"Your sword intent is very pure."
Su Wen sighed.
"But I'm still no match for you… Even if my sword intent were purer, it wouldn't matter," Ji Juechen said, holding his sword, face dim.
"Try another path," Su Wen shook his head.
"What?"
"Extinction…"
…
Ji Juechen's sword intent was pure, and so was his heart.
So Su Wen didn't mind making a friend out of him.
Of course, he also had some designs on recruiting him. In the original story, Ji Juechen's talent was exceptional. Even though Su Wen's talent could suppress all rivals, having more allies is always a good thing.
With reddened eyes, Jing Ziyan dabbed at Ji Juechen's slightly pale face while thanking Su Wen again and again.
In a setting like this, even if Su Wen had killed him, few could complain—after all, Ji Juechen was the one who issued the challenge.
"It's fine."
Su Wen took a leisurely sip of tea and shook his head.
This couple was surprisingly well-matched. One of the laws of Douluo Continent: relationships start with looks and end with love.
Though Jing Ziyan was dimmer beside absolute beauties like Wang Dong'er or Mu Chang'er, her fiery personality was slowly warming this cold stone that was Ji Juechen.
"Ah, Su Wen?"
Suddenly, a surprised voice sounded at his side.
Meng Hongchen's pretty face was full of delight as she sat next to Su Wen. With Ji Juechen and Jing Ziyan across from them, the scene looked like two pairs of lovers in the throes of romance.
"It's been a while since the tournament."
Meng Hongchen beamed.
"Yeah, and I haven't forgotten how you tugged my pants then…" Su Wen said dryly.
Of all the things he'd calculated, he never expected the first person to almost make him lose face at the tournament would be Miss Meng.
"Um…"
Meng Hongchen's sweet smile froze; her face flushed scarlet. She poked her two slender, pale fingers together, head drooping. "I really didn't mean to pull your pants…"
Seeing the steam all but rising from the top of her head, Su Wen sighed and magnanimously waved his hand. "It's fine."
"Really fine?"
Meng Hongchen glanced at Su Wen. If you could move that hand away from your waistband, that would make 'fine' more convincing, okay? So who exactly are you guarding against?!!
I'm doomed!
Meng Hongchen was full of despair.
Does he really think I'm some kind of lecherous girl?
Sure, boys should also protect themselves outside, but… I, Meng Hongchen, really am not like that!!!
"By the way, why didn't you go on exchange?" Su Wen forced a smile, warily taking his hand off his waistband and changing the subject.
"Shrek is too stuffy. The Sun Moon Empire is better," Meng Hongchen said with smiling eyes like crescent moons.
She looked sweet and adorable.
Jing Ziyan, however, looked all gossipy, her gaze flicking between the two. She wanted to exchange a look with Ji Juechen to reach a consensus, but he wore dead-fish eyes, utterly spent. Jing Ziyan could only sigh in regret.
The granddaughter of the Mingde Hall master actually liked Shrek Academy's top genius?!!
It seemed the rumors were true.
This melon was big and juicy.
Of course, she'd keep that to herself. Talents of this level came with too much baggage. Born humble, she knew her limits and avoided trouble—that was her life creed.
Su Wen chatted with Meng Hongchen for a while. When he saw Xuan Ziwen leading Ju Zi and the others over, he got up, greeted them, and prepared to leave.
But in the next instant—
A trace of regret flashed across Meng Hongchen's pretty face. She was about to get up and ask whether Su Wen had time that weekend, planning to invite him to tour Mingdu with her as the guide—when her foot slipped and she toppled toward Su Wen.
In panic, her hand grabbed Su Wen's pants, and then—riiiip.
"…"
The air froze.
Countless eyes turned their way.
Meng Hongchen clung tightly to Su Wen's thigh, and a pair of shorts with a little bear print was now swaying right in front of her face in the open air.
Su Wen: ???
Meng Hongchen: =()
Jing Ziyan: (⊙o⊙)
Ji Juechen: (⊙o⊙)
"Ugh…"
Meng Hongchen squeezed her eyes shut, praying this was all an illusion.
Not far away, Xuan Ziwen and the others were also frozen in place…
"It's real?!!" Ke Ke's eyes went wide as she stared.
Ju Zi's brain also short-circuited.
Only Su Wen stood there, disheveled in the wind.
…
Back in the lab, seeing that Su Wen was still in a daze, Xuan Ziwen patted his shoulder with concern. "Take the rest of the day off. Meng Hongchen, she, she…"
He really couldn't find the words to comfort him.
This was just too damn ridiculous.
Worried Su Wen's Dao heart might crumble, Xuan Ziwen gave him three days off.
Meng Hongchen fled, covering her face, steam rising from her head.
In the dorm—
Lying on his bed, Su Wen finally spoke. "Old Yi, something's off!"
"Hahahahaha…"
What followed was unrestrained laughter.
Su Wen: "…"
Only when Old Yi laughed enough did he slowly explain, "Perhaps this is fate at work."
"Fate?" Su Wen frowned.
"Yes. The kind you can't dodge or avoid…" Electrolux said languidly.
"You and that girl have a knot of karma between you. Fate has tied a red string between you. As for how it ends… who knows."
"Fate, huh…"
Su Wen slowly touched his clean forehead.
A contemplative look flashed in his eyes.
Meng Hongchen hails from the Sun Moon Empire; her grandfather is the master of Mingde Hall. He is the future Sea God Pavilion Master of Shrek Academy. Those two forces are water and fire.
What the future holds is indeed unknown.
…
The cafeteria incident was just a small episode.
Though it set off a tidal wave of gossip across the Sun Moon Royal Academy, Jing Hongchen quickly suppressed it, and it quietly faded away.
Meanwhile, Su Wen settled into a triangle of lab, cafeteria, and dorm.
Meng Hongchen often came to see him; the two grew more familiar, and they tacitly never brought up the cafeteria incident.
With Xuan Ziwen's instruction, Su Wen's shortcomings in soul tool technology were gradually filled in. He even began working on core inscription arrays for eighth-tier soul tools, like the multi-element soul cannons he'd encountered at the Star Luo Empire auction.
Xuan Ziwen got excited explaining those. The two locked themselves in the lab for three days and nights, completely taking one apart. Only when they finished did Xuan Ziwen realize that thing was probably a Mingde Hall secret… But whatever—Su Wen had given him a lot of ideas too, so it wasn't a loss.
After that, they tacitly never mentioned it again, as if it never happened.
Su Wen also noticed a bit of Huo Yuhao's secret.
It wasn't really a secret—Old Yi had told him the first time they met… Huo Yuhao carried the aura of an evil soul master, and the baleful qi was hard to suppress. He might bluff his way past Xuan Ziwen with his martial soul's attributes, but in Electrolux's eyes, nothing could be hidden.
An evil soul master.
From then on, Su Wen often noticed that this junior had deep ties with the Holy Spirit Cult and with a certain altar near the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineering Academy.
At the same time, Su Wen's soul power advanced steadily.
In just five months, he broke through to level fifty-nine—one step away from sixty.
…
The Demonic Forest.
The largest forest in the Sun Moon Empire. It took its name from the Evil Emperor, ranked second among the Ten Great Ferocious Beasts.
Xuan Ziwen's team—everyone except the late Wang Shaojie—was there. The mood was as relaxed as a picnic, but in truth they were testing a newly improved all-terrain autonomous probe designed by Xuan Ziwen.
It looked like a sphere, with spider-like mechanical legs beneath. You could sit inside and pilot the whole thing.
…