Shrek Academy? Is This a Place for Humans?

Ice Empress's delighted voice suddenly rang beside Snow Empress, and a glimmer appeared in her eyes.

Before receiving the reward, they could only speculate.

Although the rewards listed in the group rules included things like breaking through a Heavenly Tribulation, Snow Empress couldn't be sure they would actually receive such a reward. They might get something useless to them, like a Soul Bone, or perhaps they wouldn't appear in the Diary at all, meaning they wouldn't receive any reward.

But now...

Bing'er had really succeeded in breaking through and become a Ferocious Beast with four hundred thousand years of cultivation!

They really could receive rewards they needed...

Snow Empress's breathing quickened.

Just as Ao Yao had written in the Diary, she had no confidence at all in breaking through to seven hundred thousand years. If a hundred-thousand-year-old snow lotus really appeared before her, she might actually choose the path of taking human form.

And the end of that path would be becoming Huo Yuhao's Soul Spirit.

But now...

Nine Treasures Glazed Tile Sect.

Ao Yao stared in astonishment at the beautiful woman before him, dressed in a long silk gown. He had never expected the Sect Master of the Nine Treasures Glazed Tile Sect to pay him a sudden visit.

Ever since he awakened a mutated Trash Martial Soul, he had gradually become invisible within the Nine Treasures Glazed Tile Sect. There had been no ridicule, no mockery, and no mistreatment. None of the melodramatic clichés from those novels had happened.

The wealthy Nine Treasures Glazed Tile Sect had no qualms about supporting an idler like him. Meanwhile, his presence had continued to fade until he'd become completely unnoticeable.

No one would care if he went to a brothel to listen to music.

At most, he might run into a few female Soul Masters from the Nine Treasures Glazed Tile Sect, who would exclaim over how handsome he was.

Ao Yao wondered why the Sect Master of the Nine Treasures Glazed Tile Sect had come to his home. Ning Zhu, meanwhile, was also observing the excessively handsome young man before her.

She remembered Ao Yao's family. Several hundred years ago, his great-great-grandfather had been the Nine Treasures Glazed Tile Sect's strongest fighter, a Super Douluo with Level 98 cultivation. Unfortunately, his descendants in the generations that followed had been rather mediocre. Their once-powerful Martial Soul had undergone one harmful mutation after another, and by the time it was passed down to Ao Yao, his Innate Soul Power was a pitiful two and a half levels.

And yet...

She couldn't detect the slightest trace of dejection in Ao Yao. His deep, ink-dark eyes brimmed with such confidence.

Ning Zhu narrowed her eyes slightly, growing curious and intrigued.

As the Sect Master, she had naturally sensed the two beams of light that had appeared in the Nine Treasures Glazed Tile Sect. She had even ordered the sect's guardian Douluo to investigate thoroughly for quite some time.

Though they had found nothing, they had at least determined the approximate area where the two beams had appeared.

Ao Yao's home happened to be on the edge of that area.

Was it a coincidence?

Ning Zhu's thoughts stirred. She smiled warmly, her words gentle as a spring breeze. "Your ancestor once rendered great service to my Nine Treasures Glazed Tile Sect as one of its guardian Douluo. As the Sect Master, of course I had to come see you."

That was a lie.

In the past twelve years, I've only seen you a handful of times. Since your Martial Soul Awakening, I haven't seen you once.

But Ao Yao wasn't foolish enough to call her out. Instead, he smiled and played along. "Thank you for looking after me, Sect Master. I'm doing quite well. At least I have food and clothes, and I can go out for a stroll now and then."

He was neither servile nor arrogant, polite and composed.

Ning Zhu's smile didn't change. She continued softly, "Have you... ever considered attending Shrek Academy?"

"My daughter, Ning Tian, is going to Shrek Academy. If you're willing, I'd like you to go with her. You could look out for each other."

Ning Tian raised her brows, her words full of probing intent.

Ning Tian was her most beloved daughter, and the one most qualified to shoulder the burden of inheriting the Nine Treasures Glazed Tile Sect. She had personally asked her mother to let Ao Yao attend Shrek Academy with her. Naturally, as her mother, Ning Zhu was intensely interested in him.

She didn't believe her daughter was unaware of Ao Yao's Innate Soul Power level, nor did she believe that Ao Yao was really so ordinary.

Perhaps Ao Yao had caused those two beams of light?

Attend Shrek Academy?

The Sect Master of the Nine Treasures Glazed Tile Sect came to my house first thing in the morning just to send me to Shrek Academy?

Ao Yao froze for a moment, and resistance quickly welled up inside him.

Of course, that resistance wasn't directed at the Sect Master standing before him. It was directed at Shrek Academy.

He really didn't like that place.

It wasn't just because Shrek Academy was filled with traces of that Tang fellow. More importantly, Shrek Academy was genuinely unreliable—from Zhou Yi, a teacher in the outer court, to Yan Shaozhe, the dean of the Martial Soul Department, and Xuan Zi, an elder of the Sea God Pavilion. None of them were particularly dependable.

Besides, that kind of strict teaching wasn't fit for human beings.

At least, it wasn't fit for a lazy person like him.

His greatest wish was to write in his Diary every day, idle around, visit a brothel to listen to music, and keep a low profile until he was strong enough to reach the Divine Realm and slap Tang San across the face.

"What's wrong? You don't want to go?"

Seeing the hesitation on Ao Yao's face, Ning Zhu chuckled. "Shrek Academy is the holy land in the hearts of Soul Masters across the continent, and unquestionably the greatest academy on the continent. Don't you want to study there?"

No.

Ao Yao answered inwardly. But what he said aloud was a more polished version. "Sect Master, you must know that I'm a Soul Master with a Trash Martial Soul and only two and a half levels of Innate Soul Power. With my current cultivation, I don't even meet Shrek Academy's admission requirements..."

"That's all right."

Ning Zhu smiled gently, her eyes seeming to see right through Ao Yao. "The Nine Treasures Glazed Tile Sect has a close relationship with Shrek Academy. We're given one place each year that doesn't require an entrance exam. We've never had a chance to use it before, but this time, we can use it for you."

"Ning Tian is a girl, after all. Though Wu Feng will be with her, it would still be better to have a boy around. Don't you agree?"

No... The Tang Sect having an entrance interview spot was one thing, but why did the Nine Treasures Glazed Tile Sect have an exam-free spot too?

Thinking of Ning Rongrong, the Nine-Colored Goddess who had become a god ten thousand years ago, Ao Yao immediately understood why.

Fine, then.

I can understand.

"I think your house could use some repairs, too. While you're accompanying Ning Tian at Shrek Academy, the craftsmen in the sect can fix it up for you."

Ning Zhu rose with a smile and gave Ao Yao a meaningful look. "In that case, it's settled."

?

When did I agree to anything?

Wait, no, don't go!

I never agreed to attend Shrek Academy!