Chapter 214: Di Tian, Come Aid Me
Yan Shaozhe looked at Furina before him and raised an eyebrow slightly. "You want to take a leave of absence and go out for a while?"
Furina nodded, her tone matter-of-fact. "Yes, I have some matters I need to take care of, so I need leave for a period. Besides..."
She spread her hands. "Studying at Shrek isn't really of much use to me."
She paused, as if suddenly recalling something, her eyes lighting up. "Oh, right. Speaking of which, would Shrek be able to share some of its secret techniques with our Water God Church? Especially regarding soul rings and soul bones. Perhaps it could help our Water God Church's research into artificial soul rings and the like."
Not waiting for Yan Shaozhe's response, she added, "Rest assured, the Water God Church will give corresponding returns as well. For instance—that universal cultivation manual Canaan Academy uses for its students, what do you think of that?"
She tilted her head. "Later on, once the artificial soul bones and soul rings are fully completed, we'll also share a certain amount of the technology with your Shrek Academy."
Yan Shaozhe gave a rueful smile at this. He rubbed his brow, his tone tinged with difficulty. "I can't give you an immediate answer on this matter. If it were simply for your personal use, it really wouldn't be a problem. But to give it directly to the Water God Church... that's very problematic. I'll need to request instructions first."
Furina wasn't impatient and waved a hand. "No problem, no rush. I can wait."
She smoothly changed tack, a more meaningful tone creeping into her voice. "But I'd suggest making it quick. After all, time waits for no one. You have to understand, the value of things depreciates over time. If Shrek wants to cooperate deeply with our Water God Church, naturally, the more things it provides, the better. Because correspondingly, I'll also provide more things on my end, deepening the cooperation."
Yan Shaozhe caught the implication in her words. Although it carried a hint of a threatening flavor, he also knew in his heart that the Water God Church possessed far more things than Shrek imagined, some even surpassing what Shrek Academy had.
If Shrek wanted long-term, in-depth cooperation with the Water God Church and to obtain more advantageous things from them, it had to pay a corresponding price.
"I will do my best to persuade the venerable elders quickly," Yan Shaozhe sighed. "I believe Elder Mu will also agree. When the time comes, the resistance should be considerably less."
He added, "As for the leave, there's no problem. Just as you said, studying at Shrek truly isn't much help to you. However, as a student, I still hope you can complete your studies."
He wasn't just being polite. No matter what, in the future, if Furina truly became the Water God, and word spread that the Water God Church's Pope and Water God herself had once been a student at Shrek Academy... that would be very face-saving for Shrek. At the very least, they could do a small wave of publicity.
Furthermore, Ma Xiaotao's evil fire still needed Furina's help to suppress and purify. In any case, Furina staying at Shrek was far more beneficial to Shrek than her leaving.
"Don't worry, I'll still be staying at Shrek for a while yet," Furina smiled. "I'm also quite interested in your Golden Tree. Of course..."
She raised her hand in a gesture of assurance. "Please rest assured, I won't be thinking of uprooting it or cutting it down."
Hearing this, Yan Shaozhe's mind once again began to wander with wild thoughts. Not cut it down, not pull it out? What did that mean?
Furina, however, paid no mind to his thoughts and turned to leave. "Alright, then I'll be off now."
She reached the door and suddenly remembered something, turning back to add, "If Ma Xiaotao's evil fire acts up, you can go find Huo Yuhao. He also has a way to help resolve it."
After speaking, she pushed open the door and left.
Yan Shaozhe stood in place, muttering thoughtfully to himself. "Find Huo Yuhao? Could he also possess an ultimate attribute? No... no matter how ultimate spiritual power is, it can't suppress evil fire."
He furrowed his brow slightly, and a possibility suddenly struck him. "Could he also have a second martial soul?"
The moment this thought emerged, he couldn't help but sigh with emotion. "There really are a lot of twin martial souls in this generation..."
In the past, twin martial souls were rare to see, especially ten thousand years ago—only the Thousand Hands Douluo Tang San and Spirit Hall's Pope Bibi Dong had them.
Now, twin martial souls were popping up one after another. Furina was a twin martial soul wielder, Huo Yuhao was also one, and he'd heard from Zhou Yi that Xiao Xiao was one too. That made three holders of twin martial souls.
As for Wang Dong... Yan Shaozhe shook his head. To be honest, Wang Dong was the one he could figure out the least. Clearly a holder of the Goddess of Light Butterfly, yet insisting on disguising herself as a boy and sneaking into the boys' dormitory.
Was this kid stupid? One had to know, anyone who seriously understood martial souls knew that the wielder of the Goddess of Light Butterfly martial soul could only be female. At least throughout history, it had basically only been women; there had never been a single recorded case of a male.
Besides, Wang Dong's appearance also leaned feminine, nothing like a boy's.
But this matter, Yan Shaozhe didn't want to meddle in either. Just like the other teachers and some students—those who were clear on it were clear, they just didn't expose it. This was Wang Dong's own business. Pointing it out would actually be bad. Better to see when he himself wanted to speak up.
...
Before Furina left, she gave Huo Yuhao and the others fifteen portions of Nut Cake and six portions of Proustis. These items were enough to handle the vast majority of situations.
If a situation like dismemberment truly occurred, they'd have to wait for her return and resolve it with the Golden Doughnut Vanilla Cake. By then, she could even make some of the Seven Devils feel deeply grateful to her and develop a better impression of the Water God Church.
After leaving Shrek, Furina headed straight for the Great Star Dou Forest.
Entering deep into the forest, she stopped, cupped her hands around her mouth, and shouted at the top of her lungs. "Di Tian! Di Tian—are you here? Answer me!"
Her voice echoed through the forest, startling a flock of birds into flight.
"I know you're definitely in the forest!" she continued yelling. "Answer when you hear my voice! You're no ordinary soul beast, and you're certainly not deaf either!"
Before long, a figure materialized out of thin air before her.
Di Tian looked at her with a face full of exasperation, rubbing his forehead. "Quit yelling, quit yelling. Aren't I here now? All that racket—what kind of image does that present."
He swept his eyes up and down Furina and couldn't help but grumble. "This Pope, not the slightest bit of a Pope's manner. More like an ordinary crazy girl."
Furina put her hands on her hips, self-righteous and defiant. "Tch! What do you know? I do what I please."
She grinned slyly and countered. "Besides, when you're looking after Gu Qiuer, aren't you just like an old father? Where's any of that Beast God's airs and authority then?"
"Uh..." Di Tian was rendered speechless, his old face reddening. "That's different."
"Hahaha!" Furina laughed heartily, nearly doubling over, and it took a good while for her to stop. "Alright, alright, no more teasing. I sought you out because there's business to discuss."
Di Tian composed his expression. "What matter? About the cooperation between the Water God Church and us soul beasts? Everything is proceeding smoothly, no problems."
"No, that's not what I came for." Furina waved her hand dismissively. "I also trust your character, Di Tian—or rather, your beast-character."
She paused, then continued. "I looked for you for something else. I need you to accompany me, or rather, help me make a trip to the Sunset Forest, to find a certain precious land."
"Oh? The Sunset Forest?" Di Tian was somewhat surprised. "That's not my territory."
He frowned slightly. "Is there still some precious land there?"
"Of course there is!" Furina said with a laugh. "And you're the Beast God Di Tian, with eight hundred thousand years of cultivation, ranked first among the Savage Beasts, able to command soul beasts and launch beast tides. Even the Far North has to heed your orders. Commanding the soul beasts of a mere Sunset Forest would be effortless, wouldn't it? It's not the Evil Demon Forest or the ocean domain—just a trifling Sunset Forest. Would the soul beasts there dare disobey your orders?"
Di Tian was at a loss whether to laugh or cry at her words, but had to admit she had a point. "True, there aren't many hundred-thousand-year soul beasts there either."
He nodded. "Let's go, I'll take you there. What kind of precious land are you looking for? What characteristics does it have?"
"Yes!" Furina's eyes lit up. "The surroundings are completely full of poisonous miasma! Just find a place that's filled with poison everywhere."
"That..." Di Tian paused for a second. "Seems quite simple actually."
He reached out and grabbed Furina's shoulder. "Hold tight to me. We're off."
Before his voice had even faded, the two figures vanished from the spot, leaving behind only a few startled fallen leaves drifting lazily in the forest air.