When Mu En said, "These two kids carry the aura of gods. They very well might be the legendary Divine Testers," the elders present instantly descended into chaos.
A middle-aged man in his fifties, clearly excited, blurted out, "Teacher, is this really true? You're not mistaken, are you!?"
"Shaozhe, sit down! You're a grown man — how can you still be so impulsive? What kind of conduct is that!" Mu En's face darkened as he snapped, "I saw it with my own eyes, how could it be false?"
The man immediately realized how out of line he had been, bowed respectfully, and clasped his fists, "Forgive me, Teacher. It's just that your words are so hard to believe. After all, ever since ancestor Tang San a thousand years ago, no one has reached that realm again. Even you, Teacher, have only sensed it faintly."
Mu En didn't answer Shaozhe right away. Instead, he slowly began, "Those two kids had a sparring session near the outer dormitory."
"And during that spar, they inadvertently released the aura of the gods."
His gaze swept across the room, and his expression turned grave as he pulled out Wang Dong'er's profile to continue.
"First, this child from the Haotian Sect has the ability to release the Sea God's Light."
"The Sea God's Light? Only you and the High Priest of Sea God Island have ever been able to release that power."
"Yet this girl can release the Sea God's Light, unlike me—it's through her bloodline. She very likely is a direct descendant of ancestor Tang San and has awakened the Sea God's bloodline power."
"Descendant of ancestor Tang San?!" The elders were dumbfounded. Tang San was their academy's foundation, their symbol of faith. But his descendant belonged to a faction not exactly friendly to them! Many elders, especially those who had clashed with Qi Ling Tower, looked embarrassed.
No one spoke, so Mu En continued without pause, shifting the focus to Xu Xingyu.
"As for the young master of Qi Ling Tower, during their sparring match, in order to counter the Sea God's Light, he was forced to unleash a Dragon-type Martial Soul. From that Martial Soul, I clearly sensed a suppressive divine aura that far surpassed the Sea God's Light."
"Surpass the Sea God's Light? That means he's favored by a deity even stronger than ancestor Tang San, right?"
"I'm surprised too," Mu En sighed helplessly. "More than that, I personally suspect someone has already ascended to godhood in this era."
The room fell silent.
Finally, a timid elder asked, "Sect Leader, are you referring to Silver Dragon Douluo Gu Yue Na, the master of Qi Ling Tower?"
"That's right," Mu En nodded. "I once visited her privately. I can tell you her strength far surpasses mine. Even Emperor Tian never pressured me like she did."
"Therefore, I have reason to believe she has reached that legendary realm. However, for some reason, I have a feeling she is no longer human."
"Not human? Could she be a spirit beast? But spirit beasts can't become gods… Has the divine realm lifted the ban on beasts?" An elder asked in shock.
Mu En shook his head. "I don't know. But from her, I sense a celestial spirit aura similar to that of the Han Hai Qian Kun Crystal. So I'm certain she wields god-level power."
After Mu En's confirmation, the elders fell into deep silence. The relationship between Shrek Academy and Qi Ling Tower wasn't exactly harmonious.
Now Qi Ling Tower had a god. If they desired to dominate the continent, even the alliance of the Four Great Empires would be powerless to stop them.
In theory, Qi Ling Tower already controlled most of the soul masters on Douluo Continent.
Because Qi Ling Tower tightly held the monopoly on soul spirit cultivation, many people had no choice but to buy soul spirits from them to grow stronger.
The problem was that not everyone had that kind of money. Poor soul masters had to either join Qi Ling Tower or work odd jobs for them.
This explained how, in just a few years, Qi Ling Tower had become an unstoppable force on the continent.
Hunting spirit beasts for spirit rings had become extremely dangerous since Qi Ling Tower appeared, because they had formed contracts with the spirit beast clans to help protect their habitats.
They had even created a force of forest rangers inside Douluo Continent.
With the forest rangers, hunting spirit beasts became far more difficult. Not only did hunters have to be wary of the beasts themselves, but also the rangers.
Though the rangers were human, they were specially trained Qi Ling Tower employees, with unknown skills that prevented spirit beasts from attacking them. They could even call other beasts to help drive enemies away.
For vast gathering places like Star Dou Forest, it was somewhat manageable, but in extremely large areas, rangers couldn't cover every corner.
Still, because of the soul spirit cultivation method and the appearance of the rangers, spirit beast deaths had dramatically decreased these past few years.
Consequently, soul masters hunting for spirit rings had dropped significantly.
Shrek Academy had even compared fights between soul ring soul masters and soul spirit fused soul masters at equal levels.
As expected, fused soul spirit soul masters were overwhelmingly stronger.
The elders could only silently pray that the ambitions of Qi Ling Tower's leader wouldn't be too great, or the continent would plunge into chaos once more.
At that moment, a dignified woman asked, "Old Mu, do you intend to ease the relations between us and Qi Ling Tower through these two?"
"I do," Mu En replied. "Opposing a god is unwise. Besides, I have a theory."
"Theory?" The elders were puzzled.
"That Qi Ling Tower now has a god and two people with divine auras—one even favored by ancestor Tang San. Doesn't that mean the soul spirit cultivation method is recognized by the divine realm? Have the gods decided to foster harmony between humans and spirit beasts? If so, what should Shrek Academy do now?"
"I believe it's our duty to guide Qi Ling Tower onto the right path. We're an academy! An academy's role is to lead others toward the right way!"
"And for these two destined to become gods in the future, the only ones qualified to guide them towards striving for the continent's peace are us — the number one academy on Douluo Continent, Shrek Academy!"
"As the current Sect Leader of the Sea God Pavilion, I hereby order: from today onward, Xu Xingyu and Wang Dong'er will receive focused training. If they perform well after a year, they will be considered for early admission into the Inner Academy!"
None of the elders objected to Mu En's order. Although letting two new freshmen into the Inner Academy so soon broke precedent, these two were likely the legendary Divine Testers and could not be trained in ordinary ways.
Besides, if Shrek Academy could produce two gods again like a thousand years ago, who would dare question their teaching system? Shrek Academy is forever number one!
The next morning, the bright sunlight streamed into Dorm 108.
The boy who had been sleeping slowly opened his eyes, squinting against the harsh light. Xu Xingyu rubbed the sleep from his eyes and yawned.
Soon, his drowsiness faded, and he got ready to wash up, preparing for the first day of school. After all, arriving early for the first class made a good impression.
Though Xu Xingyu didn't particularly approve of Shrek Academy's teaching methods, he knew he had to show respect.
Just as he stood up, he noticed something hanging on him — and it was rather heavy.
Wang Dong'er, like a little koala, was clinging to him tightly, still asleep.
Seeing her adorable sleeping face, Xu Xingyu hesitated to wake her.
But then he noticed some drool on her cheek. His patience vanished instantly, replaced by an iron will.
Smack!
Wang Dong'er yelped, clutching her butt, "Xu Xingyu, why did you just smack my butt so early in the morning?!"
Freshly washed, Xu Xingyu emerged from the bathroom. "It's morning, no more lazing around. Didn't you say your homeroom teacher is a demon? If you're late on the first day, you might get expelled."
"Expelled? Being late on the first day isn't that serious…" Wang Dong'er asked suspiciously.
Xu Xingyu sighed. "Maybe other teachers wouldn't expel you, but Zhou Yi definitely will. It's her usual tactic to scare new students—after all, all these freshmen come from all over, full of arrogance."
"If you don't use extreme methods to intimidate them, they'll only learn through experience that while they're talented, they're not the best. Unfortunately, Zhou Yi has no patience and chooses the easier way regardless of fairness."
Hearing this, Wang Dong'er reluctantly got up, grumbling, "Isn't that a bit extreme? I get Shrek is number one for a reason, but is this kind of indiscriminate teaching really right? I don't understand why so many students fear the demon teacher but still say she teaches well."
"From what I know, her teaching style is average compared to other outer academy teachers. She just expels the weaker students early to free up more resources for the remaining students. That way, her students get more attention than others."
"Isn't that violating a teacher's duty? A teacher should teach all students to their best ability, even if they eventually fail or quit. Unless the student simply refuses to learn."
Having finished tidying his bed, Xu Xingyu smiled slightly at Wang Dong'er's thoughtful words and explained.
"I think she does this not for teaching, but purely to get promoted. To make her results look better, she expels all the students who might drag her down."
"...Does a person like that even deserve to be a teacher?"
Xu Xingyu shrugged. "In my opinion, no. But I advise you to see for yourself."
"If she really is that kind of teacher, just endure her if you can't fight back. Don't give her any excuse to target you. After the freshman exams, classes will be rearranged anyway. She might not even be your homeroom teacher then."
Wang Dong'er sighed, "Alright, I'll just see what this so-called demon teacher is like."
At that moment, Xu Xingyu, already dressed, said, "Get ready quickly and meet me at the cafeteria. I'll save us a seat. And wipe the drool off your face."
Only then did Wang Dong'er notice the drool on her cheek. Blushing, she wiped it away and started to wash up.
She wasn't looking forward to Zhou Yi's class, but Zhou Yi was still her homeroom teacher.
She just had to endure until the freshman exam ended. Hopefully, her new class wouldn't be assigned to the old lady again.
After washing up, Wang Dong'er changed back into her male disguise and headed to the cafeteria to find Xu Xingyu, who had already gone ahead.
At the cafeteria, Wang Dong'er quickly ordered a meal and found Xu Xingyu's spot. They ate together.
What annoyed Wang Dong'er was that they weren't alone — a little bunny and a snow girl shamelessly interrupted their private time.
Xu Xingyu watched the playful quarrel between Wang Dong'er and Xu Yanxue like it was a show. After all, it was a boring early morning. A little entertainment was welcome — plus, he got free side dishes from his secretary.
After breakfast, everyone said their goodbyes and headed to their respective classrooms.
Wang Dong'er arrived at Class One and took a seat, ready for the lessons.
She was soon surrounded by many girls who wanted to befriend her, which caused many boys in the class to look at her with hostility.
This made Wang Dong'er realize her male disguise was very convincing — no one suspected she was a girl.
She wondered if Xu Xingyu was in a similar situation. With his handsome face, he surely attracted even more female attention.
She just hoped he wouldn't randomly add more sisters to the family. They already had enough siblings; any more and it'd be hard to keep track.
Just as the class bell was about to ring, a blue-haired boy hurried in.
Wang Dong'er quickly recognized him as the boy Xu Xingyu had saved yesterday, but who hadn't thanked him.
His name was something like Huo... Huo Yunhan? Or Huo Zhanji? Whatever—it wasn't her concern.
Because Huo Yuhao ran off without saying thanks, Wang Dong'er had a bad impression of him and dreaded having to spend half a semester in the same class.
The bell rang, and the students quickly returned to their seats.
At that moment, an old woman entered.
Though she looked aged, every student present could feel a powerful aura emanating from her.
No doubt, she was the infamous demon teacher — the lecturer with the highest expulsion rate in Shrek Academy history.
She was also their homeroom teacher for Class One during the freshman exam period — Zhou Yi.
Wang Dong'er stared at the imposing Zhou Yi from her seat, her intuition telling her the next few months wouldn't be smooth sailing.
This woman was absolutely an iron-faced, ruthless, and unreasonable teacher!