After three days of deliberation, Zhang Lexuan finally gave her reply: she decided to implement Mu En and Zhu Ziyang's plan.
Thus, at the Sea God Pavilion meeting the next day, a plan named "The Queen's Arrival" was listed as Shrek Academy's highest confidential document, with the authority to utilize all of the Academy's resources. For the next ten to twenty years, this plan would be one of Shrek Academy's primary operations.
After the plan was established, Shrek Academy did not rush to act, but chose to collect intelligence and information. At any time, information is one of the decisive factors. For the plan to succeed, Shrek Academy needed to investigate and verify a lot of intelligence, because most of the intelligence departments deployed by the Academy in the Sun Moon Empire were focused on spirit tools, and knew very little about the political environment within the Sun Moon Empire, thus requiring some time.
As the "The Queen's Arrival" plan was still in its preparatory stage, Zhu Ziyang stayed at the Academy for a week before leaving directly to complete his Death God Fourth Trial.
Through the Academy's intelligence system, Zhu Ziyang collected information on four Evil Soul Masters with Death attributes. These four Evil Soul Masters had all emerged in the past six months. Zhu Ziyang could not yet confirm whether they were guilty of sins, and could only draw a conclusion after meeting them in person.
Mount Yibo, an unremarkable mountain within the Douling Empire, was Zhu Ziyang's first stop on this journey. About four months ago, an Evil Soul Master calling himself the Duke of Hell massacred a village of a hundred households, causing a stir in the Spirit Master's world of the Douling Empire, and naturally attracting the attention of Shrek Academy. According to intelligence, the Duke of Hell had recently appeared near Mount Yibo.
Upon arriving at Mount Yibo, Zhu Ziyang settled in Yibo Mountain Town, the only town within Mount Yibo, and investigated information about the Evil Soul Master. He easily obtained intelligence about the Duke of Hell and learned that the Duke of Hell likely had a lair on Mount Yibo.
So, without hesitation, Zhu Ziyang went directly up the mountain, and then, in the forest on the mountainside, he found traces of a battle.
"Traces of a Spirit Ability of the Light element." Zhu Ziyang said expressionlessly, looking at the faint light emanating from the severed tree in front of him, "Over there!"
He instantly pinpointed the location of the battle. With a dash and a flash, he saw the two sides fighting. His target, the Duke of Hell, was one of the combatants. Six spirit rings, three purple and three black, flickered behind the Duke of Hell, looking especially eerie. His body was massive, about three meters tall and three meters wide, with dark giant claws for hands and feet, a single horn growing on his head, and a mouth full of fangs. His Spirit was similar to a Dark Demonic Bear, but his aura was even more evil and tyrannical.
The other shore flower mark on Zhu Ziyang's brow quickly flickered three times, indicating that the Duke of Hell met the requirements for his Death God Fourth Trial. Although he was unclear what sins this Duke of Hell had committed, the moment he confirmed his guilt, he was already a corpse in Zhu Ziyang's eyes.
The person currently fighting the Duke of Hell was actually a young girl who looked no older than fifteen or sixteen. The girl had flowing golden hair, a beautiful and charming appearance, and a pair of pure white wings behind her. Above her wings were five spirit rings: two yellow, two purple, and one black. She held a sword of light and exuded a sacred and inviolable aura of majesty.
"It's her!" Zhu Ziyang recognized the girl at a glance. Although three or four years had passed, Zhu Ziyang had a deep impression of this girl, a descendant of the Qian family with an Angel Martial Soul. He hadn't expected to see her here.
That's right, this girl, as pure as an angel, was Qian Lingyi, with whom Zhu Ziyang had met once before.
At this moment, although Qian Lingyi was only a Spirit King in cultivation, she was able to fight the Spirit Emperor-level Duke of Hell to a standstill, and even subtly gain the upper hand, relying on the power of her Angel Martial Soul and its ability to suppress evil auras.
Neither side was aware of Zhu Ziyang's arrival, and Zhu Ziyang was quite pleased that his arrival went unnoticed. He was preparing to snatch the kill.
Qian Lingyi held her sword of light, and her fifth spirit ring lit up. The sword of light immediately became larger and more dazzling, emitting a strong aura of judgment.
"Hmph!" The girl let out a delicate cry, and the sword of light, transformed into a holy sword, slashed down towards the Duke of Hell's head.
The Duke of Hell immediately unleashed his sixth Spirit Ability. His two bear paws were instantly filled with a dense aura of Death and evil, and he very precisely caught the descending holy sword. The dense Death aura and the strong light aura immediately fell into a fierce struggle.
Qian Lingyi and the Duke of Hell were locked in a tense and dangerous duel. If either side took a step back or lost a shred of strength, the other would mercilessly deliver a killing blow.
Zhu Ziyang seized this opportunity. The Pacifying Life-Reaping Scythe appeared, then its blade retracted, and the ring blade enlarged and moved to the center. A golden scepter appeared in Zhu Ziyang's hand. Immediately after, he raised the golden scepter, and his second Spirit Ability, Jingshi Holy Incantation, was instantly activated. Countless incredibly strong and dazzling lights shot out from the ring blade at the top of the scepter, like the proud sun breaking through dark clouds, radiating the warmest and most intense light into the dim World.
The sudden beams of light shone on Qian Lingyi and the Duke of Hell. Qian Lingyi instantly felt filled with power, all fatigue and exhaustion swept away. The Duke of Hell, on the other hand, felt as if he had been thrown onto the sun. His body was melting, his spirit power was dissipating, and his soul was wailing.
Everything happened too fast. The Duke of Hell didn't even realize what had happened before he was instantly purified by the Ultimate Light. His body and soul synchronized, turning into green smoke and dissipating into the air, leaving only his tattered clothes as proof of his former existence.
The Duke of Hell was purified, and Zhu Ziyang felt a trace of light feedback. His spirit power increased, not by much, only about one-tenth of a level, but this was the reward for his hard work! Indeed, others slew Evil Soul Masters out of justice, while Light-attribute Spirit Masters slew Evil Soul Masters for work!
"Hehe!" Zhu Ziyang chuckled, put away his Pacifying Life-Reaping Scythe, and, without any intention of lingering, turned and left.
"Wait a moment!" However, Zhu Ziyang hadn't gone far when Qian Lingyi, who had recovered, immediately chased after him, blocking his path and shouting, "How can you be like this, leaving without even saying hello? Are you afraid I'll make you compensate me for my losses?"
"We don't seem to be very familiar, do we?" Zhu Ziyang said, looking at the girl in front of him. He wasn't sure if Qian Lingyi still remembered him, but he still showed a faint smile on his face.
"Even if we're not familiar, we can become familiar!" Qian Lingyi showed a brilliant smile and said, "My name is Ye Guyi, what's yours?"
Alright, Zhu Ziyang could confirm that the girl in front of him hadn't recognized him, and she was actually using a fake name. Interesting. Zhu Ziyang showed a playful smile and said, "Ye Guyi? How come I remember your name being Qian Lingyi?"
"!" Qian Lingyi's expression instantly changed upon hearing Zhu Ziyang's words. She retreated a few steps, looking at Zhu Ziyang vigilantly, and questioned, "Who are you? How do you know my real name?"
"Hahaha! Don't be so nervous!" Zhu Ziyang chuckled and said, "It seems you really don't remember me. Alas, how sad!"
"Don't remember you?" Qian Lingyi frowned upon hearing this, staring intently at Zhu Ziyang, scrutinizing him carefully, and muttering, "You do look familiar, as if I've seen you somewhere before? Where was it?"
After a few seconds of recollection, a flash of inspiration struck the girl, and she immediately showed a surprised expression, saying, "I remember! You're the boy I met in the Tianhui Grand Canyon back then, named… named Zhu Ziyang, right?"
"Haha, that's right, that's right!" Zhu Ziyang replied with a laugh.
"Ah!" The girl suddenly shrieked again, shouting, "Zhu Ziyang, you are Zhu Ziyang? The Zhu Ziyang from Shrek Academy? It can't really be you, can it?"
"I didn't expect my reputation to be so great that even you've heard of me!" Zhu Ziyang looked at Qian Lingyi's reaction, and couldn't help but show a hint of a smug smile, saying, "It seems I really am famous!"
"You're really that Zhu Ziyang?!" Qian Lingyi's face instantly showed a mix of surprise, excitement, curiosity, and admiration, and she said, "Do you really have five hundred-thousand-year spirit rings?"
"Do you believe it?" Zhu Ziyang didn't answer, but instead asked a rhetorical question.
"Mmm-mmm~" Qian Lingyi shook her head and said, "No!"
"Then that's that, isn't it?" Zhu Ziyang said with a smile.
"I knew it, how could anyone have five hundred-thousand-year spirit rings? And a young person from the Soul Master Competition at that," Qian Lingyi said, seeing Zhu Ziyang agree with her, showing an 'I knew it' expression, "Alas, this is just a rumor, it gets more and more exaggerated with each telling!"
"So, did you stop me for anything else? If not, then I'll be going." Zhu Ziyang said with a smile.
"Hey! Why the rush!" Qian Lingyi saw Zhu Ziyang about to leave and immediately stepped forward, grabbing his arm, and asked, "Do you have anything urgent to do?"
"Not particularly urgent." Zhu Ziyang felt the fresh scent of the girl's body, and the words on his lips suddenly changed. He said, "So, you want to come with me?"
"Mhm! I think you're also traveling the continent, right? Coincidentally, so am I, we can travel together!" Qian Lingyi suggested with a smile, "How about it? You've seen my strength, I definitely won't hold you back! Plus, traveling with a beautiful girl is definitely better than traveling alone!"
"It's not impossible!" Zhu Ziyang thought for a moment and said, "It's just that I need to return to the Academy for a while. Do you want to come along?"
"Yes, I'd love to see what the number one Academy in the World looks like!" Qian Lingyi agreed without hesitation. She was full of curiosity about Shrek Academy and even more so about Zhu Ziyang, filled with a desire to explore and learn. That's why she proposed traveling with him the first—no, the second time they met.
There was a quality about Zhu Ziyang that made her extremely curious, a quality that made her instinctively want to be close to him.