Lying back in his chair, Mu En leisurely took a sip of tea, quietly taking in the crowd's expressions—some surprised, others confused.
After realizing what Mu En's words actually meant, Yan Shaozhe and the others nearly all fell silent in tacit acceptance.
After all, setting aside the fact that Mu En's decisions had basically never been wrong, Elder Lin, Elder Song, Elder Zhuang, and nearly all the "elder-generation" members were wearing calm, knowing expressions.
It was obvious that they all understood the matter perfectly. Perhaps they had even discussed and decided it together.
In fact, that was exactly what had happened.
Since the most respected elders had all agreed, what meaning was there in refusing?
None.
Once they understood that, Yan Shaozhe and the other three wore expressions of tacit acceptance as well.
Seeing this, Mu En coughed and was about to speak, but someone beat him to it.
"Elder Mu, do you think this kid could be a spy sent to Shrek by another faction?"
"..."
The moment those words left his mouth, everyone fell silent. They all turned to stare at Xuan Zi, who had spoken, their faces filled with indescribable expressions.
Mu En turned his head and gave Xuan Zi a deep look. Then he closed his eyes, his heart filled with exasperation at the failure of his disciple to live up to expectations.
Xuan Zi's martial soul was the Godly Taotie Bull, a Super Martial Soul that possessed a trace of Taotie bloodline.
By rights, with such talent, he should have become a Limit Douluo long ago, despite being over two hundred years old.
But what was the reality?
That old rascal spent all day eating and drinking, calling it cultivating his martial soul. But in truth?
He certainly ate and drank plenty, yet his strength had barely improved at all. He had remained stuck at Rank 98, unable to advance even an inch.
Returning to the topic Xuan Zi had raised: could Xue Mingqing be a spy sent by another faction?
Mu En found the notion utterly laughable.
With a monstrous genius like this, which faction wouldn't hold him in its mouth for fear of melting, or cradle him in its palm for fear of dropping him?
To put it bluntly, if such a genius truly appeared, they would be pampered with the finest food and drink and supplied with every cultivation resource available. Who would be willing to send him out on some ridiculous espionage mission? Would they really not fear another faction assassinating him or setting its sights on him?
(Of course, this excluded Qian Renxue of the Spirit Hall ten thousand years ago. That was purely because she had poor judgment, compounded by Bibi Dong's deliberate arrangements.)
Besides, now that he thought about it—
If he had a choice, Mu En actually would not have wanted to make a decision so early. The problem was that he had no choice.
He did not have much time left. After finally finding a promising young talent capable of achieving greatness during his lifetime, how could he fail to seize him firmly?
As for why he did not choose Xuan Zi or Yan Shaozhe, instead opting to nurture an unfamiliar child—
Xuan Zi could be left out of consideration. Mu En did not even want to talk about him anymore. He was exhausted just thinking about it.
As for Yan Shaozhe—
Mu En raised his eyes and glanced at this disappointing disciple of his, feeling a headache coming on...
As a member of the light element, he possessed none of the breadth of mind and magnanimity that light should represent. Instead, he was narrow-minded and petty.
He looked down on the development of Soul Tools, yet he himself was nowhere near powerful enough to disregard all Soul Tools.
His talent was decent, but his character was not suited for great responsibility. If he could not change, then Rank 95 or 96 would be the peak of his life.
If Mu En truly entrusted Shrek's future to them, Shrek would probably decline within no more than three generations.
With a long sigh, Mu En rubbed his brow. He had no choice left, so all he could do was stake everything on one final gamble.
Or rather, hadn't his choice of Huo Yuhao in the original story also been a gamble?
Ignoring Xuan Zi's outrageous remark, Mu En spoke again.
"Now that I've explained the importance of this matter, let's vote. I propose that we tilt our resources toward Xue Mingqing and establish him as the next-generation heir to the Sea God Pavilion."
After speaking, Mu En raised his hand first. Seeing him do so, Elder Song, Elder Lin, and Elder Zhuang—all of whom had already discussed the matter—raised their hands together.
Xuan Zi also slowly raised his hand after a moment of silence.
Xian Lin'er and Qian Duoduo exchanged a glance before calmly raising their hands in agreement.
After all, they belonged to the soul tool branch. Whoever became the Sea God Pavilion Master would have little effect on their relationship with the pavilion.
After thinking for a moment, Cai Mei'er, the vice dean of the martial soul branch, also readily agreed.
In the end, there was only one person present who neither agreed nor refused.
That person was Yan Shaozhe.
Noticing that something was wrong with Yan Shaozhe's emotions, Cai Mei'er sighed softly. She gently took hold of his tightly clenched hand beneath the table in consolation.
Yan Shaozhe merely lowered his head and continued to remain silent.
Looking at the silent Yan Shaozhe, Mu En closed his eyes and let out a long sigh.
"That matter is settled, then. Let's discuss the first round of resource allocation and the arrangements for his protector."
The meeting lasted a long time. As it turned out, Mu En was not a mindless gambler. He did not blindly stake all of Shrek's resources on Xue Mingqing, but instead allocated a generous first round of resources as a test.
If Xue Mingqing could withstand it and turn those resources into talent and strength of his own, the resources he received afterward would only increase.
But if Xue Mingqing failed to withstand it, then unfortunately, not only would the resource allocation end, but the matter of his becoming the next-generation heir to the Sea God Pavilion would also be scrapped.
Fortunately, Xue Mingqing did not know about this yet, so retracting the decision would not be embarrassing.
As for the protector assigned to Xue Mingqing, the elders of the Sea God Pavilion discussed it for a long time, yet none of them felt comfortable entrusting Xue Mingqing to someone else's care.
In the end, Song Yunzhi—one of the pavilion's elders, Elder Song, Xian Lin'er's mother, and a Rank 97 Agility-Attack-type Super Douluo—volunteered to become Xue Mingqing's protector. Only then did the matter come to an end.
In summary, he had been given the resources, the opportunity, and the bodyguard. Whether he could seize the chance to become Shrek's crown prince depended entirely on whether Xue Mingqing himself was capable enough.
Outside the Sea God Pavilion, in a pavilion.
Bathed in the setting sun, which cast a glittering golden radiance over Sea God Lake, Xue Mingqing's gaze was distant yet gentle.
Looking toward the endless horizon, he slowly finished the final line of Magpie Bridge Immortal.
"If two hearts remain together for a long time, what need is there to stay together day after day..."
He turned around with the gentle smile of a young man.
"How was it, Sister Yu Rong? Not a bad story, right?"
Behind Xue Mingqing, Ning Yurong sat on a stone bench, her pair of crimson eyes staring blankly at him.
Under the sunset's scattered radiance, the black-and-gray strands of Xue Mingqing's short hair reflected specks of golden light...
The gentle afterglow made his already handsome features appear even more striking.
His brows were sharp like drawn swords, yet beneath them lay a pair of tender, peach-blossom eyes. Below his straight nose were thin, lightly curved lips.
He was neither tall nor short, and although his build was slightly lean, he did not appear frail. He always carried an elegant, easygoing air, like a scholar wandering the world with a sword at his side—free and unrestrained.
Looking at Xue Mingqing's dark eyes, which held the brilliance of scattered stars, Ning Yurong's ears flushed red.
She instinctively looked away and nodded. "It was a pretty good story... If two hearts remain together for a long time... what need is there to stay together day after day..."
"Mmm, it was a pretty good story..."
At that, Xue Mingqing smiled faintly. "I'm glad you liked it. I was worried I'd made it too long and that you would find it tedious."
Ning Yurong slowly turned her gaze back to the young man beneath the setting sun and pressed her lips together.
"Actually..."
Before you continue