"…"
"Yuhao, don't!"
Just as Huo Yuhao's eyes reddened and killing intent surged through his spiritual sea, the Skydream Iceworm sensed something amiss, woke up, and anxiously warned him.
"Skydream?" Huo Yuhao frowned slightly.
His killing intent paused, dissipating like mist.
"Don't act yet." The Skydream Iceworm let out a long breath, his expression tinged with hesitation. "If you're exposed, big trouble. Jing Hongchen won't spare you. And most importantly… the instant you were about to act, I suddenly felt a jolt of dread. It was strong—as if the moment you moved, we'd be crushed into a blood mist."
"Got it." Huo Yuhao narrowed his eyes, his expression returning to normal.
The Skydream Iceworm had no reason to harm him.
And as a spiritual-type being, Skydream's danger sense was extraordinarily keen by nature. If it was as he said, Su Wen must have a countermeasure—
Even when he was in a state of extreme focus…
"But Skydream, isn't there any way to vent a little anger?" Huo Yuhao ground his teeth.
He had been discriminated against at Shrek Academy; his most beloved teacher Zhou Yi had been crippled by Su Wen, left bedridden, weeping every day; Teacher Fan Yu had pleaded on his behalf to no avail.
He wished he could tear Su Wen to pieces.
But when the man appeared before him again, he was powerless…
"It's not like we have no way. Look, that Wang Shaojie." Skydream chuckled wickedly.
Huo Yuhao cast a glance.
He saw Wang Shaojie frowning, looking Su Wen up and down, the viciousness in his eyes deepening. When Ke Ke tried to stop him and told him to keep it down, that viciousness was about to turn into murderous intent.
So that's it… you're still the best, Skydream.
Huo Yuhao curled his lips.
Only a simp truly understands a simp.
"Stir him up. Try to make him stick his neck out. What if it works?" Skydream sneered.
Back in the Star Dou Forest, he had been one step from forcing the Auspicious Beast to sacrifice itself, but Su Wen had tracked him down and played the hero. Not only did he fail to steal the chicken, he lost the rice. He'd never forgotten that grudge.
"Okay!"
Huo Yuhao quietly placed a hand on Wang Shaojie's shoulder.
Wang Shaojie sensed it, glanced back at Huo Yuhao, and, thinking him a fellow sufferer, forced a smile before turning back.
Very soon, he felt a surge of anger erupt from his chest, sweeping through his body. Why?!!
Why did his mere arrival turn his former goddess Ke Ke into a fawning fangirl? She even scolded him to defend that guy?
Ke Ke could only be his!
A fierce possessiveness flooded his heart; his eyes turned redder.
Perfect—this guy is carving a core formation. Fully focused, he won't be on guard… Even a genius like Ma Rulong would be startled awake by a massive explosion, right? Forcing someone out of such intense focus can traumatize a soul engineer's spirit, and the entire core would be ruined, requiring a complete redo.
Ke Ke had mysteriously hinted that what Su Wen was carving wasn't low-level, so this would be Wang Shaojie's opening move—to teach him which women must not be provoked!
"Shaojie!" Zimu seemed to notice something off, frowning as he placed a hand on Wang Shaojie's shoulder and whispered a warning.
"Scram!"
Wang Shaojie lowered his voice and glared murderously at Zimu, who looked baffled, not knowing what nerve he had hit.
In that moment—
Huo Yuhao shifted aside slightly, revealing a test bench behind him, letting a plan crystallize in Wang Shaojie's mind.
This was a test accident magnet.
Also one of Xuan Ziwen's failed experimental tracks. To study controlled power for fixed-installed soul shells, Xuan Ziwen had brought in a level-3 fixed-installed soul shell from Mingde Hall. On the rack sat the disassembled shell. As long as the trigger wasn't touched, it wouldn't explode.
And… if he got close, he could use an invincibility shield to block part of the blast and heroically save Ke Ke to win back favor. Getting hurt himself would give Mingde Hall an explanation—If I was ground zero and ended up like this, how could it be intentional?
With his royal in-law status, even if Xuan Ziwen showed up, he could explain it away!
He wasn't attacking Su Wen while he was carving a core formation. It would just be an accidental trigger of a level-3 fixed-installed shell, causing an explosion in the lab and yanking Su Wen out of deep focus. If it scrambled his mind, sapped his spiritual power, even knocked him out—well, he wouldn't be dead.
A shell of that level was just right. Everyone present was a level-5 soul engineer carrying invincibility shields. They'd be fine. Only Su Wen would suffer the blast reflections reverberating in the room, forcibly dragging him out of trance. In severe cases, it could seriously damage his spiritual sea—he could turn into an idiot on the spot…
Wang Shaojie's not-so-nimble brain suddenly lit up, but he didn't notice Huo Yuhao's increasingly amused smile not far away.
Do it!
He took a deep breath.
Seeing no one close by, he slowly shuffled to the fixed-installed shell. The trigger was right there!
"Phew…"
He exhaled a long breath—
And slammed the switch, then shouted, "Watch out!!!"
He lunged straight at Ke Ke.
His three-second invincibility shield activated instantly.
Everyone looked at him in disbelief, but the deep and tragic emotion in Wang Shaojie's eyes as he looked at Ke Ke just left her dumbfounded.
He shoved her aside. "Wang Shaojie, are you crazy?!!" Ke Ke hissed, glaring at him. Ju Zi frowned too, casting a look of disgust.
"I…" Wang Shaojie started to offer a heartfelt explanation, but felt something was wrong. Why didn't the shell behind him explode on cue? Was there a delay—or was the one Teacher Xuan brought a dud?
Now he couldn't explain it away.
"Done."
Su Wen yawned, stood up and stretched, and greeted Ke Ke and the others one by one.
Then he looked at Wang Shaojie, smiling. "Wondering why that level-3 shell didn't go off?"
"W-what are you talking about?!!" Wang Shaojie's face went pale.
"I knew it!" Ke Ke glared. "So that's why you popped your invincibility shield—so malicious!"
"Ke Ke, listen to me…" Wang Shaojie stammered.
"Save it. I'm going to Teacher Xuan right now. Someone with a vicious heart like yours doesn't belong in our lab! Next time, are you going to blow me up?" Ke Ke angrily grabbed Su Wen's arm to go report him to Xuan Ziwen.
"Enough!"
Xuan Ziwen appeared at the doorway. He had clearly heard what happened in the lab. He stared coldly at Wang Shaojie until the latter guiltily lowered his head.
"I'll see Director Lin and have you kicked out of my lab. As for punishment—just wait. Mingde Hall won't let you off easy!"
With that, Xuan Ziwen led everyone out.
In the corridor.
Xuan Ziwen sighed. "He's a royal scion. Background's messy… I'll report this to Mingde Hall's upper management. Don't worry, you'll get fairness."
"It's fine. I don't mind." Su Wen smiled serenely, betraying no displeasure.
"That's good." Xuan Ziwen had just relaxed—
When a thunderous boom sounded behind them.
From the still-open metal door, a wave of searing air blasted out, sweeping the corridor. The wall opposite the door was charred black, metal debris scattered on the ground, a testament to the ferocity of the explosion.
"Damn it!" Xuan Ziwen's pupils contracted.
Wang Shaojie was still inside!
He raced back.
In the roiling black smoke, he fished out only a broken metal badge… a level-5 soul engineer's plate.
Wang Shaojie's.
"How did it… suddenly explode?" Xuan Ziwen muttered blankly.
"You okay, Su Wen? Did it startle you?" Ke Ke asked.
Zimu: "…"
Ju Zi: "…"
Xuan Ziwen: "…"
Wang Shaojie (vaporized): "…"
"I'll report this to the academy exactly as it happened. Wang Shaojie accidentally triggered a level-3 fixed-installed shell. His invincibility shield… since he used it earlier, it didn't activate the second time. I'd guess the primer of the level-3 shell was old and delayed the timing…"
Xuan Ziwen talked to himself.
But he shot a furtive glance at Su Wen. The latter was still smiling, bantering with Ke Ke and Ju Zi. Complex light flashed in Xuan Ziwen's eyes.
What a bizarre method.
A grudge paid back on the spot…
And he could multitask—no, wait! Xuan Ziwen suddenly remembered Su Wen's martial soul seemed capable of beast control. He looked around; though he detected no soul beasts, he felt certain this was the work of a soul beast Su Wen commanded.
In any case, this had to be suppressed.
Even if Su Wen had openly killed Wang Shaojie, the entirety of Mingde Hall would not say much. Otherwise? Kill Su Wen? The Hall Master's grandson is still at Shrek Academy!
The only trouble would be the royal family…
On the other side.
Huo Yuhao stared at Su Wen, a trace of fear rising in his heart.
This guy… has changed again.
"This must be Huo Yuhao, Student Huo?"
Su Wen smiled kindly and extended his hand.
"Yes."
Huo Yuhao switched faces in a second. "Long time no see, Senior Su Wen."
"Indeed… long time no see."
Su Wen smiled.
…
"Heard the news? The academy's been emphasizing strict rules against stockpiling dangerous items like fixed-installed shells in labs lately."
"Senior Wang Shaojie violated the rules not long ago and got himself blown to bits… a bloody lesson."
"We'll remember him. Moment of silence."
"…"
Sun and Moon Empire Royal Soul Engineering Academy.
Cafeteria.
Su Wen stuffed a turkey egg into his mouth, watching a floating screen above the hall that was broadcasting recent campus bulletins.
Soul tools were widely used in the Sun and Moon Empire, bordering on modern tech. Every student had an ID card for buying meals, accessing test areas, etc.
"Hey, isn't that your lab?" Mu Qiu'er widened her golden eyes and nudged Su Wen curiously.
"Mm."
Su Wen took a sip of soy milk and nodded.
"Geez, these Sun and Moon folks are too brittle. They can't even tank a level-3 fixed shell," Mu Qiu'er snarked.
"…"
Silence fell around them.
Even students farther away stared over in surprise.
Sis, is this about being brittle?
No one can tank that, okay? And it was instant-cast. They were more curious why Wang Shaojie didn't use his invincibility shield…
Su Wen pressed the golden-haired girl's head down. "Eat."
He lazily stirred his soy milk, mulling over current progress.
Are level-8 soul tools hard? Pretty hard. But he had managed to replicate a core formation. Going further was tough… Not to mention level-9 cores—among the more advanced level-8s, he had to back off.
Very hard!
Xuan Ziwen was candid. He openly brought out one of his top-tier level-8 soul tools for Su Wen to disassemble and study. The result? No progress.
The spirit power he'd gained from absorbing the Skydream Iceworm's cast-off skin and the Golden of Life had already been pushed to the limit. Even with the Eye of Life, he couldn't break through further.
Looks like with soul tools, if you want to cheat, you can only lean on spiritual power. If your spirit can't keep up, you hit a wall immediately…
Xuan Ziwen's failure to advance to level-9 wasn't because his core-formation attainments were lacking, but because his spiritual power was insufficient to support the carving of a level-9 core.
"Level 56 peak. I should break through to 57 next month."
Su Wen mused.
That evil big eye needs to be put on the schedule too…