"I object."
A clear voice suddenly rang out, interrupting Du Weilun.
Everyone's eyes turned in unison toward the source of the voice: Wang Dong.
He stood at the very front of the group, looking straight at Du Weilun on the raised platform without a trace of fear. "I refuse to accept this."
Du Weilun frowned slightly. "Wang Dong, what is your objection?"
"Why isn't Huo Yuhao a full core disciple?" Wang Dong's voice was not loud, but it carried clearly across the entire square.
"She's a member of the championship team, our teammate who fought shoulder to shoulder with us on the stage. Why should she only receive temporary benefits?"
An uproar immediately broke out below the platform. No one had expected Wang Dong to challenge the decision outright in front of so many senior figures.
Du Weilun's expression darkened slightly, a trace of impatience entering his voice. "The academy has its own considerations regarding Huo Yuhao's situation. Her soul power is only rank nineteen, the lowest among the freshmen, and she has only a single ten-year soul ring. Her performance in this tournament... frankly, there wasn't much that stood out. The academy believes she still needs time to prove herself."
His words sounded well-founded, and quite a few people below the platform nodded.
Indeed, almost all the brilliance of Wang Dong's team had been concentrated on Wang Dong alone. Standing behind him, Huo Yuhao had looked like a dispensable supporting player. If not for Wang Dong, she probably would not even have received temporary core disciple benefits.
Huo Yuhao lowered her head, her eyes reddening slightly. She knew Du Weilun was telling the truth. She really was too weak, and her performance really had not stood out much.
She even began to wonder whether she truly was unworthy of standing beside Wang Dong.
Yet Wang Dong gave a cold laugh. "That's all bullshit."
Du Weilun's expression changed. "What did you say?"
"I said everything you just said was bullshit." Wang Dong stared straight at him, his tone utterly blunt.
"Huo Yuhao is a member of the championship team. That's a fact. She stood on the tournament stage and won every match alongside us. That's also a fact. If the academy thinks her performance wasn't outstanding enough, then let me ask you: was Dai Huabin's performance outstanding enough?"
He turned toward Dai Huabin in the crowd. "Why does someone eliminated in the first round get full core disciple benefits? Just because his soul power is higher? If core disciples are chosen solely by soul power, why even hold a tournament? Why not just rank everyone by soul power and be done with it? What meaning does this Freshman Assessment have, then?"
The square fell completely silent. Everyone stared at Wang Dong, dumbstruck. No one had expected him to dare speak so bluntly in front of so many senior figures.
Dai Huabin's face turned livid, but he could not utter a single word. He had indeed been eliminated in the first round. That was a fact.
Du Weilun's expression was ugly as well. He opened his mouth to argue, only to realize that he could not find a suitable reason on the spot.
Because Wang Dong did have a point. If core disciples were assessed solely on soul power, there really was no need for the Freshman Assessment to exist.
But the problem was that Dai Huabin and the others were all three-ring Soul Elders. Three-ring Soul Elders at such a young age were unquestionably promising talents.
They had merely run into a freak like Wang Dong by accident and been eliminated early...
That was why Shrek Academy had still decided to grant them core disciple status, unwilling to let talent go unrecognized.
As for Huo Yuhao... Wang Dong's brilliance had simply been too overwhelming. During the matches, everyone had only noticed Wang Dong sweeping all before him. Huo Yuhao really had not had much presence, leading to this result.
Huo Yuhao stood where she was, her gaze fixed firmly on the back of the boy with long pink-and-blue hair ahead of her. Wang Dong stood before the raised platform, facing Shrek Academy's senior figures and arguing her case without backing down.
She suddenly felt that he was like a beam of light. A beam of light shining into her bleak life.
Ever since childhood, she had endured nothing but cold looks in the Dai Family. No one had ever spoken a single word on her behalf.
She was an illegitimate child, trash, a dispensable existence. She had long grown used to being ignored, scorned, and trampled underfoot. But Wang Dong was different.
From their very first day at the academy, he had stood before her, shielding her from every storm.
He had brought her a quilt and pills, guided her cultivation, led her to a championship, and now he was openly confronting the academy's senior figures for her in front of everyone.
What virtue or ability did she possess to deserve such treatment from him?
Huo Yuhao's eyes stung terribly, and she fought desperately to keep her tears from falling.
She silently swore that she would repay Wang Dong's kindness in full in this lifetime, even if it cost her life.
He was her everything, her dragon's reverse scale!!!
On the raised platform, the expressions of Shrek Academy's senior figures were each uglier than the last. Du Weilun was so angry that even his beard trembled as he pointed at Wang Dong.
"You... you're utterly outrageous! How dare you question Shrek Academy's rules! Even if you are a genius, you cannot act so brazenly!"
"A genius?" Wang Dong sneered. "Shrek Academy claims it only accepts monsters and only teaches geniuses. But have you truly given those geniuses the resources they deserve?
"You recruit geniuses, then leave them to fend for themselves. Only a few rise to the top, while even more have their talents buried. Turning a genius into a genius is nothing to be proud of! Anyone could do that!"
"An academy refuses to give first and insists that its students give first instead... yet it still expects students to be loyal to it."
Wang Dong already harbored resentment, so he simply decided to get it all out in one go.
He paused, his voice growing even louder. "Shrek Academy's biggest problem is that it doesn't tailor its teaching to its students! Teachers have too much power. A single word from them can decide a student's future. Huo Yuhao clearly has talent and clearly proved herself in the tournament, yet you treat her differently just because her soul power is low. If this system doesn't change, Shrek Academy will rot sooner or later!"
The entire square was so quiet that not even a crow or sparrow could be heard. Everyone stared at Wang Dong, dumbfounded, as though looking at a madman.
Dai Huabin, Xie Huanyue, Ning Tian, and the others were even more stunned. They had never imagined Wang Dong would dare speak so uncompromisingly in front of so many senior figures. This guy... wasn't he far too bold? Was he really not afraid of being expelled?
Even Yan Shaozhe was stunned by the tirade. When he recovered, his face alternated between green and white.
As dean of the Martial Soul Department, having a freshman point a finger in his face in public and berate the academy's flawed system was an unparalleled humiliation. He was just about to erupt when a low voice came from a corner.
"Do you know what you're saying?"
At some point, Xuan Zi had already walked up to Wang Dong. He had lowered the chicken leg in his hand, and his unkempt face now bore a heart-quaking air of authority.
He stared at Wang Dong, a sharp light flashing in his cloudy old eyes.
Wang Dong looked at Xuan Zi and grinned. "I do. I'm just telling the truth. If you can't stand me, I'll simply leave the academy."
Wang Dong was not afraid of expulsion at all. With his talent, someone would want him wherever he went.
If this place would not keep him, there were plenty of places that would.
With a family background and talent like his, there was simply no need to suffer mistreatment.
Huo Yuhao suddenly stepped forward and stood beside Wang Dong. Her voice was quiet but exceptionally firm. "Me too."
Wang Dong froze for a moment and turned to look at her. Huo Yuhao did not look at him. She merely lowered her head and clenched her fists, her voice trembling slightly. "If you leave, I leave too."
The atmosphere instantly grew tense to the breaking point. Xuan Zi stared at Wang Dong, and Wang Dong met his gaze without backing down. The air between them seemed to freeze, and everyone held their breath.
Just then, a spectral figure suddenly appeared in the square. It was a white-haired old man with a kindly face and an illusory form, as though he had stepped out of the void.
This was Spiritual Manifestation, a skill possessed only by the most powerful experts.
The instant he appeared, the expressions of Xuan Zi, Yan Shaozhe, Du Weilun, and the others changed, and they all bowed in greeting.
"Pavilion Master!"
"Mu En!"
Mu En, Shrek Academy's Sea God Pavilion Master, a legendary figure who stood at the pinnacle of the entire Soul Master World.
P.S. Personally, I quite like both Mu En and Du Busi as characters.
What do you all think of combining Body Sect Saint Son with Sea God Pavilion Heir?
Before you continue