The Dean Returns! This is Called Killing the Body and the Heart!

The sunset outside Suotuo City was as red as blood.

The few thatched huts of Shrek Academy, already on the verge of collapse, had been reduced to complete ruins under the baptism of that divine storm.

The air still held a scorched scent. The long line of applicants that had stretched for two miles had long since scattered in terror, leaving behind nothing but broken wood and a few half-dead "teachers."

Amidst this desolate, deathly silence, a shrill and vigorous bird cry suddenly echoed from the horizon.

"Skree--!"

A massive black shadow tore through the evening glow, whistling toward them like a circling hawk with sharp wind pressure.

As a pair of enormous cyan wings beat violently in mid-air, a lean man wearing black-framed crystal glasses landed steadily in front of the plaque that had been snapped in two.

His face was that of a cunning merchant, with a protruding chin and a hooked nose. His eyes, usually filled with shrewdness and calculation, were now fixed intently on the scene before him.

Cat Eagle Flender, the founder and dean of Shrek Academy, as well as the biggest profiteer in Suotuo City, felt as if someone had stabbed his heart with a rusty kitchen knife.

"My academy! My life's work!"

Flender let out a shrill wail. He had originally gone into the city to discuss with some old cronies how to launder the Gold Soul Coins from this year's applicants and find ways to squeeze a little more profit out of the new students' pockets.

But now?

His registration desk was smashed to splinters, the Gold Soul Coins he viewed as his lifeline were scattered all over the ground, and even the plaque that had carried his "monster" dreams for decades had been trampled into kindling.

What broke him most was seeing his old partner, the fearless "Immovable Wisdom King" Zhao Wuji, lying in a deep crater like a dried-up dead toad, rolling his eyes with countless bones likely broken.

Li Yusong, who had been in charge of recruitment, stood in the ruins, clutching his Dragon Pattern Staff in a daze, the blood from a sword-qi gash on his face still dripping.

As for the only source of new blood—Tang San, whom he had pinned his hopes on and who was rumored to possess Twin Martial Souls—he was currently squatting by the pit, clutching half a sausage in his hand, his eyes vacant, muttering nonsense that no one could understand, looking exactly like a fool struck by lightning.

"Who?! Who the hell did this?!"

Flender appeared crazed. His level 78 Soul Saint power erupted instantly. With his cyan feather martial soul possessed, he looked like an enraged beast.

"Get out here! I'll make you pay until you're bankrupt! I'll make you lick every single brick of Shrek clean!"

"Ol'... Old Cat..."

Zhao Wuji finally caught his breath in the pit. He reached out a trembling hand and pointed toward the tall, retreating figure dozens of meters away, his voice hoarse and filled with terror.

"Don't... don't chase him... that kid, he's not human..."

"Not human? Even if he were a god, he'd still have to pay for my plaque!"

How could Flender listen to reason?

He only saw that Su Yun, who was leaving, was accompanied by three young girls of distinct temperaments and exceptional talent.

Those were his Shrek recruits! That was his future dream!

That was the tuition he hadn't yet managed to collect!

"Stop!"

Flender spread his wings, and like a cyan bolt of lightning, he crossed the void in an instant, blocking the path of Su Yun and the others.

"You smashed my academy and poached my students, and now you want to just walk away?"

Flender's eyes were bloodshot. Because of his heartache over the money, his already wretched face became even more distorted.

"Kid, if you don't give me an explanation today, even if you were the King of Heaven himself, you're staying here!"

Su Yun stopped in his tracks.

Ning Rongrong, Zhu Zhuqing, and Xiao Wu stood behind him of their own accord, looking at this strange middle-aged man who had suddenly jumped out with eyes full of wariness and disdain.

"The Dean has returned."

Su Yun shook his folding fan in a leisurely manner, not even bothering to lift his eyelids. His tone carried a composure that drove others mad.

"An explanation? Cat Eagle Flender, what kind of explanation do you want? Do you want me to compensate you for those few pieces of rotten wood, or for those so-called 'monster dreams' of yours that have already gone completely bankrupt?"

"You... you actually know me?"

Flender was stunned.

"Is it hard to know you?"

Su Yun sneered. The aura of the Judgment Angel behind him fluctuated slightly, instantly suppressing Flender's aggressive momentum.

"Your name, along with your so-called monster theory, is nothing more than a huge joke in the soul master world in my eyes."

"Bullshit! We Shrek..."

"Shrek what?"

Su Yun interrupted him directly, his eyes revealing a deep sense of criticism.

"You say you only accept monsters? But in my eyes, you are merely treating human lives like grass. Without any medical facilities, without any simulated training grounds, and without even being able to guarantee a full meal, you dare to let these teenagers in their developmental stage engage in high-intensity, life-or-death combat?"

"Using an extremely high mortality and disability rate to screen for geniuses isn't elite education; it's a gamble with luck. You call those who survive monsters, but what about those who died? Do you, Flender, even remember the names of the children who lost their lives in the soul fighting arenas for your ridiculous, empty fame?"

Flender opened his mouth. The arrogant lines he had prepared seemed so pale and powerless in the face of Su Yun's words.

He wanted to retort; he wanted to say that one cannot become strong without experiencing life and death.

But when he saw the three girls behind Su Yun—especially the way Ning Rongrong and Zhu Zhuqing looked at him, as if they were looking at a con artist—Flender's heart sank heavily.

He knew that the most important thing in this academy had been thoroughly destroyed by the youth before him.

That was faith.

"Your teaching philosophy is obsolete, Flender."

Su Yun spoke again, his tone carrying the sense of judgment from a superior.

"What you want is merely to prove that even after leaving Spirit Hall, even after leaving mainstream society, you can still prove yourself right through this extreme method of raising students in poverty. Your selfish ideal is not worthy of these children's talents."

Having said that, Su Yun reached into his robe and pulled out a heavy silk pouch.

"Thud!"

Su Yun tossed it casually. The pouch traced a graceful arc through the air and landed heavily before Flender's worn-out straw sandals.

The impact caused a corner of the pouch to split open, revealing the dense, mesmerizing luster of pure gold cards and a massive amount of Gold Soul Coins.

"Here are one hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins."

Su Yun's voice was cold and ruthless, carrying an extreme sense of humiliation.

"Ten thousand Gold Soul Coins are the medical expenses for that blockhead bear, Zhao Wuji. The remaining ninety thousand are the severance pay I am distributing to the rest of the Shrek teachers."

"Flender, quit while you're ahead. Take this money, go back to Suotuo City, open a bigger general store, and be your greedy merchant in peace. As for Shrek..."

Su Yun pointed at the rotten plaque that had been trampled into the mud when Flender landed.

"Shut it down early. Don't let it continue to ruin lives here."

Flender stared blankly at the bag of Gold Soul Coins on the ground.

As a dean who valued money above all else, he had never seen so much wealth gathered in one place in his entire life.

Yet, at this moment, the money felt like red-hot iron blocks to him, so scorching that he didn't even dare to reach out his hand.

This was humiliation.

This was a naked, dimensionality-shattering strike that used wealth to crush his final shred of dignity!

He wanted to flare up; he wanted to roar that his dreams were not for sale.

However, he looked back.

Zhao Wuji was groaning in the pit, and Li Yusong was sighing amidst the ruins.

They, this group of old brothers, had guarded this broken village for far, far too long.

So long that they could no longer afford new clothes, so long that they could no longer afford the most basic cultivation pills.

Flender's hand trembled.

Su Yun paid no further attention to the man whose life was collapsing; the Diary in his arms was currently absorbing this massive wave of "causal feedback" frantically.

[Ding! Dean Flender's dreams have completely shattered. Causal Law judgment: Shrek Academy is officially declared 'nominally defunct'.]

[Reward: God-level skill -- Judgment of the Angel! Reward: Villain Points +50,000!]

[Reward: Favorability of Bibi Dong/Qian Renxue/Ning Rongrong/Zhu Zhuqing increased across the board!]

Su Yun, accompanied by the beauties and under the awe-struck gaze of the crowd, took Xiao Wu and Zhu Zhuqing by the hand, and even took the liberty of patting Ning Rongrong's somewhat dazed little face, before swaggering toward Suotuo City.

"Um... Your Highness the Holy Son, where are we going?"

Ning Rongrong's voice had become as docile as a kitten.

"To Suotuo City, to get rooms."

Su Yun fanned himself, his tone light and breezy.

"Ah?!"

Ning Rongrong's face turned bright red in an instant, and Zhu Zhuqing instinctively tightened her collar.

"Oh, don't misunderstand. It's to book the Red Ocean suite to take you all to level up."

Su Yun gave a wicked smile.

Behind them, Flender hunched his back and slowly crouched down. Amidst the blood-red setting sun, he picked up the heavy bag of Gold Soul Coins that had buried all his dreams.

This was what it meant to have money—you really could do whatever you wanted.