldn't want to make this decision so early, but the problem was, he had no choice.

His own time was running out, and having finally found a promising seedling capable of achieving greatness in his lifetime, how could he not grasp it firmly?

As for why he didn't choose Xuan Zi or Yan Shaozhe, but instead chose to cultivate a strange child?

Forget about Xuan Zi; Mu En didn't want to talk about it. His heart was tired.

As for Yan Shaozhe.

Lifting his eyes, Mu En glanced at his own unpromising disciple and felt a headache coming on...

Despite being of the Light attribute, he lacked the magnanimity that light should possess, being instead petty and narrow-minded.

He looked down upon the development of soul tools, yet he himself was not powerful enough to disregard them entirely.

His talent was decent, but his character was not up to the task. If he couldn't change, he would reach his limit at level 95 or 96.

If Mu En were to truly entrust the future of Shrek to them, he feared that in less than three generations, Shrek would decline.

With a long sigh, Mu En rubbed his brow. He had no other choice, so he had to take a gamble.

Or perhaps, in the original story, his choice of Huo Yuhao was also a gamble, wasn't it?

Ignoring Xuan Zi's heaven-defying remark, Mu En spoke again.

"I have made the stakes clear to you all. Now, let us vote. I propose that we tilt resources toward Xue Mingqing and establish him as the successor to the Sea God Pavilion for the next generation."

Having said this, Mu En took the lead and raised his hand. Seeing him raise his hand, Elder Song, Elder Lin, and Elder Zhuang—who had already discussed it—all raised their hands in unison.

And Elder Xuan, after a moment of silence, slowly raised his hand as well.

Xian Lin'er and Qian Duoduo exchanged glances and then frankly raised their hands in agreement.

After all, they were from the Soul Tool Department; the change of the Sea God Pavilion Master didn't have much to do with them.

Cai Mei'er, the Vice Dean of the Martial Soul Department, also readily agreed after a moment of thought.

In the end, there was only one person present who neither agreed nor refused.

And that was Yan Shaozhe.

Noticing that Yan Shaozhe's mood was off, Cai Mei'er sighed softly. She gently gripped Yan Shaozhe's tightly clenched hand under the table to offer comfort.

To this, Yan Shaozhe only kept his head lowered in silence.

Watching the silent, head-bowed Yan Shaozhe, Mu En closed his eyes and let out a long sigh.

"This matter is decided. Now, let us discuss the first round of resource allocation and the arrangement of a guardian."

The meeting lasted a long time. As it turned out, Mu En was no reckless gambler; he did not blindly stake all his resources on Xue Mingqing, but instead allocated a generous first round of resources to test the waters.

If Xue Mingqing could handle them and transform them into his own talent and strength, then the subsequent resources would only increase.

But if Xue Mingqing failed to handle them, then sorry—not only would the resource allocation be revoked, but the matter of him being the successor to the Sea God Pavilion would also be off the table.

Fortunately, Xue Mingqing was unaware of this information for now, so there would be no shame in backing out.

As for the guardian arranged for Xue Mingqing, the elders of the Sea God Pavilion deliberated for a long time, unable to rest easy leaving Xue Mingqing in anyone else's care.

In the end, one of the resident elders, Song Yunzhi—Elder Song, the mother of Xian Lin'er and a level 97 Agility Attack System Super Douluo—volunteered to become Xue Mingqing's guardian, which finally brought the matter to a close.

In summary, the resources were his, the opportunity was his, and the bodyguard was his; whether he could seize the chance to become the Prince of Shrek depended entirely on whether Xue Mingqing was capable enough.

Outside the Sea God Pavilion, in a pavilion.

Against the setting sun, which cast a golden glow of shattered stars across the surface of Sea God Lake, Xue Mingqing's gaze was profound and gentle.

He looked toward the boundless horizon and slowly finished the last line of "Magpie Bridge Immortal."

"If the two hearts are one for eternity, why need they stay together, day after day..."

Turning his head, he wore the gentle smile of a youth.

"How about it, Sister Yurong? Not a bad story, right?"

Behind Xue Mingqing, Ning Yurong sat on a stone bench, her beautiful crimson eyes staring blankly at him.

Under the shattered radiance of the setting sun, Xue Mingqing's short black-gray hair reflected tiny specks of golden light...

The soft afterglow only served to make his features appear even more handsome.

He had sharp, sword-like brows, yet possessed a pair of gentle peach-blossom eyes, and beneath a straight bridge of a nose were thin, light lips.

His stature was neither tall nor short, appearing slightly slender but not frail, and he always carried an elegant and easygoing temperament, as free and unconstrained as a scholar-poet wandering the world with a sword.

Gazing into Xue Mingqing's eyes, which were dark yet filled with brilliant, shattered stars, the tips of Ning Yurong's ears turned red.

Instinctively averting her gaze, she nodded: "Not a bad story... If the two hearts are one for eternity... why need they stay together, day after day..."

"Mm, it is quite a good story..."

Hearing this, Xue Mingqing smiled indifferently: "As long as you like it. I was worried that I had talked for too long and you would find it tedious."

Ning Yurong slowly turned her gaze back to the youth in the sunset, her lips pursed.

"Actually..."