"...I'm sorry."
Fan Yu hung his head dejectedly.
Faced with an angry, grieving student's accusations, and the gazes of the students behind him who had once been taught by Zhou Yi, he could no longer argue.
Or rather, he had never intended to argue in the first place.
"On behalf of my wife and myself, I offer you my sincerest apologies."
Fan Yu picked up Zhou Yi and bowed deeply to Lu Renjia.
Then he glanced at El beside him and bowed to him as well.
"El, I owe you an apology too."
Finally, he turned to Yan Shaozhe, who had remained silent beside them with a deeply complicated expression.
"Dean Yan, I'll take Zhou Yi back for treatment first."
"Once I've settled her in, I'll voluntarily apply to the academy for disciplinary action."
"And then..."
Fan Yu paused.
"I will do everything in my power to compensate the students who suffered because of Zhou Yi."
The entire Soul Fighting Zone heard those words. They served as Fan Yu's pledge.
Having done all this, he seemed to have completed some task. He let out a quiet breath, then turned and left with Zhou Yi.
Essentially, it was to ease his own conscience.
Watching him leave, El reached that conclusion.
Fan Yu really is an honest, decent man.
It's compensation after the fact rather than stopping her in time, but at least he's willing to compensate the students.
Unlike a certain unnamed level 98 Super Douluo whose martial soul is the Godly Taotie Bull.
When something goes wrong, all he knows how to do is promptly resign and dump the blame, then put on a heartbroken, despondent face and find somewhere to gorge himself on booze and meat.
One mouthful of liquor, one mouthful of meat.
Those in the know say he's punishing himself. Anyone else would think he's holding a victory feast.
And he even needs the victims to comfort him.
Pah! Disgusting!
To think someone so shameless has a Taotie bloodline. What a disgrace.
Thinking of certain filthy things, His Highness the Radiant Dragon King's expression darkened.
Meanwhile, Yan Shaozhe's mood was the exact opposite of El's.
Excellent!
This couldn't have worked out better!
With Fan Yu, the Soul Tool Department's vice dean, willing to take responsibility, this has nothing to do with our Martial Soul Department anymore!
Yan Shaozhe had already begun calculating how many resources it would take to suppress the story that "a Shrek Academy teacher abused students, forcing them to train until they were crippled."
After all, the incident had spread a little too widely. Most of the students knew about it.
And there was no shortage of great families and powerful clans among them.
They couldn't simply force everyone to keep their mouths shut as they had with previous, smaller-scale rumors.
Yet, unexpectedly, the Soul Tool Department had volunteered to be the sucker. Now the Martial Soul Department only needed to contribute a few hairs off an ox's back.
What? Zhou Yi is a teacher in the Martial Soul Department?
We're not talking about that.
Her husband is the Soul Tool Department's vice dean. Isn't her relationship with them closer than her relationship with us?
Yan Shaozhe coughed lightly and called after Fan Yu.
"Teacher Fan Yu, for Teacher Zhou's health, you should go to Sea God Island and seek out Elder Zhuang."
"I'll put in the request for you."
Elder Zhuang was the elder of the Sea God Pavilion most skilled in healing.
Fan Yu's retreating figure shuddered, and he turned back, brimming with gratitude.
"Thank you, Dean Yan."
"I cannot thank you enough for this kindness."
Then he transformed into a streak of light and flew toward the inner court's Sea God Pavilion.
Yan Shaozhe smiled and shook his head.
He hadn't helped secure Elder Zhuang's services for Zhou Yi's sake.
El's Alatreon martial soul had appeared for the first time, and no one had ever seen this so-called dragon-attribute energy either.
At present, Zhou Yi was the only person who had been "baptized" by dragon-attribute energy.
They should be able to obtain plenty of valuable information from her.
He would earn a favor from the Soul Tool Department, acquire information, and gain a reputation for benevolence and righteousness.
Three meals from one fish. What a windfall!
"All right, students, return to your classrooms in an orderly fashion!"
"Class is still in session."
"Teacher Wang Yan will temporarily serve as the homeroom teacher of Freshman Class One."
After issuing these final instructions to the students and teachers present, Yan Shaozhe smiled and nodded at El, then vanished from the spot.
He was in an extraordinarily good mood today.
Apart from everything above, the main reason was the existence of an extraordinary genius like El.
Three rings against six! An exceptionally high-quality martial soul! And multiple ultimate attributes!
Ultimate ice and ultimate fire...
The more Yan Shaozhe thought about El, the more satisfied he became.
A talent like him ought to become a pillar of Shrek!
As for the Limit Douluo behind him and his family with its dwindling bloodline...
That's a good thing!
At worst, your whole family can join Shrek.
It's not as though there's no precedent.
In the future, everyone can take turns as Sea God Pavilion Master. Everyone gets a chance.
Yan Shaozhe returned to the Sea God Pavilion to report.
Only the students remained, leaving in orderly groups while excitedly discussing the Soul Fighting match that had just taken place.
"Holy crap! Three rings took down six! He actually did it!"
"El is freaking awesome!"
"Forget the Outer Court Twin Stars! I'd say the Outer Court Strongest is in our first year!"
Almost all the first-years had faces flushed with excitement. They shouted proudly, basking in reflected glory as they imagined the splendor of standing in his place.
Only a few older students looked increasingly strange as they listened.
Finally, an upperclassman in a purple uniform stepped forward and patted one of the loudest freshmen on the shoulder.
"Junior."
"What is it, senior?"
The freshman turned, looking puzzled.
"Say, is there a possibility-and I mean just a possibility..."
"That you still have a Freshman Assessment coming up?"
At those words, the excitement froze on the faces of the small circle of freshmen around them.
Oh, right. They still had the Freshman Assessment in a couple of days.
El seemed to be a first-year freshman too...
Which meant a monster who could easily defeat a Soul Emperor would be competing against them?!
"What?! We have to fight El?!"
"Are you serious?!"
The freshman who had shouted "El is freaking awesome" cried out even louder.
His face had turned rather ashen.
He looked dazed, but in truth, his soul had already departed a while ago.
Would he win?
Death was guaranteed...
Meanwhile, unaware that he was about to play the role of the Douluo Continent's final boss, El had struggled free of a crowd of enthusiastic girls and found little Huo, who had been waiting for him for quite some time.
"Hey, Yu Tong."
A little embarrassed, El straightened his collar, which had been tugged into disarray, and held out a hand to little Huo.
"Long time no see."
"We were only apart for a little while, and you already caused such a huge stir..."
Looking at the suspicious red mark on El's collar, Huo Yutong narrowed her eyes slightly, her tone rather aggrieved.
"I suppose El's about to become famous throughout Shrek Academy now?"
"There'll definitely be tons of girls falling for El, won't there?"
"From now on, El can live surrounded by women. There'll definitely be so many women willing to play with El..."
"Will there be a contract partner better suited to El than me? Will El still remember me?"
Miss Huo, something seems a little off about you right now...
El blinked, a bead of cold sweat sliding down his forehead.
"Of course not. How could I ever stop wanting little Yu Tong..."
El rather stiffly put his arm around little Huo's shoulders.
Wait!
Little Huo wouldn't say things like that!
"Hey, Water Dragon King, you're the one stirring up trouble behind the scenes, aren't you?!"
A sudden flash of inspiration struck El. Irritated, he leaned close to Huo Yutong's ear and whispered through gritted teeth.
"Don't corrupt my little Yu Tong!"
"Tch."
A voice sounded in both Huo Yutong's and El's ears at once.
"So it really was you!"
Huang was furious.
He had wondered why little Huo was acting like a clingy, resentful wife. El had almost thought he'd skipped several hundred chapters.
That sudden surge of emotional gravity had genuinely given him a fright.
Water Dragon King, bad!
"I'm sorry, El. Mom told me to do it..."
Little Huo's cheeks turned bright red as she quietly explained to El.
"Don't listen to that one's instigating so much from now on."
El pinched Huo Yutong's cheeks and gave them two vigorous rubs.
"Mm, got it~"
With her cheeks pinched, Huo Yutong looked up. A strand of hair fading into icy white clung to the side of her face and brushed the back of El's hand, while a shimmering hint of moisture glimmered in her beautiful Spirit Eyes.
"But El, you were too reckless too."
"I'm really happy you stood up for me, but your opponent was a Soul Emperor, after all. You still need to be careful..."
"Mm-hmm!"
El nodded somewhat perfunctorily. At the same time, he released Huo Yutong's cheeks and instead lifted her high into the air with a cheer.
"Little Yu Tong is too adorable!"
"So that's the legendary Huo Yutong. She really is beautiful..."
"Does that mean I really have no chance? No, please! I'd even settle for being the second woman."
"They're both so beautiful. Can I join them?"
Noticing all the eyes turning their way, Huo Yutong, held aloft by El and made the center of everyone's attention, couldn't help crying out in embarrassed anger.
"El!"
Of course, in the Radiant Dragon King's eyes, this was no different from a kitten acting cute.
Before you continue