That night, the two sat beside Sea God Lake for a long time.
When Gu Xingyue woke early the next morning, a plain white envelope lay beside him.
He opened it. Inside was a neatly folded sheet of paper bearing Huo Yutong's delicate handwriting.
"Xingyue, I've left. Don't look for me. Wait for me to come back. -Yutong."
The corners of Gu Xingyue's mouth curved slightly.
In the days that followed, he went to class as usual, slept as usual, and ate at the cafeteria as usual.
The days passed, one after another.
The Outer Court's semester drew to a close with the final exams, and the students left for home in succession.
Gu Xingyue returned to Sea God Island in the Inner Court, then cultivated in his own room inside the Golden Tree.
On the first day of the next semester, the Outer Court bustled with activity again.
Instead of news of Huo Yutong's return, a truly momentous piece of news reached Gu Xingyue's ears.
"Have you heard? Jin Hongchen, the director of the Imperial Soul Guidance Research Institute over in the Sun Moon Empire, is coming to Shrek!"
"There were records of it already. After all, Shrek Academy has been vigorously supporting the development of soul tools lately, and it's a neutral power. Meanwhile, the Sun Moon Empire has been acting like a lovesick lapdog, constantly trying every possible way to deepen its cooperation with Shrek. I never thought Shrek would agree."
"But isn't the scale of this visit a little bigger than expected?"
Gu Xingyue froze on the spot when he heard those words, then sank into deep thought, then decided not to think about it and simply find someone to ask.
Otherwise, he felt he might really have reached the end of his days. He could just about accept that Shrek Academy in this world no longer insisted that ancestral rules must never change and was developing soul tools, but directly joining forces with the Sun Moon Empire?
Was this for real?!!
So he ran straight to Sea God Pavilion to find Mu En and Yan Shaozhe.
When he asked why Shrek Academy wanted to cooperate with the Sun Moon Empire.
Mu En said nothing. Instead, Yan Shaozhe spoke first, looking as though he was making a fuss over nothing. "We want to develop our soul tools, so we invited the Sun Moon Empire to help us establish a proper soul engineer training system."
Gu Xingyue instantly lost his composure at those words. He had truly never expected to become one of the conservatives among soul masters, but wasn't this far too bold?
"Dean, you really kept me in the dark," Gu Xingyue said.
"Ah." Yan Shaozhe raised a hand and waved it, smiling. "You never come to meetings at Sea God Pavilion, so of course you didn't know. Besides, never mind you-even Douluo's Original Three Nations find it harder to accept. After all, it seems we really have gone a little too far this time. Previously, we only exchanged things like soul tools and pills. Now we've launched a comprehensive plan, including but not limited to an exchange student program, soul tool research, soul master cultivation methods, and even permission for their younger generation to meditate inside the Golden Tree."
No, seriously? The exchange student program from the original story had actually been moved up this much, and you weren't opposed in the slightest-you were actively supporting it? Weren't you the dean of the Martial Soul Department?
If the Soul Guidance Department developed, wouldn't there be fewer resources for your Martial Soul Department?
"All right, I think the people from the Imperial Soul Guidance Research Institute should be arriving soon. Come, let's go out and welcome them." Yan Shaozhe pulled Gu Xingyue along as she left.
Mu En merely sat in her chair sipping plain tea without the slightest change in expression, undoubtedly an old hand at keeping a straight face.
They arrived at an open space outside Sea God Pavilion. Before long, Zhang Lexuan came over leading a group of people.
One of the accompanying personnel exclaimed, "Ah, so this is Shrek Academy's Inner Court? Even the air is so sweet! I feel as if my whole body is being purified!"
"Life element, child!" the person beside him said, though he, too, was extremely excited inside. After all, this was Shrek!
The foremost academy on the entire continent. Even their emperor had said, "If only I had a chance to pursue further studies at Shrek Academy in this lifetime!"
Filled with excitement and nervousness, everyone followed Zhang Lexuan...
Upon seeing Yan Shaozhe, Zhang Lexuan said to the people behind her, "This is the dean of our Shrek Academy's Outer Court-Dean Yan."
The woman at their head, who had large, wavy curls and wore gold-rimmed glasses, spoke. "I am Jin Hongchen, director of the Sun Moon Empire's Imperial Soul Guidance Research Institute."
"Hello, hello." Yan Shaozhe looked at her with a beaming smile as well.
In fact, the two had never met before. Previously, only lower-level personnel had exchanged resources; only now were they beginning to deepen their cooperation.
Jin Hongchen looked at Yan Shaozhe and thought, The task the emperor gave me is to win over Shrek Academy, make up for their lack of high-level combat power, and have Shrek Academy simply keep watching when they launch a war against the three nations of Douluo. So I have to let Shrek Academy feel our sincerity!
She pushed up the glasses on the bridge of her nose, her eyes narrowing slightly behind the lenses as she carefully studied Shrek's Outer Court dean before her.
Yan Shaozhe looked barely twenty, her gentle bearing carrying a measure of competence, but Jin Hongchen knew very well that anyone who could occupy this position would never be as simple as appearances suggested.
"You're too kind, Dean Yan." Jin Hongchen smiled faintly, her voice unhurried. "Cooperation between the Sun Moon Empire and Shrek Academy is a win-win proposition. Our accumulated expertise in soul tools, combined with your academy's profound foundation in training soul masters, will surely strike some extraordinary sparks."
Yan Shaozhe nodded with a smile. "You're quite right, Director Jin. Please come inside. We've prepared tea and refreshments. We can take our time discussing the specific details of our cooperation."
The group followed Sea God Island's stone path toward Sea God Pavilion.
The accompanying personnel Jin Hongchen had brought walked half a step behind her, looking around at the Inner Court's scenery.
Some looked up at the Golden Tree's canopy, while others could not resist reaching out to touch a glossy weed growing in the landscaping beside the path, only to be grabbed by a companion.
"Don't touch things. This is Shrek's Inner Court. If that turns out to be some spiritual herb, you couldn't afford to pay for it even if you sold all your soul tools!"
"I know, I know. You have to admit, this academy really is pretty nice."
Walking at the front, Jin Hongchen listened to her attendants' quiet discussion behind her. The corners of her mouth curved slightly, and she did not stop them.
Before coming, she had done detailed research on Shrek and knew that this Golden Tree was the foundation of the entire academy. Its life energy was said to be immensely beneficial to soul masters' cultivation.
One of the terms the emperor had instructed her to secure was permission for the Sun Moon Empire's younger generation of soul engineers to cultivate within the Golden Tree's range.
Judging by what she saw today, the environment here was indeed worth the price.
When they reached Sea God Pavilion's entrance, Yan Shaozhe stepped half a pace aside and raised a hand in invitation. "Director Jin, please come inside."
Sea God Pavilion's hall was spacious and antique in style. At its center stood a long conference table with a tabletop made from a single piece of soul guidance jade, polished so smoothly that it reflected people's figures.
Two people were already seated at the table: Xian Lin and Qian Duoduo.
Seeing the guests enter, the two rose and nodded slightly in greeting.
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