Age of Exploration

If there had been an unprecedented earthquake in Shrek Academy's Inner Court recently, it was undoubtedly senior sister Zhang Lexuan's thunderous Great Purge of the Martial Soul Department's lower- and mid-ranking instructors, conducted in her capacity as "Sea God Pavilion Special Envoy" under a system called "performance appraisal."

The purge came suddenly and with an outrageously high profile.

Zhang Lexuan personally led the Inner Court's disciplinary team on surprise inspections of the Martial Soul Department's teaching and research offices and Mimicry Training Grounds.

Instructors who habitually coasted through classes, put perfunctory effort into lesson plans, or exploited their seniority to take bribes and extort favors were punished without leniency.

In particular, the Martial Soul Department hardliners who mocked Soul Tool Department students and harbored extreme prejudices, normally throwing their weight around within the department, were precisely singled out by Zhang Lexuan and dismissed on the spot for "refusing to strive for improvement and undermining the academy's unity."

This was clearly an overreach of authority.

Although Zhang Lexuan was the senior sister, she was still a student, after all, and had no actual authority to dismiss instructors.

Yet, bafflingly, Martial Soul Department Dean Yan Shaozhe, the immediate superior of those being purged, followed behind Zhang Lexuan like a bodyguard throughout the entire process, his face dark as he helped clear her path!

Whenever a dismissed hardline Martial Soul Department teacher threw themselves at Yan Shaozhe's feet, weeping and wailing through tears and snot as they begged the dean to uphold justice for them.

Yan Shaozhe's heart bled. These were all loyal followers he had personally promoted, the very foundation of his power in the Martial Soul Department!

But what could he do?

The Pavilion Master's warning to "strip away his Martial Soul" still hung over his head!

Yan Shaozhe could only swallow his shattered teeth along with his bitterness, force an expression of righteous indignation onto his face, and point at his confidants' noses as he berated them. "You worthless bastards! I told you to teach properly, but instead you sat in your posts drawing salaries for doing nothing! Senior sister was right to investigate you-she did a splendid job! A cancer like you, with no desire to improve, deserves to be expelled! Pack your things and get out!"

The sight of Yan Shaozhe undermining his own position made countless teachers and students throughout the academy grasp what was happening.

Behind senior sister stood the reclusive Sea God Pavilion Master!

Who but Mu En could make the mighty Super Douluo Yan Shaozhe bow his head?

Who would dare dig up the ground over the Martial Soul Department's reigning tyrant?

But once they understood this, the Inner Court's teachers grew puzzled.

Just two days ago, Dean Yan had still enjoyed the highest favor. How had the winds in the Sea God Pavilion changed completely in only a few days?

Soon, some clever people "understood."

The Pavilion Master was clearly using senior sister to weaken the Martial Soul Department's monopoly and pave the way for the Soul Tool Department!

Dean Yan had probably recognized the situation too and simply gone with the current, sacrificing his pawns to save his rook.

For a time, the prevailing winds at Shrek Academy underwent a fantastical reversal.

Teachers who had previously racked their brains trying to cling to the Martial Soul Department's coattails began poring over introductory Soul Tool textbooks overnight, then bringing gifts to Soul Tool Department Dean Xian Lin'er and Deputy Dean Qian Duoduo to inquire solicitously after their well-being.

Fence-sitters were the same everywhere.

Evening came, and the setting sun was red as blood.

After a busy day, Zhang Lexuan walked alone along the shimmering shore of Sea God Lake.

The breeze stirred her soft, long hair, but her brows remained tightly knitted. Dismissing dozens of parasites from the Martial Soul Department that day had not made her smug.

She knew perfectly well that the foundations of senior conservatives such as Yan Shaozhe and Elder Song remained intact.

This purge was only the first step in scraping poison from the bone.

The belief in Martial Soul orthodoxy had been deeply rooted in Shrek for ten thousand years.

To change the course of Shrek, that decrepit giant ship, "layoffs" and "enforcing discipline" alone were far from enough.

Without an entirely new strategy capable of crushing the Martial Soul system to fill the void, Shrek would ultimately remain unable to contend with the Sun Moon Empire.

"A great crisis demands a great strategy..."

Her expression resolute, Zhang Lexuan looked toward the Back Mountain.

She decided to seek out that "Teacher Su" and hear his insights again, searching for a way to break the deadlock that could truly save Shrek.

Meanwhile, inside the wooden cabin on the Back Mountain.

"Incredible! Uncle Mu En, why does the wild boar meat from our Daliang Mountain have such an unusual fragrance? And the meat's firm, too. My stomach feels all warm after I swallow it. It's even better than that Kobe beef!"

Su Xian sat on the edge of the bed with one foot propped on it and the other planted on the floor, holding a steaming meat-stuffed flatbread and eating until grease covered his mouth.

Little did he know that this was no wild boar meat at all. Mu En had specifically instructed the Inner Court cafeteria to take the tenderest loin from a ten-thousand-year-old King Kong Baboon from the Star Dou Great Forest, add supreme-grade medicinal herbs for Strengthen the Foundation and Cultivate the Origin, and carefully braise it for three days and nights to make this medicinal meat-stuffed flatbread.

Outside, that single bite would have been worth at least tens of thousands of Gold Soul Coins.

"Hehe, wild boars in the mountains run fast, so naturally their meat is good. If you like it, Teacher Su, this old man will make it for you every day."

Mu En sat on a small folding stool, still holding that battered notebook, and watched Su Xian with a warm smile.

After exchanging a few pleasantries and seeing that Su Xian had nearly finished eating, Mu En humbly asked for guidance. "Teacher Su, you said before that Shrek would be bombed into ruins if it didn't reform its system? That leaves this old man puzzled. Even if they really did reform and stopped suppressing Soul Tools, the Sun Moon Empire has been developing for thousands of years. Shrek is only starting to catch up now. How should it develop from here to contend with such a terrifying empire in the future?"

At this question, Zhang Lexuan, who had just reached the barrier outside the cabin door, immediately held her breath and pricked up her ears.

Su Xian pulled over a tissue and wiped his mouth, then slapped his thigh and assumed the air of someone laying out grand affairs of state. "Isn't that simple? Why is the Sun Moon Empire powerful now? Because it has vast lands and abundant resources, and monopolizes the overwhelming majority of rare metal deposits! Soul Tools are a bottomless pit that burns through money and metal. If Shrek wants to overtake them on the conventional track, it's dreaming!"

"Then... how should it break the deadlock?" Mu En tightened his grip on his charcoal pencil.

"Step off the original chessboard and open up a new map!"

Spittle flying, Su Xian threw out a grand strategy. "Isn't there a boundless ocean beside the Douluo Continent? Launch an Age of Exploration!"

"An Age of Exploration?" Mu En and Zhang Lexuan outside the door both froze.

"Exactly! Since the Sun Moon Empire monopolizes the continent's rare metals, what about the depths of the ocean? What about new continents overseas? Shrek could absolutely gather all the academy's craftsmen and build giant steel ships powered by high-level soul guidance arrays!"

Su Xian gestured in the air. "Set sail! Search overseas for new rare metal deposits! Establish overseas colonies! Turn the vast ocean into Shrek's backyard for extracting resources! This is called resource plundering and pioneering! With an endless stream of overseas resources feeding back into it, why worry about being unable to build top-tier Soul Tools?"

A bolt of lightning seemed to flash through Mu En's mind.

For ten thousand years, every Soul Master had kept their eyes fixed on their little patch of land on the Douluo Continent, fighting until their heads were bloodied over a few mineral deposits.

Yet no one had ever considered using soul guidance technology to conquer that endless ocean occupied only by Sea Soul Beasts!

"Besides resources, the biggest headache is military power."

Su Xian curled his lip. "Shrek and the three countries originally belonging to the Douluo Continent have far too backward an understanding of military power! They put excessive faith in individual might, thinking one or two Limit Douluos or Super Douluos can anchor an entire nation's fortunes. That works in the age of cold weapons, but in the age of firearms, it's practically suicide!"

"Think about it, Uncle Mu En. How hard is it to raise a Titled Douluo? You need a supreme-grade Martial Soul, decades of relentless cultivation, enormous resources, and luck. But making a gun?"

"So stop staring at those few so-called geniuses! Industrialize! Start assembly-line production!"

"Break down those high-level Soul Tool blueprints and turn them into completely uniform standardized parts! Have ordinary blacksmiths who aren't even Soul Masters do nothing but finish a single screw or casing, then let Soul Engineers handle the final assembly!"

Standardized parts? Assembly lines?

These terms, which had never appeared in the Douluo Continent's history, battered Mu En's understanding like magic spells.

"Once production capacity rises, arm the common people!"

Su Xian painted a picture of annihilation that sent chills down even a Limit Douluo's spine. "When Shrek stops relying solely on those few hundred Inner Court elites and instead raises an armed force of a hundred thousand commoners, each holding a standard mass-produced Soul Guidance Ray Gun!"

"A hundred thousand rays firing at once! Even if they're only the most basic Class 1 or Class 2 Soul Guidance Rays, that dense web of firepower will be enough to produce a qualitative change! Then, never mind a Titled Douluo-even a Limit Douluo facing this kind of organized, industrialized commoner army would be shot full of holes like a hornet's nest!"

"What you lack in quality, make up for in quantity! Exchange cheap industrial costs for the enemy's expensive cultivation costs. That's the art of war!"

Snap.

The charcoal pencil in Mu En's hand broke cleanly in two under his excessive grip.

The old man's heart pounded wildly in his chest, and the speed of his blood flow soared to its limit.

Giant steel ships riding the wind and cleaving the waves to conquer the ocean... an army of a hundred thousand commoners holding Soul Tools, firing volleys in formation...

"Ahem... of course."

His mouth dry from talking, Su Xian picked up the tea mug beside him and took a sip of water. Then the fervor faded from his face, and he waved a hand somewhat sheepishly, laughing at himself. "Uncle Mu En, don't take it seriously. I've just read too many history books and novels. I'm only rambling about the Western Industrial Revolution and the Age of Exploration."

"After all, I'm not on that Douluo Continent. I don't really know the actual situation in that world or the specific level of its metal smelting. I'm just talking off the cuff. Treat it as something amusing to listen to, and please don't take it to heart."

Su Xian sat on the edge of the bed, swinging his legs and smiling like a sunny university student who knew nothing of the world.

Yet he had absolutely no idea.

Mu En, sitting opposite him, had already replaced his charcoal pencil with a brand-new one and was writing furiously, inscribing terms such as "Age of Discovery," "Industrial assembly line," and "standardized parts" into Shrek's most highly classified files.

Outside the door, Zhang Lexuan pressed both hands against her chest. She had already seen a broad road reaching to the heavens that could truly allow Shrek to be reborn from the flames!