After all, some Inner Court students were already well into their thirties. In a world like Douluo, early maturity was hardly strange.
"Ahem… excuse me, auntie," Su Wen said awkwardly. "I just joined Shrek Academy."
Only after arriving did he realize....
Inner Court meals required a meal card.
I should've gone to find Sister Xiaotao first…
Navigating alone really was troublesome.
"You're a Shrek student?" Lu Xiaoxiao covered her mouth and laughed softly.
"Shrek only enrolls students twelve and older.
You're not even seven yet, little one. Be honest—who are your parents?"
Just as Su Wen was feeling cornered, a familiar voice sounded behind him.
"Hm? Xiao Wen, what are you doing here?"
Zhang Yi stepped forward, eyes wide with surprise as he examined Su Wen.
"After we returned to the academy, we wanted to visit you at the Sea God Pavilion, but we weren't allowed.
Elder Mu said you were recuperating. Everyone was worried… but looking at you now, you seem fine?"
"Yes, Senior Zhang Yi," Su Wen nodded. "My martial soul repaired itself. It didn't shatter—luckily."
He silently sighed in relief.
A savior had arrived.
"You two know each other?" Lu Xiaoxiao stared in disbelief.
Zhang Yi was one of the academy's top geniuses....a Soul Sage at twenty-seven, with an impressive background and a notoriously proud demeanor.
Yet here he was, chatting casually with a six-year-old?
"Oh—right."
Zhang Yi slapped his forehead and grinned.
"Let me formally introduce him.
This junior is Su Wen. In the Star Dou Great Forest, he held off the Blood-Erosion Demon Tiger for a full minute. Without him, our entire team would've been wiped out."
"…What?!"
Lu Xiaoxiao's eyes widened as she stared at Su Wen in shock.
Su Wen scratched his head shyly.
"Slurp—"
Su Wen devoured the noodles, empty plates stacking rapidly beside him.
He hadn't eaten for a full month.
Though the Golden Tree sustained his bodily functions, hunger was still very real.
Zhang Yi had already left to attend to other matters.
Lu Xiaoxiao—wearing a chef's hat and white apron, looking around thirty.....sat beside him, her gentle eyes quietly observing him.
As Shrek Academy's chief nutritionist, she was no weakling herself. Her cultivation had reached peak Soul Douluo.
Hearing Zhang Yi recount the battle earlier had sent chills down her spine. Facing a ten-thousand-year soul beast directly would've left even her trembling.
"Want more?" she asked softly, collecting the empty dishes.
"Hic… I'm full," Su Wen shook his head.
Do you know where Sister Xiaotao is?"
Su Wen rubbed his overstuffed stomach and asked curiously.
"You mean Ma Xiaotao?" Lu Xiaoxiao smiled as she collected the plates, then nodded toward Su Wen's back. "For that, you'll have to ask Dean Yan."
"Dean Yan?"
Su Wen turned around.
Yan Shaozhe had appeared at some point, standing behind him with a gentle smile on his face.
"Sorry to trouble you, Xiaoxiao," Yan Shaozhe said warmly.
"The child has just woken up, and I haven't been attentive enough as dean. From now on, his meals are on my tab."
"Tch—"
Lu Xiaoxiao rolled her eyes. "If you want to curry favor, Dean Yan, don't make me the villain.
Xiao Wen, if you're hungry, just come to Auntie Lu. I don't have cultivation manuals or pills, but I do have food."
"Golden crocodile meat, rain-dragon tendons, even materials from ten-thousand-year soul beasts—none of that is off the table."
"Mhm."
Su Wen nodded obediently.
"You're looking for Xiaotao?" Yan Shaozhe asked calmly, unfazed by the teasing.
"Yes. Do you know where she is?"
"Come with me."
Sea God Island
Inside a sealed chamber.
Su Wen saw Ma Xiaotao lying weakly on the bed.
Her red hair was scattered messily across the pillow, her face pale, beads of sweat rolling down the tip of her nose.
It looked as though she had just endured intense agony.
Su Wen's heart skipped.
He had forgotten this.
Ma Xiaotao's Evil Fire required opposing attributes—ice or water—to suppress it. This had always been the case.
In the original timeline, Shrek's Inner Court had many ice-type experts, yet even then, she still lost control and nearly killed someone.
Now?
The Inner Court had very few ice-type powerhouses left, and none could remain by her side at all times.
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