Sea God Pavilion Meeting, a Punishment Exclusively for the Godly Taotie Bull Martial Soul

"This child must be Su Wen, right? He has the makings of joining my Soul Guidance Department." A beautiful woman with a high ponytail, a tall figure, and a sharp, capable bearing looked at Su Wen, her eyes shining.

"Hmph, keep dreaming. This child's martial soul commands Soul Beasts. What does that have to do with your Soul Guidance Department..." Another middle-aged man, who was scholarly in bearing, had short hair that was half-white, yet looked spirited and energetic, seemingly around forty or fifty years old, chuckled.

The enormous conference hall held only these four people... who had no seats.

They were most likely Xian Liner and Yan Shaozhe.

There was also the fat man beside Xian Liner. He wore a pair of glasses, and his narrowed eyes flashed with cunning. However, when he noticed Su Wen looking over, he hurriedly put on a foolish grin.

Shrek's number-one Soul Engineer, Qian Duoduo.

Beside Yan Shaozhe stood a gentle, elegant beauty who gave Su Wen a sweet smile. She was probably the Vice Dean of the Martial Soul Department, Cai Meier.

Whenever Cai Meier was mentioned, Su Wen felt like making a complaint.

She was simply worlds apart from Xuan Zi.

Both of them had led teams into the Star Dou Great Forest once in the Original Work.

They had encountered the same crisis—the Evil Spirit Master Zhongli Brothers—but the results had been worlds apart. Although the latter's team had contained three cheat characters—Huo Qiudong—there was no denying that Cai Meier had cared for the team meticulously throughout, like a mother hen protecting her chicks.

To be honest, during this Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast calamity, Su Wen would have preferred Cai Meier to lead the team rather than Xuan Zi, even though this Vice Dean was only an ordinary Titled Douluo in strength...

Could a team with a teacher leading it really be the same as one without a teacher?

Still, it was clear that Shrek Academy was reliable overall, apart from a certain person surnamed Xuan.

Seriously, the Sun Moon Empire wasn't what he feared. What he feared was their chicken-leg Elder suddenly having a stroke of inspiration...

"All right, stop arguing."

Mu En was pushed into the seat of honor in a Golden Wood wheelchair by Su Wen. His hunched body straightened slightly.

"Which academy Little Wen joins in the future is his own business. There are still at least five or six years before then, so why are you in such a hurry..."

"Yes, Mu En."

The two immediately fell silent, but they still secretly stared at Su Wen with foolish grins.

Clearly, they both knew each other's dispositions. If they did not make a move early, then six years later, Su Wen would probably already be so enchanted by the other that he would be completely captivated!

Mu En shook his head and ignored them.

Su Wen remained expressionless.

When two deans fought over someone, they had to show some sincerity, right?

All he needed to do was sit firmly on the fishing platform and enjoy the resources of both deans. As for which department he would join... of course it would be the Martial Soul Department. If this were the Sun Moon Empire, he might hesitate, but this was Shrek Academy!

The gap between Shrek and the Sun Moon Empire in Soul Guidance technology was an enormous one. Why would he go to the Soul Guidance Department? To eat dirt?

After all, although the Soul Guidance Department currently had Mu En's support, it was far inferior to the Martial Soul Department in terms of resources, teaching standards, and teacher quality. It was even the sort of department that was being thoroughly beaten down.

The current Martial Soul Department had inherited over ten thousand years of glory. Although it was somewhat bloated internally and its foundations were somewhat rotten, there was no denying that it was still rolling in wealth. Pull out any single hair from it, and it would be much thicker than one from the Soul Guidance Department.

"Today's main matter is to discuss what happened a month ago, when Xuan Zi led a team into the Star Dou Great Forest and encountered a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast..."

Mu En's eyes slowly sharpened like an eagle's as he stared straight at Xuan Zi.

The atmosphere throughout the hall suddenly grew heavy.

All the Elders looked toward Xuan Zi. Their gazes held helplessness, emotion, and anger at his failure to live up to expectations.

"Mu En, everyone, I want to resign from my positions as Vice Pavilion Master of the Sea God Pavilion and Deputy Head of the Surveillance Group. I'm a sinner of the academy. I'm not worthy of remaining here..." Xuan Zi hung his head, his shoulders seeming to bear a massive mountain that bent his waist even further.

As he spoke, Xuan Zi slowly rose to his feet. Under everyone's watchful eyes, he took a badge from his pocket, gently wiped it, and placed it on the table.

"Old Xuan, this isn't your fault! It's all because... Ahem, everyone has moments of carelessness, let alone this time, when Little Wen turned the tide. Not a single person from our academy died, and the several people who were critically injured were quickly treated. Old Zhuang said there were no major problems and that their future cultivation wouldn't be affected." Yan Shaozhe spoke sincerely. He had started to say that there was no one to take the blame, but fortunately managed to smooth things over.

"That's right, Old Xuan. You're one of the academy's pillars. If you leave, what will we do if outside enemies invade? Besides, although this trip was dangerous, the result was good. We should focus on rewards, not punishment..."

On this matter, Xian Liner and Yan Shaozhe reached a rare consensus.

They were sincere, too.

Seriously, if Old Xuan leaves and something happens to Mu En, are you going to hold up Shrek's banner?

You can't!

"Xuan Zi, are you throwing a tantrum at me? Giving up and refusing to work?" Mu En's tone was calm, but everyone present still felt an invisible pressure.

"Mu En, you know I'm not like that..." Xuan Zi said bitterly.

"Then what does that mean? That I wronged you?" Mu En asked softly.

"No, I..." Xuan Zi opened and closed his mouth.

"Then get back there and do your job properly!" Mu En suddenly shouted.

"Act like a man and take some responsibility! Whenever something happens, you think about running away. Do you believe that even though my strength has greatly declined, I can still beat you like a spinning top!" Mu En slapped the table.

"Clean up your own mess."

"And one more thing... you need to thank Su Wen properly." Mu En softened his tone. "He saved you this time. If Little Wen hadn't held back that Blood-Eroding Demon Tiger at the critical moment, then, hmph, you could have atoned with your life."

"Yes!"

A smile appeared on Xuan Zi's bitter face.

He nodded apologetically at Su Wen.

Su Wen smiled back.

Heh, I'll hold this over you for the rest of your life...

Seeing this, quite a few Elders looked at Su Wen curiously.

Their gazes also grew increasingly gentle, as though they were looking at a younger descendant of their own bloodline.

Resolute, decisive, and calm in the face of danger—weren't these all excellent qualities a leader needed?

The chosen Sea God Pavilion Master.

"Xuan Zi, you made a mistake, so the academy should punish you. For the next ten years, you're forbidden from leading teams outside the academy. Your salary and stipends for the next ten years will be completely suspended and used to compensate these children. The academy will provide additional subsidies, giving each seriously injured child a Ten Thousand Year Soul Bone, and each lightly injured child two million Gold Soul Coins."

"If you want to earn money, go to the Star Dou Great Forest yourself and help others hunt Soul Beasts. Also... this time, the reason you nearly got this entire group of children wiped out was because you were eating. So you'll be confined and starved for three months." Mu En spoke slowly.

"This..." Yan Shaozhe was stunned.

He had not expected his teacher to get serious.

Even Su Wen was somewhat surprised.

Salary and money were external possessions to Xuan Zi. As long as he opened his mouth, people would eagerly send him money. Being forbidden from leading teams outside was also of little consequence. Just when he thought that Mu En, as he had expected, would raise the stick high only to bring it down lightly, Mu En added:

"He'll be starved for three months."

Three months naturally would not be enough to starve a ninety-eighth-level Super Douluo to death.

But Xuan Zi's martial soul was the Godly Taotie Bull. The more he ate, the faster his Soul Power grew. Conversely... the less he ate, or even if he did not eat at all, it would be no different from torture for him.

This torment was no less than the process of an addict quitting drugs.

Three months.

That would be enough to make Xuan Zi wish he were dead and alive at the same time.

A top-level torture belonging exclusively to the Godly Taotie Bull martial soul.

"Fine..."

Xuan Zi, however, let out a sigh of relief.