The second team of Heaven Dou Imperial Academy, which was under the banner of Shrek Academy, successfully advanced with excellent results, securing the top spot in their competition zone. They then traveled to Spirit City along with other teams that had qualified for the finals.
Without the interference of any powerful Spirit Hall forces attempting to hunt them down, the journey went smoothly. Flender led Tang San and the others into the city, where they reunited with Yu Xiaogang.
After exchanging a few pleasantries and arranging for the students to engage in their own activities, Liu Erlong pulled Yu Xiaogang into her room.
"Xiaogang, how did it go?" Liu Erlong's eyes flickered as she spoke.
She already knew beforehand that Yu Xiaogang had come to Spirit City specifically to meet Bibi Dong alone.
Yu Xiaogang sighed deeply, his expression dark. "She has changed. After twenty years, she's no longer the Bibi Dong of the past, but the revered Pope. It seems I shouldn't have come to see her at all."
For the past few days, every time he thought about the humiliating experience of that day, a wave of pain surged through his heart, filled with resentment and unwillingness.
Especially the fact that she refused to even meet him, confiscated the elder token left to him by Tang Hao, and then drove him away from the Pope's Mountain.
If Bibi Dong still harbored hatred, she wouldn't have let him go so easily. If she remembered their past, she should have at least agreed to see him.
It was this cold indifference that hurt him the most.
Liu Erlong let out a sigh of relief and said softly, "So, you didn't get the method to cultivate twin spirits from her?"
"No." Yu Xiaogang responded simply, not mentioning the details of being refused at the gates. He pulled Liu Erlong into his arms. "Erlong, this is Spirit City, her territory. From now on, don't leave my side, I'm afraid she might harm me."
"Let her come, why should I fear her? Even as the Pope, she still lost to me. As long as she doesn't take you away, I fear nothing."
Hearing this, Yu Xiaogang's expression softened somewhat, no longer as gloomy as before. "Don't worry, she can never take me away. We are husband and wife, even if only in name."
Outside the hotel, with free activities arranged, the Shrek Academy students dispersed.
Ning Rongrong went to see her father, while Zhu Zhuqing, having no desire to meet Zhu Zhuyun in secret, wandered the streets alone, observing the scenery of Spirit City.
Before she knew it, she had reached the inner city, near the foot of the Pope's Mountain.
Several squads of spirit masters patrolled the area, and if any outsiders wanted to proceed further, they would need to undergo additional checks.
After a moment's thought, Zhu Zhuqing approached one of the Spirit Hall guards and asked, "Excuse me, is there a senior named Su Yue in Spirit City? She asked me to come here to find her a few years ago."
"Su Yue? A senior?"
The guard was a bit surprised and hesitated before replying, "There is indeed a spirit master named Su Yue here, but she can't be considered a senior. She's a young spirit master who joined Spirit Hall not long ago, and she's only a few years older than you. If it was a few years ago, it's probably not the person you're thinking of."
At that moment, the guard seemed to notice something and motioned towards someone behind her. "Isn't that her over there? The spirit master with silver hair. And the person next to her is her brother, Su Cheng, who was recently accepted as a disciple by Her Holiness the Pope. Are they the ones you're looking for?"
Zhu Zhuqing turned in the direction the guard indicated and immediately spotted Su Yue.
Her silver hair was quite eye-catching.
"Thank you."
Zhu Zhuqing thanked the guard responsible for watching over the Pope's Mountain and turned towards the two figures.
Though she wasn't sure if this was the person she was supposed to meet, she felt the need to confirm, though this Su Yue didn't seem like the "senior" she had met before.
The key doubt was her power level.
By now, Zhu Zhuqing had nearly reached the strength of a Spirit King, and her spiritual perception was quite sharp. She could tell that Su Yue's aura was stronger than hers but only by a small margin, just at the peak of the Spirit King level.
Beyond power, there was something off about her overall presence—she didn't feel like the mysterious expert from before.
After all, the person who had secretly transmitted his voice to her back then seemed to be a young man.
Perhaps this was someone like a "senior sister"?
Zhu Zhuqing could only speculate.
At that moment, Su Cheng and Su Yue had just come out of the library, planning to head towards the competition venue.
It had been almost half a year since they joined Spirit Hall.
Su Yue had read a lot of books in Spirit Hall's library.
Even though she didn't fully understand all the contents, she still memorized much of the information.
Moreover, reading is one of those things that gets easier the more you do it. As she accumulated more knowledge, her ability to absorb new information also increased.
By now, Su Cheng was mostly just tagging along as a "study partner," rarely participating in Su Yue's thought process.
Now, with the Spirit Master Tournament approaching its final stages, Su Cheng had no intention of missing the excitement surrounding Tang San and his companions.
Compared to the original events, the current Shrek Seven Devils had undoubtedly undergone many changes. And the series of events following the finals in Spirit City were a critical turning point in the timeline.
How these changes would influence the subsequent developments was something Su Cheng was eager to observe.
For one, without the Yearning Heartbroken Red herb to conceal her identity, the 100,000-year-old spirit beast Xiao Wu would certainly not appear in the finals and expose herself in front of so many titled Douluo.
But would the future still follow its original path? This question intrigued Su Cheng greatly.
"That person is coming."
"Who?"
Su Yue's sudden remark caught him off guard.
"The one we met years ago—the one with the big chest. Hmm, it's even bigger now."
"…"
Su Cheng fell silent, noticing Zhu Zhuqing approaching them. But what unsettled him more was Su Yue's behavior.
Why had the Silver Dragon King turned into this? Where did she pick up such a brazen way of talking?
Was I doing something wrong from the start?
"Su Yue, you've been with me since you took human form, right?"
"You've been following me."
"Fine, whatever you say," Su Cheng gave up arguing. "Why do you talk like this?"
"I read it in a book."
"What book? Does Spirit Hall have books like that?"
"Stop with the nonsense, the person you're interested in is already here."
"…"
"Hello." Zhu Zhuqing addressed the two young spirit masters in front of her.
The boy on the right seemed rather ordinary, but the girl was quite remarkable.
As Zhu Zhuqing had traveled and fought against many of the top young talents on the continent, she had seen plenty of beautiful spirit masters.
Not to mention her own companions Xiao Wu and Ning Rongrong, she had also met striking individuals like Shui Bing'er and Huo Wu in recent days. All of them were outstanding in appearance.
But compared to this girl, they all seemed a little lacking.
It wasn't due to the girl's facial features alone, nor just the unusual charm of her exotic eye color.
There was something ethereal about Su Yue, a dreamlike, otherworldly quality that made her seem unreal, like she didn't quite belong in this world.
It was only when she occasionally spoke to the boy next to her that she seemed a bit more "human."
Across from her, Su Yue remained indifferent to Zhu Zhuqing's polite greeting, merely sizing her up in silence.
The atmosphere grew a bit awkward.
Su Cheng, seeing this, immediately stepped forward and smiled warmly at the young woman, nodding his head. "Zhu Zhuqing?"
"Hello, that's me."
Zhu Zhuqing was surprised that he knew her name and turned her head to meet his gaze.
The cold and indifferent purple eyes of Su Yue were quite oppressive, but compared to her, this boy seemed far more harmless.
Wait a second… this voice…
Zhu Zhuqing's eyes widened slightly, and she asked in shock, "You were the person that day?"
Su Cheng chuckled softly at her words. "Not what you were expecting?"
"Yes... No, that's not it..."
Facing his smile, Zhu Zhuqing suddenly felt her heart race, and an inexplicable panic surged within her.
Her usual calm and composure seemed to leave her, and her mind became a chaotic mess.
Everything that happened today was truly bizarre.
A beautiful silver-haired, purple-eyed girl and a handsome boy about her age—no matter how she looked at it, these two couldn't possibly be related to that mysterious powerful figure from the past.
If there was a connection, it should logically be something like them being his disciples or successors.
Three years ago, this boy would have barely been ten years old. How could someone so young have such formidable strength and strange abilities?
Zhu Zhuqing had seen powerful individuals with youthful appearances before, like Ning Fengzhi, Chen Xin, and Dugu Bo, who maintained their youth through certain techniques.
But the idea of someone reverting to a youthful state—that was something she had never heard of.
Moreover, if she remembered correctly, the guard just mentioned that this "Su Cheng" was Su Yue's younger brother and had recently been taken in as a disciple by the Pope.
It was one thing that she couldn't discern his true abilities, but could even someone as powerful as the Pope, a Titled Douluo at the pinnacle of the continent, fail to notice anything unusual?
Su Cheng could see Zhu Zhuqing's confusion and, after thinking for a moment, spoke in a comforting tone, "Zhu Zhuqing, there's no need to overthink things right now, and you don't have to inquire about too much. Those things aren't important to you. After this competition, you'll likely be facing pressure from the Star Luo Empire, right?"
"Huh? Oh… yes…"
Zhu Zhuqing snapped back to reality, surprised by how much this person seemed to know about her situation.
Now that her Hell White Tiger Martial Spirit had been exposed, it would be hard for the Star Luo royal family to sit idly by. Her family, the Zhu Clan, would undoubtedly face pressure as a result.
At that point, there would be turbulence within the Star Luo Empire's higher circles, and as someone at the center of it all, she wouldn't be able to avoid it.
Of course, she could choose not to participate in this competition and continue to keep her abilities hidden for a little longer. But martial spirits were the kind of thing that couldn't be kept secret forever, especially for someone like her with exceptional talent.
After all, though the Star Luo Empire's intelligence network wasn't as widespread as the Spirit Hall's, it was still far from being deaf and blind. Even without the Soul Master Tournament, the relevant information would eventually come to light, and she would have to face it sooner or later.
Su Cheng continued, "In the finals, you should perform well and showcase your strength and potential. It would be best if you could take the championship. That way, when you return to the Star Luo Empire, you'll have more leverage. It's not like the Dai Clan has absolute power; the nobility are like weather vanes, and the circle is full of opportunists and gamblers. Also, you should make use of your connections in the academy. I told you before, didn't I? Your classmates come from extraordinary backgrounds, each with powerful figures behind them."
Hearing this, Zhu Zhuqing finally confirmed that the person before her must indeed be the mysterious figure from that day.
Both his tone and the content of his words were far too similar…
"But you probably don't need me to tell you too much more about this. Just proceed with the plans you originally had in mind."
"Then…"
Zhu Zhuqing opened her mouth, hesitant.
She wanted to ask about the promise from three years ago—whether it still held—but was too embarrassed to speak.
First, she hadn't come to Spirit City before the competition started, as he had asked, missing the agreed-upon time. That was one reason.
Second, her pride wouldn't allow her to beg for anything. That was another reason.
Even though the boy before her was powerful and mysterious, it wasn't enough to make her easily lower her guard or submit, especially with a certain feeling inside her that made her unwilling to show weakness in front of him.
Fortunately, Su Cheng seemed to understand her predicament and didn't press her further. Instead, he kindly offered, "As for following me in training, there's no rush. With your talent, there are almost no bottlenecks for you before reaching the level of a peak Douluo. Just stay with Tang San and the others; opportunities will naturally come your way, and your advancement won't be slow. When you eventually hit a bottleneck, then we can think about making changes."
As he said this, Su Cheng raised his hand and gathered a concentrated amount of pure energy, which he then pressed onto Zhu Zhuqing's shoulder, allowing it to instantly merge into her.
Unlike the last time when he had secretly left some energy on Qian Renxue, this time, the amount of energy he used was much greater, even consuming a significant portion of his spiritual power.
As this energy entered Zhu Zhuqing's body, she immediately felt a terrifying sense of pressure from within, as if a rabbit had suddenly encountered a dragon, and her thoughts momentarily froze under the overwhelming power.
Fortunately, this sensation only lasted for a brief moment before quickly dissipating. The energy seemed to sink deep into her body, becoming undetectable.
"Don't worry. This power won't harm you or interfere with your future cultivation. It's just a little safeguard I'm leaving you. It can't compare to a deity's divine consciousness, but if you encounter a life-threatening situation, it'll automatically activate and save your life."
"..." Zhu Zhuqing glanced silently at Su Cheng.
She couldn't tell how much of what he said was true, but at least now she could confirm his identity without a doubt. Furthermore, she dared not reveal any of today's events to anyone.
However, something Su Cheng mentioned piqued her curiosity.
A deity.
Did deities truly exist in this world?
The person before her knew about the existence of deities and even dared to compare himself to them.
No matter how great the difference in power between him and a deity might be, they were clearly on a similar level of understanding.
"Oh, one more thing I should remind you of: after you've dealt with the matters in the Star Luo Empire and return to Heaven Dou City, if you get the chance, try to get your hands on the Vast Sea Cosmic Shroud (Sea God's Heart) that the Heaven Dou Royal Family has been safeguarding."
...
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