Chapter 287: Collusion (Part 2)

"Do you really think a country that colludes with evil Soul Masters and stops at nothing has such good intentions? Furthermore, Su Yu is currently still in contact with Mingde Hall, and has even begun cooperating with the Holy Spirit Cult!"

The final sentence was like a bomb, exploding with a boom in Yan Shaozhe's heart; at this moment, he only felt his scalp go numb.

Piece after piece of evidence was laid out before him, and his perception had once again been dealt a blow!

Su Yu had truly defected to the Sun Moon Empire!

He dared not imagine what the future would hold if this were truly the case.

Among the younger generation, Su Yu and Luo Yu swept through their contemporaries; with the combination of martial soul and Soul Guidance, the two of them had surpassed Shrek by countless times, and when added to the Sun Moon Empire's terrifying Soul Guidance Technology, plus Su Yu's talent, it was simply a match made in heaven!

Luo Yu, hailed as the Light of the Sun and Moon of the Sun Moon Empire, was the number one among his peers in the Three Great Empires and Shrek, an All-Round System battle Soul Emperor who cultivated both martial soul and Soul Guidance!

Terrifying, simply too terrifying!

"So, what exactly is Shrek's opinion?"

After Xu Jiawei finished speaking, he stood up and left the great hall, disappearing from Yan Shaozhe's field of vision.

…………

Night fell.

Heavenly Soul Empire, Imperial Palace.

"What, Su Yu has actually already defected to the Sun Moon Empire!"

…………

The noisy voices of the officials filled the great hall; the Star Luo Empire had synchronized all the information in its possession to the Heavenly Soul Empire at the fastest possible speed.

After a brief discussion, the Heavenly Soul Empire finally decided to wait for Shrek's reply before making a decision.

…………

Dou Ling Empire, Imperial Palace.

It was the same noisy debate, but the Emperor of the Heavenly Soul Empire only said one simple sentence, "Since that is the case, then let us grant Xu Jiawei his wish."

However, this event quietly reached the hands of someone it should not have reached several days later.

Mysterious Underworld Sect Young Master, Xu Sanshi...

The next day.

Shrek Academy, Sea God Pavilion.

"Lin Huiqun, how is the mole on the Sun Moon Empire's side? Has the news been confirmed?" Xuan Lao looked at Lin Huiqun, holding onto a final shred of hope.

He wished so much that all of this was fake; he had always thought highly of Su Yu, and even back when Mu Lao wanted to take Xuan Zi as a disciple, he had almost been unable to resist wanting to drag Su Yu over and force him to kowtow as well.

The battle of the Shrek Supervisory Team a few years ago had nearly caused him to collapse completely, and the subsequent All-Continent Advanced Soul Master Academy Elite Soul Fighting Tournament had seen him turn the tide, finally delivering the decisive blow with a Martial Soul Fusion Skill, completely cementing Shrek's victory!

All these previous events flashed through Xuan Lao's mind incessantly; he could not bear to lose Su Yu, and even less did he wish to be enemies with Su Yu...

Because Shrek owed him too much, so much that it was simply impossible to repay.

"Su Yu, perhaps Mu Lao had long ago guessed that there would be such a day..."

Years ago.

Su Yu followed quietly behind Xuan Lao; when Mu Lao returned to the Sea God Pavilion leaning on his cane, his aura was clearly much weaker.

"Su Yu, come here." Mu Lao beckoned to Su Yu.

Su Yu nodded and stepped forward to support Mu Lao.

"I am very glad that Shrek can have a student like you. You are not old, but your mind is already incomparably mature; I believe you will be a very good leader in the future. I know you are thinking of Yu Hao, and I hope that in the future you will also think of Shrek Academy in this way. If that is the case, then I can rest easy. Su Yu, now I ask you, if you were to stand on the opposite side of Shrek in the future, could you do it?"

Xuan Lao, standing to the side, saw that things were not looking good; Mu Lao's words clearly had a hidden meaning.

Just as Xuan Lao was about to speak, he was stopped by Mu Lao's gaze. Xuan Lao could only watch Su Yu nervously, hoping that Su Yu's answer would not be too earth-shattering, after all, this kid...

Su Yu said calmly: "As a student of Shrek, I will naturally think of the academy. From the moment I chose to participate in the All-Continent Advanced Soul Master Academy Soul Fighting Tournament, I had already made my decision. It is so now, and it will be so in the future."

…………

This memory had been sealed in Xuan Lao's mind; with the events of today unfolding one after another, Xuan Lao knew that Mu Lao had perhaps long anticipated such a situation, but Mu Lao could not bring himself to be ruthless.

If Mu Lao had been ruthless enough, he would have completely eliminated this hidden danger, Su Yu, before he passed away.

However, Mu Lao could not do it, and even no one else in Shrek could do it, because they could not bring themselves to be that ruthless, nor was it possible for them to be!

No matter how many years pass, Su Yu's name and life story would have a separate chapter in Shrek's history; his contributions were no lower than any other Shrek Pavilion Master, and even exceeded many predecessors, ranking among the few in Shrek's history.

Leading the team to win the championship, sweeping away the geniuses of the Sun Moon Empire, perfecting the subject of Shrek's martial soul and Soul Guidance fusion, as well as its development direction, opening up a new direction for Soul Guidance, and leading Shrek's Soul Guidance Department to officially begin treading the path that the Sun Moon Empire had walked!

If he had stayed at Shrek, Xuan Lao even believed that he could lead Shrek to comprehensively surpass the Sun Moon Empire in the combination of martial soul and Soul Guidance!

Even the development of Soul Guidance would eventually surpass the Sun Moon Empire in time!

What a pity, such a pity...

"Xuan Zi, the Sun Moon Empire side..." Lin Huiqun fell silent; he did not continue speaking.

The Sea God Pavilion meeting fell into a brief silence; Lin Lao's silence had already revealed the answer.

"Then how exactly are we to handle this? Should we drag Su Yu back to Shrek, or..." A Sea God Pavilion elder made a throat-slitting gesture.

He did not have much interaction with Su Yu, but he did not really want to adopt the second tactic, because he also did not wish for Su Yu to just disappear like that.

"Su Yu is my student; for this meeting, I still..." Fan Yu's tone trembled; his expression was somewhat desolate as he slowly stood up and left the Sea God Pavilion.

As Su Yu's Soul Guidance Department teacher, the bits and pieces of his time with Su Yu were a heavy burden on this meeting.

Although Su Yu was not his child, he had long ago regarded Su Yu and He Caitou as his own children; he had witnessed Su Yu step by step reach where he was now, and today Shrek was facing a choice.

He could not accept such a thing happening before his eyes; he knew that if he also participated in this decision, and if in the future Su Yu were truly killed by the Three Great Empires for treason because of this meeting.

He would never be able to forgive himself for the rest of his life!

But he could not resist, nor could he protest; he could only choose to escape!

"Let him go; after all, Su Yu is his disciple..." Yan Shaozhe looked at the slightly trembling Fan Yu, "I still hope to talk to Su Yu. If Su Yu insists on leaving, then I hope that, at the very least, we can spare his life."

"If we can keep him, that is best. If that really doesn't work, then we will detain him first. No matter what, he is a meritorious official of my Shrek. It is not for the people of the Three Great Empires to point fingers at our Shrek's people."

"I think..."

…………

The voices of discussion rose and fell, but the majority of people's thoughts leaned toward appeasement.

They hoped to preserve Su Yu's life as much as possible, because no matter what, this was the only thing they could do for Su Yu.

Night fell.

"Xuan Lao, do you really intend to take action personally?" Yan Shaozhe looked at the deeply frowning Xuan Lao and asked with concern.

"Shaozhe, if I don't take action, what do you think the probability is of Su Yu falling into their hands?" Xuan Lao's voice was calm; honestly, he could not think of a better way.

Yan Shaozhe continued, "It feels like almost one hundred percent..."

"Mu Lao is gone. In this world, besides me and Du Busi, few people can suppress them. Long Xiaoyao has no need to take action for the sake of one Su Yu. If I don't take action, then if Su Yu falls into their hands, there will only be one outcome, and that is death!" Xuan Lao knew what kind of fate awaited Su Yu once captured; death might be the best result.

"So, is it Shrek's intention to agree to participate in this operation?" Yan Shaozhe had originally thought that Shrek would suppress this matter itself and then take action personally under the pretext of cleaning up the sect.

But the development of events seemed to have exceeded his expectations.

"The attitude of the Three Great Empires is tougher than we imagined. We have no way to refuse, and besides, you know what happened in Mingdu..."

Yan Shaozhe knew about the matter in Mingdu all too well. At the time, he was still excitedly roaring at the sky, as the entire Shrek contingent had returned. Then, and then there was no then, because the Three Great Empires' entire army had been wiped out...

"It's just that, now that Su Yu is staying in the Sun Moon Empire and refusing to come out, can we really lure him out?" Yan Shaozhe continued to ask.

Xuan Lao looked at Yan Shaozhe and said with some difficulty, "It's not that there isn't a way, it's just..."

Seeing Xuan Lao's troubled expression, Yan Shaozhe's heart skipped a beat; he seemed to have vaguely guessed something.

"Forget it, it hasn't reached that point yet, we can only wait. Su Yu will definitely return to Shrek. However, it is hard to say if this operation plan will succeed." Xuan Lao looked toward the Golden Ancient Tree swaying in the wind.

Yan Shaozhe understood what Xuan Lao meant and said, "Xuan Lao, the operation likely won't succeed. Su Yu won't do anything, but I actually don't expect them to be able to uncover information about the hostages under Luo Yu, because our previous actions were too blatant. Not to mention, Su Yu wasn't involved in it at all beforehand. I believe in Su Yu's character; if he had truly intended to get involved, not a single one of us from Shrek would have made it out, and he wouldn't have returned at that time."

"I hope Su Yu can turn back from his misguided path. I only fear that this time will be the final battle before the great war arrives. The time left for us at Shrek is truly not much..." Xuan Lao knew that if they failed again this time, Su Yu would become completely disappointed in the Three Great Empires.

"Then how should we answer to the Three Great Empires?" Yan Shaozhe looked at Xuan Lao's furrowed brows and continued to ask.

"I'll leave it to you; just handle it as you see fit."

"That is all we can do..."