"How about you take the test first?"
Yu Longyue asked Gu Yue in a low voice.
"This round tests our special talents."
Gu Yue was a little surprised. "You don't know how to show yours?"
"Right, right. I still don't know what I'm good at. Let me go last, so I can take my time thinking."
"Sure." Gu Yue agreed readily without giving it much thought.
Yu Longyue breathed a sigh of relief.
That way, he probably wouldn't come into conflict with Silver Moon Douluo, right?
Did he have nothing better to do? Why did he have to go against her?
Unless she provoked him.
But a blessing was no calamity, and a calamity could not be avoided.
What Yu Longyue least wanted to happen still happened.
When Gu Yue's turn came, she had only planned to coast through and slack off.
So she demonstrated the release of one element, a performance that was proper but utterly unremarkable.
But it still drew the old woman's attention.
"Little girl, I can see you're holding back. In an assessment this important, shouldn't you show what you're best at?" the old woman pressed.
"I hear your Martial Soul is the Elementalist, which specializes in controlling elements. So I judge that your spiritual power can't be all that low."
"Yet your performance now is ordinary. In particular, during the second assessment earlier, you released five black ten-thousand-year Soul Rings. That means you're a Soul King, the second Soul King in this batch after that brat."
"If this is all you can show, there's no need for you to enter Shrek, and you won't be able to get in anyway," the old woman said mildly. "A thirteen-year-old Soul King is certainly extraordinarily gifted, but your control of the elements is a complete mess. Even entering Shrek wouldn't change you, so you'd be better off staying out rather than wasting your time."
Hearing this, Gu Yue knitted her brows tightly.
So she demonstrated two more elements, putting on a flashier performance that displayed greater technical skill.
"Three elements?"
Several of the assessing teachers were surprised to see it.
Two elements already made one a genius; three were unprecedented.
"Good, good, good! You even have Spirit Abyss Realm spiritual power. Thirteen years old, a Soul King, and Spirit Abyss Realm spiritual power." The old woman actually rose to her feet in excitement, walked over to Gu Yue, and looked her up and down. "Now this is a real Little Monster! Isn't she better than that brat who only knows how to stir up trouble?"
Beside Gu Yue, the corner of Yu Longyue's mouth twitched.
It seemed that before he'd even entered Shrek, a good many people already disliked the sight of him.
We haven't even met, and she's already taking jabs at me?
"Little girl, would you be willing to become my disciple?" the old woman asked with a smile.
Gu Yue shook her head without even thinking:
"I don't agree."
"You don't agree? Why?"
Even the old woman was surprised.
In all these years, she could count the people who had refused her on one hand.
"I don't like you, that's all." Gu Yue refused the old woman outright, her face expressionless.
"Little girl, do you know who stands before you?"
The other teachers hurriedly explained:
"She is one of the Sea God Pavilion's elders at Shrek Academy, Her Eminence Silver Moon Douluo, whose title is Silver Moon. In terms of cultivation and strength, she is among the very strongest on the entire Douluo Continent."
"Mm."
Gu Yue nodded.
"I still don't like her."
Silver Moon Douluo continued to hold her temper. "Why don't you like me?"
"Do you know Yu Longyue?"
The question took Silver Moon Douluo completely aback, and she immediately laughed:
"Of course I do. Who doesn't know the Yu Family's little prodigy? It's just that he's arrogant and conceited. He has some ability, but he looks down on Shrek from on high and put off entering the academy until today. Tell me, who wouldn't know a 'little prodigy' like that?"
"That's one of the reasons I don't like you." Gu Yue retorted, her expression indifferent. "First, he isn't arrogant at all, and he doesn't look down on anyone or any academy. Second, he's modest. He's never said he was smart, and he's never called himself a little prodigy."
"As a disciple of a great family, he never puts on airs. He treats people gently, believes that harmony brings wealth, and makes friends far and wide."
"Third, he has excellent character. Who knows how many people he's helped along the way? He does good deeds without asking for anything in return, has guided many people through their confusion, and has also helped others cultivate. Although his family is wealthy, because of a family assessment, most of the money he spends was earned through his own abilities. He has also sponsored many children in impoverished mountain regions who couldn't even afford to attend an ordinary academy."
"Besides that, he has improved benefits for countless impoverished Soul Masters and even sponsored Soul Spirits for free, helping Soul Masters who have talent but lack the Federation Coins to buy Soul Spirits. He has worked with the Spirit Pagoda to obtain more benefits for commoner Soul Masters."
"To sum up, I'm merely stating the facts, recounting the things Yu Longyue has done out in the world over the years, one by one. And what have you done? What contributions have you made to society? What gives you the right to pass judgment on him?"
Never mind Silver Moon Douluo-even Yu Longyue was stunned.
He had earned so many Federation Coins over the years that he had wanted to do some good deeds while he was at it. The card with two hundred million Federation Coins that he had given his father was just one of them.
That way, he could also boost his reputation and his company's image. He was a businessman, after all, and for a businessman, credit and reputation were what mattered.
He had done those things, but mostly from behind the scenes.
He had never made them public, much less told anyone about them.
How did Gu Yue know?
The braised beef jar seller he had helped three years ago had opened many chain stores across the continent. The man had now paid back the hundred thousand Yu Longyue had once given him with a million, and had even given him a ten percent stake. The Federation Coins just kept pouring in, more than he could ever spend.
There was another reason he did good deeds along the way. Yu Longyue constantly reminded himself not to think that growing stronger meant he was no longer human. The most important thing was to remain true to his original intentions.
He didn't want to become like Tang San, a dragon slayer who ended up becoming an evil dragon.
"Another reason is that I already have a teacher. She's better than you, and she wouldn't casually say something to put down a student with an ordinary performance."
Seeing that Silver Moon Douluo had said nothing, Gu Yue continued.
"If that really had been all I could do, then naturally I wouldn't have won your favor, and you wouldn't have wanted to take me as your disciple. Are all Shrek's teachers like this? Do you only want to teach gifted geniuses, without sparing ordinary talents a glance? Is it because you teachers want twice the result for half the effort, or because you want to leave your names behind through your disciples, all for the sake of winning yourselves a good reputation?"
Silver Moon Douluo's lips trembled with anger at Gu Yue's retorts, but she still said nothing.
"You casually judge others without knowing their true selves. That alone makes you unworthy of becoming my second teacher."
"If he's a brat who only knows how to stir up trouble, then you're a teacher who eats without earning her keep. It's people of noble character who deserve respect, not the profession itself."
The entire place fell silent.
Everyone looked at Gu Yue with admiration.
The words "not worthy" were burned into everyone's minds.
This girl was fierce.
The smile had vanished from Silver Moon Douluo's face. Her cheeks burned as though Gu Yue had slapped her.
She said coolly:
"Very well, I'm 'not worthy,' and I 'eat without earning my keep.'"
"But what I have to tell you is that he was born into a family of merchants. His so-called good deeds were only meant to improve people's impression of them."
"Still, I'd like to see what you're capable of, daring to refuse me and show such disrespect to your elder."
Furious, Silver Moon Douluo turned and swept away with a flick of her sleeve.
"Gu Yue, zero points. Yu Longyue is next, but there's no need for him to proceed either. Zero points."