"Ah… open your mouth." Ma Xiaotao blew on a chunk of whale gum roasted with Phoenix Fire and stuffed it into Su Wen's mouth, patting his head in satisfaction.
"I don't really need this…" Su Wen chewed the gooey thousand-year whale gum, which tasted like wax, feeling a bit regretful.
Whale gum could boost one's strength and affect the age limit for acquiring soul rings.
After ten thousand years, the Grandmaster's soul ring age limit theory gradually became obsolete (at least for top talents). Now, soul ring ages were inflating, and even Wang Dong'er's second ring was a thousand years old. No one at the academy found it surprising anymore.
But Su Wen didn't need soul rings, so it was kind of useless for him.
"Mmhm."
Ma Xiaotao hummed indifferently.
"Wait…"
Su Wen suddenly realized—whale gum didn't just boost strength, it also increased stamina…
Crap!
"Sigh, Xiao Wen is here too."
A warm voice sounded.
Inside an inner courtyard villa.
Several figures came in. Seeing Ma Xiaotao and Su Wen together, they weren't surprised. Instead, many wore teasing expressions, as if everyone knew about their relationship.
"Senior Yueheng? And…"
Su Wen was surprised.
He knew all these people—not just from acquaintance, but because they were famous in the original story.
Gongyang Mo, Dai Yueheng, Chen Zifeng, etc.
These would form the academy's main force for the tournament in two years, but to make the protagonist group shine, they'd soon lose IQ and charge into the enemy's lair, suffering heavy casualties and making way for the infamous Soul King evil soul master.
That's why Su Wen was so interested in Ice Explosion.
It was just that useful—perfect for defeating the strong as the weak, a real trump card.
A single Soul King could toy with Xuan Zi and seriously injure the whole elite team. Corpse Explosion was indispensable—hopefully after evolving, the Ice Emperor would learn this divine skill.
"So, what do you need from me?" Ma Xiaotao asked, sitting beside Su Wen like a giant body pillow, tightly hugging his arm.
"Dean Yan said, although the tournament is still two years away, as last year's main force, we need to practice together in advance—especially since you and I are captain and vice-captain…" Dai Yueheng replied seriously.
"What's there to practice? Those Sun Moon Empire weaklings aren't even enough for me alone." Ma Xiaotao raised her brows impatiently.
"..."
Su Wen was speechless.
If the story followed the original, Shrek's team would really steamroll Sun Moon Empire. Only because the writers made all the supporting characters act dumb did the protagonist group get a chance to shine.
It's all about plot armor.
Everyone instantly looked innocent, pretending nothing happened.
"Alright, let's go." Ma Xiaotao stood up reluctantly.
When the teacher speaks, she might complain, but she'd still go. Just as she reached the door, she realized no one was following, and froze. "What are you dawdling for? Move."
"Ahem, Dean Yan said to bring Xiao Wen, too," Dai Yueheng said awkwardly.
"Why him? He's not one of the Shrek Seven Devils—at most, he's next generation." Ma Xiaotao was puzzled.
"We just finished an inner courtyard graduation exam. Many seniors left, so Dean Yan barely gathered six opponents. We need one more." Dai Yueheng spread his hands.
Honestly, even he was baffled—a boy about to get his third soul ring was being put on the main team. Wouldn't he get hurt?
He knew how terrifying Su Wen's talent was.
Ten years old and already a quasi-Soul Elder—that was shocking in Shrek's history. At ten, most of them weren't even Soul Grandmasters. But still, there was a huge difference.
In a team battle with a twenty-level gap, they'd probably have to assign someone to protect Su Wen.
Dai Yueheng was now level fifty-seven and didn't think Su Wen could take even one of his attacks…
But since Dean Yan said so, he had to obey.
"Sure."
Before Ma Xiaotao could object, Su Wen stood up, eager.
Inside the Sea God Pavilion, other than the elders and Dean Yan, Ma Xiaotao was the only one close to Su Wen's strength and age. But they rarely sparred, since just helping her with her evil fire was enough.
This meant he had little real combat experience.
He wasn't enrolled yet and was too lazy to practice with outer courtyard students. Now he finally had a chance to test his strength—he wouldn't miss it.
...
On the way to the dueling arena.
Dai Yueheng chatted with Su Wen.
Su Wen didn't mind Dai Yueheng. The dirty business of the White Tiger Duke's family had nothing to do with him—he was a transmigrator, not the protagonist, and besides, it was all Tang San's scheme anyway.
He felt sorry for that unlucky kid, but only a little.
As for Huo Yuhao, he didn't think much of him—a classic example of wasted potential. Even as the chosen one, showered with opportunities, he barely made it. He glossed over his mother's revenge and got tightly manipulated by Tang San. Where's the dignity?
Dai Mubai's smug face in the original was so irritating, you'd want to jump into the book and slap him.
Fighting with Dai Yueheng over the protagonist? No thanks.
Seeing Dai Yueheng, Su Wen also remembered the legendary loser king from the original, Dai Huabin, who kept losing and even tried to assassinate Huo Yuhao out of shame, nearly getting expelled from Shrek. Lost everything, even his underwear.
They'd be classmates soon—should be fun.
But that was a year away.
"We're here…"
They arrived at the dueling arena.
Both the outer and inner courtyards had their own arenas, like gymnasiums, but the inner courtyard's was much smaller, since it had fewer than fifty students—sometimes there were more referees than spectators…
"Everyone's here?"
Yan Shaozhe beamed at them.
"Good, since everyone knows why we're here, let's introduce ourselves. Xiaotao, you start."
"Ma Xiaotao, level fifty-nine Battle Soul King, martial soul: Fire Phoenix." Ma Xiaotao nodded.
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Advanced chapter here: p-atreon.com/Sajaboyzzz
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