The efficiency of Shrek Academy was impressive. Just three days later, a simple report appeared on the desk of Du Weilen, Director of the Outer Court.
"You've worked hard this time, brother. Take this and go collect your reward from the city lord."
Du Weilen scribbled out a voucher and handed it to the masked man standing before him, who was completely shrouded in a black robe.
"You're too kind, Director Du. It's an honor for us Shrek people to serve the Academy."
The masked man put away the voucher. The eight soul rings floating around him flickered briefly before he vanished from Du Weilen's office.
"A true genius who came from our Shrek Outer Court. With people like you around, Shrek will never fall."
Du Weilen looked in the direction where the masked man disappeared, a hint of admiration in his eyes and a faint smile at the corner of his lips.
The man had once been a student at Shrek Academy. Though he hadn't been admitted into the Inner Court, he had graduated from the Outer Court and later joined Shrek City's garrison forces. Still under the jurisdiction of Shrek City, he had served to this day, becoming the fastest Soul Douluo among the city guard.
With the Dean's personal order to handle the matter swiftly, Du Weilen didn't dare delay and had directly gone to the city guard to request this man's assistance.
His gaze fell back onto the simple file on the desk. Frowning slightly, he pondered for a moment before picking up the report and heading toward Yan Shaozhe's office.
"This Xu Tianxi may not have awakened the Xuanming Turtle, but he has innate soul power at level 7. He's still a fairly promising talent. I'll leave the final decision to the Dean…"
---
"Oh? A rare spiritual-type martial soul—Moon Shadow—and innate soul power at level 7? This kid's talent isn't half bad."
Yan Shaozhe's tone was slightly amused as he read the file.
"What a pity, though. Judging by this, his martial soul suffered a malignant mutation. Even with the help of the Xuan Shui Pill and the Xuanwu Divine Pill, he only reached level 7. Without those pills, he probably wouldn't have even reached level 3."
Yan Shaozhe slapped the intelligence report—rushed over at top speed by their agent—onto the desk, a faint, almost imperceptible sneer curling on his lips.
"Villen, with your discerning eye, what do you think of this boy's talent? Can he graduate from the Outer Court? Could he even hope to enter the Inner Court?"
Du Weilen responded with unwavering certainty, his tone firm and analytical:
"If you ask me… unless there's something extraordinary about his martial soul that we're unaware of, he might just barely manage to graduate from the Outer Court. But as for the Inner Court—he has no chance."
"Innate soul power at level 7 is the bare minimum for Outer Court graduation. Each year, fewer than fifty students from the Outer Court are able to graduate, and none of them have less than level 7 innate soul power."
"Spirit-type martial souls do have certain unique traits. If he is diligent and trains hard, he might just make it through the Outer Court."
Shrek Academy gathered the most gifted youths from the three nations. Every year, a portion of students were eliminated. Those who made it to sixth year almost never had innate soul power below level 7.
While innate levels of 8 or 9—and even full innate soul power—were rare outside the academy, at Shrek they were relatively common, with new students of such caliber arriving year after year.
Though ten thousand years of advancement had made Title Douluos less rare than before, the vast majority of them across the former three nations still had innate soul power above level 7. There were almost no exceptions. This was one of the reasons Shrek's Outer Court had such a high graduation threshold.
"As for the Inner Court… While it's not unheard of for someone with level 7 innate soul power to pass the entrance exam, this Xu Tianxi, with a spirit-type attribute, has virtually no hope—unless the Xuanming Sect is willing to pour a vast amount of resources into him."
Du Weilen had fully considered Xu Tianxi's family background before offering his most prudent judgment.
Yan Shaozhe smiled and asked, "So you're saying it's impossible? Why are you so certain?"
"Dean, your insight is sharper than mine—do you really need to ask me?"
Du Weilen gave a courteous smile and shook his head, then explained seriously, "The reason is simple: soul beasts with spiritual attributes are extremely rare, and powerful ones are even rarer. Even with our Academy's legacy stretching back ten thousand years, it's hard for us to find a suitable soul ring configuration for someone like him—let alone the Xuanming Sect."
"If he can't obtain suitable soul rings, then this martial soul will be very difficult to cultivate. Reaching the seventh ring would already be quite the feat. But beyond that? Where would he go to find appropriate soul beasts? What—go to the Sun Moon Empire and hunt Evil Eyes?"
At that, even Du Weilen found his own words a bit ridiculous and laughed. The Demonic Forest was a forbidden zone for soul masters, just as dangerous as the Great Star Dou Forest—an area even Title Douluos approached with caution.
Even if the Xuanming Sect had some hidden resources, it was unlikely they'd waste them on a junior with such slim prospects. Competition within the sect was fierce, after all.
"Oh right—what about that old freak Xu and the current head of the Xu clan? Have we investigated their situations too?"
Yan Shaozhe's eyes narrowed slightly. These two were the people closest to Xu Tianxi within the Xuanming Sect, and he wanted to proceed cautiously.
If that old eccentric Xu was dead-set on nurturing Xu Tianxi, it would complicate things.
"As it happens, we just received news. Clan head Xu Fu has been transferring his duties to other clan members these past few days and publicly announced he's going into seclusion in the back mountain. As for the old freak Xu—no word on him."
"No word is to be expected… Send a message to Xue Lingxun. Whether she agrees or not, let her decide for herself."
With his hands behind his back, Yan Shaozhe paced a few steps, then gave the order.
"Understood," Du Weilen replied, turning to carry it out.
…
In the Xuanming Sect, within the private residence of the Sect Master's wife—
Clad in an elegant yet understated palace robe, exuding noble grace, Xue Lingxun held the letter in her hand, her finely shaped brows tightly furrowed.
After closing her eyes in silent contemplation for a long time, she finally opened her beautiful eyes, beckoned to the two respectfully waiting maids beside her, and asked:
"Xuehan, Xuenuan—what are your thoughts?"
The two women exchanged a glance, then answered in unison, "We await Your Highness's decision."
They were Xue Lingxun's personal maids, brought with her from the Douling Empire. Bestowed with the royal surname "Xue," they were her most trusted confidantes.
"Let me decide… Hah, this matter is such a headache. What exactly am I supposed to do?"
Having been married into the Xuanming Sect for many years, Xue Lingxun had a decent understanding of its strength—if it could be described in one word, it would be: unfathomable.
She had once considered bringing San Shi and her husband back to Douling to visit her family, hoping the royal court would use the opportunity to invite the Xuanming Sect to become the empire's guardian sect. That would've greatly benefited both her husband's side and her natal family.
But she hadn't anticipated how strongly her family would disapprove of her husband, who had eloped with her. Even though he revealed his identity as the sect master of Xuanming and showed strength nearing that of a Title Douluo, her father—the emperor who once doted on her—was still cold and dismissive. Her newly crowned nephew was even more hostile.
Her husband, once a proud and brilliant talent in his youth, wasn't someone who could swallow such humiliation. He couldn't stand the mockery and contempt, and things quickly ended on a sour note.
After she returned with him, while she wasn't stripped of her royal title, her standing as a princess of the former court now held little sway in the Douling Empire.
And now, Shrek Academy's dean expected her to make things difficult for Xu Tianxi? How shameless—how absurdly shameless.
"This matter could be big or small… It all depends on how much that boy matters to my husband."
Having made up her mind, Xue Lingxun slowly turned and gave instructions to her two maids:
"Xuehan, take some people and prepare a nourishing soup with whale glue for tonight. I'll be inviting the sect master for a candlelit conversation."
"Xuenuan, go to the market and buy a wide variety of toys and trinkets that children would like—the more the better. Tomorrow, deliver them to Xu Tianxi in the name of this palace. Also, check if he's lacking anything else of value. If so, make sure everything is replenished."
Upon hearing this, Xuehan blushed slightly but respectfully acknowledged the command. She knew perfectly well what "candlelit conversation" implied—whale glue was a powerful tonic for male vitality. Clearly, Her Highness was… longing for the sect master.
Xuenuan looked puzzled and asked hesitantly, "Your servant is dull-witted… may I ask what Your Highness's intentions are with this?"
"What intentions could there be? Just treat him a little better—give him whatever he likes, let him indulge in comfort and distraction, and stop focusing on cultivation. Isn't that how the royal family always raises its spoiled heirs?"
Xue Lingxun lazily brushed a lock of hair behind her ear and smiled softly. "That child just lost his mother. It's only natural that I show him some concern. As for whether it works or not… that's none of my business."
"I've done what was asked of me, and I've done it to the best of my ability. Let's hope they'll start caring more about San Shi too. After all, I'm just a lowly Soul King—they wouldn't expect me to get personally involved, would they?"
"That's enough now. You two go on. Send Xuexin and Xueling in—I need a bath and some grooming. I haven't seen the sect master in quite some time… I really miss him. He said he's going into seclusion for two or three years. If I don't see him now, I'll be missing him for a long while."
"Yes, Your Highness." The two maids gave graceful curtsies and departed.
Once the room was empty, a trace of sarcasm flickered in Xue Lingxun's eyes.
Shrek people really are full of themselves, she thought. Do they really believe everyone's willing to be their pawn?
If it weren't for the threat posed by the Sun-Moon Empire, would the Three Great Empires ever tolerate such an overbearing "Emperor Emeritus" lording over them?
Especially for royal families—yes, the Sun-Moon Empire was a terrifying threat, but wasn't Shrek, which could overturn thrones at will, just as terrifying?
---
That night, summoned by Xue Lingxun under the pretense of "discussing serious matters," Xu Fu was surprised to find the Lady of the House already dressed in refined courtly attire, waiting for him.
Golden hairpins fastened her elegant coiled hair; decorative forehead ornaments swayed gently with her steps, drawing attention to the generous expanse of pale skin at her chest.
After downing several bowls of nourishing whale glue tonic… what followed needs no elaboration.
---
By midday the next day, Xu Tianxi was in the library flipping through books when he suddenly saw Xuenuan and a group of servants deliver a pile of antique toys, casual books, and a gold soul coin card. He stared at the items, one question mark after another popping up in his mind.
"Chen Wu, Yuelao, what do you think the Lady is trying to do? Why is she giving me all this stuff?"
Xu Tianxi casually picked up an arrow used for pitch-pot and rolled it between his fingers, his eyes thoughtful. Nice enough item, he thought, but why give it to me out of the blue? I haven't even gone to greet her lately.
Yuelao frowned in thought, but Chen Wu blurted out casually, "Maybe she just wants to show off her status. Why don't you go play with Second Young Master for a bit, Third Young Master?"
"Sounds reasonable."
Without another word, Xu Tianxi asked Xu Xiaoyun to help him locate Xu Sanshi—who had been avoiding him like the plague lately—and greeted him with a grin:
"Second Brother Sanshi, there's something I need your help figuring out…"
After quickly explaining his suspicions about Xue Lingxun's behavior, Xu Sanshi frowned and thought for a long while before finally giving an answer.
"I don't know about the rest, but when I went to pay my respects to her this morning, she was still in bed and couldn't get up. When I asked her personal maid, she said the old man got summoned over by my mother last night, and the two of them… kept at it all night."
"She was in a really good mood afterward and even gave me a gold soul coin card, told me to go back to Shrek and spend it however I wanted."
Xu Tianxi: "...???"
What the heck? Could it be that Xu Fu pleased her so much she started handing out rewards?
Thinking about it that way, Xu Fu was pretty selfless. Xue Lingxun was clearly at the peak of her passions, and he gave his all for the cause. Even if Tianxi himself didn't need the favor, he had to admit—Xu Fu's dedication brought benefits for both of them.
"Looks like the old man's a good guy."
Xu Tianxi sighed with a strange sense of admiration. Even though he wasn't entirely sure of Xue Lingxun's motives, with his ancestor backing him, there was no need to overthink it.
"Yeah, the old man really is a good guy." Xu Sanshi nodded earnestly, still holding the gold soul coin card he'd just received.
Xu Xiaoyun stood silently nearby, his eyes glinting slightly. He seemed to catch the scent of something familiar in the air.
"I should probably go ask that kid Xu Fu about it later…"