After taking a shower, cleaning up, and then burning the clothes from last night to ashes and flushing them down the drain to destroy any evidence, Yun Chuan finally breathed a sigh of relief.
He then took out new clothes, changed into them, and tidied his appearance. He looked completely refreshed.
Today was the official enrollment day for Shrek Academy.
Yun Chuan had already spoken to Flender, arranging for himself to be the examiner for the final test of these students. Therefore, he now had to set off for Shrek Academy.
He walked out of the Rose Hotel, turned his head to look at the hotel where he had lost his first dream, and recalled the dream from last night, his heart filled with complex emotions. He shook his head, took a step, and left.
He exited Soto City from the South Gate and headed towards his destination. Shrek's address was not within the city, but outside it.
Yun Chuan left Soto City and followed the road south. On both sides of the official road were vast farmlands. Soto City's reputation as the grain capital of the Balak Kingdom was not unfounded.
However, apart from the large tracts of farmland, as far as the eye could see, there were no buildings that resembled an academy. If he hadn't been taken there by Flender before, and hadn't read the original novel, he would never have known where Shrek Academy was located.
Soon, two familiar figures appeared in front of Yun Chuan.
Tang San was carrying Xiao Wu, slowly walking forward. The two of them looked like a loving couple at this moment. As a single man, Yun Chuan could smell the overwhelming scent of dog food from afar.
"Hmph... daring to show affection and spread dog food in front of a single man like me! Tang San, you're quite capable! Good, I'll make sure to 'greet' you two properly later!" Yun Chuan's eyebrows twitched, but he showed no unusual expression on the surface. Instead, he quickly stepped forward and greeted them, "Hey, you two up ahead, are you going to Shrek Academy to register?"
Hearing the voice, Tang San, who was carrying Xiao Wu, stopped and turned around. He saw a young man in white clothes and black hair quickly approaching and was startled. Remembering how badly Dai Mubai had been beaten yesterday, he instinctively didn't want to get involved with this person.
But Yun Chuan acted familiar, coming to their side and walking alongside them, saying to himself, "I'm also going to Shrek Academy, so let's walk together for a bit."
Although Tang San was internally resistant, he was pressured. In the end, he remained silent and continued to walk forward, silently carrying Xiao Wu. At this moment, even Xiao Wu, who was usually lively and active, also fell silent, letting him carry her forward.
Seeing the two of them remain silent, clearly not wanting to talk to him, Yun Chuan didn't mind. He smiled and continued walking, thinking that he would deal with them later.
After some time.
"Brother, look, there's a small village over there."
Xiao Wu, who had been silent, suddenly pointed forward. Tang San looked in the direction Xiao Wu was pointing and saw a small village about a li ahead. With the eyesight provided by his Purple Demon Eye, he could clearly discern that the village had about a hundred households, even smaller than Saint Spirit Village. The village was surrounded by a wooden fence, seemingly for defense against wild beasts.
At the village entrance, quite a few people seemed to be gathered, but he didn't know what was happening.
Tang San smiled and said, "Let's go ask. Perhaps the people in this village will know where Shrek Academy is. A Spirit Master academy should be very famous."
"No need to ask, Shrek Academy is just ahead," Yun Chuan, who was walking beside them, heard their conversation and directly told them the answer.
"What? You're saying that small village is Shrek Academy?" Xiao Wu couldn't help but say, "You're not trying to trick us, are you?" Even Tang San frowned, clearly also somewhat suspicious.
Yun Chuan looked at their suspicious expressions, shrugged indifferently, and said, "Don't believe me? Then let's go take a look together. You'll know whether I'm tricking you then."
"Let's go!" Xiao Wu snorted lightly, then patted Tang San's shoulder below her. "Brother, speed up!"
Is she treating me like a horse?
Tang San smiled helplessly, but still quickened his pace.
Soon, the three arrived closer, and Tang San and Xiao Wu both noticed something was amiss. Indeed, many people were gathered at the village entrance, most of them young people of similar age, and a large portion of them were accompanied by their parents.
At the village entrance, there was a table, and behind it sat an old man over sixty years old. What made Tang San and Xiao Wu dumbfounded was that a somewhat tattered plaque hung on a wooden archway at the village entrance, with five simple characters carved on it - Shrek Academy.
In front of these five characters, there was also a green head portrait, which looked like the head of a humanoid monster. It was green and a little cute. The old man behind the table also wore a similar green circular badge on his chest. It should be Shrek Academy's school emblem.
Yun Chuan recognized this old man; he was one of Shrek's teachers, a Spirit Emperor in strength.
Although Shrek Academy had many flaws, one thing couldn't be denied: Shrek's teaching staff was indeed very strong. However, it was unfortunate. Cultivation wasn't just about having a famous teacher's guidance; various resources were also indispensable. Otherwise, if talented students could be cultivated without resources, then academies would be everywhere.
Do you think an academy only needs teachers?
Various venue resources, and so on, are all indispensable. These are the qualities a true academy should possess. An academy like Shrek Academy is purely half-baked; it would be strange if it could cultivate good students. In the original novel, if it weren't for Tang San, the Son of Fortune, leading the way, Shrek would have closed down after that generation.
"No way." Xiao Wu jumped down from Tang San's back, looking at the plaque in surprise, then turning to look at Tang San. Both of them felt a bit stunned. Even Notting Junior Spirit Master Academy was much larger than this place, and this clearly looked like an ordinary small village. The archway at the entrance was not only made of wood but also less than a third the size of Notting Academy. Could this even be called a Spirit Master academy?
"Brother, did Grandmaster make a mistake? No matter how I look at it, I don't think this looks like an academy. It couldn't be a scam, could it?" Xiao Wu couldn't help but say. After speaking, she subconsciously glanced at Yun Chuan, who was smiling faintly beside her, thinking that this person had actually been right.
Tang San smiled wryly, "Since we're here, let's take a look first."
At this time, there were about a hundred registrants ahead of them in line, many of whom frowned, clearly holding the same thoughts as Xiao Wu.
A young man ahead of Tang San and Xiao Wu in line was accompanied by both his parents. The young man's mother said, "Are you serious? This is the so-called Spirit Master academy, the one that claims graduates can become an Empire viscount?"
The young man's father said somewhat uncertainly, "This is what the people from Spirit Hall said, so it shouldn't be wrong. But this academy is really too dilapidated."
The young man said, "Dad, I don't want to study here, it's too embarrassing. I'd rather go to Soto Intermediate Spirit Master Academy. After all, I was considered a genius when I was in junior academy."
The young man's father frowned and said, "Since we're already here, let's wait a bit longer. Maybe this is a kind of test. The real academy isn't here."
Similar conversations were definitely not uncommon among the people in line. Most of the young people and their parents showed deep disappointment on their faces.
Tang San's gaze did not linger on these registrants for too long. His eyes were fixed on the very front of the line, which was the registration area. His eyesight and hearing, enhanced by Mysterious Heaven Skill, could faintly pick up the conversations there.
The old man sitting behind the table, responsible for accepting registrations, looked languid. His clothes, to put it nicely, were plain; no matter how one looked at him, he resembled a village elder, even less spirited than Old Jack of Saint Spirit Village.
At this moment, a young man came to the table to register. The old man languidly said, "The registration fee is ten gold coins. Just put it in that box."
The young man's accompanying father quickly pulled out ten gold coins and put them into a box made of a few wooden planks nearby. "Extend one hand."
The young man extended his hand to the old man as instructed. The old man pinched his hand twice, then shook his head at him, saying, "Your age doesn't meet the requirements. You can leave."
The young man was stunned for a moment and turned to look at his father. Not many teenagers were as precocious as Tang San. His father quickly smiled apologetically, "Teacher, my son just turned thirteen. Could you please make an exception?"
The old man said somewhat impatiently, "Don't hold up the people behind. Don't you know the academy's rules? We only accept children under thirteen. Anyone over thirteen will not be accepted. You can leave."
The young man's father said, "Then our registration fee..."
The old man said unceremoniously, "Once registered, fees are non-refundable."
Even a clay figure has a bit of temper. The young man's father couldn't help but angrily say, "You're clearly scamming us. Refund our registration fee, or we won't leave. If we had known this so-called Shrek Academy was so dilapidated, we wouldn't have come."
The old man didn't get angry. He glanced at him and said faintly, "Mubai, someone wants their registration fee back. Deal with it."
On the ground nearby, a figure suddenly shot up. "If you want your registration fee back, fine. Beat me, and I'll refund it all."
This person was Dai Mubai. Previously, because he was sitting to the side, he was blocked by the crowd, and Tang San hadn't seen him. Slightly different from the overindulged appearance Tang San and Xiao Wu had seen him in that day, his complexion now looked much better.
After appearing, Dai Mubai didn't waste words. He directly activated his spirit power, releasing all three of his spirit rings: two hundred-year and one thousand-year. The surging spirit power created an invisible pressure in the air, and cold light flashed repeatedly in his evil eyes as he looked at the father and son!
Yun Chuan, seeing this scene, kept shaking his head, thinking that they were completely disgracing Spirit Masters. What's the point of scaring ordinary people? Is bullying the weak really that interesting?