After Zhu Ziyang and Mu En finished their conversation, he left the Sea God Pavilion.
At the Inner Courtyard cafeteria, he met Jiang Nannan and also saw an unexpected person, Princess Xu Jiujiu.
"Princess, I didn't expect to see you at Shrek Academy. You're not here to cause trouble, are you?" Zhu Ziyang said with a teasing smile on his face.
"Hmph! This princess isn't that petty!" Princess Xu Jiujiu wasn't bothered by Zhu Ziyang's teasing. She put her hands on her hips and said haughtily.
"Brother, Sister Jiujiu is here at the Academy for an exchange program, for five years!" Jiang Nannan explained to Zhu Ziyang with a smile. Princess Xu Jiujiu had traveled with them from Star Luo City to Shrek Academy, and during the three days on the road, Princess Xu Jiujiu and Jiang Nannan had become good friends.
Jiang Nannan felt that although Princess Xu Jiujiu was a princess and occasionally displayed a swan-like pride, she didn't have the usual haughtiness of a rich young lady. On the contrary, she was very approachable. The young girl didn't realize that the approachable and easy-to-get-along-with princess, Princess Xu Jiujiu, was actually at Shrek Academy with a mission.
"Is that so!" Zhu Ziyang narrowed his eyes upon hearing this, scrutinizing Princess Xu Jiujiu with an unreadable expression.
Emperor Xu Jiawei was actually willing to let Princess Xu Jiujiu come to Shrek Academy for an exchange. It seemed their Star Luo Royal Family had made a decision. Not bad, it seemed not everyone was as foolish as the group of people buried on the plains a few days ago!
"Nannan, Aunt Bai is here, did you know?" Zhu Ziyang didn't pay attention to Princess Xu Jiujiu, but instead directly spoke to Jiang Nannan.
"Ah! Mom is at the Academy?" Jiang Nannan exclaimed in surprise upon hearing Zhu Ziyang's words, an excited expression on her pretty face. She asked, "Really? Brother, quickly take me to see Mom!"
"En! I'll take you!" Zhu Ziyang smiled and took Jiang Nannan's small hand, then said to Princess Xu Jiujiu, "Princess, we have something to attend to and will be leaving first. Feel free to explore the Academy on your own!"
"Sister Jiujiu, we'll see you later!" Jiang Nannan also directly bid farewell to Princess Xu Jiujiu.
The two held hands, their bodies close, and left the Inner Courtyard cafeteria. Princess Xu Jiujiu watched them leave, a hint of discouragement and helplessness appearing on her face.
——
Time flew by, and in the blink of an eye, half a year had passed since the Pan-continental Elite Soul Master Competition ended.
In half a year, the content and impact of the Competition had deeply permeated every corner of the Douluo Continent. Almost everyone in the Spirit Master's world knew that Shrek Academy had produced a peerless genius named Zhu Ziyang, who, at a young age, possessed the cultivation of a Spirit Emperor and also had a hundred-thousand-year spirit ring.
However, apart from a few major powers, ordinary forces and Spirit Masters only knew Zhu Ziyang's name. What Zhu Ziyang looked like, how tall or short he was, how thin or fat, all remained unknown.
But, undeniably, Zhu Ziyang had indeed become famous.
However, such a reputation held no practical meaning for Zhu Ziyang. For the past six months, Zhu Ziyang had stayed within the Academy, never leaving Shrek Academy or Shrek City. Fortunately, he used this half-year to allow his abilities and strength to settle, and also to make his mindset more peaceful and composed.
Because his own accumulation and refinement had been tempered, Zhu Ziyang's spirit power naturally increased to level 66.
During the past six months, many significant events also occurred within the Academy. The first major event was that Zhu Ziyang gained three more Junior Brothers and Junior Sisters.
After Huo Yuhao and the other two emerged from seclusion, Mu En took all three of them as his disciples. All the elders were well aware of the meaning behind Mu En taking Huo Yuhao and the other two as disciples, and they even welcomed it. Although they also wanted to take talented individuals with twin spirits as disciples, Mu En had made his intentions clear, so who would dare to contend with him?
After Mu En took Huo Yuhao and the other two as disciples, Zhu Ziyang began teaching on behalf of his master. In the past six months, besides cultivating his spirit power and spending time with his family, the remaining time was used to teach these three Junior Brothers and Junior Sisters Mu Lao's unique skill, which was the method of integrating spirit power and mental force — Reign Over The World.
Everyone expressed understanding for Mu En's approach, especially Xuan Zi, who stated, "I am very familiar with this. Back then, I was taken as a disciple by Master, and then Mu Lao taught me on his behalf."
The second major event was the Sea God Pavilion officially approving the Extreme Soul Tool Soldier plan proposed by Xian Lin'er, Dean of the Soul Tool Department, Qian Duoduo, Vice Dean, and Fan Yu, Director of Instruction. This plan aimed to cultivate one or more super Soul Engineers for Shrek Academy who would have strategic decisive significance, meaning Soul Engineers who could create and research large and super-large scale destructive soul tool weapons.
Currently, two students have been explicitly selected for this plan: Huo Yuhao and He Caitou. He Caitou, needless to say, is a fifteen-year-old Rank 4 Soul Engineer, an absolute genius even in the Sun Moon Empire. And Little Huo's Soul Tool talent is only stronger, not weaker, than He Caitou's, so he, with his twin spirits and Ultimate Ice Spirit, was exceptionally selected for it, a decision personally made by Mu En.
The third event was the departure of one group of people and the arrival of another. After the Pan-continental Elite Soul Master Competition ended, Dai Yueheng and Gongyang Mo were granted graduation and received their respective academy appointments, becoming assistant teachers in the Inner Courtyard, a common career path for many Inner Courtyard Disciples. As for Bei Bei, Xu Sanshi, He Caitou, and Tang Ya, under the guidance of the various elders, they all successfully passed the Inner Courtyard assessment and became part of the Inner Courtyard.
The fourth event was something that had not yet happened but was about to: Zhu Ziyang decided to formally introduce the Soul Spirit, a creation of epoch-making significance, to Mu En and the Sea God Pavilion.
He no longer wanted to delay. He wanted to complete the three trials of the God of Death and then begin traveling the continent to complete the remaining God Position assessments. Therefore, before that, he needed to inform the Academy about the Soul Spirit System and have them make some preliminary preparations for it.
——
God Realm.
Sea God Hall.
"...Something's not right, something's not right, why is it like this?" Sea God Tang San sat on his throne, one hand manipulating the void, his brows tightly furrowed, muttering, "Why is Huo Yuhao's fate line still so straight? Under normal circumstances, shouldn't he have gained high recognition and benefits from Shrek Academy by now? Shouldn't he have made contact with that auspicious beast in the Star Dou Great Forest? But why hasn't he?"
Tang San's brows furrowed deeper and deeper, and his fingers manipulating the void moved faster and faster. Finally, he slammed his fist on the armrest of the throne, "What is this Zhu Ziyang? He's clearly a supporting character who benefited from the Son of Destiny, but now he has the momentum to usurp the host. Such a disobedient chess piece deserves to die!"
"Da Ming, Er Ming, go find information on someone named Zhu Ziyang and come back and tell me!" Sea God Tang San closed his eyes, his divine sense transmitting into the ears of two burly men in the lower realm.
The two burly men summoned by Tang San were precisely the two from the Clear Sky Sect. They exchanged glances, helpless but with no choice, and set off to search for information on Zhu Ziyang. Fortunately, Zhu Ziyang had been the most eye-catching figure on the continent in the past six months, so they easily gathered his information and then uploaded it to Sea God Tang San.
Sea God Tang San quickly received Zhu Ziyang's information. As he read through Zhu Ziyang's information, his face grew increasingly grim. He realized that he had been wrong from the very beginning, and terribly so. This Zhu Ziyang was not someone who benefited from the Son of Destiny; he was clearly a means for the Douluo Star's will to counteract him!
"Twin Ultimate Spirits! And possessing six hundred-thousand-year spirit rings! This person is an obstacle to my grand plan! An obstacle to Huo Yuhao! He must not be allowed to live!" Sea God Tang San quickly came to a conclusion, a ruthless glint in his eyes as he said, "What a pity, I've already invested in Huo Yuhao, otherwise, it might not be impossible to switch targets!
You are the inheritor of that Evil God from before. Facing an Evil God and its inheritor, Shrek Academy has a responsibility to eliminate evil and uphold justice, right!
If someone from Shrek Academy deals with him, it won't count as me interfering in mortal affairs, right, Douluo Star's will!
I'm just letting them know about this matter!
Hahahaha..."
——
Douluo Continent, in an unknown void, an indescribable, bizarre existence inexplicably trembled, like a peerless beauty being licked by a pervert, a strong urge to vomit rising within it.
"Who's thinking of me again? Is it still that ungrateful scoundrel?" Its voice was also filled with unidentifiable sounds, and its tone was full of confusion and resentment.