"Pavilion Master…"
Xuanzi called out softly as he looked at the old man reclining silently on the chair.
Creak…
The old man rose and closed the wooden window that opened outward, shutting the ruins and rubble outside from his world.
"Someone wants to excavate the ruins again. This time the forces involved are more numerous, so I came to ask what you think…"
Though he said it that way, Xuanzi understood clearly: the very fact that he came to ask already revealed his own intentions.
That place truly held the possibility of creating a god.
Once, he could still sense extraordinary fluctuations from the old man before him. Now, there was none. If he didn't already know this was Dragon God Douluo Mu En, he would really believe he was just an ordinary old man.
Although Mu En had not completed the Path to Godhood, merely through the physical strength gained from absorbing a full soul bone set and four reforging fusion rings, Mu En had already reached a level Xuanzi could not comprehend.
"How many more students have left?"
Ignoring Xuanzi's original question, Mu En instead asked something entirely unrelated to the ruins. His voice was low and slightly hoarse,nothing like what a demigod-level powerhouse should sound like.
"…Seventeen inner court students withdrew this month. As for the outer court, one hundred twenty-one. In particular, the class of the new teacher Zhou Yi has almost emptied out…"
Elder Xuan quietly reported something unprecedented in Shrek Academy's history.
To think that Zhou Yi,who had once taught Chen Fu, and was also the wife of Chen Fu's teacher, Fan Yu,had been the most eagerly anticipated teacher among new students. Many had voluntarily joined her class, which soon became famous across the academy for being a massive class… and for having incredibly high withdrawal rates.
Many students who had not yet dropped out were gritting their teeth and holding on, because they had come specifically for the sake of being Chen Fu's schoolmates.
But eventually they realized why Senior Chen Fu had been taught all the way to the Soul Tool Department. With teaching like hers,teach your mother, open your mother, provoke your mother,campus bullying under her was at an all-time high. They came to study, yet were forced to run and train every day. Did she think they were stupid and couldn't run on their own?
Now students were realizing that the Sea God of Shrek Academy was very different from what the textbooks claimed. Rumors even said that Senior Chen Fu's ninth-level soul tool had been destroyed by the Sea God and he had been driven out.
How was anyone supposed to accept that? What exactly were they tolerating all this suffering for? You old hag torment us every day with that awful voice,anyone with the slightest pride would have already revolted. Now they heard Senior Chen Fu was recruiting? To hell with old Lady Zhou,they were leaving!
The academy once tried to forbid students from spreading the words Chen Fu spoke when he left, but a ban was useless. The commotion that day had been too large. Many students knew, shared, and the story spread like wildfire.
"Pavilion Master, the reconstruction plan for Sea God Island is ready. Please take a look…"
Xuanzi brought up another major matter. He used to handle everything alone, but seeing Mu En's clearly abnormal condition, he felt it necessary to ask again.
"Ignorance comes from the unknown. Open a portion of the outer ring orbit to them."
Mu En's slow, weary voice sounded. He understood well: blocking only created pressure. Better to let those so-called prodigies who thought themselves above all others see what true power meant.
"Sea God Island? Why rebuild it?"
Mu En tilted his head slightly and glanced at Xuanzi. Under the warm, faintly yellow sunlight filtering through the window veil, dark blue divine lines occasionally crawled across his face like insects. In Mu En's abnormal blue eyes, Xuanzi saw the stench and coldness of the abyssal deep sea.
"Pav,"
"Xuanzi. From now on, you will be the Pavilion Master."
After saying that, Mu En ignored the completely stunned Xuanzi, lay back down, and closed his eyes within the faint divine glow.
The glow felt like that sunny afternoon…
When the power of Ascension mixed with the soul bone set had been injected into his body, the overall energy level did not seem exaggerated. But his origin soul power had soared dramatically, and self-created soul skills based on his origin would receive unimaginable amplification.
He had also absorbed a dragon core that melted into him, causing his soul power quality to leap forward at terrifying speed.
Along with the path he was beginning to forge, in pure frontal strength he was the demigod closest to divinity,closer than Di Tian.
"So… in your eyes, I too became the mortal with the greatest potential to become a god?"
Watching his body gradually transform day by day, Mu En's mood grew frighteningly heavy.
"So this is what you call divine… mercy?"
"Then I suppose I should thank you deeply… for choosing such a gentle method to erase any further possibility for me."
A body in the early stages of divine transformation,like a blank sheet of paper,could not resist the erosion of Sea God's divinity. Eventually it would slowly and inevitably be transformed into something unknown, like the unnameable horrors lurking in the deep dark sea.
After all… I am your most faithful Sea God Pavilion Master. Killing me outright would look bad, right… Ancestor Tang San?
Mu En's mindset was changing bit by bit. The devotion of a believer was slowly being replaced by an unknown fanaticism.
His lifelong pursuit had glimpsed light in the darkness,only to be crushed in that very light.
He could sense his own changes; the transformation of body and mind left him powerless to resist.
Fortunately, he believed he still had enough time.
…
"Hm? Elder Mu, what's wrong?"
While directing humans and soul beasts to establish territory boundaries,and building a physical core for Youlan,Chen Fu looked toward Mu En, who had silently stepped out of the void.
"The little girl has been found."
As he spoke, Mu En set down Mo Ling, wrapped gently in his soul power.
"Chen Fu, Lin, Ling Pavilion… and Sister Xiaotao… sob…"
The girl gave a broken cry and ran toward Chen Fu. She wanted to throw herself into his arms but hesitated halfway. In the end, she collapsed to her knees, sobbing softly.
Mu En slowly lowered his lifted hand, then silently retreated.
Under Mu En's gaze, Chen Fu placed his hand gently on the girl's head.
"It's alright. Ling Pavilion is already in the past."
He pinched her round bun hairstyle lightly and said with feigned ease,
"The soul and bloodline data of Xiaotao exist in Fenghuang and Nirvana. She has a chance to be reborn in nirvana."
Though not everyone had such a chance.
"Sob… I shouldn't have left…"
Only now did Mo Ling understand why Chen Fu insisted on enhancing Emerald with toxin-purification functions. It had been a form of protection for her.
"It's fine. If you hadn't left, even more people might have died."
Those complicated-ranked Title Douluo wouldn't care about the lives of Shrek City's residents.
"Alright. Go rest for now. We have things to handle."
Chen Fu suddenly looked toward the distant horizon. Mu En, Di Tian, Long Xiaoyao and the others immediately appeared beside him.
"They're here. Looks like they've gathered enough people."
"In all my life, this is probably the first time I've seen so many Title Douluo."
"Should we…"
Di Tian stopped speaking when he met Chen Fu's eyes.
If you want to read 40 advanced chapters and 3 new chapters daily, please subscribe to my : patreon.com/Moorowkeel