One Copper Soul Coin Registration Fee, Are You Doing Charity?

The next morning, in Suo Tuo City.

Today was the day Shrek Academy recruited students. It only happened once a year; miss it, and you had to wait until next year.

So before dawn, quite a few parents had already brought their children to wait at the academy gates, ready to sign up.

But today... the atmosphere felt off.

"What... what is going on?"

A middle-aged man stood in the middle of the street with a boy of about ten, looking left and right, utterly baffled.

On his left was the shabby Shrek Academy. Its wooden archway was crooked and lopsided, with a battered plaque hanging from it that looked as if it might fall off at any moment. The five words "Shrek Academy" were carved on it, with a green monster's head in front, ugly in a very distinctive way.

An old man in his sixties sat at the entrance, leaning on a long staff, his eyes half-lidded, looking as if he couldn't be bothered to respond to anyone.

On his right, across the street, stood a brand-new academy, and the signboard that read "Shrek Academy" looked rather impressive.

Two people stood at the entrance. One looked somewhat thin, but his eyes were bright and piercing, his nose high and straight, and he had long lake-blue hair. Beside him was a young man with short golden hair, radiating an aura of light.

With the two of them standing there, they did not need to say a single word. They had already won.

"Two... Shrek Academies?"

The middle-aged man rubbed his eyes hard, thinking he had seen wrong.

The other parents around him reacted the same way, looking at one another in confusion and breaking into discussion.

"Why are there two Shrek Academies?"

"Which one is real?"

"I heard Shrek Academy was supposed to be amazing, but the one on the left... isn't it way too run-down?"

"The one on the right looks impressive, but I've never heard of it. Is it newly opened?"

Li Yusong sat at the entrance, listening to the chatter, and gave a cold laugh.

The academy across the street had only hung up its sign yesterday. Of course he knew about it, but he had not taken it seriously.

"Just a fake."

Li Yusong thought to himself.

"A knockoff will always be a knockoff. The real thing is the real thing. That gap can't be stolen just by copying a name."

He knew Shrek Academy's trump cards all too well. Although the academy was run-down, although the fees were high, and although Dean Flender was miserly to the point of death, Shrek Academy had real ability.

Not to mention, their Shrek Academy had the recommendation of the local Spirit Hall. That was not something any random nobody could get. (In chapter 77 of the original work, it says Spirit Hall certified that Shrek Academy was said to allow graduates to obtain the rank of imperial viscount.)

"When Dean Flender comes back, we'll go extort them properly. Daring to open an academy with the same name right across from us—aren't they just asking to die?"

Li Yusong narrowed his eyes and glanced across the street.

Thinking of this, he drawled lazily.

"Those signing up, come line up!"

"The registration fee is ten gold soul coins. Just put them in the box beside me."

Ten gold soul coins.

As soon as that number came out, many parents' expressions changed. Ten gold soul coins was no small sum for a family.

But... looking at this dilapidated academy gate, then at the plaque that looked as if it was about to fall off...

"Is this really Shrek Academy?"

A plump woman dressed in silk frowned and sized Li Yusong up and down.

"Teacher, we came all this way because we heard of Shrek Academy's great name, but your place... it really doesn't look like it."

Li Yusong did not even lift his eyelids.

"Believe it or don't."

The plump woman choked on his words, her expression turning rather ugly, but she did not dare flare up. The boy beside her tugged at the corner of her clothes and whispered, "Mother, how about... we go take a look across the street?"

The plump woman hesitated, then turned to look across the street.

Wu Zhangkong and Le Zhengyu stood there, one with an otherworldly bearing, the other dazzling with light. No matter how you looked at them, they seemed far more reliable than this old man in his sixties.

Quite a few parents were tempted, and their steps began shifting toward the opposite side.

Li Yusong frowned.

He glanced beside him. Dai Mubai, who should have come to help maintain order, had not shown up today.

He had heard that Dai Mubai had been beaten yesterday, with several injuries on his body, and had even gotten into a conflict and fought with a two-ring soul master. Then he had spent the whole night fooling around with some twins, and today he could not even get out of bed.

Li Yusong cursed, then looked toward another person.

Oscar.

"Little Ao, come over and help keep watch."

Oscar was hiding in the shade of a tree, chewing on a cucumber. Hearing Li Yusong call him, he quickly swallowed it in a few bites and ran over.

"Here they come."

He stood beside Li Yusong, looked at the brand-new academy across from them, then looked back at the shabby, battered gate on their side. The corner of his mouth twitched.

"...Teacher Li, what are you planning to do about that academy across the street?"

Oscar asked in a low voice.

Li Yusong gave a cold snort.

"No hurry. Let them make the first move."

Oscar opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but in the end he closed it again.

He glanced at the hesitant parents, then at the two recruitment teachers across the street, and somehow felt that what was happening today... was not that simple.

And at that moment, across the street.

Wu Zhangkong's gaze swept over the hesitant parents and students. His expression was calm, revealing no emotional fluctuation at all.

Le Zhengyu stood beside him, his short golden hair meticulously combed with wax, a perfectly measured smile on his face.

"We are from Shrek Academy. Our academy is a place that cultivates monsters. As long as you pass the assessment, you may enter Shrek Academy to study. The registration fee is one copper soul coin. We do not wish for monsters with the potential to grow to be held back by money."

One copper soul coin.

Compared to the ten gold soul coins across the street, it was enough to make people question reality.

"O-one copper soul coin?"

The plump woman from earlier widened her eyes, even her voice going off-pitch.

"You didn't say that wrong, did you?"

Le Zhengyu smiled and shook his head.

"I did not. Afterward, as long as you complete the academy's missions and make contributions to the academy, tuition will be completely waived, food and lodging will be fully covered, and there will also be specialized training facilities and instructors."

The plump woman sucked in a cold breath.

The boy beside her had lit up completely, tugging hard at the corner of her clothes.

"Mom! This one! I want to go to this one!"

And it was not just them. Almost all the parents were in an uproar.

Ten gold soul coins was not something everyone could afford, but one copper soul coin... it could practically be said that everyone could afford it.

"Now this is a real academy!"

"Exactly! That side wants ten gold soul coins, and it's all run-down too. Who knows if they're scammers?"

"But... is this really reliable? One copper soul coin—could there be some kind of trap?"

"Are you stupid? Even if it is a trap, can't you afford to lose one copper soul coin? The other side is asking for ten gold soul coins!"

The discussion grew louder and louder, tilting more and more toward the other side of the street.

Li Yusong's expression grew uglier and uglier.

The fingers gripping his long staff tightened slightly, his knuckles turning white.

"Stealing our business?"

He gritted his teeth and lowered his voice.

"This is openly stealing our business..."

He had originally thought that that fake Shrek Academy was nothing more than a joke. Once the real recruitment day arrived, the parents would naturally choose the genuine one.

After all, Shrek Academy's reputation was right there, and Spirit Hall's recommendation was not something just anyone could obtain.

But he had not expected the other side to set the price at one copper soul coin.

One copper soul coin.

This was no longer doing business. This was charity.

No, this was coming to wreck their place.

Li Yusong knew he could not just sit there and wait for death. Otherwise, when Flender returned, he would definitely come looking for trouble with him.

Just then, a clear voice came from outside the crowd.

"Third Brother, the Shrek Academy Grandmaster told us to go to... which Shrek Academy is it?"

A girl in a pink dress stood by the street, her long scorpion-tail braid hanging behind her, her big eyes full of confusion.

Beside her stood a boy who looked about the same age as her, with delicate features and a gentle bearing.

They were precisely Xiao Wu and Tang San.

The two of them had just arrived from Notting City and, following the instructions of Grandmaster Yu Xiaogang, had come to Shrek Academy in Suo Tuo City to report in.