Chapter 163: Diverging Intentions

So, was it Wang Dong?

The red-robed youth's expression remained unchanged, but he lowered his eyes, concealing the darkness within them.

At the age of six, he had appeared on the shores of Seagod Island, taken in by the sea soul masters there. All memories prior to that were washed away like footprints on the sand behind him, erased clean by the ocean's tides.

He did not know his name, did not know where his home was, did not know what his parents looked like, nor did he know why he had appeared on the coast.

The sea soul masters took him in and helped awaken his martial soul. When they saw his martial soul—the blue phantom behind him—the soul masters of Seagod Island named him Hai Ling, a simple and crude name meant to signify the Seagod's manifestation.

At that moment, the Seagod's Sacred Pillar bestowed the first top-tier Eight Trials in ten thousand years.

Now, at the age of seventeen, Hai Ling had completed the first five trials on Seagod Island. He had reached the cultivation level of a Soul Emperor, and his divine-bestowed martial soul signified the Seagod's will. No matter how one looked at it, Hai Ling was destined to become an Ultimate Douluo, with limitless potential in the future.

Because of this, his status was incredibly high, both on Seagod Island and at Shrek Academy.

The soul masters of Seagod Island said it was because of his devout faith in the Seagod, that he was a child chosen by the Seagod and entrusted with a great mission.

Everyone on Seagod Island and in Shrek Academy, both openly and subtly, taught him to be grateful for all the Seagod had given him and to dedicate his life to the Seagod.

Ridiculous.

Hai Ling was not particularly obsessed with his empty past, but he despised his name.

How could a six-year-old child be devoutly faithful to anything? Hai Ling sometimes sneered inwardly at the thought. He had never believed in the Seagod. He did not even hold the slightest reverence for him—a rather peculiar mindset for a six-year-old who had been constantly indoctrinated to worship the Seagod. And yet, his divine-bestowed martial soul never left him.

Perhaps the deity had not noticed. Or perhaps the deity was so arrogant that he simply did not care.

Besides, he might not even have the so-called "limitless future" that others predicted for him.

For the past ten thousand years, Seagod Island had remained hidden from the world. Its seven Seagod Sacred Pillars had been separated, with one transported to Shrek Academy. Over the millennia, Shrek Academy had taken over Seagod Island's role in spreading faith in Seagod Tang San.

Compared to the faith of land-dwellers, the current Seagod clearly did not care as much for the foundation built by his predecessor—that is, the faith of the ocean soul beasts and the sea soul masters. Or perhaps he believed the ocean was already firmly in his grasp and no longer needed his attention.

Yet, in these ten thousand years, Tang San had never once bestowed a top-tier Eight Trials—he had rarely even issued lower-tier trials.

Why had Tang San suddenly issued the Seagod's Eight Trials?

Surely not just to manage the few remaining sea soul masters on Seagod Island.

The Seagod was not a generous deity.

After receiving the Eight Trials, many classified records on Seagod Island and at Shrek Academy became accessible to Hailing. In his eyes, these trials were not truly tests, but rather a means of having the examinees complete certain tasks for the Seagod in exchange for rewards.

It was said that gods could not interfere directly in the mortal realm. Though the Seagod's tasks did not involve conflicts between nations, the hidden missions woven into the trials… made him suspect the Seagod had ulterior motives.

Even Mu En had only received a Black Rank Six Trials back in his day, and the price he paid was poisoning his friend from his youth (or perhaps something else—Hai Ling did not know the exact details), ultimately severing ties with his old friends.

Shrek Academy had covered up parts of the story. Later generations only knew that decades ago, Dragon Emperor Douluo Di Feng had dueled Dragon God Douluo Mu En outside Shrek City. After Di Feng was gravely injured and had his foundation shattered, he betrayed his homeland and fled to the Sun Moon Empire, completely breaking ties with Mu En.

And what about his own trials?

Hai Ling had already completed the first five, each one as simple as fishing a tea leaf out of a teacup. The rewards were extravagant—every time he finished a trial, he gained ten ranks of soul power and received a divine-bestowed soul ring.

No one else knew that his Seagod Martial Soul seemed incapable of gaining soul power through normal cultivation.

Logically, divine-bestowed martial souls should have an extremely fast cultivation speed. But no matter how Hailing tried, he found no way to increase his soul power outside of the god-bestowed trials.

Another strange anomaly.

Could it be that his talent was so poor before he was given a divine-bestowed martial soul that even the divine power couldn't save him?

And what was the price he had to pay? Was Tang San truly such a generous god? He had gone ten thousand years without issuing an Eight Trials!

What had the last person to receive the Seagod's Eight Trials—the previous High Priest of the Seagod—paid in return?

Perhaps, after ten thousand years, Tang San intended to find a successor from the Douluo Continent and pass on the Seagod's divine position.

He had given Hai Ling the Eight Trials and abundant rewards just to accelerate his growth to the level of an Ultimate Douluo, so that he could open the divine inheritance pathway to the God Realm.

Like a duck being fattened up for slaughter.

But Hai Ling had thought this moment would come many, many years later—at least when he reached Rank 99.

And yet, now, Wang Dong had appeared—a figure of extreme importance to the Haotian Sect… Was it him? The heir Tang San had chosen?

"My sixth trial is to lead Shrek to victory in the Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Soul Dueling Tournament," Hai Ling said indifferently, his tone carrying the same subtle arrogance and carelessness as usual. No one noticed the dark thoughts churning in his mind.

Look at that. Another effortless trial, with no suspense whatsoever.

But perhaps this tournament was an opportunity—perhaps he could use the Sun Moon Imperial Academy's competitors to establish contact with Dragon Emperor Douluo, who had been ruthlessly betrayed by the Seagod.

The enemy of my enemy is my friend.

"Perfect! We had planned to include you in this year's tournament anyway. This trial is practically a guaranteed success!" Xuan Lao laughed heartily. "I can't even remember a time when Shrek Academy wasn't the champion! With this year's lineup, I can't imagine us losing!"

"Oh? Who's on this year's team?" Hailing asked with interest.

He had to find a way to make sure they lost. The duck must not be fattened any further.

"Ma Xiaotao, Dai Yueheng, Gongyang Mo, Ling Luochen, Chen Zifeng, and Yao Haoxuan," Yan Shaozhe listed. "These are the tentative main team members."

"And the reserve team?" Mu En looked up.

"The preliminary choices are Xu Sanshi, Bei Bei, Wang Dong, Xiao Xiao, the Martial Soul Fusion pair Dai Huabin and Zhu Lu. The final slot is undecided."

"Do you want my old friend to come looking for trouble with me?" Mu En shook his head. "I know you don't want to include those three kids from the Beast Sect… But in the end, we are an academy. Those three are clearly the future pillars of the Beast Sect. Otherwise, my old friend wouldn't have sent them to Shrek City. If even the Beast Sect is willing to let them study here, we should treat them fairly. We are not enemies of the Beast Sect, after all."

"What if—what if they're spies sent by the Beast God Sect to gather intelligence?!" Yan Shaozhe gritted his teeth. "How could Extreme Martial Souls appear so easily?"

"Who would use children with an Ultimate Attribute as spies?" Xian Lin'er slammed the table, feeling the need to stand up for the future pillar of the Soul Tool Department—uh, her significant other.

Mu En looked at him for a moment before finally shaking his head.

"Shaozhe, your heart is still too narrow. Lin'er is much better than you in this regard. I've lost count of how many times I've told you this."

Yan Shaozhe lowered his head in slight shame, but he was clearly the type to "admit mistakes sincerely but never change." Mu En had already scolded him countless times, yet he remained the same. When he sat down, he caught Qian Duoduo making exaggerated winks at him like a mischievous boy, and he nearly died from frustration.

Soon, the elders shifted their discussion to another topic—how to conduct second-year assessments without using soul beasts.

Hai Ling had no interest in this at all. He simply nodded in farewell to Mu En, then silently stood up and left the meeting room.

The old men and women present were clearly used to his habit of arriving late and leaving early; none of them had anything to say about it.

However, instead of returning to his residence as usual, he made his way to the Shrek Surveillance Corps' mission archives.

This place was filled with countless records of evil soul masters—as well as information on those deemed evil soul masters by Shrek Academy.

Before participating in the Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Soul Dueling Tournament, Shrek Academy had a tradition of mobilizing outer court students to join the Surveillance Corps and carry out at least one mission.

Hai Ling lowered his eyes.

There had been no room to exploit any loopholes in the first five trials, but the sixth trial was different. He had to seize every opportunity—at all costs—to ensure that Shrek Academy did not win the championship.

(End of Chapter)