Yan Shaozhe: Go Meet Song Mu and Learn About His Martial Soul

In the Spirit Department dean's office at Shrek Academy, Dean Yan Shaozhe sat behind a broad desk, handling academy affairs.

Knock, knock, knock—

The sound of knocking came from the door. Without looking up, Yan Shaozhe said, "Come in."

The door opened, and a middle-aged man walked in. He was Du Weilun, director of instruction for the Spirit Department at Shrek Outer Court.

"Dean Yan, you wanted to see me?"

Yan Shaozhe looked up at Du Weilun and said, "Have a seat."

Only after Du Weilun sat down did Yan Shaozhe explain why he had called him in. "I gave you a file about one of the students earlier. Have you read it?"

"You mean the new student named Song Mu? I've read it."

Hearing his reply, Yan Shaozhe nodded and continued, "Do you think he has potential worth cultivating?"

"Dean Yan, I think Song Mu's Martial Soul Awakening conditions are so demanding that his Martial Soul should be very powerful. But that would only be after it awakens. As things stand, he has no value as a candidate for cultivation."

Yan Shaozhe smiled. "Your analysis is sound. The academy had originally planned to send an Elder to take Song Mu into Star Dou Forest to search for it. If he still couldn't awaken, he could leave Shrek Academy."

Then Yan Shaozhe changed tack. "However, Song Mu's Martial Soul has fully awakened. It happened this morning."

That was the last thing Du Weilun expected to hear. He asked instinctively, "How did it awaken?"

"I don't know either," Yan Shaozhe replied calmly.

Du Weilun immediately understood why Yan Shaozhe had called him over. He went straight to the point.

"You want me to find out what Song Mu can do now that his Martial Soul has fully awakened, as well as how it happened?"

"That's right. I want you to meet Song Mu and learn about his Martial Soul. That way, the academy can decide how best to cultivate him."

Yan Shaozhe suddenly grew serious. "But don't investigate how his Martial Soul awakened."

In fact, Yan Shaozhe had heard about Song Mu's Martial Soul Awakening from his teacher, Mu En. Mu En had claimed he didn't know how Song Mu had awakened it.

At the time, Yan Shaozhe had wanted to send someone to investigate how Song Mu had awakened his Martial Soul.

One warning from Mu En had brought him to his senses. Mu En had said, "Do you really want to push that child into opposition with Shrek? Everyone has secrets of their own. You, for instance—aren't you hiding anything from me?"

Although Yan Shaozhe still very much wanted to uncover Song Mu's secret, he knew that forcibly invading someone's privacy was tantamount to making an enemy of him.

To keep Song Mu at Shrek, he could only abandon the idea.

Across from him, Du Weilun nodded solemnly. "Dean Yan, I understand."

In the dormitory, Song Mu was studying his Martial Soul with rapt attention when a small notification window suddenly popped up in the lower-right corner of the screen.

At its center was Wang Dong'er's avatar. Above it was written Light Goddess Butterfly (Humanoid); below were two options: Decline and Accept.

"This Martial Soul has a feature like this?"

As the thought crossed his mind, Song Mu accepted Wang Dong'er's call.

"Hello, can you hear me?" Song Mu asked.

Inside the King Ball, Wang Dong'er was sitting on her bed when Song Mu's voice suddenly rang out. She jumped in fright.

She had only been wondering to herself how she could talk to Song Mu. Then, in the next moment, she heard his voice.

A transparent screen the same size as Song Mu's appeared before her. It showed only Song Mu's avatar and an End Call button beneath it.

"Ah, y-yes, I can hear you."

Song Mu could clearly hear the tremor in Wang Dong'er's voice. He softened his tone and asked gently, "What's wrong? Did you need something?"

After a little while, Song Mu finally heard Wang Dong'er's answer. Her voice was still timid.

"Well, you said I was a Humanoid Spirit Beast. Does that mean I'm a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast? I remember reading in a book that only Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts can take human form."

Song Mu already knew Wang Dong'er's information from the panel, so he answered without thinking. "No. Someone used a special method to forcibly catalyze you during your infancy and make you take human form against your will."

"Oh. I-I understand."

Song Mu asked, "Do you have any other questions? If not, I'll end the call."

As soon as he finished speaking, he heard Wang Dong'er's urgent voice.

"D-don't hang up."

Inside the King Ball, Wang Dong'er sat on the bed with her knees drawn up, her arms wrapped around them as she stared blankly at her thighs.

She had once been an eleven-year-old girl, full of anticipation as she prepared to begin academy life.

But the sudden upheaval had completely upended her life.

For some reason, Wang Dong'er believed what Song Mu had told her.

But what made her truly believe she was a Soul Beast wasn't Song Mu's words. When she was little, there had indeed been times when she couldn't control her own body.

Once, she had entered a strange place. It was an ocean. Through the water, she could see the outside world: Big Uncle and Second Uncle anxiously circling around her unconscious body. She could see her own light-blue hair and light-blue eyes.

And in the middle of the ocean stood two figures: a pink-and-blue-haired girl, and a man with deep-blue hair who held a trident.

She had completely forgotten about this incident afterward. Only now had she remembered that she had once gone through such an experience.

That experience had also proved Song Mu's words true. She wasn't the true owner of that body. It belonged to the pink-and-blue-haired girl.

Though Song Mu had changed her life, Wang Dong'er understood that he had saved her life. If things had continued as they were, perhaps one day she would simply have died without anyone knowing.

Then that other soul would have taken control of the body again, and no one would ever have known that Wang Dong'er had disappeared.

Her thoughts were still a tangled mess, but hearing Song Mu's voice put her at ease.

She just wanted to hear him talk. That was enough; he could say anything at all. If the call ended, she would feel uneasy.

Outside, Song Mu heard the urgency in Wang Dong'er's voice, but she didn't say anything more for a long time. He could more or less guess what was going on with her.

Anyone would have a hard time accepting something like this right away.

"Then I'll tell you about my childhood."

After speaking, Song Mu waited quietly. Before long, he heard her say:

"Okay."

Hearing her reply, Song Mu cleared his throat and began telling her about the time he had spent at City Lord's Mansion after his Martial Soul Awakening.

"Back then, Brother Chen even told me to bring a girlfriend home from Shrek so he could meet her. I shot back at him right away. I said, 'You're already over thirty. How come you haven't found yourself a wife, but you're pestering an eleven-year-old kid like me to find a girlfriend?'"