Outer Court Life

Yan Shaozhe waved his hand, tossed a storage ring directly to Mu Guiyun, and left the study in high spirits, giving him no chance to go back on his word.

On the other side, the usually fiery and sharp-tongued Ma Xiaotao seemed like a different person. She huddled in the corner, clutching a pillow tightly to her chest. Her charming face, just beginning to show its allure, was flushed red, and even the way her eyes darted about was filled with unspeakable shyness.

Cai Mei'er watched her with a knowing smile, her gaze so undisguised that Ma Xiaotao wished she could find a crack in the ground to crawl into.

As a seasoned master of emotional manipulation, Cai Mei'er coaxed the naive Ma Xiaotao into spilling all her little secrets within just a few minutes.

"Xiaotao, what you're worried about is just your mind playing tricks on you. Besides, if we really went by seniority, Xuan Zi is of the same generation as Shaozhe."

Cai Mei'er comforted her in a soft, gentle voice. As Ma Xiaotao's foster mother, she would absolutely give her blessing if the two could truly be together in the future.

Before Mu Guiyun awakened his martial soul, Ma Xiaotao had always been the pride of Shrek Academy, her talent surpassed only by Zhang Lexuan, and even that was only because of the burden of her Phoenix Evil Fire.

As Ma Xiaotao grew older, the issue with the evil fire became increasingly severe, and now it showed faint signs of spiraling out of control.

"This is the ring Guiyun gave you back then, right? Black Emperor Star, what a lovely name."

Seeing that Ma Xiaotao remained silent, Cai Mei'er just smiled gently, then took her delicate hand and said softly, "Xiaotao, do you know the origin of this ring?"

The origin?

Ma Xiaotao shook her head in confusion, her gaze falling on the jet-black ring inlaid with a ruby on the middle finger of her right hand.

She only knew that this Black Emperor Star was a gift from Mu Guiyun to celebrate her breakthrough to Soul Ancestor.

"Silly child."

Feeling the cold touch of the ring, Cai Mei'er's eyes drifted into reminiscence: "When Guiyun awakened his martial soul, two stones inexplicably fell off his martial soul. One of them was what he used to craft this Black Emperor Star."

"If a person is willing to entrust a part of their own martial soul to you, doesn't that represent your status in his heart?"

"Have you heard? A transfer student is coming to our class today!"

"How is that possible? The academy's enrollment period passed long ago, and even the freshman assessment is over. Who could have enough influence to make Shrek Academy open a back door?"

"What do you know? Don't we already have a prime example in our class?"

The freshman lowered his voice, casting a subtle glance toward the back row, the implication clear.

At the back of the classroom, a black-haired girl ignored the surrounding noise, sitting alone in the corner. Her delicate face was devoid of expression, as if she were a walking corpse.

"Everyone, quiet down!"

A voice imbued with soul power reached everyone's ears, and the noisy classroom instantly fell silent.

The freshmen turned their eyes toward the classroom door, where their homeroom teacher, Vivian, appeared with a smile, followed by a handsome young man.

"Today, a new student will be joining our Grade One Class One. Let's give him a round of applause!"

Vivian wore a gentle smile and started clapping first. The other students followed suit, though their eyes remained filled with scrutiny as they looked at Mu Guiyun.

As the applause died down, Vivian looked at Mu Guiyun, her tone uncharacteristically gentle: "New student, please give us a brief self-introduction."

Hearing this, Mu Guiyun stepped forward and smiled: "Hello everyone, my name is Mu Guiyun, martial soul Elemental Stone, a level 29 Power Attack System Soul Grand Master!"

Level 29! How terrifying!

The students gasped in unison. As they sized up Mu Guiyun's still-youthful face, they tucked away their arrogance, their eyes filled with awe.

Vivian was very satisfied with their reactions and turned to say softly: "Student Mu Guiyun, go find a seat first."

Mu Guiyun nodded, his gaze locking onto the black-haired girl in the corner.

While everyone else was shocked by his Soul Power Level, only this little girl had remained unmoved from start to finish; she hadn't even looked up, let alone shown surprise.

This piqued Mu Guiyun's curiosity.

"Interesting."

Under the expectant gazes of the crowd, Mu Guiyun slowly walked to the back row and sat down, causing a flicker of disappointment in the hearts of some girls from sects or noble families.

After tidying up his belongings and looking at the podium, which was a fair distance away, Mu Guiyun nodded in satisfaction.

Since he was at school, the further away from the teacher, the better. Surely no one actually wanted to sit next to the podium?

Those were the seats for the "left and right guardians," and Mu Guiyun had no desire for such a burden.

"As expected of the Shrek Outer Court; compared to the Inner Court, the environment is like heaven and earth."

Mu Guiyun clicked his tongue inwardly, but the thought of the storage ring Yan Shaozhe had given him made that tiny bit of dissatisfaction vanish.

It couldn't be helped; the Senior Brother had given him far too much!

Vivian was on the podium, passionately explaining the curriculum, while Mu Guiyun's mind wandered elsewhere.

For true geniuses, the Inner Court was the ultimate goal; the Outer Court was merely a social platform for expanding one's network.

"I wonder how long until the Senior Sister breaks through to become a Soul Douluo..."

Recalling the tragedy from the original story, a sense of unprecedented gravity rose in Mu Guiyun's heart.

The fall of eight Inner Court elites dealt an unprecedented blow to Shrek Academy.

And the culprit behind it all was none other than the Taotie Douluo, Xuan Zi!

Thinking of that unreliable old man, Mu Guiyun felt a headache coming on. In the original story, the two major disasters at Shrek Academy were both caused by his negligence.

If not for Xuanzi's unwavering loyalty to Shrek Academy, Mu Guiyun would have suspected he was a mole sent by the Holy Spirit Cult!

When it came to the sheer damage caused to the academy, the Holy Spirit Cult might not even compare to Xuanzi...

Sigh, let's see if there's any chance to salvage this.

Mu Guiyun sighed inwardly and began to ponder a solution; subconsciously, he had already come to view Shrek Academy as his own possession.

"Class dismissed. You are free to do as you please this afternoon!"

The bell pulled Mu Guiyun back to reality. As soon as Vivian left, a group of girls swarmed forward, surrounding him so tightly that not even a drop of water could pass through.

A petite girl with decent features but a flat figure spoke up first: "Hello there, classmate! My name is Su Xiaoxiao. Could you—ouch! What are you doing!"

Before she could finish, she was shoved aside by a busty young woman: "Hello there, handsome! My name is Qiu Li! My Martial Soul is a harmonica, and I'm quite skilled at oral techniques~"

After saying this, she didn't forget to flaunt her proud figure.

Mu Guiyun: ...