Zhao Wuji was the first to break the silence. He looked at Flender and asked in a gruff voice, " Boss Fu, what do you say? What are you thinking?"
Flender didn't answer directly. Instead, he gave a wry smile, shook his head, and glanced at each of his old buddies present. "My thoughts... you can all guess them, right?"
He wanted to agree to Qin Ming's request.
If he hadn't wavered or even leaned in the slightest, he would never have solemnly put this proposal—which could change everyone's fate and even make the name " Shrek " a thing of the past—onto the table at this sensitive moment.
Things are often that simple and straightforward.
"Impossible! I absolutely disagree!" Yu Xiaogang's shrill voice rang out again. He stood up abruptly, his body trembling with excitement. " Flender! Do you want the name ' Shrek ' to disappear completely? Do you want our twenty years of perseverance to become a joke?!"
Flender looked at him calmly, his voice steady and powerful. " Xiaogang, calm down. I said 'merge in,' not 'disappear.' My initial idea is to try to retain the name ' Shrek,' as a special branch of the Heaven Dou Royal Academy, or an independent teaching team. In this way, the name ' Shrek ' can continue in another form."
He had even considered that.
His intentions were already crystal clear.
" The Heaven Dou Royal Academy... that's truly the empire's premier academy." Shao Xin stroked his chin thoughtfully. "Their resources, environment, and student body are far beyond what we can currently match. If their offers are sincere enough, guaranteeing the treatment of us old guys and a certain degree of autonomy... it's not out of the question."
Lu Qibin nodded, his tone tinged with longing. "Yes, after so many years of hard work, it would be great to have a stable place to settle down, to focus on teaching and research, and not have to worry about the cost of our next meal..."
Even Zhao Wuji added in a muffled voice, " Boss Fu, if we can reach an agreement, then we old brothers will finally have a proper place to settle down."
The teachers' statements were almost unanimously in favor of the idea. For these veteran Soul Master who had struggled for too long between ideals and reality, a dignified, stable future with a better platform for development was simply too attractive.
"You... you... you are going to..." Yu Xiaogang looked at his former comrades, his face drained of color, his voice trembling with despair and anger.
He felt like he was being abandoned by everyone.
Flender took a deep breath and looked out the window, as if he could see the young faces resting in the dormitories. His voice carried a complex emotion, a mixture of anticipation and an indelible sense of loneliness.
"We finally managed to gather these seven exceptionally talented children. If they can enter the Heaven Dou Royal Academy, they will receive the best resources and rightfully participate in the Continental Elite Tournament of Advanced Soul Master Academy... to see a wider world and compete for the highest glory that belongs to young people. Hehe... thinking about it, it's actually not bad, is it?"
The melancholy in that "heh heh" silenced Zhao Wuji and the others. They could sense the deep affection Flender held for the academy he had founded.
" Boss Fu..." Zhao Wuji wanted to say something, but he was at a loss for words.
Flender waved his hand, composed himself, and regained the decisiveness of a decision-maker. "Everyone understands this matter. Let's set the intention like this for now. We'll discuss the specific details with Heaven Dou later. Oh, right, there's one more piece of information..."
He paused, then looked at everyone. " Qin Ming will bring some members of the Imperial Fighting Team to our academy for a formal visit tomorrow."
This statement brought a temporary end to tonight's fate-determining meeting, and also foreshadowed a true turning point for the Shrek Academy.
The next day, the weather was sunny.
Qin Ming, along with Lin Kong and the core members of the Imperial Fighting Team — Yu Tianheng, Dugu Yan, Yu Feng, Osler, and others—left Suotuo City and headed towards the Shrek Academy.
The group was initially in high spirits, enjoying the countryside scenery, but as the road became narrower and the surrounding houses became more sparse and desolate.
Yu Tianheng looked around and couldn't help but frown, saying, "This road... why is it getting more and more remote? We can hardly see anyone anymore. Is the academy really in a place like this?"
A barely perceptible hint of embarrassment flashed across Qin Ming's face as he coughed lightly, "Well... the academy's location prioritizes a tranquil environment, conducive to students' focused cultivation."
He felt a little guilty saying this. Compared to the magnificent and imposing Heaven Dou Royal Academy, situated next to the royal garden, Shrek Academy's situation was really hard to talk about. He could only secretly pray that the school buildings he would see later would at least be basically clean and tidy, so that these arrogant and proud students wouldn't look down on him too much.
Yu Feng moved closer to Lin Kong, nudged him with his elbow, and whispered with curiosity and mischief, " Lin Kong, you're a local who's been around here before, can you give us a heads-up? What's he like?"
Lin Kong glanced at him and said calmly, "Even if I told you, you probably still wouldn't be able to imagine."
Osler scoffed, "It can't be that bad, can it? It's just a bit smaller and the facilities are a bit older."
Lin Kong casually tossed out a detail. "For example, two or three people crammed into a small dormitory room."
Yu Feng shrugged. "It's nothing. We've experienced much harsher conditions when we went out to train."
Lin Kong continued, his voice flat. "The dormitory walls are bare bricks, unpainted. The floor is rammed earth, dark and uneven in some places due to its age."
"Holy crap?!" "Really?!"
Osler and Yu Feng exclaimed in surprise almost simultaneously, and even Yu Tianheng and Dugu Yan showed expressions of disbelief. They had lived in a privileged environment since childhood, and even if their training was arduous, it was only temporary. It was hard to imagine that the permanent dormitory of a " Soul Master Academy " would be like this.
Qin Ming was walking a little behind, paused almost imperceptibly upon hearing this. His face burned with embarrassment, and he quietly fell half a step behind. He had been away for many years and never expected that the academy's facilities would still be at such a... primitive level.
Are Dean Flender and his colleagues really unable to even spare the money to give the dormitory a simple coat of paint and lay some floor tiles?
Dugu Yan's gaze towards Lin Kong instantly softened with deep tenderness as she softly asked, "You suffered a lot while you were here, didn't you?"
Lin Kong shook his head, his tone still calm. "It's alright. I bought some cheap flooring and planks with my own money and tidied up the room a bit, at least making it brighter and cleaner."