Zhang Lexuan's Confusion, Yan Shaozhe's Reasoning, Mu En's Powerlessness (4k2)

On the shore of Sea God Lake, where Huo Gua and Princess Tang would one day be attacked, Zhang Lexuan and Yan Shaozhe began arguing over the Inner Court disciples.

"Dean Yan, I understand what you mean, but Shrek is the world's foremost academy, entrusted with everyone's hopes. How can we treat people so differently based on how close they are to us?"

Zhang Lexuan looked straight at Yan Shaozhe, trying to persuade the Martial Soul Department Dean notorious for his penny-pinching:

"Xiaotao's phoenix evil fire has never been stable. Even Mu En disapproves of her representing the academy in competition. If she loses control at something like the Continental Tournament, Shrek's reputation will be in jeopardy."

"Luo Chen was already a Reserve Team member at the last tournament. She, too, sweated and risked her life for Shrek's glory. All these years, she has diligently helped Xiaotao, and she'll represent the academy in competition again."

"Is it fair or reasonable for the academy to make things difficult for her simply because of where she chooses to go after graduation?"

Yan Shaozhe had plenty of patience for Zhang Lexuan, one of Shrek's own. After thinking for a moment, he said, "We're alone here, so I can tell you: no, it isn't fair or reasonable. But so what?"

"Shrek Academy's strength rests on three things. First, the peerless achievements and divine might of our ancestors, the First-Generation Seven Monsters. Second, the power of the Sea God's Pavilion. Only third comes our ten-thousand-year championship record."

"Xiaotao is my student. It's only natural that I favor her. She'll remain at the academy, become your right-hand woman in the future, and inherit my position."

"Ling Luochеn is destined to leave. She won't become part of the academy's fighting strength, so the resources spent training her will come to nothing. Her contributions over these years merely balance that out."

"She has helped defend Shrek's glory, but she also received an unsurpassed halo of honor and a stage on which to shine, didn't she?"

Zhang Lexuan fell silent for a moment, then suddenly looked desolate. "So the quota of thirty missions for every Inner Court student is, to the academy—or rather, to you, Dean Yan—the price they pay for their training, even if they risk sacrificing their lives."

Yan Shaozhe's expression faltered briefly. His light soul power spread outward, shutting out all sight and sound.

"It's good that you've grasped that much. I'll tell you plainly: yes."

"Lexuan, Shrek Academy is first and foremost the world's strongest soul master power, and only then its foremost academy. Unlike other academies, we have no imperial treasury supporting us. We must calculate the cost of everything. From the Treasure Pavilion, where Outer Court Core Disciples can buy on credit, to the educational resources available to Inner Court disciples, what isn't paid for by the academy?"

"The Three Great Empires eye us like hungry tigers. Without careful budgeting, Shrek would have perished like the Tang Sect long ago."

Zhang Lexuan looked at Yan Shaozhe's earnestly admonishing face, then suddenly turned toward the enormous city beyond, where merchants were as plentiful as rain and crowds flowed like woven threads.

"Shrek City's annual tax revenue runs into hundreds of millions of Gold Soul Coins, doesn't it? What city on the continent is wealthier than ours? Even the combined taxes of the three imperial capitals fall short of Shrek City's. The rewards our juniors earn from completing missions are astronomical, too."

Yan Shaozhe's gaze instantly sharpened. "That is the repayment our Seven Monsters ancestors deserve for destroying the evil Spirit Hall and laying the foundations of cultivation in the soul master world! Lexuan, you should never have said that."

"I understand."

Zhang Lexuan had no desire to continue arguing with this dean, whose convictions were unshakable. Nor did she attempt to bypass him and go to Sea God Island to mediate the three junior sisters' grievances. She headed straight toward the Outer Court. She wanted to see Mu En.

Suddenly, she stopped and looked back, asking a question that made Yan Shaozhe's gaze turn ten times colder.

"Inner Court disciples die on Inspection Corps Missions every year. Is the academy worried that after graduating, they might join the Three Great Empires and become their Title Douluo Consecrations, preventing the academy from maintaining its current transcendent position?"

Yan Shaozhe's voice was cold and hard as iron. "Shrek Academy has never feared any challenge!"

"I hope that's true."

Zhang Lexuan said no more and headed straight for the Freshman Dormitory. Yan Shaozhe's words chilled her to the bone. This was nothing like the Shrek she had always known.

Watching her retreating back, Yan Shaozhe suddenly said:

"What I said just now left my mouth and entered your ears. Before outsiders, I will never admit to it."

"Rest assured, Dean. Lexuan swore long ago to protect Shrek for life. You needn't worry that I'll leave like Luo Chen."

At the Freshman Dormitory, Zhang Lexuan crouched down, the bright sunlight illuminating her graceful, fragrant curves and flawless, fair profile.

"Mu En, what Dean Yan said frightened me. Have the academy's leaders truly always been like this?"

Mu En lay hunched in a chair made from the Golden Tree. His face was deeply lined, and he looked like nothing more than an ordinary old doorman.

After hearing Zhang Lexuan's account, a flash of exasperation at a disappointing pupil crossed his narrowed eyes. He shook his head and said:

"Lexuan, Yan Shaozhe's views are extremely radical. You needn't believe him."

"If the Shrek Inner Court truly practiced such nepotism and deliberately sacrificed disciples outside its inner circle, how could Bei Bei's parents have met with disaster on an Inspection Corps Mission?"

"Hehe, if we're talking about favoritism, surely no one could have been closer than they were."

"You must always remember that our academy shoulders the continent's hopes. We must act with great responsibility, not abandon our aspirations over a few minor setbacks. You've always helped your junior brothers and sisters. Aren't you part of Shrek, too?"

"Hearing that makes me feel much better."

Zhang Lexuan let out a soft breath. Mu En's words were like a warm spring, washing away the doubts and pain concerning Shrek in her mind.

"But Dean Yan..."

"He has always been narrow-minded and petty. Ever since I began teaching him cultivation, I've urged him to change his temperament. He never listened."

Mu En sighed and opened his eyes. "He truly was gifted, and clever, too. In the past, I couldn't bear to punish him. Only once, when he committed a grave mistake, did I confine him for three years."

"Later, I fought the Body Sect's Former Sect Master. That, along with some other circumstances, left me in my current condition. I had to devote all my strength to stabilizing my body, leaving even less time to discipline him."

"His romantic entanglements with Lin'er, Duoduo, and Mei'er were complicated. After becoming dean, he developed the Martial Soul Department by any means necessary and relentlessly suppressed the Soul Tool Department. Finally, he became what he is today."

"The bright phoenix requires a radiant, magnanimous spirit to comprehend the true essence of its martial soul. After hearing what you told me, I can say with certainty that he has no chance of becoming a Limit Douluo. At best, he'll reach Xuan Zi's level."

As he spoke, a shadow of pain covered Mu En's face. Yan Shaozhe had once been his favorite personal disciple, the future successor in whom he had placed great hopes. How could it not hurt to know that Limit Douluo was beyond his reach?

Zhang Lexuan hurried to comfort the weary Mu En.

After a while, Mu En's expression softened. He looked at Zhang Lexuan with great kindness. "Lexuan, you're the most gifted genius I've ever seen. In the future, you'll surely break through to level 98 and reach the pinnacle of Super Douluo."

"As for attempting to become a Limit Douluo, there isn't much guidance I can offer."

"I know the accident back then has always been a knot in your heart. That's why your cultivation has slowed over these years, isn't it? Try to let it go."

"Mu En, I..."

Zhang Lexuan lowered her head without speaking. That knot was naturally the Twelve Disciples Blood Tragedy in the Inner Court. Afterward, she had knelt endlessly in the Sea God's Pavilion, pleading for Xuan Zi to stay while he sat at home tearfully gnawing chicken legs.

Her hundred-thousand-year Eighth Soul Ring was the foundation for her future attempt to reach level 98, but she would rather have gone without it.

When she first returned, she had nightmares every night, dreaming of her companions' gruesome deaths.

"In this matter, the academy wronged you."

Using his authority as Sea God Pavilion Master, Mu En redefined the incident. Tears glimmered in his eyes as he told Zhang Lexuan:

"The nature of Xuan Zi's martial soul requires him to eat continuously. That was the source of his negligence back then. Had everything gone smoothly, he would have succeeded me. Instead, he has fallen into decline."

"His godly taotie bull has lost its boldly advancing momentum. In his present state, reaching Limit Douluo will be difficult. But he truly didn't do it deliberately."

"You can see my current condition. In a real fight, I might not be much stronger than he is, and I have little life left. Shrek needs a powerful Taotie Douluo to deter petty villains."

"So back then, I tacitly approved Yan Shaozhe's demand that you kneel and beg Xuan Zi to stay. I apologize to you here. My inadequacy as Sea God Pavilion Master forced you to suffer that injustice."

"Mu En, please stop. This wasn't your fault..."

Zhang Lexuan's tears fell like rain. Ever since she entered Shrek, Mu En had been the light in her heart.

Mu En sighed softly and stroked Zhang Lexuan's forehead, comforting her. "Lexuan, in the end, you're the one who can shoulder the academy's burdens."

"When I pass away, Xuan Zi will naturally inherit the Pavilion Master's position. Then Yan Shaozhe, and after him, you..."

At this point, Mu En's gaze suddenly sharpened:

"If you reach level 98 before Yan Shaozhe, use my final instructions to bypass him and inherit the position of Sea God Pavilion Master directly. Strip him of his authority and send him into seclusion. Don't be softhearted!"

"Then you can do what you wish. But for now, promise me—for this old man's sake—hold on a little longer, all right?"

Zhang Lexuan nodded firmly. "Rest assured, Mu En. I'll protect Shrek Academy. I'll protect Bei Bei..."

"Bei Bei..."

Mentioning his only great-grandson brought the mask of pain back to Mu En's face. Not because of cultivation problems, but because of romantic ones.

Several years earlier, the Tang Sect, which had spent thousands of years doing sit-ups between its deathbed and another gasp of life, had finally been wiped out. Only the sect master's orphaned daughter remained, and she fled to Shrek for shelter.

To honor their ancestors' friendship, he had Bei Bei join the Tang Sect. Then...

The ever-popular teacher-student romance made its glittering debut!

God of Love: Sorry, Old Mu. I've worked my magic again.

Mu En: What a cursed mess! w(ﾟДﾟ)w

Fine, a teacher-student romance was hardly unprecedented in history. But Old Mu had already arranged a Child Bride for Bei Bei: Zhang Lexuan, standing before him, Shrek's last hope.

This left Zhang Lexuan unable to please anyone, and Mu En looked even worse, since he was the one who had sent Bei Bei to play house with Tang Ya.

The Tang Sect had tinkered with that lousy blue silver grass for ten thousand years, bankrupting itself without ever figuring it out. If Tang Ya became a Soul King in this lifetime, it would mean her ancestors had burned some exceptionally fine incense.

Whether judging potential or closeness, Mu En favored Zhang Lexuan. But Bei Bei had never known that "Sister Lexuan," who had raised him, was his Child Bride. All three were dumbfounded.

Perhaps he felt the old arrangement had been inappropriate, or perhaps he didn't want love between Bei Bei and Lexuan to turn into hatred. Mu En repeatedly proposed canceling the Child Bride arrangement, but Zhang Lexuan was stubborn and consistently refused.

Mu En, who had wandered through countless beds of flowers in his youth, had run out of ideas. Every day, he sighed about karmic retribution. When he hinted that Bei Bei could "have the best of both worlds," he was sternly rejected. His great-grandson had inherited none of his youthful romantic spirit.

Speaking of romantic exploits, Yan Shaozhe had inherited that side of him, but Mu En wished he hadn't. He had tangled the relationships among Shrek's middle-generation Four Deans into a complete mess, with an Evil Phoenix outside the academy as well.

Ultimately, many problems had shown signs long ago. Mu En could have dealt with them while he was healthy, but hadn't, and he could not evade responsibility. Only now, in old age, had he discovered that he was powerless to reverse things. He could only entrust his hopes to the younger generation, such as by comforting Zhang Lexuan.

"I didn't think your situation with Bei Bei through carefully enough. Today, I won't ask you to abandon your vow. I only want to tell you that there are many things worth pursuing in life besides romance. You could go out and explore more often."

Unwilling to let their last potential Limit Douluo remain trapped by emotional knots, Mu En used himself as an example. "Read ten thousand books, travel ten thousand miles. At your age, I was traveling the continent. Even now, when the mood strikes, I go out for a stroll."

"Haha, you don't know this, but I've even visited the Sun Moon Empire's Radiant Virtue Hall. Their soul tool technology is impressive. I'd say they're more than five hundred years ahead of our Soul Tool Department."

"Don't imprison yourself in the academy. Go out more often. Your juniors will find opportunities of their own."

"...But Mu En, I enjoy taking my juniors soul hunting. Every time I successfully protect them, the guilt in my heart lessens a little."

Zhang Lexuan fell silent for a moment, then looked steadily at Mu En. "If I don't do that, Mu En, seeing my soul ring will drive me mad! I'll really go mad!"

"Only by using this soul ring's soul skill to protect my juniors can I feel that it was worth it, and dare to face those eight when I wake from dreams at midnight."

"I can't feel at ease letting Xuan Zi accompany my juniors. I truly can't."

"Just consider it my own choice. From the moment I absorbed that Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring, I was destined never to live solely for myself. There are too many things I can't let go of."

"You... this... cough, cough, cough, cough..."

After hearing Zhang Lexuan's confession, Mu En's breath caught. Dry coughs soon rasped from his throat, and his chest heaved violently.

Zhang Lexuan hurried to help ease his breathing.

"Mu En..."

"Child, you've truly suffered. Alas... then do as you wish."

Once he caught his breath, Mu En waved his hand, signaling that Zhang Lexuan could leave. His heart felt as though knives were twisting in it.

The Twelve Disciples Blood Tragedy had dealt Shrek a devastating blow. It wasn't merely a matter of losing eight Title Douluo Seeds.

Shrek's two potential Limit Douluos had both suffered wounds to their states of mind. One had lost his former drive and indulged without shame in a world of wine and meat.

The other carried too much responsibility and too many burdens. With such a state of mind, no matter how great her talent, her hope of reaching Limit Douluo was slim.

"Can I only place my hopes in Bei Bei now? I don't have much time left..."

Mu En released his spiritual power, trying to locate his Great-Grandson's presence within Shrek City.

Before long, he found him. Bei Bei was accompanying his young girlfriend, Tang Ya, through the streets and alleys. Their youthful laughter brimmed with vibrant life. Bei Bei gazed at Tang Ya indulgently as she playfully tussled with him.

Mu En immediately found Tang Ya rather irritating. He truly was powerless to turn things around now.

"So be it. I won't play the villain, but neither will I offer you any assistance. Whatever heights you reach will depend on your own fortune."

As a light-attribute Limit Douluo, Mu En ultimately possessed a better state of mind than Yan Shaozhe. But he would not use Shrek's resources to help revive the Tang Sect.

Shrek City had abundant resources, but it had never supported sects before, and it would not start now. Mu En had no reason to make an exception for Tang Ya.

Had she possessed the Blue Silver Emperor, like their Sea God ancestor, Mu En might have considered letting her have a little broth from the pot. But blue silver grass?

Giving her resources would be throwing them into the water, and it would hamper Bei Bei's cultivation progress as well.