Looking at the sky from the bottom of a well, ignorant of the vastness of heaven and earth!

"Enough! Shut up!"

With a bang, Qin Ming slammed his palm onto the table beside him, making the doors and windows hum from the vibration.

Ning Rongrong, Xiao Wu, and Zhu Zhuqing all jumped in fright.

Ning Ze frowned slightly.

Qin Ming's face turned livid, his chest heaving as he said word by word, "Since you've only just arrived and are still young, I won't lower myself to your level! But show some respect!"

"Shrek Academy is my alma mater! Headmaster Flender has shown Qin Ming the grace of remaking my life!"

"Shrek is the only cradle of monsters on the entire continent. Headmaster Flender has always conducted himself with integrity and selflessness! I will never allow anyone to sully my alma mater and benefactor with such filthy words!"

The hall fell silent.

Ning Rongrong opened her mouth, taking a long while to regain her senses.

Qin Ming, the highly renowned instructor, had actually graduated from that shabby Shrek Academy?

Could the world really be this small?

But after her shock passed, her unyielding spirit rose again.

"So what if it's your alma mater? So what if he's your benefactor?"

"Every word I said came from my own experience! Just because he became your mentor, does that mean nobody else is even allowed to mention the absurd things he did?"

"You—!"

Ning Rongrong left Qin Ming speechless. His face alternated between green and white, while his clenched knuckles cracked.

Given his strength and status, he could not truly lay hands on a few twelve-year-old children.

Yet he could not suppress the fire in his heart—his alma mater and mentor were practically his faith, and he could not tolerate seeing them trampled into the mud like this.

He closed his eyes, exhaled a foul breath, withdrew the pressure of his Soul Power, and swept his gaze across the four of them one by one. His voice turned cold as well:

"There's no meaning in arguing with words. You think Shrek is some makeshift academy that ruins its students, and you think Headmaster Flender's teaching methods are absurd and laughable—"

"Then today, I'll let you see with your own eyes what kind of quality the team personally trained by a Shrek graduate truly possesses."

He flung aside his instructor's robe and strode toward the door. His voice drifted back from beyond it:

"Come with me to the training grounds! The core main team under my command is currently undergoing intensive training."

"I'll show you what level a top team cultivated under Shrek's philosophy has reached! So you won't keep looking at the sky from the bottom of a well, ignorant of the vastness of heaven and earth!"

Led by Qin Ming, Ning Ze and the other three crossed the quiet tree-lined paths of Heaven Dou Royal Academy and soon arrived at a majestic giant open-air training ground spanning several thousand square meters.

Layers of soul-tool light screens enclosed the training ground, and its floor was paved entirely with thick, sturdy Steel Rock.

At that moment, Soul Power churned within the arena amid howls and thunderous blasts. An extraordinarily fierce internal sparring exercise was underway.

Ning Ze stopped and looked over, only to see that the opposing sides were none other than Heaven Dou Royal Academy's core ace team—the main Imperial Fighting Team—engaging in an all-out battle against the Imperial Fighting Reserve Team, the second team!

The main team's lineup completely matched the roster from the original story in Ning Ze's memories:

The tall, upright young man standing at the very front of the formation was Yu Tianheng, one of the twin stars of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan and the team captain.

On the flank stood a tall, seductive girl with short dark-purple hair and cold, beautiful eyes gleaming with eerie green venomous light. She was none other than the vice-captain, Dugu Yan.

At the center of the rear line stood a peerlessly beautiful girl in a long black dress, her face veiled in black gauze.

She held a dreamlike white begonia flower in her hands. Her expression was cold and pure like an orchid hidden amid snowy mountains. She was Ye Lingling, inheritor of the Nine-Heart Begonia, the greatest area-of-effect healing Martial Soul in the world!

Besides them, the Black Tortoise brothers Shi Mo and Shi Mo stood like mountains at the front, Yu Feng of the Wind Chime Bird swept through the low air on beating wings, and Osler of the Black Panther stalked close behind his targets like a shadow to strike at close range.

"Boom—!!"

With a thunderous explosion, Yu Tianheng's incomparably domineering dragon claw sent the second team's main attacker flying!

The rest of the main team advanced in coordination. In just a few exchanges, they crushed the entire reserve team with overwhelming force, pinning them to the ground and defeating them in a one-sided rout!

"Good! The main team wins. The assessment is over!"

Qin Ming clapped as he strode into the training ground, his handsome face filled with unconcealed pride and arrogance.

He turned to Ning Ze and the other three beside him, lifting his chin slightly as he introduced them with a faintly admonishing tone:

"These are the students I, Qin Ming, personally trained!"

"Captain Yu Tianheng, level thirty-nine assault-type Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon!"

"Vice-captain Dugu Yan, level thirty-eight control-type Jade Phosphorous Serpent! In the rear is Ye Lingling, a Nine-Heart Begonia Soul Elder... Not only are they the academy's absolute ace team, they also represent the peak combat strength of the Heaven Dou Empire's younger generation!"

At this point, Qin Ming deliberately stressed his words, his eyes brimming with the pride and arrogance of a Shrek graduate.

"Many of the practical combat tactics and rigorous standards I taught them were inherited from the alma mater I take such pride in—Shrek Academy! Do you still think Shrek is worthless trash with an undeserved reputation?"

However, Ning Ze kept both hands in his pockets, not even twitching an eyebrow as he looked into the arena with a faint, amused smile.

At the center of the training ground, the main and reserve members of the Imperial Fighting Team had just finished their battle. They retracted their Martial Souls and hurried over in high spirits despite being drenched in sweat.

"Teacher Qin Ming!"

"Teacher Qin, you're back!"

"Teacher Qin, you're here!"

Everyone respectfully bowed.

However, before they could finish their greetings, the gazes of several core members of the team were irresistibly drawn to the slender, otherworldly figure in white behind Qin Ming!

The youth had a face like carved jade and a tall, elegant bearing. His snow-white robes were immaculate, untouched by even a speck of dust.

Enhanced by the doubled charm and ultimate affinity aura innate to the Love God Martial Soul, Ning Ze exuded an otherworldly immortal air and a fatal allure that dimmed even heaven, earth, sun, and moon, despite merely standing quietly in the breeze.

"Hiss..."

The fiery-tempered, haughty vice-captain Dugu Yan.

The instant her gaze collided with Ning Ze's deep, pitch-black, starry eyes, her heart skipped a beat. A rare flush surged across her usually cold and enchanting face, and she nearly bit her tongue while greeting Qin Ming!

Oh heavens... What a handsome, exquisite young man!

Dugu Yan secretly swallowed, ripples stirring in her alluring eyes as she stared fixedly at Ning Ze, unable to look away. Her heart trembled.

Meanwhile, Ye Lingling stood at the rear of the team, usually so cold that she seemed devoid of even the slightest emotional fluctuation.

The moment she clearly saw Ning Ze's face through her veil, her limpid eyes shook violently. Her small hand unconsciously clenched the hem of her skirt, while her snow-white earlobes quietly turned crimson like rouge.

The two Imperial Fighting Team beauties, usually so proud and untouchable, had their hearts stirred at first sight of Ning Ze!