Huo Yuhao wasn't intimidated. He cupped his hands toward the two women in a straightforward, easygoing manner. "Thank you, sisters, for letting me hitch a ride. Otherwise, I don't know how long it would've taken me to get there on my own."
Then he found a seat in the carriage that kept a little distance between himself and the two women.
Zhang Lexuan and Han Ruoruo saw that the young man was handsome and refined, and polite without overstepping. They couldn't help feeling a little fond of him.
Zhang Lexuan had always been quiet by nature, but Han Ruoruo, sitting beside her, was different. She was more outgoing.
Besides, the two were students of Shrek Inner Court. They spent most of their time cultivating in the Inner Court, and even when they went out on missions, they rarely spoke with people from outside the academy.
Seeing Huo Yuhao, who was still so young, traveling alone, Han Ruoruo immediately grew curious.
Han Ruoruo asked, "Little brother, are you going to Shrek City alone to take the entrance exam for Shrek Academy?"
Huo Yuhao nodded.
Han Ruoruo continued, "Little brother, did you bring the tuition required for the entrance exam and a recommendation letter from the lord of a major city in one of the three kingdoms?"
"Huh? You need those things to take Shrek's entrance exam?" Huo Yuhao was taken aback.
He remembered the general direction of the original story, but he'd genuinely forgotten that Shrek Academy required a recommendation letter from a city lord.
Now that she'd reminded him, he recalled that the original story did indeed require both things to register for Shrek.
"Then are you under twelve this year, with a Soul Power Level above twenty-one?" Han Ruoruo asked, frowning.
Where had this clueless kid come from? He didn't know a thing, yet he was going to apply to Shrek Academy?
"I'm eleven this year, and my Soul Power is only at level fifteen," Huo Yuhao replied.
Han Ruoruo shook her head. "Then I'd still advise you to go back for now, little brother. Your Soul Power doesn't meet Shrek's standards. Don't go all that way just to fail the exam and waste your effort."
Huo Yuhao, however, said calmly, "I still want to give it a try. If Shrek Academy doesn't want me, then all that proves is that they have no judgment."
Han Ruoruo raised an eyebrow. "Well, look at you. You're still a little kid, but you've got quite the big mouth. Shrek Academy is the number one academy on the continent, and it's been that way for ten thousand years. If they don't accept you, that means they have no judgment?"
Huo Yuhao didn't care. "That's right. In my eyes, Shrek Academy may be called the number one academy on the continent, but it also has many backward, decadent, feudal aspects.
"If Shrek Academy didn't exist, I think the Douluo Continent might be better off."
Those words displeased Han Ruoruo. Even Zhang Lexuan, who had been sitting quietly beside her, furrowed her brow.
The two had studied at Shrek Academy since childhood, in both the Inner Court and the Outer Court. They had spent most of their lives at Shrek, and to them, the academy was like home.
Shrek's history, glory, teaching, and everything else were sources of pride to them. They wouldn't allow anyone to slander it.
Hearing Huo Yuhao speak that way made them both angry.
Zhang Lexuan at least remained seated without saying anything, but Han Ruoruo immediately snorted and glared at Huo Yuhao. "You brat, you're still a snot-nosed little kid. What do you know about what's good or bad about Shrek Academy? Say it to my face: what about Shrek Academy is backward, decadent, and feudal?
"And why would the continent be better off without Shrek Academy? If you can't give me a proper explanation, I'll throw you off this carriage right now!"
Huo Yuhao wasn't particularly surprised by their reaction.
People of this era could only see Shrek's achievements and glory. They couldn't see its shortcomings. That was the limitation of their times.
He had only formed this opinion after learning the history of the entire Douluo Continent, so naturally his views differed from theirs.
"What I said just now was only my personal opinion. If you want to hear it, I'll explain.
"If you think I've said anything wrong, you can refute me. If you convince me that I'm wrong, I'll get off the carriage myself. How about that?"
"Hmph, fine. An eleven-year-old kid wants to debate me now? Let's hear what you have to say first."
Han Ruoruo gave a disdainful snort.
She wanted to hear what sort of brilliant argument an eleven-year-old brat could come up with.
"First, I think the most backward and rotten policy at Shrek Academy is its admissions system. The most unreasonable part is the rule requiring a recommendation letter from the lord of a city in one of the three kingdoms.
"That single rule has already blocked who knows how many talented Soul Masters from entering Shrek. Children from many commoner families have no connections to help them reach a city lord and get a recommendation letter. And even if some of them go through countless hardships to find a city lord, what guarantee is there that the city lord will actually write them one?
"In the end, countless talented children can only gaze longingly at Shrek's gates."
Huo Yuhao spoke calmly.
"Hey, what do you know? Do you even know what 'Shrek' means?
"Ten thousand years ago, a Shrek was an ugly-looking Spirit Beast, and people called that kind of Spirit Beast a monster. In other words, Shrek Academy is the Monster Academy. The Martial Souls of the students we admit have to be high quality.
"If a city lord recognizes the quality of your Martial Soul and recommends you to Shrek Academy, that counts as a political achievement for him. Why wouldn't he be willing to write such a letter?"
Han Ruoruo retorted.
Huo Yuhao smiled. "Heh. Is that so? From what I know of those city lords, recommendation letters like these might have long since become tools they use to line their own pockets."
"When it comes to powerful Soul Master clans, nobles, and sects, those city lords are practically servants, all too eager to present recommendation letters with both hands.
"But for truly gifted Soul Masters from commoner families, getting one is harder than climbing to heaven."
"Over time, Shrek Academy has long since become a private garden controlled by nobles, clans, and sects. What proportion of its students are truly commoners?
"The clearest example is the Shrek Seven Devils. For ten thousand years, how often has their lineup been anything but more of the same? They blindly chase the glory of ten thousand years ago, with White Tiger, Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon, Phoenix, Hell Spirit Cat, and Seven Treasures Glazed Pagoda Martial Souls showing up again and again. Doesn't that prove how backward Shrek has been for ten thousand years?"
Huo Yuhao laid bare the bloody reality. "Shrek today is no longer a pure academy. It's more like the Spirit Hall of ten thousand years ago, using its influence to become a towering power on the continent.
"But in some ways, it's even more frightening than the Spirit Hall was back then. None of the Douluo Three Kingdoms would dare offend it. The only difference is that back then the Spirit Hall was ruled by the Angel Spirit and the Qian Clan. As for which Martial Soul holds power at Shrek now, I don't know—but there's definitely someone."
Zhang Lexuan and Han Ruoruo's expressions changed dramatically.
Han Ruoruo was furious, fire almost spitting from her eyes.
But after hearing Huo Yuhao's words, Zhang Lexuan's face took on an extremely complicated expression.
Was Huo Yuhao wrong? She desperately wanted to refute him.
But she couldn't, because she knew very well that the young man before her wasn't merely right—he was completely right.
She herself was a living example. After awakening her Martial Soul, she had once hoped to join Shrek through the normal channels and study there. But because she couldn't get a recommendation letter from a city lord, she was left wandering from place to place. If Mu En hadn't discovered her extraordinary talent and brought her back to Shrek, she wouldn't now be the senior sister of the Inner Court.
As for the Martial Soul lineage that Huo Yuhao said currently held power at Shrek, none of the Inner Court's students knew that secret. But she was the one who knew it best. Wasn't the lineage he meant the Bright Sacred Dragon's Martial Soul inheritance—the line of Grandmaster Yu Xiaogang, one of Shrek's founders ten thousand years ago?
She, Zhang Lexuan, was the child bride of the next heir in that lineage.
Backward, feudal, decadent?
Those words really struck at the heart.
She mocked herself inwardly.
Then she shifted her gaze to Huo Yuhao.
The boy wore plain clothes, and his outer garment was so faded from washing that it had several patches.
How could a child so young know these secrets?
Who was he?
Before you continue