Refugee Camp? Or Scam Syndicate?

Outside Suotuo City, in a remote village within the Bala Kingdom.

The morning sun filtered through the gaps in the leaves, yet it failed to brighten the shabby, dilapidated village.

The air was thick with the scent of damp earth and coins.

"We're here?"

Xiao Wu lifted the carriage curtain, staring at the crude wooden archway before her and the plaque above it that looked as if it might fall and crush someone at any moment:

Shrek Academy. Her face crumpled into a pout.

"Brother Su Yun, are you sure this is an academy? It's not even as good as the outhouse at Notting Junior Spirit Master Academy!"

Zhu Zhuqing sat in the corner. Though she didn't speak, the disdain in her eyes was plain to see.

Was this the "academy that only accepts monsters" that Dai Mubai had bragged about?

Was this the place he chose to stay, even at the cost of abandoning his fiancée?

If not for Su Yun, she might have truly gritted her teeth and joined, wasting her youth in this mud pit.

At this thought, her gaze softened as she looked at Su Yun.

Fortunately, she had met him.

Su Yun leisurely closed the Diary in his hands, a mocking curve playing on his lips.

[Year X, Month X, Day X, Sunny.]

[Checking in at Shrek Academy.]

[I have to say, seeing is believing. Is this an academy? It's clearly a refugee camp!]

[Flender, that old miser, has taken stinginess to an art form. He even charges ten Gold Soul Coins for an application fee, and it's non-refundable?]

[This isn't recruitment; it's daylight robbery! A scam ring, confirmed!]

[If I hadn't come, Tang San and Yu Xiaogang would surely have praised this place to the heavens. But now...]

[That little witch from the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, Ning Rongrong, should be here by now, right?]

[Tsk tsk, making a little heiress worth billions live in a pigsty like this—it really is hard on her.]

[Let's go, time to show these bumpkins what the world is really like!]

"Get off."

Su Yun waved his folding fan and was the first to jump down from the carriage.

Dressed in fine silk robes with a jade pendant at his waist, he radiated an aura of wealth and nobility, creating a stark, brutal contrast with this impoverished backwater.

Charm Aura MAX activated!

In an instant, the hundreds of commoners and parents queuing at the village entrance turned their heads in unison.

The previously noisy scene fell into a momentary, deathly silence.

"Good heavens! Who is that young master? He's so handsome!"

"Is he the son of some great noble?"

"And the two girls beside him are just too beautiful!"

Ignoring the surrounding chatter, Su Yun walked straight to the front of the line. He looked at the old man named "Li Yusong" sitting behind a broken table and watched his movements as he counted Gold Soul Coins, then let out a laugh:

"Ten Gold Soul Coins for an application fee, and if you're eliminated, no refunds?"

"Old man, you run quite a slick business here."

"It's much faster than robbery."

Li Yusong, the man in charge of admissions, frowned as the aura of a level 63 Spirit Emperor faintly emanated from him.

"Young man, this is Shrek Academy. We only accept monsters, not nonsense. If you want to cause trouble, you'd better weigh your own worth first."

"Besides, this is a case of Jiang Taigong fishing—those who are willing take the bait."

"Monsters?"

Su Yun snapped his fan shut and pointed at the row of crumbling thatched huts, his voice rising.

"Living in these death traps, eating chaff and vegetables, with no simulated cultivation environment, not even a decent training ground."

"You trick geniuses into coming here just so they can learn how to save money from a bunch of old bachelors in this broken village?"

"This isn't cultivating monsters; this is ruining talent without end!"

"You!" Li Yusong stood up abruptly, his eyes burning with rage.

This brat—every word hit home, tearing away their last shred of dignity!

Just as the two sides stood on the brink of conflict and the surrounding crowd erupted into an uproar, a girl in the middle of the line, dressed as exquisitely as a doll, suddenly turned around.

She had neat, short hair, skin as white as snow, and wore a sky-blue dress that was clearly worth a fortune.

It was none other than the little princess of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, Ning Rongrong.

She had originally been sulking.

Because she had left home in such a rush, although she had brought plenty of money, there was simply nowhere to spend it in this godforsaken place.

Moreover, this academy looked a hundred times more dilapidated than what was written in the diary!

Just as she was hesitating about whether to retreat, that voice that made her grit her teeth in hatred appeared!

"Su Yun?!"

Ning Rongrong's eyes widened instantly; she recognized at a glance the bastard described in the diary as "narcissistic, sharp-tongued, and looking to start a fishpond."

Especially when she saw that he was indeed followed by Xiao Wu (the rabbit) and Zhu Zhuqing (the cat with the hot figure), new and old grudges surged into her heart instantly.

"Oh, wow! You actually dare to show up!"

"Scumbag! Sea King! Pervert!"

Ning Rongrong charged straight out of the group, like a cat with its fur standing on end, baring her fangs and brandishing her claws as she lunged toward Su Yun.

"Su Yun! You finally appeared!"

"You dare to... pfft, you dare to call me a witch in the diary?!"

"And you said I was barely qualified to enter your fishpond?!"

"This young lady is going to bite you to death today!!"

The people around them were stunned.

What was going on?

A debt of love?

Had this noble young master abandoned a girl after playing with her, and now she had come knocking on his door?

Facing the charging Ning Rongrong, Su Yun did not dodge.

He merely smiled slightly, and the moment Ning Rongrong was about to pounce on him, he calmly extended a finger and pressed it against her smooth forehead.

"Ouch."

Ning Rongrong's two arms flailed wildly in the air, but because her arms were short (and she was being held back by her forehead), she couldn't reach Su Yun at all.

The scene was, for a moment, quite comical.

"Let go of me! You let go of me!"

Ning Rongrong's face flushed red with anger, and her large eyes filled with a mist of tears:

"If you have the guts to write... if you have the guts to say it, then have the guts not to use your hands!"

Su Yun looked at the clawing little girl before him, his wicked sense of humor greatly satisfied.

As expected of the little witch of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, this temper was quite something.

However, now that I am the "diary author" and she is the "peeper," the advantage is mine.

"This young lady."

Su Yun looked at her with an innocent expression, his tone carrying a hint of mockery:

"Do we know each other?"

"Coming up and trying to bite me to death—are girls these days all this... wild?"

"Although I am handsome, I am a decent person; I don't accept such throwing of oneself into my arms."

"You!"

Ning Rongrong nearly choked on her own breath.

Pretend! Keep pretending!

You analyzed this young lady in your diary until there was nothing left, and now you're acting like a stranger?

"Who is throwing themselves into your arms! I came here to settle the score with you!"

"Who did you say was a witch? Who did you say was a flower on cow dung?!"

"Oh—"

Su Yun feigned a sudden realization, withdrew his finger, and took the opportunity to pinch Ning Rongrong's delicate, flawless cheek:

"So it's the eldest miss of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, Ning Rongrong."

"What, was I wrong?"

"Look at this man-eating expression of yours; if you aren't a witch, then what are you?"

"However..."

Su Yun leaned close to her ear and whispered in a voice only the two of them could hear:

"Your skin is indeed quite fair, and it feels nice. It seems what was written in the diary was correct; you are a top-tier beauty."

Boom!

Ning Rongrong felt a wave of heat rush from her earlobes straight to the top of her head.

He admitted it!

He had flirted with her right to her face!

And what's more... under the influence of the Charm Aura, she actually thought that when this bastard leaned in just now, he smelled kind of good?

"Ahhh! I can't go on like this! I'm going to fight you to the death!"

Just as Ning Rongrong prepared to summon her Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda to smash him, Su Yun suddenly reined in his smile and grabbed her wrist.

"That's enough, stop making a scene."

"Since you're here, let's go together."

"You also want to see what this so-called Monster Academy is really made of, right?"

Ning Rongrong struggled, but she couldn't break free.

She looked into Su Yun's eyes, which had suddenly become profound, and for some reason, half of the anger in her heart dissipated.

"Hmph! Who wants to go with you!"

Despite her words, her body was honest enough not to move again.

Mostly, she wanted to see what kind of ability this Su Yun actually had to be so arrogant in his diary!

Su Yun let go of her hand and turned to look at Li Yusong, who was already dumbfounded, as well as several figures who had rushed over upon hearing the commotion not far away.

Among them were Flender, who wore glasses and had the look of a profiteer.

There was Yu Xiaogang, with his face full of bitterness and deep hatred, the man who looked like a Grandmaster but was actually just a damp squib.

And there was Tang San, carrying a tattered bundle with a gloomy expression on his face.

Everyone was here.

Su Yun waved his folding fan, holding Xiao Wu's hand with his left, followed by Zhu Zhuqing, with a pouting Ning Rongrong standing beside him.

He looked at the group from Shrek Academy, a nuclear-level "kind" smile curling at the corners of his lips:

"Good morning, everyone."

"My name is Su Yun, and I'm here to crash the place."

"Oh, no—I'm here to teach you how to behave!"