On the other hand, Xu Tianran had always wanted to attend Shrek Academy himself to experience life at the continent's top soul master academy. However, due to his unique status, he planned to wait until he unified the entire Douluo Continent before enrolling as a "supreme emperor".

Ye Xiaosheng politely declined, "Your Highness, we deeply appreciate your offer, but as Shrek exchange students, we hail from the Three Douluo Nations. Our hearts remain with our homeland, making it difficult for us to serve the Sun Moon Empire."

Xu Tianran, however, showed no sign of displeasure. Instead, he conversed with the Shrek students for a while, maintaining a gracious and friendly demeanor. After a short while, he and his entourage departed.

Huo Yuhao paid little attention to Xu Tianran's exit. Instead, he approached Jing Hongchen and discreetly activated a soul tool soundproof barrier.

Now that their conversation was fully isolated, Huo Yuhao felt more at ease and spoke directly.

"Dean, when you take Xiao Hongchen and the others back, I strongly suggest bringing additional reinforcements."

Jing Hongchen frowned slightly. "Hmm? Why bring extra reinforcements? I'm very familiar with the return route we shouldn't encounter any dangers."

"But what if the danger is intentional?" Huo Yuhao countered.

Jing Hongchen was taken aback. "Intentional? Yuhao, are you saying you've seen a future attack on us with your Eye of Destiny?"

"No, I haven't…" Huo Yuhao thought to himself, knowing full well he was making this up.

In the original timeline, Jing Hongchen had conspired with the Holy Spirit Cult to attack the Shrek Academy convoy.

But in this altered reality, Jing Hongchen would never collaborate with the Holy Spirit Cult.

This could create unforeseen butterfly effects so for safety's sake, Huo Yuhao had to take precautions.

Of course, he had a backup plan as well: if anything went wrong, he could have the plane's will directly teleport Jing Hongchen's group away.

But ideally, that wouldn't be necessary.

If Tang San happened to be monitoring Douluo Star at that moment, things could get messy.

After all, the plane's will was only powerful within Douluo Star it couldn't predict Tang San's movements outside the planet.

Since Tang San was a full fledged deity, anything abnormal could justify him descending personally.

At that point, the so called "beggar tier God King" would have a legitimate excuse to interfere.

So, Huo Yuhao played it safe.

"I'm not sure. The future I glimpsed was uncertain. There's a chance you'll be attacked, but also a chance you won't."

Since he couldn't predict the full extent of the butterfly effect, it was best to stay vague.

Given Huo Yuhao's past credibility, Jing Hongchen nodded in agreement.

"Very well. I'll bring a few more people for safety. Hmm… Elder Kong has been locked in the lab with Xuan Ziwen recently, working on something mysterious. I suppose I'll have to find someone else."

Shortly after, Jing Hongchen followed Huo Yuhao's advice.

He recruited Starry Sky Douluo Ye Yulin, two Worship Elders, and a Beast King class soul engineer regiment to accompany him.

Maple Leaf City

A border city in Star Luo Empire.

Jing Hongchen's exchange student group would be traded here with Shrek Academy.

After a short journey, they arrived at Maple Leaf City and met up with Yan Shaozhe and the Shrek Academy team.

Following some brief formalities, the exchange students were safely transferred between the two academies.

Once both sides confirmed all students were accounted for, both Jing Hongchen and Yan Shaozhe sighed in relief.

After all, their top priority was ensuring the safe return of their students.

If anything went wrong, it would be considered a serious failure.

"Grandfather, you finally made it!"

Xiao Hongchen beamed with joy as he hurried over to Jing Hongchen.

His expression radiated excitement clearly, he was thrilled to see his grandfather again.

In the past, Xiao Hongchen had seen Jing Hongchen daily.

But ever since becoming a Shrek exchange student, his meetings with Jing Hongchen had drastically decreased.

Even worse, his time at Shrek Academy had been underwhelming.

For an institution hailed as the continent's best, he felt he had learned almost nothing.

At this point, he was seriously questioning whether Shrek Academy was even worthy of its title.

To him, Shrek Academy's current teaching standards were a massive disappointment.

*"Xiao, come here. I'll take you home.

Meng has been asking about you non stop she'll be thrilled when you return."*

Jing Hongchen chuckled as he pulled Xiao Hongchen close.

Despite his grandson's arrogant tendencies, he was mostly satisfied with him.

After all, Xiao Hongchen was talented and eager to learn.

His only flaw was his excessive pride, which had been a headache for Jing Hongchen.

In the past, he had tried countless methods to curb this arrogance without success.

However, things had recently changed.

Thanks to Huo Yuhao, Xiao Hongchen's overconfidence had taken a hit.

Now, he was far less arrogant than before.

"She's been asking about me?"

Xiao Hongchen smirked.

*"I bet Meng Hongchen just wants my gold soul coins…

Otherwise, why would someone like her care about me?"*

Jing Hongchen politely saluted Yan Shaozhe.

*"Dean Yan, I'll be taking my students home.

Farewell."*

With that, he led the Sun Moon students away.

Meanwhile, at Shrek Academy…

Yan Shaozhe turned to Beibei.

"Beibei, let's go. We need to return to the academy as soon as possible."

"Mm."

Beibei had no objections to returning.

His only regret was still not finding Tang Ya.

Seeing Beibei's low spirits, Yan Shaozhe sighed.

*"Beibei, the academy has been searching for Tang Ya this whole time, but we still haven't found her.

However, rest assured if she's still alive, we will find her."*

With that, he led the Shrek group away.

Now, it was Xuan Lao's turn to act.

If he could eliminate a few Sun Moon prodigies, that would mean Shrek had successfully wiped out some of its future enemies.

Holy Spirit Cult

Inside a towering pavilion, Zhongli Wu stood with his hands clasped behind his back, gazing at the crystal clear sky through a window.

Just one day ago, he had received intelligence that the Shrek exchange students were returning.

To him, this was the perfect opportunity to wipe them out in one swift strike.

So, he dispatched:

Myriad Soul Douluo

Hatred Douluo

Scorpion Tiger Douluo

To intercept and kill the Shrek students.

For Zhongli Wu, this was revenge.

Shrek Academy had systematically destroyed all the Holy Spirit Cult's secret bases across the Three Douluo Nations.

These bases weren't just information hubs they were also recruitment centers for talented individuals.

And now, they were gone.

Zhongli Wu was furious.

Even a mudman has three points of temper, let alone a man of power like him.

Although he had refrained from striking at the exchange students in Sun Moon territory (to maintain his alliance with the empire),

once they left enemy soil…

The hunt would begin.

(End of chapter.)

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