Mu En's despair, a bunch of deadweight teammates (two chapters in one)

Looking at Gongyang Mo, Wang Yan's face was full of resentment. He clenched his teeth, beat his chest and stamped his feet, but he had no choice but to accept it all.

Yan Shaozhe beside him was also like a walking corpse.

We lost.

Shrek Academy... lost.

That's right, he did manage to qualify for the rematch, but what was the result? The entire Shrek Academy Team almost all followed Lu Cheng and left, leaving only a weak Support System Soul King.

What can they use to fight against the Sun Moon Empire Team at its peak?

"Shrek Academy, do you still want a rematch?" Huang Jinxu asked expressionlessly.

All eyes were on Yan Shaozhe.

The latter clenched his fists and remained silent, seemingly trying to stall for time and unwilling to wake up from this reality.

Huang Jinxu sneered inwardly, ignoring him. He had previously felt some goodwill and apprehension towards this hypocrite, but now... ever since these Shrek Academy beasts were exposed and everyone tallied up the accounts, realizing that their own disciples had been killed by that old beast Xuan Zi, that faint goodwill vanished, replaced by disgust.

"Since Dean Yan has presumed it, then the final champion of this year's Continental Academy Soul Master Tournament will be... the Sun Moon Empire Team!!!"

Let's congratulate them!

Huang Jinxu's voice echoed throughout the entire stadium.

The next moment, the entire arena erupted in cheers, but it was chaotic and not like the previous competitions where they cheered for the final champion's name. Instead, the cheers were focused on one person's name.

"Lu Cheng!"

"Lu Cheng!"

"Lu Cheng!"

Cheers erupted like a tidal wave across the entire stadium.

Everyone knows that this tournament's champion belongs to "Shrek," to that mysterious young man.

The Sun Moon Team won by simply lying down.

In the centuries and millennia since, there has probably been no one like him who could single-handedly suppress all the geniuses with such monstrous power. He possesses an endless array of methods. Others would be able to reach the pinnacle of the continent with just one Martial Soul, but he has three.

Even if the subsequent competitions are more exciting, it's unlikely that anyone can escape Lu Cheng's shadow. He's like a mountain of the era, blocking the way for all the geniuses.

Lu Cheng: I've met many geniuses, but they all call me a genius. (Shh)

Yan Shaozhe's face was ashen as he listened to Lu Cheng's deafening praise in the arena. Those who Lu Cheng were not just the "ignorant" commoners in the audience, but also many disciples from the participating academies. Lu Cheng's image would surely leave an indelible mark on their hearts. Today's events were far from over and would spread to the edges of the continent.

"Let's go!" He gritted his teeth and, without saying a word, led Wang Yan and Gongyang Mo toward the Shrek Academy Hotel.

Pack your things and head back to Shrek.

But at this moment, his steps felt particularly heavy.

Today appears calm on the surface, but undercurrents are already surging. The aftershocks of this storm will gradually reveal their power in the future, and Shrek Academy will undoubtedly be the biggest victim of this incident...

I must return to the college immediately and report to my teacher.

Yan Shaozhe glanced with a complex and frustrated look at the young man not far away, who was surrounded by many powerful figures from the Body Sect like a star being fawned over. His lips moved slightly. If he had truly treated the young man with sincerity back then, and set aside his airs as the dean of the Martial Soul Department, would things have turned out differently...?

The match has ended.

The Sun Moon Empire unexpectedly won the continental championship.

Lu Cheng's name also spread throughout the entire continent.

Countless disciples from various academies and sects returned with the participants of this year's competition, and heard about this almost godlike, monstrous young man from their senior brothers and sisters.

At thirteen or fourteen years old, he was at the Soul King level, and his Triple Martial Souls. He had never lost a competition (the mainstream view is that Shrek lost in the finals, but Lu Cheng did not). He was incredibly handsome, and he spoke out for justice, single-handedly exposing the hypocrisy of Shrek.

Where there are heroes, there are villains.

Even with the Shrek Academy's millennia-long accumulation of resources, it couldn't withstand Yan Shaozhe's utter incompetence this time. Irrefutable evidence of his various despicable acts was laid bare, and the higher-ups of the various academies tacitly condoned it, failing to offer any explanation for Shrek's actions. They were also furious that Shrek Academy was wantonly harming their disciples, and thus, within just a few months...

Lu Cheng was labeled as bright and noble.

Shrek Academy, on the other hand, suffered a dramatic drop in reputation overnight, becoming a universally despised "villain."

After all, judging from the incidents exposed on the field, Shrek Academy is riddled with problems from top to bottom, reeking of rotten pus; it is truly rotten to the core.

Twin Martial Souls disciples were forced by outer court teachers to prematurely acquire Second Martial Soul Ring, solely for the sake of so-called teaching qualifications. The truth behind the destruction of the family of Zhang Lexuan, the Grandmaster disciple of the inner court, was that it was orchestrated by the Shrek Academy. And with such a high casualty rate among Shrek Inspection Corps disciples, was it in collusion with Evil Soul Master?

This is no longer a matter of the many elders of the Sea God Pavilion being afraid of death and not daring to go themselves, but rather sending disciples to exterminate Evil Soul Master. The nature of the matter has changed to... Shrek Academy's higher-ups colluding with the Holy Spirit Cult, sending their own disciples to deliver food to the enemy, and then Shrek's higher-ups accepting bribes from the Holy Spirit Cult.

Otherwise, Xuan Zi's actions are truly inexplicable.

However, even though Shrek Academy is weakened, it is still a formidable force. Its high-level combat power is strong, and many forces dare not offend it completely. They are only withdrawing their sect and family disciples from the Shrek Academy in small batches.

Shrek Academy.

Sea God Pavilion.

The top-floor conference room.

Many Sea God Pavilion Elder were gathered here. Even Xuan Zi, who had been imprisoned, was thrown out by Mu En and sat trembling in his seat, head drooping, looking dejected and pathetic. He clearly knew that his "misdeeds had been exposed."

According to his script, Shrek Academy would suppress the matter, at most sending him to apologize to the sects of the injured disciples, and that would be the end of it. The outside world would not know the details of the matter, after all, he was the future Sea God Pavilion Master and needed to cultivate his reputation. Such things could not be spread, so the blame would have to fall on Wang Yan.

But nowadays...

The competition was a complete mess because of that little bastard Lu Cheng. His deeds in the Star Dou Great Forest ten years ago were also exposed. Coupled with today's events, many Shrek Outer Court are now referring to him as the "Supreme Elder of the Holy Spirit Cult".

The deputy head of the Inspection Corps ended up in a mess, with no prestige left.

How could he not care about his reputation?

How could that be!

But no matter how angry they were, there was nothing they could do, because there were more serious matters before them.

Lu Cheng... joined the Body Sect, and Zhang Lexuan's past was exposed.

This dealt another heavy blow to the Shrek Academy.

Even though Shrek stubbornly denies it, the outside world doesn't care. You can't produce any evidence, and even your top Grandmaster from the inner courtyard has betrayed the sect, which shows how dark Shrek is.

"Cough cough cough..."

Inside the spacious conference hall.

At a long, narrow wooden table, an elderly man in a wheelchair at the right end coughed softly and slowly began to speak, "You all must know what happened at the competition a few days ago."

Mu En's voice was calm, revealing neither joy nor anger.

"This is my responsibility. I was too confident. Even though Zhang Lexuan, Lu Cheng, Ma Xiaotao, and others had shown enough abnormality, I didn't investigate further and instead let them leave the academy to participate in the competition..."

"Mu En, you..." Elder Zhuang, with a complex expression, slowly spoke.

"No need. If you're wrong, you're wrong. Why be so submissive and try to shift the blame?" Mu En raised his hand to interrupt, then coughed lightly. His breathing was rapid and disordered, half of his hair was white, and he looked as if he had one foot in the grave. Clearly, the news that came a few days ago had a great impact on him.

Xuan Zi lowered his head even further, cursing Lu Cheng under his breath, a hint of malice in his eyes. Just you wait, you little beast, don't let this old man catch you again next time.

"Yan Shaozhe, read the documents aloud." Mu En leaned back in the wooden chair and exhaled softly.

"Yes, teacher." Yan Shaozhe, no longer displaying his usual dignified elegance, looked utterly exhausted. Holding a letter, he slowly began, "Within three months, the number of students dropping out of the Shrek Academy's outer court has surged to over four hundred. Of these, seventy percent are second-year students or above. And just last month, the statistics for the new cohort were finalized: no disciples above the Soul Elder, twenty-seven disciples at the Soul Grandmaster level, and a total of six hundred and twenty-three disciples at the Soul Master level."

"..."

The room fell silent upon hearing this.

All the elders had furrowed brows.

Nearly three hundred students dropped out of school after their second year. What does this mean?

Unlike the first year, which is a mixed bag, students in the second year and above are already "selected" and are considered Shrek's elite. They generally have a certain chance of entering the inner academy, while the dropout rate... accounts for almost one-seventh of the total number of outer academy students.

What's even more terrifying is this year's freshmen.

The quality plummeted dramatically; the worst batch of disciples in history.

They didn't even reach a thousand!

It's normal that there aren't any Soul Elder, but it's quite alarming that there are only a handful of disciples at the Soul Grandmaster level, maybe twenty or so. In previous years, this number would have been at least over a hundred...

"Did everyone hear me clearly?" Mu En asked slowly.

"This information shows that Shrek Academy's reputation among the other forces is now utterly infamous. I specifically looked through the list, and there are fewer than ten disciples from major families among them, and they are all only slightly outstanding in talent, far inferior to the previous year and the year before that."

Shrek Academy... is in grave danger.

"Teacher, why don't I personally visit the major powers? Shrek Academy's foundation is still intact. I refuse to believe that little beast can destroy our millennia-old heritage single-handedly, hmph." Yan Shaozhe coldly and angrily.

"That's a good idea. Let's go with the other senior elders as well." Mu En nodded slightly, his face revealing neither joy nor sorrow.

"But Mu En, I..." Xuan Zi's face twitched. His secrets had been almost completely exposed. If he were to shamelessly ask for a disciple again, wouldn't that be like offering a cold shoulder to a warm backside?

The other elders also showed slight changes in expression.

After all, they have been sitting high in the Sea God Pavilion, above all living beings, for a hundred years. In their eyes, it is enough for juniors Yan Shaozhe to handle this matter. With their seniority, even the sect leaders would have to bow and scrape before them. Now, they have to do such a humiliating thing, which is really a bit too much for them to do.

"Since you're unwilling, then let's sit back and watch Shrek's glory crumble in our hands," Mu En sighed Youyou.

"Mu En, why the fuss?" Song Yunzhi frowned slightly and said, "That little beast, plus Zhang Lexuan's betrayal of the sect, why are you so worried? Shrek Academy is, after all, one of the top academies on the continent. With my status and position, they should kneel down to greet me. To lower themselves like this would be beneath them."

"Heh, even now, you still think this is just an ordinary crisis." Mu En shook his head.

His expression grew increasingly vacant, and he seemed somewhat powerless.

A bunch of good-for-nothings, who do they think they are? Shrek Academy is currently facing an unprecedented crisis. Any other power wouldn't be so worried, but Shrek will...

To put it bluntly, Shrek Academy achieved its current prosperity by feeding on the entire original continent, meaning they don't have their own territory.

The Star Luo Empire is based on a vast empire with tens of millions of people and numerous sects of all sizes. Many of these people will flow into the royal family to become protectors or worshippers and serve the empire.

The same applies to Heavenly Soul and Dou Ling.

But Shrek is different. Located in the Star Dou Great Forest, at the heart of the Three Kingdoms, Shrek continuously attracts outstanding disciples from various empires based on its accumulated reputation. In essence, who among you is not from the three great empires?

The three great empires once dared not speak out against it, and even if they knew, they could only let Shrek suck their blood.

But things are different now.

With the competition being exposed, Shrek Academy's treatment of its own students has become so harsh, even abusive.

The major sects and factions within the empires will no longer send their best disciples there!

The future development can only be that the power of the three kingdoms will rise to an unprecedented level, because Xu Jiawei and others are not fools. They will definitely seize the opportunity to ruthlessly rip Shrek Academy off and recruit the geniuses of their own empire into the royal family, which means intercepting Shrek Academy's talents.

They completely divided up the once-exaggerated pool of students that Shrek had acquired.

A high-quality student body means Shrek Academy has the confidence to win the championship in the future, becoming number one on the continent. And this number one ranking will also attract the next batch of high-quality students to the academy, creating a positive cycle.

This year's student body is already shockingly poor, but what's even more frightening is that this is just the beginning. Over the next century, the quality of this student body will continue to decline, making it impossible for them to achieve any rankings in major competitions...

Not being able to achieve a ranking means that the quality of students will continue to decline.

Even hundreds of years from now, Shrek might become just an ordinary third-rate academy.

"A bunch of idiots!!!" Mu En felt like his blood vessels were about to burst with rage. Forcing his weakened body to stand, he coldly surveyed everyone around him. "Anyone who doesn't go, get out of the Shrek Academy and be expelled!"

Seeing that Mu En was angry, the elders reluctantly accepted this "shameful" task.

P. S.: The next chapter will be released at 1 AM.