Sea God Pavilion Meeting

Still, there was no rush.

After all, even if he decided to join Shrek right now, those treasures would not land in his hands immediately. Better to keep them hanging for a while longer and see what happened.

Seeing that his goal had been achieved, Lin Yan knew when to stop.

No matter what, Yan Shaozhe was a Super Douluo. If he truly provoked him into anger, he would be in for a world of pain!

"Thank you, Dean! I trust that, given Shrek's reputation as the number one academy on the continent, you definitely won't just find some random things to fob me off with. I'll head back first and wait quietly for your good news, Dean."

Yan Shaozhe watched as Lin Yan refused to take the bait, deliberately pretending not to hear him. From beginning to end, Lin Yan never mentioned joining the academy, and it made Yan Shaozhe grit his teeth in frustration.

Taking a deep breath, Yan Shaozhe could only force himself to calm down. Don't get angry, don't get angry. As long as he stays at the academy, Shrek's glory will win him over sooner or later. The resources we offer now are simply a necessary investment.

Once Lin Yan truly gave his heart to Shrek in the future, everything spent on him would be no different from never leaving Shrek at all!

After leaving Yan Shaozhe, Lin Yan returned to his class.

At that moment, a male teacher had already taken over Zhou Yi's position in Class One.

The teacher looked utterly ordinary, without the slightest imposing air. A smile remained on his face at all times, making him seem especially amiable.

When he saw Lin Yan enter, Wang Yan smiled and said gently, "You're back. Go take your seat first."

Lin Yan gave a slight nod in greeting, then walked over and sat beside Ye Liangchen amid the students' mixed gazes of awe, admiration, and gratitude.

"Now that everyone is here, I'll be teaching you for the time being. My name is Wang Yan. Today, we won't discuss anything else. Let's talk about Shrek's history..."

After hearing only the opening, Lin Yan rolled his eyes. He understood that Yan Shaozhe had most likely arranged this lesson.

The purpose? Naturally, it was to indoctrinate him into devoting himself to Shrek.

While Lin Yan received an education in "school history" filled with "Shrek glory," an important meeting centered around him was quietly beginning elsewhere in the academy.

Sea God Island

The buildings on Sea God Island stood in dense rows, but the tallest and most magnificent of them all was the Sea God Pavilion at the island's center—it was the core of the entire island and the symbol of Shrek.

Sea God Pavilion had six floors above ground, each over ten meters high. With its upturned eaves and grand presence, it was truly imposing.

This was the power center of all Shrek Academy. Whenever the academy faced a major matter, a meeting would be held here.

Only the deans and vice deans of the Spirit Department and Soul Guidance Department, as well as the elders of the Consecration Hall, were qualified to enter this place.

At that moment, the Sea God Pavilion's grand conference hall was silent.

Ten figures sat around an oval table. At the head of the table, however, there was no chair. Instead, there was a recliner.

The spot where the recliner stood was rather dimly lit, and only a vague figure lying upon it could be seen.

Xian Lin'er and Qian Duoduo sat at the far end of the right side of the table, while Yan Shaozhe and a woman who appeared to be around fifty sat at the far end of the left side.

The woman beside Yan Shaozhe must have been a stunning beauty in her youth. Yet, despite being a woman herself, she did not so much as glance at Xian Lin'er. Her expression was cold as she sat below Yan Shaozhe.

Besides the four of them, six white-haired old men sat at the front of the table.

At the seat of honor on the left, the first seat on Yan Shaozhe's side, sat none other than Xuan Zi.

At that moment, Xuan Zi still held a chicken leg in his left hand and wine in his right, eating and drinking with perfect leisure.

"Everyone is here. Let's begin the meeting. Shaozhe, you preside."

A gentle voice slowly rang out. It was like a spring breeze brushing the ears, carrying a warmth that seemed capable of cleansing the soul. The voice came from the recliner at the seat of honor.

The speaker was the Dragon God Douluo—Mu En.

"Yes, Teacher." Yan Shaozhe hurriedly rose to his feet and bowed respectfully toward the seat of honor.

After bowing, Yan Shaozhe first took out a stack of documents and passed them to the elders one by one. Then he said, "I believe Teacher and the esteemed elders have all heard something about the reason for convening this Sea God Pavilion meeting."

"The documents in your hands contain information regarding Lin Yan. Immediately after the incident, I dispatched an agility-type Soul Douluo to investigate and compile them."

While everyone reviewed the documents, Yan Shaozhe continued, "Lin Yan's martial soul is fire, and an exceptionally powerful Ultimate Fire at that. He comes from Hill City..."

Before Yan Shaozhe could finish, an old woman seated below Xuan Zi interrupted him. "You said he comes from Hill City? The Hill City northeast of Shrek City?"

Yan Shaozhe nodded. "That's right, Elder Lin."

Upon receiving confirmation, Elder Lin's expression immediately darkened. With anger in her voice, she pressed, "Since he comes from Hill City, why has no one reported information about him all these years? What has the lord of Hill City been doing!"

No one was surprised to see Elder Lin angered.

Although Hill City was nominally under the Heaven Dou Empire, Shrek had long since held the actual power there. Naturally, its city lord was also one of Shrek's people.

In truth, Hill City was not the only city under Shrek's control. The reasons for this dated back more than two thousand years.

At that time, the Body Sect emerged and slaughtered seven Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts in the Star Dou Great Forest. This completely enraged Di Tian, triggering the first clearly documented massive beast tide in history!

Under the command of several great fierce beasts from the core region, countless soul beasts surged forth in a vast horde, with ten thousand beasts stampeding toward the outside world.

Cities like Hill City, which lay close to the Star Dou Great Forest, naturally became among the first targets destroyed by the beast tide.

Later, Shrek Academy and the Body Sect joined forces to repel the beast tide, and some of the destroyed cities were rebuilt.

Present-day Hill City was one of the cities reconstructed after that war.

From then on, the cities rebuilt or newly established after the war formed an arc-shaped line of defense centered on Shrek. They became the first barrier protecting Shrek City and guarding against the Star Dou Great Forest.

Once such a pattern of city distribution had formed, Shrek naturally could not resist turning its attention toward those cities.

And once Shrek had set its sights on them, what followed beneath Shrek's "righteous" iron fist was only natural.

After more than two thousand years of development, those satellite cities surrounding Shrek had, in substance, long since fallen under Shrek's jurisdiction.

As for whether the Heaven Dou Empire had objections?

How bold! I think you want to undermine the continent's peace!

"Elder Lin, please calm down."

After seeing Elder Lin's expression ease somewhat, Yan Shaozhe continued, "This matter may truly not be the fault of Hill City's lord."

"According to the investigation, Lin Yan did not participate in the group martial soul awakening ceremony organized by the city lord's manor. He likely awakened separately within his own family. Furthermore, over the past six years, he has kept a low profile and rarely appeared in public."

"Perhaps that is why no one ever discovered that his martial soul was actually Ultimate Fire."

As soon as Yan Shaozhe finished speaking, another old woman seated at the place of honor to Mu En's right spoke with some confusion. "Shaozhe, I noticed a record in the documents. Since Lin Yan was seven years old, the Lin Family has continuously offered rewards to purchase soul beasts possessing Beast Fire. Has the reason for this been investigated?"