Inside the dean's office.
Yan Shaozhe sat calmly in a spacious chair. The three people before him were Zhou Yi, Du Weilun, and Li Mu.
After briefly hearing what had happened, he showed little concern for Zhou Yi's predicament. Instead, he looked at Li Mu with curiosity.
"Young friend, may I ask how you did it?"
"I know this is your secret, and Shrek Academy won't pry into your secrets."
"But I've never heard of anything like this before, so I'm rather curious."
As Yan Shaozhe spoke, a gentle, kindly smile rose on his face, his gaze resting on the boy.
Faced with that hypocritical expression, Li Mu simply pretended not to see it.
He claimed he wouldn't pry into his secrets, then went right ahead and asked.
Yan Shaozhe's sheer shamelessness truly shocked him a little.
Still, this much was within the limits of what he could tolerate.
He gazed into the space, and the Snow Empress calmly looked back at him.
Then a strange ice crystal quietly appeared in the Snow Empress's hand, and she tossed it lightly upward.
In reality, Li Mu raised his hand, and the badge landed securely in his palm.
"Dean, sir, this is what allowed me to do it."
"I have Twin Martial Souls-twin Blue Silver Grass."
"But my Blue Silver Grass has special traits. It possesses extremely powerful ice and water attributes and can switch between them."
"And this ice crystal is something I obtained by chance. It can greatly enhance my control over ice-attribute abilities," Li Mu said, respectfully handing over the ice crystal.
Hearing that the ice crystal actually had such an effect, a hint of curiosity entered Yan Shaozhe's eyes as well.
He took the ice crystal and examined it carefully.
Rather than an ice crystal, it was more like a whole piece of ice-blue crystal.
The crystal was carved to perfection, looking like an exquisitely crafted ornament.
It did indeed contain a powerful, distinctly different kind of energy.
But Yan Shaozhe couldn't sense exactly what made it different.
"I wonder if you could let me see it for myself, young friend."
"I'm still very curious about this ability of yours. After all, it allows an ordinary Soul Master to unleash the combat power of a Soul King."
"If this could be used on a large scale, it could serve as a strategic weapon."
"That would greatly help Shrek Academy better maintain world peace," Yan Shaozhe said with complete seriousness.
Hearing him drag even world peace into it, the corner of Li Mu's mouth couldn't help twitching.
Still, he nodded earnestly. "This ice crystal contains powerful ice-attribute energy. That's why I can unleash the combat power of a Soul King."
"But I only found this one piece, and the power inside it is limited."
"Every time I use it, some of the power inside is consumed."
"At most, I should be able to use it another five or six times before it stops working."
As Li Mu spoke, he took the ice crystal back, a pained look flashing through his eyes.
That pain looked very real. Although he was acting, his performance was quite good.
At any rate, Yan Shaozhe saw nothing amiss.
Seeing the boy's heartbroken expression, his eyes flickered for a moment as well.
Then he saw Li Mu raise his hand and tuck the ice crystal into his robes.
The Snow Empress's power began gathering in the boy's hand, while he simultaneously drew a portion from the ice crystal.
The next second, an ice-blue spear formed in his hand.
Gazing at the spear and sensing the roughly Soul King-level power within it, Yan Shaozhe beckoned to Li Mu.
"Attack me. I'll test what this spear can do," Yan Shaozhe said with a smile.
Li Mu wasted no words either. He raised his hand and hurled the terrifying spear.
An intensely cold ice attribute spread in an instant.
Faced with that terrifying chill, Yan Shaozhe raised his brows slightly.
He then lifted his hand, golden flames spreading across his palm.
The next second, the ice spear that could easily pierce Zhou Yi's shoulder was melted outright.
Sensing the marrow-piercing cold contained within that ice, a trace of surprise flashed through Yan Shaozhe's eyes.
"A very unusual ability. This crystal must be rather special."
"Perhaps it's because of your Martial Soul that you can use the power inside it."
"Not bad. You can use it as a trump card."
As Yan Shaozhe spoke, his gaze turned to Zhou Yi, his expression noticeably colder. "Teacher Zhou, you made a wager with a student, pressured and humiliated students, and even attacked a student.
"None of this is permitted at Shrek Academy. In the past, considering it was your first offense and the matter hadn't escalated, I refrained from saying anything."
"But this time, things have gone much too far. Seven or eight students were injured, and many students will need at least half a month to recuperate."
"This is a very serious offense."
"So this time, Teacher Zhou, please submit your resignation voluntarily." Yan Shaozhe's gaze grew unusually stern.
He was a smiling tiger, all smiles on the surface but with a great deal going on inside.
As he spoke those words, Zhou Yi's legs visibly weakened, and she nearly collapsed to the floor.
She understood that once Yan Shaozhe said this, there was no room left for negotiation.
In the past, out of consideration for her husband, and because she had spent a long time at Shrek Academy, Yan Shaozhe had shown her some favor.
But this time, the matter had clearly escalated beyond what Yan Shaozhe could shoulder.
In truth, Zhou Yi was also filled with regret at that moment. She felt somewhat helpless, wondering why she had done such a thing.
If she hadn't attacked, then even if she really lost the wager, as long as she refused to admit it, Yan Shaozhe couldn't actually drive her away.
But once she attacked and the situation suddenly became serious, anything she said was pointless.
At this thought, Zhou Yi gritted her teeth and turned her head slightly to look at Li Mu beside her.
The boy still stood there calmly, without even a change in his expression.
But seeing him so composed and at ease, Zhou Yi truly felt like killing him.
Yet all she could do now was silently bow to Yan Shaozhe, then turn and walk out with somewhat unsteady steps.
Seeing that Zhou Yi hadn't persisted, a trace of satisfaction flashed through Yan Shaozhe's eyes.
After all, this matter had caused a great stir, and expelling Zhou Yi was already the lightest punishment.
If the matter truly blew up, never mind expelling Zhou Yi-even crippling her cultivation and killing her were possibilities.
What mattered most to Shrek Academy was its reputation.
Seriously injuring students in her own class, then wagering with a student, and even attacking the student she had wagered with-this matter could truly be called grave in the extreme.
As he thought about this, Yan Shaozhe's gaze returned to the boy.
As for how all this had begun, or rather, why all this had happened, Yan Shaozhe was no fool.
He understood that it was all the doing of the boy before him.
He felt no aversion to it, however. What Shrek needed was precisely people who could stir things up-the so-called Little Monsters.
And the boy before him fit their definition quite well.
Especially that intensely cold power of his-how could Yan Shaozhe possibly fail to distinguish whether it was Ultimate Ice?
Although the ice crystal's power was sufficiently terrifying and profound, it probably didn't contain Ultimate Ice.
So, if his guess was correct, the Ultimate Ice attribute within that power most likely came from the boy before him.