"Everything will be arranged by your academy." Xu Tianyao nodded. Before long, the convoy set off again, and at last he saw the full extent of Shrek City.
In a word, it was magnificent. Unlike the futuristic feel of the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineer Academy, Shrek City was steeped in history.
The people of Shrek Academy City gathered to watch Xu Tianyao's party pass. Most of them had never traveled far from home, so they were very curious about these foreigners.
Xu Tianyao naturally didn't hide inside the carriage. He stood on its open platform, holding Meng Hongchen's hand and waving to the people, with the bearing of a leader.
Of course, most of the people regarded them with hostility. To the Douluo Three Kingdoms, after all, they were nothing less than invaders. There was no changing that.
Escorted by the city guards, they passed through a street and finally arrived at the main entrance of Shrek Academy.
By then, quite a few teachers and students had gathered outside the entrance.
They had obviously been informed beforehand. There was no shouting or commotion, and everything was orderly.
Yan Shaozhe was waiting in front of the entrance. Led by Qian Duoduo, Xu Tianyao brought the Sun Moon Empire's exchange student delegation to meet and get acquainted with the teachers of Shrek Academy.
"Dean Yan, I hope you'll look after us over the coming year." Xu Tianyao stood before Yan Shaozhe. He was young, but as a member of the imperial family, he had an imposing presence and carried himself with ease and grace.
Yan Shaozhe held out his right hand and gave Xu Tianyao a light handshake, smiling. "It's only right. Shrek Academy is deeply honored that Your Highness chose to take part in this exchange program in person, and we warmly welcome you."
"Your Highness, rest assured. Shrek Academy does not care about a person's origins or status; we value talent above all. Once you and the students from your nation enter Shrek Academy, you'll be members of Shrek. We will treat everyone equally."
Yan Shaozhe studied the young man before him. Though he hadn't spoken with Xu Tianyao directly over the past few days, reports from others had given him a good understanding of him.
He was extraordinarily talented and held in high regard, a leading figure among the younger generation of the Sun Moon Empire, with considerable influence at court as well.
If the spirit of Shrek Academy and its honor could leave their mark on him over the coming year, it might greatly benefit the future of the Three Great Empires and the Soul Master World.
"Ah, Dean Yan, you're too kind. As you just said, since we've come here, we're students of Shrek Academy. You don't need to keep calling me Your Highness. Just call me Tianyao."
Xu Tianyao smiled, his gaze sweeping over the people around him. He could recognize at least a few of them.
For instance, Zhang Lexuan, whom he'd met the other day.
Zhang Lexuan's expression was just as peculiar. She hadn't expected the young man she'd met that day to be a prince of the Sun Moon Empire.
And that old man must be a powerful member of the Sun Moon Empire's imperial family. No wonder he had a Silver Moon Martial Soul, too.
Mu En had once told her that the Silver Moon Martial Soul was among the inherited Martial Souls of the Sun Moon Empire.
It was even possible that her own family had branched off from the Sun Moon Empire's imperial family long ago.
Of course, those old stories no longer mattered.
Whatever their identities, they had chosen to help her that day. Now that they had come to study at Shrek Academy, she naturally ought to look out for them.
Unlike Zhang Lexuan, there was another person in the crowd who was staring fixedly at the Sun Moon Empire's delegation, especially Xu Tianyao.
His eyes brimmed with hatred. He looked as if he wanted to rush out right then and tear Xu Tianyao to pieces.
But he couldn't. He still had so much weighing on him. He couldn't act rashly. He couldn't!
"Caitou, what are you spacing out for? Hurry up! We'll be too late if we don't get going. That place is really hard to get a reservation at."
Just as he was trying to calm himself, a classmate's urging voice suddenly pulled him from his thoughts.
He turned around, and the ugly, rigid expression on his face vanished at once, replaced by a simple, honest smile.
"Got it, got it. I'm coming." With that, the man hurried off toward his classmate.
At the same time, Xu Tianyao glanced back without drawing attention to himself, then looked away.
With his Tonggu enhancing him, he had a clear view of everything around him. Naturally, that undisguised killing intent hadn't escaped him.
He Caitou—Xu He—was his cousin.
Back then, his own father, who was also He Caitou's uncle, had staged a palace coup and slaughtered Xu He's entire branch of the family.
Xu He alone had escaped by sheer luck, shielded by the palace's hidden guards. He had changed his name and joined Shrek Academy.
Xu Tianyao had nearly forgotten about him. He hadn't expected Xu He to hate him so much. It seemed there was one more thing to take care of on this trip.
To uproot the last of the line for his already-dead father.
Yan Shaozhe personally led the group on a tour of Shrek Academy.
After they had walked a few hundred meters, several enormous statues gradually came into view ahead.
There were ten statues in all, each ten meters tall. They had been meticulously carved from the hardest granite, and despite being battered by wind and rain, they still stood tall, steeped in the passage of time.
The three statues at the front stood out most.
The one in the center depicted an old man wearing glasses. His face was kind, his smile gentle, but his eyes held the shrewd cunning peculiar to a businessman. At a glance, he didn't look like a good person.
Yan Shaozhe began introducing the statues to Xu Tianyao and the others. "The one in the middle is the founder of Shrek Academy and its first dean, Flender."
He paused briefly, his gaze sweeping over the statues, then continued, "The one to his left is Yu Xiaogang. The world honors him as the Grandmaster of Martial Soul Theory!"
"He was also the architect of Shrek Academy's Martial Soul system and the foundation of its teaching methods. Back then, he put forward the Ten Core Competencies of the Martial Soul World, which had a profound influence on the academy's development."
"Many of the academy's current teaching systems are based on his theories. He not only taught a god, but also showed countless students the way forward over the past ten thousand years. Without a doubt, he was a true Grandmaster in the history of the Soul Master World."
"As for the woman on the right, she was Liu Erlong."
"She was not only an important predecessor of the academy, but also Grandmaster Yu Xiaogang's wife. The three of them were known together as the Golden Iron Triangle, and earned great renown in the Soul Master World ten thousand years ago."
At this point, Yan Shaozhe couldn't help feeling proud. He raised his head and continued.
"If Dean Flender laid the foundations of Shrek Academy, then Grandmaster Xiao Gang was the one who gave the academy a soul. He was also one of the key figures who laid the groundwork for the rise of the original Shrek Seven Devils."
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