Chapter 113: Du Weilun Shocked
While Furina and the others were enjoying their meal and casual conversation, the atmosphere in the upper echelons of Shrek Academy was entirely different.
The office of Yan Shaozhe, Dean of the Martial Soul Department, was brightly lit. Du Weilun, Director of the Outer Court, stood beside the desk, his brow tightly furrowed. And before them stood Zhou Yi, supported by two teachers who had helped her there.
Seeing Zhou Yi in this state, both Yan Shaozhe and Du Weilun felt their pupils contract sharply.
Zhou Yi was notoriously difficult to deal with within Shrek Academy. As a teacher, her instructional style was extraordinarily harsh—one could even call it cruel. Every year, the number of students in her class who managed to pass the advancement assessments was always the lowest. Yet those who survived and successfully advanced were often of the highest quality. It was precisely for this reason that the academy's upper echelons had always turned a blind eye to certain excesses of hers. So long as she didn't cause any major disasters, they let her be.
The reason Du Weilun had transferred Zhou Yi to the new student class not long ago was precisely because the complaints from the older students had piled up to the point where they could no longer be suppressed. He'd thought that having her take charge of new students might make her rein herself in a bit. But who could have imagined—on the very first day of school—she'd stir up something this massive?
At this moment, Zhou Yi was clearly not in a normal state. Her face was deathly pale, tinged with an unnatural flush. The corner of her mouth still bore traces of blood that hadn't been wiped clean. Her eyes were unfocused, her breathing ragged. Her entire appearance suggested someone who had suffered an enormous psychological shock—there were even faint signs of demonic deviation.
"What happened?" Du Weilun demanded in a deep voice, his sharp gaze sweeping over the two accompanying teachers. "Could it be an external enemy infiltrating the academy? An evil soul master? Or the Sun Moon Empire? But... didn't Vice Dean Qian Duoduo set up the soul-conduction defensive array long ago?"
A middle-aged male teacher quickly stepped forward and recounted the entire sequence of events from beginning to end—starting from the practical combat class in the Spirit Arena district where Furina had served as temporary teacher, all the way to the confrontation on the plaza. How Zhou Yi had been provoked by Furina's words. How she had been publicly branded an "evil soul master." And finally, how she had been driven to vomit blood, her disguise exposed, surrounded and mocked by students...
He reported everything in full detail. He tried his best to remain objective, but between his words, one could still detect his disapproval of Zhou Yi's decision to publicly unleash her Soul Emperor pressure to oppress a student.
After hearing the full report, Du Weilun first let out a breath of relief.
"At least it wasn't an evil soul master invasion." He rubbed his temples, then found the whole affair utterly absurd. "But for Teacher Zhou, a distinguished and respected Soul Emperor who's taught for so many years—who even earned the private nickname 'Twisted Old Hag'—to be pushed to this state by a mere new student? This batch of new students... is rather interesting."
Yan Shaozhe, who had remained silent until now, slowly spoke. "No wonder Elder Mu specifically instructed me two days ago to pay special attention to this year's new students."
"Elder Mu?" Du Weilun turned to Yan Shaozhe in astonishment. "There's actually someone among this year's new students who could draw Elder Mu's attention?"
Elder Mu, full name Mu En, was the Master of Shrek Academy's Sea God's Pavilion, one of the three great Limit Douluo of the current era, and the true stabilizing pillar of Shrek Academy. He normally lived in deep seclusion, rarely concerning himself with specific, day-to-day matters—let alone paying special attention to a particular batch of new students.
"It's not just drawing his attention," Yan Shaozhe shook his head, his expression somewhat complicated. "Elder Mu explicitly said that we should not excessively interfere with the students' normal studies. That we could appropriately step back and let them develop freely. He said... Shrek needs some new vitality."
He paused, then looked at Zhou Yi, still in her dazed, unfocused state. His voice was calm, but carried an unmistakable, non-negotiable weight. "Teacher Zhou, your words and actions today were indeed inappropriate. As a teacher of Shrek Academy, no matter the reason, you must resolutely and unequivocally distance yourself from the words 'evil soul master.' Even more so, you should not have publicly unleashed your pressure upon a student, using your strength to intimidate."
Zhou Yi's body trembled faintly, as if she wanted to defend herself, but in the end, she made no sound.
Yan Shaozhe continued, "Class One will remain under your charge. However—today, you should first go back and rest properly. Calm yourself. As a teacher, your heart should be broader. Don't constantly lock horns with students. If you truly feel that the student named Furina is too difficult to coexist with..."
He glanced at Zhou Yi and laid out her options. "I can transfer her, along with that Huo Yuhao, to another class. Elder Mu is closely watching Furina. A genius like her—Shrek cannot afford to let her slip away either."
When Zhou Yi heard the words "Elder Mu is closely watching Furina," her heart sank violently. No matter how arrogant she was, she understood perfectly well what Elder Mu meant within Shrek Academy. He was a powerhouse standing at the very pinnacle of the continent. The true soul of Shrek. A person he paid attention to—not to mention a mere Soul Emperor teacher like herself—even Dean Yan Shaozhe would have to treat them with the utmost gravity.
She remained silent for a long, long time. Finally, she gave a stiff nod, turned, and stumbled unsteadily out of the office alone. She even forgot to answer Yan Shaozhe's question about whether to transfer Furina.
Perhaps her mind was now a complete, chaotic blank, utterly incapable of processing any of this. Everything that had happened today had dealt her a blow far too crushing. A distinguished and respected Soul Emperor. A veteran instructor of Shrek Academy. Driven by a fourteen-year-old girl, with nothing more than a few words, to vomit blood in public. Branded an evil soul master. Every last shred of face utterly lost. She even felt she could no longer face her beloved, Fan Yu.
The meaning of Yan Shaozhe's final words was clear: don't go after Furina. That was someone Elder Mu valued. No matter how overbearing she, Zhou Yi, might be, she was nothing more than a teacher of an outer court new student class. What did she have to contend against someone valued by the Master of the Sea God's Pavilion, a Limit Douluo?
Stepping out of the Dean's office, a gust of night wind hit her, and Zhou Yi shivered. She looked at the brightly lit teaching buildings in the distance. A wave of unprecedented exhaustion and bewilderment surged up inside her. Perhaps... from now on, she'd just coast through her teaching. Do the bare minimum.
Her authority had already been shattered. Her dignity was gone. Might as well let that Furina do whatever she wanted, and she herself could enjoy a bit of peace. The moment this thought took root, she actually felt a twisted sense of relief.
Inside the office, after Zhou Yi had left, the atmosphere eased somewhat.
Du Weilun couldn't help asking, "Dean Yan, what you just said—that Elder Mu is closely watching that girl named Furina—is that true? Just what is so special about her?"
Yan Shaozhe didn't answer directly. Instead, he asked a question in return. "Do you know the soul ring configurations of her and that Huo Yuhao?"
"Soul ring configurations?" Du Weilun blinked. "What could be so special about their soul rings? At most, their ages are a bit high... Unless...?"
Yan Shaozhe walked behind his desk and sat down. He pulled out two thin files from a drawer and pushed them across the desk toward Du Weilun.
"See for yourself. These are the basic records I had pulled from the registration office this afternoon."
Du Weilun picked up the files and flipped through them rapidly. When his eyes landed on Furina's page, they instantly flew wide, his breath catching in his throat.
"Furina. Age: fourteen. Soul power rank: forty-seven. Martial soul: Cake (Food-type). Soul rings: Purple, Purple, Black, Black."
He read it over and over again, unable to believe his own eyes.
"Fourteen years old?! A Food-type martial soul?! Rank forty-seven soul power?! Th-this... this is impossible!" Du Weilun's voice had completely changed pitch. "And these soul rings! Two purple, two black! This utterly defies everything the soul master world knows! Even the Thousand-Hand Douluo Tang San of the original Shrek Seven Devils ten thousand years ago—at the four-ring stage, he only had two yellow, one purple, one black! Compared to this Furina, he's simply..."
He couldn't find the words. All he felt was that his entire understanding of the world had been violently shaken.
Yan Shaozhe understood his shock. He'd had much the same reaction when he'd first seen this file that afternoon. He spoke slowly. "A fourteen-year-old food-type Soul Ancestor, with soul power as high as rank forty-seven, and a soul ring configuration that shatters all conventional understanding. You know what this means. Her becoming a Titled Douluo in the future is practically a foregone conclusion. And beyond that... there's an extremely high chance she could touch that realm."
He didn't explicitly say the words "Limit Douluo," but Du Weilun already understood.
"A monster... no, a monster among monsters!" Du Weilun murmured. "In the ten-thousand-year history of Shrek Academy, there's likely never been an example like this. Food-type soul masters naturally cultivate slowly. How on earth did she manage this?"
Yan Shaozhe shook his head and gestured for him to continue to the next file.
Du Weilun drew a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the tempest raging in his heart, and picked up Huo Yuhao's file.
"Huo Yuhao. Age: twelve. Soul power rank: thirty-one. Martial soul: Spirit Eyes (Spiritual-type Body Martial Soul). Soul rings: White, Purple, Black."
"This..." Du Weilun was stunned once more. His brow furrowed deeply. "A white ten-year soul ring? The second ring is already purple thousand-year? And the third ring goes straight to black ten-thousand-year?! This... this is even more absurd than Furina's soul rings! How could a white soul ring possibly endure the pressure of a thousand-year and then a ten-thousand-year soul ring behind it? This completely violates the fundamental theories of soul ring absorption!"
He looked up at Yan Shaozhe, his eyes filled with bewilderment and disbelief. "Dean Yan, this data... are you sure there's no mistake?"
Yan Shaozhe gave a bitter smile. "I wish there were. But the soul power tests and soul ring manifestations at the registration office can't be faked. What's more, based on feedback from the teachers who were present this afternoon—that white soul ring of Huo Yuhao's is extraordinarily strange. The soul skill effect attached to it is astonishingly powerful, suspected to be some kind of ultimate support-type skill. The command and battlefield control abilities he displayed in actual combat far exceed those of his peers—even surpassing many upperclassmen. This is yet another... monster that defies all conventional explanation."
Du Weilun set down the files, feeling his head spinning. Two students appearing on the same day, both completely overturning the foundational theoretical knowledge of the soul master world—it left even him, the Director of the Outer Court, somewhat at a loss.