Shrek Academy.
Inner Court.
Inside a picturesque small courtyard.
"Hum..."
Zhang Lexuan, the Inner Academy Senior Sister, who had been appointed by Mu En himself as the successor to the Sea Gods Pavilion in recent years, sat quietly in the room. She wore a jade hairpin in her hair, her face becoming increasingly gentle and beautiful, her figure proud and slender.
"Senior Sister, the team is setting off today. It's time. Elder Xuan asked me to come and call you..."
A figure sounded from outside the courtyard.
It was an inner academy disciple who hurriedly pushed open the gate and spoke.
Hoo...
"Alright, I know." Zhang Lexuan exhaled a breath of turbid air and exited her meditation. Her pair of light blue eyes slowly opened. Compared to three years ago, they held a bit more detachment and grace, as well as a coldness that kept people at a distance.
"Hmm!"
The Inner Academy disciple glanced at Zhang Lexuan again, a flash of amazement and regret crossing her eyes.
What a pity. Such a beautiful fairy. If not for that incident back then, she probably wouldn't be like this...
When she first joined the Inner Court, she had vaguely heard Seniors talking about the rumors of that year. Seniors said that the senior sister was once like this—seemingly gentle and quiet, but her heart had only been open to one person... But that incident back then caused the Senior Sister to completely lock away her heart.
Therefore, now, although several Senior Brothers from the Inner Court had expressed their love to the Senior Sister, they were all coldly rejected without a shred of mercy.
'I wonder what kind of peerless figure that person who could enter senior Zhang Lexuan's heart—now the "taboo" of Shrek Academy—must be.'
As the inner academy disciple's figure disappeared.
Zhang Lexuan slowly stood up, her lotus steps moving lightly as she walked into the courtyard. The jade hairpin held up her black hair, and below it was a bell that made a crisp, pleasant sound with her steps.
"Three years..."
She whispered, her red lips slightly parted.
She took off the jade hairpin, letting her hair cascade down her shoulders like a waterfall. It did not look messy but rather added a touch of natural beauty. Zhang Lexuan held the jade hairpin before her eyes, and her other jade hand gently brushed over it.
"Brother, am I beautiful?"
"Beautiful..."
Three years had passed, and the memory of many things had faded, but only that person's voice and appearance were carved into her mind as if by death; no matter how she tried, she could not forget.
On the first night after she woke up three years ago.
She still held a trace of absurd fantasy. What if? What if this was all just a dream? As long as she woke up, could everything return to how it was before?
He would still dotingly help her amplify her physical body, feed her whale rubber, and hold her, saying that everything would be alright with him there.
Even in her dreams, there were several times she returned to the time before everything happened, but after waking up, everything shattered, leaving only the cold bed and the jade hairpin...
For three years, she had hidden under the covers and cried countless times, cursing that guy, and every time she wanted to smash this jade hairpin and forget that person completely, but in the end, she couldn't do it.
However, as time passed, she slowly accepted all of this and began to cultivate desperately, just to see him again one day.
"..."
Zhang Lexuan's eyes gradually became firm.
"Lu Cheng… I won't kill you, but I will break your meridians and bones and imprison you in Heaven Dou City forever... to atone for the sins against my parent and the elders of both families who died back then."
...
Outside Shrek Academy.
It was lush and green, and many Inner Academy disciples were waiting in groups of three or five under an ancient tree reaching the sky.
"Lexuan, here..."
Ruo Mu waved her hand and said with a smile.
"Senior Sister Ruo Mu, is your mission over?" A trace of surprise and joy finally appeared on Zhang Lexuan's calm face.
"Yeah, the Inner Court graduation assessment is finished, and I'm about to become an Inner Court teacher. This can be considered the last task the academy gave me." Ruo Mu hugged the beauty's shoulder, a flash of heartache crossing her emerald green eyes.
"You've lost weight."
With such high talent, why cultivate so desperately? You should relax properly. Look at our Elder Xuan; he has nothing to worry about all day..."
"You girl." Xuan Zi was still as sloppy as he was three years ago. He jumped down from the top of the ancient tree, rolled his eyes, held a chicken leg in his hand, and waved his hand lazily.
"Alright, since everyone is here, let's go.
I'll say it again: this time, our Spirit Beast capture operation will go deep into the core area of the Star Dou Great Forest. But unless it's a matter of life and death, I won't make a move. Only if you encounter a powerful ten-thousand-year-old spirit beast on the way that you can't solve together will I save you...
Understand?"
"Understood!" Many Inner Academy disciples said respectfully in unison.
"Then let's set off." Xuan Zi picked his teeth with his other hand, looking bored.
"Lexuan, this time you and Ruo Mu are responsible for leading the team."
"Yes, Elder Xuan." Zhang Lexuan bowed slightly.
Xuan Zi nodded with satisfaction, and his figure disappeared from the spot.
This elite Inner Academy team also rushed rapidly toward the core area of the Star Dou Great Forest.
...
The view switches back to the first-person perspective.
In a spacious altar.
Lu Cheng slowly opened his eyes.
This was the Evil Spirit Forest, the true headquarters of the Holy Spirit Cult. A Holy Spirit cult disciple wrapped in a black robe was kneeling halfway in front of him. "Your Highness Saint, according to the information sent back by the spies hidden in Shrek City, Zhang Lexuan and others have left Shrek City with Xuan Zi..."
"Hmm." Lu Cheng raised his eyes and glanced at him indifferently: "Go down."
"Yes!" The latter took the order, his body turned into a shadow, and he disappeared behind the altar.
Flutter~
As soon as the shadow left, there was a sound of flapping wings. Several Black Crows surged toward him, condensing into a black-robed figure.
"The Grand Elder ordered me to go with you." The black-robed figure said faintly.
"That's great, Ninth Venerable..." A smile appeared on the corner of Lu Cheng's mouth.
"..." Wu Yun's eyes twitched.
"What does your kid want to do again? The few gold coins on me have been squeezed dry by you. With that little salary every month, it's not enough for my own cultivation. If you borrow it again, I'll have to drink the northwest wind."
"Hahahaha... Crow, why be so alert? Do I look like that kind of person?" Lu Cheng said with a smile.
"Hmph, that's hard to say." The familiar taste returned, and Wu Yun snorted coldly, but his expression was clearly not as tense as before.
When he first joined the Holy Spirit Cult, this kid dared to speak bluntly to him, a Venerable... calling him by his "nickname."
He was naturally unhappy and even had several disputes. Once, they fought directly.
And that was the time he was completely stunned.
A level 94 Title Douluo and evil soul master was already a top existence on this continent, but he fought a level 80-something Spirit Douluo kid to a draw.
With a sun-shooting bow in one hand and blood pupils in the other.
He could aim from miles away. One move, the Thousand-Mile Sun-Shooting, almost shot half his life away.
Since then, he had been completely obedient and convinced by this saint of the Holy Spirit Cult, his future direct superior.
"But I heard... that girl is a debt of love you left behind?" Seeming to remember something, Wu Yun showed a smile.
"... Don't ask what you shouldn't." Lu Cheng's smile faded, and he glanced at him faintly.
"Hahahaha." It was the first time Wu Yun saw Lu Cheng deflated, so he laughed regardless of his image.
The curiosity on his face grew stronger: "I'm a bit impatient to see her. To make you, the number one Devil Head of the Holy Spirit Cult, miss her so much, what kind of beauty must she be?"
Lu Cheng was silent, gently rubbing the jade pendant in his palm.
This token of love was not forgotten to be returned, but he couldn't bear to return it...
In the Holy Spirit Cult for many years, only it could comfort his soul from time to time.
However, his face was still indifferent, flashing a trace of mockery: "Heh, a debt of love? If it weren't for the presence of Shrek experts when I defected back then, she would have been a soul under my arrow. I could sacrifice my whole family... let alone a mere woman."
"Oh?" A trace of playfulness flashed in the Crow's eyes.
"That's good. This happens to be an opportunity. When we meet again, I'll kill her for you."
Lu Cheng turned his head and glanced coldly at the Crow.
Cough, cough, cough...
The Crow's expression remained unchanged, coughing twice, but his heart was surging, thinking, What a powerful sense of oppression! The moment their eyes met just now, there was really a chill seeping into his bones, and his neck felt cold.
To make him, an evil soul master who had one foot in the Super Douluo level, feel a threat of life and death.
This kid... is really a prodigy.
Half a year ago, they were evenly matched, but now... I'm afraid he has improved again.
"When are we leaving?" The Crow changed the subject.
"Now."
Lu Cheng played with the jade pendant in his hand and said slowly.
...
Core area of the Star Dou Great Forest.
"Seventh Soul Skill, Silver Moon Avatar!"
"Sixth Soul Skill, Moon Fall!"
The bright moon hung high in the sky, and a beautiful fairy seemed to have borrowed the moon from the sky, carrying it behind her.
Looking down at the swarming blood-red baboons below, a trace of indifference flashed in her eyes, her tone cold as she sends out the Soul Skill move.
Combined with Ruo Mu's Wood Escape Binding.
It accurately hit the leading Blood-Red Baboon King, which was nearly forty thousand years old. The latter roared angrily, but the sound quickly weakened, and its whole body was struck by the Moon Silence, its vitality rapidly fading...
Roar!!!
Seeing this, the other Blood-Red Baboons roared in grief and indignation, but after a stalemate with the other Shrek Inner Academy disciples for half an hour, they had to turn and leave.
After all, without the leader's Berserk amplification, their strength plummeted...
"Not bad, Lexuan; you've become stronger again."
Ruo Mu waved her hand, signaling one of the Inner Academy Disciples to end the life of the Blood-Red Baboon King that was paralyzed on the ground and unable to move. This was the Soul Ring that matched it. She walked over and said it with a smile.
"Nowadays, I'm afraid even I am not necessarily your opponent. It's really a bit like that guy..."
"Senior Sister Ruo Mu." Zhang Lexuan frowned slightly, looking at Ruo Mu with slight dissatisfaction.
"Ah ah... haha." Ruo Mu patted her head awkwardly, trying to change the subject: "That's what... Zhang Ling and I are getting married soon. You must come then."
"So fast?" Zhang Lexuan said in surprise.
"Fast? We've been an old couple for so many years." Ruo Mu said with a smile, a sense of happiness unconsciously revealing itself in her tone.
"Then congratulations to you," Zhang Lexuan said resentfully.
"Ooh..." Ruo Mu's face twitched.
She seemed to have said the wrong thing again.
But her nature was straightforward, so how could she have thought...
The two came to the top of an ancient tree and sat quietly on the thick branches, chatting quietly.
Sparks flickered below, and the Inner Academy Disciples were as small as ants, playing around the campfire, and the youthful laughter reached their ears from time to time.
"It's okay, Senior Sister Ruo Mu; actually, I've let it go long ago."
Under the faint moonlight.
Zhang Lexuan's eyes were calm, and her lips were printed with a faint ruddy luster under the light spilled by the silver moon in the air.
"Really let it go?" Ruo Mu asked cautiously.
Zhang Lexuan nodded seriously.
Looking at the starry sky with her light blue eyes, she said, "Next time we meet, I will cripple him and then take him back to Heaven Dou City. I want him to kowtow and apologize to the dozens of people from the Lu family and Zhang family who were killed."
"And then?" Ruo Mu asked.
"Then... I will also accompany him to a quiet village where no one disturbs us and spend the rest of my life washing away the crimes he committed and walk through the last journey."
Although Zhang Lexuan's tone was light, it was extremely firm.
Ruo Mu's eyes were stunned.
"Lexuan, you're not inheriting the Sea Gods Pavilion? Elder Mu regarded you as..."
Zhang Lexuan shook her head.
"The Academy has Xiao Tao. I've been forcing and pressing her to cultivate desperately these years, just to let her inherit the position of Pavilion Master of the Sea Gods Pavilion. I am a sinner. Since I fell in love with him and accidentally killed so many people, I will accompany him to atone for my sins for the rest of my life..."
Ruo Mu: "..."
If Elder Mu heard this, would he be angry to death on the spot?
And in fact, Xuan Zi, who was drowsy in the leaves of the ancient forest not far away, already had his eyes wide as copper bells.
"But, for a beast like him, is it worth it to throw away the rest of your life..." Ruo Mu's eyes twitched, and she said tactfully.
"He is my brother after all, and after my parents died, he was my only 'relative' in the world," Zhang Lexuan said softly.
Ruo Mu was numb.
She should have known not to bring this up.
Would Elder Mu beat her up when she got back?
Probably not...
"This kid... is really damn lucky to meet a silly girl like you." Ruo Mu shook her head, full of emotion.
It was truly a pair of... fated enemies.
"And this mission of mine was to infiltrate the other side of the Ming Dou Mountain Range, go to the Sun Moon Continent, and wipe out an Evil Soul Master expert who fled there. Within the Sun Moon Empire, I chased that guy. Before he died, I tortured him again and learned the news about that guy."
"..."
Zhang Lexuan trembled all over; her previously calm face froze instantly.
She slowly looked at Ruo Mu, her eyes filled with an imperceptible urgency, but after realizing it, a complex look surged in her eyes...
"That guy is doing well. After going to the Holy Spirit Cult, it is said that he has great power. In the Sun Moon Empire, even the princes are inferior to him." Ruo Mu naturally noticed this scene and sighed in her heart. Looking like this, where is it letting go? But then again, such a deep memory, how could it be let go just by saying so?
"Now, I'm afraid he has reached the peak of the level 89 Spirit Douluo realm," Ruo Mu said with emotion.
"Level 89 Spirit Douluo..."
Zhang Lexuan's nails dug tightly into her flesh, and blood dripped down her plain white palm, but she felt nothing.
Even though she had been working hard to cultivate all these years, was she still not that guy's opponent?
Notes:
Bonus (2/3)
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