After finishing his conversation with Mu En, Zhu Ziyang left the Sea God Pavilion.
At the inner courtyard cafeteria, he ran into Jiang Nannan—and unexpectedly, Xu Jiujiu was there as well.
"Your Highness the Princess, what a surprise to see you at Shrek Academy. You're not here to stir up trouble, are you?" Zhu Ziyang said with a teasing smile.
"Hmph! This princess is not that petty!" Xu Jiujiu put her hands on her hips and responded proudly, clearly unfazed by Zhu Ziyang's teasing.
"Brother, Sister Jiujiu came for an exchange program. She'll be studying at the Academy for five years!" Jiang Nannan explained with a bright smile. Xu Jiujiu had traveled with them from Star Luo City to Shrek Academy, and during those three days, the two girls had quickly become friends.
Jiang Nannan felt that although Xu Jiujiu was a princess and occasionally showed some regal pride, she wasn't the overbearing kind of noble. In fact, she was rather easy to get along with. What Jiang Nannan didn't know was that Xu Jiujiu's visit had another purpose—she was on a mission.
"I see." Zhu Ziyang narrowed his eyes slightly, scrutinizing Xu Jiujiu with a complex look.
That Xu Jiawei was willing to let Xu Jiujiu come to Shrek for an exchange meant that the Star Luo royal family had made a decision. Not bad—clearly, not everyone was as foolish as those buried in the plains a few days ago.
"Nannan, did you know that Aunt Bai is here?" Zhu Ziyang suddenly turned to Jiang Nannan, ignoring Xu Jiujiu.
"Ah! Mom came to the Academy?" Jiang Nannan exclaimed in surprise, her face lighting up with joy. "Really? Brother, take me to see her!"
"Mm, I'll take you," Zhu Ziyang said, smiling as he took Jiang Nannan's small hand. Then he turned to Xu Jiujiu. "Your Highness, we've got something to attend to. Feel free to look around the Academy on your own."
"See you later, Sister Jiujiu!" Jiang Nannan waved goodbye.
Hand in hand, the two walked away, bodies close. Watching them leave, a trace of frustration and helplessness flashed across Xu Jiujiu's face.
——
Time flew by. In the blink of an eye, half a year had passed since the All-Continent Elite Soul Master Tournament ended.
In those six months, the events and impact of the tournament had spread across every corner of the Douluo Continent. Every soul master knew of a name: Zhu Ziyang. A peerless prodigy from Shrek Academy who, despite his youth, had already reached the Soul Emperor realm—and even possessed a hundred-thousand-year soul ring.
However, aside from a few major factions, most ordinary soul masters only knew his name. As for what he looked like, how tall he was, or how he behaved—that remained a mystery.
Still, there was no doubt: Zhu Ziyang was now famous.
But that fame meant little to him. For the past six months, he had stayed at the Academy, never leaving Shrek Academy or Shrek City. He focused entirely on tempering his strength and mindset.
Through this period of quiet cultivation, Zhu Ziyang's soul power naturally advanced to Rank 66.
During this time, many major events occurred at the Academy. The first was that Zhu Ziyang gained three junior disciples.
After Huo Yuhao and his group emerged from their closed-door training, Mu En formally accepted them as disciples. Everyone in the Academy's Elder Hall understood the significance of this move—and were more than happy about it. Although others coveted the talents of these twin martial soul users, with Mu En making the decision, who would dare object?
Once Mu En took in Huo Yuhao and the others, Zhu Ziyang began to teach them on Mu En's behalf. Besides cultivating and spending time with his family, he dedicated his days to instructing the three juniors in Mu En's secret technique—Monarch Over The World, the fusion method of soul power and spiritual power.
Everyone accepted this arrangement without complaint. Elder Xuan even joked that it reminded him of when he was taught by Mu En after becoming the old man's disciple.
The second major event was the formal approval of the Ultimate Soul Tool Soldier Project. Proposed by Soul Tool Department Dean Xian Lin'er, Vice Dean Qian Duoduo, and Director Fan Yu, the project aimed to cultivate soul engineers with decisive strategic value—those capable of researching and producing large- or super-large-scale destructive soul tools.
Two students were confirmed for the program: Huo Yuhao and He Caitou. He Caitou was already a fourth-tier soul engineer at just fifteen—an unquestionable genius even by Sun Moon Empire standards. And Huo Yuhao's talent was no less; thanks to his twin souls and Ultimate Ice, he was granted special admission to the project by Mu En himself.
The third major event was a shift in personnel. After the tournament ended, Dai Yueheng and Gongyang Mo graduated and took up positions at the Academy as assistant instructors. Meanwhile, under the elders' guidance, Bei Bei, Xu Sanshi, He Caitou, and Tang Ya all passed the Inner Court exam and became full Inner Court students.
The fourth event was something yet to happen—Zhu Ziyang had decided it was time to formally introduce the Soul Spirit System to Mu En and the Sea God Pavilion.
He didn't want to delay any longer. He planned to complete the three Death God Trials, then travel the continent to finish the remaining divine inheritances. Before that, he had to inform the Academy of the Soul Spirit System and have them start preparing for its implementation.
——
Divine Realm.
Sea God Hall.
"Something's wrong… Something's not right. Why is this happening?" Tang San, the Sea God, sat on his throne, frowning deeply. One hand stirred the void as he muttered, "Why is Huo Yuhao's fate line still so flat? By now, he should be receiving Shrek Academy's full support… shouldn't he have already encountered that Auspicious Beast from the Star Dou Forest? So why hasn't it happened?"
His frown deepened, fingers stirring the void faster and faster until he suddenly slammed the armrest of his throne.
"This Zhu Ziyang… what the hell is he? He was just a supporting character meant to benefit from the child of destiny's good fortune. Now he's trying to steal the spotlight? Such an unruly pawn… he's asking to die!"
"Da Ming, Er Ming—go find everything you can about someone named Zhu Ziyang and report back!" Tang San's divine sense echoed to two burly men below.
Those men, none other than the former Clear Sky Sect's Da Ming and Er Ming, exchanged helpless glances and went to carry out the order. Luckily, Zhu Ziyang had been the continent's most talked-about figure for the past six months. They quickly gathered all relevant information and relayed it to Tang San.
As Tang San read the information, his expression grew darker. He realized something terrible—he had been wrong from the very beginning. Completely wrong.
Zhu Ziyang wasn't some leech benefitting from the protagonist's fortune—he was clearly a countermeasure created by Douluo Star's Will to restrain him!
"Dual Ultimate Martial Souls! Six hundred-thousand-year soul rings! This person is a threat to my grand design! A threat to Huo Yuhao! He must not be allowed to live!" Tang San's eyes gleamed coldly as he concluded, "Unfortunately, I've already invested too much into Huo Yuhao. Otherwise, maybe I could have chosen him instead…"
"But you… you're the heir of the Evil God. And against the Evil God and his heir, Shrek Academy has a duty to eliminate evil, right?"
'If someone from Shrek Academy kills him, it wouldn't count as me interfering in mortal affairs, right, Douluo Star's Will?"
"I'm only letting them know what they need to know.'
"Hahahaha…"
——
On the Douluo Continent, somewhere in the void, an indescribable and eerie existence suddenly trembled. It was like being licked by a pervert—like a supreme beauty suddenly feeling sick to her stomach.
"Who's thinking about me again? That ungrateful scum?" The entity's distorted voice rang out, laced with confusion and deep resentment.
(The End of Chapter)
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