On the way back.
Midair, Arthur's expression suddenly shifted, his overwhelming presence rapidly fading into weakness.
"The price is still too high."
Arthur murmured under his breath, his body dropping straight out of the sky like a kite with its string cut.
Wu Changkong appeared beside Arthur in an instant, alert and scanning their surroundings. Three-word battle armor materialized on him, and combined with his cultivation as a Soul Douluo, his strength had reached the level of a Titled Douluo.
It had to be said, Wu Changkong was also something of a cheat case. After breaking through his bottleneck, his cultivation speed had shot up like a rocket.
The only explanation was perhaps that he'd stayed at the peak of Soul Emperor for so long, never once pausing his training, and in the end all that accumulated potential had finally burst forth.
But this had thrown a wrench into Arthur's plans.
With Wu Changkong wearing three-word battle armor, clearly possessing the fighting strength of a Titled Douluo, if there was no way to eliminate Arthur quietly and without a trace, then the powerhouses lurking in the shadows, each with their own agendas, would never make a move.
And so Arthur had no way of telling who among them was friend and who was foe.
"Sigh."
Watching Arthur let out a sigh, Wu Changkong stepped forward to support him. But the moment he made close contact with Arthur, sensing that the other party was completely fine, he froze.
"You?"
"Shh."
Arthur quickly shot him a look, putting on an act. "I'm really weak right now, extremely weak, the kind of weak where I can't even walk."
"Good thing you came, Teacher."
Wu Changkong: "..."
He could clearly sense the soul power still churning through Arthur's body, absurdly powerful, even more stable, if anything, than it had been during the fight earlier.
"You sure about that?" Wu Changkong raised an eyebrow.
"Of course." Arthur kept a perfectly straight face. "Look at me, pale complexion, cracked lips, unsteady on my feet. If that's not weakness, what is?"
Wu Changkong silently glanced at Arthur's flushed, practically glowing face, and in the end decided to just play along.
"Then hold onto me."
He reached out to steady Arthur, pretending to carefully guide him along in the direction of the academy.
"So, hey, Teacher, was I awesome back there or what?"
Wu Changkong said nothing.
"Aren't you curious why I'm so strong?"
In the end, Wu Changkong asked anyway. "Was there really no price to pay?"
Arthur's cultivation was, after all, still only Soul King. What right did he have to crush two evil Douluo?
"Oh, the price was huge."
Arthur sighed wistfully. "My breathing rate gets way faster than normal. It's really exhausting."
That much was true.
But neither Wu Changkong nor the powerhouses secretly trailing them believed a word of it.
"That's it?" Wu Changkong couldn't help but ask.
"Of course not just that." Arthur added with total seriousness, "My battle armor is completely wrecked too."
"That's entirely your own fault. Whether you wear it or not makes no difference."
Wu Changkong was rendered utterly speechless, and could only pick up the pace, hurrying to get this student who talked absolute nonsense back home as fast as possible.
In the end, none of the powerhouses observing from the shadows made a move.
Which left Arthur feeling just a touch disappointed.
As for the match against the Sun and Moon Royal Soul Master Academy, naturally, under the leadership of Gu Yue and Na'er, they crushed the opposing side without the slightest difficulty.
After that came the journey back to Shrek Academy.
At Arthur's suggestion, their route passed through Tianding City.
He hadn't forgotten that he could use the star-observation platform at the Tianding Starry Sky Soul Master Academy to give Xu Xiaoyan a power boost. Her Absolute Domain skill was extremely useful, after all.
On the way to Tianding City.
The entire Douluo Continent was shaken by news of Arthur's strength.
Every faction was holding emergency meetings through the night.
Inside the Sea God's Pavilion of Shrek Academy, light and shadow flickered.
"What's your read on this?" one elder in a plain, unadorned robe spoke slowly, his gaze fixed on the projected image of that spear that had pierced through heaven and earth.
"Soul King realm, and he wiped out two Titled Douluo head-on, evil soul masters no less, the particularly troublesome kind within that system," another elder said, his tone complicated. "This isn't just talent anymore. This is a genuine powerhouse."
"Troublesome? Those two evil soul masters didn't even have three-word battle armor. They barely count as proper Titled Douluo."
"By that logic, Arthur doesn't have three-word battle armor either. His one-word armor barely adds anything to his strength."
"None of that matters. What's far more troubling is that he's a Twin Martial Souls user," the elder in charge of intelligence said gravely. "You all saw the power behind that sword strike of his a few years back. There's no way this spear strike is any weaker."
"So how should we regard him?"
Everyone turned their gaze to the young man seated at the head of the room.
"How should we regard him?" Yun Ming leaned back in his chair, expression relaxed. "Hasn't Ya Li been working to win him over this whole time?"
"And if I recall, you all used to complain about that constantly."
The Sea God's Pavilion fell into silence.
"Ya Li was right to do it." one of the elders spoke up. "But I think we need a backup plan as well."
"Arthur is entangled with too many factions. The Spirit Pagoda, the Body Sect, the Holy Angel Family, and now us at Shrek as well. Who knows which one he'll ultimately choose?"
At the mention of the Body Sect, everyone's gaze turned in unison toward one elder sitting in the corner, clearly slacking off.
This particular elder, who hailed from the Body Sect, had been humming a tune to himself. Sensing everyone's eyes on him, he froze for a moment, then cleared his throat. "Why is everyone looking at me?"
"The Body Sect is ancient history. I am now, absolutely, one hundred percent loyal to Shrek!"
As if anyone believed that.
Everyone's attention had clearly drifted elsewhere.
"Then for now, let's treat him as one of our own." Long Yeyue spoke up. "Focus on him, cultivate him, and keep him in check."
"Keep him in check?" someone raised an eyebrow.
"Any power that exceeds the ordinary must have boundaries placed on it." Long Yeyue said flatly. "We won't clip his wings. But we need to make certain he doesn't fly in the wrong direction."
Ya Li's brow furrowed, but given the other's seniority, she chose not to argue.
Over at the Spirit Pagoda, Qiangu Dongfeng was equally stunned.
Having received the intelligence report, he sat in silence for a long while.
After a storm of thought, his original plan, protecting Arthur, changed completely.
Arthur had to die.
He would not allow the existence of someone so terrifyingly powerful.
The plan needed to move faster now.
Over at the Holy Spirit Cult, the atmosphere was far grimmer.
"Where's the Underworld Emperor?"
A voice rang out.
"Unknown. We haven't been able to reach him for a while now."
"We won't wait for him. What's everyone's take on this variable, Arthur?"
"He's growing far too fast. His power already surpasses that of his own parents."
A shadowy figure spoke slowly. "Our earlier judgment of him was completely wrong."
"He might end up being the greatest obstacle to our entire plan."
A long silence followed.
"Is he at Shrek Academy?"
"Yes."
"Then leave him be for now. Let him stay right there. Heh heh."
Meanwhile, far off in the distant sky, a train sped onward toward Tianding City.
Arthur leaned against the window, watching the scenery rush past outside, when he suddenly sneezed for no reason at all.
"What's wrong?" Na'er asked with concern.
"Nothing." Arthur rubbed his nose. "Probably just someone talking trash about me behind my back."
Gu Yue shot him a glance. "With the kind of reputation you've got now, who would dare talk trash about you?"
"Maybe." Arthur spread his hands. "By the way, Gu Yue, my battle armor got wrecked. Perfect timing to build a new set and upgrade it while I'm at it."
"Mm." Gu Yue thought for a moment before answering. "I should be able to design two-word battle armor now, though it'll take some time."
"No, no, no." Arthur waved his hand.
Shrek would still get blown up and rebuilt, though not nearly as badly as in the original story. After all, the protagonist's character would absolutely step in to stop it.
And then there was the new head of the Sea God's Pavilion: Gu Yue!