Chapter 53: Ridiculing Shrek! Du Busi's New Plan!
"Ah?"
Du Busi froze on his grand seat. His usually stern, imposing features slackened into a rare expression of absolute bewilderment—a look so out of place on the fearsome Body Sect Master that it bordered on comical.
"There is such a thing?"
Vina, Long Aotian, Chen Lu, Gu Tong, and Wang Yanfeng—the absolute elite of the Body Sect, young prodigies who prided themselves on their unshakable composure—stood with their jaws practically hitting the floor. The sprawling great hall plunged into a deathly, suffocating silence.
A few of them subconsciously rubbed their ears, deeply suspecting they had just suffered a collective auditory hallucination.
If Liu Yuan was an outcast expelled by Shrek Academy, then Shrek's current frantic attempts to solicit him crossed the line from ironic into outright absurdity.
More, in the minds of everyone present, a monster like Liu Yuan—a freak of nature who could battle a Soul Emperor at the tender age of twelve or thirteen, wielding the mythical Double Pupils and the legendary Undying Body—was a supreme treasure dropped straight from the heavens into their laps.
Someone with that kind of heaven-defying talent and raw strength... was actually expelled?
"Then one can only say that the people at Shrek are entirely blind," Chen Lu muttered, his brow furrowing in deep confusion. "But no matter what, Shrek is the number one academy of the past ten thousand years. Their senior management and teaching staff shouldn't be collectively brain-damaged to this extent, right?"
"Liu Yuan, what exactly is going on?" Du Busi finally snapped out of his daze, his voice dropping into a grave, rumbling baritone. "Explain yourself clearly. Why in the world would those old fogies at Shrek kick you out?"
Liu Yuan stood calmly in the center of the grand hall. His expression remained remarkably placid. That past, which would have been the darkest, most agonizing period of anyone else's life, sounded like nothing more than a passing breeze as he narrated it.
"Replying to Master, the matter is actually quite simple." Liu Yuan met the gazes of the gathered elites, his voice steady and unhurried. "My parents were both inner court students of Shrek Academy. However, during an external mission when I was very young, they encountered a formidable enemy and both fell in battle."
"At that time, I had just awakened my Martial Soul, and my Innate Soul Power had reached level nine. The senior management of Shrek Academy, seeing my decent talent and taking into account that my parents had died in the line of duty for the academy, took me in and raised me."
Du Busi nodded slowly. Innate Soul Power at level nine—such exceptional talent was absolutely in the tier of geniuses that Shrek would hoard jealously.
"But an accident occurred." A fleeting shadow of reminiscence rippled through Liu Yuan's deep Double Pupils. "During a routine cultivation session, my Martial Soul underwent a mutation. That mutation was extremely violent and thorough. Due to the chaotic surge of soul power, I went completely blind."
"In the six years that followed, although I remained at Shrek Academy, my soul power stagnated entirely due to the blockages caused by the mutating Martial Soul. I didn't improve by a single rank."
Liu Yuan paused. A faint, razor-thin edge of sarcasm slipped into his tone.
"During those six long years, in the eyes of everyone at Shrek, I was nothing more than a useless cripple who consumed resources but produced absolutely nothing in return."
"Until a few months ago. Elder Xuan finally exhausted his last shred of patience. He determined that a piece of trash like me didn't deserve to continue leeching off Shrek and wasting their food, so he ordered me to pack my belongings and leave immediately."
"I didn't hold much attachment to that place anyway, so I left Shrek that very day."
"But what I didn't expect was that the moment I walked out of their gates, the six-year-long Martial Soul mutation finally reached its completion."
"My eyes not only regained their sight, but they also evolved into the Double Pupils I possess today."
"As for what happened next, everyone here already knows. I traveled to the Star Dou Great Forest to hunt for a soul ring, crossed paths with Vina and Mu Xue, and subsequently joined the Body Sect under their recommendation."
As Liu Yuan's voice faded, the great hall sank into silence once more.
The expressions on the faces of Du Busi and the core disciples became incredibly colorful. Such a dramatic, theatrical reversal made even these seasoned powerhouses—people accustomed to the grandest of stages—feel a deep sense of absurdity.
Chen Lu scratched the back of his head, a wry, disbelieving smile tugging at his lips. "I really didn't expect things to turn out like this."
"No wonder the people at Shrek are acting like rabid dogs looking for you, even going as far as trying to poach from our Body Sect."
"But going by this logic, the Ling Luochen they sent out shouldn't even know that the 'genius' they are trying to invite is actually you, right? After all, from the perspective of those Shrek elites, Liu Yuan should still be that blind cripple rotting in a corner for six years."
Liu Yuan nodded, his demeanor cool and detached. "I believe that is the case. During those six years, I had almost zero contact with outsiders. Barely anyone in Shrek actually knows my face, and they likely haven't connected the current me with the 'useless trash' from back then."
Wang Yanfeng slapped his thigh, a gleeful, mocking laugh bursting from his chest. "Then one can only say that their Shrek Academy is truly cursed with terrible luck!"
"They guarded you for six whole years, only to kick you to the curb on the very eve of your Martial Soul mutation completing! If that Elder Xuan ever learns the truth, he'll probably be so furious he'll cough up three liters of blood on the spot!"
"Unlucky?" Du Busi snorted coldly. A dangerous, emerald light flared in his eyes, dropping the temperature in the hall. "I say they deserve it! A hypocritical academy like that doesn't deserve to have such an outstanding disciple!"
Du Busi stood up abruptly from his grand seat. His towering frame cast a heavy shadow, his voice dripping with absolute disdain for Shrek's vaunted code of conduct.
"They took you in when they saw your Innate Soul Power was level nine, and they kicked you away without a shred of mercy the second they thought you were useless. How does this cold, profit-seeking behavior show even an ounce of the so-called 'backbone' of the number one academy of ten thousand years?"
"Let me put it bluntly: even if you, Liu Yuan, were truly destined to be a cripple for the rest of your life, your parents died fighting for their Shrek!"
"For that point alone, it is only right and proper for Shrek to provide for you for a lifetime! Yet they threw you out into the cold. Shrek Academy truly has no sense of responsibility or honor whatsoever."
Long Aotian nodded firmly, his arms crossed over his chest. In his view, although the Body Sect acted domineeringly and ruthlessly to outsiders, they were fiercely protective of their own. They would never commit such a treacherous, ungrateful act against a fallen hero's child.
Vina exhaled a long breath, a lingering trace of apprehension in her eyes. "No wonder you rejected them so decisively earlier, Liu Yuan. If it were anyone else who had suffered such callous treatment, they would rather die than return to Shrek."
Liu Yuan smiled faintly. He looked up at Du Busi, the coldness in his eyes thawing slightly. "So, Master, can you be completely at ease now? I truly will not return to Shrek. A place like that holds no value for me."
Du Busi looked into Liu Yuan's clear, unwavering Double Pupils. The old man's face flushed slightly, and he let out a dry, awkward cough. His previous aggressive posture—ready to march out and tear Shrek Academy down brick by brick—seemed a bit over-the-top in retrospect.
"Ahem... Alright. Since the matter is clear now, I naturally believe you."
Du Busi waved his large hand. A spatial ripple distorted the air, and several crystal-clear medicinal pills materialized on the heavy wooden table, emitting a rich, intoxicating medicinal fragrance that instantly refreshed everyone's minds.
"You all completed this mission excellently, and the journey was indeed arduous. These are specially formulated foundation-consolidating pills from the Sect's vault. They will be highly beneficial for stabilizing your current cultivation realms. Take your rewards, go back, and rest well for the next few days."
Liu Yuan, Long Aotian, Vina, and the other disciples bowed respectfully. They stepped forward, retrieved their respective pills, and exited the Sect Master's hall in an orderly fashion.
When the heavy doors clicked shut, leaving only Du Busi and Elder Chen in the vast hall, Elder Chen finally let out a long, heavy sigh of relief.
"Sect Master, now we can finally put our hearts at ease."
"With such a bitter and unfair history between Liu Yuan and Shrek, as long as the boy isn't a complete fool, there is zero chance he can be poached by them."
Du Busi didn't respond immediately. He clasped his hands behind his back and began to pace slowly across the stone floor. His thick brows knitted together as a deep, calculating light flickered in his eyes. "It's not enough."
Elder Chen blinked, caught off guard. "Sect Master, what do you mean by this? Liu Yuan has already laid everything bare. There shouldn't be any lingering doubts about his sense of belonging to our Sect, right?"
Du Busi stopped his pacing. He turned to face Elder Chen, his expression shifting into one of extreme gravity.
"What you said earlier makes a lot of sense."
"This kid Liu Yuan's talent is simply too terrifying. As his reputation inevitably spreads across the continent, more and more heavyweight factions will swarm in, desperate to win him over. And the bargaining chips they throw onto the table will only become crazier and more extravagant."
"As the ruling Sect, it is not enough to simply rely on his personal grudge or trust his character. We must actively do everything within our absolute power to secure him."
A shrewd, almost cunning gleam flashed across Du Busi's weathered face.
"We must ensure that whatever our Body Sect can offer him is vastly superior to anything the outside world can provide. He must obtain everything he could possibly desire right here within our walls."
"When that time comes, even if other supreme factions try to recruit him, he won't even spare them a second glance."
"Our goal is to give him absolutely no reason to ever consider leaving. Trusting his loyalty is one thing, but binding his interests to ours is another matter entirely."
Elder Chen nodded slowly, the realization dawning on him. "The Sect Master is wise. So, you intend to tilt even more of our core resources toward Liu Yuan?"
"Cultivation resources, top-tier cultivation methods, forbidden secret arts, personal guidance from our strongest elders... I believe our Body Sect has already provided the absolute best we can in those areas." Du Busi narrowed his eyes, his voice dropping to a conspiratorial whisper. "But I thought about it carefully, and realized we are still missing the most crucial element."
Elder Chen was thoroughly bewildered now. "What element?"
"Beautiful women!" Du Busi spat out the two words with heavy emphasis, slapping his hand against the table.
"It is historically difficult for any great hero to pass the trial of beauty! Although Liu Yuan is still young, we must nip this vulnerability in the bud before it can be exploited."
"If one day, some rival faction sends a stunning, heaven-toppling female Soul Master to employ a honey trap... the kid is young, hot-blooded, and full of vigor. If he gets bewitched by a pretty face, we'll have a massive disaster on our hands."
"Therefore, we must strike first! We need to quickly finalize a marriage for him, tying him permanently to the core interests of both our Heavenly Soul Empire and the Body Sect!"
Elder Chen stood dumbfounded. He hadn't expected the usually battle-crazed Du Busi to think so far ahead, to the point of actively orchestrating a political marriage alliance just to lock down a single disciple.
"Then, Sect Master, you mean to..."
Du Busi didn't bother answering verbally. He strode briskly over to his heavy mahogany desk, grabbed a brush, and began writing with the swift, aggressive strokes of a soaring dragon. In mere moments, he had drafted a formal letter and stamped it heavily with the Sect Master's secret seal.
Immediately after, his booming voice echoed through the hall.
"Guards! Summon Vina back here immediately!"
Vina, who had just exited the great hall and hadn't walked far down the corridor, hurried back inside, her face a picture of confusion.
Du Busi bypassed the pleasantries. He stepped forward and handed the sealed letter directly to Vina, his expression dead serious. "Vina, you are to set off immediately. Rush back to the Heavenly Soul Imperial City at maximum speed."
"This letter concerns the absolute future of our Sect. It must be delivered into the hands of His Majesty the Emperor personally. There can be no delays."
Although Vina's heart was practically overflowing with curiosity and doubt, the sheer weight of Du Busi's suffocatingly serious aura kept her questions at bay. She carefully tucked the letter into her robes, her posture straightening into a formal salute.
"Vina understands. I will not fail."
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