Star Luo City.
Star Emperor Hotel.
"Comfortable ~"
As soon as the handsome black-haired young man entered the living room, he saw the soft sofa and lazily sprawled on it. The girls behind An Zhen were also like this; although long hours of flying consumed a lot of spirit power, even with the help of spirit tools, it was still very tiring.
As the defending champions, they received excellent treatment: a luxurious room on the top floor and a dedicated conference room.
"Everyone, please rest first."
Wang Yan's eyes showed undisguised fatigue. The three people in long robes and masks behind him also removed their disguises, revealing one tired face and two pale faces. Dai Yueheng and Ma Xiaotao quickly swallowed their healing pills, as rushing the journey had further worsened their injuries.
"Teacher Wang." An Zhen raised his head. "Please go to the organizers later to register. The Academy probably won't provide any more support."
"Huh?" Xiao Xiao was surprised.
For a moment, everyone's gaze turned to An Zhen.
"Given the Grandmaster's personality, it's likely so." An Zhen looked at Zhang Lexuan. "Le Xuan Jie, are there any other suitable students under twenty in the Inner Courtyard?"
"There are a few, but their strength isn't quite there."
Those who can enter the Inner Courtyard are geniuses among geniuses, but what's needed here are monsters among geniuses.
Zhang Lexuan's words directly shattered the idea of waiting for reinforcements.
"Don't worry." An Zhen gently stroked Xiao Xiao's small head. "I'm just telling you so you can be prepared and get ready for the battle."
Sitting up, the still somewhat childish young man smiled, showing no signs of nervousness, as if he were on vacation, which made everyone feel inexplicably at ease. "Ma Xiaotao, Dai Yueheng, rest assured and recover. Teacher Wang can apply to the Xingluo Royal Family for high-level healing Spirit Masters on behalf of the Academy."
"But... wouldn't that expose our team's weakness?" Wang Yan was puzzled.
"Teacher Wang, even if we don't expose it, we can't have them on the field early. It's better to seek help; it will allow them to recover faster."
In An Zhen's view, hiding this had no practical meaning whatsoever; at most, it was like a fox borrowing the tiger's might. But this was a competition based on hard strength. A fox, no matter how good at borrowing the tiger's might, couldn't defeat a wolf. They couldn't possibly make others forfeit just by reputation.
"Besides, who said we're weak?"
An Zhen clenched his fair fist. "You know too little about me. Other things aside, I can use the Soul Impact that severely injured Dai Yueheng at least twice."
In reality, he could use it more, as his overall soul quantity was there.
Zhang Lexuan stood by, her eyes smiling, quietly watching the high-spirited young man.
"We can even directly announce that Shrek suffered such heavy losses because we were fighting Evil Soul Masters. Other things aside, with the Academy's prestige, we can completely gain an excellent reputation and a lot of support."
The specifics didn't need to be explained, and no one would verify it. After all, the injuries of the Inner Court Seven Freaks were real, and the public message was also real. Even White Tiger Duke, who probably knew the strength of Death God Emissary, would think Death God Emissary had hidden his strength. If they hadn't seen it with their own eyes, who would believe it? In short, it was about publicizing their past heroic deeds to establish a glorious image.
"If they can recover early, with me here, there won't be any problems in the matches these next few days. We can even catch those who plan to strike while we're weak off guard, and gain reputation and support. A triple win!"
A triple win means I win three times.
"Teacher Wang." Ma Xiaotao, with a pale face, spoke. "Dai Yueheng and I were defeated by Martial Uncle together before."
Dai Yueheng nodded slightly.
Wang Yan's eyes lit up.
Then, according to An Zhen, the final outcome would indeed be excellent.
Even in the worst-case scenario, even if they failed, it wouldn't significantly impact the school's honor. But if the "heroes" dragged their injured bodies to victory...
"Good!"
Wang Yan nodded. "I'll go to the Xingluo Royal Family."
"Rest first..."
Before An Zhen finished speaking, Wang Yan pushed the door open and walked out.
Never mind.
An Zhen looked at the others. "You've traveled for so long; go back and rest."
"Mm."
An Zhen planned to go for a stroll.
Star Emperor Hotel has seven floors. On the very top floor, besides the defending champions of each session, Shrek Academy, there is also the perennial runner-up—Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy.
As soon as he came out, An Zhen saw on the other side of the lavishly decorated corridor a delicate silver-haired, blue-eyed young man walking out. He was tall and slender, and his bright eyes suddenly showed a playful look the moment he saw An Zhen. An Zhen, with his powerful mental force, felt the sudden rise of battle intent from the other party.
Long time no see, brother.
An Zhen lazily raised his eyes, his aura not at all weaker as he retorted.
"Laughing Hongchen." The silver-haired young man slowly walked forward and introduced himself.
"An Zhen."
Confirming with his mental force that Grandmaster Sister hadn't noticed them, An Zhen looked somewhat helplessly at the young man full of battle intent.
Brother, aren't you childish?
"I will definitely win." Laughing Hongchen said seriously.
"Oh."
Oh what, oh, you bastard brother, get serious!
Six years ago, Laughing Hongchen, who had long been hailed as the Sun Moon Empire's top genius, met the greatest rival of his life: an orphan picked up by his grandfather. This orphan broke his record for becoming a Rank 1 Soul Guide (using mental imprinting in the Virtual World, First Soul Skill, Reflection). He usually seemed lazy, but his assignments were always perfectly done when checked. He seemed to do nothing all day, but his ultimate achievements were even better than his own, despite being diligent and talented.
And his dear sister was actually so infatuated by this guy's sweet talk that she lost her way!
"My Virtual World can now pull people in. When you go back later, if your consciousness feels a pull, don't resist." An Zhen's soul voice sounded in Laughing Hongchen's ear.
Laughing Hongchen's expression remained unchanged, still full of battle intent.
Good acting.
But An Zhen suspected it wasn't acting, but real.
"Remember to tell Sister Xiao Meng." The soul voice sounded again.
"Heh ~"
Laughing Hongchen looked arrogant and disdainful.
"Be careful, I'll make your clothes explode in the competition."
...
The smile didn't disappear, it just moved to An Zhen's face.
My dear brother, you lost again.
After a brief recollection of his childhood, An Zhen, in a joyful mood, returned to the Shrek room, his bedroom.
Zhang Lexuan had already made the bed. The gentle and serene black-haired beauty sat quietly by the bed. After cleaning his body with the Virtual World Reflection, An Zhen blissfully lay on his senior sister's black-stockinged beautiful legs.
Virtual World.
An Zhen arrived at the Sun Moon Royal Soul Tool Academy's room.
Meng Hongchen's bedroom, Laughing Hongchen's bedroom, huh? Grandfather is here too.
Third spirit ring, All Beings.
The next moment, three NPC puppets opened their eyes: an elegant middle-aged man, a delicate and confident young man, and a silver-haired, blue-eyed beautiful girl.
Soft silver hair was tied in a single ponytail, and her exquisite, beautiful face exuded youthful vitality and a girl's playful cuteness. Her clear, watery eyes seemed to speak, and her aura was like a secluded orchid. Her delicate figure was enveloped in a school uniform skirt resembling a white naval uniform.
"Brother An Zhen!"
A surprised voice sounded, and the girl's soft, fragrant body threw itself into An Zhen's embrace. Her jade arms and beautiful legs wrapped around An Zhen like an octopus, and her soft cheek intimately rubbed against An Zhen's, "I missed you so much."
"I missed Sister Xiao Meng too." Holding his childhood sweetheart, An Zhen's eyes were full of longing.
"Hey, hey, hey, Meng, An Zhen is clearly my younger brother, why do you call him 'Brother'?!" Laughing Hongchen protested. He was clearly the older brother!
"Of course, it's because I've always wanted an older brother since I was little." The girl, hanging on An Zhen, refused to get down, Meng Hongchen retorted.
Laughing Hongchen: ?
Then what was he?
"An Zhen, I'm going to fight you." Laughing Hongchen stomped his foot in anger.
Mirror Hongchen watched the children interact quietly from the side, just as in the past.
"Alright, Sister Xiao Meng, come down first."
An Zhen soothed the girl clinging to him. After a while, the girl reluctantly got down, but still held An Zhen's hand tightly.
"Grandfather."
An Zhen looked at Mirror Hongchen, raised his hand, and four chairs appeared behind them. They sat down.
An Zhen recounted what had happened during this time.
Sea God Pavilion Young Pavilion Master.
Reserve team, next generation Shrek Seven Devils = An Zhen and his girlfriend.
"Mm."
Meng Hongchen puffed out her fair cheeks, leaning in front of An Zhen, as if wanting An Zhen to actively soothe her little emotions.
Jealousy.
She was very jealous.
"I like Sister Xiao Meng the most." An Zhen reached out and gently stroked the girl. To Laughing Hongchen's speechless expression, his genius sister was instantly made blissfully happy by the young man's single sentence.
"Shrek Young Pavilion Master." Mirror Hongchen's eyes showed a hint of emotion. He believed in Xiao Zhen's talent and ability, but he didn't expect him to reach the position of Young Pavilion Master so quickly, especially since it had only been a little over a month since they last met.
"The Xue Di Embryo has yielded some results. According to intelligence, the Xingluo Royal Family plans to auction it at the auction during this competition. I've found a clue regarding the creation of the Seal God Stage: it's an old fellow who barely became a Ninth-Level Soul Engineer." Mirror Hongchen spoke of the information he had gathered.
Still at an auction?
"Then the Xingluo Royal Family is targeting our spirit tools." Laughing Hongchen said angrily. "Such a high-level treasure has no news externally whatsoever, giving the major powers no time to raise funds. But the Starlight Auction House actually released news of high-priced acquisitions of high-level spirit tools."
"That old bastard, though muddle-headed, wouldn't dare to provide the original Douluo Three Empires with more Rank 9 spirit tools, or he'd easily be caught. " Mirror Hongchen's eyes flashed with a cold light. This clearly meant they believed they would definitely bite this 'bait.' As if thinking of something, his eyes were full of playful amusement, "But they would never guess that what they think is an ordinary 100,000-year embryo is actually Xue Di, ranked third among the continent's ferocious beasts."
They'll lose a fortune.
"Xingluo Royal Family, Xu Jiujiu..." An Zhen murmured softly.
"What is Brother An Zhen thinking?" Meng Hongchen asked.
"Usurping the throne."
"Eh?!"
Meng Hongchen and Laughing Hongchen were surprised.
Mirror Hongchen's eyes flashed with an 'as expected' look. He remembered what An Zhen had told him about Xu Tianran during their last conversation.
"But that kind of thing is a bit far off right now." An Zhen gently shook his head. "Grandfather doesn't need to worry about the Xue Di Embryo anymore. I plan to acquire it through my own methods, otherwise it will inevitably expose my origin from the Sun Moon Empire. I haven't even become the Sea God Pavilion Master yet."
"Be careful in everything." Mirror Hongchen instructed.