Shrek's Operation

Mingdu, main urban district.

Watching Ma Xiaotao walk ahead of him, her curiosity about every new thing fully piqued, Dai Yueheng frowned and could not help saying,

"Watch yourself. Don't forget our mission!"

Hearing Dai Yueheng's words, Ma Xiaotao, who was holding a cotton candy and about to take a bite, immediately became displeased.

"Shut up! It's none of your business! If you really can't stand me, why don't you go act alone?"

Provoked by Ma Xiaotao, Dai Yueheng's temper flared as well.

"Fine! You said it! We'll act separately. If something happens to you, don't blame me for not helping!"

But when it came to arguing, Ma Xiaotao feared no one. She immediately began speaking in a mocking tone.

"Hehe! A weakling actually thinks a strong person is more likely to run into trouble than he is, and that if a strong person can't solve a problem, he, a weakling, could somehow be of help? What an overconfident loser. What a creep!"

Ma Xiaotao deliberately stressed the words "strong" and "weak," instantly angering Dai Yueheng until his face flushed red. He clenched his fists on the spot.

Catching his movement from the corner of her eye, Ma Xiaotao raised a brow and continued provoking him.

"What, are you thinking of fighting me here? Sigh, it's one thing for a weakling not to know his own strength, but how can he be so lacking in brains too? Want me to remind you where we are right now?"

At those words, Dai Yueheng tightened his fists again, his gaze at Ma Xiaotao filled with anger.

But that was all.

He truly did not dare fight Ma Xiaotao in Mingdu's main urban district.

Setting aside whether he could win, before the two of them could even determine a victor, they would likely be seized by the city guards rushing over in time, completely ruining this mission.

A few days earlier, Sea God Pavilion had issued a new order requiring all inner academy students—the members of the Shrek Supervisory Group—to intensify their purge of evil soul masters and effectively punish evil soul masters across the continent over the coming year.

Dai Yueheng and Ma Xiaotao had been assigned to hunt evil soul masters within the Sun Moon Empire. At the same time, they had another secret mission:

They were to search for the whereabouts of Zhang Lexuan, the senior sister of the inner academy, within the Sun Moon Empire as much as possible. The moment they found anything, they were to notify the academy immediately. This was a highly classified mission and must never be revealed to outsiders without Sea God Pavilion's permission.

The two of them, currently only Soul Kings, had spent two days traveling to the Sun Moon Empire. After wandering aimlessly through a few border towns and casually eliminating several not particularly powerful evil soul masters, they arrived in Mingdu.

Without any specific intelligence to guide them, hunting evil soul masters depended entirely on luck. As for that secret mission...

The two of them did not even know the full story. Xuanzi, who had assigned them the mission, had only said that she had gone missing within the Sun Moon Empire.

But how large was the Sun Moon Empire?

Its total land area nearly accounted for a third of the entire Douluo Continent!

With only the two of them searching like headless flies, if their luck was bad, they might never find her in their lives.

Thus, Ma Xiaotao had not taken this mission too seriously. In her view, their senior sister was so strong that she would surely be protected by fate. Perhaps after some time, she would return to Shrek Academy on her own.

But Dai Yueheng was different.

He was at the age when a young man first knew love. Although he had never had much direct interaction with Zhang Lexuan, that did not stop the secret admiration in his heart.

The moment he learned that the goddess he secretly admired had vanished in a foreign land, his thoughts became a mess. He wished he could immediately rush into the Sun Moon Empire and find her trail.

It was precisely because Dai Yueheng wanted to find Zhang Lexuan as soon as possible that he could not help clashing with Ma Xiaotao when he saw how carefree she was.

After taking several deep breaths, Dai Yueheng forcibly calmed himself. He gave Ma Xiaotao a cold glance, then said,

"Hmph! Take care of yourself!"

After throwing out those words, he decisively turned around and strode away down the street without looking back.

Even if it meant searching for a needle in the sea, he would do everything he could to find clues about his goddess.

If Zhang Lexuan really had encountered danger, and he discovered it in time and notified the academy's experts to come rescue her...

"If things really develop that way, then Sister Lexuan will surely remember that I saved her life. From then on, I'll have a legitimate reason to interact with Sister Lexuan openly..."

At that thought, Dai Yueheng's heart immediately filled with delight.

As for Ma Xiaotao...

Watching Dai Yueheng's departing back, she spat without restraint and cursed, "Psycho." Then she shifted her gaze away, no longer thinking about that creepy guy who had put her in a bad mood.

After all, the cotton candy in her hand was already about to melt. If she did not hurry and eat it, the money she had just spent would be wasted!

At this point, Ma Xiaotao chose the cotton candy first.

The weather was nice today, and both his and Zhang Lexuan's soul power levels had improved. In his excellent mood, Xu Tianming decided to go out shopping and have some fun, relaxing properly.

However, choosing whom to bring along gave Xu Tianming some trouble.

When Ye Guyi heard he was going out, she immediately stopped cultivating and volunteered to accompany him.

After Xiao Xiao received the news, she thought about it seriously and realized that she had not left Prince Yan's Palace in a long time. She simply volunteered to join as well.

Jiang Nannan initially had no intention of going out shopping with them, but when her mother heard the news, she took the initiative to encourage her to come along.

Her reasoning was that the mother and daughter were now in a foreign land, and all their resources were provided by Xu Tianming. Under those circumstances, appropriately maintaining a relationship with the master of the palace would only benefit them.

Jiang Nannan was very obedient toward her mother. Moreover, she already had a favorable impression of the handsome Xu Tianming, so she naturally agreed to her mother's suggestion.

Seeing that all three wanted to go out with him, Xu Tianming simply made up his mind and invited Zhang Lexuan as well.

Zhang Lexuan was somewhat surprised by Xu Tianming's invitation, but she had originally wanted to refuse.

After all, as someone from Shrek Academy, appearing openly outside with a prince of the Sun Moon Empire felt somewhat strange...

But Xu Tianming would not let her refuse, using the contract as leverage.

"Don't forget what you promised me two days ago! All the other people our age in the palace are going out with me, yet you alone want to stay behind. Isn't that a little too antisocial?"

With things said to that point, Zhang Lexuan could only agree reluctantly.

Thus, the women accompanying Xu Tianming from the palace were decided:

Ye Guyi, Zhang Lexuan, Xiao Xiao, Jiang Nannan.

Looking at the four beauties before him, already changed and ready to depart, Xu Tianming found the sight thoroughly pleasing to the eye.

However, just as he took the lead and stepped out of the palace gates, Xu Tianming suddenly remembered something.

He had nearly forgotten to invite Meng Hongchen.