Yan Shaozhe, go contact Song Mu and understand his martial soul.

Inside the office of the Spirit Department Dean at Shrek Academy, Dean Yan Shaozhe sat behind a massive desk, busy handling academy affairs.

Knock, knock, knock—

As the knocking sounded, Yan Shaozhe did not look up, simply saying, "Enter."

The door was pushed open, and a middle-aged man walked in. He was Du Weilun, the Director of the Outer Court Spirit Department.

"Dean Yan, you summoned me?"

Yan Shaozhe looked up at Du Weilun and said, "Sit down first."

Only after Du Weilun was seated did Yan Shaozhe explain the reason for calling him: "I gave you a file regarding a student earlier. Have you read it?"

"You mean that new student named Song Mu, right? I have already reviewed it."

Hearing the reply, Yan Shaozhe nodded and continued, "Do you think he has any potential for cultivation?"

"Dean Yan, I believe that since Song Mu's spirit awakening conditions were so harsh, his spirit must be quite powerful. However, that is only after awakening; as it stands, I see no value in investing resources into him."

Yan Shaozhe smiled and said, "Your analysis is sound. The academy originally intended to send an Elder to take Song Mu into the Star Dou Forest to search for a solution. If he still couldn't awaken, he would have been dismissed from Shrek Academy."

Then, Yan Shaozhe shifted his tone: "However, Song Mu's spirit fully awakened this morning."

This statement caught Du Weilun off guard, and he instinctively asked, "How did it awaken?"

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

Du Weilun immediately understood why Yan Shaozhe had called him here, and he spoke directly.

"Are you asking me to investigate the abilities of Song Mu's fully awakened spirit, as well as the reason behind his awakening?"

Yan Shaozhe said, "Exactly. I want you to make contact with Song Mu and understand his spirit so the academy can determine how best to cultivate him."

Suddenly, Yan Shaozhe's expression turned serious: "However, do not try to find out how his spirit was awakened."

In truth, Yan Shaozhe had heard about Song Mu's spirit awakening from his teacher, Mu En, who claimed he did not know how it had happened.

At the time, he had wanted to send someone to investigate the cause.

A single sentence from Mu En had warned him off. Mu En had said, "Do you intend to push this child into becoming an enemy of Shrek? Everyone has their own secrets; for instance, do you not have things you are hiding from me?"

Although he still desperately wanted to uncover Song Mu's secrets, he knew that forcibly violating someone's privacy was tantamount to making an enemy of them.

To ensure Song Mu remained at Shrek, he had to abandon that thought.

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

Inside the dormitory, Song Mu was concentrating on studying his spirit when a small notification box suddenly popped up in the bottom right corner of the screen.

In the center of the box was Wang Dong'er's avatar, with "Radiant Goddess Butterfly (Humanoid)" written above it, and two options below: Decline and Accept.

This spirit has functions like this?

While thinking this, Song Mu accepted Wang Dong'er's call request.

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

Inside the King Ball, Wang Dong'er, who was sitting on her bed, was startled when she suddenly heard Song Mu's voice.

She had only been thinking in her heart about how she could communicate with him, and the next second, she heard his voice.

Along with the sound, a transparent screen the same size as Song Mu's appeared before her, though her screen only displayed Song Mu's avatar and an "End Call" button below.

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

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

After another moment, Song Mu finally heard Wang Dong'er's reply, her voice still timid.

"Um, you said I am a Humanoid Spirit Beast... does that mean I am a hundred-thousand-year spirit beast? I remember reading in books that only hundred-thousand-year spirit beasts can take human form."

Having already learned about Wang Dong'er from his panel, Song Mu didn't overthink it and said directly, "No, you were forcibly catalyzed during your infancy using a special method, which forced you to take human form."

"Oh, I... I see."

Song Mu asked again, "Any other questions? If not, I'm going to disconnect."

The moment he finished speaking, Song Mu heard Wang Dong'er's urgent voice.

"Don't, don't disconnect."

Inside the King Ball, Wang Dong'er sat on her bed with her knees pulled to her chest, her arms wrapped around them, staring blankly at her thighs.

Originally, she had been an eleven-year-old girl full of anticipation, ready to embrace academy life.

But the sudden turn of events had completely disrupted her world.

For some reason, Wang Dong'er inexplicably believed what Song Mu had said.

But the real reason she believed she was a spirit beast wasn't because of Song Mu's words, but because, when she was younger, there had indeed been times when she couldn't control her own body.

That time, she had entered a strange place. It was an ocean, and through the water, she could see the outside world, where Big Uncle and Second Uncle were pacing around her unconscious form. She could see her own long, pale blue hair and pale blue eyes.

And in the center of the ocean were two figures: a pink-blue-haired girl and a man with long, azure hair holding a trident.

In truth, she had completely forgotten about this incident until just now, when she recalled that she had actually experienced such a thing.

That experience confirmed that Song Mu's words were not empty; she was not the true master of that body, which instead belonged to the girl with the powder-blue hair.

Although Song Mu had changed her life, Wang Dong'er understood that he had saved her; had things continued as they were, she might have simply faded away and died in silence one day.

That soul would have reclaimed the body, and no one would have ever known that Wang Dong'er had ceased to exist.

Her thoughts remained chaotic, yet hearing Song Mu's voice brought her a sense of peace.

She wanted to hear him speak, that was enough; it didn't matter what he said, but if the connection were severed, she would feel uneasy.

Outside, after hearing Wang Dong'er's urgent voice, Song Mu had waited a long time without a response, though he roughly understood what she was going through.

If it were anyone else, they wouldn't easily accept such a thing happening to them.

"Then let me tell you about my childhood."

Song Mu finished speaking and waited quietly, and before long, he heard a reply.

"Okay."

Hearing her response, Song Mu cleared his throat and began to recount the story of his time at the City Lord's Mansion after his martial soul had awakened.

"At the time, Brother Chen even told me to bring a girlfriend back from Shrek for him to see. I retorted right then and there, saying, 'You're already over thirty, how come I don't see you finding a wife, yet you're rushing an eleven-year-old kid like me?'"