Decisive Refusal, a Trap Revealed

"Mu En, you'd better shoulder this burden for now."

"Let me borrow your authority. I'm going to Shrek Academy's Treasure Vault."

After a long pause, Huang Jinxu did not agree to become the next Sea God Pavilion Master.

The fact that his Martial Soul countered the academy's own and could hasten its decline was one reason. Another was that the position of Sea God Pavilion Master might be an enormous pitfall.

The fact that only the Sea God Pavilion Master could wield Sea God's Light gave Huang Jinxu plenty to think about.

According to what he knew, Sea God's Light was a wisp of Tang San's original power, sealed within the Sea God Pavilion. Only its master could use it, with the Golden Ancient Tree serving as an energy source.

That seemed perfectly reasonable, but there was one more condition: Sea God Affinity.

Xuan Zi had also been a Sea God Pavilion Master, yet he needed Mu En's lingering soul to help him use it.

That was rather telling.

It looked like nothing more than a title, yet it came with restrictions of the sort imposed by a divine trial.

To Huang Jinxu, wasn't it simply a lesser version of the Sea God High Priest or the Angel God's Great Enshrined?

Once he took that seat, who knew what shackles might bind him?

And so he refused.

As for why he wanted to use Mu En's authority to visit Shrek Academy's Treasure Pavilion, he naturally hoped to prolong Mu En's life.

Mu En truly could not die yet.

Huang Jinxu would find a way to keep him alive for a few more years.

He already had the materials and means to do so. If he chose to visit the Treasure Pavilion under Mu En's authority anyway, it was naturally because he wanted to pick up a few good things along the way. An exchange of benefits, perhaps?

"You... Forget it. I'll give you some time to think it over."

"As for the Treasure Pavilion, go if you want."

Faced with Huang Jinxu's swift refusal, Mu En was at a loss for words.

Nor did Mu En object to his visit to the Treasure Pavilion.

Huang Jinxu had always known where to draw the line. Shrek Academy had sheltered and supported him as he grew, but once he gained sufficient strength, he had stopped relying on it for resources.

It was obvious Huang Jinxu had another purpose now, but even if he simply wanted to go in and take a few things he fancied, Mu En would not have refused.

Only one thing occupied Mu En's thoughts: making Huang Jinxu the Sea God Pavilion Master.

With Mu En's approval, Huang Jinxu rose to leave.

Just then, his gaze shifted toward the academy dormitories.

A youth with an impossibly delicate face, as finely featured as any girl, was arguing with a dormitory supervisor.

"Why won't you let me change rooms?"

The girl glared at the supervisor, her face full of anger.

"Student Wang Dong, the academy assigns rooms uniformly. We don't change them to suit personal feelings."

"The academy has never made an exception for a room change, either. Your request is against the rules."

The supervisor refused coldly, a trace of disdain in his eyes as he looked at Wang Dong.

Everyone employed at Shrek Academy—from its senior leadership and teachers to the support staff who kept it running—naturally carried themselves with an air of superiority.

They looked down not only on ordinary students, but even on older ones, unless they were exceptional talents.

As for the possibility that a student had a powerful background, they never gave it a thought.

Even an earl's son had little standing before Shrek Academy.

They had never heard of Wang Dong having any background, so the supervisor saw no reason to take her seriously.

Besides, the rules were on his side. Wang Dong could make a scene, but it would change nothing.

Wang Dong's face flushed red with anger and embarrassment.

She was angry because the supervisor's words were so unpleasant.

She was embarrassed because she knew she was being unreasonable.

Yet she did not know what had come over her. She had simply felt a sudden urge to change rooms.

More than that, she wanted to move into one particular room.

The feeling was so strange that it left her flustered.

Just as Wang Dong considered revealing that she came from the Clear Sky Sect to demand a room change, the supervisor abruptly changed his tune.

"Student Wang Dong, is it? I've thought it over. If you feel this strongly about changing rooms, you and your current roommate must be quite incompatible."

"For the sake of our students' mental well-being, and to avoid unnecessary conflict, I'll let you change rooms."

"Which room would you like to move into?"

The supervisor's sudden about-face left Wang Dong staring at him in confusion.

"203!"

Wang Dong answered without thinking.

When Huang Jinxu heard that Wang Dong wanted room 203, he frowned slightly.

His disciple Huo Yuhao lived in that room and was still settling in.

It seemed God King Tang's invisible hand was at work again.

Huang Jinxu saw nothing surprising in that.

It was entirely within his expectations.

What did surprise him was that Mu En had just sent the supervisor a mental message, telling him to let Wang Dong change rooms.

That explained the man's rapid about-face.

Why would someone like Mu En casually involve himself in such a matter?

Had he truly done it on a whim?

With Mu En's knowledge and experience, there was no way he did not know that only a woman could possess Wang Dong's Martial Soul.

He knew she was a woman, yet he not only kept her secret but helped her.

If it was merely because Wang Dong had the Clear Sky Sect behind her, that was one thing.

But what if there were other, unseen machinations behind it?

Looking closely at Mu En's life, Huang Jinxu could see many moments when the man had made choices utterly at odds with his character.

Giving the Dragon Core to Huo Yuhao instead of saving it for Bei Bei could be explained away: perhaps he had seen Huo Yuhao as his last hope.

But how did one explain Mu En urging Xu Sanshi and Jiang Nannan to join the Tang Sect just before his death?

Jiang Nannan was one thing. Xu Sanshi was the Netherworld Sect's Young Sect Master, destined to inherit it, yet Mu En had urged him to join the Tang Sect.

That was completely unlike Mu En.

Huang Jinxu could have understood it if Mu En had urged Xu Sanshi to join the Sea God Pavilion instead.

So were those decisions, so at odds with Mu En's nature, truly his own?

The thought only strengthened Huang Jinxu's resolve not to become the Sea God Pavilion Master.

That seat was far too hot to sit on.

Perhaps the position of Sea God Pavilion Master was like that of the Sea God High Priest. Once he took it, a restriction would bind him, and he would never become a god.

The only difference would be that, instead of the high priest's sacrificial duty, he would ultimately be sacrificed to the Golden Ancient Tree.

"Golden Tree, is your consciousness still there?"

With that thought, Huang Jinxu raised his head and gazed into the distance, a shadow deepening in his eyes.

He did not believe Tang San had arranged all this merely so successive Sea God Pavilion Masters could better protect Shrek Academy.

What if all that power was meant to prepare the way for the Blue Silver Emperor?