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"Ah... open your mouth."
Ma Xiaotao blew gently on the whale glue in her hand, which had been softened by her Phoenix Flames, and shoved it into Su Wen's mouth before clapping her hands in satisfaction.
"I don't really need this..." Su Wen chewed the whale glue, which melted instantly. Despite its bland taste, he couldn't help but feel it was a waste.
Whale glue could enhance one's physical constitution, which in turn influenced the age limit of the soul rings one could absorb. After the ten-thousand-year mark, the "Soul Ring Age Limit" theory researched by Grandmaster gradually lost its relevance (at least for top-tier geniuses). Nowadays, it felt more like stat inflation; even Wang Dong'er obtaining a thousand-year ring as her second one was met with little surprise in the academy.
But since Su Wen didn't need to absorb soul rings, this item was basically useless to him.
"Mm-hm." Ma Xiaotao hummed nonchalantly.
"Wait a second..." Su Wen froze, a sudden realization dawning on him. Whale glue didn't just boost strength; it also enhanced endurance...
Damn it!
"Oh, Xiao Wen is here too?" a warm voice sounded.
Inside the private dormitory of the Inner Court, several figures walked in one after another. They showed little surprise at the scene between Ma Xiaotao and Su Wen; in fact, many wore teasing expressions. Clearly, most Inner Court disciples were aware of their relationship.
"Senior Yaoheng? And the others..." Su Wen paused, surprised.
He knew all of them—or rather, they were all quite famous in the original story.
Gongyang Mo, Dai Yaoheng, Chen Zifeng, and the rest. They were the academy's main team for the tournament two years from now. However, to highlight the protagonist's plot armor, they were quickly made "idiots"—rushing blindly into a cave with unclear intel, suffering heavy casualties, which in turn led to the triumph of the enemy's first Soul King.
That was precisely why Su Wen was so fixated on the Ice Explosion Technique. It was simply too effective, perfect for an underdog to defeat a stronger opponent in a critical moment. A Soul King who could toy with Xuanzi and decimate an elite team—the Corpse Explosion technique played a huge role. He just wondered if this evolution would allow Ice Sovereign to learn such a divine skill.
"Alright, spit it out. What do you want?" Ma Xiaotao pouted. Like a giant body pillow, she sat next to Su Wen and clung tightly to his arm.
"Dean Yan said that although the competition is still two years away, as the core of the reserve team, we need to start building synergy. Especially you and I, as captain and vice-captain, need to prepare in advance..." Dai Yaoheng said, his gaze fixed straight ahead.
"What synergy? That bunch of country bumpkins from the Sun Moon Empire isn't even enough for me to handle alone," Ma Xiaotao raised an eyebrow, sounding rather impatient.
"…"
Su Wen remained silent.
If the story followed its original path, the full-strength Shrek team wouldn't have wasted so much time with the Sun Moon Empire. They likely would have steamrolled them and continued their legacy of glory from the past ten thousand years. It just went to show how overpowered the protagonist's plot armor was. All the supporting characters had their intelligence lowered and were wiped out, giving the protagonist's group a chance to save the day. After all, if these guys weren't taken off the board, how could the main character get his chance to shine?
"It was Dean Yan's order," Gongyang Mo coughed lightly.
Everyone immediately looked away, pretending to be nonchalant and humming to themselves.
"Fine, let's go," Ma Xiaotao stood up reluctantly. When her teacher gave an order, she could complain, but she still had to obey.
But as she strode toward the door on her long legs, she noticed no one was following. Her beautiful eyes blinked. "What are you all standing around for? Let's go."
"Ahem, Dean Yan said... to bring Xiao Wen along too," Dai Yaoheng said with a hint of awkwardness.
"Bring him for what? He's not one of the Shrek Seven Devils. Even if he were, it would be for the next generation," Ma Xiaotao said, puzzled.
"The Inner Court just finished a round of graduation assessments. Many seniors have left, so we're short on people. Dean Yan only managed to find six opponents for us. We're still short one person," Dai Yaoheng explained with a shrug.
To be honest, he had been just as baffled when Dean Yan gave the order. A kid who was only going to the Star Dou Forest in two days to get his third soul ring was being thrown into a match with Shrek Academy's main team? Wouldn't he get hurt?
He was aware of how terrifying this boy's talent was. Reaching the Soul Elder rank at ten years old was shocking even in Shrek's long history. Most of them were barely Soul Grandmasters at that age, if that. But facts were facts. In a team where the average level was twenty higher than his, their side would probably have to assign someone just to protect him. Dai Yaoheng was currently level 57; he didn't believe Su Wen could withstand even a single one of his attacks.
But since it was Dean Yan's instruction, he had no choice but to comply.
"Sure!"
Before Ma Xiaotao could respond, Su Wen stood up, his expression eager.
Within the Sea God's Pavilion, aside from the elders and deans, Ma Xiaotao was the only one close to his level and of a similar age. But the two rarely sparred; just dealing with her Evil Fire was enough of a handful for him. As a result, his actual combat experience was severely lacking.
Since he hadn't officially enrolled yet, he was too lazy to find students at his level in the Outer Court to practice with. Now that a chance to test his true strength had fallen into his lap, how could he possibly pass it up?
…
On the Way to the Duel Arena
Su Wen chatted and laughed with Dai Yaoheng.
Su Wen held no ill will toward him. The dirty laundry of the White Tiger Duke's Mansion had nothing to do with him. After all, Su Wen was a transmigrator, not someone seeing the world through Huo Yuhao's eyes. Besides, it was all a setup by God King Tang—it was best not to get involved.
He pitied that unlucky kid, but that was as far as it went. In Su Wen's opinion, Huo Yuhao wasn't very reliable himself—a classic case of wasted potential. As a child of destiny, he was showered with countless opportunities to elevate him, but what came of it? His mother's revenge was glossed over, and for the sake of a so-called love, he let God King Tang wrap a noose tightly around his neck. Where was his dignity? The original Dai Mubai's character was so infuriating that Su Wen felt the urge to jump into the book and slap him. To get into a conflict with Dai Yaoheng for the sake of a protagonist like that? You'd have to be brain-dead.
Of course, seeing Dai Yaoheng inevitably reminded him of the legendary "King of Losing" from the original story, Dai Huabin. He lost battle after battle, and in a fit of rage, he attempted to assassinate Huo Yuhao, which angered Shrek Academy so much that he was nearly expelled. He lost everything, down to his last pair of shorts.
They would be classmates in a year. The thought alone was amusing.
"We're here…"
The group arrived at the duel arena. Both the Outer and Inner Courts had their own dedicated arenas, which were similar to stadiums. The Inner Court's, however, was much smaller. After all, the entire Inner Court had fewer than fifty students. Sometimes, the audience was smaller than the number of referees.
"Everyone's here?" Dean Yan Shaozhe beamed at the students. "Alright, now that you've all arrived, you probably know why you're here. Let's start with introductions. Xiaotao, you first."
"Ma Xiaotao. Level 59, Battle Soul King. Martial Soul: Fire Phoenix," Ma Xiaotao nodded.
(End of Chapter)