When he finished speaking, Xu Tianyao and the others couldn't help following Yan Shaozhe's gaze.
Behind the three statues stood seven more, arranged neatly in a row and depicting much younger figures.
As Xu Tianyao's gaze fell upon them, his heart gave a sudden lurch. At last, it's here?
Yan Shaozhe's voice rang out again, tinged with reminiscence and respect. "The seven statues behind the Golden Iron Triangle depict the first generation of the Shrek Seven Devils, who once forged Shrek's unparalleled glory and splendor!"
"First in line is White Tiger Douluo, Dai Mubai."
Xu Tianyao followed his gaze. The statue stood tall and imposing, its aura as fierce as a tiger. A powerful pressure seemed to radiate from its features, like a sleeping white tiger poised to awaken at any moment.
Yan Shaozhe continued, "Second is Sausage Douluo, Oscar. He is one of the few food-type Titled Douluos on the continent."
The second statue had a noticeably gentler air. Though he was a support-type Soul Master, he was still not to be underestimated.
"Third..."
At this, Yan Shaozhe's tone grew a little more solemn.
"He is the ancestor of the Tang Sect, Thousand Hand Douluo, Tang San."
This statue stood out the most.
Blue hair fell behind his shoulders, sculpted in such exquisite detail that even the flow of each strand was clear.
He wore simple, close-fitting clothes, and patterns of Blue Silver Grass vines wound around him, symbolizing his Martial Soul Origin.
A faint, almost imperceptible smile touched his lips, but his gaze was exceptionally deep, as though it crossed time and space to watch every generation that came after him.
Xu Tianyao looked at the statue and felt his heart tighten. An immensely powerful force seemed to lock onto his soul, as if it could see straight through him.
Just then, the Blue Ice Talisman in Xu Tianyao's Sea of Consciousness—which had remained motionless ever since he entered—began to emit a faint glow, enveloping his body.
Divine Realm
The Sea God had been resting with his eyes closed when he suddenly sensed something stir in his mind. It seemed someone was interfering with one of the measures he had left in the lower realm.
He slowly opened his eyes and glanced at the Divine Realm Hub in confusion. At last, he saw the scene.
It showed Xu Tianyao and the others touring Shrek Academy. The instant the Sea God saw it, his heart skipped a beat.
"The Chosen One? The course of fate has changed? How did this happen so soon?"
"But it makes no difference. Sooner or later, the result will be the same."
The Sea God gathered his divine power and somehow drew an object from the turbulence. Taking advantage of the fact that no one was watching the Divine Realm Hub, he sent it down to the lower realm ahead of time.
A low murmur could faintly be heard: "With the sun and moon in hand, I pluck the stars from the sky. None in this world can compare to me..."
After completing their tour of Shrek's history, they moved on to the academic arrangements.
On this point, Shrek Academy treated the students from the Sun Moon Empire reasonably well.
Rather than assigning them to classes, the academy gave them the freedom to audit courses. Whether they were interested in the Martial Soul Department or the Soul Guidance Department, they could attend any class they liked.
The arrangement greatly pleased the students from the Sun Moon Empire. They thought Shrek Academy wasn't nearly as exclusionary as they had imagined.
Little did they know that this seemingly special arrangement—refusing to place them in classes and allowing them only to audit—actually carried profound implications.
Over the past ten thousand years, Shrek had developed its own systems for Martial Soul cultivation, Martial Soul Fusion, and Ultimate Soldiers. If separate classes were established, Sun Moon students could study these systems completely and systematically, then take them back to the Sun Moon Empire to refine and promote.
Auditing, on the other hand, meant they could only attend scattered lessons. They had no access to complete lesson plans, core teachings, or practical training, effectively preventing them from copying Shrek's advanced Soul Master training system.
Of course, political considerations also played a part. Four thousand years ago, during the collision between the Sun Moon Continent and the original Douluo Continent, the Sun Moon Empire had invaded the latter, leaving both sides with deep-seated grievances.
Everyone knew that the Sun Moon Empire had long pursued expansion, seeing Shrek as an obstacle to unifying the continent.
When Shrek proposed the exchange-student program, rumors had circulated among the other three nations. Now, by refusing to establish dedicated classes, Shrek was drawing a clear line between the two camps and refusing to open its full educational resources to a hostile power.
This was also meant to reassure the three nations of Tianhun, Star Luo Empire, and Douling, and maintain their mutual trust.
If dedicated classes were established, formally enrolled students would enjoy exclusive access to the academy's Soul Ring resources, cultivation secret realms, one-on-one guidance from instructors, and eligibility for the Inner Court examinations. The benefits were considerable.
Auditing students, however, had no full student status. They could not claim cultivation supplies or participate in core combat training. The gap in resources was vast, and there was no risk of strengthening an enemy.
Of course, there was another, most important reason: maintaining unity and stability within their own ranks.
Without dedicated classes, the Sun Moon students could only be scattered among the ordinary classes made up of students from the various nations.
This made it easier for the academy to observe and monitor them at all times, preventing the Sun Moon students from banding together into intelligence-gathering groups or secretly coordinating with each other, and reducing the risk of infiltration and subversion.
It had to be said that Shrek Academy might have conservative ideas and a tendency to cling to old ways.
But when it came to political maneuvering and underhanded tricks, they were experts. It was no wonder they had stood firm on the Douluo Continent for ten thousand years, perhaps even longer.
After making all the arrangements, Yan Shaozhe excused himself to attend to other business and left several students to take the newcomers to their dormitories and help them check in.
Along the way, they learned a few things from two senior students.
Shrek's dormitories had a distinctive feature. What was it? They had no distinctive features at all.
According to the two seniors, they were practically the same as university dormitories from ten years ago.
Apart from washing facilities and Soul Guidance Lamps, there was hardly any other soul-guidance furniture inside. They were crude and primitive, but the students had already prepared themselves for that before coming.
From their perspective, it was like when the foreigners first came to our lands: a deep historical heritage, but technology far behind.
When they reached the dormitory building, the two students led the boys and girls in the group straight upstairs, while Xu Tianyao was drawn to an elderly man sitting by the entrance.
The old man had his eyes closed. He seemed to be of advanced age, his body frail and worn, his hair white, his face lined with wrinkles. Time had left far too many marks upon him.
His identity was plain to see: Dragon God Douluo Mu En!
Mu En was also quite surprised. Almost no one outside knew who he was. As usual, he had only meant to lie down in front of the dormitory for a brief nap and discreetly observe the students who had come from the Sun Moon Empire.
Especially Xu Tianyao, the Sun Moon prince with a special status and extraordinary talent, who had used the power of a Soul Elder to badly injure two Soul Kings and a Soul Emperor.
He hadn't expected that the boy would recognize him at a glance.
That was right. From the boy before him, Mu En sensed a faint, elusive fluctuation, neither yin nor yang, neither ice nor fire.
He could almost be certain that this was the possessor of Twin Martial Souls, the Sun Moon prince Xu Tianyao.
He slowly opened his cloudy old eyes, his gaze moving from head to toe before settling on Xu Tianyao.
"Are you unable to find your dormitory, young man?"
Before you continue