At dusk outside Suotuo City, the setting sun was as red as blood.
The few thatched huts at Shrek Academy had already been on the verge of collapse. After being ravaged by the sacred storm just now, they had been reduced to rubble.
The smell of burning still lingered in the air. The long line of applicants, which had stretched for two li, had long since fled in every direction, leaving behind only broken timber and several teachers who were barely alive.
In the deathly silence amid the devastation, a piercing yet powerful bird's cry suddenly rang out from the horizon.
"Caw—!"
A huge shadow cut through the evening clouds like a circling eagle, rushing toward them with a fierce pressure of wind.
As a pair of enormous green wings beat violently in midair, a lean man wearing black-rimmed crystal glasses landed steadily before the plaque that had been broken in two.
His face fairly reeked of a swindler's cunning. His chin jutted out, and he had a hooked nose. His eyes, usually full of shrewdness and calculation, now stared fixedly at the scene before him.
Cat Eagle Flender, founder and dean of Shrek Academy—and the biggest swindler in Suotuo City—felt as though someone had stabbed him in the heart with a rusty kitchen knife.
"My academy! My life's work!"
Flender let out a heart-wrenching howl. He had gone into the city to discuss with a few old buddies how to launder the Gold Soul Coins collected from this year's applicants, and to figure out how to squeeze a little more money out of the newcomers.
But now?
His registration table had been smashed to pieces, and the Gold Soul Coins he treasured as dearly as his own life were scattered across the ground. Even the plaque that bore his decades-long dream of raising "monsters" had been trampled into splinters like kindling.
What broke him most was seeing his old friend, the fearless Immovable Wisdom King Zhao Wuji, lying in a crater like a dried-up dead toad, eyes rolled back, God knew how many bones broken.
Li Yusong, in charge of admissions, stood dazed amid the ruins, clutching his Dragon Pattern Staff. The blood from the sword-energy gash on his face was still dripping.
As for their only prospective student, Tang San, on whom Flender had pinned his hopes and who supposedly possessed Twin Martial Souls, he was crouched by the crater, clutching half a sausage in his hand. His eyes were vacant, and he muttered unintelligible nonsense like an idiot who'd just been struck by lightning.
"Who was it?! Who did this?!"
Flender went berserk. The Soul Power of a seventy-eighth-level Soul Saint erupted in an instant. His green-feathered Martial Soul Possession made him look like a beast driven into a frenzy.
"Get out here! I'll make you pay until you're ruined! I'll make you lick every single brick of Shrek clean!"
"Old... old Cat..."
Zhao Wuji, in the crater, finally managed to catch his breath. He tremblingly raised a hand and pointed toward the tall figure who had already walked dozens of meters away. His voice was hoarse and filled with terror.
"Don't... don't chase him... That kid isn't human..."
"Not human? Even if he were a god, he'd still have to pay for my plaque!"
How could Flender listen?
He had only noticed that three girls, each with a different air about her and outstanding talent, were accompanying Su Yun as he left.
Those were Shrek's prospective students! His future dreams!
The tuition fees he hadn't even had a chance to collect!
"Stop!"
Flender spread his wings. Like a bolt of green lightning, he crossed the space in an instant and blocked Su Yun and the others.
"You smashed my academy and stole my students. Now you think you can just turn around and walk away?"
Flender's eyes were bloodshot. His face, already a little sleazy, twisted even more as he grieved over his losses.
"Kid, if you don't give me an explanation today, then even if you're the King of Heaven himself, you're not leaving!"
Su Yun stopped.
Ning Rongrong, Zhu Zhuqing, and Xiao Wu instinctively stood behind him. They looked at the strange uncle who had suddenly appeared, their eyes full of wariness and contempt.
"The dean's back."
Su Yun leisurely shook his folding fan. He couldn't even be bothered to raise his eyelids, and his voice held a composure that made people want to lose their minds.
"An explanation? Cat Eagle Flender, what kind of explanation do you want? Do you want me to pay for those rotten pieces of wood, or compensate you for those so-called 'monsters' dreams that have already gone bankrupt?"
"Y-you know who I am?"
Flender froze.
"Is that so surprising?"
Su Yun sneered. The aura of the Judgment Angel behind him stirred faintly, instantly suppressing Flender's aggressive presence.
"Your name, along with your so-called theory about monsters, is nothing but a colossal joke in the Spirit Master World."
"You're talking nonsense! Our Shrek—"
"What about Shrek?"
Su Yun cut him off, his eyes filled with scorn.
"You say you only accept monsters? But to me, you're just throwing lives away. You have no medical facilities, no Mimicry Training Ground, and you can't even guarantee them a proper meal, yet you dare send these growing boys and girls into high-intensity, life-and-death combat?"
"Using an extremely high rate of death and crippling injuries to weed out geniuses isn't elite education. It's a gamble on luck. You call the survivors monsters, but what about the dead? Do you remember the names of the children who lost their lives in the Soul Fighting Arena for your laughable reputation, Flender?"
Flender opened his mouth. The proud lines he had prepared suddenly seemed utterly feeble in the face of Su Yun's words.
He wanted to argue. He wanted to say that no one could grow stronger without going through 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 though he were a con artist—Flender's heart sank.
The most important thing this academy had possessed had been utterly destroyed by the boy before him.
Its faith.
"Your teaching methods are outdated, Flender."
Su Yun spoke again, his tone carrying the weight of a judgment handed down from on high.
"All you want is to prove that even after leaving Spirit Hall, even after leaving mainstream society, you can still show you were right through this extreme, impoverished approach to raising students. Your selfish ideal isn't worthy of these children's talents."
With that, Su Yun reached into his clothes and pulled out a heavy silk pouch.
"Thud!"
Su Yun casually tossed it. The pouch traced a graceful arc before landing heavily in front of Flender's worn-out straw sandals.
The impact split one corner of the pouch, revealing densely packed golden cards and piles of Gold Soul Coins, all gleaming brilliantly.
"There are one hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins in there."
Su Yun's voice was cold and merciless, carrying the utmost humiliation.
"Ten thousand Gold Soul Coins are for that foolish bear, Zhao Wuji, to cover his medical expenses. The remaining ninety thousand are severance pay for the teachers still at Shrek."
"Flender, take the money and quit while you're ahead. With it, you can go back to Suotuo City and open a bigger general store. Settle down and be the swindler you are. As for Shrek..."
Su Yun pointed at the ruined plaque, now completely ground into the mud beneath Flender's feet.
"Shut it down before it's too late. Stop letting it ruin people's lives."
Flender stared blankly at the pouch of Gold Soul Coins on the ground.
As a dean who loved money as much as his own life, he had never seen so much money in one place.
But at that moment, the money felt like red-hot iron, scorching him so badly he couldn't even bring himself to reach for it.
This was humiliation.
A naked, overwhelming blow that used money to smash the last of his dignity!
He wanted to rage. He wanted to roar that his dream was not for sale.
But he glanced back.
Zhao Wuji groaned in the crater, while Li Yusong sighed amid the ruins.
His old brothers had guarded this broken village for far too long.
So long that they couldn't afford new clothes. So long that they couldn't afford even the most basic cultivation pills.
Flender's hand trembled.
Su Yun paid no more attention to the man whose life had just crumbled around him. The Diary in his arms was frantically absorbing this massive wave of "causal feedback."
[ Ding! Dean Flender's dream has completely collapsed. Law of Causality judgment: Shrek Academy has officially been declared "nominally defunct." ] [Reward: Divine Skill—Judgment of the Angel! Reward: Villain Value +50,000!] [Reward: Affection for Bibi Dong/Qian Renxue/Ning Rongrong/Zhu Zhuqing increased across the board!]
With the beauties in tow, Su Yun walked toward Suotuo City under the awe-struck gazes of the crowd. He held Xiao Wu and Zhu Zhuqing by the hand, and even took the opportunity to pat Ning Rongrong's dazed little face.
"Um... Your Highness the Holy Son, where are we going?"
Ning Rongrong's voice had become as meek as a kitten's.
"To Suotuo City, to get a room."
Su Yun shook his folding fan, his tone light.
"Ah?!"
Ning Rongrong's face instantly turned bright red, and Zhu Zhuqing instinctively tugged her collar tighter.
"Oh, don't get the wrong idea. We're getting a Red Ocean Suite so I can help you level up."
Su Yun flashed a wicked smile.
Behind them, Flender hunched over and slowly crouched down in the blood-red dusk. He picked up the heavy pouch of Gold Soul Coins that had buried all his dreams.
That was what it meant to have money: you really could do whatever you wanted.
Before you continue