Zhu Ziyang walked out of Sunset Forest and was met by Xian Lin'er, who had come to deliver supplies to him.
"Senior Sister!" Zhu Ziyang called out.
"Ziyang, have you finished your seclusion?" Xian Lin'er's face showed a hint of surprise, then a smile, and she said, "That's great. Let's go back to the Academy. The Grandmaster has been missing you."
"Alright!" Zhu Ziyang replied with a smile, "Senior Sister, nothing happened at the Academy in the past six months, right?"
"It's alright, actually nothing major happened." Xian Lin'er's eyes flashed with a hint of something unusual when she heard Zhu Ziyang's words, and a forced smile appeared on her face as she said, "The Academy has decided to conduct exchange activities with Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy, with students and teachers from the Soul Tool Department as the main participants; Xiao Tao, that girl, left the Academy after obtaining a Soul Spirit and went to travel the Douluo Continent; Nan Nan, that girl, often comes to ask me about your news. She has made significant progress in the past six months; and then there's..."
Xian Lin'er hesitated for a moment, then let out a deep sigh and said, "Ziyang, you need to be mentally prepared. The Grandmaster, he's not doing well!"
"What? How could this be?" Zhu Ziyang was startled by these words, immediately showing a look of surprise and urgency as he looked at Xian Lin'er and asked, "He was fine half a year ago, wasn't he? Why is he suddenly not doing well? Did the Grandmaster fight someone?"
"I don't know either!" Xian Lin'er said with helplessness and sorrow on her face, "The Grandmaster said it was due to the recurrence of an old injury, but how could an old injury recur out of nowhere? When Mei'er, Duo Duo, and I asked him, he wouldn't say. We sent Huo Yuhao and the other two to inquire, but they all returned empty-handed.
Ziyang, you are the Grandmaster's most beloved disciple. You must find out the reason behind this!"
"Senior Sister, you don't need to tell me, I will!" Zhu Ziyang's mood became a little heavy. He now only wanted to return to Shrek Academy quickly to see Mu En. He had a vague intuition that Mu En's change might be related to him. He said, "Let's go back to the Academy first! I'll go see the Grandmaster!"
"Okay!" Xian Lin'er nodded, then took Zhu Ziyang's arm, soared into the air, and directly transformed into a streak of green light, streaking across the sky and disappearing into the Sunset Forest.
The two quickly returned to Shrek Academy, landing directly on Sea God Island, beneath the Golden Ancient Tree.
Zhu Ziyang didn't rest; he walked directly up to the Sea God Pavilion, pushed open the door and entered the Sea God Pavilion hall, where he saw Mu En.
To be honest, at the first sight of Mu En, Zhu Ziyang was stunned, because Mu En's current state, even an ordinary person without any cultivation, could tell that his days were numbered. Zhu Ziyang still remembered Mu En's appearance half a year ago; although he was full of twilight, he still retained some vitality, like an ordinary old man.
But now, a gloomy aura of Death had appeared on him, a premonition of someone about to die. Mu En's face had also become somewhat numb, losing its vitality, as if he would turn directly into wood at any moment.
"Grandmaster, you..." Zhu Ziyang's voice trembled slightly as he spoke.
"Ziyang, you're back!" Mu En saw Zhu Ziyang and smiled with relief, saying, "It seems you've done well! Good, good, good!"
"Grandmaster, why has your condition become so poor?" Zhu Ziyang walked to Mu En's side and reached out to grasp Mu En's hand, only to find Mu En's hand ice cold. This wasn't a coldness of temperature, but a coldness that struck the soul, a coldness leading to Death.
"Haha! There was a small accident!" Mu En smiled. For some unspeakable reasons, he hadn't revealed what he encountered to anyone. He was waiting for Zhu Ziyang, but when he saw Zhu Ziyang, he hesitated. Although Mu En didn't know why that person wanted to kill Zhu Ziyang, he knew that person had already become a god for ten thousand years!
If that person insisted on killing Ziyang, could Ziyang really escape?
Mu En's heart was filled with immense pain. He had never imagined that before his Death, he would encounter something that would completely shatter the belief he had held his entire life.
"Grandmaster, what kind of accident was it exactly?" Zhu Ziyang keenly noticed the fleeting pain in Mu En's eyes, and with a guess in his heart, he said, "Could it be Long Xiaoyao and Ye Xishui?"
"Haha! Don't guess wildly for now. This matter really has nothing to do with them!" Mu En heard this, forced a smile, and said, "I can still last for a year or two. For the time being, Ziyang, tell me your thoughts, and I will try my best to pave the way for you!"
"Grandmaster, are you really not going to tell me?" Zhu Ziyang said with a look of helplessness and worry.
"Alas! If you want to know, then wait a little longer. This old man will definitely tell you before he dies!" Mu En said.
"Alright!" Zhu Ziyang was extremely helpless, but there was nothing else he could do. He said, "Then let me think about how to put it."
"Haha, no rush!" Mu En showed a benevolent smile.
A moment later, Zhu Ziyang organized his thoughts and said to Mu En, "Grandmaster, do you think it's better for the Douluo Continent to be unified or divided?"
"Naturally, unified is better!" Mu En said without hesitation. This was a consensus in the Spirit Master's world. A unified Douluo Continent was best for the development of Spirit Masters. Just like Spirit Hall ten thousand years ago, although it was only a unified Spirit Master alliance, it also led to an explosive growth in the number of Spirit Masters at that time!
The idea of unifying the Douluo Continent, which originated ten thousand years ago, had, after ten thousand years of development, already permeated every Spirit Master organization. Ten thousand years ago, Spirit Hall, which had the most hope of unifying the Douluo Continent, failed due to the selfishness of the then Supreme Pontiff, and the strongest individuals who had the most hope of unifying the Douluo Continent, due to their short-sightedness, allowed the two Empires to stand side by side.
Now, on the Douluo Continent, four nations rise together, and each Empire dreams of unifying the Douluo Continent and establishing a great Empire. Of course, people in every country hope that their own country will be the one to unify the Douluo Continent, which leads to the fact that among the four nations, to form a truly unified situation, they can only rely on absolute military force.
"Then Grandmaster, among the Star Luo, Tianhun, Dou Ling, and Sun Moon Empires, which of these four Empires do you think has the most hope of unifying the Douluo Continent?" Zhu Ziyang continued.
"Haha, although I, the Grandmaster, don't want to admit it, I have to say that the Sun Moon Empire has the most hope of unifying the Douluo Continent." Mu En's face showed a playful smile as he said, "Although the Sun Moon Empire's unification of the Douluo Continent does not align with the interests of our Shrek Academy, if the other three Empires were to unify the Douluo Continent, would they let our Shrek Academy off the hook?"
"So, Grandmaster," Zhu Ziyang smiled and said, "Since the Sun Moon Empire has the most hope of unifying the Douluo Continent, why should we assist the other three Empires in resisting? Using the Sun Moon Empire's hand to clear out the conservative forces on the Douluo Continent, isn't that a good thing?"
"It seems you have already come up with a way to protect Shrek Academy's interests during the unification process!" Mu En couldn't help but exclaim, saying, "Then stop being so mysterious and tell me about it."
"Grandmaster, look at this!" Zhu Ziyang took out a jade seal, on which a moon and a beauty were carved.
"This is..." Mu En narrowed his eyes. This jade seal felt somewhat familiar to him, as if he had seen it somewhere before, and he asked with a puzzled tone.
"This is the moon emperor jade seal!" Zhu Ziyang said.
"So it's that!" Mu En, upon hearing the words 'moon emperor jade seal', immediately remembered things about this jade seal. He was somewhat surprised and said, "How did this thing end up in your hands? This is the symbol of imperial power for the Sun Moon Royal Family!"
"I bought it at an auction at Jubao Pavilion earlier." Zhu Ziyang replied.
"Auction?" Mu En was stunned, then a look of understanding appeared on his face as he said, "So that's it. It seems the Moon Lineage Remnants of the Sun Moon Empire have truly declined, to actually abandon something as important as the moon emperor jade seal. Haha, how ironic!"
"Moon Lineage Remnants?" Zhu Ziyang looked at Mu En, his eyes showing inquiry.
"Yes! A group of losers who cowered in the Yue Nan Islands. They once sought help from Shrek Academy, asking us to help them overthrow the Sun Lineage Emperor, but I refused." Mu En smiled and said, "A group of people who don't even possess the legitimate Spirit of the Sun Moon Royal Family, yet dared to propose such a bold plan. If they could truly gain the recognition of the internal nobles of the Sun Moon Empire, then the Sun Moon Empire wouldn't be worthy of being our Shrek Academy's number one enemy!"
"I see!" Zhu Ziyang showed a look of sudden realization, then smiled a meaningful smile, and said, "Grandmaster, what if we send them a direct descendant of the Moon Lineage?"
"You mean..." Mu En's eyes immediately shot out a golden light, instantly understanding Zhu Ziyang's meaning, and he asked in surprise, "Le Xuan, that girl?"
"Mm-hmm!" Zhu Ziyang nodded and said, "Grandmaster, have you never doubted Sister Lexuan's origin? The Moon Spirit, this is a Spirit that has never appeared on our original Douluo Continent!"
"Actually, I did investigate once." Mu En said, "Le Xuan, that girl's family does have some connection with the Sun Moon Empire, but since she was the only one left in her family, and she was only eleven or twelve at the time, the clue was broken. If you plan to have her impersonate a direct descendant of the Moon Lineage of the Sun Moon Royal Family, that is indeed a feasible idea!
However, we need to get her consent first!"