Reserve Team? Whoever Wants to Go, Go

Mu En's voice lingered by Jiang Yue's ear, gentle and calm, as though he were discussing something insignificant. Then again, to Mu En, the master of the Sea God Pavilion, let alone a reserve team, even the main team was indeed a trivial matter.

"Senior, I don't think you're an ordinary old man, are you? In the entire academy, aside from you at the entrance to the student dormitories, there isn't a second person who can lie around so freely within Shrek Academy."

"When you were young—or perhaps even now—you must have been an important figure in Shrek Academy. Either you possess tremendous strength, or you've made irreplaceable contributions to the academy. Otherwise, I don't think you could possibly be here, right?"

"Haha, quite clever. You actually noticed that. None of the other students have thought that far, though what you said isn't wrong. But why are you suddenly asking this? You still haven't answered this old man's question."

"Do you want to participate in the Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Soul Dueling Tournament? You should go see the other geniuses on this continent. Staying in the academy and cultivating day after day won't make you strong. You have to get out and see the world more."

Mu En did not deny Jiang Yue's guess. Perhaps others would not notice such a detail, but from the moment he met Jiang Yue, Mu En had already been mentally prepared.

Besides, an old man like him being able to sun himself so freely in front of Shrek Academy's dormitory building was more or less exactly as Jiang Yue had surmised.

He was the current master of the Sea God Pavilion, the Dragon God Douluo who had once shaken the continent. If his spine had not been broken, and if the violent aura within the Dragon Pill had not continuously eroded his life force, then with the cultivation of an Ultimate Douluo, how could he possibly look like he might die at any moment at this age?

Of course, in Mu En's eyes, ending up like this was also punishment for his own carelessness. When his spine had been shattered, he had already been close to death. He had relied on the Dragon Pill to break through to Ultimate Douluo, but he had never expected that the Dragon Pill he had nourished with Soul Power for so many years still contained deeply hidden violent energy. That was how he had fallen victim to it.

After becoming like this, Mu En had entered a semi-retired state. Many Sea God Pavilion affairs no longer required his personal attention. Of course, that did not mean Mu En had lost his authority within the Sea God Pavilion.

At the end of the day, Douluo Continent was still a fantasy world, where the strongest fist had the final say. Mu En's Ultimate Douluo cultivation was there for all to see. As long as he was alive, no one could possibly sideline him.

Many students paid no attention to the old man who did nothing but lie in front of the dormitory building and sun himself. Some students with influential backgrounds might have long guessed that Mu En was no ordinary man, but not a single one had tried to approach this old man who looked as though he could die at any time.

"From your expression, it seems you don't want to participate in the Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Soul Dueling Tournament?"

"A little. I really don't want to go. It feels like it would only waste my time. Training with the reserve team won't do me any good. With my current cultivation and age, even if I simply stayed in the academy and meditated diligently for the next five years, I'd most likely reach the level of a high-rank Soul Emperor by then."

"If I truly competed, that cultivation would be enough for me to crush the entire tournament by myself. What would I do as a reserve team member? Fight opponents at the same level? Senior, you've already sensed my spiritual power, haven't you? Do you think anyone at the same level could be my opponent?"

"No. This old man does not believe anyone can reach your level of strength at the age of twelve. Even compared to this old man in his youth, your talent surpasses mine."

"Exactly. Quite a few members of the main teams from other academies are Soul Ancestors now, but the problem is that they'll be too old to participate in the next tournament. Since they won't be competitors in the next tournament, they won't become my opponents."

"Why should I expose my abilities? If I compete five years from now, I can completely catch them off guard."

A twelve-year-old Soul Ancestor, four Soul Rings beyond the usual limit, spiritual power far beyond those at the same rank, and a sword martial soul whose quality was absolutely no lower than the legendary Seven Kill Sword—Mu En did not believe he could find anyone among Jiang Yue's peers with comparable strength.

Even Mu En himself, despite relying on Shrek Academy's internal resources back then, had only obtained a yellow second Soul Ring. Naturally, he understood the difficulty of a thousand-year second ring and a ten-thousand-year fourth ring. Even the Sea God Tang San, who was said to be the first to achieve a ten-thousand-year fourth ring, had only managed it after consuming legendary immortal medicinal herbs.

"Besides, old man, you've forgotten the most crucial point. I don't meet the requirements at all. I can't go to the tournament."

"What? This old man doesn't think I've forgotten anything. The tournament's age requirement is simply that participants must be Soul Master Academy students under twenty. What, are you going to tell this old man that you're already twenty-one?"

Mu En was intrigued and wanted to hear what Jiang Yue could say.

"I'm only twelve, of course. I suppose Senior is simply too old and has already forgotten Shrek Academy's rules."

"I investigated before. Among the students from the previous few years who could be found representing Shrek Academy, eighty percent of them had advanced directly from the reserve team to the main team."

"They generally joined the reserve team at fourteen or fifteen. Forget twelve-year-olds—there were pitifully few thirteen-year-old students as well."

"From that, one can infer that Shrek Academy does not select reserve team members from second-year students at all. They likely select them from core disciples in the third year and above."

"As for the benefits of doing that, they're obvious. The closer one is to fifteen while on the reserve team, the closer one will be to twenty during the second tournament. In the early stages of a Soul Master's career, an age gap is difficult to overcome. Given two equally talented geniuses, before reaching the peak, a twenty-year-old genius will naturally be stronger than a seventeen-year-old genius under normal circumstances."

"I won't even become a second-year student until I pass tomorrow's advancement assessment. No matter how you look at it, it can't be my turn, can it?"

Hearing Jiang Yue's words, Mu En fell silent for a moment. Selecting reserve team members from core disciples in the third year and above of the outer academy was a tradition Shrek Academy had followed for who knew how many years.

But it was only an unspoken rule, and the reason was precisely the age gap. Unless one was an exceptional genius, it was simply impossible to easily defeat another genius who had cultivated for several more years.

Of course, even main team members could be changed, let alone reserve team members. The roster of every reserve team was kept secret until they became the main team. The academy merely told others that they had been sent out to perform a small mission.

Mu En knew all this, so he did not refute Jiang Yue's words.

He was even more satisfied with Jiang Yue than before. Being able to infer such an unspoken rule from the ages of past main team members—genius was important, but a genius willing to use his brain was even more important. The latter was exactly the kind of person Shrek Academy lacked most.

Just look at Xuan Zi. As a rank ninety-eight Super Douluo, his talent could be called exceptional, but he simply could not be bothered to think deeply about most things. That had led to unprecedentedly massive casualties at Shrek Academy.

The moment he thought of Xuan Zi, Mu En found Jiang Yue more and more pleasing to the eye. Sure enough, he needed to teach the boy personally. What if Xuan Zi or Yan Shaozhe corrupted him and gave him some bad habits? Mu En might as well drop dead right here.

"It's impressive that you thought that far. Fine, this old man admits it. That is indeed one of the academy's rules. Reserve team members are generally selected from core disciples in the third year and above."

"But as long as you want to participate in the Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Soul Dueling Tournament, this year's reserve team can begin selecting from the second year. I don't think you'll refuse, will you?"

"After all, you even looked into the ages of participants from every previous tournament. If you didn't want to participate, this old man would be surprised."

Jiang Yue did not know what to say. He had only wanted to casually brush Mu En off, so he had combined a few things he had learned with the original story's setting. Instead, he had made things worse and convinced Mu En that he was interested in the tournament.

What he had just said was merely an excuse, but Jiang Yue had not expected that without Huo Yuhao's Ultimate Ice, Mu En would still intend to let second-year core disciples participate in the selection just to get him into the tournament.

Did Jiang Yue carry that much weight?

He did. At least in Mu En's eyes, he was absolutely worth it.

But that was not good news for Jiang Yue. He had no desire to be blown up by Death Messenger, the strongest Soul King in history.

What could allowing all second-year core disciples to participate in the selection change? At worst, he could put on an act.

Even if Jiang Yue was a Soul Ancestor with Soul Rings beyond the normal limit, it would be perfectly normal for him to be besieged by a group, then clear the stage until only seven people remained before being eliminated himself, right?

Yes, at least Jiang Yue thought it was perfectly normal.

As for how to make so many people gang up on him? Simple. Jiang Yue was best at provoking people's emotions.

"I only looked it up casually. Honestly, whether I go or not doesn't make much difference. I personally don't want to go. Reserve team members don't get many chances to compete anyway, and they mostly just warm the bench. I'd rather cultivate properly."

"With your strength, this old man believes that barring an accident, you'll be able to enter the reserve team. And you'll have plenty of chances to compete. Main team members are people too; they need rest. Besides, it would be far too regrettable for a genius like you to miss such a grand event."

"Isn't there another tournament after this one? I'm only twelve. There's no need to care so much about this reserve team."

"Just display the strength you should have. This old man has nothing else to say. Cultivate well."

After saying that, Mu En's voice vanished from beside Jiang Yue's ear. He still lay motionless in his recliner beneath the sun, as though he had never been the one speaking to Jiang Yue.

Seeing that, Jiang Yue stopped paying attention to Mu En and continued adapting to the Four Apertures Steadfast Heart, while beginning to try reaching the Five Apertures Scattered Heart.

Below the dormitory building, Mu En raised his eyes and glanced at Jiang Yue standing by the upstairs window, using the Distraction Control Technique to observe his surroundings. An unconscious smile appeared on his face.

Seeing Jiang Yue reminded him of his younger self. He too had once been such a peerless prodigy, yet now he could only lie in a recliner and wait for death. It was rather lamentable.

"A ten-thousand-year Soul Ring. It seems he used the reward from the freshman assessment. That makes sense. With such talent, no matter how stingy Shaozhe is, he wouldn't pinch pennies over a genius like this."

"He did well this time. He barely looks the part now. At least he knows what matters most."

Clearly, Mu En had misunderstood something. That was normal. Even if someone dared claim that a three-ringed Soul Elder had defeated a ten-thousand-year soul beast, few people would dare believe it.

Mu En did not intend to ask Yan Shaozhe about it either. Though he thought Yan Shaozhe had handled the matter well, he would not go out of his way to praise him.

Thus, a misunderstanding was born. Who knew what Mu En's feelings would be when he learned the truth someday?

Shrek Academy, Soul Tool Department. The building on this side was gray, completely different from the Martial Soul Department's buildings.

"Teacher Fan Yu! I did it! I broke through!"

Huo Yuhao shoved open the door to Fan Yu's office. He was far too excited. After cultivating day and night, he had finally broken through to rank twenty, and he could no longer restrain his emotions.

Fan Yu looked at the excited Huo Yuhao with a gentle smile. He stood and walked over, patting Huo Yuhao's shoulder in approval.

"Not bad! You broke through even earlier than I expected. Next, you need to absorb a Soul Ring. The academy's beast enclosure doesn't seem to have any spiritual-attribute soul beasts, so we can only hunt one."

"You didn't place in the top three during the freshman assessment, so you don't have a special Soul Ring reward. How about this? Go back and prepare today. Tomorrow, I'll take you to the Star Dou Forest to hunt a soul beast."

"Don't worry about the academy. For students with special attributes who are still hunting soul beasts when school begins, the academy will give them some extra time. If it really comes down to it, you can directly join our Soul Tool Department."

"Mm, I'll listen to Teacher Fan Yu!"

"Work hard. You still have a long road ahead. As we agreed before, if this Soul Skill is also suited to Soul Tools, I'll accept you as my disciple."

"Even if it isn't particularly suited, as long as you're willing, you can still become a core disciple of our Soul Tool Department."

"I'll definitely satisfy Teacher Fan Yu! I'll definitely become your disciple!"

Huo Yuhao clenched his fists. In the Martial Soul Department, he was almost invisible. With his innate rank-one Soul Power, there was simply no way for him to compare with those geniuses in martial soul cultivation.

But he had great talent with Soul Tools. He could already make the core of a second-rank Soul Tool. If his cultivation had reached two rings, he would already be a genuine second-rank Soul Engineer.

The achievements he had gained in the Soul Tool Department, contrasted with his obscurity in the Martial Soul Department, had led Huo Yuhao to make a choice in his heart that would change his entire life.

He wanted to become a Soul Engineer, a powerful Soul Engineer—powerful enough to make White Tiger Duke's Manor pay the price!

The next day, at the Beast Battle Area. It consisted of an arena and beast enclosures, making it Shrek Academy's largest dedicated area. Raising soul beasts in captivity was no easy task in this era, when Soul Tool technology was still far from the level it would reach in the third era.

The reason Shrek Academy could raise soul beasts was largely due to its enormous financial investment. Another reason was its ten thousand years of accumulated experience and generations of experts who had devoted their lives to studying the habits of soul beasts.

It was said that ten-thousand-year soul beasts were even kept in the enclosures beneath the Beast Battle Area.

After the fourth year, students basically had to visit the Beast Battle Area once a week to fight soul beasts. But for lower-year students, they only came here once during advancement assessments.

After receiving their forms, they all entered the beast battle arena under Wang Yan's guidance.

Because this was an advancement assessment, they would not be going to the spectator stands. Instead, they lined up neatly outside the arena and waited for their assessments.

"Tch, that guy is seriously like a ghost that won't go away. It's been more than half a year! Why does he keep looking at me with such strange eyes?!"

Turning his head, Wang Dong saw Dai Huabin staring intensely at him, his chin raised, an unusual emotion contained in his expression. Even Zhu Lu beside him could not help repeatedly sweeping her gaze between Wang Dong and Dai Huabin with an incredibly complicated look.

Jiang Yue could sense Zhu Lu's astonishment, loneliness, and a feeling of sudden realization. Finally, there was a defeated resignation, as though she had accepted her fate. Jiang Yue really wanted to know what this cat girl had imagined to cause such an intense emotional reaction.

"Hmph, his eyes are full of possessiveness. You can't understand something that simple? He's into you!"

Wu Feng's words were shocking as always. She knew that look far too well. She often looked at her young mistress with that same possessive gaze. After saying it, she proudly raised her head, as though waiting for praise from Wang Dong and Jiang Yue.

"No! That's not it! I'm a boy! And look at his eyes—he looks like he wants to swallow me whole. Do you really think that's the same thing you're talking about?"

"Trust me, I'm an absolute expert in this sort of thing. I can't be wrong. So what if you're a boy? Can't boys be with boys? Besides, you're so pretty. Dress up a little and you'd be a beautiful girl."

"Xiao Xiao, don't you think I'm right?"

"Um, well... Sorry, Wang Dong! I think so too."

"Heavens! Save me! Why isn't there a single normal person around me?!"

Jiang Yue watched two girls with bizarre ideas corrupting another girl who was disguised as a boy. It really was a novel sight, one that came around once in a hundred years.

Jiang Yue was merely treating what was happening before him as entertainment. If he had to say, Dai Huabin already had a fiancée. How could he possibly like—

Wait, maybe it really was possible. In the original story, Dai Huabin had fallen for Wang Qiu'er. Wang Qiu'er had used Wang Dong's true appearance at the time, and the two resembled each other by at least ninety-five percent.

Thinking about it that way, Dai Huabin might actually be interested in Wang Dong!

Jiang Yue realized that his own thoughts had gone off course as well. When he looked at Dai Huabin again, his gaze carried an indescribable meaning.

Could it be that Dai Huabin had liked Wang Qiu'er in the original story because of Wang Dong's appearance? It was possible. Jiang Yue thought it would be perfectly normal for something like that to happen to Dai Huabin. It was not impossible.