Ma Xiaotao looked at Yan Shaozhe in disbelief when she heard that.
"Teacher, you're joking, right? I'm a Soul Emperor, no matter how you look at it. He's only a Soul Elder at most. How could I possibly lose to him..."
Yan Shaozhe grew a little more serious and said:
"He already defeated two Soul Emperors and three Soul Kings during the entrance examination, without even using his martial soul. Do you think you could do that?
"And that new student's first three soul rings are all ten-thousand-year ones. If you really fought, the outcome would be far from certain."
Ma Xiaotao opened her mouth, her mind grinding to a halt. "That... can't be possible, right? And shouldn't the first soul ring only be a hundred-year one? Isn't that what the Grandmaster's theory says?"
"Nothing is impossible," Yan Shaozhe said. "Besides, the Grandmaster's theories are ten thousand years old. They don't apply to this era. The age of the soul ring someone can absorb depends solely on their physical strength.
"This new student's first soul ring is a ten-thousand-year one, which means his body was already as strong as a Soul King's when he was six. That explains how he defeated five teachers during the entrance examination using nothing but his physique."
Most people on the continent considered Yu Xiaogang a true grandmaster, but as one of Shrek's senior figures, Yan Shaozhe had read plenty of ancient texts and thus had a fairly clear-eyed view of him.
He had something going for him, but not much...
"That's unbelievable."
Hearing this, Ma Xiaotao no longer knew what to say.
"It certainly is, but it was precisely because he had that strength that he could restrain you when your evil fire erupted."
Yan Shaozhe spoke softly.
Although he dearly wanted to interrogate the boy about how he had made his body so strong, he remained wary of the Star Luo Empire backing him and had therefore taken no action.
Ma Xiaotao still found it a little unbelievable, but in her heart, she accepted it completely.
Teacher and disciple chatted a little longer before Yan Shaozhe left the small room.
He was now ready to set out and see whether he could find a way to resolve his disciple's evil fire problem somewhere on the continent.
At a relatively secluded street corner in Shrek City.
Yan Shaozhe frowned slightly at the beggar before him. Hadn't his previous contact been a candied hawthorn vendor? Why was it a beggar now?
He had no desire to deal with this beggar from now on.
So Yan Shaozhe asked outright, "Where's the person I dealt with before?"
The beggar picked his nose and said casually, "Dead. I've replaced him. Cut the chatter. What exactly do you want to know? I'm in a hurry to get back to begging."
This beggar was naturally a clone Yang Lin had casually fashioned.
The veins on Yan Shaozhe's forehead throbbed violently. Remembering Mu En's instructions, he drew a deep breath and said in a low voice:
"I want to know whether there's a way to resolve my disciple's evil fire problem on the continent."
He did not actually hold out much hope. The answer last time had been no, and it would most likely be no again.
"Of course there is... but that information won't come cheap."
Yan Shaozhe's eyes lit up at those words, and he said quickly:
"Tell me! No amount of gold soul coins is a problem."
"One soul bone at least ten thousand years old, or a high-quality thousand-year soul bone," the beggar said.
"Why don't you just rob someone?!" Yan Shaozhe demanded angrily.
The beggar scoffed. "Isn't that what you chose, Dean Yan?"
Yan Shaozhe fell silent. Naturally, he understood what those words meant. He had brought this upon himself.
"A low-quality thousand-year soul bone at most. A high-quality thousand-year soul bone or a ten thousand year soul bone is absolutely out of the question!"
A single piece of information costing a ten thousand year soul bone was something Yan Shaozhe could not accept.
The beggar waved a hand. "No bargaining, Dean Yan. You wouldn't want to watch your disciple become unable to continue cultivating because of her evil fire, would you..."
After a long silence, Yan Shaozhe took a high-quality five-thousand-year soul bone from his storage ring and tossed it to the beggar before him.
"I hope you can hold on to that soul bone..."
The beggar caught the soul bone with a chuckle and tucked it into his pocket. "You needn't trouble yourself over that, Dean Yan."
Yan Shaozhe glanced at the beggar's trouser pocket. Sure enough, just as before, the soul bone had miraculously vanished.
Seizing it back after obtaining the information was impossible, too.
"In Dragon City, in the Heaven Dou Empire, there's a Soul Master with ultimate ice named Su Tong."
Yan Shaozhe's eyes suddenly lit up!
"Ultimate ice! Is that information true?"
"Of course it is. You can always trust our information..."
Yan Shaozhe pumped his fist excitedly, suddenly feeling far less heartache over losing that soul bone.
He knew all too well what an ultimate martial soul meant. Once its wielder matured, it meant true invincibility!
Over Shrek's ten-thousand-year history, three martial souls with ultimate attributes had appeared, and without exception, their wielders had been the strongest of their eras.
If he could bring this Soul Master with ultimate ice into Shrek, he would not only resolve Xiaotao's evil fire problem, but also ensure Shrek had nothing to worry about for at least the next hundred years.
He believed his teacher would be delighted to hear about this, too, and he could thereby redeem himself through meritorious service.
As for whether that Soul Master actually wanted to attend Shrek Academy, Yan Shaozhe disregarded the question entirely.
After all, who could refuse to study at Shrek Academy?
With that thought, Yan Shaozhe flew straight toward Dragon City.
The beggar watched Yan Shaozhe, now no more than a tiny speck in the sky, and revealed a meaningful smile.
Shrek Academy was remarkably efficient.
Not long after the Sea God Pavilion's meeting ended, Zhou Yi received notice of her dismissal from the academy.
"Director Du! Has there been some mistake? How could I be dismissed just like that?!"
Holding the dismissal notice, Zhou Yi stared at Du Weilun in disbelief as she spoke.
Du Weilun merely cast the woman an indifferent glance, his face filled with disgust.
Clearly, he had read that little notebook as well.
Not only that, Yan Shaozhe had given him a thorough dressing-down, and the reward that had practically been in his hands had now gone up in smoke.
So right now, he truly wanted to slap this woman to death.
Du Weilun waved his hand as though shooing away a fly. "Get out, get out, get out. This decision came directly from the Sea God Pavilion."
At the words "Sea God Pavilion," Zhou Yi froze on the spot. She was merely a six-ring teacher. What standing did she possibly have to warrant the Sea God Pavilion personally dismissing her?
Although she knew there was no reversing it, she still wanted to know the reason.
"Director Du, I've fulfilled my duties conscientiously throughout my time here, and a quarter of the students I taught entered the Inner Academy. That record is among the best in the academy, isn't it?"
Du Weilun looked at Zhou Yi as though she were an idiot. You expelled nearly all your students. How could your advancement rate not be high?
Before you continue