After sailing for more than two weeks, the ship was far away from the mainland, and the initial excitement had worn off.
There was nothing to do for entertainment on the ship. The sea was full of soul beasts, making it unsafe to venture into the water. The only thing that kept them busy was the exchange program between the Sun-Moon Federation and the Star Luo Empire. Even Le Zhengyu and Xu Xiaoyan had been invited to join several discussions with the students from the Star Luo Royal Academy.
The incident with My Ye seemed like a minor episode in Anping and Gu Yuena's lives. They soon put it behind them and focused on the future.
One day, they had some free time and decided to hang out on the deck. They saw Cai Yue'er and Tang Wulin diving into the sea. Anping knew that they were practicing the Body Sect's cultivation method, but he didn't pay much attention to them.
Cai Yue'er had not given up on teaching the other students from Shrek this method, but she could not handle too many people at once. She had to train each student at different times, according to their schedules.
Anping had to admit that the Body Sect's cultivation method was an excellent way to improve one's physical fitness. He could see that the Shrek students had made visible progress.
When Anping and Gu Yuena came to the deck, Ye Xinglan approached them and fixed her gaze on Gu Yuena. "I hope you will agree to spar with us. I want to see how big the gap between us is."
She was still bitter about losing to Anping and Gu Yuena twice. They were not much older than her, and she had just obtained her fourth soul ring. She wanted to test her current strength.
She also felt that her power had increased a lot since Cai Yue'er had taken them to practice in the sea. She had talked to the others, and they had agreed to challenge Anping and Gu Yuena again.
Ye Xinglan's tone was not as rude as before, but she could not hide her arrogance. Gu Yuena shook her head slightly and said, "I don't like fighting with others, especially this kind of meaningless battle."
She pulled Anping and walked away. Ye Xinglan was frustrated and said, "I heard that the Star Luo Empire will hold a soul master competition. I hope we will meet there."
Gu Yuena did not look back. She just shook her head slightly and let six black soul rings flash briefly. Ye Xinglan saw them clearly and felt a surge of envy.
She returned to the Shrek group with a dejected expression. She could not understand how Anping and Gu Yuena had improved their cultivation so fast.
If they were still soul kings, she thought that she and the others would have a chance. She did not know how strong Anping was, but she assumed he was on par with Gu Yuena.
Facing two possible sixth-ringed soul emperors, they, who were barely level 40, did not have much confidence.
Seeing Ye Xinglan come back so soon, Wu Siduo asked, "How did it go? Did they agree?"
Ye Xinglan shook her head slightly. Xie Xie said, "They refused? When we were in the same academy, they never liked to spar or exchange ideas. If their soul power had not been low back then, I'm afraid Teacher Wu would not have been able to restrain them."
Xu Lizhi and Ye Xinglan looked gloomy, but he tried to cheer them up. "Sister Xinglan, don't worry about it. We practice for ourselves, not to compete with them."
Ye Xinglan shook her head slightly and said, "Forget about comparing with them. Do you have any idea how strong Gu Yuena is now? I only caught a glimpse, but I'm sure I saw it right. She's a six-ring soul emperor. We need to practice harder."
"Six-ring soul emperor!" Several people exclaimed in disbelief. They knew how hard it was to advance as a soul master. It had only been a few months since the battle at Sun Moon Academy, and Gu Yuena had reached the sixth ring.
Wu Zhangkong looked at their dejected faces and frowned. "They may have practiced very fast, but with their temperament of avoiding fights, their combat power will never match yours in the future. And as far as I know, they haven't even thought about building battle armor."
Wu Siduo asked curiously, "What are they thinking? Don't they know how much battle armor can boost a soul master's strength? Are they waiting to practice their soul power first and then start building battle armor when it's too late?"
Shrek Academy had confirmed that Anping and Gu Yuena had not started building battle armor. Gu Yuena had not even chosen a secondary profession.
Wu Zhangkong shook his head and said, "I don't think that's their plan. You all know that only the battle armor that you participate in making is more suitable for you. According to the academy's research, Gu Yuena hasn't learned any secondary profession at all. And Anping's main goal at Sun Moon Academy is to learn soul tools. He has no interest in developing a second career."
He continued, "Also, the longer the battle armor is infused with the soul master's soul power, the more compatible it becomes with the soul master. That's why the academy requires you to build your own battle armor as soon as possible. As for Anping and Gu Yuena, I don't know what they have in mind."
"But what I'm certain of is that if they keep going like this, their future achievements will never surpass yours. You must know that in this era, battle armor is the mainstream way to improve strength."
At that moment, the ship sounded an alarm, and a broadcast announced, "Attention, fellow passengers. We have detected a huge energy body approaching the ship from ahead. It may be a powerful sea soul beast. For your safety, please return to your cabins immediately."
The radio repeated the message three times. People on the deck hurried to their rooms when they heard the sea soul beast was coming. Only a few remained on the deck, either braver or more confident in their abilities.
Xie Xie thought of Tang Wulin and Cai Yue'er who were still in the sea and said anxiously, "Teacher Wu, Ms. Cai and Wulin are still in the water. What should we do? They won't be attacked by the sea soul beast, will they?"
Wu Zhangkong's expression changed slightly, but he quickly composed himself. He thought of Cai Yue'er's strength and said, "Ms. Cai is one of the top Titled Douluo. A mere sea soul beast is nothing to her. What we need to do now is to trust her and go back to our rooms. This is not something we can interfere with."
He urged them to follow him into the cabin. Although Shrek's students were curious about the sea soul beast, they saw Wu Zhangkong's serious look and obeyed him.
Soon, only a few people were left on the deck, including Anping and Gu Yuena.