The Shrek Seven Devils, Wang Dong'er's Hesitation

Wang Dong'er was a little distracted. She was wondering whether, if things went as they had in her previous life, they would still head to the Sun Moon Mountains on a mission to wipe out the bandits.

During that mission, almost all the main team members had been seriously injured, and some had even died.

She wondered whether she should warn them in advance. That way, the main team members would escape injury. But it would also leave the Reserve Team members with almost no chance to compete.

Actual combat was always the best way to improve one's strength. Wang Dong'er didn't want to miss this tournament.

Still, if she could save someone, it would be best to do so. If she had the chance and did nothing, her conscience wouldn't be at peace.

Xuan Zi continued, "You mustn't tell anyone that you've become Reserve Team members. There is a little over a month until the tournament. During that time, you'll train with me one day every week. I'll have you train alongside the main team members, so make good use of this opportunity."

"All right, go back and focus on your cultivation. Don't waste this opportunity. Don't think everything is settled just because you've become Reserve Team members. Until the next tournament begins, any of you could still be replaced."

"Yes!"

They answered together, then left as a group.

"Wang Dong, you're amazing! Just like you said, we became the next Shrek Seven Devils!" Huo Yuhao was thrilled.

"That move you two used just now was incredible. What was it called again?" Xu Sanshi asked.

"The Gaze of the Goddess of Light," Huo Yuhao answered.

"The Goddess of Light? How did two boys like you fuse into such a beautiful goddess? That's pretty strange." Xu Sanshi felt there was more to it.

Worried that they might discover Wang Dong'er's identity, Huo Yuhao hurriedly interrupted, "We'll be going to the tournament soon. Do you think we'll get to fight in the Soul Dueling Tournament?"

Xiao Xiao shook her head. "The chances are slim. Unless the main team members get tired from fighting, there's no way it'll be our turn."

Xu Sanshi agreed. "Right, there's not much hope of competing. Still, getting to broaden our horizons would be nice."

"Oh, right. Why don't we rank ourselves by age like the first generation of the Shrek Seven Devils?" Bei Bei suggested.

"Sure. I'm almost fifteen, a little younger than Bei Bei, so I should be second." Xu Sanshi was quite confident. If he couldn't be the eldest, being second wasn't bad either.

However, after everyone gave their ages, they discovered that He Caitou was actually the second oldest. Xu Sanshi came third, followed by Jiang Nannan. There wasn't much difference in age between them.

Next came Xiao Xiao and Huo Yuhao, with Wang Dong'er the youngest of the seven.

It was only an age ranking, so Wang Dong'er didn't pay it much mind.

Wang Dong'er knew that this generation of the Shrek Seven Devils would spend most of their time apart. Only during tournaments would they barely have a chance to fight together.

There was no helping it, though. After all, in the later stages, Wang Dong'er was the only one who could keep up with Huo Yuhao's cultivation progress. The others advanced quickly, but they still fell far behind him.

After chatting for a while, everyone went their separate ways.

Huo Yuhao was happy all the way from the Soul Fighting Zone to their dorm room.

"Dong'er, why don't you look very happy?" Huo Yuhao asked.

"What? I'm happy." Wang Dong'er gave him a smile.

Huo Yuhao studied that smile, but no matter how he looked at it, something seemed wrong. It didn't look like a smile that came from her heart at all.

He suddenly leaned in close to Wang Dong'er, until their noses almost touched.

Wang Dong'er instinctively took a step back. "Why are you getting so close?"

"Because I want to see whether you're really happy."

Wang Dong'er sighed. "I just feel that this tournament won't be so simple. We might encounter dangers we can't handle."

"It'll be fine. We have our seniors holding the line in front of us, don't we? We might not even get a chance to compete," Huo Yuhao reassured her.

Wang Dong'er nodded, accepting what Huo Yuhao had said.

"All right, let's hurry up and cultivate. Our soul power is the lowest on the Reserve Team. We need to catch up as soon as possible."

Huo Yuhao was already impatient to cultivate with Wang Dong'er.

The two sat on the bed, their hands pressed firmly together as the soul power within their bodies circulated rapidly.

Over the following days, the Reserve Team members devoted themselves to cultivation. If they did get a chance to compete, they couldn't afford to drag the others down.

At the same time, they attended Xuan Zi's private lessons every week.

There was nothing particularly special about Xuan Zi's teaching. He simply split them into groups and had them fight.

With Xuan Zi there, they could go all out and unleash their full strength.

Through actual combat, both their strength and their fighting skills improved rapidly.

During the final training session before the tournament, Wang Dong'er and the others met the seven main team members.

They already knew a few of these main team members. Ma Xiaotao and Dai Yueheng were the two strongest members of the previous generation of the Shrek Seven Devils.

Both of their gazes settled on Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong'er.

Ma Xiaotao had learned from Yan Shaozhe that Huo Yuhao did indeed have a soul master with Ultimate Ice backing him.

She wanted to meet this soul master as soon as possible so that he could help suppress the evil fire within her body.

As her cultivation rose, the evil fire within her grew increasingly difficult to suppress.

Dai Yueheng, meanwhile, looked at them with hatred in his eyes. His younger brother had nearly died at their hands, yet he had no way to retaliate.

Wang Dong'er in particular was off-limits. Word had come from the Duke's Mansion, warning him that he absolutely must not lay a hand on her.

Looking at Ma Xiaotao and Dai Yueheng, Wang Dong'er suddenly realized that their relationship with the previous generation of the Shrek Seven Devils was already different from what it had been in her previous life.

Although there had been some friction in her previous life too, their relationship had been fairly harmonious. In the end, their seamless teamwork had won them the tournament.

But in this life, because of Wang Dong'er, their relationships with Ma Xiaotao and Dai Yueheng weren't nearly as good.

Especially Ma Xiaotao. Wang Dong'er didn't want her coming into contact with Huo Yuhao again, particularly knowing that something might well have happened between them after Huo Yuhao ate whale rubber in his previous life.

Xuan Zi also noticed the strange atmosphere. He cleared his throat and said, "The tournament begins in ten days, so I've brought you here today to get acquainted with one another."

He addressed the Reserve Team members. "Under certain special circumstances, you may also have to compete, so you must learn to work well with the main team members."

"Now, introduce yourselves to each other."

Bei Bei stepped forward first. "My name is Bei Bei. I'm a rank forty-two Power Attack System Soul Ancestor."

The Reserve Team members introduced themselves one by one.

When the main team members heard that Huo Yuhao and Xiao Xiao only had soul power in the twenties, they were very surprised.

For such an important tournament, they had actually chosen soul masters who weren't even Soul Grandmasters to compete. What were they trying to do?