"Titled Douluo!"
"Young man, you, you..."
As he watched the scene before him, Yan Shaozhe stared fixedly at the other man's Soul Ring configuration, his face filled with astonishment. He could not help blurting out those words.
Beside him, the far weaker Du Weilun stood rooted to the spot in a daze, looking as though he had seen a ghost.
A Titled Douluo, with six black rings and three red!!!
What sort of heaven-defying existence could possess such cultivation?
Leaving talent aside, that Soul Ring configuration alone was enough to stand proud above the entire continent. Even Yan Shaozhe did not possess a single Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring.
Yet the man before them had revealed three at once. That meant even his Martial Soul Avatar was empowered by a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring!
"And on top of that, he's so young..."
Yan Shaozhe's gaze sharpened. The man could not possibly be older than thirty or forty, and might even be younger...
What that meant went without saying.
"Young friend, what is your name, and how old are you?"
Suppressing the shock in his heart, Yan Shaozhe looked at the man before him and could not help asking.
"Chu Ge. Twenty."
Chu Ge wore a smile as he answered calmly, as though he were stating something utterly ordinary.
But upon hearing those words, the two men's shock did not diminish in the slightest. Instead, it grew stronger by an untold degree.
Even knowing that he was young, they had never expected this answer. Twenty. Twenty years old!
Of course, he had no reason to lie to them. No wonder he had been so intimidating earlier. He really was a hot-blooded young man, and more importantly, he genuinely had the strength to back it up.
What did being a twenty-year-old Titled Douluo mean?
It meant that, from awakening his Martial Soul at six until now, he had taken just fourteen years to cultivate to the continent's highest realm: Titled Douluo.
And by forty at the latest, he would be able to step into the ultimate realm and become a Peerless Douluo!
With strength and talent like this, even my teacher at that age would have been left choking on his dust, let alone me...
Yan Shaozhe's face was filled with emotion as the thought rose unbidden in his mind. Before this man, even his teacher, Dragon God Douluo Mu En, the strongest on the continent, would have to take a back seat.
A twenty-year-old Soul Douluo?
That was already old news. Now there was a Titled Douluo!
"Reaching the ultimate realm by forty at the latest... Someone like him should surely be able to touch that level."
A thoughtful gleam appeared in Yan Shaozhe's eyes.
"Dean Yan, I wonder whether talent like mine would qualify me to join your academy."
Unconcerned by his reaction, Chu Ge smiled and spoke calmly.
Whether his talent was exceptional or not, their praise was of no use to him. After all, he had not improved through any conventional means.
What he needed to do now was still to become a teacher at Shrek.
"Join Shrek Academy..."
Hearing this, Du Weilun quietly stepped back. A Titled Douluo like the man before him was clearly beyond anything a teaching director at the Soul Douluo level could handle.
A Titled Douluo-that was the level of an academy elder.
And with that extraordinary... no, extraordinary no longer covered it.
His Soul Ring configuration was exceedingly rare even across the entire continent, an unrivaled existence. He would surely have a chance of joining the Sea God Pavilion.
"Join Shrek."
Beside him, Yan Shaozhe was also momentarily taken aback by those words, but his gaze toward the man before him was conflicted.
Yes, not ecstatic or excited, but conflicted.
As Shrek's dean, his instincts could not be wrong. This man certainly had not come to Shrek Academy merely to become an ordinary teacher.
What he sought must have been Shrek Academy's highest position of honor-a Sea God Pavilion Elder.
Only by joining the Sea God Pavilion could someone truly become a powerhouse recognized and wholeheartedly supported by Shrek Academy.
Those people could at least reach the level of Super Douluo, and they were Shrek Academy's true leadership. Surely that was what he had come for.
However...
The Sea God Pavilion's recruitment process was very lengthy.
It required all sorts of assessments and tests to ensure a candidate's ties to Shrek Academy. Clearly, this man had little prior connection with Shrek, so joining the Sea God Pavilion was impossible.
"Young friend Chu Ge, there is certainly nothing wrong with your wish to join Shrek, but... even I cannot make a decision lightly on such an important matter."
"I still need to discuss it with the academy's other powerhouses. You may have to stay in Shrek City for a while."
Yan Shaozhe smiled, his expression full of friendliness as he looked at the man before him and spoke slowly.
He believed that, with this man's strength and ability, joining the Sea God Pavilion would pose no problem. It was merely a matter of time.
He just did not know whether the man would be willing to wait.
"Huh?"
"It's that much trouble?"
Hearing this, Chu Ge could not help frowning, looking at Yan Shaozhe with doubt and bewilderment.
Why was getting hired so difficult?
Or did this dean of Shrek Academy have no authority whatsoever?
He merely wanted to join Shrek as a teacher to make it easier to complete any other missions that might arise. Why could he not even get in?
The dean of Shrek Academy...
Doesn't even have this much authority?
Chu Ge frowned, unable to keep those thoughts from crossing his mind.
"All right."
"I didn't realize becoming a teacher at your academy involved such a slow process. Let's follow the rules, then. Elder Yan, roughly how long will it take before I can become an outer court teacher?"
Chu Ge smiled as he spoke slowly.
"Joining the Sea God Pavilion takes roughly..."
"Brother Chu Ge, what did you say?"
Yan Shaozhe had been smiling, the words "one month" almost leaving his lips, when he abruptly shut his mouth. He looked at Chu Ge in astonishment.
An outer court teacher?
Wait...
He wanted to be an outer court teacher!?
"Dean Yan, you've misunderstood. I have no intention of joining the Sea God Pavilion. I'm only looking for a teaching position."
At that moment, Chu Ge's gaze toward him also held a trace of bewilderment. In the end, he did not know whether to laugh or cry.
Join the Sea God Pavilion?
When had he ever said he wanted to join the Sea God Pavilion?
Slander! This was naked, blatant slander!
The Sea God Pavilion was the very core of Shrek Academy. In other words, joining it meant binding oneself to Shrek Academy completely and utterly.
Given his current circumstances, never mind that the system would not let him stay in Shrek forever-he himself had no desire to remain there for long.
The Sea God Pavilion? The Sea God Tang San Memorial Pavilion?
Not even a dog would go there!
"Uh..."
Hearing this, Yan Shaozhe was the one left at a loss. He had not expected that he had simply imagined too much, and embarrassment crossed his face.
Still, his mood improved considerably, and he finally had a chance to show his excitement.
"If it's not the Sea God Pavilion, that's easy enough, hahaha! It's just that your strength reaches the heavens, Brother Chu Ge. Even joining the Sea God Pavilion would be no problem, so I got ahead of myself..."
"How about this? You can start as an inner court teacher. You can begin teaching whenever you like. Get familiar with the surroundings first."
Yan Shaozhe soon regained his composure and made the suggestion with a smile.
Of course he could not change the Sea God Pavilion's rules, but arranging a position as an inner court teacher was something he could do at will.
"That works."
Hearing this, Chu Ge replied with a smile as well.
Not having to teach students suited him perfectly. He had never intended to teach at the academy in the first place, and with Yudie, the disciple he had unexpectedly acquired, how could he have any attention to spare for anyone else?
"Come along."
"I'll take you to complete the hiring paperwork."
Yan Shaozhe wore a smile as warm as a spring breeze. Having recruited such a powerful individual, he really was doing a fine job as dean.
Come to think of it, he had said he was twenty. Twenty was a fine age.
Wasn't his disciple Ma Xiaotao twenty as well!
(End of chapter)
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