A month flew by.
After returning from the Ultimate North, Su Wen dove back into cultivation. Elder Mu was recuperating in the Golden Treehouse. No one on Sea God's Island was minding Su Wen anyway, so he simply had Wang Dong'er stay; the two continued living in their original room, practicing their martial soul fusion daily.
This made Ma Xiaotao quite jealous, but the demonic fire in her body had dwindled to a faint ember, and she couldn't find a good pretext to harass Su Wen, so she could only keep up her love-hate bickering with Ling Luochen, sniping at each other every day.
Jiang Nannan, Bei Bei, Gu Yuena, and Mu Qiuer were admitted to the Inner Court one after another after passing their assessments. Ning Tian and Wu Feng stayed for now in Class 2 of Year 2. Dai Huabin, emboldened by Su Wen's disappearance, grew increasingly arrogant and often provoked Xie Huanyue's little clique; but with Mu Jin suppressing things, they were just minor scuffles that never stirred up much of a wave. Everything proceeded in an orderly fashion.
…
A bright morning dawned.
As soon as he stepped into the Sea God Pavilion council chamber, Su Wen heard Yan Shaozhe and Xian Lin'er in their usual daily quarrel. Normally, Yan Shaozhe might back down, but the moment the interests of the Martial Soul Department were involved, he would yield not an inch and argue his case to the end.
The other elders said nothing, quietly watching.
In truth, they were all "martial soul faction" at heart—after all, they had all come up through the Martial Soul Department. The Soul Tool Department had only flourished in recent years, with shallow roots. If not for Xian Lin'er and Qian Duoduo serving as deans, with Elder Song and Elder Mu quietly backing them, they would have been crushed flat by Yan Shaozhe long ago.
"It's not that I want to be harsh, but what use is your Soul Tool Department?" Yan Shaozhe frowned. "Just this year, the academy invested twenty percent of Shrek City and Shrek Academy's net profits! And what research have you produced? Don't talk to me about Fan Yu's fixed soul tool cannon. That's just cribbing from the Sun–Moon Empire. They'd developed it long ago, yet you burned through several million gold soul coins to reinvent it—and had the gall to call it original?"
"Nonsense! Our soul tool technology is proceeding in an orderly fashion. And besides, we only got twenty percent of research funding—your Martial Soul Department got sixty percent! That's three times ours!" Xian Lin'er stood akimbo, refusing to give an inch.
"The future belongs to soul tools. Elder Mu recognized this long ago. Anything worth having, we must develop ourselves to truly own it. Can we rely on imports from the Sun–Moon Empire? What if they've planted bombs in them… boom! They blow you up from inside your invincible shields—what then!"
"Look farther ahead. Stop acting like frogs at the bottom of a well."
"You…" Yan Shaozhe was at a loss for words.
Xian Lin'er wasn't wrong.
Relying on the Sun–Moon Empire's soul tools was tantamount to sticking your neck out for them to throttle. If war broke out and they tightened export controls on soul tools…
"But as for the current application of soul tools, there's a consensus: they can be used, but only a few—invincible shields, flying soul tools, milk bottles—are truly useful. The rest can't even match the Sun–Moon Empire, let alone be suitable for our elite students. Isn't that putting the cart before the horse?"
"If you want to reach their level, you have to invest, right? You have to spend massive manpower and resources on research, right? We're at the starting line. This is the toughest foundation-laying stage. If you want to erect a tower on thin air, it'll crumble at a touch!"
They circled back again.
Neither would concede.
The smell of gunpowder thickened in the air.
Qian Duoduo tugged Xian Lin'er back, afraid the Valkyrie would actually throw down with Yan Shaozhe in front of the elders during a Sea God Pavilion meeting.
"Quiet, all of you!"
Elder Song rapped the table.
She glanced aside at Xuan Zi, who had his head down, sneakily stuffing a drumstick into his mouth under the conference table, cheeks bulging, looking every bit the guilty thief, and her eyelid twitched.
With Elder Mu in seclusion, there was a power vacuum.
And Xuan Zi was utterly unreliable, so she had to hold things up herself.
Even though Xian Lin'er was her daughter and she personally favored the Soul Tool Department, this couldn't be decided rashly. The Martial Soul Department was the very foundation of Shrek Academy—their importance here exceeded that of the Soul Tool Department even in the Sun–Moon Empire.
For ten thousand years, Shrek's glory had been borne by the Martial Soul Department, and the brand was stamped on everyone present.
But looking around, the elders were either slacking off, sneaking food, or spacing out—like a senior citizen activity center.
Exhausting…
Seeing the tension, Su Wen snuck to the end of the table, pondering what delicacies Aunt Lu would serve for lunch. Yesterday's stir-fried iron-dragon liver and sauce-dipped pork knuckle were excellent. What would it be today?
As for the clash between the two factions—he really didn't want to get involved. When he was strong enough, he'd just suppress everyone and rule by fiat. Why make it complicated?
The next moment, he felt a gentle gaze fall on him and instinctively looked up.
Elder Song was smiling from the head of the table.
"You're arguing so intensely, and neither can convince the other. Why not let someone else comment? Elder Mu isn't here, so let the Sea God Pavilion's heir apparent share his view."
All eyes turned to him.
Yan Shaozhe and Xian Lin'er both fell silent, looking at Su Wen expectantly.
Su Wen: "…"
"Speak freely. There's no right or wrong here," Elder Song said with a smile.
"As for the development of soul tools…" Su Wen stood with a wry face. "It's not that we shouldn't develop them, but we should do it slowly, steadily, selectively, with rhythm—let capable soul masters develop first, let those with mature mindsets develop first, so that the early adopters can drive the rest…"
"Stop, stop!" Elder Song's eyes widened.
She looked at Su Wen in disbelief.
Where did this slippery kid learn that?
He had the nerve to play tai chi in front of them.
"Speak properly!" Black lines crawled across Elder Song's face.
She was sure he was trying to muddle through. Did he think she was easy to fool?
"Er…"
Noting the two deans staring him down, Su Wen cleared his throat. "The Soul Tool Department should receive more funding for R&D. That's my conclusion."
"Hahaha!!!"
Xian Lin'er sprang up.
She gave Yan Shaozhe a smug look.
He was stunned. He clearly hadn't expected Su Wen to "betray" him—and so completely…
"However… what we should develop is not the current generation of soul tools."
Su Wen pondered.
"Huh?"
Everyone froze, Xian Lin'er's glee included.
"Xiao Wen, if not the current generation of soul tools, then what?" Elder Song asked.
"Battle armor."
Su Wen spoke the two words solemnly.
Truth be told, trying to overtake the Sun–Moon Empire on the soul tool track was a joke.
In the original work, even with Huo Yuhao's massive cheats, bringing in Mingde Hall's Xuan Ziwen and mobilizing all of Shrek's strength was still a drop in the bucket. They were steamrolled by the Sun–Moon Empire's deep foundation.
If he wanted to overtake on a curve, Su Wen had a way.
He would skip the current generation of soul tools and directly research the soul tool form that would appear ten thousand years later—battle armor.
This ultimate soul tool integrating defense, offense, and flight took its prototype from the Sun–Moon Empire's current humanoid soul tool mecha. Over ten thousand years, it split into two lines: battle armor and soul tool mecha…
The former became the main theme of the soul master world ten thousand years later, eclipsing most mecha.
"Battle armor?"
Elder Song finally frowned.
The previously relaxed atmosphere turned serious.
Clearly, the elders realized Su Wen's proposal wasn't just polite deflection. He had something real to say, so they straightened in their seats and waited.
"Yes, battle armor," Su Wen nodded.
"Literally, you can think of it as armor, but it involves soul tool construction. Its prototype is the humanoid soul tools the Sun–Moon Empire is currently pushing."
"…"
The room stalled. Humanoid soul tools?
Before they'd seen them in action, the elders remained skeptical. Could such odd contraptions really fight?
"The Sun–Moon Empire is researching humanoid soul tools?" Xian Lin'er asked in surprise. "Is that their main topic now? I've heard rumors from the Star Luo Empire's underground market, but never took them seriously."
"Yes. At the last tournament I met the granddaughter of Mingde Hall's master, Meng Hongchen. She told me many of Mingde Hall's secrets," Su Wen lied smoothly.
"Meng Hongchen, her…" Xian Lin'er nodded, recalling.
"I've heard of her."
"According to her, the Sun–Moon Empire's humanoid mecha tech can enable soul masters to fight across realms. For example, a level-six humanoid soul tool mecha, with enough milk bottles, could be piloted by a Soul King yet erupt with peak Soul Emperor combat power. Think of a mobile fortress—distilled and compacted," Su Wen explained.
"They've nearly completed this research phase. They can mass-produce hundreds or thousands of level-six and level-seven humanoid soul tools to form legions at any time…"
"What!!!"
Elder Song's pupils contracted. She sprang to her feet.
"So the Sun–Moon Empire has advanced this far!"
The elders all frowned, tension on their faces. The pressure from the Sun–Moon Empire had never abated.
Qian Duoduo wore a thoughtful look—being Shrek's foremost soul engineer (level eight), he understood the Sun–Moon Empire best. Some past puzzles were clarified by Su Wen's words.
"So Dean Yan is also right," Su Wen went on. "Trying to catch up to the Sun–Moon Empire at the basic soul engineering level is a fool's dream. How could we surpass ten millennia of accumulation in a few years?"
"Our only option is to overtake on a curve—directly develop the next form after humanoid soul tools: battle armor!"
"Let me outline my expectations for battle armor." Su Wen found his rhythm and spoke with ease.
"Once developed, below Titled Douluo level, wearing battle armor would let you leap at least two major tiers. A Soul King could fight a Soul Sage, a Soul Emperor a Soul Douluo, and a Soul Sage could challenge a Titled. An ordinary Titled might even challenge Elder Xuan, or approach the Ultimate!"
"…"
The room fell utterly silent.
Xian Lin'er swallowed hard.
Was Su Wen sure he wasn't the Martial Soul Department's mole planted by the Soul Tool Department? Even she didn't dare boast so boldly when asking for funding…
Leaping two tiers—what did that mean?!!
Throughout history, those who managed it were recorded as legends!
Ancestor Tang San had done it, and of those present, only Su Wen had done it!
"Xiao Wen, I'll ask you one thing—are you serious?" Elder Song took a deep breath. She hadn't expected such explosive news from a routine meeting.
"No jokes in the academy," Su Wen said earnestly.
In essence, battle armor meant improving the strength of the metals used in soul tools, forging tougher metals, and combining them with the Sun–Moon Empire's humanoid soul tool tech—that would be the embryonic form of battle armor.
Of course, with Old Yi as his cheat-like mentor, it would be even more reliable.
"Good."
Elder Song pondered, then nodded.
"Until Elder Mu emerges, whatever you need, the academy will provide—unconditionally and fully. As for after he emerges—I believe he won't object."
Mu En's trust in Su Wen was obvious.
Even if she didn't play the good cop, Elder Mu would surely agree.
Still, the authority granted to the Sea God Pavilion's heir was unprecedented.
With that single sentence from Elder Song, Su Wen could practically ride atop Xian Lin'er and Qian Duoduo—and even spin off a separate Battle Armor Academy with no problem.
"Elder Song, I'm only proposing a concept. Making it a reality won't happen overnight. Before that, I need to study forging and the basics of soul engineering…" Su Wen shook his head.
Battle armor = forging + soul tool tech.
"Until I've mastered those two, it's all castles in the air."
"There's another advantage unique to Shrek. We shift the Sun–Moon Empire's research emphasis to metals—use metal toughness and strength to compensate for gaps in soul tool tech. That's our edge: we have more outstanding soul masters, therefore more potential forgers, than the Sun–Moon Empire…"
"Forging?"
"That's right. I'll have to trouble Elder Du again," Su Wen grinned.
…
"Senior Sister, Dean—are you sure you didn't make a mistake? You want me and Sister Ruoruo to fight together?!!"
Inner Court, dueling arena.
A girl in red-and-white Inner Court uniform, bold and straightforward by nature, widened her eyes.
"Even if he's this year's champion, this is a bit much, right? Or we could go easy on him… but wouldn't a Soul Emperor be a better match?"
"Or is it that you don't intend to let Xiao Wen into the Inner Court at all?"
"Why are you talking so much!" Yan Shaozhe snapped. "If anyone needs to hold back, it's Su Wen! Do you know how strong this year's tournament was? Including Xiaotao, there were five Soul Emperors! And Su Wen crushed the entire field alone. If it were you facing the Sun–Moon Empire's seven-member team, could you guarantee a win?"