Putting Background Aside

At the edge of the farmland surrounding the village where Shrek Academy was located, a young girl and boy were running. Gradually, though, the girl came to a stop.

Seeing Ning Rongrong stop, Oscar immediately handed her a sausage.

"Rongrong, do you want something to eat? Otherwise, you really won't have enough stamina..."

"Get lost!!"

Ning Rongrong's face was filled with displeasure—toward Oscar, and even more so toward Flender.

Oscar had been following behind her the whole time, occasionally catching up to offer her sausages, with a lecherous gleam in his eyes.

But she was even more dissatisfied with Flender. How ridiculous—before running, she had thought Flender made perfect sense.

Something about everyone having different Martial Souls and constitutions, and therefore needing different training methods...

But looking at it now, Flender was an absolute idiot.

What kind of school assigned this sort of task to an auxiliary-system Soul Master? She had run seven or eight laps already, and her stamina was nearly exhausted.

Shrek naturally recognized Ning Rongrong as someone from the Star Luo Imperial Family, while fury was already burning in Dai Mubai's eyes, growing ever fiercer until he finally roared.

"Besides, if we put background aside, Suotuo City truly falls short of every student here. Our academy values a Soul Master's own abilities more."

Although he had never seen Mu Zhe display his strength, anyone whom Jin Yide treated as a guard was definitely not someone a food-system Soul Master like him could provoke.

"Take me to play in Flender for a while. The principal of Golden Soul Card Academy is so awful. He actually made me jog around the village twenty laps. He's clearly just torturing people."

As a result, Bao Liuli punished her with another twenty laps on the grounds that she had lied.

"As far as I know, only a handful of students from your academy can even graduate. They enroll with the finest talent, yet after your teaching, they all become ordinary people."

Meanwhile, Ma Hongjun stared at Bao Liuli with a trace of resentment in his eyes.

Suotuo City's face lit up with excitement, but just as she tried to take a step, she stumbled and nearly fell. In the end, she could only climb onto Mu Zhe's back.

"How could I be doing this for the sake of authority? I merely want them to understand the importance of rules and improve the cohesion among the students."

Suotuo City wore a sweet expression. Although she had not seen Brother Mu Zhe earlier, he had always been protecting her.

Although Mu Zhe said this without so much as a blush or a racing heart, not even he believed it. Yet Suotuo City believed him, and the sweetness on her face deepened.

Brother Mu Zhe had never seen her like this before.

At that moment, everyone looked at Bao Liuli with a hint of doubt in their eyes.

"I wasn't cultivating some secret art. I was merely staying alert in case there was danger."

Hearing Suotuo City call him, Mu Zhe swiftly came back to his senses from his secret art and gently stroked the girl's head.

Oscar immediately felt unbearably sour, and his gaze toward Mu Zhe turned hostile.

Only because Mu Zhe had not been following her that time had she managed to persist for a few extra laps. Otherwise, she would have quit by the third lap.

Still, no matter what, Suotuo City needed to experience some of the wickedness of human hearts—for example, Bao Liuli's ugly true face.

Mu Zhe?

At that moment, Mu Zhe was hiding in the shadows. He had watched the entire process of Bao Liuli manipulating Jin Yide.

Ma Hongjun could not help asking from the side. As Bao Liuli's disciple, he was naturally the most anxious.

That should be enough to shut Mu Zhe up, right?

"Who says our academy has never produced outstanding talent? Qin Ming, the youngest Soul Emperor, came from our Golden Soul Card Academy."

But so what?

Suotuo City adjusted her position in Mu Zhe's arms, making herself more comfortable.

"Are you training him, or destroying him?"

"Fine, let's put aside the issue of teaching methods for now. Let's talk about talent. In what way is Rongrong inferior to these people?"

"You sealed Oscar's Soul Power and made him run twenty laps around the village. Even when his Soul Power wasn't sealed, it took him an entire day to finish twenty laps."

However, he still did not agree with Mu Zhe's words.

In the end, Suotuo City stood there with reddened eyes and a vacant gaze, then burst into tears.

"Mm."

Every word Bao Liuli said was like a sharp sword stabbing into her heart, completely shattering what she had been most proud of.

"Jog my ass!"

It was quite effective, actually. Every time he woke up afterward, the Evil Fire had already subsided.

"Principal, why do you have this card?"

Now, he seemed capable of splitting his mind into two uses, or even several uses at once.

But before Oscar could finish speaking, Mu Zhe appeared out of thin air beside Jin Yide and reached out to pull the girl into his arms.

A playful smile rose on Mu Zhe's face as he said calmly, "You just said that, as the principal of Golden Soul Card Academy, you had to be responsible for your students, correct?"

"They should keep jogging. Principal Flender told them to jog, so they can't stop."

Suotuo City nodded. The tears on her face had already been wiped away, and her usual confidence returned.

Jin Yide's face turned livid. It felt as if a sharp sword had pierced his heart, causing unbearable pain.

When it came to manipulation, he was a professional.

Although Mu Zhe's true body had been cultivating in the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well all this time, he had not completely ignored Suotuo City and Da Wu. He had left behind a shadow clone to observe the outside world.

Not to mention that she was the heir of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect—she also had Brother Mu Zhe protecting her.

"Principal Bao Liuli, don't you think you've gone a little too far?"

That was right. That idiot Oscar, in order to gain Suotuo City's favor, had actually taken the initiative to lie for her, claiming that Suotuo City had finished twenty laps.

Whenever her Evil Fire acted up, you made her run laps. You were not even willing to spend a little money to find her a young lady.

Before long, the two arrived on the streets of Flender. Suotuo City tightly held Mu Zhe's arm, sweetness written across her face. This time, without Da Wu, that little vixen, around, she was very happy.

"Principal, is what he said true?"

In fact, he did not know whether the students would suffer internal injuries from running. After all, whenever they became tired, they would faint. Then, after sleeping, they would wake up full of energy again.

Thinking back on his claim that the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect might be replaced by Oscar now seemed even more laughable.

After all, whenever Ma Hongjun's Evil Fire flared up, Bao Liuli would make him run around the village until he fainted from exhaustion.

Bao Liuli looked puzzled. "I did say that. Is there a problem?"

At that moment, Tang Hao had already returned to Flender. A furtive man in white had appeared around the academy. Judging by his clothing, he was from the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.

Before this, he had never realized this issue. He had merely assumed that the students lacked talent. Yet students who could enroll here seemed to possess the best talent on the Douluo Continent.

Ning Rongrong crossed her arms and snorted coldly. "He's just the principal of some lousy academy. I don't believe he can do anything to me."

Hmm??

The smile on Mu Zhe's face grew deeper. "Since you claim to be responsible for your students, what exactly have you done?"

"Bao Liuli, look at how shabby your academy is. You probably don't even have enough gold coins for repairs."

Previously, he controlled his shadow clone merely by using basic Spiritual Power to observe the battlefield and stiffly manipulating the shadow to attack.

In the end, he still did not dare say anything and slunk away in disgrace.

Golden Soul Card Academy was his life's work. How could he allow some brat to insult it like this?

"Every word is true?"

As the true workings of Heart Separation Control were revealed, even Mu Zhe was slightly astonished. It truly deserved to be the secret art passed down only within the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect. It was indeed exquisitely profound.

"Jin Yi, did you need me for something?"

The smile on Bao Liuli's face slowly vanished and was replaced by gloom. Suotuo City had nearly collapsed, but after Mu Zhe appeared, she had started smiling again.

However, Shrek and Dai Mubai had the strongest reactions.

"Are you... are you not being a little too excessive?"

Originally, she had been incredibly proud of her talent and background, but Bao Liuli's sophistry had made her forget all of it for the moment.

The smile on Oscar's face immediately disappeared. He hated that name the most.

"Brother Mu Zhe! Brother Mu Zhe..."

If Oscar showed even the slightest sign of replacing the sect, Grandfather Sword would have cut him down with one slash long ago.

"Mm-hmm, carry me."

"Background is Rongrong's greatest advantage. Principal Bao Liuli, why should we put background aside? When you're out in the world, it's all about influence and connections. You rely on background."

Bao Liuli was furious. It was as though flames burned in his eyes as he looked at Mu Zhe.

"Brother Mu Zhe, why are you absentminded again? Don't tell me you're secretly cultivating the Heart Separation Control secret art?"

Hearing Jin Yide boast so shamelessly, Mu Zhe laughed outright.

Yes, just moments ago, Mu Zhe had casually mentioned that he had too many Soul Skills and found it difficult to control them simultaneously. Suotuo City had immediately taken out the Heart Separation Control secret art.

Earlier, he had used responsibility toward students as an excuse to point out Suotuo City's wrongdoing. After all, she had refused to obey discipline and had even left the academy without permission.

"How? Are you afraid to let others comment now? Everything you're doing is merely to suppress the students and make them submit to your authority."

Bao Liuli's brows were shadowed with gloom, her fists clenched tightly, while Mu Zhe's voice remained low and ghostly.

Damn, Mu Zhe was just a guard, yet he dared to seduce his master!

Tang San's eyes also flashed with surprise. Just now, he had thought Bao Liuli possessed lofty morals, but after hearing Mu Zhe's words, it seemed Yu Xiaogang's friend was no good person either.

"Then as their dean, are your achievements greater than those of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect? And have you ever taught any outstanding students?"

Pfft!

Mu Zhe chuckled softly, tightening his arm around the young girl while not forgetting to use the Healing Technique to tend to her body.

She held Ning Fengzhi's imperial sword of authority in her hand. How dare you, a mere guard, ruin the good thing between her and your sect master?

When it came to innocence, she was still the best!

Oscar still wore a fawning expression. He firmly believed that sooner or later, Ning Rongrong would have to eat sausage.

At those words, everyone's expressions eased slightly. It seemed Golden Soul Card Academy was not as unbearable as Mu Zhe had described.