Time Flies! One Year Later!

Everyone burst into laughter.

Ma Hongjun stood at the back of the crowd, looking at the imposing school gate while already thinking about the work that would follow.

The walls and gate were only appearances. What truly set an academy apart was what lay within. How the training grounds were paved, how the dormitories were repaired, how the classrooms were arranged—those were the things that determined an academy's quality. Now that they had the outward appearance, the substance could not fall behind.

The training ground hardening project proceeded almost in tandem with the construction of the walls.

The original packed-earth surface was dug down as a whole layer, covered with compacted gravel, and then laid with thick stone slabs. The slabs were roughly ground, providing sufficient traction without grinding someone's skin raw when they fell.

Around the training grounds, spaces were left for planting trees, following Ma Hongjun's suggestion. Zhao Wuji bought more than a dozen saplings from outside the city and directed the craftsmen to plant them one by one. Once they budded next spring, there would be shade in the summer.

"The climbing frames, balance beams, obstacle course equipment—those custom-made things aren't finished yet," Zhao Wuji said as he watched the workers plant trees, speaking to Ma Hongjun, who had come to inspect the progress. "The carpenters said they need another half a month before delivery."

"No rush," Ma Hongjun said. "Get the foundation done first. We can add the equipment gradually."

Zhao Wuji nodded, then suddenly seemed to remember something. He turned to Ma Hongjun. "Kid, when you talked about all this stuff, had you already planned it all out in your head?"

Ma Hongjun did not deny it.

"I've been thinking about it since the first day I came to the academy."

Zhao Wuji fell silent for a moment, then reached out and patted his head.

"Good. Keep thinking."

The dormitories and classrooms were renovated at the same time.

The original mud-brick houses were not torn down. Instead, they were reinforced and remodeled on their existing foundations. The exterior walls were freshly whitewashed, the roofs received new tiles, and the leaking problem was completely resolved.

The rooms received new bed boards, desks, and chairs. The bed boards were solid wood, thick and level, topped with newly made mattresses that were neither too soft nor too hard. The desks and chairs were newly built as well, sturdy and stable, no longer wobbling at the slightest touch.

Every dormitory was also equipped with a small stove for warmth during the winter.

Flender had initially thought stoves were a bit extravagant, but Ma Hongjun convinced him with a single sentence—"If the students catch colds from freezing in winter, it will delay their training and cost extra money for medicine. Buying stoves is actually saving money."

The cafeteria was the last place to begin construction.

Because it concerned their daily meals, they could not stop using the fires. They could only keep it running while construction continued. Shao Xin spent plenty of time coordinating schedules with the workers—when the stoves could be used, when they could not, when the flues needed to be altered—every detail had to be worked out.

Foreman Zhou grew somewhat irritated by all the trivial matters, but for the money's sake, he patiently arranged them one by one.

"Teacher Shao, once you get this cafeteria sorted out, even the head chefs at the restaurants outside won't compare to you," Foreman Zhou said jokingly one day.

Shao Xin replied with a cheerful smile, "Once it's done, you can come eat anytime. I won't charge you."

In the blink of an eye, half a month passed, and the project progressed fairly smoothly.

The walls, school gate, training ground foundation, and dormitory renovations—the major framework was essentially complete. All that remained were a few details and the installation of the custom equipment.

Every day after training, Ma Hongjun would stroll through the construction site, check the progress, and discuss matters with Zhao Wuji and Foreman Zhou. Some problems he had not considered would surface during construction and require temporary adjustments to the plans. Though Foreman Zhou loved to complain, he was truly diligent in his work. He always found a way to fulfill Ma Hongjun's requests.

One evening, Ma Hongjun returned from the construction site. As he passed the newly built wall, the setting sun happened to shine upon its bluestone surface, dyeing the entire wall gold.

He stopped and looked at the golden wall, suddenly recalling when he had first arrived at Shrek three months ago.

The Shrek of that time was completely different from the one before him now.

The earthen walls had fallen, and new walls had risen.

The old was gone, and the new had arrived.

Little by little, this academy was becoming what he wanted it to be. Not because of him alone, but because everyone was working toward the same goal.

Ma Hongjun withdrew his gaze and turned toward the dormitories.

Tomorrow, there would still be many things to do.

Time was the fairest thing in the world.

Whether you were rich or poor, whether your Soul Power was high or low, a day was still a day, and a year was still a year. There would never be more or less.

But for Ma Hongjun and Oscar, this year passed faster than any year before it.

They rose before dawn every day and put on their Weighted Armor for morning runs. After breakfast came combat training, followed by physical conditioning and various supplementary exercises in the afternoon. At night, they soaked in medicinal baths, meditated, and read. Day after day, cycle after cycle, there was scarcely a single day of interruption.

Flender would sometimes ask Oscar, "Tired?"

Oscar's answer was always three words: "Still alive."

Ma Hongjun never answered such questions. It was not that he was not tired; he simply felt that exhaustion was not worth mentioning. Cultivation was hardship by nature. Complaining could solve nothing and would only make others think you were incapable.

A year of grueling cultivation brought tangible results.

Ma Hongjun rose from level twenty-six to level thirty. Oscar rose from level twenty-seven to level thirty. The two stood at the threshold of Soul Elder at the same time. With only one Soul Ring missing, they could officially enter the ranks of level thirty.

Flender was both satisfied and dissatisfied with this pace.

He was satisfied because the two children had indeed lived up to their talents. Innate Full Soul Power, top-tier cultivation resources, scientific training methods, and uninterrupted medicinal bath conditioning—their rate of progress this year was among the best on the entire continent.

He was dissatisfied because Soul Elder was the true dividing line.

Before level thirty, cultivation speed mostly depended on talent and resources. As long as those with Innate Full Soul Power did not slack off, their path before level thirty was essentially unobstructed, like a rolling stone on a downhill slope—impossible to stop.

But after level thirty, the situation became entirely different.

No matter what one's Martial Soul was, no matter how high one's talent, everyone's cultivation speed would be forcibly slowed. It was no one's fault; it was the limit of the human body. Before level thirty, one developed potential. After level thirty, one surpassed one's limits.

Surpassing one's limits had never been easy.

That was why Flender had to get the two children to level thirty as soon as possible. The earlier, the better. The younger they were, the more malleable their bodies would be, and the higher their future limits. Once they missed the best period, the road ahead would only grow narrower and harder.

Now, Ma Hongjun and Oscar had not disappointed him.

A year ago, Shrek Academy had still been worrying about food. Now, it had completely changed.

The bluestone walls stood two meters tall, straight and orderly, enclosing the entire academy tightly. Dark blue flags were planted at intervals along the walls, their golden academy emblems embroidered upon them snapping loudly in the wind.