Flender's Guidance, Dai Mubai's Transformation

Back in the dormitory, Dai Mubai was settled onto his bed.

The pain in his waist was subsiding, but something within his heart seemed to have shattered.

Oscar produced a Recovery Big Sausage and handed it to him, his tone filled with concern: "Mubai, eat some Recovery Big Sausage. You'll feel better faster."

Dai Mubai did not move, nor did he look at the sausage. His eyes stared blankly at the ceiling, his mind replaying every frame of the battle just now.

Xiao Qing's crisp and decisive movements had pierced through all his previous certainty and arrogance.

"Why?" His lips moved, his voice dry and hoarse. "Oscar, Xiao Qing, he... has he already broken through to become a Soul Elder? He must be a Soul Elder, right? Otherwise, how could he..."

He could not accept the fact that he had been so easily defeated by an opponent of the "same rank" or even "lower rank," so he could only attribute the cause to the other party hiding their level.

Seeing Dai Mubai's lost and soul-crushed appearance, Oscar felt worried and quickly said, "Mubai, don't overthink it. Just eat the sausage and recover first..."

Sensing that something was wrong with Dai Mubai's state, Oscar quickly put down the Recovery Big Sausage in his hand and turned to run out of the dormitory. "I'm going to find the Dean!"

Soon, Flender followed Oscar back to the dormitory.

He pushed up his glasses, his gaze landing on the vacant-eyed Dai Mubai on the bed. With Flender's experience, he saw through Dai Mubai's current state at a glance.

This was not merely the frustration of defeat; it was a fragile worldview, long built upon a sense of superiority and escapism, being cracked by a clean and decisive blow from reality.

Combining Dai Mubai's usual behavior with the rumors from the Star Luo Empire, Flender could roughly piece together the origin of the matter. Flender asked Oscar to step out first, then pulled up a chair and sat by Dai Mubai's bed without speaking immediately.

After a moment of silence, he spoke slowly, his voice lacking its usual calculating tone, replaced by a rare sense of calm.

"Feeling ashamed? Feeling incredulous? Feeling like some persistence you've held onto for so long has suddenly lost its meaning?"

Flender's words were direct, causing Dai Mubai's body to tremble slightly, but Dai Mubai still did not speak.

Flender continued: "I can roughly guess your background. The Dai Family of the Star Luo Empire, a loser in the competition, exiled here, feeling that the future is hopeless, giving up on yourself, using indulgence to numb yourself, telling yourself that this is the way a smart person lives, looking down on those 'fools' who are still struggling. Am I right?"

Dai Mubai turned his head sharply to look at Flender, and finally, there was emotion in his eyes—shock and the embarrassment of having his inner thoughts laid bare.

"Do you think Xiao Qing is a fool? Is Ma Hongjun a fool? Is Oscar a fool too?"

Flender smiled, a smile with complex undertones. "Dai Mubai, you come from a prominent background and have seen the world, but you may have never seen people who truly climb up from the mud step by step, and what that fire in their hearts looks like."

"That is not foolishness; that is unwillingness to yield. It is the desire to grasp even the slightest possibility of changing one's fate."

"You think your older brother is invincible and the rules of Star Luo cannot be changed, so you surrendered in advance and started enjoying your 'remaining life'."

Flender's voice turned serious. "But have you ever thought about whether what you are enjoying now is really what you want, or just an anesthetic you grabbed while escaping? If one day, even this anesthetic is gone, or you no longer have the qualifications to enjoy it, what will you have left?"

Dai Mubai pressed his lips together, his expression shifting.

"Oscar's second soul skill, the Clear Heart Sausage, can calm the mind and assist in meditation, increasing cultivation efficiency. You've known this for a long time."

Flender looked at him. "But you never thought of taking the initiative to ask for one to try, because you had long ago given up on the path of 'cultivation' in your heart. You thought it was useless."

"But look at Ma Hongjun. That sausage helped him control his Evil Fire and gave him hope. Even if it's just a little bit of hope, it's enough to let a person crawl up and move forward, rather than lying down and waiting for death."

"Your talent and your starting point are higher than most people here. You can continue to lie down, drown yourself in alcohol and beauty, until one day you rot away completely, or are cleaned up like trash by someone sent by that brother of yours."

Flender stood up, his tone heavy. "You can also choose to crawl up. Even if the road ahead has little hope, even if you still fail in the end, at least you will have died standing, and you will have struggled for yourself."

"Shrek Academy took you in not to give you a place to rot away. Whether to stay or leave, and how to walk your path, think it through yourself."

Having said this, Flender said no more, turned, and left the dormitory, gently closing the door behind him.

Only Dai Mubai was left in the dormitory. He lay on the bed, eyes open, sleepless throughout the night.

For the next few days, he was unusually silent. He no longer mentioned anything about pleasure, avoided interacting with others as much as possible, and only ate, attended classes, and then locked himself in the dormitory or sat in a daze in a corner of the academy.

No one disturbed him. Xiao Qing continued to cultivate at his own pace, Ma Hongjun worked hard to control his Evil Fire, and Oscar delved into his soul skills.

It wasn't until an evening a few days later that Dai Mubai suddenly spoke, his voice somewhat hoarse, as he asked a question.

He first asked Oscar: "Why are you working so hard to study your soul skills?"

Oscar was stunned for a moment, scratched his head, and said with a bit of embarrassment but great sincerity: "I want to become the greatest food-type soul master, so that all soul masters in the future will know my name!"

Dai Mubai was silent, then asked Ma Hongjun.

Ma Hongjun was chewing on dry rations with water, and upon hearing this, he grinned, his face oily: "Me? I just want to be able to fully control this Evil Fire one day and turn it into real power."

"Then I want to marry a beautiful and powerful wife who won't look down on me, and eat all the delicious food on the entire continent! That is my biggest dream!"

Finally, Dai Mubai's gaze turned to Xiao Qing, who was wiping a short blade.

Xiao Qing's tone was as flat as if he were commenting on the weather: "To master my own fate. I don't want to be arranged, I don't want to be threatened, and I don't want to lose what is important when I am powerless to resist. Becoming stronger is the only way."

Three answers, three different longings, yet equally clear and equally powerful.

That night, Dai Mubai suffered from insomnia again.

But this time, what churned in his mind was no longer humiliation, anger, or emptiness, but the light in Oscar's eyes, the longing on Ma Hongjun's face when he spoke of the future, and Xiao Qing's words about "mastering one's own fate."

He remembered the hard work during his training in the Star Luo Imperial Palace as a child, remembered his initial ambition to become stronger and win everything, and remembered the fear and unwillingness during his escape...

Flender's words echoed again: "At least you will have died standing, and you will have struggled for yourself."

Escapism and indulgence had not brought true happiness, only deeper emptiness and self-contempt.

Yet, the "foolish" effort could make Oscar's eyes shine, could make Ma Hongjun stand tall, and could give Xiao Qing that calm certainty.

Perhaps Flender was right; perhaps he could still struggle a little.

Even if only to avoid vanishing like common filth, even if only to live up to the talent and pride he once possessed.

The next morning, just as the sky began to pale with the first light of dawn.

Xiao Qing appeared on the academy's crude training ground right on time, as he always did, to begin his routine endurance run.

As he finished his first lap and turned onto the straightaway, his gaze swept past the starting line, and his footsteps faltered for a brief moment.

At the edge of the track, there was an extra figure.

The man was dressed in practical athletic wear, his golden hair slightly disheveled, and he was performing simple warm-up stretches with an expression of long-absent focus and tension.

It was Dai Mubai.

He did not look at Xiao Qing, focusing instead on loosening his joints, before taking a deep breath, lengthening his stride, and stepping onto the track to begin the true cultivation he had long since abandoned.