"Ma'am, please show us your identification..."
The security guards at the entrance carried out their routine checks. This was a school, after all, not somewhere just anyone could enter.
Though the students here were Soul Masters, they were still children protected by laws safeguarding minors.
Elder Cai didn't care about the guards' questions at all.
"Who I am is none of your business. You're just lowly security guards."
A thread of pressure swept out. The guards immediately fell silent, rooted to the spot and too afraid to move.
Lan Muzi helplessly took out his identification and explained things to the guards.
He was truly speechless.
How had Sister Yue dared send Elder Cai out to handle things, given her temperament?
Lan Muzi had lost count of how many times he'd had to clean up after her along the way.
She did whatever she pleased, utterly unconcerned with the people around her or the laws and regulations in place. No wonder Elder Bei had personally stepped in back then to bring her back, then made her the Outer Court dean and piled work on her. Only then had she settled down for a few decades.
What a headache.
Wu Zhangkong was also taken aback when he saw Elder Cai. Once he recovered, he hurriedly saluted.
"Greetings, Elder Cai."
Elder Cai glanced at Wu Zhangkong and said irritably, "Hmph. You can't even get over one relationship. That old fool Zhuo Shi must have been blind to take a weak-willed man like you as his disciple."
Wu Zhangkong silently endured Elder Cai's criticism and didn't argue.
He was sentimental, and he couldn't forget Long Bing.
The fact that he'd spent thirteen years in a state of despair was indisputable, too.
Ignoring Wu Zhangkong, Elder Cai walked straight over to Qian Jue.
"So you're Qian Jue? Very good, very good. You're a fine prospect."
She'd sensed that unyielding, righteous force outside just now. To grasp the realm of "intent" at his age was extraordinary—even at Shrek Academy, a place crowded with countless prodigies and monsters.
A talent like him absolutely couldn't be left for the Spirit Pagoda to claim alone.
He had to belong to Shrek.
Ye Yingluo had only just recovered from her shock. Seeing Elder Cai, she was shaken and couldn't help speaking up.
"It's you... What brings you here?"
Back then, carrying her family's hopes and buoyed by her teacher's encouragement, she had confidently set out to take Shrek Academy's entrance exam.
She had overcome every obstacle along the way, only to have her dream cut short at the final hurdle. Elder Cai had rejected her for being too proud and simply because she didn't like her—an utterly absurd reason.
Ye Yingluo would never forget the humiliation of that day.
Elder Cai furrowed her brow and thought for a moment before saying coolly, "Who are you? Do we know each other? Don't get in the way of Shrek's business. Go stand somewhere else."
Then her gaze fell on Qian Jue.
"Good child, come back to Shrek Academy with us. I've already seen your talent. Once we're back, Sister Yue will care for you and teach you everything she knows."
"Instead of wasting time in some backwater place like this, you deserve a bigger stage. Shrek Academy is where you belong."
Go back and face Long Yeyue?
He'd sneaked out and joined the Spirit Pagoda. If Yun Ming didn't stop her, he'd be lucky to get away with only a beating.
He might not even get to drink rice wine anymore.
Qian Jue nodded and asked calmly, "You make a good point, but may I ask—are all the students and teachers at Shrek Academy monsters?"
Elder Cai puffed out her chest, looking proud. "Of course. Shrek Academy's golden reputation has stood firm on the continent for twenty thousand years."
Qian Jue's expression remained calm as he countered, "Then allow me to ask: were those monster students made into monsters by you and your academy, or were they monsters to begin with?"
His words were like a razor-sharp knife, effortlessly puncturing Shrek Academy's thousand-year reputation.
In the original story, everything that had helped Tang Wulin grow had come from personal affection, not the academy's training.
Zhuo Shi treated him like a grandson, Feng Wuyu treated him like a disciple, and Wu Zhangkong needed no explanation—he treated him like a son.
They'd nurtured Tang Wulin with their own private resources, not the academy's. So what role had the academy played in all of that?
And Yun Ming, for one, had slapped Tang Wulin hard without so much as an explanation just because Na'er had gone missing.
It was hard to understand where Tang Wulin's affection for the academy had even sprung from—as if it had emerged out of thin air.
So, apart from a handful of individuals, Shrek Academy's only purpose was to gather a group of geniuses and let them fight amongst themselves and grow wild.
It was completely at odds with the way ordinary people thought a school should work:
"Accept students with low scores and graduate them with high ones; accept students with high scores and graduate them as the best. Foster virtue and cultivate talent."
The students and teachers around them fell silent for a moment, then began whispering among themselves.
"The junior's right. If they only recruit geniuses, then it doesn't seem like the academy has much to do with it, does it?"
"As long as a genius doesn't let himself go, he'll shine anywhere."
Elder Cai's face gradually darkened.
"Twist things however you like. The fact remains that Shrek Academy has stood on the continent for tens of thousands of years, and the name Monster Academy is renowned across the world."
"Come with me at once. Don't be an unfaithful, unfilial wretch!"
As she spoke, she raised a hand to seize Qian Jue, leaving no room for argument.
Wu Zhangkong tried to stop her, but Elder Cai forcibly pinned him down with her Soul Power, leaving him unable to move.
Yu Zhen hurried over after receiving the news and shouted, "Silver Moon Crown, you can't! You mustn't!"
"Can't we talk this out? Whether he stays or goes, we have to respect the child's wishes. We're all teachers..."
"Silence! A mere third-rate academy headmaster thinks he's fit to be called a teacher alongside us?"
Elder Cai flicked her hand, sending out a streak of silver light that pinned Yu Zhen down in front of everyone.
As the head of Eastsea Academy, Yu Zhen held a position almost equal to that of Eastsea City's chief executive.
Yet Elder Cai had subdued him in front of the students. She embodied the words "arrogant and high-handed" to perfection.
"An insect trying to shake a tree—how laughable."
"For your offense today, your students will be forbidden from applying to Shrek Academy for the next ten years."
As soon as the words left her mouth, a phantom appeared before Elder Cai in an instant.
Her eyes flew wide with terror. She didn't even have time to summon her Martial Soul.
A fierce slap landed squarely on her cheek, carrying a shock that seemed to tear her soul away.
Smack!
The slap rang out, crisp and loud.
Elder Cai staggered and fell to her knees. Her neat hair came undone, and five clear finger marks stood out on her face.
When she came to her senses, she shouted, "Who?! Who did that? Who dares lay a hand on me?!"
Since becoming a Titled Douluo and being promoted to Sea God Pavilion Elder, when had Elder Cai ever suffered such humiliation?
A silver moon appeared behind her, and all nine Soul Rings emerged. Her terrifying pressure poured out, heedless of the teachers and students from Eastsea Academy all around her.
Red light flashed in Qian Gu Qingfeng's hand.
He gave the Purgatory Halberd a light swing, and the bright silver moon instantly shattered into pieces, making Elder Cai spit out a large mouthful of blood.
Only then did she see who had struck her.
"The Purgatory Halberd... Y-you're Qiangu Qingfeng!"