Internal Reforms at Shrek Academy

Shrek and the Tang Sect jointly issued a declaration of war against the Holy Spirit Cult. The neutral and dovish factions in the Federation Parliament also submitted a bill calling for new legislation concerning terrorist attacks and military control.

After all the twists and turns, it was time for Shrek Academy's new recruitment season once again.

The moment this recruitment announcement was released, it immediately sparked widespread discussion.

Because this time, Shrek was not only recruiting students—it was recruiting teachers as well.

Shrek Academy officially reorganized. The Soul Master Academy became an independent department, while soul guidance science was separated from Soul Master education. In collaboration with the Tang Sect, a new Soul Guidance Academy was established to train specialized talent. Most notably, Shrek Academy had also created a new Social Sciences Research Department.

Shrek Academy's Social Sciences Research Department was open to young people between the ages of eleven and fifteen from across society. As long as they were interested, they could apply and take an online examination for a chance to attend a second-round assessment at Shrek Academy. Those who passed the assessment could become members of Shrek's Social Sciences Research Department.

Shrek's promise was this: no consideration of family background, no questions about cultivation talent. Moreover, Shrek Academy would cover the transportation and lodging expenses of those attending the second-round assessment.

The second-round assessment would take place a month later. For now, they were in the stage of application evaluations and recruiting professional teachers.

Sea God Pavilion's temporary office.

Tang Wulin browsed through the various resumes submitted to Shrek's internal network terminal.

A flash of silver light passed by, and a woman appeared with a stack of documents in her hands, setting them on his desk.

Tang Wulin looked up at her, his eyes curving into a smile. "Aren't you very busy lately?"

Gu Yue said, "Busier than you? The entire recruitment matter has been piled onto your head, hasn't it?"

Tang Wulin shook his head with a laugh. "Not entirely. Xie Xie and the others are handling part of the work too."

Gu Yue frowned. "Have you found any suitable teachers?"

Tang Wulin sighed softly. "It's difficult. Most respected professionals have political leanings, or they already serve as consultants to certain prominent families. Inviting them to give the occasional lecture in the future would be fine, but they wouldn't be suitable as teachers. Besides, none of those people would submit resumes to Shrek. You know how much they value their reputations. As for these resumes, most are from younger people with limited qualifications. Quite a few just submitted them to try their luck. Finding suitable candidates is too difficult."

After hearing that, Gu Yue pointed at the stack of documents she had brought. "A list and detailed information on several retired politicians. I've already screened them once. After retirement, they rarely participated in political activities or political propaganda. They also had no close ties with the military or the Spirit Pagoda, and most of them were formerly dovish or neutral members of parliament."

Tang Wulin paused. He had not asked Gu Yue to do this, nor had he often directly discussed the complicated work that followed Shrek Academy's reorganization with her. Yet she had quietly done it anyway.

Tang Wulin looked into her calm eyes and smiled silently. He would not deliberately thank her, because there was no need for thanks between them.

"I'll review them carefully," he said.

Gu Yue nodded. "Then I'll leave. Oh, right. The Myriad Beast Platform will be released soon, and the Spirit Pagoda's prestige will rise rapidly. Qiangu Dongfeng will definitely use the opportunity to suppress your influence in parliament. You'd better prepare in advance."

Tang Wulin rose to his feet. "I understand."

Gu Yue seemed to notice something. She glanced toward the door, then withdrew her gaze and said blandly, "Once my strength recovers a little more, Na'er will be able to temporarily separate from me and act independently."

With that, she vanished from the spot.

At the mention of Na'er, Tang Wulin's eyes darkened as well.

"Pavilion Master, aren't you tired of standing outside the door?" Tang Wulin asked helplessly after a while.

Yun Ming pushed the door open and entered, his expression somewhat unpleasant.

Tang Wulin naturally understood him. After all, both Yali and Yun Ming sincerely regarded Na'er as their own daughter.

Yun Ming seemed to have gone out.

"Did you go look for him?" Tang Wulin asked.

Yun Ming snorted coldly. "Why would I look for him? I merely took a stroll around the entrance of their Spirit Pagoda."

Tang Wulin raised an eyebrow.

Outside the Shrek Spirit Pagoda headquarters, the expressions of the gathered onlookers were varied.

On the stone beast guarding the Spirit Pagoda's entrance, several words had suddenly appeared—"Qiangu Rat Thief."

The strokes were vigorous and forceful, carrying a faint sense of vast grandeur.

Those words had appeared out of nowhere. No one had seen how they came to be.

As more and more people gathered, a thunderous boom exploded in the sky. A furious snort rang out, and the stone beast suddenly shattered, reduced directly to powder. Yet that only made matters worse.

The four large characters slowly floated upward and grew larger and larger. Now, not only passersby at the entrance could see them—everyone in the entire Spirit Pagoda saw them.

A giant hand appeared from thin air, attempting to seize the words. Instead, they slipped through its fingers and exploded into fireworks—within every burst of fireworks, new "Qiangu Rat Thief" words appeared—then they exploded into fireworks again.

That hand froze in midair.

Until the fireworks display ended.

The hand suddenly swept forward, thrusting through the void. An icy voice instantly rang out as an intent that could hold up the heavens tore through space and fiercely collided with that hand. "What? Are you planning to go to war with me?"

The hand collapsed in the collision. That heaven-supporting intent paused briefly, but did not advance any further. It stopped while it was ahead and vanished into the void.

Their confrontation had been restrained to the extreme. Not even a trace of energy fluctuation leaked out. The people standing below had no idea what had happened and simply looked up curiously.

At the very top floor of the Spirit Pagoda, Qiangu Dongfeng furiously smashed his teacup onto the ground. It shattered instantly, and the fragments vaporized beneath the pressure produced by an enraged Limit Douluo, vanishing without a trace.

"Yun Ming..." Qiangu Dongfeng gritted his teeth, hatred seeping into his bones.

Someone suddenly knocked on his office door. Qiangu Dongfeng took a deep breath. "Come in."

The door opened, and a shapely woman with an icy expression walked in—it was Leng Yaozhu.

The moment she entered, she slammed the door shut with a bang and glared fiercely at Qiangu Dongfeng. "You'd better give me a reasonable explanation for this!"

Tang Wulin's mouth twitched. Unable to hold it in any longer, he burst out laughing. "As expected, the old ones are still the craftiest."

Yun Ming shook out his hand, unconcerned. "These were some little tricks I used when pursuing Yali back then. I feel sick just using them on him."

Tang Wulin smiled. "Qiangu Dongfeng must be furious. I wonder whether he'll make tomorrow's headlines."

Yun Ming sneered. "Someone as obsessed with saving face as him would swallow even broken teeth. Don't worry. He'll definitely spend a fortune suppressing this matter. Not just with the media—he'll pay everyone present to keep quiet."

The smile on Tang Wulin's face simply would not fade.

That was too vicious—truly too vicious! Sometimes, he felt that he was already fairly cunning, but compared to these deeply calculating seniors, he clearly still had much to learn.

Yun Ming glanced at him. "Enough. Have you found any suitable candidates?"

Turning serious, Tang Wulin gave a light cough and suppressed his smile. "That's exactly what I wanted to discuss with you. I've selected several candidates, but they need to be reviewed by the Sea God Pavilion."

Yun Ming gestured for him to send over the documents, then added, "We'll hold a meeting shortly."

"Alright, I understand."