The Phoenix Teases the Twin Dragons had already caused a huge upheaval on the Douluo Continent. As the text said, the three most powerful Limit Douluo in the world were actually all from the Evil Soul Master faction.
And these three Limit Douluo each represented two large forces.
The Holy Spirit Cult and Shrek Academy.
The Holy Spirit Cult was one thing. Even though Evil Soul Masters often caused chaos on the continent, the Holy Spirit Cult alone was not enough to be an enemy of the entire continent.
But Shrek Academy...
Shrek Academy, which had enjoyed a reputation for ten thousand years in the soul master world, was now, in this era, controlled by a coward who had succumbed to an Evil Soul Master. And over the past century, it was unknown how many dark deeds it had done for the Holy Spirit Cult.
A century!
The lifetime of an ordinary person was only a hundred years. In this long period, how many people lost their lives because of Shrek's complicity with evil?
Did they deserve to die? Did they have to become nourishment for Evil Soul Masters to get stronger, all for the sake of your personal affection, Mu En?
Mu En... are you worthy of the hundreds of millions of people on the Douluo Continent?!
And the release of Fellow Travelers only magnified the world's dissatisfaction with Shrek, their hatred for Mu En, and their deep fear of the academy's corrupt leadership.
On the surface, Shrek was the great hero leading the three empires against the invasion of the Sun and Moon Empire. But behind the scenes, Shrek used its righteous image to constantly seek benefits for itself and help the wicked!
Shrek City, which was already almost empty, became even more lifeless. As one of the most prosperous cities on the continent, Shrek City's permanent population was not much less than the Sun and Moon Empire's capital, Mingdu.
It's important to know that the population density of a semi-modern city is completely different from that of an ancient city. Having a population close to that of Mingdu meant Shrek City had already won.
Now, nine out of ten people had left Shrek City. The city was full of closed doors and discarded furniture, or various useless household items.
Everything useful had been taken by those who left, and the remaining household waste was hastily abandoned.
After all... they would never return.
No one dared to continue living in a place whose leadership was already so corrupt and whose most powerful individual was helping Evil Soul Masters.
Shrek City's reputation, which was already in a nosedive, was now even worse.
It wasn't just Shrek City that was empty; the students in Shrek Academy were also leaving at an alarming rate. And this process was still ongoing, with more and more people leaving.
If you ask why Shrek Academy didn't try to stop them from leaving, how could they?
By using force?
That would only make Shrek Academy's already bad reputation completely rotten. If Shrek Academy let things take their natural course, a group of "hardcore Shrek supporters" would still remain loyal to the academy.
In this situation, if they handled it properly and slowly restored their reputation, there would still be a chance for a comeback.
After all, a blow to one's reputation is only temporary. As long as the hidden dangers were resolved, with Shrek Academy's resources and foundation—the ten thousand years of stored books, numerous powerhouses, the Golden Ancient Tree, and so on—they would always have a day to rise again.
But if they were to act with a tough attitude and detain or coerce people, there was a risk that Shrek Academy could become a second Holy Spirit Cult, attacked by the entire continent.
Elder Song understood this principle very well.
With Mu En not yet returned, and Xuan Zi and Yan Shaozhe "imprisoned" at the bottom of the Golden Tree, Shrek Academy was without a leader. She and Lin Huiqun were the ones who strongly advocated a gentle, soft-line policy of appeasement.
They would not only not force anyone to stay in Shrek City and Shrek Academy, but they would also send an apology letter to everyone who left.
The gist of the letter was that the internal problems of Shrek Academy were caused by the actions of a few leaders and were not representative of the entire academy. They expressed deep regret for Shrek Academy's corruption and promised to deal with these problems as soon as possible to return Shrek Academy to the light.
It must be said that Elder Song's approach was somewhat effective. At least to a certain extent, it greatly salvaged Shrek Academy's reputation.
How could a power that had developed to the level of Shrek Academy be without any problems?
Elder Song's current attitude—lowering herself to apologize and stating that she would definitely solve Shrek Academy's problems—was much better than what some "inner circle" celebrities did when their scandals were exposed, like covering up the news, denying everything, or pretending to be pitiful in a livestream.
Therefore, while people were leaving Shrek Academy, their hearts were not entirely disappointed with it. They still had faith in them.
"I'm leaving because I'm afraid of dying. I'm afraid of being inexplicably sent to be a 'little bun' for Evil Soul Masters. But even though I'm afraid, I believe that you, Shrek, will be able to solve the problem! When that time comes, you, Shrek, will still be the number one academy on the Douluo Continent!"
After successfully marketing her message, Elder Song's lips curled into a smile.
The timing of Fellow Travelers's release was simply perfect. It made Elder Song want to pop open a bottle of champagne.
She had already wanted to use this opportunity to confront Mu En but was struggling to get her daughter on board. But now that Fellow Travelers was out, it not only proved that Yan Shaozhe was the descendant of an Evil Soul Master but also clearly explained Yan Shaozhe's relationship with the Evil Soul Master Feng Ling.
When Elder Song brought Fellow Travelers to Xian Lin'er, she saw her from a distance, head down and weeping on her desk. On the desk in front of her was a copy of Fellow Travelers.
Her filter for her first love was completely shattered. Xian Lin'er's love even turned into hatred for Yan Shaozhe, this "tumor" of Shrek who not only had the blood of an Evil Soul Master in his veins but also had a secret affair with an Evil Soul Master.
Elder Song didn't even have to say much. She simply hinted at her intention to take action against Mu En's faction to clear out these tumors and restore Shrek's purity, and Xian Lin'er immediately agreed.
"Mother, you can rest assured. I am your daughter, and I grew up in Shrek. This is my home, and I will not allow anyone to destroy our home!" Xian Lin'er said with red, bloodshot eyes and a hoarse, determined voice.
Elder Song was overjoyed, exclaiming that her daughter had finally come to her senses.
She had never approved of Xian Lin'er's relationship with Yan Shaozhe, but her daughter had been so fixated on him that she had been completely powerless.
Now, not only had she convinced Xian Lin'er to stand on her side, but she had also made her completely give up on Yan Shaozhe.
This was a double blessing!
This old Daoist... no, this old Daoistess has succeeded!
(End of Chapter)
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