Moving into the Diploma Mill Academy

The next day, Xue Ke got up early. She changed into a light green short-sleeved floral dress, put on black flat leather shoes, casually dampened her neatly combed silver short hair with a little water, and donned a pure white beret. She then stored the revised Sunflower Scripture in her Storage Ring.

When Xue Ke arrived at the hotel entrance, she immediately spotted Ma Hongjun, who had been waiting for quite some time. Ma Hongjun gave her a thorough once-over, his eyes shining as he swallowed hard and praised, "Princess, you look so beautiful today!"

"Let's go," Xue Ke said calmly.

Following Ma Hongjun out of Suotuo City, the two headed south for half an hour before finally reaching a village of roughly a hundred households. A wooden archway stood at the village entrance, with the words "Shrek Academy" crookedly carved into it.

So Shrek Academy was tucked away in such a godforsaken place. It was even more run-down than in the anime, Xue Ke inwardly complained.

"Xue Ke, welcome to Shrek Academy. I'll show you around our academy's playground first."

After following Ma Hongjun to the playground, Xue Ke spotted Zhu Zhuqing in the distance, running laps around the field with weights. Dai Mubai followed beside her, occasionally saying something to Zhu Zhuqing, but she remained cold-faced throughout and ignored him completely.

"Boss Dai, Zhu Qing, look who's here!" Ma Hongjun shouted at the two in the distance, his tone carrying a distinct hint of showing off.

Dai Mubai and Zhu Zhuqing both stopped and looked toward Xue Ke behind Ma Hongjun, surprise appearing on their faces.

"Fatty, I never thought you'd actually win Princess Xue Ke over—and even lure her into our academy. Not bad!" Dai Mubai gave Ma Hongjun a thumbs-up.

"Xue Ke isn't my girlfriend yet. I only brought her here to take a look around our academy," Ma Hongjun said, awkwardly scratching his head.

"Carry on. Don't mind me." Xue Ke glanced a few more times at Zhu Zhuqing, who was drenched in sweat. After thinking for a while, she followed Ma Hongjun on a cursory tour of Shrek Academy's dormitory area, cafeteria, and dean's office building.

Looking at the crumbling dormitory building before her and the playground in the distance, which had nothing but flowers, grass, and trees, Xue Ke was thoroughly perplexed.

This trash academy can actually produce the future-famous Shrek Seven Devils? Bad living conditions would be one thing, but after walking around for so long, there isn't even a mimicry training ground or a decent library. It's worlds apart from Heaven Dou Royal Academy.

When Xue Ke watched the anime in her previous life, she had not felt this too deeply. But now that she had personally experienced the enormous gap between the two academies in teaching resources, faculty strength, and other aspects, she could not help feeling deeply moved.

Xue Ke felt that Shrek Academy was like those diploma mills from her previous life. Its accommodations were atrocious, it had neither capable teachers nor resources, and it deceived poorly informed country folk into enrolling through false admissions propaganda and empty promises—all while charging outrageously high tuition fees.

Moreover, its admissions standards were as high as those of Qingbei, yet its graduation diploma was fake as hell and practically useless on Douluo Continent. After all, Shrek Academy did not even qualify to participate in the Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Elite Tournament two years later. It had to borrow Blue Tyrant Academy's name just to compete.

Xue Ke secretly looked down on Shrek Academy, then began considering her next move.

Seeing Xue Ke frowning as she lowered her head in silence, Ma Hongjun cautiously asked, "What's wrong? Is there something wrong with our academy?"

"Huh? Nothing's wrong. Fatty, can I stay at your academy for a few days? I'd like to observe your academy's teaching methods properly. I wonder if your teachers would mind? Don't worry, I'll pay for lodging and meals."

"No problem. Leave it to me." Ma Hongjun patted his chest in assurance. As Flender's personal disciple, Ma Hongjun was confident he could handle such a small request.

Before long, Ma Hongjun brought over Dean Flender.

"Welcome to Shrek Academy, Princess Xue Ke! Our academy is rather humble, so I hope you won't mind. For the next few days, you can stay next door to Ning Rongrong and Zhu Zhuqing. Bedding, sheets, and everything else have already been prepared, so you can move in anytime."

Flender wore a broad smile, looking every bit the shrewd merchant.

If I build a good relationship with Princess Xue Ke in advance, it'll be much easier for Shrek Academy to join Heaven Dou Royal Academy. Once we get in, we might even be able to use Princess Xue Ke's name to secure more resources for the little monsters, Flender secretly thought.

Xue Ke took a bag of Gold Soul Coins from her Storage Ring and handed it to Flender. Flender smiled knowingly and did not refuse. He accepted the money as though it were only natural, and the smile on his face grew even wider.

"What? Princess Xue Ke came to our academy and even moved in?" Yu Xiaogang felt deeply troubled. After all, Tang San's arms had not yet fully recovered, while the person who had injured him was staying nearby.

Flender took a sip of tea and waved a hand, signaling Yu Xiaogang to calm down. He slowly tried to persuade him:

"Princess Xue Ke is a core member of the Imperial Fighting Team. Her status at Heaven Dou Royal Academy is far from low, and she is also a royal princess greatly favored by Emperor Xue Ye and Crown Prince Xue Qinghe. For the little monsters' future, we have to build a good relationship with her. Besides, there isn't really any deep-seated hatred between us. Blades have no eyes in spirit fighting matches. Isn't getting hurt perfectly normal?"

A fierce unwillingness appeared in Yu Xiaogang's eyes. Then he slumped back down and fell silent.

Since Xue Ke delivered herself right to my door, I won't hold back. I'll thoroughly dig into the secrets she carries. If I can learn her method for absorbing spirit rings beyond the age limit, uncover the secret of her Self-Created Soul Skill, and add that knowledge to my Soul Master Theory, then I, Yu Xiaogang, will surely become famous across the continent once again.

Yu Xiaogang clenched his fists and left Flender's office.

"Little San, it's me."

"Teacher, please come in."

Yu Xiaogang pushed open the door and entered. He sat down, poured himself a cup of tea, and told Tang San everything about how Xue Ke had come to stay at Shrek Academy, as well as his own plans.

"Don't worry, Teacher. For the sake of your dream, I'll definitely help you uncover Xue Ke's secrets." Tang San put on an expression that said, "I'm doing all this for you."

But in truth, Tang San was thinking, Hmph, she actually kept the method for absorbing spirit rings beyond the age limit to herself. How selfish! If I got my hands on it...

"Tomorrow, she'll come to the playground to watch our daily training. We'll..."

After discussing it with Tang San for over half an hour, Yu Xiaogang rose confidently and returned to his room to rest.

Author's Note

Some people think I wrote Yu Xiaogang too extremely. Here are a few points.

1. Yu Xiaogang was merely a transporter of knowledge, not a producer of it. His theories were basically just recycled ideas from others.

2. If placed in modern times, Yu Xiaogang's paper, Ten Core Competencies of Martial Soul, would have a plagiarism rate of 90%.

3. He plagiarized others and still took pride in it, thinking himself incredibly impressive.

4. To prove his theories, he searched everywhere for test subjects. Thankfully, Tang San had his own cheat, or he would have been completely led astray.

5. Yu Xiaogang did not even know what kind of Martial Soul Nine Heart Begonia was, nor did he know that absorbing ten-thousand-year spirit rings could cause spiritual shock. So much for being "invincible in theory."

6. In summary, Yu Xiaogang was merely a "scholar" who knew only how to plagiarize and possessed no real talent or learning. Sorry, that might be a bit insulting to the word "scholar."