Zhou Yi's Atrocities

Electrolux was silent for a long time. At last, he spoke slowly, his voice heavy with mixed emotions.

"One of my own kind, you say... Very well. You need something from me, and if it is within my power, I will grant it."

Xuan Xiao breathed a sigh of relief. He yawned and replied lazily, "Focus on recovering, sir. You might need to step in before long."

With that, he closed his eyes and fell straight asleep.

He couldn't help it. The day had been exhausting.

First, he had trained for a month in the Virtual Combat Room. Only an hour had passed outside, but the mental fatigue was real.

Then he had dealt with Zhou Yi, stirred up trouble in the Soul Guidance Department, and arranged the bomber incident.

That evening, he had fought a Soul Fighting match, then rushed to the Far North. He had wiped out the Earth Dragon Sect's base, dug a cave to escape an avalanche, and finally struck a deal with Electrolux.

It sounded like a lot because it was. He had done all of it in a single day.

From the moment he got up that morning, he had barely caught his breath.

Now that everything was done, his taut nerves finally relaxed. Sleep swept over him like a tide and swallowed him whole.

Only the hum of the Soul Tool heater remained in the cave, mingling with the howling wind and snow outside in a strange kind of quiet.

Meanwhile, Shrek Academy was anything but quiet.

Mu En had helped Beibei stabilize his Radiant Saint Dragon bloodline after Saint Dragon Awakening had thrown it into turmoil.

He had checked on Xu Sanshi as well. Only after confirming that neither of them was in serious danger had he left the infirmary.

But instead of returning to his quarters, he went straight to the Sea God's Pavilion.

The Sea God's Pavilion blazed with light late into the night. Several elders had been summoned there on short notice.

They sat around a long wooden table, every face grave. A heavy mood hung over the room.

Mu En sat at the head of the table, holding a cup of hot tea. He did not drink it. Instead, he tapped the side of the cup with one finger, making it chime.

"I called you here today because of one person."

He set down his tea and looked at each elder in turn.

"Shaozhe, hand out the files. Let everyone take a look."

Yan Shaozhe hurried to his feet and placed a file before each elder.

The files contained Xuan Xiao's basic information and a detailed account of everything that had happened that day.

The elders picked them up and began reading carefully.

The farther they read, the more striking their expressions became.

Xuan Xiao: a new student this year, twelve years old, a Level Thirty-Nine Soul Elder with the Ultimate Wind Martial Soul.

He was also a Level-Three Soul Engineer and possessed an engraving knife worthy of a place among the top five Ranked Engraving Knives, at the very least.

Note: The engraving knife was made from the Soul Bone of a Darkgolden Terrorclaw Bear at least a hundred thousand years old.

The meeting room fell so silent that a pin drop would have been audible.

After a long while, a white-haired elder finally broke the silence.

He was Zhuang Yusen, one of the few truly neutral figures at Shrek Academy: a Level Ninety-Five Super Douluo whose Martial Soul was the Tree of Life.

"Elder Mu, is all this true? Can a twelve-year-old child really have accomplished so much?"

The doubt in his voice was unmistakable. It was not that he distrusted Mu En; the contents of the file were simply too absurd.

Twelve years old. Level Thirty-Nine. The Ultimate Wind Martial Soul. A Level-Three Soul Engineer. And an engraving knife made from the Soul Bone of a hundred-thousand-year-old Darkgolden Terrorclaw Bear.

Any one of those achievements would have been enough to earn a young person the name of genius.

For one person to possess them all went beyond genius. That was a monster.

Mu En nodded firmly.

"Every word. I saw it with my own eyes today."

He paused, then added, "And right in front of me, he gave Shaozhe and Lin'er a scathing dressing-down. He said they took after me in all the wrong ways."

"Pfft—"

One elder, who had been drinking tea, sprayed it out and broke into a coughing fit.

The others wore odd expressions. They wanted to laugh but did not dare.

They all knew what Yan Shaozhe and Xian Lin'er were like. Out of consideration for them, no one had ever said it to their faces.

Who would have thought a brash twelve-year-old would be the one to do it?

"That boy certainly has nerve," an elderly woman said with a smile, a note of admiration in her voice.

She was Lin Huiqun, the head of Shrek's Treasure Pavilion and a Level Ninety-Four Titled Douluo.

Mu En smiled too, then went on. "I promised to find him a Soul Beast over forty thousand years old for his fourth Soul Ring. In return, he'll serve as an adviser to the Inspection Corps for a year."

One elder frowned, concern in his voice.

He was Gong Changlong, the head of Shrek's Beast Arena and a Level Ninety-Three Titled Douluo.

"Can he withstand the backlash from a forty-thousand-year Soul Ring at his current level?"

The energy in a forty-thousand-year Soul Ring was extraordinarily violent. For most Soul Masters, absorbing a seven- or eight-thousand-year ring as their fourth was already the limit.

Those with better talent might manage one over ten thousand years old.

But such people were vanishingly rare, even across the entire continent.

Forty thousand years? That was playing with fire.

Mu En waved a hand and said calmly, "His third Soul Ring came from a twenty-five-thousand-year-old Darkgolden Terrorclaw Bear. I sensed its aura myself. There's no mistake."

Gong Changlong froze. After a moment's silence, he nodded.

"Then I have no objection."

If Xuan Xiao had absorbed a twenty-five-thousand-year Soul Ring as his third, absorbing a forty-thousand-year one as his fourth was not impossible.

Seeing that no one else objected, Mu En nodded and changed the subject.

"Now, the second matter: Zhou Yi. Shaozhe, read the report."

Yan Shaozhe's face went deathly pale. He rose unsteadily and pulled a thick report from inside his clothes.

It ran to dozens of pages, densely packed with records and names.

He took a deep breath and began to read.

"Zhou Yi, female, forty-three years old. A teacher in Shrek Academy's outer court for fifteen years."

"During her tenure, she expelled forty-three students for failing to complete running assignments."

"Thirty-eight for arguing with her."

"Twenty-five for arriving late to class."

"Fifty-two for talking back to her."

"Thirty-four for progressing too slowly in cultivation."

"Twenty-eight for refusing to follow her orders, and fifty-six for other reasons."

"Two hundred and seventy-six in total."

Yan Shaozhe's voice echoed through the spacious meeting room.

Each number landed like a hammer blow on the hearts of the elders seated there.

"After Shrek expelled these students, the academy did not help them transfer elsewhere, offer them compensation, or provide any further support."

"Eleven lost all hope after being expelled and took their own lives."

"Forty-seven could not return to their families and were forced to join Soul Hunting groups to make a living."

"Of those, twenty-three died on missions, and twelve remain missing."

"Thirty-five suffered such severe corporal punishment when they were expelled that their meridians were damaged, leaving them permanently unable to cultivate."

"Fifty-two suffered lasting injuries from excessive corporal punishment during their expulsion. Whenever it rains, their meridians hurt unbearably."

"Nineteen were permanently disabled by excessive corporal punishment during their expulsion."

"Another forty-two female students had nowhere to go after being expelled and no way to earn a living. They were forced into prostitution and are still struggling to survive in red-light districts across the major cities."