Wang Dong pouted unhappily.
"You always have an excuse! If I ever find out you betrayed me, I definitely won't forgive you!"
"How could that happen?" Su Yunlin replied helplessly. "There's only room for you in my heart. Only you."
He paused before continuing seriously.
"Ma Xiaotao's talent is exceptional. If she weren't constantly troubled by her evil fire, she could probably become a Titled Douluo within fifteen years."
"In the future, there's a high chance I'll end up sitting in the position of Sea God Pavilion Master. When that time comes, I can't possibly have nobody under me, right? I can't just order you around all day."
"The official team members all have excellent talent."
"If possible, I want to keep them in the academy and make them allies."
"Because what we'll have to face in the future… is far too much, and far too difficult."
Su Yunlin knew very clearly what the future held.
Even if Mu En were still alive, it likely would not change much.
Just Long Xiaoyao and Ye Xishui joining forces alone would already be enough.
How could Mu En possibly fight against both of them by himself?
As for Elder Xuan charging in…
Ye Xishui would probably swat him aside like some random roadside mob.
And Su Yunlin definitely could not let his grandfather act as cannon fodder either.
Just thinking about it gave him a headache.
Wang Dong narrowed her eyes suspiciously.
"Do you know something?"
Su Yunlin smiled faintly.
"What if I told you I can foresee the future? Would you believe me?"
Wang Dong fell silent for a moment before nodding seriously.
"I would."
"Huh?" Su Yunlin blinked. "You'd believe something that mystical?"
Wang Dong snorted lightly.
"Hmph! Would you lie to me? With the relationship between us, do you think I wouldn't notice if you were lying?"
Su Yunlin immediately grinned.
"Hehe, Wutong is the best! Today, I'll personally cook something delicious to reward you!"
"Yay!"
…
After that, the Star Luo Royal Academy directly chose to forfeit.
Which meant there was no need to proceed with the individual matches.
Shrek Academy advanced straight into the finals.
Meanwhile, the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy defeated Imperial Ao Academy with overwhelming dominance.
However, the Sun Moon Royal Academy team showed no joy despite their victory.
Their expressions were extremely solemn.
The match between Shrek Academy and Star Luo Royal Academy had placed immense pressure upon them.
Even someone as arrogant as Xiao Hongchen no longer dared to remain prideful.
The Martial Soul Fusion Skill unleashed by Su Yunlin and Wang Dong was simply too terrifying.
At the very least, they could not think of any reliable way to defend against it.
They were certain that a Class 7 absolute defense soul tool could block that attack…
But the sheer force behind it would still blast both the user and the soul tool away together.
Of course, the Sun Moon Royal Academy also possessed a trump card.
The Hongchen siblings.
They, too, possessed a Martial Soul Fusion Skill.
However, both siblings knew clearly that their fusion skill did not possess such frightening destructive power.
"Shrek truly lives up to being Shrek," Teacher Ma, the team leader, said gravely.
"In the team battle, we probably don't have much chance of victory. Should we simply give up on the team match and focus on gaining an advantage through the individual battles instead?"
"No!"
Xiao Hongchen immediately rejected the idea.
"The team battle is where we have the advantage! Our soul tools are definitely not inferior to their Martial Soul Fusion Skill!"
"And if it really comes down to it, I'll just—"
He abruptly stopped himself, unwilling to admit defeat.
"Xiao Hongchen," Teacher Ma interrupted calmly, "don't let temporary victory or defeat delay your future."
"Your talent is exceptional. In the future, you can become a Titled Douluo. You may even possess the potential to reach the level of a Super Douluo."
"A few days ago, Shrek Academy sent an invitation proposing an exchange program between our two academies."
"The Headmaster intends to send you to study at Shrek Academy for a period of time."
"Because when it comes to cultivation in the field of Spirit Masters… we are still far behind Shrek Academy."
Teacher Ma spoke slowly and seriously.
Xiao Hongchen quietly nodded.
"I understand."
…
Meanwhile, on the other side—
Inside Shrek Academy's conference room.
Su Jinming and the two deans of the Soul Tool Department wore grave expressions.
They had already witnessed the existence of battle armor.
More accurately…
The humanoid soul tools developed by the Sun Moon Empire.
Perhaps there was still some gap compared to true battle armor, but the difference was no longer very large.
The humanoid armored soul tools used by the Sun Moon Royal Academy provided astonishing enhancements to the user.
They were enough to allow a hollow, pill-enhanced Spirit King to directly contend head-on against a genuine genius-level Spirit Emperor.
Among the entire Shrek Academy team, only Su Yunlin possessed battle armor.
With the enhancement of his battle armor, his cultivation could temporarily rise to the level of a Spirit Sage, while his actual combat strength would become even more terrifying.
After watching the Sun Moon Royal Academy's match, the members of Shrek Academy gained a much deeper understanding of soul tools.
On Shrek's side, soul tools were generally designed to complement Martial Souls. The soul tools brought by the two deans followed the same philosophy — they existed mainly to compensate for the weaknesses of the team members, with most focusing on close-combat support.
The Sun Moon Empire, however, had developed soul tools in a far more comprehensive direction.
That Spirit Emperor from the Sun Moon Royal Academy had even managed to unleash power comparable to a Spirit Sage through soul tools alone.
When it came to the application of soul tools, the Sun Moon Empire was clearly superior.
If Shrek Academy could fully popularize battle armor in the future, then perhaps they truly would not fear them.
But mass-producing battle armor was extraordinarily difficult.
Just as soul tools needed to be personally crafted to perfectly suit their user, battle armor also required personal participation during its creation process.
For example, the battle armor worn by Su Yunlin had its foundational framework forged by his father, while the soul tool core formations engraved within it had all been personally inscribed by Su Yunlin himself.
That was why the armor matched him so perfectly and could provide such astonishing amplification.
"Dean! People from the Body Sect have stopped Yuhao!"
Xu Sanshi burst into the room while shouting anxiously.
"What?!"
Xian Lin'er slammed her hand onto the table.
"These people dare touch someone from my Shrek Academy?!"
She immediately rushed downstairs to see exactly who dared cause trouble for Shrek Academy.
Su Yunlin and the others followed closely behind.
The people from the Body Sect had arrived.
Inside the hotel lobby—
Two rather strange-looking figures stood blocking Huo Yuhao's path.
Beside Huo Yuhao stood Ma Xiaotao, Bei Bei, Chen Zifeng, Ling Luochen, and the others, all confronting the visitors from the Body Sect.
The two members of the Body Sect looked especially bizarre.
One possessed an abnormally massive right arm, while the other was short and skinny with an enormous head, resembling a giant-headed doll.
These seemingly "deformed" appearances were characteristic of the Body Sect.
And the cultivation of these two was anything but weak.
"Lang Ya, Yu Tao. Are the two of you really planning to snatch people right in front of Shrek Academy?"
Su Yunlin stared at them coldly.
"Oh? So it's our little junior brother!"
Lang Ya grinned.
"And what a pleasant surprise. The Sect Master has been thinking about you quite a bit lately."
"Master?"
Su Yunlin looked baffled.
"When did I ever acknowledge Du Busi as my teacher?"
"You may not have officially acknowledged him," Lang Ya replied with a smile, "but our Sect Master has already decided that you are his disciple. Why don't you hurry up and call us senior brothers?"
"Pah!"
Su Yunlin rolled his eyes.
"Is your sect a proper sect or just a bandit den? Every time you see something good, you try to take it."
"If you've really got the guts, then after the Spirit Master Tournament ends, let Senior Du Busi come personally visit Shrek Academy. My new teacher would love to have a 'chat' with him."
Who didn't know how to borrow someone else's prestige?
Su Yunlin did not even possess a Body Martial Soul.
There was no way he wanted to join that bandit nest.
Besides, Du Busi was shamelessly thick-skinned.
The man constantly claimed he had once saved Su Yunlin's grandfather.
But in reality, after that great battle, Su Yunlin's grandfather had fought his own way out of encirclement alone. He merely happened to encounter Du Busi on the way back.
Yet Du Busi shamelessly spun it into a story of "saving" him.
What a talent for glorifying himself.
"Fine then," Lang Ya chuckled. "We'll wait for Master to personally bring you home someday."
Then his gaze shifted toward Huo Yuhao.
"Huo Yuhao, you're coming home with us right now."
Lang Ya extended his hand—
Only for a chicken bone to suddenly fly over and smack his hand away.
"Things really are getting outrageous these days."
A lazy old voice echoed through the lobby.
"Any random cat or dog now dares to bully Shrek Academy?"
"You two sure have guts. Trying to snatch people right in front of us."
Elder Xuan slowly appeared.
With nothing more than a single chicken bone, he had forced back the Body Sect expert.
"Who are you?!"
Elder Xuan snorted coldly.
"Hmph. The younger generation truly has no respect anymore."
"Even that old monster from your sect wouldn't dare speak to this old man that way."
"I'm not dead yet."
"Go back and tell that old monster behind you this—"
"As long as I'm still alive, his hands will never reach into Shrek Academy!"
"You're from the Sea God Pavilion?!"
Lang Ya's expression changed drastically.
He had never expected someone from the Sea God Pavilion to appear here.
At that moment, several powerful auras descended one after another.
Elder Song.
Xian Lin'er.
Qian Duoduo.
Four Titled Douluo from Shrek Academy now stood together.
Only then did Lang Ya realize how many terrifying experts had been present all along.
Earlier, his attention had been entirely focused on Huo Yuhao and Su Yunlin.
Elder Xuan looked at the two coldly.
"Get lost immediately."
"For the sake of that old monster of yours, I'll spare your lives today."
"Otherwise, that old bastard would probably accuse me of bullying juniors again."
Yu Tao naturally refused to accept this and immediately attacked.
The result—
Elder Xuan effortlessly defeated him in a single move.
Only then did Lang Ya recognize Elder Xuan's identity.
Shrek Academy's Taotie Douluo.
In the end, the two from the Body Sect could only retreat unwillingly.
...
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