Shrek's Compensation

Mu En shook his head, his voice thick with disappointment.

"Shaozhe, you're always like this, scheming and calculating."

"You wanted to reassure Huo Yuhao and win his loyalty to the academy. There's nothing wrong with that. Compensation only costs a few Gold Soul Coins and some resources. Shrek can afford it."

Mu En paused, then his tone sharpened. "But you tried to reassure one side by forcing the other to back down. That was your greatest mistake! Did you ever think about how Gu Mingyuan would see Shrek after this?"

"Shrek is big enough for two geniuses!"

Yan Shaozhe opened his mouth, then said quietly, "But Tang Ya is the Tang Sect's leader, and Bei Bei is your great-great-grandson. If Gu Mingyuan establishes another Tang Sect, it will hurt their standing, and the Tang Sect will..."

"The Tang Sect?" Mu En cut him off, unwilling to hear any more excuses.

In the end, Yan Shaozhe had let his personal feelings sway him. Xiaotao really had become a sore spot for his disciple.

"What happens to the Tang Sect is Tang Ya's own affair."

"Bei Bei likes Tang Ya. I have no objection to that. If he wants to help that girl revive the Tang Sect, I won't stop him. But because Bei Bei likes her, does that mean the academy must preserve the Tang Sect's name for her?"

Yan Shaozhe tried to say more, but Mu En gave him no chance.

"And what makes you think Huo Yuhao is the only one with Twin Martial Souls?" Mu En looked at him and spoke slowly. "What if Gu Mingyuan has Twin Martial Souls too?"

Yan Shaozhe looked up, eyes widening as he froze in place.

"What!"

Early the next morning, in the outer academy's boys' dormitory area.

Mu Jin led Xuan Zi, who carried a wine gourd, to Room 118 and knocked on the door.

Gu Mingyuan had just finished washing up. Seeing Mu Jin and Xuan Zi together, he sensed something was afoot and invited them in.

Mu Jin got straight to the point. "Yesterday's dispute was brought before the Sea God Pavilion for discussion."

Her tone was earnest. "Tang Ya led people into your South City courtyard by force and confronted and provoked you first. You may have been heavy-handed, but you acted in self-defense, not out of unprovoked malice. The order issued yesterday forbidding you from continuing to recruit under the Tang Sect's name is officially rescinded, effective immediately."

"Your South City courtyard can operate as usual," Mu Jin added. "As long as you don't force students to join or use Shrek Academy's name to deceive people outside, the academy won't interfere with your expansion again."

Gu Mingyuan froze for a moment. Then, without even thinking, he hurriedly waved his hands. "There's no need, Teacher Mu. Dean Yan was right yesterday. I handled things poorly too, and the incident had a bad impact. As for recruiting and expanding... I think I'll leave it."

His anxious willingness to back down made Mu Jin feel even worse. She thought this stubborn mule had truly been hurt by yesterday's biased punishment.

In truth, Gu Mingyuan had only one thought: This is bad.

He had been counting on the academy's explicit ban as a legitimate excuse to shut that shadowy figure up, so his South City courtyard could stay quietly under the radar. With a single sentence, Mu Jin had taken away his shield. What excuse could he use now to fend off the Holy Spirit Cult's demands?

Mu Jin sighed and advised him gently, "Gu Mingyuan, I understand you're resentful. The academy has its rules. You don't have to appreciate this, but the restriction must be lifted."

With things put that way, Gu Mingyuan fell silent for a moment before reluctantly accepting. "Then thank you, and thank you, Teacher Mu."

Seeing that the matter was settled, Mu Jin knew it would be inappropriate to stay for what came next. She made an excuse and left first.

Only Gu Mingyuan and Xuan Zi remained in the dormitory.

Xuan Zi looked him up and down, hooked his greasy wine gourd at his waist, and got straight to the point. "Stop acting like a wronged little wife. I hear your third Soul Ring's skill is rather interesting."

He walked out to a slightly more open stretch of corridor, then turned to Gu Mingyuan. "I hear you held back when you fought Bei Bei yesterday. Show me how much weight that punch of yours really carries."

Gu Mingyuan understood at once. Restoring his right to recruit was the academy's public gesture of compensation. Xuan Zi had come to spar with him in person because the academy wanted to reassess his current strength.

He did not refuse. He walked over and took his place opposite Xuan Zi.

Two yellow rings and one purple ring rose beneath his feet.

His Golden Jade Body took hold, a jade-like sheen instantly covering him as fine golden patterns lit up across his skin. Then his third Soul Ring blazed.

Golden Jade Strength Transformation!

Gu Mingyuan converted nearly all his body's defense into strength. He kept only a thin layer of golden-jade protection around the bones and meridians of his right fist, so the recoil would not injure him first.

Xuan Zi stood where he was, one hand behind his back. He raised the other casually. "Come on."

Gu Mingyuan drew a deep breath. His feet drove into the floor, his hips sank, and he pulled his right fist back like a bow drawn to its limit.

Blue talent: Serious Punch!

Boom—

His fist tore through the air and slammed into Xuan Zi's palm.

Xuan Zi's eyes shifted slightly. His raised palm met the punch head-on without wavering.

The instant fist met palm, all of Gu Mingyuan's momentum seemed to vanish into a bottomless sea. Xuan Zi remained where he stood, his feet utterly still.

Xuan Zi withdrew his hand and glanced down at the lingering force in his palm. When he looked back at Gu Mingyuan, genuine surprise had finally entered his clouded old eyes.

"That punch was far beyond anything a three-ring Soul Elder should be capable of."

Xuan Zi understood at once.

Gu Mingyuan really had held back against Bei Bei yesterday. If he had used this full conversion then, Bei Bei would not have gotten away with merely half a month in bed. Even a year would have been a light sentence.

"Not bad." Xuan Zi nodded. "You knew to keep a baseline layer of defense around the meridians in your right hand. That makes you different from those reckless brutes in the Body Sect. You don't just rely on a sturdy body and charge in blindly.

"Turning Ultimate Defense into Ultimate Power... Golden Jade Strength Transformation indeed."

His gaze fell on the deep-purple third Soul Ring beneath Gu Mingyuan's feet. "That third Soul Ring of yours must be quite old, isn't it?"

Gu Mingyuan had his answer ready. "I got lucky on the outskirts of the Extreme North and found a lone Cold Jade-Horned Rhino. As for its age... my Body Martial Soul gives me a strong physique, so I chose one a little older than the usual limit for a third ring."

Xuan Zi did not press him for the exact number. He merely gave Gu Mingyuan a meaningful look and warned him, "A Body Martial Soul can take a beating, but take it easy, kid. Don't hurt yourself chasing a few hundred or a thousand extra years."