Forced Policy Change

"You... you've gone too far."

Having transformed into the Godly Taotie Bull, Xuanzi had no idea why he had ended up like this.

Compared to the drop in his cultivation, however, the reduction of his ninth soul ring to fifty thousand years was...

Du Busi's contemptuous behavior was even harder for him to accept.

His eyes turned bloodshot, and he began panting like a bull.

"So what if I bully you? This old man is going to beat you up too."

"You think I'm afraid of you?"

With a single disagreement, the two immediately came to blows.

A deafening boom erupted through the sky as Du Busi, Sect Master of the Body Sect, collided with Xuanzi.

For a hundred miles around, the entire sky changed color because of their battle. One side was a deep yellow, while the other was an imposing dark green.

Xuanzi was clearly no match for Du Busi. After only a few exchanges, he was sent flying backward, coughing up blood.

"Bastard! Du Busi, you're actually serious!"

Clutching his caved-in chest, Xuanzi plummeted uncontrollably toward Shrek Academy like a cannonball.

Blood sprayed wildly from his mouth.

Leaving streaks of crimson through the air.

To his horror, he realized that Du Busi had truly come to fight to the death.

"If I'm not serious, should I be faking it? Xuanzi, if you don't hand over Yan Shaozhe, you'll die here today. And the entire Shrek will be buried alongside you."

Du Busi had clearly not expected Xuanzi to be weakened to such an extent. For a moment, he genuinely considered killing him and wiping out Shrek.

"Du Busi, have you had enough? Why haven't you stopped yet?"

Just as Du Busi was about to press his advantage, a golden dragon hundreds of meters long appeared above Shrek Academy, bathing the entire academy in gold.

Xuanzi's rapidly retreating body entered the halo, and his speed instantly slowed.

A withered palm caught him steadily.

Du Busi's momentum faltered. "Sea God's Light... It's you, Mu En. You're not dead yet?"

"Du Busi, it has been many years. It seems you have not forgotten this old man." The owner of that withered hand revealed himself.

He was an elderly man with a hunched back.

Yet Du Busi refused to yield in the slightest. "Hmph, Mu En, I admit that I am no match for you."

"But if you do not hand over Yan Shaozhe today, or surrender the Secret of the Body—"

"Then even if I have to self-destruct my Soul Core, I will make Shrek Academy pay the price."

Mu En's head began to ache upon hearing this. Turning toward the rear, he said, "Shao Zhe, come here."

As soon as he spoke, Yan Shaozhe flew over in a streak of golden light.

His soul ring configuration remained two yellow, two purple, and five black, yet his Soul Power had strangely fallen from Rank 95 to Rank 94.

Seeing this, Mu En's headache worsened.

"Shao Zhe, Du Busi says you stole the Secret of the Body from the Body Sect. What do you have to say for yourself?"

Mu En asked.

Yan Shaozhe was already frustrated over the Spirit Department treasury being robbed,

And with his cultivation having inexplicably fallen,

He had long been holding back his anger.

Now that he heard this, he exploded.

"Bullshit! When did I ever steal the Secret of the Body? I don't even know where your Body Sect is! I have never left the academy from beginning to end, so what makes you say I stole it? I didn't steal anything..."

Yan Shaozhe shouted himself hoarse, practically roaring.

He felt utterly wronged.

"Because of this." Du Busi snorted coldly and directly pulled out Yan Shaozhe's gold card.

"Uh..." The people of Shrek were stunned.

That thing really did belong to Yan Shaozhe.

Yan Shaozhe became even more enraged. "So it was you who looted the Spirit Department treasury, and now you're turning around and accusing me? I'll fight you to the death!"

As he spoke, he was about to charge forward and attack despite his own limitations.

But Mu En stopped him with a shout. "Enough, Shao Zhe. Calm down."

Then he looked at Du Busi. "Du Busi, I more or less understand what happened. To be frank, your Body Sect was not the only one that lost something. Shrek lost something as well."

"As the dean of both the Inner Court and Outer Court of the Spirit Department, Shao Zhe controls more than half of the academy's liquid funds."

"But they were looted."

"The culprit left behind only an ice-attribute right arm bone of around seventy thousand years."

"I imagine your Body Sect suffered the same fate, and the mastermind even left Shao Zhe's gold card with you."

"Someone must be trying to provoke a war between Shrek and the Body Sect."

"Setting aside whether Shao Zhe even had the ability to steal your Secret of the Body."

"Even if he had stolen it, why would he leave evidence behind? And no one would be stupid enough to throw one hundred and fifty million Gold Soul Coins out in the open."

"Also, take a good look. Xuanzi was ambushed, lost an eye, and his Soul Power dropped to Rank 97."

"Shao Zhe also fell from Rank 95 to Rank 94."

"Doesn't this further prove that someone wants us to fight?"

How could Du Busi fail to understand this logic? But the fact that the Body Sect had lost the Secret of the Body was indisputable.

And the only evidence pointed toward Shrek.

Therefore, whether Shrek wanted to take the blame or not, it had no choice but to bear it.

"I don't care. No matter how eloquently you speak today, Shrek cannot escape responsibility. If you do not give us an explanation today, we will perish together."

Du Busi refused to back down.

"You think I'm afraid of you?" Yan Shaozhe was furious as well. With Mu En beside him, he actually dared to challenge Du Busi.

Yet he did not know that Mu En's body was in even worse condition than he imagined.

If they truly fought now, even if they could defeat Du Busi,

The price would not be something Shrek could bear.

Mu En waved his hand, signaling Yan Shaozhe to step back, then looked at Du Busi. "Tell me. What do you want?"

Only then did Du Busi grin. "First, Shrek must guarantee that the Secret of the Body will not be leaked."

"If a Body Martial Soul appears, that person must be sent to my Body Sect."

"To become a disciple of my Body Sect."

"Second, have that brat Yan Shaozhe withdraw the one hundred and fifty million Gold Soul Coins from this card as compensation for my Body Sect. In addition, compensate us with another fifty million Gold Soul Coins."

"Lastly, Shrek Academy must compensate my Body Sect with three soul bones above seventy thousand years."

Mu En fell silent for a moment before saying, "Those with Body Martial Souls may join the Body Sect only if the students are willing. You can have the one hundred and fifty million on the card, but the additional fifty million is impossible. Three seventy-thousand-year soul bones are also impossible. At most, I can give you fifty-thousand-year ones."

"Mu En." Upon hearing this, Yan Shaozhe felt so wronged he was nearly about to break down.

As the saying went, only those who wronged you knew just how wronged you were.

In his eyes, Shrek was clearly the one that had suffered the losses.

Yet in the end, it had to compensate someone else instead.

Where was the justice in that?

Mu En waved his hand, signaling him to remain calm.

"Hehe, fine." Du Busi had merely been making an exorbitant demand. Seeing Mu En agree, he readily accepted the compromise.

After all, in this world, strength was what spoke in the end.

Thus, the conflict between the Body Sect and Shrek ultimately ended with Shrek bleeding heavily.

The moment they returned to Sea God Pavilion, Yan Shaozhe knelt before Mu En and wept bitterly.

"Mu En, I have failed the academy. I am unworthy of serving as the dean of Shrek's Spirit Department."