"…"
Xiao Bai had watched as these proud inner court students instantly bowed their heads upon seeing Su Wen.
As obedient as chicks.
She was stunned.
He looked about her age!
Yet his calm bearing was just like the Martial Soul Department Dean—a timeless old monster? Or a true inner court prodigy?
"Xiao Wen, you're leading the team this time?" Jiang Nannan pursed her red lips, flashing a gentle, breezy smile.
"Mm, Sister Lexuan is busy, so I'm leading," Su Wen replied cheerfully.
"Too bad I've already graduated from the inner court—this mission is pure labor, and there are no mission points..."
"…"
The inner court students' mouths twitched.
You need mission points?
Dean Yan wanted to let you graduate on the spot, but you refused, insisting on fighting him... and of course, at level 96 as a Super Douluo, you crushed him.
The Academy probably wishes it could max out your mission points.
Who would dare withhold your graduation?
Frankly, Su Wen never really completed many missions—just those thirteen altars and hundreds of evil soul master corpses had silenced everyone. No specific missions? No problem—after those guys died, the missions appeared...
Zhang Leng wiped the sweat from his brow.
This man was just too terrifying.
Treating evil soul masters like chickens—if it were any other senior, they'd at most respect him, but not be in awe.
Only Su Wen.
He'd truly walked out of a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood.
Facing him, you could almost smell the blood (even if it was just psychological).
"Everyone here?" Su Wen looked at Zhang Leng.
He straightened up. "Twenty-seven present. An outer court student had an emergency and sent someone to decline."
Su Wen nodded.
Someone would verify it.
Besides, backing out after signing up was a waste of resources (only core outer court students could sign up), and there'd be penalties. But that wasn't his concern.
"Let's go," Su Wen waved.
…
"Sister Nannan, you advanced to Soul Emperor?"
Su Wen grinned.
"Mm..." Jiang Nannan turned away, a bit shy.
They hadn't seen each other in a long time.
"This is a close-combat soul device." Su Wen gently held Jiang Nannan's soft hand, pressing a soul storage ring into her palm. "It was specially made for the agility and mobility of your Soft Boned Rabbit martial soul. It's a pity the technology for battle armor isn't mature yet—otherwise it would've been even better."
"Mm..." Jiang Nannan murmured.
Her beautiful face was tinged with shyness.
"This... it's too precious…"
"Sister Nannan, I still have the scarf you gave me years ago," Su Wen smiled.
He gave her no chance to refuse.
He took her soft hand and put the ring on her middle finger.
"A scarf is worth so little," Jiang Nannan bit her lip.
She felt she owed Su Wen even more.
She might never repay it in this lifetime.
With Su Wen's current status, any gift from him would be extraordinary. He'd just revealed himself as a level nine Soul Engineer—Dean Qian was only level eight!
"It's different. You made that scarf by hand." Su Wen held her hand and looked into her big pink eyes earnestly.
Jiang Nannan's cheeks flushed, and her head nearly steamed.
Her tall figure unconsciously leaned forward into Su Wen's arms, and in the heat of the moment, she gave him a soft kiss—not just a peck, but a deep, lingering one...
…
Elsewhere.
The main group continued deeper into the Star Dou Forest.
Xiao Bai couldn't help but drop back, moving toward Zhang Leng and the other bodyguards at the rear.
"Senior Zhang," Xiao Bai said shyly.
"You want to ask about him?" Zhang Leng glanced at her and sighed. "Don't even think about it. There are countless inner court goddesses who have ambiguous ties with him. So many girls want him, you'd need to wait in line."
"Watch your mouth!" the boy next to Zhang Leng frowned.
"It's crude but true," Zhang Leng shrugged.
"It's fine..." Xiao Bai blushed but shook her head.
"His surname is Su, so you should know who he is. I doubt the outer court is that out of the loop," Zhang Leng said casually.
"Su—Su Wen?" Xiao Bai was stunned.
That name was a legend in both inner and outer court.
"Mm-hmm. Who else?" Zhang Leng stretched.
"It's really... him?!!" Xiao Bai was incredulous.
She'd always respected the strong, and her future partner had to be strong.
Ever since joining Shrek Academy, she'd only admired one person: Su Wen!
But now her idol was right in front of her, and she hadn't even recognized him...
Unbelievable.
At the same time, her heart fluttered with excitement.
…
God Realm.
Before the Divine Hall.
Tang San stood tall and proud, in a good mood.
Recently, he'd been driven into a corner by Destruction, always on the losing end. But finally, after holding back for so long, he brought out his trump card—the God Realm Core.
Mutually assured destruction!
Come!
The God Realm Core was left to him by Kindness and Evil before they departed, so he could manage the God Realm. He'd always avoided using it unless necessary... not that he'd admit he was afraid the other gods would notice something odd.
Ever since he took over, he'd found it was filled with countless years' worth of faith power drawn from lower planes. He was ecstatic—it was like handing a honey jar to a bear, or a peach orchard to a monkey.
He was overjoyed.
After some research, he found it couldn't directly enhance his god power, though he could control the God Realm and track most gods. In the end, he was just an "administrator."
If he tried to absorb the god power, Destruction would notice immediately.
So, he gradually diverted the energy to the lower realm—i.e., the Douluo plane.
Although energy was flowing out of the God Realm, Douluo Star belonged to the God Realm anyway, so it didn't matter.
All he needed to do was slowly take over Douluo. Once Destruction let his guard down, he'd have his father devour Douluo's plane spirit—and take over completely.
But after transferring two-thirds of the energy, the God Realm Core noticeably weakened.
He was afraid Destruction would notice, so he kept a low profile.
Until recently, when he couldn't hold back anymore.
He erupted, and suppressed Destruction.
"Yin Yang Love Querying Valley…"
He murmured.
Reaching out, he grasped the air.
A smile appeared.
"All is within my grasp."