Early the next morning.
Su Yunlin and Wang Dong got up early. Strictly speaking, they hadn't slept at all last night—they had been cultivating through the entire night. After a full night of cultivation, they both felt refreshed and full of energy.
Wang Dong stretched lazily, then suddenly thought of something.
"We still have some time before class starts. Let's go take a walk around Sea God Lake. The air there is the freshest in the morning."
"Sure," Su Yunlin replied.
At the lakeside of Sea God Lake.
Su Yunlin also quietly sensed the aura of the lake. As expected of Shrek Academy—its foundation was truly extraordinary.
His gaze drifted toward the center of the lake, where a towering ancient tree stood. That was the academy's most important treasure—the Golden Tree.
"Hm? What's that?"
A red dot was rapidly approaching from a distance. Its speed was astonishing.
Wang Dong also noticed it. "What is that? Oh, I see it—red light! Is that an inner courtyard senior?"
"Not good! Wang Dong, be careful!"
Without hesitation, Su Yunlin pulled Wang Dong into his arms and quickly retrieved a bracelet-shaped defensive soul tool from his storage soul device. He strapped it onto his wrist and injected Spirit Power.
"Yunlin, what are you doing?" Wang Dong's face flushed instantly from the sudden closeness.
The next moment—
The red figure arrived.
It was accompanied by a terrifying wave of scorching heat. Only then did Wang Dong realize that the "red dot" was in a berserk state.
Su Yunlin reacted instantly and activated the defense.
BOOM——!
Flames engulfed both of them, but within a one-meter radius, a faint pink barrier formed, isolating the terrifying heat and fire completely.
Only then did Su Yunlin breathe out in relief. Good thing he reacted fast enough to activate the defensive soul tool.
"Yunlin, what is going on? That should be an inner courtyard senior, right? Why would they attack us?" Wang Dong asked while staring at the fiery figure.
"From the flames, it looks like the Evil Fire Phoenix Martial Soul," Su Yunlin said calmly. "You should be able to sense it too with your Radiant Goddess Butterfly."
Wang Dong looked at the dark-red flames surrounding them and nodded.
"This senior must have suffered a fire backlash, losing control of their mind."
"That's too dangerous!" Wang Dong frowned. "Does the academy not supervise this? It's like a walking bomb! If it weren't for you, I would've been done for."
"Good thing I reacted fast enough and activated the defensive soul tool," Su Yunlin said. "Both of our Martial Souls are insect-type, not particularly resistant to fire. And that person's cultivation far exceeds ours—if we were fully engulfed, it would've been over."
At that moment, over ten figures shot over from the depths of Sea God Lake at incredible speed, arriving in an instant.
"Stop Xiao Tao!"
The leading white-robed elder arrived first. Raising his right hand, he suppressed the fiery figure with a burst of dazzling light, eventually revealing a curvaceous woman in red robes.
"Check if any students are injured!" the white-robed elder ordered.
"Dean! Only two students were nearby. They're unharmed. They activated a defensive soul tool and successfully blocked Senior Xiao Tao's flames."
The dean let out a sigh of relief. "Good—no major incident occurred. Teacher Li, handle the aftermath. Make sure they forget everything they saw. If it leaks, they'll be expelled. Give them appropriate compensation. We're leaving."
Only then did Su Yunlin set Wang Dong down.
Wang Dong frowned. "What does this mean? We almost died, and they just leave like that?"
"Don't talk for now," Su Yunlin said quietly. "We'll discuss it later."
The remaining white-robed middle-aged man walked up to them.
"A defensive soul tool? And quite high-grade too, no wonder it could block Xiao Tao's flames."
"You two are fine now. As for what you just saw—forget it. Otherwise, you will be expelled immediately. Take these as compensation. I trust you're smart enough."
He tossed two green pills over.
"Those are Spirit Ascension Pills?" Wang Dong immediately recognized them.
After throwing the pills, the man soared into the air.
"Go to class. And remember—forget everything you just saw!"
After everyone left, Su Yunlin sneered.
"So this is Shrek Academy? That Martial Soul Department Dean… truly lives up to my parents' evaluation."
Wang Dong turned to him. "What? That was the dean?"
"No. The one who released that light-attributed aura earlier—that white-robed old man—that's Yan Shaozhe. Martial Soul: Light Phoenix. Not a particularly impressive person."
"What kind of person is he?" Wang Dong asked curiously.
"I'll tell you tonight in the dorm."
"Alright."
[Spirit Ascension Pill]
A pill that increases Spirit Power, refined from rare heavenly materials and earthly treasures. A Spirit Master can only consume one in their lifetime. Its effect is roughly equivalent to the Spirit Power gained from advancing from rank 30 to rank 31.
Nighttime.
"Spirit Ascension Pill… a silencing fee, huh? What do you think, Wang Dong?" Su Yunlin looked at the pill in his hand.
He had heard of it before, but never obtained one. It was extremely rare—only a few plant-type Spirit Masters could refine it, with an annual output of fewer than twenty.
Even with his family wealth, it couldn't be purchased on the open market. Getting one for free was not bad at all.
Wang Dong lay on his bed. "It's pretty good. With this, I can probably break through to rank 22 or even 23 overnight. Anyway, nothing happened. Oh right, Yunlin, what's that soul tool on your wrist? It's so strong—it blocked a Soul Emperor-level attack?"
She had clearly seen it: that madwoman had six Spirit Rings and an Evil Fire Phoenix Martial Soul. Her explosive power far exceeded that of ordinary cultivators.
Su Yunlin raised his wrist, revealing the bracelet.
"This is a Rank 7 defensive soul tool. My father modeled it after a top-tier defensive device from the Sun Moon Empire. It can withstand even Soul Douluo-level attacks. However, it requires manual activation and switching between active and passive modes, so it's not perfect."
Wang Dong was amazed. "That's already incredible! Otherwise, we'd really have been in trouble."
"Hmph! Just thinking about it makes me angry. If anything really happened to me, my Second Uncle would've flattened Shrek Academy."
"Oh? Your Second Uncle is that strong?"
Wang Dong raised her chin proudly. "Of course! My Second Uncle is invincible! And if needed, there's also my First Uncle. Together, they're basically unmatched across the entire Douluo Continent."
Su Yunlin paused. "You have… a lot of uncles."
Wang Dong explained, "My First and Second Uncles are my mother's brothers and also my father's sworn brothers. They're sworn brothers with life-and-death bonds, so I call them that. Anyway, you still haven't told me about that dean."
Su Yunlin thought for a moment.
"Yan Shaozhe… someone who isn't very strong, and not very decent either. That's my mother's evaluation of him."
"Back then, he had a conflict with my mother and was beaten badly by her. Afterwards, he falsely accused her of being a Evil Spirit Master. My grandfather personally came to Shrek Academy to demand justice."
"After many twists and turns, my mother was finally cleared of all charges. She was nearly forced into a dead end. If not for my father and grandfather protecting her with everything they had, she might not have survived."
"So my mother once said—if anyone ever targets me in Shrek Academy, she will personally deal with Yan Shaozhe and beat him until he can't take care of himself."
Wang Dong froze.
Then she puffed up her cheeks in anger.
"How can someone be so shameless?! That kind of person should just be my Second Uncle's punching bag! Yunlin, if that Yan Shaozhe ever tries to trouble you, tell me—I'll call my Second Uncle to beat him up!"