As it turned out, whatever Shrek was like as an academy, Shrek City certainly qualified as one of the continent's first-tier cities.
Both its prosperity and the range of services it offered surpassed those of the other cities the two had visited.
On the Douluo Continent, perhaps only Mingdu could surpass it.
After dinner, Huo Yutong ate the cotton candy Lin Xi had bought her and asked:
"Say, Brother Lin Xi, what did you talk about with that teacher just now? You took so long."
From what she knew of Lin Xi, simply securing an enrollment spot for her shouldn't have taken very long.
Yet Lin Xi had taken more than twice as long as she had expected.
So he must have done something else as well.
"He took me to meet our future homeroom teacher." Lin Xi gently wiped the corner of Huo Yutong's mouth and explained, "With geniuses like us, Fan Yu would definitely want to keep us right under his nose so the Martial Soul Department can't snatch us away. So our teacher will be his wife. Her name is Zhou Yi."
Just thinking about it gave Lin Xi a bit of a headache.
His impression of Zhou Yi from the original story was that of a twisted freak with bizarre ideas about teaching. Naturally, he would have preferred not to get involved with her, but she was so closely tied to Fan Yu that avoiding contact with her was almost impossible.
"I see." Huo Yutong narrowed her eyes like a kitten, enjoying Lin Xi's attentions, and pressed, "Then things didn't go very smoothly? Is there something wrong with her personality?"
Simply meeting someone certainly wouldn't have taken so long, so some conflict must have arisen along the way.
The conflict definitely couldn't have been Brother Lin Xi's fault. She knew his personality, so the problem absolutely lay with that teacher named Zhou Yi.
"..."
Lin Xi raised his eyebrows.
He kept feeling that Huo Yutong's intuition had grown sharper and sharper since she obtained the Eye of Destiny.
He nodded in confirmation.
"Yes, we exchanged views on education. There was a minor conflict along the way, but under my onslaught of persuasion through reason, she finally recognized her problems and agreed to my demands."
Persuasion through reason...
Huo Yutong's mouth twitched.
So that was it. She understood.
Brother Lin Xi had probably beaten that teacher up.
The last time she had heard that phrase was when he delivered some troublemaking thugs to the public security office.
What a spectacular sight that had been. There had barely been a patch of normal-colored skin on those thugs.
His explanation to the security captain back then had been much the same.
Beaten up by her own student-hopefully that teacher wouldn't start questioning her life.
After observing three seconds of silence for Zhou Yi in her heart, Huo Yutong put the subject out of her mind.
Blinking her large eyes, she looked at Lin Xi with concern.
"Then... what price did you pay to get me into the academy through the back door?"
This was what she had really wanted to ask.
Over the past six years, she had become thoroughly familiar with the way Lin Xi did things.
Most of the time, Lin Xi was very reasonable. Unless the other party refused to act like a human being, he wouldn't do anything like forcing a purchase or sale.
Just as when he recruited her, he had laid out all his intentions and then asked for her opinion.
It had been the same with the Three-Eyed Golden Lion: information sold at a clearly marked price, an eye handed over in exchange for memories. Take the deal or leave it.
So he must have paid some price to help her enroll.
She had to know what it was. She couldn't tolerate Lin Xi giving something up for her while she remained completely unaware.
"It's fine. I didn't give up anything." Seeing Huo Yutong's disbelieving gaze, Lin Xi answered with a wry smile, "I'm telling the truth. After all, this was a win-win from the start."
"Hm?" Huo Yutong tilted her head in confusion.
Lin Xi sighed.
"Seriously, don't you think you're selling yourself a little short? My request was simple: that he treat you fairly, nothing more. Obviously, your Spiritual Detection Sharing is a divine skill for the Soul Tool Department. There's no way he would pass up someone with that Soul Skill. So as far as the result goes, I found him a rare talent like you, and he gave you a chance to enroll. Isn't that a win-win?"
It sounded very reasonable, but Huo Yutong narrowed her eyes in displeasure.
"Brother Lin Xi, do I look that easy to fool?"
"Uh..."
Lin Xi awkwardly averted his gaze.
Huo Yutong said calmly:
"There's a hole in the logic of what you just said. The outcome might indeed be a win-win, but ultimately, the choice of whether to make this deal rested with that uncle. To get him to agree, you must have made some other promises."
"...Impressive. You really are getting smarter and smarter."
She isn't as easy to fool as she used to be.
Before, she always took whatever I said as the truth.
Reflecting on this, Lin Xi admitted:
"You're right. I did make some additional promises. Specifically, I agreed to become his disciple and choose the Soul Tool Department rather than the Martial Soul Department when it comes time to pick a department."
"I see."
Huo Yutong lowered her eyes.
Sure enough, she had dragged Lin Xi down again.
Quite a few passersby earlier had been discussing which department they wanted to join, and every word of their comments had reached her ears.
"Work hard to get into the Martial Soul Department," and "Whatever you do, don't end up falling into the Soul Tool Department"-that was how those passersby regarded the Soul Tool Department.
In other words, the Soul Tool Department was where students who hadn't been selected by the Martial Soul Department went, a gathering ground for trash.
It was one thing for someone like her to go there; it was what she deserved. But Lin Xi had actually been forced to go along with her, and that filled her with deep self-reproach.
"Hey, have you misunderstood something?" Seeing that Huo Yutong's expression was off, Lin Xi frowned. "Let me make this clear first: even if I could choose freely, I wouldn't pick the Martial Soul Department. Don't go feeling guilty."
"Huh?" Huo Yutong looked up in surprise. "Really?"
Was he really not just comforting her?
"Really." Lin Xi scratched his head, his lips curling disdainfully. "Shrek's Martial Soul Department? Even a dog wouldn't go there."
As far as Lin Xi's impressions of the major powers in the original story went, apart from the Holy Spirit Cult, the most disgusting had to be the Shrek Martial Soul Department.
Shrek's Soul Tool Department was actually fairly decent. They dared to innovate, thirsted for talent, and genuinely arranged the Ultimate Individual Soldier Plan when they found someone talented.
And the Martial Soul Department?
Leaving aside those three freaks, Ma Xiaotao, Xuan Zi, and Yan Shaozhe-one an Evil Soul Master holy maiden, one a supreme elder of the Holy Spirit Cult, and one who let the Holy Spirit Cult's vice-leader escape-their behavior as overgrown babies alone was enough to make one laugh.
What really made it impossible to keep a straight face about the Martial Soul Department was that its appetite was bigger than anyone else's, yet it refused to give anything at all.
Looking over the entirety of Douluo II, Lin Xi simply couldn't find anything they had done for Huo Yuhao besides backing him up. Instead, those three freaks mentioned above had basked in plenty of Huo Yuhao's reflected glory.
They claimed to be the best on the continent, but what were they really like?
Anyone with eyes could surely see.
"I see." Huo Yutong nodded thoughtfully.
She had felt for a long time that Lin Xi had a great many grievances with Shrek's Martial Soul Department.
From the look of things, it really wasn't a good place.
Just then, Artoria and Melusine suddenly appeared beside them together.
"Lin Xi, a moment."
"We found the person you mentioned."
"Thanks for your hard work." Lin Xi immediately perked up. "Come on, Yutong. Let's go meet a senior."
He had just sent the two Servants into the city to find a fat sheep.
For the sake of his future development, building a good relationship with him was essential.