"Huh? What's he talking about?!"
"I didn't mishear him, did I?"
"Jiang Yang is way too arrogant, isn't he? He won't even show that sixth-year senior a shred of respect?"
"He didn't just disrespect that senior. He didn't even take Dean Qian seriously."
"Who couldn't tell Dean Qian was trying to make a big deal small and a small deal nothing? But he still said that. Doesn't that mean..."
As the crowd's discussion rose one after another,
Fan Yu, who had already been finding the scene hard to stomach, glared at Jiang Yang. "Which class are you a new student in? How dare you..."
"Heh..."
"It's been a long time since I've seen such a thorny student."
Dean Qian Duoduo's laughter cut Fan Yu off before he could finish.
"Fine. What was that fellow's name again?"
"Dean, his name is Jiang Yang."
"Oh, right. Jiang Yang, was it? I admire people with confidence like yours. Since that's the case, I'll give you a chance."
A chance?
At those words, the crowd's interest was instantly piqued again.
Everyone at Shrek Academy knew that Dean Qian Duoduo never made a losing bargain.
Nobody dared underestimate the price of snatching food from the tiger's jaws.
Since he'd called it a chance, that meant a tougher test was waiting down the road.
"If you can reach the standard of a Level 2 Soul Engineer within a year, I'll let this matter go and promote you to a core disciple of my Soul Tool Department. In addition, I'll personally take you on as my direct disciple. If you can't..."
"Then you can leave the academy yourself. Shrek Academy can accommodate an arrogant genius, but it won't accept a good-for-nothing who only knows how to boast."
"Well? Do you dare take that bet?"
After speaking, Dean Qian Duoduo stared at Jiang Yang without blinking.
He seemed to be trying to spot a trick in Jiang Yang's expression.
"Gasp—I didn't hear that wrong, did I? A core disciple of the Soul Tool Department? That's an honor only fourth-year seniors have a chance to earn!"
"Hmph! If I remember correctly, since the Soul Tool Department at Shrek Academy was founded, no new student has ever become a core disciple, aside from a few specially recruited students."
"Then... doesn't that mean Jiang Yang is going to make history?!"
"Tsk..."
Just as they were getting carried away with their discussion, someone scoffed and asked, "You don't actually think becoming a Level 2 Soul Engineer within a year is easy, do you?"
"There's no denying that this new student named Jiang Yang is strong in a fight, but combat strength isn't the same as the ability to craft."
"Wake up, you brainless Jiang Yang fanboys! Soul tools take brains! Brains, understand? Brains!"
"I bet he won't dare accept. If he does, I'll eat my hat!"
"Fine, I accept."
Right then, as soon as the person in the crowd whispering about Jiang Yang finished speaking,
Jiang Yang spoke up.
It was purely a coincidence, of course. Jiang Yang couldn't be bothered to listen to any of that chatter.
The reason he'd waited a while before answering Qian Duoduo
was simply part of his plan.
At Shrek's Outer Court, the Martial Soul Institute and Soul Tool Institute had always been locked in open and covert rivalry.
Because of his other Martial Soul, Jiang Yang's mental power was so strong that he could see every stir of wind and grass hundreds of meters away.
And that was without even activating his Martial Soul.
So he'd naturally sensed Qian Duoduo and Fan Yu, who thought they were hiding in the crowd to watch the show.
Jiang Yang had originally planned to study Soul Tool Technology at the Soul Tool Institute and try to repair the Emperor Belt, at least laying a solid foundation first.
That was why he'd chosen Class One. He'd wanted to use Zhou Yi's influence to get on Fan Yu's good side.
But
since Xu Sanshi had given him a chance to set this plan in motion today, he could skip Zhou Yi altogether.
He'd never cared for the way she tried to boost the whole class's advancement rate by expelling students she considered useless, all while dressing it up as "cultivating monsters."
If everyone taught like her, Shrek might as well expel everyone except the Shrek Seven Devils.
Then they could advertise that everyone who graduated from Shrek was guaranteed to become a Titled Douluo.
They could fire all the teachers below Titled Douluo too, and add another impressive slogan about their teachers.
That was only one issue.
As for Zhou Yi's training methods, they were even harder to stomach.
Jiang Yang was sure that any physical education teacher from his previous life could do no worse than her, and would very likely do much better.
At least a PE teacher knew that students should warm up before strenuous exercise.
After strenuous exercise, a PE teacher knew to have students massage one another or apply some medicinal lotion to prevent lingering injuries.
"Good. I admire people like you. Starting tomorrow, you can come study in my Soul Tool Department."
As soon as Qian Duoduo finished speaking in a stern voice, he left without looking back, his heart already dancing with delight.
Fan Yu wanted to say something, but seeing how things had turned out, he knew this wasn't the place for it.
So he could only follow along.
"Dean, why did you take on such an arrogant new student?"
After they'd walked for a while and reached a place with no one else around, Fan Yu finally asked.
"Fan Yu, you should've noticed that this child is a three-ring Soul Elder."
Qian Duoduo said with a smile. There was no one else around, so he didn't need to keep up the act.
"Huh? I was focused on Xu Sanshi and the others at the time, so I didn't notice. But even if he's a three-ring Soul Elder, that's no reason for you to go out of your way to recruit him, is it?"
Fan Yu asked again, still confused.
He knew his dean's temperament extremely well.
The dean had only said Jiang Yang needed to reach the strength of a Level 2 Soul Engineer. He hadn't said Jiang Yang had to earn a Level 2 Soul Engineer badge within a year!
Without a firm requirement to earn the badge, if Jiang Yang really failed to meet the standard, he could simply say he already had the ability of a Level 2 Soul Engineer but couldn't be bothered to get the badge.
He could still become a core disciple of the Soul Tool Department.
"What if I told you he also had Twin Martial Souls?"
"Twin Martial Souls? Dean, how do you know he has Twin Martial Souls?"
"Let me ask you this. If you were a new student and an ordinary three-ring Soul Elder, would you refuse to show the sixth-year senior at the Outer Court of the continent's number-one academy even a little respect? Would you show almost no reverence for me, the academy's dean, either?"
"This..."
Fan Yu fell silent.
Forget when he'd been Jiang Yang's age—even the thought of becoming a three-ring Soul Elder had been beyond him. Even if he really had become one,
he still wouldn't have dared challenge a sixth-year senior as soon as he arrived at the continent's number-one academy.
"Dean, you mean he must have something to back him up?"
After a long pause,
Fan Yu finally asked.
"Exactly."
"At first, I thought he came from a powerful background. But after thinking it over for a while, I guessed he probably wasn't a disciple of some reclusive sect."
"Besides, there aren't many students who can shatter Xu Sanshi with one punch without using their Martial Soul or Soul Power."
As Qian Duoduo spoke, he seemed already to be imagining how much he could expand the Soul Tool Academy after taking Jiang Yang on as a disciple.
"But, Dean, even if he has Twin Martial Souls and became a three-ring Soul Elder at such a young age, that still doesn't mean..."
"Enough. In your eyes, are only well-mannered students worthy of respect?"
"This... Dean, isn't good manners the bare minimum?"
"When you expel students without talent, do you ever think about manners? Your wife, Zhou Yi, has been making a mess of the Outer Court day after day. Shouldn't she be kicked out of Shrek Academy's teaching staff too?"
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