"You want to leave? Fine. I can prove myself just as well somewhere else."
Tang San stood in the center of the Training Ground. Most of one sleeve was empty, but he held his body steady.
Yu Xiaogang seized the opportunity and took half a step forward.
"Teacher Zhao, Tang San's talent would truly be wasted if he stayed at Notting."
Teacher Zhao clutched the register, sweat still glistening on his forehead.
"Teacher Yu, transferring out is allowed, but the academy has procedures to follow."
Ning Rongrong folded her arms and cut in.
"What procedures? A procedure for checking Poison Needles?"
Xiao Wu nodded at once.
"Exactly. First, check all the things of his that fly around."
Tang San ignored them and turned his attention to Su Hang.
"Since you suggested leaving together, where are you planning to go?"
The students by the Training Ground fell quiet, too.
That was the question that mattered.
Notting Academy was only a junior academy. There were plenty of advanced academies elsewhere, but few would take these little troublemakers.
Su Hang raised a hand and brushed grass off his clothes.
"Shrek."
Yu Xiaogang paused.
Teacher Zhao was taken aback for a moment, too.
"Shrek Academy? The one outside Suotuo City?"
Xiao Chenyu leaned toward Wang Sheng.
"Is that academy any good?"
Wang Sheng took a bite of his flatbread and mumbled, "The name sounds intimidating. Is the tuition expensive?"
Ning Rongrong immediately turned to Su Hang.
"You're going to Shrek?"
Xiao Wu edged closer, too.
"Brother Su Hang, what's so good about it?"
Su Hang looked toward the road beyond the Training Ground.
"That's where a bunch of interesting people will gather."
Ning Rongrong gave a soft snort.
"Interesting? Will the sausage seller be there, too?"
Xiao Wu grew wary at once.
"You're still thinking about that sausage seller?"
Ning Rongrong was momentarily stumped.
"I'm thinking about what the diary said. Don't go putting words in my mouth."
Yu Xiaogang clasped his hands behind his back, finally recovering some confidence.
"Shrek really is suited to monsters."
Tang San turned to him.
"Teacher, you know the place?"
Yu Xiaogang nodded.
"Dean Flender is an old acquaintance of mine. Zhao Wuji is in charge of practical combat there, too."
Teacher Zhao quickly added, "But Shrek is very strict about admissions. There are hard requirements for age and Soul Power."
Ning Rongrong lifted her chin.
"How strict?"
Teacher Zhao flipped through the register.
"The first test checks age and Soul Power. The second tests Soul Power purity and Martial Soul. The third checks control over one's Martial Soul. The fourth is the hardest: you have to last a stick of incense under a Soul Saint."
The flatbread in Xiao Chenyu's hand stopped halfway to his mouth.
"A Soul Saint? Is this an entrance exam or a test of who's hardest to kill?"
Wang Sheng jumped right in.
"Don't even think of going. You couldn't take one of Boss Su's lightning kicks."
Xiao Chenyu glared at him.
"I never said I was going!"
As soon as Xiao Wu heard that, she grabbed Su Hang's sleeve.
"Brother Su Hang, wherever you go, I'll go."
Ning Rongrong slapped the Seven Treasures Token against her waist.
"I'm going, too."
Xiao Wu immediately turned to her.
"What are you going for?"
Ning Rongrong replied without missing a beat.
"I want to see the future for myself—and find out what the sausage seller looks like."
Xiao Wu kicked a chair leg aside.
"Look at him if you want, but don't get too close to Brother Su Hang."
Ning Rongrong gave a soft snort.
"I don't need a rabbit telling me who to go with."
Ning Chuan had a headache just listening to them.
"Miss, the Sect Master hasn't replied yet."
Ning Rongrong waved a hand.
"Go pass along the message. I'll stay with Su Hang for now."
Ning Chuan tried to dissuade her.
"Miss, Suotuo City is far away, and things at Shrek are complicated."
Su Hang glanced over at him.
"Have the Seven Treasures Secret Line watch over her from a distance. Don't stick too close."
Ning Chuan paused.
"Little Friend Su, you certainly know how to assign people from the Seven Treasures Sect."
Ning Rongrong stepped right in front of him.
"Uncle Ning Chuan, do as he says."
Xiao Wu glanced at her and, unusually, didn't snap back.
Teacher Zhao closed the register.
"If you really intend to leave, I'll report it to the dean. We can provide your test results and letters of recommendation."
Yu Xiaogang looked at Tang San.
"Get ready. Shrek's tests will give you a chance to prove yourself as a control-type Spirit Master all over again."
Tang San lowered his gaze to his mostly empty sleeve.
"I'll make up for my mistake."
Su Hang headed toward the academy gate.
"Let's see whether you make up for it quickly—or lose more."
Xiao Chenyu burst out laughing.
"Boss Su's line stings, but he's not wrong."
Wang Sheng swallowed his flatbread.
"More accurate than Tang San's Fine Needles."
The Training Ground erupted in laughter again.
That night, Xiao Chenyu's little courtyard fell quiet.
Xiao Wu leaned over the stone table and watched Su Hang open his diary.
"Writing about Shrek tonight?"
Su Hang picked up his pen.
"Yeah."
Ning Rongrong came out of the side room in an outer robe, pretending she'd just happened to pass by.
"I'm only getting a drink. I'm not trying to sneak a look."
Xiao Wu called her out immediately.
"You don't even have a cup."
Ning Rongrong turned and walked away.
"I'm getting one now."
Su Hang paid them no mind. His pen touched the page.
[The Notting arc is about ready to wrap up.]
[Tang San wants to switch maps and turn things around, while Yu Xiaogang wants to use his connections at Shrek to win back the face he lost today.]
[Too bad for them. Once the Shrek arc begins, the real trouble will only just be starting.]
[Dai Mubai, Oscar, Ma Hongjun, Zhu Zhuqing, Ning Rongrong—those names will all appear one after another.]
[Originally, Tang San would gather the so-called Seven Devils there, scooping up resources and good fortune all the way.]
[But the timeline has moved up. Those people might not be able to keep to the original schedule.]
His pen paused, then continued.
[The one who has it worst is Zhu Zhuqing.]
[With a marriage pact to the Star Luo Imperial Family hanging over her, she trains desperately and runs for her life, just hoping to fight her way toward a future of her own.]
[Meanwhile, her fiancé, Dai Mubai, has already run off to Suotuo City to indulge in wine and women.]
[One struggles on the edge of life and death, while the other rots in a soft bed of pleasures.]
[Anyone who sees that marriage pact would see red.]
In the side room, Ning Rongrong sat up, clutching her blanket.
The diary's copy glowed as she flipped through it page by page.
When she saw that she would originally have joined Shrek, she bit the edge of her blanket.
When she saw Oscar's name, she immediately pulled the blanket higher.
"So the sausage seller really is at Shrek?"
Then she reached the part about Zhu Zhuqing and stopped.
"Dai Mubai? A Star Luo marriage pact? This is outrageous."
In Pope Palace, Spirit City.
Bibi Dong closed the diary's copy, her fingertip resting beside the words "Shrek."
Chrysanthemum Douluo stood before her, his robes immaculate.
"Your Holiness the Pope, should we bring Su Hang back to Spirit City?"
Bibi Dong raised a hand.
"Keep watching what happens at Notting. Don't alert them."
Chrysanthemum Douluo bowed his head in acknowledgment.
"This subordinate understands."
Bibi Dong opened a sealed letter. The name Tang San had been circled in ink.
"Keep an eye on Tang San, too—especially on Yu Xiaogang's contact with Shrek."
At Heaven Dou East Palace.
Qian Renxue leaned against the window, holding the diary's copy in her hand.
When she read about Zhu Zhuqing's marriage pact with Dai Mubai, she tapped the table lightly.
"The Star Luo Imperial Family will be thrown into turmoil, too."
Snake Lance Douluo stood in the shadows.
"Your Highness, should we intervene?"
Qian Renxue set down the copy.
"Wait and see. Since Su Hang has singled out Zhu Zhuqing, this thread is bound to move sooner or later."
At the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.
Ning Fengzhi finished reading Ning Chuan's report and tapped his fingers twice on the tabletop.
Chen Xin stood beside him.
"Are you still going to let Rongrong stay?"
Ning Fengzhi folded the letter.
"Let her stay."
Gu Rong immediately frowned.
"Fengzhi, are you really sure?" Ning Fengzhi looked out the window.
"She'd chosen her own path for the first time. The Seven Treasures Secret Line only needs to keep watch from afar."
Chen Xin nodded.
"Keep investigating Su Hang?"
Ning Fengzhi picked up another intelligence report.
"Investigate, but don't touch him."
The Star Luo Empire, a quiet courtyard in the Zhu Family estate.
Zhu Zhuqing finished her night training, sweat still clinging to her skin.
The room was dimly lit, but a diary with a gilt cover lay on the table.
She stopped at the doorway, then approached after a moment.
A line of writing appeared on the cover.
[Su Hang's Diary, Zhu Zhuqing's Exclusive Copy]
Zhu Zhuqing raised a hand and opened to the first page. The pages turned on their own, stopping at the latest entry.
The name Dai Mubai fell right before her eyes.
After reading that passage, she pressed her fingertips against the edge of the page.
"Su Hang's diary?"
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