Defection
"Would you be willing to join Shrek Academy?" Du Weilun extended an invitation. "Shrek Academy certainly isn't a gathering of Evil Soul Masters. As the saying goes, education makes no distinctions. Any genius who meets a certain threshold can study at the academy and enjoy generous resources..."
Hah, hard to say...
Lu Cheng grumbled inwardly, but put on a tempted expression.
Du Weilun was delighted by his reaction and hurried to fan the flames while the iron was hot.
After all, if these two "wild" geniuses were picked up by another sect or faction, that would be very bad indeed.
"Moreover, once you're a little older, you can join the Inner Court and the Inspection Corps, an organization dedicated to hunting down Evil Soul Masters. You can investigate the truth and avenge your blood relatives with your own hands. What do you say?"
Though Zhang Lexuan was tempted, she still stood quietly behind Lu Cheng, her beautiful eyes fixed blankly on him as she waited for his answer.
If her brother said no, she would certainly leave with him.
"All right."
Lu Cheng nodded slightly.
"We're willing to join Shrek Academy..."
[Second arc, complete] [Your family was destroyed, and you brought Zhang Lexuan to join Shrek Academy. Watching the girl grow ever more attached to you, you were filled with mixed feelings. After all, everything that seemed so bright had long since been corroded by darkness.] [Upon entering the academy, you distinguished yourself once again, sweeping through the entire freshman year with overwhelming strength and reaching Soul Ancestor within half a year. During one of Mu En's summons, you also encountered Ma Xiaotao on Sea God Island. Her evil fire erupted, leaving her in unbearable pain, and you forcibly suppressed it with your more powerful fire of sun essence. From then on, she became your little follower.] [That same year, after learning of your clan's destruction, Wei Ling'er and Lang Ya came to visit you. Their words carried some regret, and they revealed some information: the Body Sect had deliberated for a long time before deciding to recruit you, a genius without a Body Martial Soul. Yet this incident had occurred shortly after they reached their decision. They sent people to search around Heaven Dou City for a long time, but failed to find you or Zhang Lexuan, and thought you had both died in the catastrophe as well.]
As he watched the scenes change rapidly before him,
Lu Cheng's expression froze.
Ma Xiaotao... His fire of essence sun could actually restrain evil fire. That was unexpected. After all, he had assumed that only opposing attributes, ice or water, could suppress evil fire. There had been no shortage of fire-attribute elders in the original story, whereas ice attributes were rare, which was why Ma Xiaotao had suffered the agony of evil fire burning her body.
And as for the Body Sect...
To be honest, he bore the Body Sect no ill will. These old stick-in-the-muds treated those they recognized as "their own" impeccably. They truly would risk their lives to help.
Once the simulation ended, he would certainly choose a faction to join: Shrek Academy, the Sun Moon Empire, or the Body Sect. The other factions were too weak to offer much help.
Although the first had been somewhat disgusting in the simulation, that did not matter to him. After all, he was alone to begin with, and his only older sister, Jiang Nannan, was a Shrek Academy student, which would also make obtaining a recommendation letter easier.
The latter centered on the Xu imperial family, making it difficult for outsiders to enter its inner circle. Even the renowned master of the Illustrious Virtue Hall, Jing Hongchen, would probably have struggled to rise through the ranks without his status as Kong Deming's disciple.
In the past, he would not have entertained the slightest thought of joining the Body Sect, but now...
The appearance of the Blood Pupils had given him another thought.
However, according to the explanation, he seemed to be able to take only one thing. Between the Sun-Shooting Bow and the Blood Pupils... Hopefully, the reward for achieving the white moonlight rating would let him bring the Blood Pupils out too. Otherwise, it would be quite a pity.
[Two years passed in a flash. You were now fourteen and had successfully advanced to Soul King. From that point onward, not a single person in the entire Shrek Outer Court was your match. To improve your strength, you even challenged quite a few senior students from the Inner Court, winning more than you lost. Your title of Demon King spread throughout both courts.] [Meanwhile, the Holy Spirit Cult sent letters frequently. Even Ye Xishui came once, making a special trip to visit you. You were respectful on the surface, but knew her purpose: she feared you would fully integrate into Shrek Academy and wanted to draw you closer in time. You did not care. As long as Zhang Lexuan lived, everything was fine.] [One day not long afterward, you joined the Inner Court and successfully completed the assessment. Yan Shaozhe then brought you to the Sea God Pavilion, where you met Mu En again. Ever since you and Zhang Lexuan joined Shrek Academy, he had monitored you without leaving a single blind spot. Only after discovering that you had no intention of revealing the truth did he gradually relax his vigilance. Now, he once again brought up having you expose your "identity" and defect from Shrek Academy. Unwilling to part with Zhang Lexuan, you hoped to put it off a little longer. After a moment's hesitation, he agreed, but warned you again before you left.] [You resolved to strive harder and continued raising your cultivation frantically. Taking advantage of an Inspection Corps mission, you visited Sunset Forest, only to discover that the poisonous mist was truly terrifying, leaving you no chance to pick up any overlooked treasures. Unwilling to tell Shrek's higher-ups about it, you had no choice but to return.] [Another three years passed. You were seventeen, but the speed of your cultivation grew ever more terrifying. You reached rank seventy-two Soul Saint and had even defeated a rank eighty-five Soul Douluo instructor last month. Your prestige grew ever greater, giving you something of the air of the Inner Court's eldest senior brother. The girl still followed behind you. Despite trying every method, Mu En had failed to weaken her attachment to you.] [Meanwhile, you led a team to the Continental Soul Master Tournament, where you encountered Lang Ya and Wei Ling'er of the Body Sect. Their gazes grew even more ardent as they looked at you, and they extended another invitation on the Body Sect's behalf. After much hesitation, however, you still refused. Your team won the championship without any surprises, and your name spread throughout the continent.] [Yet when you raised the trophy high, you saw the girl's gentle, lovely eyes below the stage, filled entirely with you. You knew that, up to this very moment, each of you was the single most important person in the other's world, without exception. The catastrophe you had suffered in childhood had made you huddle together for warmth. Even though Mu En had laid countless pieces of evidence that you were a Holy Spirit Cult disciple before her over the years, she had never doubted you in the slightest.] [But after the tournament ended, Mu En summoned you to the Sea God Pavilion under the pretext of giving you a reward...] [Third arc]
When Lu Cheng opened his eyes again, he was inside a spacious, brightly lit room.
Everything around him was made of golden ancient wood, exuding a rich breath of life. Not far away, a figure seated in a wheelchair with his back to him slowly spoke.
"I've tolerated you long enough..."
Mu En spoke slowly.
Pushed by Yan Shaozhe, the wheelchair turned around. He studied Lu Cheng quietly, and an indescribable pressure swept over Lu Cheng's entire body.
"..."
Lu Cheng remained silent, gritting his teeth as he endured the pressure.
Clearly, Mu En was urging him to fulfill the "promise" he had made back then.
Inadvertently expose his identity as an Evil Soul Master, then defect from Shrek Academy...