She really was the biggest workhorse of them all.
"Come on, Gu Yue." Arthur cheered from the side. "Have faith in your own genius!"
Gu Yue didn't even look up, the pen in her hand flying across the blueprint at speed, her tone calm but laced with a faint, gritted-teeth edge. "If you actually believed in my genius, you wouldn't be hounding me every single day."
At this moment, on the podium at the front, Wu Changkong cleared his throat and spoke up. "All right, students."
The classroom gradually fell silent, everyone's attention fixed on him.
"In light of this year's outstanding performance from the freshman class, the academy will be selecting a group of students from among you to take part in an exchange program to the Star Luo Continent, six months from now."
Everyone had seen the freshman class's progress with battle armor firsthand. There was really only one word for it: monstrous. It was progress worthy of a place in the academy's history since its founding.
His gaze swept slowly across the room. "In other words, you will be representing Shrek, showing the Star Luo Continent the strength of this year's class."
The classroom erupted into an uproar.
"The Star Luo Continent?!"
"An exchange program?!"
The students buzzed with excited chatter.
The Star Luo Continent. Arthur propped his chin on one hand, sinking into thought.
He'd need to go there eventually anyway. There were plenty of opportunities to be had over there, especially at Dragon Valley.
"Arthur, you're the class monitor for the freshman year. The academy is leaving the decision of which students go on this initial exchange up to you." Wu Changkong looked pointedly at Arthur. "Whether you go yourself, of course, is entirely up to you."
The academy was well aware of Arthur's situation. By now there was no telling how many people across the Federation were quietly keeping an eye on him.
Not that it bothered Arthur.
Whoever wanted to come after him would have to get through the Soul Skill of Destiny first. And even if they managed that, there was still a second gate waiting: Plane Consciousness.
He glanced around the classroom, meeting a sea of expectant eyes. Inwardly, he sighed: these were all his kids, really.
He mulled it over for a moment, then spoke slowly. "Teacher, let me confirm something first. How many spots are there for this exchange trip?"
Wu Changkong said flatly, "Ten, for now, tentatively."
"And how long is the exchange?"
"One year."
"Hm. Ten spots is too few." Arthur thought it over briefly, then decided to flex a little authority. With Ya Li backing him, his influence within Shrek was effectively limitless.
"Let's make it fifty. More people, more fun."
The classroom went dead silent for a beat, everyone stunned speechless by what Arthur had just said.
"F-fifty?!"
Xie Xie couldn't help muttering under his breath, "Here we go, Arthur's stirring things up again."
Wu Changkong's brow furrowed slightly. "Arthur, fifty spots is close to half the entire freshman class."
"The Star Luo side's capacity to host, the exchange arrangements, and the academy's own teaching schedule here would all need to be reworked."
Arthur spread his hands. "Right, and here I was hoping to bring everyone along."
Wu Changkong's frown deepened further, though the corner of his mouth twitched almost imperceptibly, clearly amused despite himself.
He knew Arthur meant it. The man had genuinely considered bringing the entire class.
Of course, if that happened, the academy would be left with no freshmen at all. There was no way the academy would ever agree to that.
"Teacher, you just handle reporting it upward. Leave the rest to His Holiness."
Wu Changkong was quiet for a few seconds before finally nodding. "Fine. I'll report your proposal exactly as you've stated it."
After class, Arthur sidled up next to Gu Yue and lowered his voice. "Gu Yue, we need to speed up progress on the Tier Two battle armor."
Gu Yue glanced at him. "So are you planning to help me draft the blueprints, or help me with the calculations?"
Arthur coughed dryly. "I can take charge of securing you more top-tier materials once we're at Star Luo."
Gu Yue: "..."
Over the course of that year at Star Luo, Arthur was bound to break through to Soul Emperor.
So the real question was: should he start preparing a new soul spirit in advance, or just keep relying on the auspicious beast to keep providing soul rings?
That was the priority issue right now.
"Gu Yue, let me ask you something."
The soul spirits at the Spirit Pagoda couldn't possibly compare to the ones Gu Yue could provide, could they?
"Does your reclusive family happen to have any other good soul spirits, something like the auspicious beast?"
Gu Yue stopped writing and narrowed her eyes slightly. "You're getting a bit greedy, aren't you."
Arthur laughed awkwardly. "Ha ha... just asking, just asking."
Na'er cut in. "It's fine, Arthur. I've got some family resources of my own too. Just tell me what kind of soul spirit you want."
Gu Yue shot Na'er a glance, her tone cool. "No matter how much your family has, it won't survive him tossing it around like this."
Na'er, unbothered, leaned in close to Arthur with a grin. "What type do you want? Offense-focused? Speed-focused? Control-type? Support-type? I've got them all!"
In the end, it was Gu Yue who settled the matter. "Wait until you're a Soul Emperor. Come find me then."
"Much appreciated, my rich lady." Arthur pressed his palms together in thanks. "And if there's ever anything I can help you with, don't hesitate to ask."
Is that so?
There was plenty she needed help with, more than he could imagine.
A faint, indescribable flicker of emotion passed through Gu Yue's eyes.
The six months passed quickly.
At the Skysea Grand Hotel in Skysea City, more than thirty people filed into a lobby already packed with people.
Fifty spots had, in the end, turned out to be too many. Arthur had only managed to secure thirty.
Among those thirty spots were the twenty-odd strongest students from the freshman class, along with second-years Yuanen Yehui and Yue Zhengyu, and third-year Qian Wu.
Yuanen Yehui was still a bit weak by comparison. Arthur planned to bring her along to help level her up, so they could clear the Demon Plane dungeon sooner rather than later.
Qian Wu, meanwhile, was a gold-standard fighter. With her current Soul Emperor cultivation combined with the Tier Two battle armor Arthur had sponsored for her, she now had combat strength on par with a Soul Douluo.
As for Yue Zhengyu, he was only along for the ride because he happened to be Arthur's nephew. Since he wanted to go, they figured they'd just bring him too.
Zhuo Shi was the lead person in charge, Wu Changkong was the accompanying instructor, and quietly tagging along as well was an elder from the Sea God's Pavilion.
Under the arrangements made by the Star Luo Continent delegation, they arrived at the docks of Skysea City, where two massive ocean liners were currently berthed.
The Federation's Secretary-General, Pan Wen, approached Zhuo Shi and offered a respectful greeting.
"Greetings, Your Holiness."
"Hello, Secretary Pan." Zhuo Shi's manner was even, unbothered.
Pan Wen explained the purpose of his visit with a smile. "To facilitate the exchange, the Shrek students headed to the Star Luo Continent this time will be traveling aboard the ocean liner 'Star Luo,' accompanied by members of the Star Luo Imperial Academy from the Star Luo Empire."
"As it happens, they had previously proposed an exchange visit to Shrek, which the academy politely declined at the time. This voyage should offer a good opportunity for some friendly sparring along the way."
Zhuo Shi froze for a moment, wondering if she'd misheard. "Sparring? Do they not know Arthur is part of this exchange group?"
Pan Wen's expression turned somewhat delicate as well. "Well, they are from the Star Luo Continent, after all. They likely aren't fully aware of the situation on our side."
While the battle at Mingdu had drawn the attention of the entire continent, with ordinary citizens well aware that three Titled Douluo had clashed there not long ago, very few people actually knew that one of those three had been Arthur. The true, terrifying extent of Arthur's strength was, for now, known only to the upper echelons of the various powers.
Outsiders from the Star Luo Continent would have even less chance of knowing.
"Hm, is that so? Well, this should be interesting." Zhuo Shi could barely hold back her laughter.
Pan Wen, too, fought to suppress the smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. "It's certain to be quite the spectacular match."