Chapter 200: The Times Have Changed

However, her relief was not entirely correct; if one were to truly calculate it, Su Yu was not a citizen of the Star Luo Empire in the strict sense.

In his early years, his father was still a disciple of the Hall Master, and his mother was a citizen of the Sun Moon Empire...

Looking at the senior sister before him, Su Yu smiled slightly: "Senior sister, you flatter me. In fact, they are all outstanding students of Shrek Academy. For them, participating in this competition has indeed put them under great pressure. This time, they have no backup team members from before and can only rely on themselves, so their pressure is destined to be immense, because they are also afraid that the glory of Shrek will fall from their own hands."

Zhang Lexuan looked at the somewhat silent Wang Qiu Er, then spoke: "It's just a pity that you are still unwilling to come back to compete. If you were willing to come back, no matter which team you joined, we wouldn't have such worries. I have to say, Qiu Er's idea is indeed good; having you come to teach them a lesson is a very good idea."

Wang Qiu Er said: "Actually, my initial thought was just to have a match with Su Yu to verify exactly what level my strength had reached. Helping them with pre-competition training this time was something Su Yu proposed himself, but we will win."

"Let's hope so. I will not participate in subsequent matters. A simple hint: recently, have Dai Huabin and Zhu Lu coordinate their combat styles more. The flaw in their Martial Soul Fusion is too great. If Zhu Lu is eliminated due to insufficient strength, then the Martial Soul Fusion Skill on the competition field will be completely useless. But clearly, you haven't anticipated this drawback yet. Although team collaboration is important, if you really don't intend to let Dai Huabin use the Nether White Tiger, then withdraw Zhu Lu; replacing her with someone like Zhou Sichen would be more useful in team battles than her."

Su Yu stood up, preparing to leave. When he saw the senior sister and Wang Qiu Er, whose expressions were slightly complex, he froze in place: "Are there words on my face? Or is there some God Position on me?"

"Uh, no..." Wang Qiu Er hesitated for a moment, then answered tentatively.

Su Yu was even more puzzled and asked: "Then why are you looking at me with that kind of expression?"

"............"

In the end, under their gazes which he could not understand, Su Yu left the top floor of the Mingyue Hotel, feeling completely uncomfortable.

After Su Yu left, the senior sister spoke: "Good eye, but it's a pity you don't seem to have a chance?"

Wang Qiu Er shook her head and said: "Senior sister, do you really think your guess is correct?"

"Isn't it?" The helplessness in Zhang Lexuan's eyes increased a little more.

"What if..."

Watching that figure gradually lose its presence, a faint golden light emerged in Wang Qiu Er's pupils. Under this night sky, those eyes glowing with gold were like the eyes of a giant dragon in the dark night.

Zhang Lexuan did not ask too much about these matters, but before leaving, she said: "Do you know Wang Dong'er?"

"I know..." Those eyes slowly dimmed.

That woman named Wang Dong'er, of course I know her...

"Since you know, then why can't you see it clearly?" Zhang Lexuan couldn't help but sigh, a trace of struggle gradually appearing in her eyes.

"Senior sister, you've already had too much to drink, you should go rest early..."

Zhang Lexuan's body swayed slightly, and she finally left the living room. Before leaving, she opened her mouth, but that sentence was never spoken.

In the pitch-black night, in front of the floor-to-ceiling window, Wang Qiu Er looked at her own beautiful face reflected through the glass.

"Is this what she looks like? I inherited his memories, yet I inherited your appearance, so who exactly am I?"

"Or rather, who should I become?"

"Who am I..."

A tear slid down Wang Qiu Er's cheek. She looked at her face, marked by tear stains, with some disbelief.

Why am I shedding tears?

Which of humanity's complex emotions is this exactly?

Is this sadness? Or joy?

The next day.

Every participating team received the competition format explanation from the organizing committee, but this time, the competition format had rules different from the past.

When Bei Bei and Huo Yu Hao received this document, they couldn't help but frown. In fact, it wasn't just the two of them; even Wang Qiu Er and the senior sister were dumbfounded when they received this format. Because it was vastly different from what Xuan Lao had said initially.

Whether in terms of the scale of participation or the number of teams, there had been many changes, and the current format was truly giving everyone a headache for the moment.

In the new format, the original elimination rounds, advancement rounds, and finals were re-divided into two new stages: the preliminary rounds and the finals.

Sect representative teams and academy representative teams were all mixed together to participate. This was done to save on the competition's workload; otherwise, if sects and academies were separated, the workload would increase exponentially and be meaningless.

However, this time, after the final review, the number of teams that obtained competition qualifications still reached as many as three hundred and fourteen.

The subsequent format was basically the same as the original, with only some details modified. However, the observant crowd still discovered that these were relatively favorable to the Sun Moon Empire.

Mingdu, Sun and Moon Street.

"Stinky brat, are you sure you aren't going to compete? I reckon if you went, you could probably bring back the championship no matter what. That's a Level 9 Soul Guidance Device; as long as you bring one back, your Soul Guidance level could improve significantly. Do you want to consider it?" Su Xinyuan asked, looking at Su Yu, who was calmly drinking fruit wine.

"If you want to go watch, I will never stop you, but if you get recognized, then your crime of treason will be confirmed. Anyway, it doesn't matter to me; at worst, I'll just say a word to the Hall Master and continue being a student at the Mingde Hall of the Sun Moon Royal Soul Guidance Academy," Su Yu said, spreading his hands and looking at Su Xinyuan.

The light in Su Xinyuan's eyes gradually dimmed, and he spoke slowly: "Forget it, forget it, I won't go. If I cause any more trouble, it will probably be hard to explain to your mother. However, how did you manage to get in with the Hall Master in the first place? Such a troublesome matter, and you actually managed to handle it?"

"Actually, it's nothing. I just told the Hall Master that I don't intend to serve the Star Luo Empire in the future, nor do I intend to join the Sea God Pavilion of Shrek," Su Yu said very naturally, as if these things were completely like floating clouds in his eyes.

Su Xinyuan: "............"

After a long silence, Su Xinyuan felt that this brat was deliberately showing off. He wanted to say, "Isn't it just the Sea God Pavilion?" but he suddenly realized one thing.

Wait, the Sea God Pavilion?!

"You said you rejected their proposal for you to become a member of the Sea God Pavilion?" Su Xinyuan was so surprised his jaw dropped.

"Actually, the lifetime honorary title of Shrek Seven Devils, the captain of this Shrek representative team, as well as being a member of the Sea God Pavilion, and certain positions in the Soul Guidance Department and the Martial Soul Department—as long as I want them, I can have them. Father, otherwise, do you think the Hall Master is really that kind-hearted?" Su Yu counted on his fingers, listing them for Su Xinyuan.

Ever since he heard that phrase "member of the Sea God Pavilion," Su Xinyuan felt as if the whole world had lost its sound. He could only see Su Yu's lips moving, but they were not making any sound at all.

"Sea God Pavilion... that is the Sea God Pavilion..."

"It's just a Sea God Pavilion. Father, when you truly understand the truth hidden behind certain things, you will no longer hold expectations for those worldly vanities. Father, as a young master of a wealthy family, you also know about some unavoidable class and hierarchical differences, right?"

Su Yu looked at Su Xinyuan's expectant expression and couldn't help but feel a bit emotional.

Yes, gaps are unavoidable. Once one occupies the moral high ground, one can act recklessly.

The landscape, the system, the transformation...

A series of things were tightly restricted within a cage. If one failed to break through the cage, one was destined to only become a bird in a cage, or...

An evil Soul Master!

Su Xinyuan steadied his mind and said: "As a major family of the Star Luo Empire, we were just pawns. Although we could fear no threats and abandon all assets, in the end, we lacked the strength. Just like now, we had to cut off our own arm to survive and flee the Star Luo Empire. But now, we are just rootless duckweed. If we fail to continue to take over everything scattered from the Su Family, we are destined to fail."

"But we haven't lost yet. It's just a temporary disappearance. However, in the future, we will no longer be people of the Star Luo Empire. Because the Three Great Empires are also due to fall behind the curtain. The era has proven the correctness of the Sun Moon Empire and has also corroborated the failure of the Three Great Empires. Father, you are a smart man. If you were Shrek Academy, what would you choose?" Su Yu looked at Su Xinyuan, his gaze burning.

Su Xinyuan was silent for a while, looking at the distant competition field, and said: "Looking at the Three Great Empires, even if the Three Great Empires fall and the Sun Moon Empire wins, Shrek will still be Shrek, because it is not a country, but an academy. If the Sun Moon Empire conquers the Three Great Empires, it will inevitably take over their territories, but Shrek will not be destroyed, unless the Sun Moon Empire wants to keep fighting."

"That's right. Before the Sun Moon Empire has the ability to completely annihilate Shrek, no matter what the Three Great Empires do, it will always stand tall. It's just a pity..." Su Yu smiled. He did not look at Su Xinyuan, but instead looked at the Sun Moon Empire soldiers who were patrolling.

"What's a pity?" Su Xinyuan was puzzled, not knowing what was a pity.

"Dad, how much do you know about the Spirit Hall from ten thousand years ago?" Su Yu wanted to see how much people of this era actually knew about that period of history regarding the Spirit Hall.

"If you really want to trace it back, who knows, our family might still be remnants of the Spirit Hall. However, if you really want to talk about that history, I can tell you an indisputable fact: the current Shrek is about the same as the Spirit Hall back then. It's just that the Spirit Hall back then did it better, but unfortunately, it still lost to the gods in the end. Of course, don't go around talking about these things; you brat, keep it to yourself."

Su Xinyuan clearly knew something, but he was still able to hold it back. Looking at Su Xinyuan's nervous appearance, one could probably guess it.

The answer was nothing else; in fact, it was obvious.

The Su Family were remnants of the Spirit Hall from ten thousand years ago!

Although using the term "remnants" was truly a bit demeaning, in the current era, calling them remnants was about right.

"Dad, if I told you that I know the entire history of that battle ten thousand years ago that destroyed the Spirit Hall, would you be surprised?" Su Yu thought for a moment and decided to test the waters; after all, it was better not to be too shocking for now.

Su Xinyuan waved his hand and said, "Our family does have some records of that battle, but I am curious where you learned it from. Even Shrek's historical materials couldn't possibly record the complete and true history, right? Besides, with Shrek's nature, it's impossible for them to record the real history, right? Then how did you know?"

"There are always some strange inheritance sites that record some unknown secrets. Dad, actually, if history were to repeat itself, I would also go to the Slaughter City that Tang San walked through back then, compete for the inheritance of the Asura God once, and go to Sea God Island to attempt the Sea God's trials once. If I succeeded, I would also stand on the side of the Spirit Hall at the final moment to unify the Douluo Continent completely, rather than letting the Douluo Continent eventually experience ten thousand years of warfare and endless mutual attacks."

"In this world, there is no concept of great unification, nor is there a correct understanding of right and wrong. Dad, the future is very complicated. This is all I can say, but when that day in the future really comes, please don't be surprised and don't be afraid. Because, Dad, you will witness a brand new era and world."

Su Yu smiled, stood up, and left the private room of the restaurant.

Su Xinyuan watched the departing back and nodded with gratification, saying, "I really don't know how many things you brat are hiding from me, but since you've said so, I'll wait and see. Let me see what kind of stir that rebellious spirit of yours can cause. Anyway, just don't implicate your mother. Go on, go on. You really do have the shadow of that old guy from our family back then. It's just a pity that the old guy died too early; otherwise, we would be a great family with a Title Douluo guarding us now. But for now, it seems that in the future, our Su Family will have more than one Title Douluo..."

The Three Great Empires have achieved nothing in ten thousand years; their only function has been to consolidate classes and hierarchies.

From nobles to commoners, from families to individuals, the Three Great Empires spent ten thousand years maintaining their rule.

It is just like how commoner academies can go unbuilt, but noble gardens must exist!

An empire permanently ruled by nobles, with extremely distinct layers, has become a huge vortex for power struggles among the upper echelons.

In this massive vortex, no one can stay out of it unless you choose to compromise or withdraw.

Commoners never see the prosperity of the empire throughout their entire lives, but their origins are like shackles, pinning them firmly in place.

Some are destined to be masters, while others are destined to be commoners responsible for farming; this is the hierarchy and class of the empire...

---------- Author's Note ----------

The "Deep in Debt" series.

Just got back from my hometown. Don't ask why; if you ask, it's because that crappy signal makes even playing games lag...

Providing you with the