"What you mean is..." Yan Shaozhe sensed something out of the ordinary in the air.
Before the mountain storm arrived, wind swept through the tower.
Mu En spoke calmly. "Shaozhe, what stance does Shrek Academy take toward the situation on the continent?"
"We have always remained neutral," Yan Shaozhe replied.
Mu En shifted slightly. "If we truly judged by the standards of our school motto, how many students in the academy would qualify?"
"Fewer than three hundred." That was roughly the combined number of Inner Court students and outer court core disciples.
"Then why admit the remaining students?"
"...To cultivate talent at the request of the Douluo Three Kingdoms."
"In that case, how can you call it neutrality?" Mu En snorted. "Shrek's stance has never been neutral. We represent the entire Douluo Continent in opposing the Sun Moon Continent."
"Ever since that headmaster led the allied Douluo forces to repel the Sun Moon Empire four thousand years ago, Shrek's stance has never changed. But to some extent, that victory also convinced soul masters that soul tools could never threaten powerful soul masters."
"Now the Sun Moon Empire has already begun a new wave of innovation in soul tool technology. Some soul tools are even powerful enough to threaten Titled Douluo."
"Yet many soul masters on the Douluo Continent remain trapped within their old ways. Even within Shrek Academy, looking down on soul engineers has become commonplace."
"This is where your vision falls short. Shaozhe, are you still competing with Qian Duoduo for students?"
Yan Shaozhe looked embarrassed. "Teacher, Old Qian and I both cherish talent."
Mu En waved a hand. "You are not merely the dean of the Martial Soul Department. You are also the headmaster of Shrek. Shrek has stood for ten thousand years, collecting countless treasures. If you cherish talent, why would you rather leave those treasures piled up in storerooms than give them to students as rewards?"
"No matter how many treasures we possess, they are ultimately lifeless objects. Talent alone is the foundation of Shrek's enduring prosperity."
"Teacher, I was wrong." Yan Shaozhe obediently lowered his head.
"I spoke with Xuan Zi a few days ago, and he told me about an interesting youngster. Tell me, Shaozhe, who would achieve more-a diligent mediocrity or a lazy genius?"
Yan Shaozhe felt as though he had returned to his youth, when his teacher had still been brimming with vigor and often tested him like this.
In the end, he shook his head. "It depends on circumstance and opportunity. It is hard to say. Perhaps both could amount to something. Teacher, I cannot judge."
"Indeed. On the path of cultivation, character and talent are equally important. Yet what you are doing now is continually nurturing those geniuses who reveal their talent early, while overlooking those with tenacious character whose gifts have merely remained buried for a time."
"A golden-scaled fish lurks at the bottom of a pond, transforming into a dragon when wind and clouds converge. Shaozhe, let me ask you another question."
"Which is harder to change-talent or character?"
Yan Shaozhe smiled bitterly. With Shrek's resources, turning an ordinary person into a genius was not particularly difficult.
But those resources were all hard-won. Hoarding them, stockpiling them, and saving them for a rainy day was also the prevailing practice in the soul master world, building up an organization's reserves.
"Teacher, will the elders agree?"
Mu En gazed toward the distant horizon. "I can sense it. Within a hundred years, war between Sun Moon and Douluo is inevitable. We have little time left. At tomorrow's Sea God Pavilion Meeting, I will invoke the Sea God Token."
"If Shrek must undergo a transformation, then let it begin with me, Mu En!"
Looking at the four excited youngsters before him, Du Weilun carefully brought out a leather pouch and took from it a soul bone glowing with a faint purple light.
"This was dropped by a soul beast that had only just reached a thousand years of age. It is called the Heavenly Sound Magpie Skull. The beast belonged to the spiritual system, and it also possessed sound wave system attack skills."
After a moment's thought, Du Weilun cautioned them, "Although soul bones are extremely precious, your friendship is more important than anything else in the world. Do not let an external possession destroy it so easily."
After leaving the academic affairs office, the four looked at one another.
Qi Xuan shrugged first. "Its attributes don't suit me. I don't need it."
He had already planned it out. His soul bones had to enhance either his strength or his affinity with the lightning element.
Wang Dong also turned her head aside. "You two choose first. Give me a good one next time."
Xiao Xiao took a step back as well. "Yuhao, I think this suits you. You take it."
Huo Yuhao understood that his friends were finding ways to help him grow stronger. A thousand-year soul bone would be enough to raise his combat strength to a new level.
Don't take it.
The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm's voice rang out in his mind.
For a spiritual system soul master, the skull is the most important of the six soul bones. It directly affects the strength of your spiritual power. This soul bone's quality is too low. It doesn't suit you. I'll get you a good one later.
So that was it.
Huo Yuhao pushed the soul bone back. "Xiao Xiao, musical system soul beasts are even rarer than spiritual system ones. Besides, this came from a bird-type soul beast. It suits you perfectly. Keep it."
Xiao Xiao giggled. "I'm not that noble and selfless, so I'll take it! Here, this is for you."
Huo Yuhao took a closer look. It was Xiao Xiao's premium voucher for the Treasure Gathering Pavilion.
The four exchanged glances and smiled in unspoken understanding.
"Old Yan, have you been possessed? Whoever you are, please don't leave Old Yan's body." Qian Duoduo stared at Yan Shaozhe across from him, dumbfounded, as though meeting him for the first time.
"What do you mean, the academy is allocating a huge sum to soul tool research and development, every student must take a soul tool-related course each semester, and students from the Martial Soul Department and Soul Tool Department will have greater access to each other's classes?"
"What exactly are you plotting, Old Yan?"
Yan Shaozhe could not be bothered to joke with him. "This is the decision reached by the Sea God Pavilion Elders. Why would I tease you? If you disagree, I'm leaving."
"I agree! Of course I agree!" Qian Duoduo lunged forward and hugged Yan Shaozhe, nodding frantically.
The Soul Tool Department had long suffered from two problems. First, it lacked sufficient funding for research and development. Whether rare metals or soul tool blueprints, purchasing them cost astronomical sums, and some were even banned from export by the Sun Moon Empire. Second, because of past policies, the Soul Tool Department's students generally had weaker cultivation talent and insufficient soul power levels. Powerful soul tools required powerful soul masters to wield them, which in turn further restricted the development of soul tools.
As a result, the Soul Tool Department had spent a long time stuck in limbo.
Although these policies did not completely resolve those problems, they went a considerable way toward alleviating them.
After Mu En's guidance, Yan Shaozhe began trying to consider matters from the broader perspective. Since they lagged behind in soul tools, they had to catch up at any cost. Was this not precisely the time to use the resources accumulated over ten thousand years?
Yan Shaozhe was already considering how to diminish the impact of the distinction between "Martial Soul Department" and "Soul Tool Department," so that new students would see them merely as different categories of courses.
Qian Duoduo had no time to marvel at the change in his old rival, with whom he had sparred for most of his life. He immediately made arrangements. "Next Monday, I'll have Fan Yu organize an introductory talk for the new students. We might reel in a few promising seedlings."
Before you continue