"I've been wanting to meet you for some time, young friend Arthur." Ya Li smiled gently, her voice as soft as a spring breeze drifting over a still lake. "I am Ya Li."
Arthur cupped his hands in greeting and studied this Saint Spirit Douluo with a measured gaze. "Your Highness is too kind. May I ask what brings you to me?"
Ya Li gestured for him to sit, then came straight to the point. "I've come to extend an invitation for you and your companions to join Shrek Academy."
Arthur raised an eyebrow. "Oh? How so?"
"You did just suffer a rather crushing defeat."
"That hardly matters." Ya Li gave a slight nod. "Wins and losses are a natural part of any Spirit Master tournament."
No, it very much does matter.
Cai Yue'er, standing to one side, found herself quietly disagreeing. That was Shrek's unbroken glory across ten thousand years of competition. How could it not matter?
She held her tongue, however. It was Ya Li who had spoken.
"You don't mind that I'm with the Spirit Pagoda?"
"Why would we?" Ya Li looked genuinely puzzled. "Many of those who now hold authority in the Battle God Hall, the Spirit Pagoda, and other major factions once studied at Shrek."
Her tone was sincere. "Shrek has never forced anyone. We simply wish to offer you a better stage."
"The companions at your side, Na'er and Gu Yue among them, are all extraordinarily gifted. Shrek can provide the finest resources available and help each of you grow far more quickly."
"I will go," Arthur said, though before Ya Li could feel pleased, he shook his head and continued, "just not yet."
He had always intended to visit Shrek eventually. It was the largest gathering of talent in the Federation. Every promising person he could bring over was a gain.
Wu Changkong, after all, was a genius who had come out of Shrek.
That fellow Qian Wu was rather impressive as well, which had given Arthur pause. The man was arrogant, certainly, but when the situation called for it, he could set his pride aside without a second thought.
To buy time, he had even called someone else his father without hesitation. A person who could bend and stretch like that was a true talent.
"Are you refusing?" Ya Li fixed her gaze on the little blonde. If she was being honest, even she felt a flicker of anxiety. A rare card like Arthur, who wouldn't want him?
More than anyone else in the room, she had sensed with her own clarity just how terrifying his potential truly was.
The invitation and the warmth she had shown him were, in truth, a personal decision Ya Li had made on the spot.
Having witnessed with her own eyes what that sword looked like once fully unleashed, she was absolutely certain: the future of the Douluo Continent belonged to Arthur.
Shrek could afford to lose. What it could not afford was to make an enemy of him.
"I'm not refusing."
Facing the gaze of a Titled Douluo, Arthur remained composed, and said quietly, "It's simply poor timing. I have a few things keeping me busy at the moment. I'll make my way there before long."
This was no brush-off. He genuinely had a great deal to attend to.
First, he needed to cultivate to the thirty-ninth rank, then undergo Mu Ye's special training and use the Body Sect's secret methods to prepare himself for any anomalies that might arise when breaking through to Spirit Ancestor.
On top of that, he had to find a way to advance his Spiritual Power to the Spirit Abyss Realm and complete the fusion with the hundred-thousand-year Spirit Beast Gu Yue had provided.
All of it demanded enormous time and energy.
He simply had no room right now to go to Shrek Academy and show off.
Besides, he wasn't strong enough yet. Unless he could walk in and crush every student in sight, he wasn't going.
Failing to show off and ending up on the receiving end of a beating instead would be genuinely embarrassing.
The inner court must have quite a few people at Qian Wu's level. If someone decided to come after him, he couldn't very well unleash Excalibur every single time.
Better to get considerably stronger first, then make the trip.
"Is that so." Ya Li had assumed he was letting her down gently.
After a brief silence, she said with a note of disappointment, "You're welcome any time. Shrek's doors will always be open to you."
Cai Yue'er, standing nearby, was no longer content to stay quiet.
She finally lost patience. Her brow creased, and her tone carried a distinct edge.
"Young friend Arthur, an invitation from Shrek is a rare fortune that countless people could only dream of, yet here you are hedging and deflecting. Do you think Shrek is beneath you?"
Arthur only then registered that there was a third person in the room. He turned to look at the old woman with a puzzled expression.
"And you are?"
Those three words hit Cai Yue'er like a door slammed in her face. Her complexion cycled through shades of green and white.
She was, after all, a senior elder of Shrek Academy's Sea God Pavilion. The title of Silver Moon Douluo carried genuine renown throughout the Federation's Spirit Master circles.
Arthur's manner made her feel dismissed.
Of course, what stung most was the sharp contrast between how he engaged with Ya Li and how effortlessly unbothered he seemed by her own presence. She felt thoroughly stripped of dignity in front of a rival.
Ya Li quickly stepped in to smooth things over, suppressing a smile as she made introductions. "This is Teacher Cai Yue'er, one of Shrek Academy's core instructors."
So this was Cai Yue'er. That explained quite a lot.
Arthur's expression cleared at once. He cupped his hands and offered an apology. "So you are the Silver Moon Douluo.
My deepest respects. My attention was entirely on my conversation with the Saint Spirit Douluo just now, and I failed to notice you. Please forgive my oversight."
His tone was sincere, and the slip seemed genuinely unintentional.
Yet that very naturalness was, more often than not, the thing that cut deepest.
Cai Yue'er reached for her favoured tactic of slapping a label on the situation. She let out a cold snort. "Hmph. You clearly have no regard for Shrek whatsoever!"
She fixed her glare on Arthur. "I'll ask you once more: will you join Shrek or not? If the answer is no, say so plainly. Stop putting on this act!"
"Cai Yue'er!" Before Arthur could answer, Ya Li spoke first, her voice sharp with reproach.
"If Arthur has his own plans, we should respect them."
She turned a disappointed look on Cai Yue'er.
She knew Cai Yue'er had feelings for Yun Ming. She knew many people did. In truth, she didn't object to him taking another wife. Her inability to bear children had always been a source of guilt toward him.
But watching this scene unfold, one thing became clear: that woman could not be Cai Yue'er. Someone this impulsive simply wasn't worthy.
"Oh?" Arthur's eyes lit up, and he asked with barely concealed anticipation, "Are you about to attack me?"
If Cai Yue'er actually lashed out in a moment of rashness, he would have an excellent grievance to exploit.
Already seething after Ya Li's rebuke, Cai Yue'er heard that goading question and felt the blood rush straight to her head.
A terrifying surge of Soul Power roiled around her like a tide. "You insolent little brat! Don't think for a moment I won't lay a hand on you!"
Ya Li's expression shifted immediately. She stepped in front of Arthur and said in a low, firm voice, "Cai Yue'er. You wouldn't dare."
Her own gentle Soul Power rose around her, and the pressure of a Saint Spirit Douluo swept through the entire room in an instant, meeting Cai Yue'er's in a silent standoff.
Watching Ya Li place herself between him and his would-be attacker, Arthur understood that with her there, Cai Yue'er couldn't touch him.
But this was Arthur, the Schemer of Eastsea City, who never let an opportunity pass him by.
An idea flashed through his mind. He spoke up in a small, mild voice. "Your Highness, perhaps I should take my leave now."
"We still need to catch the evening soul guidance train back to Eastsea City."
"We actually have tickets from Skysea City's West Station, so it's quite a distance from here."
The itinerary Arthur laid out lacked only a copy of his household registration to be complete.
Cai Yue'er, you really ought to follow us.
"My apologies. Please, go ahead." Ya Li offered her regrets as warmly as she could manage.
Then she turned back to Cai Yue'er, her voice going cold. "This ends here. If you cause any more trouble today, don't blame me for what follows."