Ma Xiaotao

Eastern Douluo Continent.

Lima Plain.

A traditional ancient-style city sat on the plain, covering an enormous area. Its massive walls stretched away in both directions, and the three characters "Shrek" above the gate were written in bold, sweeping strokes that radiated a sharp, fierce aura.

On the map, Shrek Academy lay in the southeastern part of the Heaven Dou Empire. Star Dou Forest lay to its southeast, the Dou Ling Empire to the east, and the Star Luo Empire to the south. It could be said to occupy the heart of the border where the three empires met.

Shrek City was one of the largest cities on the Douluo Continent, with a population of over two million.

Because it sat at the heart of the borders between the three nations and maintained excellent public order, it was also the most important commercial city in the border region.

Shrek Academy had sole governing authority over the city and did not need to pay taxes to any country.

Shrek Academy was not in the center of Shrek City, but in its eastern part, facing toward Star Dou Forest.

The southern, western, and northern gates of Shrek City were open to anyone, but the eastern gate was reserved exclusively for Shrek Academy.

At that moment, however, the eastern gate was bustling. At least five thousand people had gathered outside it, forming a long queue. Today was the annual entrance examination for Shrek Academy.

At the front of one of the lines, an ordinary-looking female student sat behind a table with her head down, recording applicants' information one by one. She was extremely busy.

A shadow fell over the table. After finishing with the previous applicant's information, she said without looking up, "Let me see your recommendation letter."

That was right: to join Shrek, you needed at least a recommendation from a major city. If you didn't have one, why bother coming?

Of course, if your talent was enough to catch the attention of Shrek's senior officials, that was another matter.

A hand passed her an envelope. The small, pale hand holding it looked crystal-clear in the sunlight.

After verifying that the letter was genuine, the student casually tossed it into the wooden box behind her and continued, still with her head down:

"Name?"

"Ma Xiaotao."

"Age?"

"Eleven."

"Martial Soul?"

"Evil Fire Phoenix."

The student's writing hand suddenly stopped. As a student of Shrek, she knew this Martial Soul well—or rather, almost everyone did. After all, Ma Hongjun, one of the original Shrek Seven Devils, had started out with this very Martial Soul. He had gone on to become a god.

She looked up in shock. Before her stood a girl in a red dress, with a tapered face and pale pink eyes that seemed to captivate the soul. Long, wine-red waves fell down her back.

Though she was only eleven, her figure beneath the red dress was already well-developed. Her curves were particularly striking for someone her age, drawing the eye, and her slender waist only added to the vivid youthful energy she radiated.

The student glanced enviously at Ma Xiaotao's face and chest, then asked curiously, "Let's test your Soul Power, just in case someone's cheating or has sent someone else in their place."

A blue crystal ball sat on the table. Ma Xiaotao placed her palm on it, and a brilliant blue light flared at once.

"Thirty-one?!"

The crowd around them grew even more clamorous.

The student's jaw dropped. She was so shocked she forgot to write down the result.

"Is that enough?"

At the sound of the girl's slightly cool voice, the student finally came back to herself. She hurriedly said, "That's enough, that's enough. Go right in. There are a few more tests, but you'll definitely pass."

Ma Xiaotao nodded and turned to enter the city.

Among the crowd, someone cloaked from head to toe in black kept watching the girl in red until she disappeared from sight.

Inside Shrek Academy.

Sea God Island.

There were many buildings on Sea God Island, but only one was tall and imposing: Sea God Pavilion, at the center of the island. It had six floors above ground, each more than ten meters high, and was truly magnificent.

Whenever something important happened at Shrek Academy, a meeting was held in Sea God Pavilion. It was the academy's highest-level meeting.

At that moment, the grand meeting room in Sea God Pavilion was silent.

Ten people sat around an oval table. At the head of the table, however, stood a recliner in a dimly lit spot. From where they sat, they could only make out the indistinct shape of someone lying back on it.

"Now that everyone's here, let's begin."

A gentle voice rang out. Mu En shifted slightly in his recliner.

"I'll skip the unnecessary words. This meeting is mainly about the Sun Moon Empire, Soul Tools, and Evil Soul Masters."

Mu En then recounted his recent experiences in the Sun Moon Empire.

As they listened to Mu En's account, a heavy atmosphere settled over the meeting room. Even Xuanzi, who had been leisurely eating chicken legs and drinking, stopped. His expression grew grave.

"So, tell me what you think about the Sun Moon Empire's repeated wars and the Evil Soul Masters lurking in the shadows."

When Mu En finished, the room fell silent. No one spoke. They were clearly stunned, taking in what they had heard and considering what to say.

"I think our most urgent task is to make the Sun Moon Empire stop its wars!"

"Exactly. Too many people have died in the wars. They have to stop. That would also indirectly curb the growth of those Evil Soul Masters."

"But we're an academy. It wouldn't be appropriate for us to join a war rashly."

"Extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures. As the continent's number-one academy, we should protect peace across the continent!"

"But wars don't stop just because we want them to. We should focus on suppressing the Evil Soul Masters first, before they grow any stronger."

"Can you even find the Evil Soul Masters?"

Everyone voiced their opinions. They argued until they were red in the face, spittle flying, but still couldn't agree on an answer.

"All right, I'll share my thoughts," Mu En said helplessly.

The meeting room, which had just sounded like a marketplace, quieted at once. Everyone sat up straight and listened to Mu En.

"As an academy, we hold a special position. Unless absolutely necessary, we shouldn't enter the war lightly. Doing so could very well cause it to break out in full ahead of time. For now, we'll set that matter aside.

"The Evil Soul Masters must be suppressed. Starting today, the Shrek Inspectorate will increase its manpower, especially within the Sun Moon Empire. Search thoroughly, and report immediately if you discover any Evil Soul Masters.

"Also, we should allocate more of the academy's resources to the Soul Guidance Department. I know many of you have reservations about Soul Tools. Soul Masters may still possess the strongest top-level combat power, but we can't deny that the future belongs to Soul Tools. We shouldn't let the glories of Soul Masters' past blind us and make us complacent, only to be left behind by the times.

"That's all for now. Does anyone have any objections?"

Yan Shaozhe, the dean of the Martial Soul Department, opened his mouth when he heard the last part, but in the end chose to remain silent.

The others said even less.

"Then it's settled. That's the end of the meeting."

Mu En waved a hand and said calmly, "Xuanzi, stay behind."

Xuanzi paused, turning back after starting to leave with the others, and returned to Mu En's side.

A moment later.

Only Mu En, lying in his recliner, and Xuanzi, standing behind him, remained in the meeting room.