Yu Xiaogang Riding High on the Spring Breeze

Near Heaven Dou City, at the Heaven Dou Royal Academy.

"What? Yanyan, you and Lengleng are leaving the Heaven Dou Royal Academy?"

Qin Ming exclaimed in surprise.

Dugu Yan nodded. "I'm sorry, but due to some reasons, Lengleng and I will be leaving the Heaven Dou Royal Academy."

Qin Ming's face was grim. "What? So suddenly? Why are you leaving? Did we do something wrong?"

Or is it because of Shrek?

Don't worry, from now on I will never favor Shrek Academy again. Please don't leave, okay?

Ever since Yu Xiaogang pulled Ning Rongrong from the Heaven Dou Team One to the Shrek Team, he severed Qin Ming Ming's last vestige of affection for Shrek.

Unlike the original novel, where the Heaven Dou Royal Academy was full of talented people, Qin Ming, although outstanding and even groomed as the principal's successor, was not the only one.

There were several others who were being groomed as his successors, including some nobles, making them even more competitive than him.

In this timeline, he was the most outstanding among the younger generation of Soul Master teachers at the Heaven Dou Royal Academy, without exception.

Furthermore, since there are fewer nobles in this timeline, his dissatisfaction with the Heaven Dou Royal Academy is much less than in the original story.

Most importantly, the Heaven Dou Royal Academy has done nothing to wrong Shrek; on the contrary, it is Shrek who has acted unethically.

When Shrek joined the Heaven Dou Royal Academy, he got whatever he wanted. If he needed money, he got money; if he needed people, he got people. Personnel appointments and dismissals were all decided by Shrek. The Heaven Dou Royal Academy never questioned or interfered.

The Heaven Dou Royal Academy didn't ask much of them; they just needed to stay and teach the students assigned to them well.

At first, Shrek Academy and the Heaven Dou Royal Academy cooperated quite well, but everything changed after the Blue Tyrant Academy merged into the Shrek Branch Academy. It's unclear whether it was because Shrek Academy became more confident or something else.

They have repeatedly and openly violated the rules of the Heaven Dou Royal Academy, and have even specifically targeted the faculty and students who were previously assigned to the Shrek Branch Academy.

Both are teachers, but the teachers from the Blue Tyrant Academy select the best students and treat them the best, while the teachers from the Heaven Dou Royal Academy are assigned students who are either troublemakers or those with connections.

They dump all sorts of garbage on them, and what's worse is the unequal pay for equal work. Teachers at the Heaven Dou Royal Academy always receive less pay than teachers at the Blue Tyrant Academy for doing the same job.

Furthermore, all the dirty and tiring work was done by the teachers of the Heaven Dou Royal Academy.

Then there are the students. If a conflict breaks out between students of the Blue Tyrant Academy and students of the Heaven Dou Royal Academy, Shrek Branch Academy will almost always side with the original Blue Tyrant Academy students, if not all, but nine times out of ten.

As a result, many teachers and students applied to transfer out of the Shrek Branch Academy. Qin Ming, having come from Shrek himself, couldn't directly criticize them. Instead, he offered them some suggestions in a tactful way and cleaned up a lot of their messes.

They then became somewhat more restrained, but the situation still persisted.

Later, Yu Xiaogang came to poach people from his own Heaven Dou Team One, which completely exhausted Qin Ming's last bit of patience and face.

After that, Qin Ming never said anything good about Shrek again.

In fact, Qin Ming respected Dean Flender quite a bit; he just disliked Yu Xiaogang and Liu Erlong.

Although Flender is nominally the dean, Yu Xiaogang handles many matters, big and small, at the academy, all of which happened because Blue Tyrant Academy merged into the Shrek Branch Academy.

Before that, Dean Flender was in charge. While he wasn't exactly great, he was generally fair and impartial.

Whenever a conflict arises between the Heaven Dou Royal Academy and the Blue Tyrant Academy, it is usually Vice Dean Liu Erlong who comes to mediate. Given her fiery temper, the fact that she doesn't start a fight on the spot and only takes sides is already a great restraint.

That's why Qin Ming was so surprised and helpless when he heard that Dugu Yan and Ye Lingling were leaving the Heaven Dou Team One.

The reason Qin Ming was willing to let Yu Xiaogang poach people was largely because of the existence of Dugu Yan, a character who was almost like a bug in the system. Even if there was only Dugu Yan, they could still secure a top-three finish and strive for first place.

With the support of the other top-ranked academies in the Heaven Dou Team One, isn't the championship a piece of cake?

If the team I lead can win the championship, and gain such experience, then as soon as I break through to Soul Saint, I can immediately become the vice dean.

Now that Dugu Yan and Ye Lingling said they're leaving, Qin Ming suddenly feels like the sky is falling.

Dugu Yan shook her head. "It has nothing to do with you or Shrek. Ye Lingling and I have already decided to join Moon Shadow Wind Spirit Academy."

Qin Ming asked in confusion, "Moon Shadow Wind Spirit Academy? I've never heard of it before. What kind of academy is that? Is it comparable to the Heaven Dou Royal Academy?"

Ye Lingling explained, "That's the academy Little Mo established; it's only been established for a few days."

Qin Ming pondered for a moment, then froze. "Little Mo, could it be the Little Mo who was with you?"

Dugu Yan nodded. "Yes, Little Mo is that person's younger sister. Knowing that Little Mo was going to establish a high-level Soul Master Academy, many forces stepped in to help, including the Heaven Dou Empire and the Spirit Hall. It was set up in just a few days."

Qin Ming's face was full of bitterness. Since it was related to that person, he had no choice at all.

Qin Ming smiled wryly and said, "So you'll be representing Moon Shadow Wind Spirit Academy in the Soul Master Tournament?"

Dugu Yan and Ye Lingling nodded in agreement.

The bitterness on Qin Ming's face deepened.

Dugu Yan took a deep breath and said, "If there's nothing else, we'll go and process the discharge procedures."

Qin Ming nodded dejectedly.

"Come with me."

After everything was settled, Qin Ming rallied his spirits and offered his blessings. "You two are the most outstanding students I have ever trained. I wish you both a bright future and smooth sailing."

Dugu Yan (Ye Lingling): "Thank Qin Ming, Teacher Qin Ming, for taking care of me these past few days..."

"You, Qin Ming, it's good that you're here too, which saves me the trouble of making another trip."

The speaker was Yu Xiaogang. Since arriving in Heaven Dou City and meeting Liu Erlong, he had been riding high, gaining both fame and fortune.

Just like in the original story, he resolved his inner conflict and reunited with Liu Erlong. It was at that time that Flender let go of everything, wished them well, handed over the management of the academy to Yu Xiaogang, and retired after the Soul Master Tournament ended.

Yu Xiaogang originally planned to do what Flender did: take Tang San to the Soul Master Tournament and then run away.

However, during my time at the management academy...

Yu Xiaogang experienced a feeling he had never had before: everyone respected him, yet feared him.

Is this what rights are?

A single word can easily decide a person's life or death; a single sentence can determine a person's future. This feeling of being respected and feared by everyone is truly wonderful...