Special admission privileges: Oscar shaved to pursue his goddess

By the time Tang San and the others finished breakfast and reached the main field, Oscar had also arrived, munching on a sausage with bleary eyes.

Oscar had shaved off his beard, and his appearance had changed dramatically.

Starting with a shave to chase his goddess, huh?

Dai Mubai and Ma Hongjun, who knew Oscar fairly well, both arrived at that possibility without consulting each other.

"Your beard..." Tang San walked over to Oscar and asked.

"Oscar, which girl have you fallen for?" Dai Mubai asked quietly.

Oscar sneaked a glance at Ning Rongrong, who stood beside Lin Ye, and whispered, "Uh, I've fallen for Ning Rongrong."

Dai Mubai: "..."

Ma Hongjun: "..."

Of all the girls he could fall for, why Ning Rongrong? Who couldn't see that her mind was entirely on Lin Ye?

"Take your big brother's advice. Forget about Ning Rongrong. You can't compete with Lin Ye," Dai Mubai advised.

Oscar, however, did not back down.

"Aren't they brother and sister? How will I know if I don't try?"

Dai Mubai was speechless and stopped trying to persuade him.

"What about you, boss? How's it going?" Oscar asked with a sleazy grin.

At that, Dai Mubai glanced at Zhu Zhuqing, who stood beside Ning Rongrong, and his expression turned rather ugly.

Seeing his expression, Oscar understood. "Looks like the boss has run into another nail."

While they were talking, a middle-aged man arrived at the field.

"Isn't that Shady Merchant Uncle?" Xiao Wu exclaimed in surprise.

"What Shady Merchant Uncle? This is our esteemed dean, the founder of Shrek, the level seventy-eight Soul Saint, Four-Eyed Cat Owl Flender."

Hearing Oscar's introduction, Xiao Wu breathed a sigh of relief.

"Thank goodness, he's only level seventy-eight..."

"Xiao Wu, what's wrong?" Tang San asked, glancing at her.

"N-nothing..." Xiao Wu shook her head.

Listening to their conversation, Lin Ye's lips curled slightly.

Heh, Xiao Wu was afraid of exposing her identity as a soul beast, wasn't she?

Little did she know that a certain Titled Douluo named Tang Hao had already discovered it in secret. He simply had not exposed her.

After all, keeping a hundred-thousand-year soul beast in captivity so that she could one day sacrifice herself as a Soul Ring for his son was a worthwhile bargain.

"San, do you think this Shady Merchant Uncle still remembers us?"

"It's only been two days, so he probably does. But since he's the dean, he probably won't hold your rudeness against you," Tang San said with a wry smile.

"That's where you're wrong. Our dean is notorious for holding grudges..."

Oscar was only halfway through his sentence when he noticed a gaze directed at him, making him shudder.

"Oh no, he heard me."

Flender, who had already approached, glanced at Oscar, a hint of amusement flashing in his eyes.

"Not bad this year. Our academy has gained another five Little Monsters."

"I, Flender, dean of Shrek Academy, welcome you all on behalf of the academy," Flender said. "In a little while, each of you will hand over one hundred gold coins as tuition."

"Also, which one of you is Lin Ye?"

Everyone turned toward Lin Ye, and Flender followed their gazes.

"You're Lin Ye?"

Lin Ye nodded calmly.

"Your talent is exceptional. After Teacher Zhao and the rest of us discussed it yesterday, we unanimously decided to admit you as a special recruit," Flender said, looking at Lin Ye with a broad smile.

Special admission!

Everyone was astonished. Did they value Lin Ye that highly?

"Special admission? What exactly does that mean?" Lin Ye asked directly.

"You'll enjoy preferential access to certain resources and focused instruction from all our Shrek teachers. Your tuition will also be waived," Flender explained.

"Can my younger sister Ning Rongrong's tuition be waived too?" Lin Ye asked.

Flender froze, hesitated for a moment, then said, "Of course, but we can only waive one year of her tuition."

"One year is fine." Lin Ye readily nodded in agreement.

One year was enough. They wouldn't be staying much longer anyway. If it was free, they certainly wouldn't lose out.

"Dean, those privileges are a little too good, aren't they?" Oscar said enviously.

"Heh, if you can take on Teacher Zhao alone, I can give you special admission too," Flender said with a smile.

Me, fight Teacher Zhao? Seriously? Forget it. Even if I gave it everything I had, I could never win.

"Mubai."

"Dean." Dai Mubai stepped forward.

"Collect the money shortly and take their tuition to Teacher Li at the Finance Office. The rest of you can go back and rest for now. Today's first lesson will begin tonight."

"Yes."

Flender glanced at Oscar, then said, "Oscar, you and Ning Rongrong are exceptions. Lin Ye, you come along too."

Oscar's face immediately fell, and he walked over to Flender with clear reluctance.

"All right, the rest of you can go. Remember to get yourselves into peak condition before dark."

As soon as Flender finished speaking, Zhu Zhuqing dropped a bag and left without looking back. The others handed their tuition to Dai Mubai and departed one after another.

Once everyone else had left, Flender looked at Oscar and said, "Oscar, go run twenty laps around the village at a brisk pace. Be back before lunch. If you haven't finished, you won't be eating lunch."

"Ah..."

Oscar glanced at Ning Rongrong.

"Hm? What are you looking at? She's different from you. Get running!"

Disappointed, Oscar withdrew his gaze, turned around, and started running.

After Oscar ran off, Flender turned to Lin Ye and Ning Rongrong.

"Ning Rongrong, as a support-type soul master, you were originally supposed to run too. But I noticed you training with Lin Ye this morning. I assume you have your own training regimen?"

"That's right," Lin Ye said with a nod. "We've trained together since childhood. Rongrong's physical fitness has long since surpassed that of an ordinary support-type soul master."

"In that case, Ning Rongrong can join us tonight as well. All right, you can go back and rest. We'll assemble tonight."

After the two left, Flender took out a letter written to him by Ning Fengzhi, the master of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.

Aside from some basic requests Ning Fengzhi had made of Flender, the letter specifically stated that if Lin Ye and Ning Rongrong were dissatisfied with Shrek's instruction and wished to leave, he should not stop them.

Although phrased as a request, the letter was also a threat.

If Lin Ye and Ning Rongrong chose to leave and they tried to forcibly stop them, they would inevitably offend the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.

"With Xiao Gang's teaching ability, keeping them here shouldn't be a problem, should it?"

The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.

"Fengzhi, are you sure you don't want us to protect Lin Ye and Rongrong in secret?" Bone Douluo asked, looking at the confidential report sent from Shrek.

Ning Fengzhi calmly shook his head and took out a letter. "There's no need. This is what Ye requested in his letter before leaving."

Bone Douluo accepted the letter and read it together with Sword Douluo.

"I'm still a little worried." Bone Douluo remained concerned.

Seeing this, Ning Fengzhi smiled. "An eagle must spread its wings to soar into the blue sky, and a true dragon must enter the sea before it can churn rivers and overturn oceans."

"If they remain under our shelter forever, they will never truly grow."

"Besides, you've both witnessed Ye's growth over the past few years. With his current strength, as long as they don't go looking for trouble, no one can lay a hand on them."

"That's true. But Fengzhi, you really have the heart to let them leave. If it were Chen Xin and me, I doubt we could bear it." Bone Douluo nodded slightly, acknowledging Ning Fengzhi's words.

"Ye and Rongrong will look after each other at Shrek. There's no need for either of you uncles to worry about them," Ning Fengzhi said with a smile.

"Fengzhi, what exactly is so magical about Shrek that Ye would choose to go there?" Bone Douluo asked.

After reading the letter, neither of them could understand why Lin Ye had passed over so many academies in the Heaven Dou Empire to attend some unaccredited backwater called Shrek Academy.

Ning Fengzhi shook his head and said with some difficulty, "I'm not too clear on that either. But since this is Ye's choice, let him be."

"Fengzhi, do you think Shrek, in its current state, can really keep Ye there?" Sword Douluo asked at that moment.

"Heh, whether they can keep him will depend on their abilities," Ning Fengzhi said, a sharp gleam flashing in his eyes.

But if Shrek Academy failed to recognize what was good for it and tried to force him to stay when it could not earn his loyalty, then it would have no reason to exist.