Stay in Heaven Dou or Return to Star Luo

Of course, Flender did not forget to warn and threaten him. "Mubai's identity is a sensitive matter. If it gets exposed, it'll bring a lot of trouble and disaster."

"Zhao Wuji, you old rascal, you'd better keep your mouth shut from now on. If you get drunk and accidentally reveal Mubai's identity, I'll throw you straight into Spirit City. Hmph~"

"As if you need to tell me. I, Old Zhao, don't have many strong points, but my lips are sealed tight." Zhao Wuji pursed his lips, somewhat unhappy with Flender's warning.

Even so, Zhao Wuji knew what mattered when it came to serious issues, and he thumped his chest as he gave his assurance.

"Teacher Zhao, what's wrong with Dean Flender? Why does he seem unhappy?"

Flender was walking alone ahead of them, his brow tightly furrowed and his face full of worry.

Dai Mubai, walking beside Zhao Wuji behind him, turned his head and lowered his voice to ask curiously.

Earlier, when he had successfully absorbed purple Thousand-Year Soul Rings as his first and Second Soul Rings, Flender had not questioned him as excitedly as Zhao Wuji, but he had been unable to hide the delight, excitement, and curiosity in his eyes.

This time, he had successfully attached a black ten-thousand-year Third Soul Ring.

Yet Flender had not shown much excitement. His expression had even been grave and solemn. Not only had he shown no curiosity about what Mubai had gained from absorbing a ten-thousand-year Third Soul Ring, but he had also interrupted Zhao Wuji's questions.

To Dai Mubai, that reaction seemed more than a little abnormal, so it was no wonder he asked.

"Tch, what else? His menopause is dragging on, that's what." Zhao Wuji glared irritably at Flender's back.

Only then did he explain:

"That old ghost thinks your talent is too monstrous, Mubai. He's worried that if it gets exposed, too many people will covet it or see you as a threat."

"Especially since you're the third prince of the Star Luo Empire. There are plenty of people and factions out there who don't want you to grow up and want you dead."

"Flender is worried that he and Shrek Academy won't be able to keep you safe."

Hearing Zhao Wuji's explanation, Dai Mubai felt the wariness and doubts in his heart gradually fade, replaced by gratitude.

Neither he, an orphan in his previous life, nor his royal-born predecessor had ever truly enjoyed familial affection and care.

Now, Flender's concern for his safety was especially precious to Dai Mubai.

Dai Mubai made up his mind that, in the future, he would not only make Shrek Academy flourish, but also provide for Flender and the other teachers in their old age.

At the same time, he planned to help Flender win Liu Erlong's heart.

Liu Erlong might have been somewhat blinded by love, but when Blue Tyrant Academy first appeared, she was a level 78 Seven-Ring Soul Sage. Later, like Flender, her cultivation reached the Eight-Ring Soul Douluo realm. She was very strong.

If he could bring her under his command, she would be a great help in his contest for the Star Luo Empire's throne.

His eldest brother Dai Weisi, the Star Luo Empire's first prince, was six years older than him and had spent years building his position within the empire. Most of its powerful experts and valuable factions had already been recruited or won over by Dai Weisi.

Now, if he wanted to build a power base of his own, he would have to find a way outside the empire.

Besides, he really did not like Yu Xiaogang.

Yu Xiaogang was both useless and pretentious, and he was never good enough for Liu Erlong.

And since Yu Xiaogang cared about society's judgment and his own reputation, leaving Liu Erlong to waste her youth waiting in vain for twenty years,

Dai Mubai would grant Yu Xiaogang his wish and spare him the stigma of incest between brother and sister.

As it happened, his own dean, Flender, had pined bitterly for Liu Erlong for years without winning her.

Compared with that waste Yu Xiaogang, Dai Mubai thought Liu Erlong and Dean Flender were a perfect match.

As for Yu Xiaogang, he could be sent to Spirit City and locked in a secret chamber by Bibi Dong, the Pope and his yandere first love, to devote himself to studying Martial Soul Theory. Surely Yu Xiaogang would love that kind of life.

Still, Dai Mubai understood Flender's concerns.

In fact, the moment he transmigrated, he had considered whether he should continue staying at Shrek Academy.

What were the pros and cons of staying at Shrek Academy, and what could he gain from it?

In fact, that was not one question, but two.

The first was whether to stay in the Heaven Dou Empire, and the second was whether to stay at Shrek Academy.

After transmigrating and merging with the original owner's memories, Dai Mubai knew there were two reasons the original owner had fled the Star Luo Empire for the Heaven Dou Empire: he wanted to escape his hopeless fate and get away from his eldest brother, Dai Weisi.

He did not want to spend every day living in Dai Weisi's shadow, and he was also worried that Dai Weisi would make a move against him, killing him like their second brother without anyone being the wiser.

But after transmigrating, and looking at it with a transmigrator's perspective,

the original owner would actually have been safest staying in the Star Luo Empire.

For one thing, as a prince, no matter how poor his talent or how little attention he received, he was still a prince of an empire. The protection and resources he enjoyed were beyond anything he could have by fleeing to the Heaven Dou Empire.

Fleeing to the Heaven Dou Empire, where the Star Luo Empire had no authority over him, seemed to have given him freedom, but in reality he had placed himself completely in danger.

When an empire's prince was sent to another country, it was generally to serve as a political hostage.

The Heaven Dou Empire certainly had no standing to demand that the original owner, a prince of the Star Luo Empire, come to the Heaven Dou Empire as a hostage. Yet the original owner had rushed there of his own accord.

At present, the two empires were lax in their population management and did not strictly control movement between them. Neither empire had a strict household registration system, either.

That had allowed the original owner to escape to the Heaven Dou Empire and remain there for almost a year without his identity being exposed.

But just because it had not been exposed yet did not mean it would never be exposed.

So, should he keep a low profile and develop in the Heaven Dou Empire, or return to the Star Luo Empire?

If he did not have the system, if his Martial Soul had not been completed and advanced, and if he had not obtained a god-level Second Martial Soul,

then, to leave himself a way out and a chance to escape the Star Luo Empire if he lost the contest for the throne in the future,

he might have been more inclined to stay in the Heaven Dou Empire and develop quietly.

But after obtaining the system and receiving a major upgrade to his cultivation talent,

Dai Mubai was more inclined to return to the Star Luo Empire. With his current talent, he was bound to receive more cultivation resources and better protection there.

As for whether he should continue staying at Shrek Academy,

first of all, the greatest value of Shrek Academy, that ramshackle outfit, lay in its few exceptionally talented students and five capable teachers.

If Shrek Academy had been a regular, ordinary academy in the Heaven Dou Empire, then, faced with the choice of whether to stay,

since he had already begun thinking of returning to the Star Luo Empire, he naturally would not have been able to remain at Shrek Academy.

For one thing, he was leaving, and he could not pack up Shrek Academy and take it with him;

for another, as a school, Shrek Academy could not relocate to the Star Luo Empire with him just because he was leaving.

But then again,

as luck would have it, Shrek Academy was not recognized by the Heaven Dou Empire, had no license to operate, and was so small that calling it a village school, let alone an academy, would have been far too generous.

It could only be called a hobby class, a training course.

Because Shrek Academy was so unusual, if Dai Mubai wanted to leave the Heaven Dou Empire and return to the Star Luo Empire, the choice between staying and leaving presented no dilemma.

He really could pack up Shrek Academy and take it with him.

Shrek Academy really could relocate to the Star Luo Empire with him.