You're Speaking for Me Now?

"Yudie, after you finished absorbing the Soul Spirit, everything in your Sea of Consciousness was normal, right?"

"Just Tian Meng, and nothing else unusual?"

On the way back, Chu Ge asked with concern.

"That's right, Master."

"Everything's normal. Is there a problem?"

Huo Yudie nodded earnestly.

Even the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm, who had taken Soul Spirit form and appeared as a tiny worm, checked her Sea of Consciousness and indicated that there was no problem.

"That's good. As long as there's no problem..."

Chu Ge shook his head without saying anything more, but a pang of regret rose in his heart.

It wasn't that everything being normal meant there was no problem. Everything being normal was precisely the problem.

"Looks like..."

"With Huo Gua gone, the remnant soul of his destined teacher, Electrolux, the Scourge of the Undead, won't appear in this era either..."

Chu Ge sighed.

He could only hope that Huo Yuhao, who had descended into another world, would still meet his teacher, Electrolux, whose life had likewise been born of tragedy.

[Newbie host]

[You're actually still completely penniless! How utterly humiliating! What a disgrace! What am I supposed to say about you...]

[To prevent the host from starving to death, 100,000 Gold Soul Coins have been issued to the system space. Claim them at once.]

"System, you really are a good person."

Chu Ge had initially looked speechless, assuming the system was about to mock him again. But once he heard the rest, a smile immediately spread across his face.

Sure enough, the system was awfully nice.

A few days later, a sea of people crowded outside Shrek City.

They were all young people arriving to register, hoping to join the academy. At the very back of the crowd, two figures, one tall and one small, were slowly moving along with the line: Chu Ge and Huo Yudie.

With those hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins, not only had the two reached this place, they had even leisurely toured the surrounding cities.

Sure enough, money could solve most problems.

"There are so many people."

Standing in line, Huo Yudie gazed at the seemingly endless queue ahead, her mouth falling wide open.

With so many people hoping to become part of this place, perhaps this was the allure of Shrek Academy.

"That's how it is."

Chu Ge smiled and nodded without denying it.

One could certainly question Shrek's character and double standards, but when it came to reputation and publicity, ten thousand years of marketing had already made Shrek Academy an almost universally acknowledged holy land for Soul Masters.

But did Shrek Academy truly deserve to be a holy land?

"Hello, here's my recommendation letter."

Before long, their turn arrived, and Huo Yudie handed over her recommendation letter, speaking sweetly.

"All right, just a moment, little sister."

Most of those handling new student registration were senior students from the academy who had been dragged over to serve as free labor.

The student in front of Chu Ge and Huo Yudie, for example, was around seventeen, with a cultivation level of roughly thirty-nine.

"Huo Yudie, martial soul: spirit eyes, level twenty-five Soul Grandmaster..."

"You've got quite a talent, little junior."

Although the talent Huo Yudie now displayed was not yet top-tier, it far surpassed what she had possessed before, and her cultivation made her one of the stronger new students.

"Here's your uniform. Please take it. The new student dormitory is over..."

With a friendly smile, the student handed her a key and a stack of clothes, patiently explaining.

"Thank you."

Huo Yudie quietly committed everything he said to memory and thanked him with a smile.

Then she quietly stepped aside, her obedient gaze settling on Chu Ge as she waited for him to join the academy with her.

"Hm?"

"Sir, are you...?"

The student turned his gaze to Chu Ge, and a puzzled look immediately crossed his face.

Not only did this man seem unfathomable, but judging by his appearance alone, there was no way he could pass for twelve.

"I don't have a recommendation letter."

"And I'm not here to register as a new student..."

Chu Ge shook his head. Just as he was about to explain that he wanted to become a teacher here, the system sounded in his mind.

[Newbie host, you actually failed to obtain a recommendation letter for yourself. You've truly disappointed me.]

[As an ordinary person without a recommendation letter, demonstrate your outstanding talent and successfully earn the recognition of Shrek's people.]

[As the continent's foremost academy, Shrek Academy's tests are extremely difficult. Make sure the teacher testing you recognizes your talent...]

[Reward: one million Gold Soul Coins]

"You really came running the moment you caught a whiff."

A faint smile appeared on Chu Ge's face. The system certainly detected opportunities for missions quickly, though the content of this mission was just as hard to judge as ever.

For the sake of those million Gold Soul Coins, he would refrain from saying anything bad about the system.

"If you're not here to enroll as a new student, then you're...?"

The student looked thoughtful. Of course he knew that this man, who was clearly well over twelve, was not here for new student registration. But if that was not why he had come, what was he doing here?

"Yudie, go on ahead."

"Sorry for the trouble, but could you call one of the academy's teachers for me? I'm here to apply for a teaching position."

Chu Ge spoke with a smile.

As he spoke, he released a tiny measure of his cultivation's aura. Although the level he revealed was not high, it was still more than enough to tower far above the student before him.

"A teaching position... Please wait a moment, Senior."

The student had still been hesitating, but after sensing pressure even stronger than his homeroom teacher's, he immediately nodded in agreement, stepped aside, and made a call on his Soul Tool Telephone.

"Director Du, there's a senior here applying for a teaching position. Would you like to come take a look...?"

Whether or not the academy was hiring teachers, he at least had to report this to a teacher in its leadership. That was the bare minimum of taking his duties seriously.

"Senior, please come with me."

"Our teacher will be here shortly."

After finishing his call, the student treated the man, who might very well become an academy teacher, with natural respect.

"There's no rush."

Chu Ge calmly nodded and stepped aside.

"Brother Chu, Yudie, you're here!"

Just then, a pleasantly surprised voice rang out.

It was Tang Ya, who was also helping with new student enrollment. Behind her followed Bei Bei, whose expression was calm even though he was actually furious. His gaze toward Chu Ge was just as unnatural.

"Sister Xiao Ya."

Huo Yudie greeted her sweetly, and Chu Ge also smiled.

"Senior, is there a problem with Yudie's enrollment?"

Tang Ya looked at the student and greeted him as well, then asked in puzzlement.

"No, no. This senior wants to apply for a teaching position. I really don't know what the academy's hiring process is like, so I called Director Du."

"A teaching position?"

At those words, Tang Ya froze, looking at Chu Ge with newfound astonishment.

She had never imagined that Brother Chu would also join Shrek Academy, much less as a teacher. After all, even the weakest teachers in the outer court had Soul Emperor cultivation.

But she soon relaxed. With his abilities, reaching Soul Emperor probably posed no difficulty at all.

"I never imagined Brother Chu was actually this powerful..."

Admiration involuntarily rose in Tang Ya's eyes, a change Bei Bei caught in full from behind her.

"Director Du is here."

As the student looked into the distance, a neatly dressed middle-aged man came into view.

He was Du Weilun, director of Shrek Academy's Martial Soul Department, a level eighty-six Eight-Ring Soul Douluo.

"My friend, are you the one applying for a teaching position?"

His gaze settled on Chu Ge's face and soon turned odd. Young-wasn't he far too young?

"That's me."

"My disciple will be staying at Shrek for a while, so I thought I'd apply for a teaching position too. There shouldn't be much of a problem."

Chu Ge smiled and spoke frankly.

For a Titled Douluo...

Becoming a teacher shouldn't be difficult, right?

"Well, here's the situation..."

Before Du Weilun could say anything further, a harsh voice cut in.

"Not much of a problem? Aren't you afraid such big talk will sprain your tongue? Director Du, I believe our Shrek Academy's outer court doesn't need any more teachers, does it? Besides..."

"Since when did our Shrek Academy allow some wet-behind-the-ears brat to become a teacher?"

The speaker was a woman with an icy expression. Her figure was fairly attractive, but her aged face was covered in wrinkles, making her look fierce.

She was Zhou Yi, an outer court teacher who had just been demoted from teaching the upper years to teaching first-years because of her bad temper.

She had merely come to inspect the students' progress in handling new student enrollment. She had never expected to stumble upon a scene like this.

"Teacher Zhou."

Tang Ya froze at the sight of her, while Du Weilun beside her frowned.

The academy had indeed issued no notice about hiring teachers, but since someone had come to apply, they should at least speak to him properly.

"I don't believe I've said anything yet."

The corner of Du Weilun's mouth twitched. He had not even said anything, so why was Zhou Yi speaking up?

"A position at our Shrek Academy..."

"Isn't something just anyone can get simply because they want it."

Zhou Yi continued her tirade, staring coldly at Chu Ge. A young man who looked barely in his early twenties actually dared to come here and become a Shrek teacher.

Even she had only secured her footing at Shrek Academy and become a teacher at thirty-eight by relying on her husband's connections as director of the Soul Tool Department. What gave him the right?

She had already been in a foul mood today. If anyone was to blame, it was this young man for walking straight into her line of fire!

(End of chapter)