Huo Yuhao was stopped and then "invited" to the dean's office at Shrek Academy.
They called it an "invitation," but it was really coercion.
Huo Yuhao sat in the office with a cold expression.
Across from him sat an elderly man with white hair and a white beard, smiling kindly. But Huo Yuhao thought the smile looked utterly false. There was no trace of amusement in the man's eyes, only a hint of lofty scrutiny as he sized him up.
Beside the man stood a woman whose assets were particularly prominent. Her arms were folded across her chest, and she carried herself with an imposing air that looked down on all lesser busts. On her, a loose, fiery-red coat had the sex appeal of a skintight outfit.
Her slender waist accentuated the curve of her hips, completing a stunning hourglass figure.
The woman's narrow phoenix eyes held curiosity and a hint of longing as she looked Huo Yuhao up and down. Her long, fiery-red hair swayed like flames.
"My name is Yan Shaozhe, dean of Shrek Academy's Martial Soul Department. This is my disciple, Ma Xiaotao."
Yan Shaozhe spoke gently.
Huo Yuhao nodded. "Why did Dean Yan 'invite' me here?"
Huo Yuhao placed particular emphasis on the word "invite."
Yan Shaozhe kept a faint smile on his face. "Because of Zhou Yi's negligence, the academy expelled you in error. I've already rescinded your punishment, so you can return to your studies."
So Zhou Yi expelled Qian Renxue? No wonder.
Huo Yuhao understood what had happened.
Yan Shaozhe's tone was mild, but his words made no attempt to conceal his condescending attitude or his pride in Shrek's superiority. It was as though allowing Huo Yuhao back into the academy were a lofty act of charity.
Was being readmitted to Shrek after being expelled such a glorious thing?
Huo Yuhao couldn't understand it. Fortunately, he no longer needed to understand such pointless glory.
"I refuse!"
Huo Yuhao's tone was cold.
Yan Shaozhe's smile faded a little. He frowned slightly, his imposing presence growing stronger as he fixed his eyes on Huo Yuhao.
"You should think this through. Our Shrek Academy is the foremost academy on the Douluo Continent. What you can obtain here is something you could never obtain anywhere else in your entire life. As long as you're outstanding enough, the academy can find you Soul Rings, Soul Bones, even Hundred Thousand Year Soul Rings."
"That's tempting-" Huo Yuhao paused. "But I refuse."
Yan Shaozhe frowned.
Even those terms couldn't move Huo Yuhao. He was far too greedy!
Or did Huo Yuhao resent Zhou Yi, and refuse to return unless the academy punished her?
Zhou Yi could be punished, but only by him, the dean. If an expelled student forced the academy to punish one of its own teachers, wouldn't that be the same as Shrek Academy admitting it was wrong to that student?
How could the illustrious Shrek Academy admit it was wrong to a Soul Grandmaster?
That would only fan Huo Yuhao's arrogance, make him disregard the rules, and lead him to think Shrek couldn't do without him.
Even if a student like that were brought in, nurturing him would be a headache.
The smile vanished entirely from Yan Shaozhe's face. No longer gentle, he said coldly, "You possess an Ultimate Martial Soul. Only our Shrek Academy has experience cultivating one. If you go elsewhere, who knows what mishaps might occur? Besides, your Martial Soul has the sacred attribute. The continent isn't peaceful, and there are many Evil Soul Masters. They loathe Soul Masters with the sacred attribute most of all. Yuhao, I think you'd be better off joining Shrek. What do you think?"
A powerful pressure radiated from Yan Shaozhe and locked onto Huo Yuhao.
Huo Yuhao felt as though he had been pinned beneath a mountain. The crushing pressure made it difficult even to breathe.
His face turned utterly cold. Bracing himself against the pressure, he spoke word by word. "Dean Yan, are you threatening me?"
Yan Shaozhe smiled, looking as though he had Huo Yuhao's best interests at heart. "How could that be? I just think a genius like you would be wasted elsewhere. I can't bear to see you take the wrong path, that's all."
Huo Yuhao sank his mind into his Sea of Consciousness. "Teacher Star-Picker, your disciple is being threatened by a shameless bastard. Teacher, help me scare him off!"
The gray bead above the Sea of Consciousness trembled. Gray currents swirled, and an aged voice emerged.
"You brat, how many times have I told you? Don't call me Teacher Star-Picker!" Electrolux laughed and cursed.
"But Senior, you've even forgotten your own name, yet you still remember these words-"
With that, Huo Yuhao began to imitate his recitation, putting his heart into every rise and fall of his voice. "Holding the sun and moon in my hand, plucking the stars-"
"All right, all right, stop reciting! I'll help you right now!"
Electrolux had a headache.
He thought this newly accepted disciple of his was a little too flighty, and particularly shameless besides. He couldn't shake the feeling that the good name he had built over a lifetime would be ruined in this brat's hands.
Yan Shaozhe had everything in hand as he looked down at Huo Yuhao. Under these circumstances, Huo Yuhao could only submit.
A melon forced from the vine might not be sweet, but it could still quench thirst!
Once Huo Yuhao rejoined the academy, they could offer him a few small favors, brainwash him and win him over, and implant Shrek's genes of glory in him. Then he would become a proper member of Shrek.
As for today's threat, it would instead become a story people would relish in the future: If Dean Yan hadn't been so wise and mighty, recognizing a hidden gem and going so far as to threaten Huo Yuhao into staying, how could Huo Yuhao have grown to such heights?
Dean Yan deserves thirty percent of the credit for everything Huo Yuhao has achieved today!
Why only thirty percent? I'd say Dean Yan deserves seventy percent of the credit!
Yan Shaozhe had already imagined how everyone on the continent would sing his praises once Huo Yuhao had grown stronger.
Ma Xiaotao watched it all. Although she thought it was wrong of her teacher, Yan Shaozhe, to threaten a student, she silently supported him when she remembered that only by keeping Huo Yuhao here could she resolve the problem of her Evil Fire.
At worst, she could find a way to compensate this junior schoolmate of hers later.
She had managed to save up a modest sum over the years.
Just then, an unexpected change occurred.
Huo Yuhao's golden eyes turned gray, a gray suffused with the vicissitudes of time, as though it could see through everything in the world.
Gray currents swirled, and the Soul Power pressure bearing down on Huo Yuhao melted away like spring snow. His mind relaxed.
Yan Shaozhe started, his expression turning grave.
The Huo Yuhao before him now felt utterly different. It was as though he were facing his teacher, Mu En-
No, the very essence of this presence was even higher than Mu En's!
Most shocking of all, he sensed an incomparably pure presence of light in that eerie gray, purer than both his Bright Phoenix and his teacher's Radiant Sacred Dragon.
This was the true Ultimate Light attribute.
Just then, an aged voice rang out in the room. "Was it you who threatened my disciple?"
Looking at that layer of gray, Yan Shaozhe inexplicably felt as though he were suffocating. His expression changed, and he hurriedly said, "May I ask who you are, Senior? This is Shrek Academy. Isn't it rather discourteous of you to descend upon us unannounced?"
"Hah! Discourteous? How laughable! With your strength, you bullied the weak and threatened my disciple. What a waste of the pure power of light you possess."
"Those who bear light must have light in their hearts. Only then can they illuminate the road ahead, keep the light from being covered in dust, and achieve something on the path of cultivation. But you are devious, utterly despicable, and narrow-minded. Are you worthy of possessing such power of light? You will only bring shame upon it!"