"No need," Su Wen said indifferently.
"After Lingling gets her fourth soul skill and advances to Soul Ancestor, your team won't have weak points anymore—support, control, tanking, and disruption, all covered."
"That's pretty good."
"The only regret is that you're still one member short." Su Wen sighed.
"It's a pity the other Heaven Dou teams didn't have anyone who met your standards," Dugu Yan lamented. "Would it kill you to lower them a bit?"
Su Wen glanced at her.
Silly girl, do you know what this team is meant for?
Ye Lingling's Nine Heart Begonia, after evolving, could aim for the god-level position of the Nine-Colored Divine Maiden! And the others, he trained like potential gods.
They'll all be at least Bishops, or for people like Ye Lingling, even secondary gods.
How could he choose carelessly?
"Then let's just keep the spot open," Su Wen shrugged.
"Lingling, have you considered your fourth soul ring?" He looked at the slender, blue-haired girl beside him, veiled in black.
Ye Lingling obediently shook her head. "Whatever Teacher arranges is fine."
"Your Nine Heart Begonia evolved to Sacred Sea Begonia. Just one word different, but worlds apart. Since you're purely a healer, no other choice—then," Su Wen pondered, "the Sacred Vine."
A pure healing plant, somewhat like the Blue Silver Emperor, but while the latter focused on HP and self-recovery, the former was geared toward healing others.
Such a plant was rare in Star Dou Forest.
They'd have to go deep into the core…
"Oh right, I have Ah Yin." Su Wen brightened. His spiritual power couldn't cover the forest, but Ah Yin's could!
In the woods, Ah Yin's detection was unmatched.
A network of Blue Silver Grass would span the forest.
Buzz—
Su Wen slowly closed his eyes, holding up his palm.
A thin, gold vine appeared, radiating a terrifying aura of life. Even its light made the nearby plants rapidly grow.
His robe billowed in the energy flows.
His black hair floated, yet his expression remained calm.
This scene shocked the members of Heaven Dou Class 1.
"This is the teacher's true strength? Terrifying…" Yu Feng slowly landed, realizing his scouting meant nothing in Su Wen's presence. It was just for their training, but with the teacher acting himself, he was superfluous.
In Osler's eyes, the golden scene reflected. He let out a long breath and glanced at his friend. "Just the tip of the iceberg."
"True that…"
Moments later.
The golden light converged.
Su Wen opened his eyes, his pupils fading from gold to black, gazing northwest. "Got it."
But…
He looked north, slowly curving his lips. "We've met an old foe."
…
"Tang San did the right thing. Against Dugu Yan, your realgar wine may be a powerful weapon. With Tianheng gone, the Heaven Dou Class 1 team lost its main power-attack soul master, and once you take out Dugu Yan, the rest should be easy to handle," Qin Ming nodded as Tang San recounted the victory.
Smiling, he added, "No wonder Dugu Yan looked miserable that day. Your realgar wine was the bane of snake-type soul masters. Impressive, little brother."
He didn't hold back, mentioning how Dugu Yan suffered after the encounter.
"She poisoned Xiao Wu. What else could I do?" Ma Hongjun grinned.
"She's San's lifeline, after all…"
Qin Ming chuckled.
"One would fight for their beloved. Dugu Yan miscalculated."
"Tianheng bro, I heard you and Dugu Yan dated?" Oscar dug for gossip.
"We used to. But…" Yu Tianheng shrugged. "She showed her true nature when she forced you out of Heaven Dou Academy. So arrogant and willful."
"And you don't defend her? You used to date, after all. Now you turn around and talk behind her back…" Xiao Wu frowned.
"Women…" Yu Tianheng felt awkward but snorted.
"That's enough," Qin Ming clapped his hands.
Glancing at the direction Dai Mubai had gone, he saw him return, looking annoyed, and quickly hid any reaction. "Apart from helping Jiang Zhu get her third soul ring, the main goal is to train your teamwork in battle."
"From now on, I'll stay hidden. Your goal—cross this valley. Beware, there are thousand-year soul beasts here. Good luck!" Qin Ming smiled.
"What about Zhu Zhuqing?" Ma Hongjun looked into the distance, puzzled.
"Begin," Qin Ming's voice faded as he disappeared.
"Didn't anyone tell Zhuqing?" Xiao Wu frowned.
"Forget about her!" Dai Mubai spat.
Everyone paused.
"But this is Star Dou Forest, and Teacher Qin Ming said we need to work as a team…" Oscar said blankly.
"Heh, less talking, let's move!" Ma Hongjun instantly understood the Grandmaster and Qin Ming's intent, snickering as he nudged Oscar along, following Dai Mubai.
Tang San silently led Xiao Wu.
…
High up on an ancient tree branch.
Grandmaster bent over, gripping the trunk with a hint of vertigo. Qin Ming stood proudly beside him, arms crossed, looking uncertain. "Grandmaster, isn't this too much? What if that girl gets angry enough to let herself die out here, rather than look for Dai Mubai and the others?"
"Hmph. When she's near death, we'll send Dai Mubai in to play the hero," Grandmaster sneered coldly.
That's right—he wanted to abandon Zhu Zhuqing in Star Dou Forest, letting life-and-death experience shatter her so-called pride, to force her back into the team as a mere accessory.
No other way.
The Martial Soul Fusion Technique was just too tempting.
And Zhu Zhuqing's only value to the team was this.
He had to squeeze it out—every last drop.
"What if she pretends to go along, then turns to another academy after returning?" Qin Ming was still uneasy.
"She won't…" Grandmaster hooked his lips into a smile.
"She's already a discarded pawn. She has no place outside of Shrek."
"Besides… I hold her life in my hands. Even though Star Luo Empire is far from Heaven Dou, with the royal civil war, if I leak her location, it'll be her death…" Grandmaster said calmly.
"But unless there's no choice, I won't use that trick. It would drag Mubai in too."
"Tsk…" Qin Ming was astonished.
…