It had been three days since the incident by the Sea God Lake.
In those three days, Heita's name had spread rapidly throughout Shrek Academy's inner court, becoming virtually a household name.
After all, the eruption of Sky-Sundering Sun Piercers in the skies above Sea God Lake that day was likely the most ever seen in Shrek Academy's history—this group of inner court students had truly witnessed a historic moment.
That's why they couldn't wait to get to know this junior schoolmate who had supposedly received direct transmission from the Sky-Encompassing Douluo!
Of course, this "junior schoolmate" was really just an outside rumor, but many believed it. After all, everyone had seen it with their own eyes—Heita had clearly learned the techniques of the Sky-Encompassing Douluo, so she was almost certainly a disciple of Cloudsun, the Pavilion Master of the Sea God's Pavilion.
Barring any surprises, this junior was destined to become the next Pavilion Master of the Sea God's Pavilion!
Getting to know Heita was equivalent to building connections with the next Pavilion Master. Unless you were a fool, as an inner court student, you would definitely go for it.
What's more, there was one unexpected thing: the elders of the Sea God's Pavilion had subtly hinted—it was as if they were encouraging the male students to court Heita!
Could that be true?
Even though it sounded absurd, many students still resolved to act, because Heita's identity was far too special. She was practically a pre-appointed member of the Sea God's Pavilion!
If you could marry her, your future would be set for life.
So, under this wave of enthusiasm, some young male inner court students began visiting Heita, hoping to find opportunities to show their affection.
However, when they actually tried visiting Heita, they were met with surprises.
Either they were shut out completely, not even getting a glimpse of Heita, or if they were lucky enough to meet her, they'd get chased away with a giant hammer…
"Aren't you here at Shrek Academy to study? How can you take classes if you're hiding in your room all day?"
Although Heita was extremely popular at Shrek, it was a problem if no one could even meet her!
So in this situation, Long Yeyue came to find Cloudsun.
Usually, Cloudsun and Yali, this couple, were rarely seen apart unless there were special circumstances. But this time, Long Yeyue broke the norm and dragged Cloudsun out alone, clearly intending to talk about something serious.
"Yue-jie, what are you planning to do?" Cloudsun felt puzzled. Long Yeyue had been acting strangely ever since Heita came to Shrek Academy. The elder woman seemed like a completely different person.
The two arrived at the edge of Sea God Lake and looked out across the water at the Shrek Academy campus. Long Yeyue spoke first:
"Cloudsun… are you aware of Heita's current situation?"
"How could I not be?" Cloudsun forced a bitter smile. Compared to the inner court students, he saw Heita much more often.
Of course, it wasn't that he voluntarily went to guide Heita—he was literally dragged out of the Sea God's Pavilion by her.
The way Heita acted showed no sign of respect. She treated him like some experimental subject, constantly making him do strange poses, releasing his martial soul and soul power for observation. It had gotten to the point where Cloudsun now felt nervous just seeing her…
> "You don't look like you came to Shrek to study. You came to act like some kind of ancestor!"
And that wasn't far from the truth. In Shrek Academy, no one could control Heita. Though she temporarily lived there and was nominally a student of the inner court, she completely ignored the rules of Shrek.
To Shrek Academy, this was both a huge crisis and a massive opportunity. If they could truly bring Heita into the fold as one of their own, then everything that's happened so far would be worth it.
After listening to Cloudsun recount recent events, Long Yeyue's expression grew increasingly serious.
"I didn't expect her to have grown this strong already… Seems like it's time for us to act, Cloudsun!"
Cloudsun was a bit confused by her words, but he quickly noticed that Yue-jie's expression wasn't as grim as before.
"Yue-jie… you mean you've thought of a solution?"
Normal methods clearly wouldn't work on Heita. Cloudsun had racked his brain trying to find a weakness while dealing with her daily, but found nothing. Yet Long Yeyue had come up with something.
> Truly worthy of being Yue-jie!
"Cloudsun, among everyone in the academy, you're the one Heita interacts with the most, right?"
"Of course. I get pulled into experiments by her every day. Based on what I've seen, she still seems interested in me…" Cloudsun pursed his lips with a helpless look. "But how long that interest will last, I can't be sure."
"And from her personality, it's clear she's the type who, once she loses interest, will just toss someone aside without hesitation. If I'm no longer useful to her, she'll definitely leave."
"We can't let Heita leave!" Long Yeyue's voice was firm. "To Shrek Academy, losing her would be an enormous loss!"
"I understand that too… but we're out of options!"
Cloudsun gave a bitter laugh. Ever since the last incident with Heita, he'd aged decades overnight. Yali even cried her heart out. Though he wouldn't blame Heita, a mere child, there was inevitably some unease in his heart.
"There is a way! Do you remember the time we hinted at the inner court students?" Long Yeyue said meaningfully, and Cloudsun understood immediately.
"Of course. They all went to find Heita, but it didn't work at all. Even if you added up all the time they spent with her, it wouldn't come close to the time I've spent as her 'test subject'…"
Shrek inner court students were top-tier talents, highly sought after outside the academy. But they looked down on outsiders, which is why Shrek had the "Sea God Fate" matchmaking event—to help resolve the romantic lives of these proud students and prevent them from becoming eternal bachelors or spinsters.
But even so, some still couldn't find partners, usually the most elite geniuses. Heita was clearly one of them.
Trying to find a partner for her? To be honest, Cloudsun couldn't even imagine it.
He couldn't even picture Heita being with a man!
> "And that is the issue, Cloudsun," Long Yeyue said, nodding with a mischievous smile—a look Cloudsun had never seen on her before.
> "Since those inner court students can't handle it, we'll just have to pick someone else… Cloudsun, I hope you understand, I'm doing this for Shrek Academy!"
"You mean—?!" Cloudsun felt a wave of dread rising in his heart.
> "No matter the cost, we must keep Heita! Even if it means using dirty tricks…"
> "So, I want you to be the one to do it, Cloudsun."
> "You go eliminate Heita!"