As the two spiders conversed, the small boat came to a stop in the middle of the lake. Having answered Fang Chang's questions, Zhu Zhu now stared at him intently.
Her gaze was half wary, half puzzled. "These matters aren't exactly secrets on the continent today. At your age, you shouldn't be ignorant of them."
In her mind, she had already categorized Fang Chang as a fellow 100,000-year soul beast who had taken human form. Yet his earlier reactions clearly indicated genuine unfamiliarity with these events.
Fang Chang responded with an ambiguous smile. "I left this place over ten thousand years ago. The continent was very different when I departed."
"Oh?" Zhu Zhu's brows furrowed as she pressed, "Where did you go? Another continent?"
She had read vague mentions of other landmasses in ancient texts. If Fang Chang had indeed spent millennia abroad before returning in human form, his current behavior would make sense.
"You could say that." Fang Chang offered no further explanation. He certainly wasn't about to tell this newly-met junior that he was currently the master of the Divine Realm.
Dissatisfied with his answer, Zhu Zhu recognized his deliberate evasiveness. The more secrets he kept, the more uneasy she grew. Her true identity was her greatest vulnerability, and now Fang Chang held that knowledge. The discomfort of this situation was palpable.
Fang Chang guessed her concerns but chose to maintain the ruse—partly to test her discretion, partly for his own amusement.
As he reclined in the boat, he suddenly straightened and extended a hand toward Zhu Zhu, signaling silence while looking past her shoulder.
Following his gaze, she turned to see an ornate golden-hulled boat approaching, bearing a lavishly dressed young man.
"Xu Sheng. Royalty from the Sun Moon Empire," Zhu Zhu whispered, her expression souring.
"Sister Zhu Zhu! I heard you were on a mission today. Were you injured?" The man called out while still distant, his voice carrying across the water.
Fang Chang studied the newcomer—his delicate features and fawning demeanor gave him the distinct air of a villain.
"Just delivering letters for Teacher Chen," Zhu Zhu replied coolly, subtly activating her boat's retreat.
It was then that Xu Sheng noticed Fang Chang peering from Zhu Zhu's vessel. His face darkened instantly. "Sister Zhu Zhu, who is this man...?"
"A friend." Her tone remained icy, but Xu Sheng's superior boat closed the distance despite her efforts.
"I wasn't aware you had such friends," Xu Sheng sneered. "Dressed as a temporary student no less. Perhaps I should have a word with the faculty about removing such... undesirables."
"What exists between us?" Zhu Zhu snapped, her patience fraying. "Must I seek your approval for every acquaintance?"
"Now now, dear sister," Xu Sheng simpered, "the entire Inner Academy knows my feelings. You'll be mine eventually—how could I not be jealous seeing another man in your boat?"
His words were so infuriating that Zhu Zhu visibly trembled with rage.
Fang Chang chuckled darkly. Rising suddenly, he pulled Zhu Zhu against his chest before she could react. "Yours? Is her body inscribed with your name? I see no such marking."
Zhu Zhu squirmed instinctively, but her Soul King strength was no match for Fang Chang's grip. To observers, her resistance appeared half-hearted.
Xu Sheng's face turned livid at their intimacy. "You dare touch what belongs to me, you insolent—"
Mid-rant, he produced a gauntlet that hummed with terrifying energy—clearly a soul tool rivaling Soul Emperor-level power.
Oh? More soul tools? Fang Chang's interest piqued. Releasing Zhu Zhu, he whispered, "Wait here, darling," against her ear before turning to face Xu Sheng.
Blinded by rage, Xu Sheng launched a punch across the gap between boats. Fang Chang met it with his own fist.
The collision of forces pushed both vessels apart, but neither combatant faltered.
Xu Sheng's eyes narrowed in realization—this "temporary student" was no ordinary opponent. Yet pride prevented retreat.
Two yellow, two purple, and one black soul ring materialized around him as a blazing sun emerged at his back, casting him in dramatic silhouette.
Fang Chang responded in kind, manifesting simulated rings—one yellow, two purple, two black—while raising his own fist in challenge.
The commotion drew crowds to both shores, students lining the railings to witness the aquatic duel.
Xu Sheng hesitated at Fang Chang's unconventional soul ring configuration. Meanwhile, Zhu Zhu observed with growing confusion—Fang Chang had revealed rings without summoning a martial soul.
The only explanation is a body-type martial soul... But for a reincarnated soul beast, our human form's martial soul should be our original body...
The contradiction left her utterly baffled.
Noticing the growing audience, Xu Sheng felt his reputation at stake. With a series of mechanical clicks, additional armor pieces deployed from his waist storage, forming a complete exoskeleton that integrated with his gauntlet.
His original 54th-rank aura surged—now rivaling a low-tier Soul Emperor.
Clad in technological might, Xu Sheng's confidence returned.
What does it matter if we're both Soul Kings? With the Sun Moon Empire's soul tools, I cannot lose!
With this mantra, he leaped from his boat, fist blazing like a meteor as heat waves boiled the lake's surface into steam.
Fang Chang simply raised his own fist in response—a casual motion belying cataclysmic power.