FE—Chapter 139: The Luck of This Envoy Is Coming
Wang Yan thought quietly for a moment, considering the task Xuan Zi had just mentioned. He nodded and muttered to himself:
"Eradicating evil soul masters is indeed a great act of kindness, and the merits are immeasurable."
Xuan Zi maintained a confident expression. Some might question his leadership in hunting soul rings, but no one would doubt his professionalism in eliminating evil soul masters.
Otherwise, who would be the head of the Shrek Supervisory Group? That position carried great authority.
Xuan Zi burped lightly, his tone is vaguely confident: "Xiao Wang, you can rest assured that these little guys are safe during the mission. I still don't believe that any villain dares to be presumptuous in front of me—Taotie Douluo!"
Wang Yan felt the same way at this moment.
With Taotie Douluo's protection—who has a cultivation level of 98—it would be difficult for evil soul masters to hurt the disciples at close range, let alone cause them to bleed. That was simply nonsense.
Thinking of this, Wang Yan relaxed and asked in a low voice: "Master Xuan, where is the mission location this time? Where are you leading your disciples to eliminate the evil soul masters?"
Xuan Zi took a sip of wine and pondered for a moment. The light of justice seemed to shine above his head: "I received news that there are evil soul masters causing trouble at the border of Star Luo Empire. This time, I will go to the Mingdou Mountains near the Star Luo Empire to eliminate all the evil soul masters—and restore peace to the area."
This act of accumulating great merits was not difficult at all in the eyes of Taotie Douluo Xuan Zi. It was just a practical exercise for the disciples before the upcoming competition, a good opportunity for them to practice in actual combat.
Wang Yan nodded slowly and asked Xuan Zi for more details.
There were fourteen disciples in total, including both the regular team members and reserve team members, all chatting happily at this moment.
Unbeknownst to them, Xuan Zi had paved a smooth road for their character development. If they completed the task easily, they could earn merits for themselves and further enhance Shrek's reputation. Wouldn't that be great? Xuan Zi gulped wine.
However, he listened to the students' conversation more and more, and Beibei and Xu Sanshi even uttered lewd words like "your sister" and "I don't have a sister."
Xuan Zi frowned slightly. A faint yellowish-brown light flickered, and he exerted pressure, sweeping across the entire team. The disciples who had been talking and laughing immediately fell silent, and the once lively team suddenly quieted.
Wang Yan's face grew stern. He knew what Xuan Zi was about to say to the students next. He waved his hand, signaling the disciples to look over, with a serious expression.
Xuan Zi rarely put down his chicken legs, and his wine gourd was casually hung around his waist. His oily hands wiped his dirty clothes.
He looked nostalgic, recalling the heavy historical burden of Shrek Academy and the establishment of the Shrek Supervisory Group. Xuan Zi sighed and prepared to launch his brainwashing.
Seriously now, he said: "This place isn't far from the academy. Since we're just starting, I have something to say in advance. Especially the seven little guys in the reserve team—you must listen carefully."
Seeing that Xuan Zi wasn't eating his chicken legs, everyone was immediately alert, especially Beibei, whose expression became even more serious and somewhat confused.
You should know that when he and Xiaoya followed Elder Xuan in the inner courtyard team to the Sunset Forest to hunt soul rings, Xuan Zi had once accidentally gotten separated from the team—simply because he wanted to eat a delicious chicken leg—and ran after a 25,000-year-old chicken soul beast.
Now, there was something more important to Xuan Zi than eating chicken legs. This rare emotional reaction made everyone pay close attention.
Xuan Zi asked a serious question: "In our Shrek Academy, students continually pass assessments and enter the inner courtyard each year."
"With a relatively stable talent pipeline, talented students keep entering the inner courtyard, but the number of inner courtyard disciples never exceeds 100. Do you know why?"
After a brief hesitation, the seven reserve team members responded one after another. Some said, "Seniors graduated and left," while others said, "The rate of students entering the inner courtyard cannot keep up with the rate of departure," which made some sense.
Xuan Zi shook his head slowly: "You're partly right, but not entirely."
He looked sad, about to continue his explanation, when a loud voice interrupted from behind.
Fan Yu spoke energetically: "Master Xuan, I've learned about the situation of the selected outer courtyard disciples who are enjoying reserve treatment."
"Since Master Xuan has other arrangements for the regular and reserve players, I will take them to Star Luo City first."
Fan Yu led Wang Dong, Xiaoxiao, Ning Tian, Wufeng, and others toward Xuan Zi.
After understanding the situation, Fan Yu realized that although their talents weren't bad, their treatment as reserve disciples was not ideal. To be honest, Master Xuan had been quite unfair.
But Wang Dong and the others didn't seem dissatisfied.
It looked like they were on vacation in Star Luo City. Each held a bag of snacks, walking lightly while stuffing potato chips into their mouths, in good spirits.
Xuan Zi thought for a moment and said in a deep voice: "Fanyu, let them come and listen. After all, they may have the opportunity to become part of the participating team in the future."
"Afterward, you can take them directly to Star Luo City."
"Okay." Fan Yu responded loudly, then turned back to signal Wang Dong and others to put away their snacks and listen carefully to Master Xuan's instructions.
Wang Dong and the others smiled and saluted politely: "Hello, Master Xuan and Teacher Wang Yan." Then, they put away their snacks.
Among the reserve team members, He Caitou also approached to greet Fan Yu.
Fan Yu smiled and said: "Caitou, do well this time. Show the academy how important our Soul Guidance Department is."
He Caitou smiled sincerely, his words firm: "I will do my best. I am the only disciple from the Soul Guidance Department among the fourteen participating team members, and I won't let Teacher Fan Yu's high expectations down."
Xuan Zi narrowed his eyes, watching Wang Dong and the others. He said earnestly: "Although you didn't make the reserve team, it's not meaningless to come to Star Luo City and watch the game."
"It proves that the academy hasn't forgotten you. As long as you work hard in practice, you'll still have the chance to stand on the field of the Soul Master Competition and bring glory to our Shrek Academy for ten thousand years."
---
In the central area of the Star Luo Empire:
The scarred man with a ferocious face said: "Boss, after passing through the Wenlan Forest in the mountains, we'll reach the area controlled by the Star Luo Empire's army."
The Death God Envoy grinned sinisterly: "It doesn't matter. I suffered a loss at the hands of a disciple of a hidden boss before. This time, I've made better preparations, and the explosion will be even more violent."
"That Wenlan Forest..." A gleam of brilliance flashed in the Death God Envoy's eyes.
"Let someone dig more Wenlan tree hearts and take them away. Wenlan tree hearts are extremely beneficial to evil soul masters like us."
After giving the order, the scarred man hesitated: "We've dug up a large area of Wenlan tree cores. It's easy to discover and expose our whereabouts."
The Death God Envoy exuded a murderous aura: "So what if we're discovered? I've prepared a corpse explosion gift—just waiting for the fools to sign for it."
He felt his great fortune was on the way.
Recently, this feeling grew stronger. If he, the Death God Envoy did not die in this wave of fortune, he would surely have even more.
_______
[Xuan Zi: "Who dares hurt students of Shrek Academy under my supervision?"
Death God Envoy: "Are you sure about that?"
Xuan Zi: "...Who are you?"
Death God Envoy: "The strongest Soul King."
Xuan Zi: "???"]
(End of this chapter)