The cold rain over the rear mountain had stopped at some unknown point.
It was the small hours now, the darkness before dawn.
Yet the supreme powers present, who stood at the very pinnacle of the Douluo Continent, found even breathing unbearably heavy.
No one spoke.
If being called "hypocrites," "old fossils," and "scumbags" earlier had merely stripped them of their personal dignity...
Then that vision of a hell on earth, nuked flat by the "Level Twelve God-Slaying Fixed Soul Cannon Shells," had torn their faith and pride to shreds and trampled them underfoot!
"Pavilion Master..."
Yan Shaozhe's voice trembled as he tried to break the suffocating atmosphere.
Thud!
A dull impact rang out-the sound of a cane slamming into the mud.
Mu En emerged from the wooden cottage, all trace of that "old village chief's" simplicity and gentleness gone.
"You useless fools!"
Yan Shaozhe and Elder Song shuddered, their legs weakening until they nearly fell to their knees on the spot.
"Ten thousand years from now! Shrek will be bombed into nuclear ruins by two lumps of iron! Sea God Island will be reduced to ashes! Tens of millions of ordinary people will be vaporized!"
Holding back fury pushed to its utmost limit, Mu En pointed straight at their noses and berated them. "And you! As Sea God Pavilion Elders and the dean of the Martial Soul Department, you're still here scheming against one another and excluding anyone who disagrees with you, all for the Martial Soul Department's pitiful little budget and your worthless pride in 'Martial Soul orthodoxy'! Do you truly want to become Shrek's eternal sinners, your names stinking for ten thousand years?!"
The Elders who normally stood so high above others all shrank back in fear.
Mu En had always been mild-tempered. Even when facing Dragon Emperor Douluo Long Xiaoyao during an outbreak of the Poison Pill's effects back then, he had never been this furious.
Yet today, he had not only lost his temper but called them useless fools!
But could Mu En be blamed?
Su Xian's words might have been harsh, but that blood debt of tens of millions of lives and that heaven-destroying, earth-shattering mushroom cloud had already become an executioner's blade hanging over Mu En's heart!
Only after a long while did Zhang Lexuan, who had just emerged from the cottage, shed her simple disguise as "little A-Xuan."
She regained the resolute bearing of the inner court's senior sister and spoke gravely. "Please quell your anger, Pavilion Master! Teacher Su was right. If Shrek doesn't want to be discarded by the times, institutional reform is imperative. And reform will inevitably cut into the vested interests' share of the cake."
"Elder Song, Dean Yan! You have always styled yourselves the champions of Martial Soul orthodoxy, obstructing the Soul Tool Department's rise at every turn! Isn't clinging to your old ways like this pushing Shrek step by step into the abyss of nuclear annihilation?!"
"Lexuan! How dare you!" Elder Song was both shocked and furious. Never had she imagined that this designated successor, whom they had always regarded as an obedient girl, would dare seize this opportunity to directly challenge the Sea God Pavilion's seniors!
Yan Shaozhe was sweating even more profusely. He hurried forward a step and argued, red-faced and agitated, "Lexuan, don't you spit such bloody slander! When have I, Yan Shaozhe, ever said I would obstruct the academy from saving itself? The sun and moon can bear witness to my devotion to Shrek! I have never wanted to harm Shrek!"
"Yes, you haven't obstructed it yet, because the academy's reforms haven't truly begun!"
Zhang Lexuan refused to yield an inch, sneering repeatedly. "When the Soul Tool Department really takes more than half the Martial Soul Department's funding, when those traditional Martial Soul Department teachers face the risk of being eliminated, won't you stop it? Teacher Su named you outright in the cottage just now, calling you, Yan Shaozhe, the biggest ringleader of the conservatives. Are you saying that an expert who can see tens of thousands of years into the future is falsely accusing you?!"
"You... what does this have to do with me?!" Yan Shaozhe grew frantic and turned toward Mu En. "Please judge this clearly, Pavilion Master!"
"On the list Teacher Su just gave, you were first, Yan Shaozhe, and Elder Song was second. Are you still going to quibble?" Zhang Lexuan dropped another bombshell.
Yan Shaozhe felt as though he had plunged into an ice cellar.
He suddenly realized that Zhang Lexuan was not merely a deep schemer-every stroke of her blade was lethal!
She meant to ride this favorable wind of the "future's great tide" and uproot the Martial Soul Department's senior powers entirely!
"Shaozhe."
Mu En ignored Zhang Lexuan's relentless pressure. Instead, he turned his head and swept a calm glance over Yan Shaozhe.
There was no anger, no killing intent, only a calm glance.
Yet that very calm glance froze all the blood in Yan Shaozhe's body.
He had followed Mu En for decades and knew perfectly well what that look from his teacher meant.
Before Shrek's ten-thousand-year foundation and the lives of tens of millions of civilians, never mind one direct disciple-even if all the Sea God Pavilion Elders were bound together, Mu En would still raise the executioner's blade without hesitation!
If he became a stumbling block to reform today, his teacher really would cripple him!
In this desperate situation where his life hung in the balance, Yan Shaozhe's will to survive was driven to its utmost limit.
He frantically recalled the knowledge of "modern science" and "management science" he had overheard outside the cottage these past few days and cried out, "Pavilion Master! I, Yan Shaozhe, am certainly no eternal sinner obstructing reform! But I beg you to think carefully. Teacher Su also said that reform is complex and absolutely cannot be accomplished in one leap!"
Gritting his teeth, Yan Shaozhe countered, "Lexuan, you're thinking too simply! How many teachers does the entire Martial Soul Department have? How many core disciples? They are all Shrek's foundation! If we forcibly implement a new system without any buffer and slash the Martial Soul Department's resources, it will inevitably provoke a revolt throughout the academy!"
"When that happens, Shrek will fall apart from within before the enemy even attacks! Do you dare shoulder the responsibility for splitting the academy?!" Yan Shaozhe demanded loudly.
Zhang Lexuan was momentarily at a loss for words.
Indeed, the Martial Soul Department's influence was far too vast.
If they forcibly swung toward the Soul Tool Department without any preparation, fierce internal conflict would inevitably erupt within Shrek.
Seeing Zhang Lexuan thwarted, Elder Zhuang, who had been listening from the sidelines, could not help stepping forward as well.
Although he feared that future nuclear explosion, they too were links in the Martial Soul Department's vast chain of interests.
If Yan Shaozhe fell and the Martial Soul Department was purged, their disciples and families would suffer too.
"Pavilion Master, Shaozhe has a point." Elder Zhuang cupped his hands and urged, "Teacher Su also said that those who ignored actual circumstances and pursued radical reforms all failed in the end! Though that great calamity is terrifying, we cannot throw our own ranks into disarray!"
"Exactly!" As though clutching a life-saving straw, Yan Shaozhe immediately forced Su Xian's theories into service. "Pavilion Master, Teacher Su taught us this himself in the cottage! Take too big a stride and you'll tear your balls! We must use the tactic of 'boiling a frog in warm water'!"
"We must introduce 'KPI performance appraisals' and 'competition for positions'! We can't take a one-size-fits-all approach! First, use the appraisal system to slowly sift out those cancers, then transform step by step. That is the seasoned, prudent way to govern, Pavilion Master!"
These words not only invoked Su Xian's theories but successfully bound all the Elders with vested interests to Yan Shaozhe's war chariot.
Zhang Lexuan grew anxious. "Pavilion Master! The countdown has begun for tens of millions of lives. Are we really going to wait for these frogs to slowly adjust to the warm water?!"
Mu En closed his eyes. These past few days had exhausted his mind and spirit no less than an ultimate battle would have.
Although Yan Shaozhe, Elder Zhuang, and the others feared the future, they still could not bear to relinquish the power in their hands.
However, Yan Shaozhe was right about one thing-Shrek was too large, its tail too big to turn.
If he truly followed Zhang Lexuan's temperament and cut everything off in a single stroke, all of Shrek would immediately descend into internal strife. It would not need to wait ten thousand years; it would face disintegration right now.
"Lexuan, this cannot be rushed." Mu En slowly opened his eyes and sighed. "Teacher Su also commented that radical reform would inevitably provoke fierce retaliation. Since he proposed appraisals, we will do as he said. Boiling a frog in warm water is indeed safer than administering a drastic remedy outright."
Hearing the Pavilion Master set the course, Yan Shaozhe, Elder Song, and the other conservative Elders let out long breaths of relief, as though granted a pardon.
It seemed they had escaped this calamity for the time being.
So long as it was boiling a frog in warm water, they would have plenty of time to tamper with the appraisal rules and preserve their power base.
Just as Yan Shaozhe was about to offer his thanks, Mu En's even voice rang out again.
"However."
"Since we are going to eliminate the lowest-ranked, since we are introducing competition, we must first clean out the stagnant water in this pot of ours!"
That ominous premonition welled up in Yan Shaozhe's heart again.
"Zhang Lexuan, receive your orders!" Mu En raised his voice, which resounded like a great bell. "In my name as Sea God Pavilion Master, I hereby grant you the authority of Sea God Pavilion Special Envoy!"
Zhang Lexuan's spirits lifted. "Lexuan stands ready!"
"From this day forward, you will have full responsibility for implementing the 'performance appraisal' system throughout Shrek Academy! And the first fire will burn in the Martial Soul Department!"
Mu En issued an order that chilled every conservative to the bone. "Lexuan, investigate at once! Throughout the Martial Soul Department, every teacher who habitually occupies a post while drawing pay for doing nothing, who accomplishes nothing, who harbors extreme prejudice against the Soul Tool Department and obstructs exchanges between the two departments, or who relies on seniority to extort meals, gifts, and favors!"
"Draw up a complete list for me!"
"Everyone on that list, regardless of rank, regardless of which Elder stands behind them, will be dismissed on the spot, without asking why! Expel them from Shrek Academy immediately!"
"If any senior member of the Martial Soul Department dares secretly obstruct this or shield anyone, under any pretext..."
"I will act personally and strip them of their Martial Soul! Cripple them into ordinary mortals!"
Yan Shaozhe's face turned deathly pale, and all light left his eyes.
He knew he was finished.
Though Mu En had outwardly agreed to boil the frog in warm water, he had replaced the firewood beneath that pot with the very foundations of Yan Shaozhe's Martial Soul Department!
Once that purge list was put into effect, the trusted followers and partisans he had painstakingly cultivated in the Martial Soul Department for decades, along with his absolute control, would be cut away by more than half overnight!
"Dean Yan."
Zhang Lexuan rose, a cold smile appearing on her stunningly beautiful face. "Cleaning house and implementing appraisals-this boiling the frog in warm water was your own proposal."
"You must be sure to give us your full support."
Before you continue