"Meng, greetings. Seeing these words is like seeing my face. Your big brother has successfully passed the assessment and entered Shrek Academy's inner court. The climate here is pleasant, surrounded on all sides by the Star Dou Forest, with abundant spiritual energy. No wonder everyone says Shrek is a holy land of cultivation—you truly missed out by not coming. Of course… there are also plenty of beauties. From what I've investigated, several of them have unclear, indescribable ambiguous relationships with Su Wen."
"Ahem, ahem—your brother isn't trying to stir trouble, but Su Wen is just too hard to handle. I'm worried you won't be able to hold him…"
Xiao Hongchen's pen paused. He looked a bit hesitant.
Was his intention too obvious?
"Hey, Lin Xi, do you think Meng will notice my motive?" Xiao Hongchen asked helplessly, looking at Lin Xi beside him, who had just finished meditating.
"'Do you think'?" Lin Xi complained. "Among all the exchange students, you're the only rich young master who's slow on the uptake. Who doesn't know Meng came here for Su Wen?"
Xiao Hongchen: "…"
He was momentarily speechless.
In his eyes, Su Wen was indeed an opponent worthy of respect—someone with the bearing of a master, a righteous gentleman—so Xiao Hongchen hadn't been on guard. But after arriving at Shrek, he realized Su Wen didn't even need to make the first move; all kinds of girls were fighting to stick to him.
The person he needed to guard against… was his own sister making the first move!
Just from what he'd learned in the last few days: the young sect master of the Nine Treasures Glazed Tile Sect, inner court senior sister Ma Xiaotao, Ling Luochen, even the head senior sister Zhang Lexuan—each one was top-tier in both looks and strength.
Meng's competitiveness was just too weak.
Not to mention the two sides were hostile forces.
"So you're saying I'm slow?" Xiao Hongchen said.
"Heh. Sigh, bro—look, there's a bar of soap on the floor. Why don't you pick it up?"
The two kept bickering as usual.
"Xiao!"
Suddenly, someone knocked on the dorm door.
Xu Sanshi and Bei Bei entered with their arms around each other. "Today's inner court trial training is specially arranged for you exchange students. Be there at 3:30 PM sharp~"
"Got it." Xiao Hongchen nodded quickly.
Training that benefited him was something he would never miss.
Besides, apart from this generation's Shrek Seven Monsters, even previous generations of inner court students looked at them with hostility—some were practically ready to draw blades. If not for the fairy-like gentle and elegant head senior sister keeping them in check, a fight might have broken out.
"Um… the head senior sister will be there, right?" Xiao Hongchen asked weakly.
"Huh?" Bei Bei froze and looked strange. "Why are you asking that?"
"If she's not there, I'm afraid I'll get beaten." Xiao Hongchen looked embarrassed. "I'm just a small frame—how could I withstand the fury of so many Shrek inner court powerhouses?"
"Hahahaha, don't worry." Bei Bei grinned and patted his shoulder in a bold manner. "This time Dean Yan will be there. He also called in Elder Xuan. Today's match will pair you with appropriate opponents. They won't make things hard for you."
But he also felt a bit wistful.
In a foreign land, living under others' roof—it never felt comfortable.
Su Wen, right now, was probably feeling the same way…
After delivering the message, the two headed toward the inner court.
With Tang Ya gone, Bei Bei quickly passed the inner court assessment and entered for further study; Xu Sanshi did too.
"Sigh, aren't you worried your Tang Ya will get abducted?" Xu Sanshi teased.
"Worry about yourself. At least I have a girlfriend." Bei Bei snorted. "You're a simp who still hasn't simped your goddess into your arms. No—wait—with Su Wen around, you'll never get her in this lifetime."
"Damn! That hurts."
…
Mingde Hall.
Inside the laboratory.
Su Wen and Xuan Ziwen let out long yawns. Their faces were exhausted, but their eyes carried a hint of excitement.
"It's done!"
They clapped hands to celebrate.
With Su Wen—a soul-forging master—present, in only one month they improved and optimized the Enchanted Ice-Wind gun again.
"Su Wen, you're f*cking a genius!" Xuan Ziwen said through gritted teeth.
"Thank you, Teacher. But compared to you, I'm still just a tiny bit worse." Su Wen smiled.
He examined the lengthened great sniper in his hands. With its ice-blue exterior, thickened muzzle, and smooth metal arcs, the gun body gave off a fierce aura—visually impactful and wild. Though it looked somewhat slender compared to the barrel, for a sniper rifle it was already clearly over-spec.
As for the screw-like object in Xuan Ziwen's palm—eighty centimeters long—it was a discarding sabot fin-stabilized armor-piercing round, developed from Su Wen's past-life experience with armor-piercing ammunition.
This sort of tank-compatible, highly lethal thing from his previous life had been replicated by Su Wen as well.
Compared to a pure long-range soul tool, this great sniper's nature had also changed: it should be labeled fixed-installed.
Gun and ammo were separated—handled by an independent soul tool dividing their functions—causing the resulting power to surge.
"Five core arrays: ice, ice, wind, metal, fire as the launcher, plus that armor-piercing round you personally designed. The effective range has increased to over thirty kilometers." Xuan Ziwen marveled. "And now, with the wind attribute's boost, even if you stand ten kilometers away, you could probably easily shatter Hongchen's Blessing."
"Taking someone's head from ten thousand meters away. In close combat, killing a Super Douluo. This kind of overpowered eighth-rank fixed-installed soul tool—this is the first time I've ever seen one."
"Alright. There's nothing else to optimize."
He tossed the armor-piercing round to Su Wen.
"Hey, Teacher—are you two finally done?" Ke Ke walked in. Seeing them at last, she jogged over excitedly. "Then can we move up our plan to go out to sea?"
"Go out to sea?" Su Wen blinked.
"Yes." Xuan Ziwen smiled at Ke Ke. "Pack up. We leave tomorrow…"
"Yay!!!"
After the girl ran out excitedly to inform Ju Zi and Zi Mu, Xuan Ziwen adjusted his glasses and looked at Su Wen.
"In the past few days, the higher-ups issued a new assignment: test a new type of submersible warship. We're to investigate a designated area in the empire's western gulf to see if there are metal deposits in the strait. The military usually handles this, but sometimes they assign it to the academy."
"If we find metal deposits, great—there'll be rewards. If not, then forget it. Treat it as a vacation—go experience the Sun Moon Empire's local culture."
"Oh, and there are quite a few sea soul beasts in that region. Not going to consider taking one?"
"Heh. If a soul beast wants to join my lineup, it needs at least a hundred-thousand-year cultivation to qualify." Su Wen smiled as he wiped down the gun body.
"Yeah, sure. Keep bragging." Xuan Ziwen didn't believe him and curled his lips.
"Oh right…"
He suddenly thought of something and lowered his voice. "About the battle armor you suggested—we can make it. But the mental control system—the thing that links the pilot to the armor—is very hard to fit. A slight mistake can cause brain death, or damage the brain and leave irreversible injury. I'm not confident in that."
"And even if I manage to develop it, it'd be extremely hard to reach the standard you described. My god—Titled vs. Limit… if it weren't you, I'd think whoever said that was insane!"
"So it can't be done in the short term?" Su Wen already expected it, but still felt regret.
"Of course not! I'm not a god." Xuan Ziwen rolled his eyes.
"Unless… you can give me a sample. A sample of what you call the ultimate form of battle armor."
"Hm…" Su Wen looked thoughtful.
"Got it. I'll try."
Xuan Ziwen: "???"
…