A Ruined Life

At the same time, at Shrek Academy.

Thud.

That was the sound of a stone hitting the ground.

Upon hearing the Heavenly Curtain mention Shrek's mandatory activity, Ning Rongrong and the others, who had been running, felt their resolve shatter on the spot.

Right, they came to Shrek Academy to learn real skills.

What about the simulated training?

Without saying a word, they were just made to run?

They understood this was about building a foundation, but the youngest among them was twelve, and the oldest, Dai Mubai, was already fifteen.

Shouldn't they be taught something more advanced?

Even Tang San fell into deep doubt.

The Ten-Year Solitary Bamboo broadcast earlier by the Heavenly Curtain, and now they were made to run carrying stones.

This training method had no substance at all, right?

Might Guy's extreme training was still for unlocking the Eight Gates, but Yu Xiaogang taught no techniques at all, just making them run with stones.

What could this kind of training produce? Was Yu Xiaogang going to turn Tang San into a running god?

"Tang San, let's go back and ask Master if there are any other training options."

"Alright."

On the other side, Yu Xiaogang had no idea that while the video was about Zhou Yi, the boomerang was about to hit him.

Peerless Tang Sect.

Zhou Yi's face remained calm, but she quietly clenched her hands.

The video playing on the Heavenly Curtain gave her a very bad feeling!

Meanwhile, Yan Shaozhe stared fixedly at the Heavenly Curtain, his expression extremely grim.

He never expected that Zhou Yi's husband was Fan Yu, one of Qian Duoduo's subordinates.

And Zhou Yi was using Fan Yu's reputation to arbitrarily expel students.

However, Yan Shaozhe had no idea yet how furious he would be after watching the rest of the Heavenly Curtain's video.

The scene shifted.

Under the threat of expulsion from Zhou Yi, the students finally struggled through one hundred laps.

But a glint of coldness flashed in Zhou Yi's eyes.

In a detached, utterly cold voice, she called out the names of the students.

A total of nine people were named by Zhou Yi.

Those whose names were called stepped out of the line with uneasy hearts, and then Zhou Yi announced their expulsion.

Hearing this news, the nine students felt as if struck by lightning.

Some wanted to say something, but the next second, the pressure Zhou Yi released scared them back into silence.

"What, not convinced? Some people have backing, you don't. I only look at results, not the process. Get lost now!"

"If you make me angry again, I'll cripple your martial souls right here."

The Heavenly Curtain's video stopped there, but the sound of her words echoed clearly in everyone's ears.

"This is our Teacher Zhou Yi's excellent teaching method."

"These students had already passed Shrek Academy's selection, but Zhou Yi still conducted her own screening."

"Why is that?"

"Zhou Yi keeps saying she's looking at the students' attitudes, but if that's the case, why set a rule of finishing one hundred laps within an hour?"

The Heavenly Curtain's voice suddenly rose. "Zhou Yi is talking nonsense. Saying she's looking at attitudes—she's clearly using these one hundred laps to weed out students with weaker foundations."

"Everyone can admit that among these nine expelled students, there were indeed some who could finish but deliberately slacked off."

"But there were also those who simply couldn't complete the run!"

At this moment, the Heavenly Curtain's words struck Zhou Yi's heart like sharp knives.

Tearing apart her hypocritical facade.

Zhou Yi was still forcing herself to stay calm on the surface, but her trembling body betrayed her true state of mind.

It's not like that, it's not like that.

She did this for the students' good, to make them obedient.

Even now, Zhou Yi was still putting on a front.

But the next video completely tore off Zhou Yi's mask, revealing her ugly true face.

At that moment, the Heavenly Curtain's scene shifted, no longer a god's-eye view.

Instead, the perspective switched to that of someone watching the Heavenly Curtain.

"Your name is Xiaoqiang. You're a child from an ordinary family on the Douluo Continent—neither wealthy nor poor.

When you turned six, you encountered the most important milestone of your life: your Martial Soul awakening. Amidst anxiety and unease, you successfully awakened your Martial Soul.

Fortunately, although your parents weren't powerful soul masters, your Martial Soul mutated in a favorable direction. Your Innate Soul Power was at level six.

Seeing your Innate Soul Power at level six, your parents were overjoyed. To celebrate, they even held a special feast for you.

But after the celebration, the joy on your parents' faces was replaced by worry.

Because you needed to train and go to school—all of which required money to support. Yet your family was just an ordinary household.

After one night passed, your father stepped out, patted you on the shoulder, looked at you without saying a word, and then resolutely left home.

You knew—your father had gone out to earn money for you.

At the same time, your mother began mending clothes for the neighbors and took on odd jobs whenever she had free time.

You understood—they did all this so that you could rise above in the future, walk the path they never walked, and see the sights they never saw.

From then on, you trained diligently. With scarce resources and no teacher to guide you, you still managed to meet the admission standards of Shrek Academy—and successfully enrolled!

When you received the admission letter from Shrek Academy, the highest institution on the Douluo Continent, you wept with joy and ran to your parents.

Upon learning that you had been admitted to Shrek, your mother hugged you tightly, her body trembling, crystal tears shining in her eyes.

But at that moment, you suddenly noticed the wrinkles rising on your once beauty-loving mother's forehead, and the conspicuous white hairs among her black locks.

The joy in your heart vanished completely. You made a firm resolve—you would study hard at Shrek Academy, rise above, and repay your father."

Seeing this, nearly everyone on the Douluo Continent was drawn into the immersive perspective.

In Xiaoqiang's figure, they all saw shadows of themselves to varying degrees.

It was as if, at that very moment, they were Xiaoqiang in the Heavenly Curtain.

Their eyes were fixed on the Heavenly Curtain, wishing they could instantly arrive at the moment of achieving success and repaying their parents.

Though cliché, this was what everyone in their hearts longed for.

Even Yan Shaozhe's anger was soothed by this sudden video.

Thank goodness for this video—otherwise, Shrek's reputation really would have been ruined by Zhou Yi.

Based on this first half, it was clearly an inspirational story about a poor youth who, through his own efforts, came to Shrek and then repaid his parents.

He made a decision—record this video immediately and broadcast it in a loop across the entire continent.

This would be Shrek Academy's recruitment video.

But the next second, the smile on Yan Shaozhe's lips froze.

"Soon, the day of the new semester arrived.

On this day, your father, who had been working away from home, even came specially to see you off for enrollment. Under your parents' hopeful gazes, you entered Shrek Academy.

But at this moment, you still didn't know that you were about to face the darkest moment of your life—and meet the person who would ruin you forever."