As that lesson on the universe ended, the Inner Court disciples disguised as left-behind children and villagers fled the wooden cabin as though escaping a disaster.
That thin black glass panel, and the boundless universe of stars on its screen, had utterly crushed ten thousand years of pride and understanding in these peerless geniuses.
They needed to find a deserted corner and properly rebuild their already shattered worldview.
Mu En and the other Sea God Pavilion core elders, however, had no time to marvel at the vastness of the universe.
They hurried back to the top floor of the Sea God Pavilion and convened a closed-door meeting concerning Shrek's very survival.
"We're out of money! To be precise, Shrek City's treasury is almost empty."
Qian Duoduo slammed a thick stack of bills onto the ten-thousand-year-old purple sandalwood conference table in the Sea God Pavilion.
"How is that possible?" Elder Zhuang frowned. "Shrek Academy and Shrek City have been accumulating wealth for over ten thousand years, and the Three Great Empires pay tribute every year. How could we suddenly run out of money?"
"Because that 'industrial assembly line' plan Teacher Su proposed burns through too damn much money!"
Qian Duoduo clawed at his bald head, which already had precious few hairs, and said bitterly, "Do you think making standardized parts is easy? To achieve mass production, we need to buy huge quantities of high-precision machine tools and countless rare metal ores, and hire over ten thousand blacksmiths for preliminary grinding training!"
"Lin'er and I stayed up last night doing the calculations. Just building the most basic 'Class One Soul Guidance Ray' assembly line would require a full thirty million gold soul coins in initial equipment and metal investments! And that doesn't include subsequent losses from defective products or labor costs!"
Qian Duoduo heaved a long sigh. "If we really raised a civilian armed force of a hundred thousand, like Teacher Su said... even if we drained Sea God Lake and sold the water, we couldn't afford to maintain it!"
"It's not just a matter of money."
Xian Lin'er added with a deep frown, "Yesterday, we introduced assessments and drastically cut the Martial Soul Department's resources, and it has already triggered a fierce backlash. The traditional commercial families and hidden weapon workshops in Shrek City, along with several powerful grand dukes in the Star Luo Empire who support the Martial Soul Department, have already put the word out."
"They say that if Shrek insists on shifting its focus to soul tools and destroying their traditional business chains, they'll join forces to cut off Shrek's gold soul coin tributes and rare metal trading channels!"
Anger flashed through Xian Lin'er's eyes. "Those parasites! With a great calamity approaching, they're still trying to choke the academy for their families' paltry fly-speck profits!"
Everyone fell silent.
Though the great calamity lay ten thousand years away, the birth pangs of reform were right before them.
Shrek was like a terminally ill giant from an old era: tug one hair, and its entire body moved.
Without a drastic dose of medicine, it would sooner or later be swept away by the torrent of the times.
Yet the moment they administered that drastic medicine, the parasites within began rebelling, even trying to sever the giant's blood supply.
Without massive financial support, the so-called industrial assembly lines and civilian armed forces were nothing but flowers in a mirror and the moon reflected in water!
"It's not just the trade associations..."
Just then, a resentful voice came from the corner.
Everyone turned to look and saw Yan Shaozhe, dean of the Martial Soul Department, sporting two enormous dark circles beneath his eyes, his face as pale as a ghost.
"Pavilion Master, my life is as good as ruined."
Yan Shaozhe's voice trembled with a grievance that left him wanting to cry but unable to shed a tear. "These past two days, Lexuan has been forcing me to carry out a great purge of the Martial Soul Department. I personally ordered the dismissal of forty-five senior instructors! Now everyone in the academy is pointing fingers behind my back, calling me a beast who betrays his teachers and forebears and tears down the bridge after crossing the river!"
"Even my formerly most loyal subordinates now look at me as though I'm a genuine puddle of rotten mud!" Yan Shaozhe covered his face, nearly breaking down. "I haven't secured any money, and I've almost torn apart the Martial Soul Department's foundations with my own hands! Pavilion Master, I really can't keep up this act!"
Seeing his direct disciple, once so glorious, reduced to this miserable state, Mu En sighed and rubbed his throbbing temples.
What reform came without bloodshed?
He knew Yan Shaozhe had suffered grievances, and he also knew the financial crisis facing the academy was fatal.
Unless they could secure an astronomical sum in a short time and find a way to break the traditional trade associations' blockade, Shrek's reforms would be declared bankrupt before they even began.
"Pavilion Master."
Zhang Lexuan, who had remained silent all along, spoke up, analyzing calmly, "The Age of Discovery and industrialization were macro-level strategies proposed by Teacher Su in the first place! Since he has such vision beyond his era, he must also understand economics, how to make money, and how to break a commercial blockade!"
"The one who tied the bell must untie it. Rather than sitting here with worried faces, why don't we... go back to the Back Mountain and ask him?"
One remark woke the dreamers.
The elders' eyes lit up.
Of course!
That blind man even understood the universe and intercontinental ballistic missiles. Wouldn't bringing down monopolistic trade associations and raking in money in a short time be child's play to him?
"Let's go! To the Back Mountain, immediately!" Mu En made the decision on the spot. "Duoduo, Shaozhe, come along and listen too! Learn how people in the future manage their economy!"
Twenty minutes later.
On the Back Mountain, at the outer edge of the barrier.
"Putt-putt-putt-putt-putt-!"
Qian Duoduo deftly switched on that simulation sound system made of scrap metal, and the deafening roar of a tractor rang out once more.
Several agility attack soul masters lay in the grass with great professionalism and began another round of "woof, woof, woof."
Accompanied by this rustic background music, Mu En and Qian Duoduo resumed their guises as "Uncle Mu En" and "Uncle Mo Niu," pushed open the door, and entered the cabin.
Yan Shaozhe, meanwhile, could only crouch beneath the window and eavesdrop in frustration.
Inside, Su Xian had just finished teaching the children about the universe and was in excellent spirits.
Though blind, his hearing was excellent. At the sound of footsteps, he greeted them with a smile. "Uncle Mu En, Uncle Mo Niu, has your village committee meeting finished?"
"Yes, Teacher Su. Well, the village has run into a little financial trouble, and we've been so worried our hair's falling out. We thought we'd come have a chat with you." Mu En slipped naturally into the subject.
"Perfect!" Su Xian stretched. "I've been cooped up in this room so long these past few days, I'm practically growing mold! It's sunny outside today, right? Once we're done chatting, could you let me take a walk around the village and get some sun?"
Mu En glanced at the newly completed "Counterfeit Street" outside the window. Thinking that the scenery was already set up anyway, he readily agreed. "Sure! No problem! I'll take you around the village in a little while!"
"Wonderful!" Hearing that he could go outside, Su Xian was delighted beyond measure. He crossed his legs, a mischievous smile tugging at his lips. "Oh, right! To thank you two uncles for looking after me all this time, before I help solve your financial problems, let me tell you a joke from our modern age to liven things up."
A joke?
Inside, Mu En and Qian Duoduo exchanged a glance and nodded with smiles.
Outside the window, Zhang Lexuan and Yan Shaozhe also pricked up their ears, thinking that a joke from this extraordinary man surely contained some profound philosophy from the future.
Su Xian cleared his throat, his expression growing animated as he began with feeling:
"So, this was still in that fictional world of Peerless Tang Sect."
"At the end of one year, the most infamous and cruel evil soul master organization on the Douluo Continent-the Holy Spirit Cult-was holding a grand 'Best Evil Soul Master of the Year' awards ceremony."
Evil soul masters?
Inside, Mu En and Qian Duoduo exchanged a glance, their expressions shifting slightly.
Outside the window, besides Zhang Lexuan and Yan Shaozhe, Taotie Douluo Xuan Zi, who had just arrived gnawing on a huge pig's trotter to join the fun, also crouched curiously at the foot of the wall and pricked up his ears.
Su Xian continued vividly, "The Holy Spirit Cult's leader stood on the platform and announced loudly in excitement: 'Now, I hereby announce! This year's "Evil Soul Master Ace of the Year," who killed the most peerless Shrek geniuses and dealt the heaviest, most devastating blow to Shrek Academy, is-Shrek's Sea God Pavilion elder, Taotie Douluo, Xuan Zi!'"
Mu En: "...Huh?"
Outside the window, Xuan Zi's mouth froze just as he was about to bite into his pig's trotter.
Completely unaware, Su Xian remained immersed in his stand-up routine. "When they heard the result, all the evil soul masters below the platform were furious! They raised their hands in protest: 'Cult Leader! Is there some mistake?! That Xuan Zi is clearly a Shrek elder who goes around flaunting his righteousness every day! What right does he have to receive our Holy Spirit Cult's highest honor?! This is rigged!'"
"At this, the cult leader sighed and solemnly took a Shrek casualty report from inside his robes."
Su Xian slapped his thigh and delivered the devastatingly dark punchline:
"With tears in his eyes, the cult leader pointed at the report and told the evil soul masters below: 'Brothers, you have to give him his due! Just look at this record! Leading a team into the Star Dou Great Forest-half dead! Leading a team to capture a mutated soul beast-half crippled!'"
"'Brothers, in this year alone! Whenever Xuan Zi got drinking, whenever he uttered those words, "Don't be afraid, children. I'm protecting you from the shadows!" the number of core Shrek Inner Court geniuses he personally led to their deaths was three times more than our entire Holy Spirit Cult managed to assassinate through ten years of toiling from dawn till dusk!'"
Su Xian deliberately drew out his voice and delivered his final summation in an exaggerated tone:
"'In the time it takes to eat a chicken drumstick, he can wipe out an entire main Shrek team without so much as making a sound!' The cult leader wiped away his tears and roared, 'With killing power this inhumanly horrific, if he isn't our Holy Spirit Cult's grand supreme elder planted in the Sea God Pavilion, heaven itself cannot tolerate it!!!'"
"Hahahahaha..."
As Su Xian's laughter subsided, after rocking him back and forth.
The entire cabin, and everything within a hundred meters around it, fell silent.
Inside, Mu En's hand shook violently around his teacup. Water spilled all over his crotch without him even noticing.
Qian Duoduo was biting down hard on his own arm, holding back his laughter until his entire dark face turned purplish red, nearly suffocating on the spot.
And outside the window...
Plop.
The half-eaten, gleaming, greasy pig's trotter in Xuan Zi's hand fell to the ground.
The mighty Level 98 Taotie Douluo stood utterly stupefied.
White, yellow, purple, black, and red alternated across his old face. Anyone who didn't know better might have thought his soul rings were exploding.
An undercover evil soul master?!
I fucking got more geniuses killed eating a chicken drumstick than the Holy Spirit Cult killed in ten years?!
"E-Elder Xuan..."
Seeing Xuan Zi's eyes roll back as though he might stop breathing at any moment, Yan Shaozhe hurriedly pressed the spot above his upper lip in alarm. "Stay calm! Stay calm! He's blind, don't take it to heart..."
"Pfft-!"
Before you continue