"Heehee! Shen An, now that both Zhuqing and I have made it into Heaven Dou’s First Team, you don’t have to worry about us and force yourself into the Second Team."
Ning Rongrong turned to Shen An, giggling as she spoke.
Shen An fell silent. There’s a saying—when imagination runs wild, it kills without form.
He wanted to join the Second Team simply because they had a higher appearance rate. A one-god-six-dogs victory had enough flare to earn him serious fa.
But he hadn’t expected Ning Rongrong to think he was willing to give up the First Team just because he was worried she and Zhu Zhuqing wouldn’t make it.
Now Shen An even felt awkward trying to explain.
Still, earning fa was of critical importance—it was the foundation of his survival. So there was no way he’d allow the two girls to be on the sa team as him.
Besides, the Heaven Dou First Team was already quite strong. With Ning Rongrong and Zhu Zhuqing joining in, Shen An figured they’d basically be able to sweep through the younger generation.
That way, with the Second Team winning the championship under his lead, and the First Team placing near the top, he would also be helping Xue Qinghe bring glory to the Heaven Dou Royal Academy.
"Hahaha, I’m going to be away for a bit soon, so maybe don’t submit my na yet. I heard this is just a preliminary list anyway."
Shen An chuckled dryly.
Ning Rongrong and Zhu Zhuqing stared at him with wide, confused eyes. They’d both gotten in—what was Shen An still waiting for?
Xue Qinghe’s gaze flickered thoughtfully. It seed like Shen An wasn’t too keen on teaming up with the two girls. That was good news.
"Shen An’s right. There’s still ti before the official registration for the tournant."
"The point of this session is just to get you all familiar with each other and improve coordination. Since Shen An’s going traveling, whether he’s listed right now or not doesn’t matter."
Xue Qinghe smiled lightly as he spoke, then tossed Shen An a look that clearly said: See how considerate I am?
Shen An returned a look of approval—good job, you’re aweso.
Days passed in a flash. At the mont, a large table had been set up in Shen An’s courtyard.
The table was piled high with delicious food, all made by Chef Tang. The aroma, color, and flavor were top-tier, that was just the basics.
"Shen An, Tom’s cooking is absolutely divine. I’ve lived in the palace for years and none of those royal chefs hold a candle to him."
Xue Qinghe praised as he stuffed his face.
But unlike Xue Qinghe’s hearty appetite, Zhu Zhuqing and Ning Rongrong—who usually couldn’t resist Tom’s cooking—had little to no appetite today.
This was a farewell feast. Shen An was leaving tomorrow, and they wouldn’t be seeing him again for quite a while. It was so frustrating.
And it wasn’t just Shen An who was leaving. Tom and Jerry were going too. From now on, it’d just be the two of them—two pretty girls left behind in an empty house.
Originally, Jerry hadn’t planned on going. But after thinking it over, Tom was definitely going to follow Shen An, and once they left, it’d be several months before they ca back.
Jerry weighed the risks—Tom was clumsy and often caused trouble. What if he got kidnapped by cat traffickers?
In the end, Jerry decided to tag along—not because he couldn’t bear to part with Tom. Definitely not. Nope. It was just... well, okay, maybe he was a little worried about the cat.
Shen An could guess what the two girls were thinking. After living together for so long, it was natural that they wouldn’t want to say goodbye.
But staying in Heaven Dou wouldn’t do him much good. It’d be better to travel around and explore the other cities in the Douluo Continent.
The moon rose over the tall buildings. Xue Qinghe took his leave, handing Shen An a protective charm that could block three attacks from below the Soul Sage level.
He also quietly slipped him a Spirit Hall Elder Token, saying it was part of a secret deal between the royal family and Spirit Hall. Shen An could use it in case of serious trouble.
Shen An was a little surprised that Xue Qinghe had sothing like this, but he didn’t ask. After all, he had plenty of secrets of his own—like all those mysterious artifacts.
When morning ca, Shen An slipped away quietly with Tom and Jerry. Before leaving, he handed the dumbbells over to the girls.
They’d get more benefit from it. Shen An had his system to rely on, so an extra few pounds of strength per day didn’t an much to him.
Outside Heaven Dou City, Tom and Jerry were peering around with two differently-sized telescopes, looking like they were on a picnic.
Suddenly, Tom’s expression turned serious. He must’ve spotted sothing. He held the telescope up to Shen An’s eyes.
In Shen An’s view appeared a middle-aged man with shrewd black-frad glasses, though his face looked rather troubled.
What a coincidence—Flender? What’s that old owl doing out here? Shen An’s thoughts stirred.
Running into a wild owl like this right before setting out... might as well use him to test my current combat strength.
Before, even as a Soul Elder, I could defeat Soul Kings and hold off Soul Sages for a while. Now that I’m a Soul Ancestor, I might not be able to beat Flender, but I should at least be able to protect myself.
"Tom, can you make my Nine-Leaf Sword Grass look like the Seven Kill Sword? Make it cooler if you can—just don’t let people recognize it."
Shen An asked.
"Oh right, can you paint on three more soul rings?"
Tom nodded confidently. Drawing? That was his forte. He grabbed the Nine-Leaf Sword Grass and started sketching away.
On a forest path, Flender looked dejected. After several months, his cultivation hadn’t improved at all.
He knew progress slowed at higher levels, but not making any gains—or even regressing—that made no sense. Wasn’t cultivation supposed to be like rowing upstream—if you don’t advance, you fall back?
Worse still, ever since Shen An had stirred up trouble outside Shrek Academy, so students had started demanding refunds, saying the school’s quality sucked.
After all, not a single student—not one—could last more than two moves against Shen An.
Shrek’s reputation was in ruins. Flender could already imagine how dismal next year’s enrollnt would be.
His only hope was for the academy to perform brilliantly in the Soul Master Tournant. Last ti, Blue Lightning Academy made the top eight. This ti, they had to do better—top three, ideally.
But Tang San and Xiao Wu had vanished, and no one knew if they’d return in ti.
Dai Mubai was drinking himself silly. The ten-year fourth soul ring had been a serious blow to his confidence.
Flender felt like his whole life had turned gray. His cultivation had stalled, and the educational dream he’d poured his heart into was falling apart. Life was just... unlivable.
"Tom, this is your idea of cool? This is way too abstract."
Shen An felt like Tom had a very strange idea of what counted as stylish.
Tom had repainted the Nine-Leaf Sword Grass silver. It looked just like the Seven Kill Sword—except that its blade was covered in drawings.
On one side were Spike and his dog son—both muscle-bound canines. On the other side? Peppa Pig’s family. Actually, no—Wild Peppa Pigs.
Because Tom had drawn them with sharp fangs and rippling muscles like wild boars.
Tom tilted his head in confusion. Not cool? But they’ve got such big, hard muscles.
Shen An’s mouth twitched. Whatever, as long as people don’t recognize it, it’s fine.
He channeled his soul power and imdiately felt a surge of brightness.
He had to admit—Emperor Tom was nothing if not overbearing. Just a few strokes turned his Nine-Leaf Sword Grass into a silver blade, and even his originally green soul power shifted to silver.
Looking toward Flender’s direction, Shen An smirked. Old Owl, so what if you’re a Soul Sage? My sword is sharp.
"You two hide for now. I’ll co find you later."
Tom and Jerry nodded and zipped away—ti for them to go play for a while.
Shen An activated his soul power. His original four rings—yellow, purple, purple, black—were now joined by the three fake black rings Tom had painted, giving him the full seven of a Soul Sage.
He reached out and touched them. Damn, they felt real. No wonder Tom had warned him not to let those fake ones get hit.
Flender, strolling along and trying to clear his mind, suddenly sensed a sharp pressure. His depressed expression vanished as he exploded backward with a burst of impossible speed.
Where he’d just stood, a deep gash now cut through the earth, emanating terrifying sword energy.
"Who’s there? Why ambush ?" Flender demanded, seven soul rings flaring into view as he unleashed the pressure of a Soul Sage.
The grass and trees around him bowed under the sheer force of his soul power.
Shen An wasn’t surprised. With a 50,000-year soul ring and an ultimate martial soul, he was strong—but if Flender had been easily wounded, he wouldn’t be a high-tier Soul Sage.
Wearing a mask and altering his voice with soul power to make it raspy and dark, Shen An spoke. "Hehehe... Flender, once fad across the continent. As expected, you live up to the na."
Flender blinked in surprise. "You’ve heard of ?"
Shen An paused. What the hell—why was Flender acting like this? He was just ambushed, and he’s asking if his enemy knows his backstory?
What Shen An didn’t know was that Flender, demoralized by setbacks, had found so spark of hope just from soone rembering his past glory—even if that person was an enemy.
Shen An didn’t waste ti. His seven soul rings lit up (minus Tom’s fake ones), and he charged. He had no ti to chat. This was all just to test his power.
Flender was the perfect sparring partner. Why not a regular Soul Sage?
Because Shen An was too kind.
What if he accidentally chopped off so arms or legs? He couldn’t just make Tom and Jerry turn into a healing squad.
A Soul Sage, and with a tool martial soul too, Flender thought, eyes narrowing.
Tool martial souls were slightly weaker than beast ones before reaching the Soul Sage level, but after grasping their Martial Soul True Form, they had the upper hand.
But when Flender saw Shen An’s sword, even his composure cracked.
"A sword martial soul my ass. Who the hell paints muscle pigs and muscle dogs on a sword?"
As Flender hesitated, Shen An vanished.
Spacing out during battle? Courting death!
All four of Shen An’s real soul rings lit up at once. He wasn’t stingy with soul power—only the three fake ones remained inactive.
Normally, soul rings followed a soul master’s movents.
But Tom’s fake rings lagged a bit. When Shen An darted forward, they just hovered there in confusion.
Then, as if suddenly realizing they had to follow, the three fake rings straightened up and turned to look at each other.
Realizing they were supposed to move, they rushed to catch up to Shen An.
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