At that moment, in the Dragon King Era.
Nearly every major forum was discussing the relationship between the Tang Sect, Shrek Academy, and the Holy Spirit Cult.
Some people had even begun spinning conspiracy theories.
"Do you think it's possible that the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy deliberately left the Holy Spirit Cult alone?"
"Otherwise, with their strength, even if they couldn't wipe out the Holy Spirit Cult completely, they could at least curb its growth. But now the Holy Spirit Cult is getting stronger and stronger. How could anyone not be suspicious?"
At that point, someone objected.
"Then why would the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy deliberately refuse to wipe out the Holy Spirit Cult?"
"Isn't it obvious? To hold the Federation back and stop it from unifying the continent. Haven't Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect always claimed to be neutral? They might call themselves neutral, but they've actually been supporting the doves all along."
"So that's why! I wondered why the Federation still couldn't unify the continent despite its strength. Turns out Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect have been throwing a wrench in the works!"
The internet was easily misled to begin with. Once the first person raised this conspiracy theory, the idea swept through like a swarm of locusts, immediately shooting up the Federation's trending searches. Before long, it became an after-dinner topic for everyone in the Sun-Moon Federation.
Naturally, Chen Xinjie of the Sea God Legion had seen similar messages. Just as he was pondering them, a call came in from the Federation's speaker.
"Speaker, this is Chen Xinjie," Chen Xinjie said as he answered.
"Hall Master Chen, have you seen the recent information about Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect?" the Federation's speaker asked.
"You mean their relationship with the Holy Spirit Cult? That's utterly absurd!" Chen Xinjie said indignantly.
"Please don't believe those rumors. Leaving aside whether that information from ten thousand years ago is accurate, today's Shrek Academy is still on the front lines of the battle against the Holy Spirit Cult!"
"All right, I understand. I have a meeting to attend, so let's leave it there." With that, the Federation's speaker ended the call.
Fine, fine, fine. Chen Xinjie, you really are something! The evidence is right before your eyes, and you're still siding with Shrek Academy?
Having hung up as well, Chen Xinjie felt a faint sense of foreboding.
Was the Federation going to move against Shrek Academy?
If so, should I warn Long Yeyue beforehand?
But I'm the Federation's deputy speaker, the master of the War God Temple, commander of the Sea God Legion, and a Federation general. Wouldn't doing that amount to betraying the Federation?
Even now, no one could understand just what was so alluring about this Fireworks Douluo. She was already married, yet Chen Xinjie remained utterly devoted to her.
Meanwhile, within the Sky Screen.
Ma Xiaotao's evil fire was gradually suppressed by Huo Yuhao's ultimate ice.
Not far away, more than a dozen figures were flying rapidly toward them from deep within Sea God Lake.
There was no need to guess. It had to be Yan Shaozhe and the others.
"Let's go." Ye Chen took Wang Dong's hand and left.
He had no desire to get tangled up in Ma Xiaotao's mess, much less expose the fact that he also possessed an ultimate ice martial soul.
In the days that followed, their lives consisted of classes upon classes. Soon, three months flew by in the blink of an eye.
During the final lesson, Du Weilun appeared in Class One's classroom for the second time. His first appearance had been when they had just enrolled.
"Seriously, isn't this homeroom teacher slacking off a little too much? He hasn't shown up for three months, and now he finally appears because the Freshman Assessment is coming," Wang Dong grumbled beside Ye Chen.
"Who knows?" Ye Chen replied.
During class, Du Weilun first explained the rules of the Freshman Assessment.
Those who failed the assessment would have to leave Shrek Academy.
Afterward, he began dividing the students of Class One into groups.
The Freshman Assessment stipulated that each group would consist of three people, with no more than one Power Attack System Battle Soul Master per group.
Ye Chen had no idea whether Zhou Yi was using her position to settle a personal grudge. He had expected to be assigned to the Power Attack System, only for her to place him directly in the Control System.
Ye Chen: "???"
The Three-Eyed Golden Lion, in the Control System? Then again, Ye Chen had hardly revealed his true strength during this time.
All he had revealed in class were Fate Control and his mental attribute, so taking the Control System route wasn't impossible.
Meanwhile, outside the Sky Screen, Yu Xiaogang saw how Shrek Academy had classified Ye Chen.
He immediately perked up again.
[Yu Xiaogang: Where's the person who said the Three-Eyed Golden Lion should go into the Power Attack System? See that? Shrek Academy didn't put him in the Power Attack System either!]
At that moment, Yun Ming: "???"
Was he calling me out?
He could no longer remember how many years it had been since a Soul Master had dared to call him out.
[Xu Xiaoyan: Shrek Academy didn't put him in the Support System either. What are you acting so smug about?]
[Yun Ming: What's wrong with the Control System? They simply don't know how terrifying the Three-Eyed Golden Lion martial soul is yet.]
[Yu Xiaogang: What a joke. What's so terrifying about the Three-Eyed Golden Lion martial soul? It's inferior to the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon!]
Seeing Yu Xiaogang bragging about the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon in the bullet comments again, everyone stopped paying attention to him.
By now, everyone knew that Yu Xiaogang had two favorite boasts.
First, he boasted that he was a Grandmaster of martial soul theory.
Second, he boasted that the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon was the world's number one beast martial soul.
Over the past two months, Yu Xiaogang had bragged plenty in the Sky Screen's chat box, to the point that everyone had grown used to it.
Soon, the group assignments were announced.
It was unclear whether Du Weilun had arranged it deliberately.
Ye Chen, Wang Dong, and Xiao Xiao were placed in the same group.
Naturally, Wang Dong filled the Power Attack System role.
But Wang Dong knew perfectly well that, in terms of raw strength, Ye Chen was stronger than him.
Still, each team could only have one Power Attack System Soul Master.
After spending these three months together, Wang Dong's opinion of Ye Chen had changed considerably.
Whenever Zhou Yi berated students in class, Ye Chen was the only one who dared to stand up and argue back.
Besides, Ye Chen never put on airs in their everyday interactions.
When he heard that they would be assigned to separate classes, Wang Dong couldn't help feeling anxious. Then he heard that the Power Attack System students would all be in the same class.
He relaxed again, only to hear that each team could have just one Power Attack System member, which made him nervous all over again.
His emotions rose and fell without respite. Even now, he was still nervous!
What should I do? Will Ye Chen go to the teacher and explain that he's actually in the Power Attack System?
At the thought of being separated from Ye Chen, Wang Dong's feelings refused to settle for a long time.
At that moment, Ye Chen turned toward the worried-looking Wang Dong and spoke.
"Class is over. Let's go get to know our teammate."
For a moment, Wang Dong didn't process what he had heard.
Teammate?
What teammate?
Was Ye Chen going to find a new teammate?
Was I going to be separated from Ye Chen already?
The more Wang Dong thought about it, the more frightened he became, looking for all the world as though he had suffered endless grievances.
Within the Sea of Spirit, Bibi Dong watched the scene and teased him.
"Little fellow, it looks like he's fallen for you."
Meanwhile, after Xiao Xiao learned that her teammates were Ye Chen and Wang Dong.
She was just about to head over excitedly to join them.
Only to witness this spectacular scene.
Seriously? Could there really be something going on between those two? Xiao Xiao was deeply shocked.
There had always been rumors in class that class monitor Ye Chen and Wang Dong's relationship seemed out of the ordinary.
Xiao Xiao hadn't believed them at first.
But now, it seemed the two of them really did share some special relationship!
Meanwhile, outside the Sky Screen, Yun Ming had been waiting for this opportunity all along.
"Finally, I can see what level Spirit Ice Douluo Huo Yuhao-the strongest Limit Douluo from ten thousand years ago, the man who could defeat Di Tian-had reached at this age."