What Do You Call This a Library?

After successfully slipping into Shrek, Chen Ping found that, unlike the grand and solemn academy he had imagined, Shrek Academy had beautiful surroundings and abundant, lush vegetation.

Walking along the broad avenue, no matter which direction he looked, he could see at least ten different kinds of plants. Every one of them had clearly been carefully pruned.

After advancing two hundred meters, several enormous statues blocked their view ahead.

There were as many as ten statues in total. Each was ten meters tall and carved from the hardest granite.

There were three statues in the front row. The one in the very center was an elderly man wearing glasses, with a smiling face and a moderately plump build. He looked every bit like a good-natured gentleman.

Bei Bei said to Chen Ping, "The one in the middle is the founder of Shrek Academy and its first dean, Flender."

Chen Ping was naturally familiar with Bei Bei's introduction. The Four-eyed Cat Owl—such a stingy fellow had actually managed to build Shrek into something this large. It truly was a miracle.

But where was Lao Zhao?

Chen Ping was somewhat stunned. Zhao Wuji might not have had great achievements, but he had certainly worked hard.

He had handled the freshman assessment for new students, and after it was over, he had been the one beaten up when Tang Hao took revenge.

When hunting Soul Rings, he had followed the team out. When they encountered the Titan Giant Ape, he had been the one who activated his Martial Soul Avatar and was sent flying with a single slap.

It would not have been excessive to call him meritorious through hard work.

Besides, Zhao Wuji had at least been the vice dean of Shrek Academy. The statues of Liu Erlong and Yu Xiaogang were displayed here, so why wasn't there one for Zhao Wuji?

A somewhat chilling possibility flashed through Chen Ping's mind.

Could it be that because Zhao Wuji had hit Xiao Wu, he didn't even get the chance to have a statue erected after his death?

Damn, bro. Don't tell me it's really that bad?

Chen Ping's expression darkened almost imperceptibly. At this moment, he truly began to believe what his system had said. Become Tang San's dog?

That would still depend on whether Tang San even thought highly enough of you!

More often than not, he might just crush you outright—or use you and then kick you away!

If you really offended Tang San, he would still smile at you on the surface. But when he actually dealt with you, his methods would be so ruthless that you couldn't even imagine them.

Bei Bei failed to notice Chen Ping's expression and introduced the surroundings to him. "The road splits from here. The Martial Soul Branch is on the left, while the Soul Guidance Branch is on the right."

"These are also the two major branches of our Shrek Academy. Both belong to the outer courtyard."

"Relatively speaking, the Martial Soul Branch is larger, while the Soul Guidance Branch is smaller. The Martial Soul Branch is also divided into many different departments."

"Generally speaking, after new students enroll, they must at least pass the first Freshman Assessment before they become eligible to apply to the Soul Guidance Branch."

They proceeded left from the statues. The road remained very broad, wide enough for four or five carriages to travel side by side. A sign beside the road bore the words "Lakeside Path."

Through the lush green trees on the right, they could vaguely see a broad expanse of water.

In other words, behind the ten statues of the Golden Iron Triangle and the Shrek Seven Devils, there was a massive lake.

Perhaps noticing where Chen Ping was looking, Tang Ya said proudly, "This lake is called Sea God Lake. It was established to commemorate our Tang Sect ancestor, Tang San. This lake—"

Chen Ping was somewhat sensitive to the name Tang San at this point. He merely pursed his lips and listened, the joy he had felt upon entering Shrek rapidly cooling.

Although there was no statue of Zhao Wuji here, the role it played was far greater than if Zhao Wuji's statue had actually been placed here.

The nerves in Chen Ping's mind, which had originally relaxed somewhat, tensed up again at this moment.

An anxiety that arose spontaneously was ignited by a statue that did not even exist.

Sea God Lake was indeed enormous. They followed the Lakeside Path south for nearly fifteen minutes before turning west.

After walking for another quarter of an hour, the path finally began to narrow inward, and a broad rectangular plaza appeared in their view.

Behind Shrek Square stood row upon row of towering Teaching Buildings. Their colors varied, mainly consisting of white, yellow, purple, and black.

Looking into the distance toward the northern side of Shrek Square, they could seemingly see another cluster of gray Teaching Buildings.

Bei Bei pointed toward the Teaching Buildings on the other side of the square. "The colors of the Teaching Buildings represent different grades. They're distinguished according to the colors of Soul Rings."

"White represents the New Student Teaching Building, just like the lowest-grade Ten-year Soul Ring. Yellow represents the Second Year and Third Year Teaching Buildings in the outer courtyard. Purple represents the Fourth Grade and Fifth Grade Teaching Buildings. Black represents the Sixth Grade Teaching Building."

"Anyone who can walk out of the black Teaching Building can already receive a graduation certificate from the academy's outer courtyard."

"Those gray Teaching Buildings in the distance belong to the Soul Guidance Department."

"Besides these Teaching Buildings, there are also many specialized teaching facilities farther back, such as the Soul Arena, Assessment Area, Dormitory Area, Faculty Office Area, and so on."

Hearing this, Chen Ping slowly recovered from his earlier anxiety.

The truth was that Chen Ping had indeed been frightened. There was no denying that.

Only when someone was truly thrown into another world and told that the god of this world might kill them at any moment would that fear, like a parasite clinging to the bones, truly linger in their heart.

Being afraid was normal, but he couldn't remain afraid forever. If he stayed afraid forever, he would truly just be waiting for death, with no chance left at all.

Covering the area over his heart without leaving a trace, Chen Ping took several deep breaths.

Plentiful oxygen rushed into his brain, carrying away some of his anxiety and allowing his intelligent mind to reclaim the high ground.

The path he had chosen was correct. The difficulties along the way were real, and the route forward was winding.

But this was already the best path for development he could plan for himself. No matter what, he had to keep moving forward before he could learn what the outcome would be.

"Faculty Office Area?"

Chen Ping looked toward Bei Bei and revealed a questioning expression.

Bei Bei naturally knew what Chen Ping wanted to ask and said with a smile, "Teacher Wang isn't in the office area right now. That would only happen if Old Person Xuan called Teacher Wang in to work overtime."

"Otherwise, at this time of day, Teacher Wang will unfailingly be in the library."

This was the second time Bei Bei and the others had mentioned the word "library" to Chen Ping. But in Chen Ping's memories, Shrek—did it even have a library?

Besides the buildings Bei Bei had introduced earlier, the only places left should have been Shrek's Inner Courtyard and the Shrek Beast Pen overseen by Gong Lao. So where was this library located?

Soon, Chen Ping saw Shrek's library for himself—the library built inside the Sixth Grade Teaching Building.

That was right. Shrek's library was not a separate building. It had been built inside the first floor of the Sixth Grade Teaching Building and occupied only a single floor.

When Chen Ping saw this, he felt as if he was so angry that he was about to laugh.

This was Shrek, the greatest academy on the entire continent, bar none!

Your library is only one floor?

And it's shared with the Teaching Building for Sixth Grade students?

Looking at the so-called "library" before him, which he estimated to be only around two thousand square meters, Chen Ping fell silent.

"How is it? Pretty shocking, right? The collection of books in our academy's library is the largest and most comprehensive among all the Soul Master Academies on the entire continent."

Before Chen Ping could say anything, Bei Bei had already lowered his voice and spoken. The pride in his tone was impossible to fake.