Dawn broke over Shrek Academy in hues of lavender and soft gold. The once quiet courtyard was alive again with the rhythmic sounds of breathing, feet striking stone, and blades whistling through air. Birds perched atop the academy walls tilted their heads at the sight below—nine students going through their drills, yet only a few truly moving in sync.
The Rift group had returned. And nothing felt quite the same.
Zhu Zhuqing steps were fluid and silent, each strike calculated, each breath contained. The black tail of her battle outfit fluttered behind her like the edge of a blade. Across from her, Xiao Wu spun in midair, delivering a somersaulting kick to an imaginary enemy, her eyes gleaming with sharper instinct. Near the shade of the central tree, Ning Rongrong sat with her eyes closed, her Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda floating beside her, each tier glowing with increased clarity and confidence.
Watching them from afar, the younger students whispered in awe.
"They… changed," one murmured.
"Zhu Zhuqing looks even scarier now," another replied.
"And Xiao Wu… wasn't she always sweet? Why does she feel like a fox hiding a dagger?"
Only one name tied them together now. Li Wei.
He stood beneath the canopy, arms crossed, quietly observing the trio without saying a word. His newer white coat fluttered as the wind brushed through the trees. Though he hadn't moved much since morning, the weight of his gaze somehow made him the anchor around which everything revolved.
From the second-floor balcony, Flender and Liu Erlong leaned on the railing, sipping tea.
"What do you think?" Liu Erlong asked, eyes flicking to the girls below.
"They're… tighter," Flender murmured. "More attuned. But also more distant from the rest."
Liu Erlong nodded. "They have secrets now. Shared only with each other. And with him."
Flender gaze narrowed slightly at Li Wei. "His relationship with them seem stronger than before, whether he means to or not."
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At the academy cliffside terrace, overlooking the lake, Tang San trained alone.
Blue Silver Grass spiraled from his hand in elegant arcs, coiling around dummies, snapping at targets—but his heart wasn't in it.
She's back.
The thought echoed, unbidden, relentless.
He remembered her before she vanished into the Rift, her eyes searching for him but never stopping. How he disappointed her but he do not know about it.
But when she returned, it wasn't to him.
Tang San fingers tightened around the hilt of his hidden weapon. The air stilled.
Li Wei was the one at her side. Just like with Zhu Zhuqing. Just like with Ning Rongrong.
The hidden weapon vibrated slightly, reacting to his growing inner turmoil. He closed his eyes and willed his thoughts away.
"I have no right," he muttered aloud. "I let her go."
But the ache refused to fade.
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The path between the east garden and the training hall was quiet, except for footsteps—Zhu Zhuqing.
She walked with calm discipline, her posture composed, eyes distant as she reviewed her morning drills in her head.
Then, she felt it. A familiar presence—tense and heated.
"Zhuqing."
She stopped.
Dai Mubai emerged from behind the stone archway, his arms folded. His golden hair caught the light like a lion mane. His expression, however, was not the same smug confidence of old. It was something more hesitant. Regretful.
"May I speak with you?"
Zhu Zhuqing didn't nod, but she didn't walk away either. "If it's about the past, I've already moved on."
His mouth opened, then shut.
"I just… I saw how you fought today. You've grown even stronger. But it's not just that—you seem more... at peace."
She looked at him fully for the first time. "Because I am."
The silence that followed was heavy.
He tried again. "I know I was never the partner you needed before. But maybe now—"
"No."
Her voice was soft. Not harsh. But firm.
"I no longer need a partner I have to fix. I have someone who fights beside me as an equal, not as a promise." She stepped past him.
But standing behind her now was Li Wei as he just arrived and overheard the conversation.
He hadn't interrupted—just waited, a respectful distance away, but clearly watching.
Dai Mubai eyes narrowed. "You," he said, voice tight.
Li Wei tilted his head. "Just escorting her back from morning drills. You and I don't need to talk."
But his stance was casual. Non-threatening.
Zhu Zhuqing didn't look at either of them again. "Let's go, Wei."
As she walked with Li Wei, Dai Mubai watched their backs, his fists clenched.
She never looked at me like that.
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Back in the common dorm at lobby space, Meng Yiran draped herself across the couch, watching the other three girls converse quietly by the window.
"Alright," she said suddenly, sitting up. "I've been holding back for hours, but seriously—what happened in that Rift? Because the way you three act now… you're glowing. All of you."
Zhu Zhuqing raised an eyebrow. "We trained."
"And grew stronger," Ning Rongrong added, crossing her arms with a smug smile.
"Oh please," Meng Yiran scoffed. "I'm not talking about strength. I'm talking about the looks you keep giving each other when Li Wei walks by."
Xiao Wu grinned. "What looks?"
"The ones where you could slice a dumpling in half just with tension alone."
The girls laughed, but none answered directly.
Then, Zhu Zhuqing met Yiran eyes and said, "Some things can't be explained. Only lived."
Meng Yiran stared at her, then smiled faintly. "I guess that's fair. But if you break his heart, I'm still going to call dibs."
All three girls threw cushions at her.
________________
Flender office was thick with incense and silence. Li Wei stood before Flender, Liu Erlong, and Zhao Wuji, who sat behind a heavy desk.
"Give us the full rundown," Flender said. "Everything about the Rift. Soul beast types, soul rings, geography, any threats you encountered."
Li Wei nodded. "The realm is highly unstable. Floating landmasses, temporal distortions, zones of nullified soul power. We encountered several spirit beasts beyond 50,000 years. All of us had to adapt quickly."
Zhao Wuji whistled low. "And your fifth soul ring?"
"What are you talking about?" Li Wei face questioning. "Shouldn't you be asking about the girl, I am already Spirit King before that happen."
"Sorry I forgot," Zhao Wuji face palm himself. The shock of the girl already becoming shock him. "Li Wei, look like your record has been broken by them. Not only that they already almost catching up to your cultivation." He said while grinning.
"It cannot be help." Li Wei can only helplessly said. It not that he do not want to increase the rank quickly, it just to increase one rank for him equal two to three rank of others limit to increase the rank. "For me right now, the cultivation you can said that it increasing in quality for my martial spirit. Unlike other that they felt the change at rank 70 for me the change will begin at rank 60 and it will be a big one."
"What do you mean by that. You never tell me." Hearing that Flender ask Li Wei in shock. He never heard the quality of martial spirit increase at rank 60, usually it at rank 70 where they will change to higher grade.
"Because it's a secret." Li Wei put his finger at his mouth to show that it should not be talk about.
"And you cannot tell us." Liu Erlong quip from the side.
"No. It will be boring if you know about it right away. Just wait for it." Li Wei said that as he do not want to talk about it anymore.
Li Wei paused only a second. "The Rift was unpredictable. We had no contact with the outside world."
Not quite a lie—but far from the full truth.
"How about the change and the spirit ring that they had. Did you guys hunt the spirit beast in that dimension?" Flender question.
Hearing that Li Wei can only answer truthfully to prevent future trouble. "We do not hunt them, it like the spirit ring was bestow after we reach certainly stage. Not only that, it also increase our spirit ring years."
All of them shock hearing that.
"You're sure Li Wei, they give a bestow spirit ring." Liu Erlong question eagerly. If it can be make into Shrek property their student might be able to use it to advance.
"I am not recommend it. That place can be said to be something not just any human can come and go. The fact that we got out only because of luck. If not because of it, we already perished in there. Not even ordinary title douluo able to live there for long." Li Wei explain to discourage them.
"Is that so." Hearing that the rest of them deflate.
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The sun had begun to set, casting long shadows across the garden paths. Birds sang their final songs. The campus slowly quieted.
Xiao Wu stood alone near the edge of the training field, watching a breeze stir fallen petals.
Behind her, footsteps.
She didn't turn. "I was wondering when you'd come."
Tang San stood a few paces behind. His hands were at his sides, his expression unreadable.
"You've been different," he said quietly. "Since you came back."
She smiled, her eyes soft. "I am. I had to be."
Tang San opened his mouth, closed it, then tried again. "Are you… happy?"
Xiao Wu looked up at the sky, then back at him. "I am."
A pause.
"But I'm not the same girl who left. That Xiao Wu… she believed in a world where everything would stay still if she just wished hard enough."
"And now?"
"Now I know that people change. Hearts grow. And sometimes, they grow in new directions."
She stepped past him.
As her footsteps faded, Tang San remained alone beneath the orange sky.
"…Neither am I," he whispered.