Chapter 225: Hope and Expectations

Due to the influence of Gravity Control, Leiqier's speed dropped sharply. Taking advantage of this momentary opening, Jiang Nannan's first spirit ring lit up, and she performed a highly flexible backflip in mid-air to dodge Leiqier's dagger.

"Clang!" Amidst a violent collision sound, Jiang Nannan's seemingly delicate body actually knocked Leiqier back instantly, and a powerful shockwave nearly shook Leiqier down from the air.

The first spirit ring behind Jiang Nannan lit up; clearly, in this duel with Leiqier, she had decided to end the fight quickly, and for this, she was willing to expose her spirit skill to launch an attack.

Jiang Nannan's talent is at the bottom among the Shrek Seven Devils, but her own strength still cannot be ignored. Even if she were to be the weakest one among the Shrek Seven Devils in the future, she could still thrash a crowd of Title Douluo.

Following Jiang Nannan's counterattack, Leiqier quickly made adjustments, his tall figure displaying a caution that was completely different from his previous demeanor.

Once Jiang Nannan's strike landed, she followed up with an all-out downward chop.

A pink figure flashed, and a long leg suddenly appeared in front of Leiqier. If that kick had landed, Leiqier knew he would definitely have been injured.

"What a bold woman," Leiqier thought to himself.

In everyone's eyes, Leiqier's figure disappeared again. When they spotted him once more, the two were already entangled at an extremely high speed, but once in close-quarters combat, Jiang Nannan's advantages could not be fully utilized.

This was because Leiqier's daggers were not martial souls, but genuine Seventh-level Soul Guidance Devices.

As the spirit rings on the arena continued to light up, Leiqier no longer had any reservations. Beams of light appeared one after another, and a small, body-mounted Soul Guidance Device appeared behind him; along with this small device, another dagger appeared as well.

"This Leiqier... he's been hiding his strength," Bei Bei said, frowning as he watched this scene.

Huo Yu Hao also sensed that something was wrong and immediately spoke up: "Leiqier hasn't even released his other spirit skills yet, and he's barely used many Soul Guidance Devices. It's almost as if..."

"He's trying out the combat style our academy is still attempting to promote!" Bei Bei looked at Huo Yu Hao in surprise and blurted out.

Huo Yu Hao shook his head and said: "I'm not surprised that the Sun Moon Empire has such technology, but why is it that this combat style, which we have never seen before, is now appearing at the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy? This is the issue we should be paying attention to. The foundation of the Sun Moon Empire is too terrifying."

It was not the foundation of the Sun Moon Empire that was terrifying, but Luo Yu, yet they did not take Luo Yu seriously, even believing that Luo Yu's role was not as significant as Leiqier's.

Bang.

Another intense collision sound rang out. Leiqier's daggers struck Jiang Nannan's shoulders heavily, but they were all completely blocked by a flash of golden light. After the strike landed, Leiqier continued his assault, only to find that after Jiang Nannan was hit by his daggers, not only was she uninjured, but it felt as if he had struck a wall of copper and iron.

The golden light flickered for a moment before retracting into Jiang Nannan's body. The next instant, Leiqier felt his vision blur, and he was kicked heavily in the chest by Jiang Nannan. The immense force caused Leiqier to tumble backward.

"Bang!"

Another heavy blow, but Leiqier dodged it in a bizarre fashion. He also possessed a spirit skill similar to Instant Teleportation; it was a skill Luo Yu had specifically prepared for him at the time. Back then, he felt it was a bit useless, as he had preferred powerful offensive spirit skills given his style at the time.

On the viewing platform, Luo Yu watched this scene and said: "Leiqier has won this match; there's no suspense left."

"Luo Yu, are you sure?" Menluo asked with a smile as he looked at Luo Yu.

Luo Yu nodded and said: "I trust Leiqier."

Looking at Leiqier on the stage and the competition platform where one couldn't even see the figures of the two without using soul power, the battle became increasingly deadlocked. The more they fought, the more intense it became, moving from the initial probing to the current frantic assault.

This was a process of mutual familiarization, but as time passed, Jiang Nannan's disadvantages gradually emerged. Her breathing became increasingly rapid, and even her speed began to fall behind Leiqier's.

In the contest of soul power, she had fallen behind. As an Agility Attack System Soul Master, once one's speed is inferior to the opponent's, the result is certain disaster!

Although Leiqier had acted extremely arrogantly in previous matches, Jiang Nannan knew at this moment that he absolutely had the capital for such arrogance.

"Shadow Kill!"

A black shadow bypassed Jiang Nannan by a hair's breadth, and a thin black thread connected to the center of Han Yu's brow. At this moment, Leiqier was completely submerged in the shadows.

"Damn it, that move again!"

Jiang Nannan's expression changed. From start to finish, Leiqier had only displayed his first three spirit skills.

First Spirit Skill, Dark Blade.

Second Spirit Skill, Shadow Step.

Third Spirit Skill, Shadow Flash.

For Jiang Nannan, each of these three spirit skills was incredibly troublesome. The Dark Blade buffed the Soul Guidance Devices in Leiqier's hands, making her afraid to block them head-on with soul power. The second spirit skill significantly boosted Leiqier's speed; this boost was just like her own Waist Bow, which forced Jiang Nannan to increase her soul power consumption just to keep up with Leiqier's speed.

A point of black light emerged, and Jiang Nannan's hair stood on end instantly. Her heart tightened suddenly, as if she were being watched by something terrifying.

This was a crisis—a crisis of death!

A black shadow, like a messenger of death in the night, wielded two daggers like soul-reaping scythes. Before Jiang Nannan could dodge, the shadow had already arrived behind her in an instant.

Clang!

A sound of steel clashing rang out. A dazzling golden light appeared on Jiang Nannan's body, which slowly dissipated after blocking all of Leiqier's attacks.

As the golden light faded, Jiang Nannan's face turned deathly pale. Using the Invincible Golden Body twice in such a short time had completely exhausted her already meager soul power.

Looking at the swaying figure, Leiqier did not continue the pursuit. Such a pursuit was meaningless to him, and now was not the time to deliver a killing blow. At the very least, he had proven that the myth of Shrek's invincibility had partially collapsed in his hands today.

"We concede the first match." Bei Bei did not hesitate and immediately had Xiao Xiao go to retrieve Jiang Nannan, whose soul power was exhausted.

"Nannan, are you alright?" Tang Ya looked at the pale-faced Jiang Nannan with concern.

Jiang Nannan shook her head and said guiltily: "Teacher Xiao Ya, Master, I'm sorry, I..."

"Senior Sister Nannan, this isn't your fault. Even if we lose, we won't blame you. After all, this is just a sparring match. For us, this battle is just a way to understand the Sun Moon Battle Team, so it's normal to have wins and losses." Huo Yu Hao appeared composed, clearly very confident.

"Nannan, don't worry. Huo Yu Hao and I are here. Since Su Yu handed the team to us, we must take responsibility no matter what. Leave the rest to us." Bei Bei comforted Jiang Nannan while thinking about who to send for the next match.

Choosing who to send was a headache; after all, no one knew who the opponent would send out. If the opponent sent out Luo Yu, it probably wouldn't matter who they sent; it was a painfully difficult choice.

A lie is a magical thing; if used correctly, it will become an aid to your success.

…………

"It's been days, why won't you let me go back?"

Wang Dong'er held Su Yu's arm, standing in the place where Su Yu had once disguised himself as Luo Yu and fought his way out of the Jingyang Mountain Range alone. She pouted, her tone filled with complaint.

"What, we're already a married couple, we've met the parents, and now you're starting to dislike me?" Su Yu smiled and leaned down to kiss Wang Dong'er on the forehead.

Wang Dong'er was slightly shy and wanted to pull away, but she was gently held by Su Yu. The more she struggled, the tighter Su Yu held her, as if he were afraid she would disappear the next instant.

"During those years in Mingdu, I actually thought about accepting the Hall Master's conditions and moving my whole family to the Sun Moon Empire. After all, here, I can control the safety of my family. I'm half a Sun Moon Empire person, and my mother was even a student of the Hall Master. For me, I don't have much sense of belonging to the Star Luo Empire."

During those two and a half years, this was the question Su Yu thought about the most. For him, it didn't really matter where he went, but the only two places that could provide Su Yu with the greatest assistance were still the Sun Moon Empire and the Star Dou Great Forest.

Girls in love are a bit silly in front of the person they like. I don't know if it's because Wang Dong'er doesn't guard against Su Yu at all, or if it's the unconditional reliance on Su Yu caused by love that makes Wang Dong'er appear a bit silly in front of him.

Wang Dong'er doesn't actually fully understand Su Yu, and he is very clear about this point. But many times, Su Yu knows that he has no way to tell Wang Dong'er many of his thoughts.

Just like when Wang Dong'er mentioned her family—actually, ever since Su Yu gave the Lovesick Heartbroken Red to Wang Dong'er, she had undergone a subtle change, a point that even Su Yu had only recently noticed.

Regarding this point, Wang Dong'er herself had not even noticed that she had already undergone changes; however, Su Yu thought about it—ever since Qiankun Wenqing Valley, Wang Dong'er's seal had been completely undone, and now that the time node was drawing ever closer, it was inevitable that some variables would appear.

To plan ahead, one needs sufficient understanding of the future and ample information. But for Su Yu, this was not a difficult task; what was difficult was the event occurring one month in the future—if Number Two had not yet connected the Soul Guidance Matrix in Mingdu, then he and Xuan Lao's group would ultimately still be forcibly pushed into Qiankun Wenqing Valley.

This was the worst possible outcome, and if it truly reached the point of no return, Su Yu would only have one final path to take: at all costs, forcibly take Wang Dong'er away. As for choosing to turn Wang Dong'er completely into Tang Wutong, Su Yu would absolutely never agree; he never felt that the Tang Wutong who had fused the memories of two people and possessed a perverse temperament after awakening was the same person as Wang Dong'er.

"So, have you figured it out?" Wang Dong'er looked into Su Yu's deep eyes and asked gently.

Su Yu smiled, "What do you think?"

"Me?" Wang Dong'er was stunned, clearly not having reacted in time.

"There are many times when there is actually no need to make so many meaningless choices; when our strength reaches a certain level, we will no longer have these troubles."

A single sentence made Wang Dong'er feel that Su Yu seemed to be thinking of everything too simply.

From Soul Emperor to Soul Saint, then to Soul Douluo, and then to Title Douluo, Super Douluo, Peak Douluo, Limit Douluo...

The path required for Wang Dong'er was perhaps one she felt she could always reach one day in the future, but deep in her heart, she felt a faint worry for Su Yu.

She did not understand where her worry came from, nor did she know why she felt she could reach those levels she deemed not too distant.

"Is that so..." Wang Dong'er frowned and did not continue to ask.

"Dong'er, let's go back; I think there are many stories in Mingdu that you will be interested in."

The sunset faded, and in the twilight, the figures of the two were stretched long, eventually slowly submerging into the dusk...

Wang Dong'er's emotional changes could not be hidden from Su Yu, and Su Yu's emotional changes could not be hidden from Wang Dong'er; neither of them pointed out the other's worries. Sometimes, there is no need to continue discussing many things.

Sun Moon City, Mingdu.

This was a city that never sleeps in Su Yu's eyes. In this city with a strong sense of modernity, every time Su Yu went out and wandered, he could always feel a strange sense of familiarity; this familiarity came from the bottom of his heart.

Perhaps, the original Soul Guidance Technology really did come from another space-time, who knows?

"Why do you always like to walk around in Mingdu? Is Mingdu really that fun?" Wang Dong'er actually did not understand why, out of so many cities, Su Yu was always partial to Mingdu.

"Perhaps... but it is not necessarily that Mingdu is fun, or that Mingdu has better scenery than other cities, but rather that Mingdu gives me a different feeling. You do not care about Soul Guidance Devices, so you cannot understand the significance that Mingdu represents. Anyway, one day, everything you see in Mingdu City will be commonly seen in the Three Great Empires in the future."

In a pastry shop in Mingdu, Su Yu brought Wang Dong'er to taste the snacks and pondered.

What attracted Su Yu was never any Soul Guidance Device, and even less so Mingdu; it was just a familiar feeling. If you like it, you like it; if you don't, you don't—where would so many reasons come from?

"Why? Could it be that future Soul Guidance Devices will really replace Soul Masters?" The question Wang Dong'er asked inadvertently was actually the thought of the entire Shrek high-level leadership.

"No reason, because Soul Guidance Devices can replace Soul Masters in completing many things. For example, don't we need specific martial souls and Soul Masters to conduct reconnaissance and reporting? If we switch to Soul Guidance Devices, we only need one trained ordinary Soul Master carrying the corresponding Soul Guidance Device to complete it, fundamentally saving a large amount of resources. This is the simplest question. To make the simplest analogy, it's like if I want to see you, don't I need to expend soul power and spend a lot of time traveling to the Clear Sky Sect to see you? But as long as I use a Soul Guidance Device, the travel time will be reduced a lot, thereby allowing me to have more time to accompany you."