"The teachers in Shrek's Inner Court are driving me insane! Every day it's nag this, teach that—and half the stuff is useless! I can't take it anymore, I was hiding from them!"
Xiao Hongchen climbed out of the lake, pulled the water grass off his head, and said to Jiang Shengyu:
"I'm telling you, you absolutely cannot go to her house! Who knows what's waiting for you there? What if they bewitch you or something?"
As he spoke, his tone grew serious. He threw an arm over Jiang Shengyu's shoulder and said:
"My instincts are screaming—there's something off about her!"
Hearing this, Jiang Shengyu was actually surprised by Hongchen's "intuition." He gave him a thumbs-up, then said:
"Then just come along with me. If you're all there, what's there to be afraid of? No way I'd get bewitched with you guys around."
"Not going!"
Xiao Hongchen shook his head outright. Then he added firmly:
"My sister definitely won't go either!"
"Sure, no problem. I'll go!"
Outside the Outer Court's classroom, upon hearing Wang Dong'er's invitation to visit her home, Meng Hongchen smiled and nodded in agreement.
At once, Xiao Hongchen's brows knit together. He pulled Meng Hongchen aside, touched her forehead, and asked with a frown:
"Sis, have you gone stupid from studying at Shrek? How could you agree to her invitation?"
Meng Hongchen slapped his hand away and snapped:
"You're the stupid one!"
"Then why—"
Xiao Hongchen simply couldn't understand why she had agreed. But Meng Hongchen glanced toward Wang Dong'er, who was chatting with Jiang Qingtong, and said in a low voice:
"Know yourself, know your enemy—only then can you win a hundred battles. This is the perfect chance to understand them better."
Xiao Hongchen's eyes lit up with sudden realization. He patted her shoulder and said:
"Sis, you're brilliant!"
"Brother… have you been brainwashed by Shrek teachers? Since when were you this dumb?" Meng Hongchen frowned. She remembered that back in the Sun–Moon Empire, her brother hadn't been like this.
This wasn't her brother. Her brother couldn't be this dumb.
From behind, Jiang Qingtong chimed in, looking at Xiao Hongchen:
"Hongchen, your sister's way smarter than you."
Xiao Hongchen: "…"
The end-of-term exams for the first semester came quickly. For their group, Shrek Academy's exams posed no difficulty at all. Even Meng Hongchen had already reached level 50—only needing to obtain a soul ring to break through to Soul King.
Yet, when Shrek proposed taking her to the Star Dou Great Forest to hunt for her ring, she refused outright.
Her martial soul, the Vermilion Ice Toad, contained a fire attribute, yes—but its true nature lay in ice. Her soul rings had to come from ice-attributed soul beasts that thrived in frozen lands.
Shrek Academy couldn't possibly be ignorant of the Vermilion Ice Toad's special requirements. There were no suitable soul beasts for her in the Star Dou Great Forest!
And yet, they still insisted on sending her there. What exactly did they mean by that? It was no wonder Meng Hongchen grew more suspicious.
Naturally, Xiao Hongchen's impression of Shrek Academy grew even worse.
A few days later, Jiang Nannan and Xiao Xiao returned from the Sun–Moon Imperial Soul Engineer Academy. Wang Dong'er immediately brought up her invitation for them to visit the Clear Sky Sect.
After some thought, Xiao Xiao checked her time and agreed. The sect was in the Heavenly Soul Empire's territory, not far from the Dou Ling Empire. Even after visiting the Clear Sky Sect, she'd still have plenty of time to return to her clan.
But Jiang Nannan hesitated.
She had planned to go straight home as soon as vacation began—to see her mother, and to tell her all about her experiences in the Sun–Moon Empire.
Her family only had her mother. She hadn't been home in so long; her mother was surely worried sick. And though her illness had been cured by the Xuan Shui , her mother wasn't a powerful soul master.
Her body was aging day by day. Their time together was growing shorter and shorter.
Thinking this, Jiang Nannan finally shook her head and declined Wang Dong'er's invitation.
Wang Dong'er blinked in surprise. Frowning, she asked:
"Senior Nannan, why refuse? It's not like everyone gets the chance to visit the Clear Sky Sect!"
But at those words, Jiang Nannan's expression darkened. She said firmly:
"Junior Dong'er, not everyone wants to go to the Clear Sky Sect. Compared to the Clear Sky Sect, there are more important places for me to be."
The atmosphere froze. Xiao Xiao felt the awkwardness, so she quickly tried to smooth things over:
"Ah—come on, if not this time, there'll be another! We're classmates, aren't we? There'll be plenty of chances in the future, right, Dong'er?"
She gave Wang Dong'er a pointed look, signaling her to apologize.
Wang Dong'er was, at heart, a proud genius. With her twin martial souls and her identity as heir to the Clear Sky Sect, her temperament leaned heavily toward that of a haughty young mistress.
But under Xiao Xiao's gaze, she reluctantly forced herself to apologize to Jiang Nannan.
Though in her heart, she still didn't think she was wrong!
What was wrong with inviting someone to the Clear Sky Sect? Not just anyone could go there! That was the sect of the Sea God Tang San himself!
Still, Jiang Nannan also offered an apology in return. She said softly:
"Sorry, Junior Dong'er. I got a little emotional. I just came back from the Sun–Moon Empire, and I'm still not used to things here."
Xiao Xiao chimed in quickly:
"Exactly! It's not just Senior Nannan—even I still don't feel adjusted yet!"
Wang Dong'er frowned in confusion.
"Not used to it? That makes no sense. People come back from the Star Luo, Heavenly Soul, and Dou Ling Empires all the time, and I've never seen anyone have trouble adjusting. Why is it only after going to the Sun–Moon Empire?"
Just as Jiang Nannan was about to reply, Jiang Shengyu and the others walked over. He said loudly:
"Because of soul tools, right?"
At the sound of his voice, everyone looked at him. Jiang Nannan and Xiao Xiao both nodded, agreeing with his words.
"That's right. It's because of soul tools."
"What about them?" Wang Dong'er still didn't understand. "It's not like the Three Empires don't have soul tools. So they're more advanced—so what? Is that really enough to make you feel 'not used to it'?"
"You'll understand once you've been to the Sun–Moon Empire yourself," Xiao Xiao said.
Behind Jiang Shengyu, Xiao Hongchen gave a proud, dismissive smirk:
"Well? Were you scared by our Sun–Moon Empire's soul tool technology? Much more convenient than what you have here, isn't it?"
Xiao Xiao and Jiang Nannan both nodded in agreement with his words.
But Wang Dong'er still stubbornly believed that soul tools were nothing special.
This was the fundamental difference in their ways of thinking. Jiang Shengyu didn't expect to change her mind now.
Someday, once there was a way to completely seal or erase the soul of the Sea God's daughter that parasitized her and the Auspicious Beast, then Wang Dong'er would finally act like a normal person.
Only then would she be truly herself, and not half of that so-called divine maiden, Tang Wutong.
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