No Trouble Encountered

Xue Beng was so afraid of Xue Qinghe because the Heaven Dou Empire had originally had four princes. Above him were two older brothers, the Second Prince and Third Prince.

Without exception, both of those brothers had mysteriously died after becoming threats to Xue Qinghe's claim to the throne.

Xue Beng was basically certain that Xue Qinghe had been behind it, so he was deeply worried that he too would be eliminated. That was why he feared Xue Qinghe so greatly.

All along, Xue Beng had deliberately played the role of a wastrel, acting like an ignorant good-for-nothing to lower the threat he posed in Xue Qinghe's eyes and preserve his own life.

Now that he had encountered Mu Yuan, a junior disciple with a close relationship with Xue Qinghe, Xue Beng did not dare provoke him at all. He hurriedly fled in disgrace with his lackeys.

With no one left to stop them, the people from Shrek Academy smoothly entered Heaven Dou Royal Academy.

After receiving the news, Qin Ming hurried out to welcome them.

During this time, Qin Ming had basically smoothed out the internal relationships within Heaven Dou Royal Academy. All that remained was for the academy's three Council Members to approve, and Shrek Academy could be fully merged into Heaven Dou Royal Academy.

At Heaven Dou Royal Academy, the headmaster's position was directly held by Xue Ye, the emperor of the Heaven Dou Empire. He normally did not participate in the academy's management, while its daily operations were handled by the three Spirit Douluo Council Members of the Council.

Led by Qin Ming, the people of Shrek Academy arrived at the Council.

Outside the Council's doors, the three Council Members had received word and come out in advance to greet them.

They were three elderly men with kindly faces. Though they merely stood there, the aura unique to powerful experts could not be concealed.

Flender hurried forward, somewhat flattered, and bowed. "I am Flender, headmaster of Shrek Academy, a Level 78 agility-attack Battle Spirit Saint. Greetings, three seniors."

The elderly man standing in the middle of the three smiled and nodded.

"Headmaster Flender, there is no need for such courtesy. We have already heard about your circumstances from Teacher Qin. Your decision to lead Shrek Academy into a merger with Heaven Dou Royal Academy is beneficial to both sides. The other two Council Members and I strongly support it."

Flender's face lit up with delight, and he quickly thanked the three of them.

However, the old man did not keep his gaze on Flender for long. Instead, he looked past him toward Mu Yuan among the crowd.

Clearly, he knew Mu Yuan.

Seeing this, Mu Yuan stepped forward and saluted him.

"Uncle Meng, I'm sorry. I broke my promise to come to Heaven Dou Royal Academy."

This elderly man was Meng Shenji, the chief of Heaven Dou Royal Academy's Council and a Level 86 Spirit Douluo. Although Meng Shenji was much older, according to the status hierarchy of the Spirit Master world, he and Ning Fengzhi associated as equals. Thus, Mu Yuan addressed him as Uncle Meng in accordance with etiquette.

Back when Mu Yuan was still at the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, Ning Fengzhi had already decided that Mu Yuan would eventually go to study at Heaven Dou Royal Academy.

However, Ning Fengzhi had wanted to bring Ning Rongrong and Mu Yuan together. Since Mu Yuan was one year older than Ning Rongrong, Ning Fengzhi had specifically asked Meng Shenji to let Mu Yuan enroll a year later, so that he could enter Heaven Dou Royal Academy together with Ning Rongrong.

This had not been a major matter, and after witnessing Mu Yuan's talent, Meng Shenji had readily agreed. Yet he had never expected Ning Rongrong to run away from home this year. Ning Fengzhi had no choice but to change the arrangement and send Mu Yuan to protect Ning Rongrong, so Mu Yuan had been unable to join Heaven Dou Royal Academy as promised.

Meng Shenji patted Mu Yuan on the shoulder.

"Little Yuan, Feng Zhi told me about your situation. It isn't your fault. Besides, aren't you here now? Come, let me introduce you."

As he spoke, Meng Shenji pointed to the two elderly men beside him and introduced them to Mu Yuan.

"This is your Uncle Bai. His martial spirit is the Heavenly Star Furnace, and he is a Level 85 defense-type Spirit Douluo."

Mu Yuan saluted him. "Greetings, Uncle Bai."

The other man smiled in acknowledgment.

Meng Shenji pointed to the other elderly man.

"This is your Uncle Zhilin. His martial spirit is the Sky Azure Vine, so like you, he has a plant-type martial spirit. He is a Level 83 control-type Spirit Douluo. If you encounter any problems in your cultivation later, you can ask him to help clear up your doubts."

Mu Yuan saluted once more. "Thank you, Uncle Zhilin, for your willingness to look after me."

Zhi Lin laughed heartily.

"I've long heard about you, this genius, from Old Meng. Don't worry. When it comes to plant-type martial spirits, this old man is still rather confident. I certainly won't hold back your talent!"

Mu Yuan smiled and nodded. Although his current strength might not necessarily be inferior to Zhi Lin's, he did not reject the man's goodwill.

Seeing this, Ma Hongjun and Oscar could not help feeling somewhat envious. Having a Spirit Douluo-level expert personally guide them was treatment that few people on the entire continent could enjoy.

Even Dai Mubai felt complicated emotions arise in his heart.

Though he was a prince of the Star Luo Empire, aside from having more money, he actually had no forces supporting him.

Most of the factions within the empire had pledged themselves to his elder brother, Dai Weisi. That was also why he had been forced to flee to Shrek Academy.

Now, seeing so many powerful experts surrounding Mu Yuan, Dai Mubai could not help thinking that if he could build a good relationship with Mu Yuan, his chances of successfully competing with Dai Weisi for the throne in the future would certainly improve greatly.

Meng Shenji said at this moment, "All right, let's go inside and talk. Don't keep standing out here."

Afterward, Meng Shenji brought everyone into the Council's office.

Then, Meng Shenji and the others briefly tested the talents of the Shrek group. After confirming that there were no issues, they signed an agreement with Flender to merge Shrek Academy into Heaven Dou Royal Academy.

They readily agreed to conditions such as retaining the name Shrek Academy and accepting all of Shrek Academy's teachers.

Because of Mu Yuan's influence, Xue Beng had been frightened away. As a result, the later incident in which Prince Xue Xing brought Dugu Bo to stop the Shrek group from joining Heaven Dou Royal Academy never occurred.

The people of Shrek Academy merged into Heaven Dou Royal Academy without any trouble.

Afterward, Meng Shenji took them around the various training facilities and cultivation environments of Heaven Dou Royal Academy, telling them that they could enjoy the same right to use these things as the academy's own students.

A smile could not help appearing on Flender's face.

These were precisely the things Shrek Academy lacked.

Over the next few days, everyone settled down at Heaven Dou Royal Academy.

Meng Shenji specifically designated an area for the people of Shrek Academy to live in. Their treatment was the same as that of the other members of Heaven Dou Royal Academy, with no favoritism shown.

The people of Shrek Academy had, in a manner of speaking, arrived in paradise.

There was the Mimicry Cultivation Environment, all kinds of expensive training equipment, and even the cafeteria meals were prepared from the ingredients of various Precious Spirit Beasts, making them highly beneficial to cultivation.

Because of Mu Yuan's influence, Tang San never met Dugu Bo, so the incident from the original story, in which Tang San was abducted by Dugu Bo, did not occur.