"Roar~~~"
A hurricane tore at the shredded meat. Gale stuffed it into his mouth haphazardly, smacked his lips twice, clearly enjoying himself—until the next instant, when the calm shattered. The Emerald Swan lunged in and pecked fiercely at his waist.
Startled, Gale darted behind Little Gold in a couple of bounds.
The Emerald Swan glared fixedly at Gale, especially at the chunks of meat in his hand. Even though they'd been rinsed, their stench was extra pungent inside its Poké Ball.
The Emerald Swan clan is innately kind. They can tolerate carnivores, but not on their own turf, defiling this heaven-blessed land.
"Put it away." Su Wen looked at Gale and shook his head helplessly.
"But… you don't have a name yet, do you?"
He looked at the Emerald Swan.
Ever since returning to the Academy, he'd totally forgotten about this.
"Then let's call you Azure Luan. Anyway, your future evolution has 'Azure' in the name. It rolls off the tongue."
Only after protests from his earlier soul beasts did he recognize his terrible naming sense, so he went with something ready-made.
Azure Luan nodded in satisfaction.
Its elegant neck leaned against Su Wen's side as it lay down quietly. Perhaps it liked Su Wen's aura; it enjoyed sticking close to him.
Su Wen grinned and stroked the swan's neck. That tuft of cyan feathers felt pretty nice.
"Roar?!!"
But the next moment—
Little Gold stared at Su Wen in utter disbelief.
He pointed at himself, then at Azure Luan.
The meaning was obvious.
Dare you repeat what you named me?
Why was mine so slapdash?
"Isn't 'Little Gold' nice? Don't be unreasonable." Su Wen frowned and righteously suppressed the protest.
"Roar…"
Little Gold looked even more incredulous.
Look me in the eyes!!! Who's being unreasonable here?!!
He was clearly the strongest among them, yet his name was the most careless.
No prestige at all! Damn it!
Su Wen reclined against Azure Luan. With its neck, it was about four meters long in total—basically a behemoth—but at this moment it was like a pillow, letting Su Wen sink into the soft feathers.
Gale chuckled, then bounded up an ancient tree by the lakeshore to swing like on a swing.
This was Azure Luan's territory; he rarely came here.
Su Wen noticed Gale's hands.
The sharpness on his fingertips had receded, replaced by flexible, human-like hands. Was this his evolutionary direction?
He propped his chin and pondered.
He was now level forty-nine.
All aspects were near their limits.
Take the upcoming tournament, for example: in this short span, to improve strength, outside of his own cultivation plus a few pets devouring Dreamsilkworm cast-offs and Ten-Thousand-Year Cold Ice Marrow, progress would hit a wall. With just over a month left, gaining even one level would be tough.
As for his other pets' soul bone skills—
They were basically capped. After returning from the Star Dou Forest, he got a soul bone of an Emerald Swan from Bi Ji. Over the years, quite a few had died of old age limited by talent; as clan leader, Bi Ji had collected their soul bones.
[Holy Light's Shine: Within one minute, except for decapitation or destroyed heart and other irreparable fatal injuries, fully heals all injuries of the target (single target).]
Then there were the three trump cards taught by the Snow Empress:
Empress Sword, Empress Palm, Emperess Snow Dance.
Emperess Snow Dance (Su Wen) + Everfrost Domain (Ice Emperor) double-stacked buffs, sapping the enemy and empowering himself—then using Empress Sword and Empress Palm—enough to insta-kill a Soul Emperor.
Empress Sword's terror lies in its freezing; the difficulty is landing it.
Empress Palm is worse: it needs to be delivered at close range—highly dangerous.
Previously, he killed Zhongli Di and Zhongli Ren only because he triggered a Martial Soul Fusion with Wang Dong, seemingly summoning a divine consciousness; then he cast the skills—and only succeeded because the enemy was careless.
Replicating that would be hard.
Moreover, he and Wang Dong weren't glued together 24/7. The drawbacks of Martial Soul Fusion Skills were obvious. He couldn't rely on it too much…
He took stock.
Azure Luan as healer, Gale as speed attacker, Ice Emperor as support/control, and Little Gold as main tank—this lineup could rival a freshly advanced Soul Sage—since the latter could use Martial Soul Avatar.
But this seemed to be his current bottleneck.
Aside from soul power, improving combat power even a little would be very tough.
"Wait!"
Su Wen froze.
"Let's go find Dean Yan."
…
"…"
Su Wen arrived at Yan Shaozhe's office.
Inside sat a middle-aged man with chiseled features, cold eyes, a burly frame, and a killing aura, alongside a noblewoman in brocade weeping softly.
"Dean Yan, about this… I hope the Academy can reconsider."
Dai Hao took a deep breath, lowering his proud head.
He had fought in the south for years and was already a famed marshal of the Star Luo Empire. Not long ago he'd broken into the Titled Douluo realm. But in front of Shrek Academy, he had to lower himself.
Because there were easily more than a dozen here stronger than him.
Like the man before him—
Smiling on the surface, but with a lofty status across the whole continent: the Martial Soul Department Dean, Yan Shaozhe.
"Of course we can—if you can convince him…"
Yan Shaozhe took off his gold-rimmed glasses and gently wiped them with a cloth, pointing at Su Wen beside him.
"Him?" Dai Hao raised a brow.
He had already bent quite low.
Yet Shrek Academy insisted on expelling Dai Huabin—
All for a concubine's son?
He glanced at the sobbing noblewoman, his expression turning ugly. I left you to manage the house, and you turned it into a complete mess and handed me a disaster. Truly… useless.
"May I ask who this young man is?" Dai Hao suppressed his emotions and forced a smile.
"Su Wen."
Su Wen smiled.
To these two famous figures from the original story—
The former was Tang God-King's main check on Huo Yuhao—used to leash Huo Yun'er. The latter would log off in a few years (to defuse hatred). Honestly, neither was a good person. But he and Fan Yu were mortal enemies. Since crippling Zhou Yi, Fan Yu had kept his head down, extremely low-key…
Was it just over?
Impossible.
If he got the chance, it would be a fight to the death.
He knew Yan Shaozhe refused to budge because Fan Yu was making a fuss. His quasi-personal disciple had been hunted down and was now missing; naturally Fan Yu was furious and wouldn't let it go—even if the other party was the White Tiger Duke.
So while he wasn't keen on either side, comparison mattered. He still remembered that blast from Fan Yu. Little Gold had tanked it seemingly calmly, but it was still a level-seven long-range soul tool cannon—he took some damage and had to rest a while.
Therefore…
"So this is little brother Su Wen." A storm raged in Dai Hao's heart.
He knew the whole story—his eldest son had already written to explain.
About this true genius from the inner court—
The Sea God Pavilion's successor—
He was the core figure affected by this incident…
Say what you will, but to be targeted by those evil soul masters who sent the Zhongli trio to besiege him regardless of face—that was monstrous. More outrageous—he survived their encirclement. Even Dai Hao might not manage that.
"I have no objections." Su Wen grinned.
As for Huo Yuhao—he didn't get his revenge in the original anyway. Whether he did or not, what difference did it make?
An enemy? Next time don't kneel and call me dad. In the original, faced with Dai Huabin who killed his mother, didn't Huo Yuhao let him go magnanimously? That so-called revenge—only one person died, and it was himself…
That whole "everyone wraps dumplings together" plot was laughable to him.
As for Fan Yu—the mask was already off. Nothing more to say.
"You're sure?"
Yan Shaozhe raised a brow.
"Mhmm."
Su Wen nodded.
Dai Hao and the noblewoman offered thanks again and left.
"All right. Out with it—why are you here?" Yan Shaozhe asked with interest.
"To have a weapon forged for Gale."
"I want to ask a forging master from the Academy to help," Su Wen said.
"A forging master? Old Du?" Yan Shaozhe understood.
Forgers had always existed in this world.
In Douluo 1, Lou Gao was one reason Tang San could forge Tang Sect hidden weapons. The ceiling was high—even Tang Hao was a legendary forging master. But in the original, he only guided Tang San a little and rarely showed his craft later.
Millennia later, battle armor would be the evolution of forging—integrated with soul tools.
A complete rebirth.
Current forging couldn't match future soul-tool-integrated levels, but, using metals unique to this world, they could still forge fine weapons.
It was just extremely costly, almost driven extinct by soul tools. Low-level forgers had nearly disappeared; only a few high-level ones remained—at increasingly exorbitant prices.
"A weapon for Gale?" Yan Shaozhe blinked.
"Yeah."
Su Wen nodded.
Not just Gale—he wanted exclusive weapons for all his pets. But reality was harsh.
Exclusive weapons would be great if this were a game—equip it for HP/MP boosts or attack stats, maybe special skills. But this was reality.
Slap heavy armor on Little Gold? Better to make two invincibility shields—more practical and nimble.
Forging for Gale was because soul tools couldn't quite achieve what he wanted and would constantly be obsoleted over time.
A truly good weapon was said to gain a soul and resonate with its wielder.
"…Mm, fine. Come with me."
Yan Shaozhe waved.
…
North of Shrek City.
A quiet little courtyard.
Piled high with weapons of all kinds—quite a mess. They went in deeper.
"Bang!"
"Bang!"
The sound of hammer on metal rang out.
Heavy, powerful.
As if pounding the heart.
A burly, soot-blackened old man stood by a furnace, hefting an iron hammer nearly two meters long, his corded arms smashing down on a fixed piece of metal—mithril—which grew smaller with each strike.
"Eighty!"
"Eighty!"
Su Wen couldn't help muttering.
"Bang!"
With a final blow, the old man turned, bared his teeth, and, looking at Yan Shaozhe and Su Wen, said with some headache, "What are you two here for? Forge a weapon? Your Phoenix martial soul doesn't need it. That kid does beast control… You want to forge a weapon for a soul beast?"
"Yep! Please help us, Old Du."
Su Wen smiled.
"Hiss… for that monkey?" Old Du scratched his head.
"Yes. He's the most compatible with a weapon," Su Wen nodded.
"You want a staff?" Old Du raised a brow.
"You guessed that too?" Su Wen was surprised.
"Nonsense. Modern forging emphasizes 'spirit.' Once a weapon is forged, with time it resonates with its user and builds tacit understanding. Soul tools can never compare," Old Du said proudly.
"So many top powerhouses have taken weapons from me."
"All right. Leave it to me. I'll have it ready before your tournament."
"You guessed that too?" Su Wen gaped.
"Heh. Now scram. Come pick it up in half a month." The old man waved and resumed hammering the mithril. Fire roared and billowed, as if to swallow the old man as well, but he stood there, pounding away, as if the forge tempered his body too…
"Old Du's martial soul is Furnace Fire—a type of flame. He's a natural forging genius. It's a pity that after reaching Super Douluo, he lost interest in advancing and became utterly obsessed with forging. Otherwise, with his talent, moving up another step would be easy. Still, he's known as the continent's number one forger, and no one dares claim second," Yan Shaozhe sighed.
"Rest assured. A weapon from his hands will be top quality—enough for Gale for a lifetime."
"Even usable in the God Realm?" Su Wen raised a brow.
"…"
Yan Shaozhe's face twitched.
"You kid… really know how to boast."
…
Sun Moon Empire.
Holy Spirit Sect.
Zhongli Wu looked at the panicked youth and soothed him gently. "Don't be afraid, child. Most in our Holy Spirit Sect have had experiences like yours—worse, even. We poor souls should stick together."
"Child, you were born an evil soul master…"
"Have a good sleep. When you wake, you'll start a new life."
"We'll do our utmost to nurture you."
"And then… we'll have you personally go to the White Tiger Duke's mansion and take the heads of the Duke and his wife, to appease your mother's spirit below and fulfill your vow of revenge."
"Revenge?"
Huo Yuhao looked blankly at Zhongli Wu.
Seeing the latter smiling and nodding solemnly, promising to help him avenge himself, his resistance to the Holy Spirit Sect lessened.
As long as he could avenge—
Maybe… it didn't matter where he was?
…
Dai Hao and his wife came and went in haste.
Rumors spread in the outer court but were quickly suppressed.
The already low-profile Huo Yuhao vanished, yet it didn't make many waves. His classmates seemed to forget him.
"All right, all core disciples under fifteen, to the Battle Arena…"
Mu Jin smiled.
"Do your best, everyone."
She flashed a hand sign.