Xuan Zi: I'll Personally Take Him as My Disciple

At the far end of the long table, directly opposite the main entrance, the head seat was completely empty.

However, if someone looked closely, they would notice a recliner not far behind the head seat, near the window.

An old man was lying on a deckchair.

The old man was thin and frail. He wore a faded gray robe, his face was covered with deep wrinkles, and his eyes were half-closed, as if he might fall asleep at any moment.

The recliner swayed gently with his faint breathing, mingling with the sound of waves coming from outside the window.

The commotion Sea God Pavilion seemed to have nothing to do with him.

"Smack!"

A sharp crack suddenly shattered the silence inside the pavilion.

Xuan Zi slammed his greasy hand down on the table in front of him, making the teacups on the table jump.

His yellowish-brown eyes were wide open, filled with disbelief.

"Yan Shaozhe!" His voice rose several decibels, trembling slightly. "Is all the information on here true?!"

The other Elder also raised their heads, and more than a dozen pairs of eyes fell on Yan Shaozhe.

They were all waiting, waiting for Yan Shaozhe to give an answer.

Yan Shaozhe stood at the end of the long table, a slow smile curving his lips.

"Of course it's true." His voice wasn't loud, but it clearly reached everyone's ears. "Even if you gave me a million lives, I wouldn't dare to lie about something like this."

After he finished speaking, the room fell into a brief silence.

Immediately...

"Hiss!!!"

Someone gasped first, and then, as if it were contagious, gasps echoed around the long table.

Even the Elder who had seen countless geniuses and weathered countless storms couldn't help but be moved at this moment.

"An eleven-year-old Soul Ancestor... In my one hundred and ninety-three years of life, I have never heard of such a thing!"

"How did he manage to Soul Ring Configuration? The age of the Second Soul Ring must be over five thousand years old, right?"

"Twin Martial Souls, one a mysterious Spirit Type, the other the Ultimate Ice —they must be the darlings of the heavens!"

"Unprecedented, absolutely unprecedented!"

The murmurs around the long table grew louder.

These usually stern and composed old men were now like children who had discovered a treasure, arguing excitedly one after another.

As time passed, the discussions gradually subsided, and the Sea God Pavilion returned to silence.

All eyes were now focused on Yan Shaozhe.

"Yan Shaozhe, this child must be taught seriously; he is the future of the academy."

Lin Huiqun looked at Yan Shaozhe with a serious expression.

But then he changed the subject. "In my opinion, keeping him in the Outer Court is a waste of time. We should bring him directly into the Inner Court and have me personally teach him."

As soon as he said this, several pairs of eyes immediately fell on him around the long table.

However, before anyone else could speak, the person sitting opposite him had already taken the lead.

"Old Lin is right, Huo Yuhao should indeed enter the Inner Court, but..."

"You personally instructing me? That's probably inappropriate, considering you possess a weapon spirit."

Lin Huiqun raised an eyebrow and looked at the speaker, who was none other than Zhuang Yusen, the Life Douluo.

She gave a forced smile and said, "So what if I have a weapon spirit? Don't think I don't know what you're up to. You just want to be Huo Yuhao's teacher, don't you?"

"But your Tree of Life is Plant-type Martial Soul, so it's not suitable either."

Zhuang Yusen retorted, "Why am I unsuitable? My martial soul is of the Life God attribute, and I cultivate attribute abilities."

The two went back and forth, arguing fiercely, and it looked like they were about to start a fight.

Just then, a woman's voice broke in. "You two, stop arguing."

The person speaking was seated to the right of the head of the long table; he was no ordinary person.

She is none other than Song Yunzhi, the current number three figure in the academy Green Shadow Douluo.

She smiled faintly, her gaze sweeping over Lin Huiqun and Zhuang Yusen: "Huo Yuhao's Second Martial Soul is Beast Martial Soul, while you two have a weapon martial soul and a Plant-type Martial Soul, respectively. There's a gap between you two when it comes to teaching each other. I'm the most suitable person to handle this matter."

Lin Huiqun: "..."

Zhuang Yusen: "..."

The two exchanged a glance, both seeing the same message in each other's eyes: neither would back down!

"Teaching students is more about experience than about whether their martial spirits are similar."

"That's not what you said before!"

"Shut up..."

"Please calm down, both of you, and listen to me..."

For a moment, the Sea God Pavilion seemed to erupt into chaos.

The three Elders, who were usually aloof and dignified, were now arguing heatedly, their faces flushed.

If the students from the Outer Court were to see this scene, they would probably be so shocked that their eyes would pop out.

"Smack!"

A sharp crack suddenly rang out, making the teacups on the table vibrate.

Everyone fell silent and looked in the direction of the sound.

Xuan Zi had stood up at some point, slamming his greasy hand on the table, his yellowish-brown eyes slowly sweeping over everyone present.

"All of you, stop arguing."

"Huo Yuhao... I will personally teach him."

As soon as he finished speaking, an eerie silence fell over the room.

Immediately...

"No!"

Almost everyone shouted out those two words in unison, as if they had rehearsed them countless times.

Faced with a prodigy like Huo Yuhao, which of the Elder in the Sea God Pavilion wouldn't want to take him on as a disciple?

Xuan Zi was no exception.

Although he's slovenly and unreliable, he still has a good eye for things.

A talent like Huo Yuhao is so rare that one might not appear even once in a thousand or ten thousand years.

What a glorious thing it would be to be accepted as a disciple and personally trained!

Currently, Sea God Pavilion Mu En is seriously injured and has not been involved in affairs for many years.

Looking across the entire Shrek Academy, in terms of seniority and strength, if Xuan Zi claims to be second, who dares to claim to be first?

Logically speaking, Xuan Zi is indeed the most suitable candidate.

However, the current unanimous boycott is not due to his ability, but rather his reputation.

Of course, this reputation is not a good one.

After all, everyone present remembered that incident from a few years ago very clearly.

That year, Xuan Zi led more than a dozen talented students from the academy to the Star Dou Great Forest to Soul Hunting.

No one expected that they would encounter a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast in the mixed zone.

If Xuan Zi had been present at the time, with his strength, protecting the students and ensuring their safe retreat would have been no problem at all.

But the problem is... he's not here.

He, who was supposed to be always there to protect the trainees, actually went to raid bird nests for a bite to eat!

When he returned, satisfied after looting the bird's nest, he found the camp in complete disarray, covered in shocking bloodstains, and only a handful of survivors among the dozen or so genius students.

Those children were all geniuses carefully selected by the Shrek Academy, future pillars nurtured with countless efforts.

But because of Xuan Zi, they turned into cold corpses.

This incident became an indelible stain on Xuan Zi's life and an unspoken pain for everyone at the Shrek Academy.

With such a precedent in mind, how could anyone possibly entrust Huo Yuhao to him?

If this unparalleled genius were to suffer an accident due to his momentary negligence, who could bear the loss to the Shrek Academy?

Xuan Zi stood by the long table, looking at everyone's unanimous refusal and the complicated looks they gave him. His expression froze for a moment.

Then he understood.

He opened his mouth as if to say something, but the words caught in his throat.

He didn't insist any further, but slowly sat down, his face now showing only desolation.

He leaned back in his chair, his gaze lowered, as if he had aged considerably in an instant.

Just then, an aged voice slowly broke the suffocating silence.

What are you fighting over here?

The old man who had been resting with his eyes closed on the recliner had opened them at some point.

"If you want to keep Huo Yuhao, this genius, and if you want him to be loyal, shouldn't you at least ask for his opinion first?"

Mu En's voice wasn't loud, but it struck everyone's heart like a heavy hammer.

Everyone fell silent.

These Elder of the academy have been aloof and superior for far too long.

So long ago, we've forgotten that those students are also living, breathing people with their own thoughts and choices.

In their eyes, for Titled Douluo to want to take on a disciple was an immense favor; why wouldn't the other party rush to agree?

Yan Shaozhe remained silent for a moment, then raised his head, looked at the old man on the recliner, and asked respectfully, "Teacher, shall I invite Huo Yuhao here and ask him in person?"