Subduing the Shrek Group! Yu Xiaogang: I'll Personally Deliver Liu Erlong to Dean Gu?!

Gu Qing stood with his hands behind his back, his gaze slowly sweeping across the crowd before he spoke:

"Who agrees? Who objects?"

A commotion immediately broke out around them.

Tang San was the first to step forward, taking his place beside Gu Qing. His voice rang clear. "I agree."

Xiao Wu hopped over right after him, her ponytail swishing. "I agree too!"

Ning Rongrong took a deep breath, stepped out from the crowd, slightly raised her chin, and shouted, "I agree."

Zhu Zhuqing said nothing. She merely raised her hand silently where she stood.

The watching examinees looked at one another. Several bolder ones were the first to raise their hands. "I agree!" "Me too!"

The scattered voices quickly spread into a chorus. These young people who had come from all over to apply had originally been drawn here by the reputation of "only accepting monsters."

Now, seeing a twelve-year-old who could force a Soul Sage to use his Martial Soul Avatar standing before them, with a Titled Douluo behind him, was more convincing than any recruitment advertisement.

Flender's face turned livid, and the corners of his mouth twitched fiercely several times. But after glancing at where Tang Hao had disappeared overhead, he swallowed the words that had risen to his lips.

Zhao Wuji stood beside the pit, gritted his teeth, let out a muffled snort, and lowered his head. Li Yusong and Lu Qibin exchanged looks and sighed at the same time.

"No one objects?"

The corners of Gu Qing's lips curved faintly. "Then everyone agrees!"

"Excellent. Today marks the official founding of Self Academy!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Tang San took the lead in applauding. Xiao Wu immediately followed, clapping loudly, and the examinees, swept up by the atmosphere, joined in as well.

Gu Qing raised a hand in a calming gesture. As the applause gradually died down, he spoke again.

"Why is it called Self Academy?"

"Because Soul Master cultivation ultimately comes down to one thing: understanding your own Martial Soul, uncovering your own potential, and forging your own path."

"Self Academy has only one principle: teach according to aptitude and treat each person differently. We will not force one rigid theory onto everyone.

"Every Soul Master's Martial Soul is unique, and every Soul Master's cultivation path should be unique as well.

"Here, there are no 'standard answers,' only 'the answer that suits you.'"

The entire area fell silent. Everyone stood there blankly, their minds completely shaken by this brand-new Martial Soul philosophy!

Gu Qing's gaze slowly swept through the crowd before finally settling on the Shrek group.

"Self Academy has only just been established, and we need people. Shrek's original teachers may remain in their positions, with the same treatment as before.

"But from today onward, this academy will have only one dean: me. All teaching arrangements, cultivation plans, and admissions standards will be decided by me. Everyone must obey unconditionally.

"Those who can accept this, stand on the left. Those who cannot, the gate is over there."

Flender stood where he was, looking at Gu Qing as his thoughts churned. He had only just founded the academy, yet someone else had taken its name away. His first reaction was to walk away, sleeves flung wide. With his strength as a rank seventy-eight Soul Sage, he could make a living anywhere.

But he could not bring himself to move.

Flender had lived for half his life, yet he had never seen such a monstrous youth, nor had he seen a Soul Ring configuration as heaven-defying as Tang San's. If he stayed, he might even benefit from it.

"...I'll stay. I'm good with accounts. Leave logistics to me."

Zhao Wuji picked up in a muffled voice, "I'll stay too. You're arrogant, kid, but you really are powerful. And I want to learn that close-combat fighting style of yours."

He was telling the truth. That movement technique, that fist force, especially the intent behind that final punch—though Zhao Wuji did not say it aloud, he had already been convinced.

Li Yusong and Lu Qibin exchanged glances. Their old faces reddened slightly, but they did not hesitate for long before silently moving to the left.

Gu Qing nodded.

With Flender handling the accounts, Zhao Wuji serving as a fighter and close-combat sparring partner, and Li Yusong and Lu Qibin teaching the basic courses, the framework for the academy's daily operations was in place.

Just as he was thinking this, the corner of his eye caught a figure in the crowd moving.

Yu Xiaogang stepped forward.

"Dean Gu, I want to stay too."

Yu Xiaogang tried his best to keep his voice steady, but it still trembled slightly. "I can be a teacher. I can handle the foundational teaching for Martial Soul theory..."

"No need."

"The Ten Core Competencies of Martial Soul that you take such pride in cannot even explain the Soul Ring configurations of my two younger sisters."

Gu Qing looked at Yu Xiaogang, his tone dripping with mockery.

"A man who cannot even understand his own Martial Soul—what does he have to teach others? If you stay here as a teacher, you will only hold the students back."

Yu Xiaogang's entire body stiffened, and his face went pale. What he cared about most in his life was the title of "Master." His Soul Power had been stuck at rank twenty-nine for life, and everyone regarded his Martial Soul, Luo Sanpao, as useless. The only thing he had ever been able to show off was this set of theories.

Now that even those theories had been overturned from their very foundation, what did Yu Xiaogang have left?

He was already fifty years old. More than half his life was buried in the grave. If he turned and walked out through these gates today, he might never find a way to evolve his Martial Soul before he died.

Yet this Gu Qing before him could teach monsters like Tang San and Xiao Wu, injure a Soul Sage with his bare body, and create Self-Created Soul Skills.

His methods might truly be able to solve Luo Sanpao's problem.

If it could be solved... what was dignity worth? What was face worth? How many times had this old face of his already been trampled into the ground? Would one more time matter?

Yu Xiaogang took a deep breath and raised his head. Much of the anger and resentment in his eyes had faded, replaced by an almost obsessive determination.

"Then... Dean Gu said before that you have a way to make Martial Souls evolve. I don't want to be a teacher anymore. Can I be a student?" Yu Xiaogang asked humbly.

The moment those words came out, Flender abruptly turned his head. Zhao Wuji's beard bristled, while Li Yusong and Lu Qibin looked at one another in disbelief.

Their longtime partner of several decades, a core member of the Golden Iron Triangle, was now going to become the student of a twelve-year-old boy in front of dozens of examinees?

Gu Qing looked at Yu Xiaogang, quickly calculating in his mind.

He did not doubt Yu Xiaogang's obsession with Martial Soul Evolution. Precisely because of that, once Yu Xiaogang discovered that the current path did not work, he would desperately seek a new one.

If he drove Yu Xiaogang away now, with his stubborn and arrogant personality, he might run to Spirit City to seek Bibi Dong's help. That would be troublesome.

"As a student, you are not qualified yet."

Gu Qing looked at Yu Xiaogang with a serious expression and spoke slowly.

"However, I can give you an opportunity. This place is too rundown, and the grounds are not large enough. The academy needs a new location."

"I heard there is a Blue Tyrant Academy near Heaven Dou City, with conditions far better than this place. Go negotiate for that academy and make her agree to merge the entire campus into Self Academy.

"If you accomplish this, you will be qualified to stay. I will design a Martial Soul Evolution plan for you."

Yu Xiaogang abruptly raised his head, and light returned to his eyes.

Blue Tyrant Academy—others might not know whose property it was, but he knew very well. Back then, he, Flender, and Liu Erlong had been known as the Golden Iron Triangle. Later, because he learned of their identities, he had deliberately distanced himself from Liu Erlong.

Asking Liu Erlong now would indeed be humiliating, but for the sake of evolving his Martial Soul, he could throw away even this old face of his.

Yu Xiaogang's gaze was resolute as he said solemnly:

"I will definitely succeed. I will definitely make Blue Tyrant Academy merge into Self Academy. I will personally deliver their dean into your hands, Dean Gu."