The two carriages traveled for two days and two nights, finally leaving Gengxin City far behind. The Blacksmiths' Guild members had already set off in pursuit in their carriages half a day after their departure.
"Teacher! Isn't Senior Brother Fan Yu coming back with us?"
Having just finished cultivating, Bei Bei opened his eyes and looked questioningly at Qian Duoduo, who was studying the blueprints for a Class 9 Soul Tool.
"Fan Yu? I gave him a task. Once he-
once he finishes, he'll return to Shrek on his own. He might even have returned to Shrek Academy already."
Qian Duoduo adjusted his glasses and chatted with Bei Bei with an unconcerned expression. Fan Yu's task was not particularly difficult.
Qian Duoduo had merely sent Fan Yu to the Sun Moon Empire to buy large quantities of common ores and ores rarely found on the market. These common ores could be forged into precision Soul Tool components.
Perhaps before long, everyone on the continent would know that low-grade Soul Tool materials could be forged into mid- and high-grade Soul Tool materials. By then, high-grade materials would no longer be what everyone scrambled for.
That was why Qian Duoduo had acted a step ahead, having Fan Yu snap up all the useful ores on the market to prevent anyone from grabbing them by the throat in the future.
"I've stayed in that city for almost a year. I can finally return to Shrek Academy."
Bei Bei gazed at the clear blue sky outside the window and let out a long breath. His heart felt strangely empty, as though there was a girl waiting for him.
The atmosphere inside Mu Changqing's carriage was harmonious. Mu Changqing was lying inside, sound asleep, while Na'er had, for some unknown reason, become fascinated with illustrated books lately.
Na'er read with relish, occasionally glancing toward Mu Changqing. Her eyes always held an indistinct emotion.
After another two days and two nights, the two carriages finally raced beyond the Star Luo Empire's frontier. After they had stopped there for two hours,
eight more carriages raced out from the Star Luo Empire's frontier. They were the Blacksmiths' Guild members' own carriages. Qian Duoduo poked his head out the window and greeted Lou Gao.
The ten carriages traveled side by side toward Shrek's jurisdiction. Along the way, Mu Changqing noticed many ordinary people heading toward Shrek's territory as well.
"Strange!"
Residents of the towns around the Star Luo Empire's border had begun moving into Shrek's jurisdiction. Mu Changqing scratched the back of his head in bewilderment.
Mu Changqing had no idea that Shrek City had undergone earth-shaking changes during their year away.
After another day and night of racing along, the ten carriages finally reached Shrek City's eastern gate. People streamed back and forth through the gate, and many new buildings had appeared outside it.
"Damn, why does it feel like Shrek is expanding outward?"
Holding Na'er's hand, Mu Changqing leaped down from the carriage. He looked all around at the unfamiliar buildings. This was no longer the Shrek City he knew.
"Perhaps Shrek City expanded again with Elder Mu's authorization during the year we were away."
Qian Duoduo stepped down from the carriage, his voice ringing out. He showed no surprise at the earth-shaking changes in Shrek City.
As an elder of the Sea God Pavilion, Qian Duoduo had known about this long ago. Bei Bei also climbed out of the carriage, utterly confused.
"When did so many buildings appear at the eastern gate? And so many soul cannons!"
Curious, Bei Bei walked over to the soul awakening chamber outside the eastern gate. It was not deserted; several senior Shrek Academy teachers were there.
"Hello, Teacher! Was this soul awakening chamber built by Shrek Academy?"
"That's right! This soul awakening chamber was built to awaken Martial Souls free of charge for children aged six and above within Shrek's jurisdiction."
A middle-aged man wearing a senior Shrek Academy teacher's uniform smiled and patiently explained things to Bei Bei.
After thanking him, Bei Bei returned to Qian Duoduo's side. He had never imagined Shrek City would change so much in just the year he had been away.
"Old Qian, your Shrek Academy truly deserves to be called the number one academy on the Douluo Continent."
Lou Gao stepped out with a hearty laugh. Looking at Shrek's magnificent buildings, he seemed to be looking at the Forging Department's future.
When the soul masters manning the checkpoint outside Shrek's eastern gate learned that the carriages belonged to Shrek personnel, they immediately let them through.
Under everyone's watchful eyes, the ten carriages entered Shrek City. The sights inside were even more spectacular than those outside.
A year ago, most of Shrek City had retained an old-fashioned architectural style. A year later, soul architecture had clearly begun to take hold.
"I never imagined I'd see so many soul vehicles in Shrek City one day!"
Mu Changqing poked his head out the carriage window and looked at the many soul vehicles on the road. He thought of how so many roadside stalls had once relied on making everything by hand, yet now they had introduced Soul Tools to help.
A Shrek City filled with Soul Tools like this was what Mu Changqing had longed for. It made him feel as though he had returned in a dream to Blue Star in his previous life, though Soul Tool development here still lagged far behind.
"Big Brother! Did we come back to the wrong place?"
Na'er stared incredulously at the sights inside Shrek City. When they had left a year ago, the roads had been full of horse-drawn carriages. Now everything had been turned completely on its head.
Na'er began imagining things again. Since the human world was also going to develop Soul Tools vigorously on all fronts, could their Soul Beast race use Soul Tools too?
The Silver Dragon King once again set her astonishing wisdom and devious little brain to work. Na'er began to decide that she, too, wanted to study Soul Tools.
"Big Brother, um..."
Na'er turned to look at Mu Changqing, hesitating. Her mouth had barely opened before she closed it again.
"What's wrong, Na'er?"
Mu Changqing raised a hand to stroke her back, looking at her in confusion.
"Big Brother! Na'er wants to study Soul Tools too!"
"You can study whatever you want, Na'er. But I think you should wait until your Soul Power improves before studying Soul Tools. That way, your learning will be twice as effective."
Mu Changqing gathered Na'er into his arms with a doting expression. He felt that studying Soul Tools too early would instead waste time she could spend cultivating.
It would not be too late to study them after her Soul Power reached the Soul Sage or Soul Douluo level. Mu Changqing had no intention of having Na'er follow the path of a soul engineer either.
The destructive power of Soul Tools during the Douluo 2 era was actually not that great yet. They had not reached the point where they could slay gods.
Mu Changqing's Martial Soul was the Golden Dragon King. His defense and attack power were already among the very best on the entire Douluo Star. Once he reached Soul Sage, there would basically be very few people who could hurt him.
Shrek Academy stood in the center of Shrek City. The ten carriages had already stopped at the academy's eastern gate.
After a year of renovations, the entire interior of Shrek Academy had also undergone earth-shaking changes. Even its surrounding walls had been fitted with Class 8 soul cannons.
"How much must all this have cost?"
Everyone climbed out of the carriages. Looking at the abundance of soul cannons, Mu Changqing could not help exclaiming in amazement.