At the center of Sea God Island stood a wooden building. This structure was ingeniously built against an ancient towering tree, with the massive trunk seamlessly integrated into the architecture.
The golden branches and leaves shimmered in the sunlight, casting a halo over the entire building.
This was the core of Sea God Island and the spiritual symbol of Shrek Academy, as well as the entire Shrek City.
This building, merged with the golden ancient tree, was none other than Shrek's highest authority, the Sea God Pavilion!
The interior of the wooden house was simply furnished. On either side of a long wooden table sat seven people, with one more at the head of the table, making a total of eight.
The young man at the head of the table was around twenty-seven or twenty-eight years old, handsome with a refined and reserved demeanor. He appeared ordinary, with no trace of soul power emanating from him.
Yun Ming glanced at the soul communicator he had just hung up and sighed.
Such emotional behavior, how could he feel at ease?
"Where is Zhuo Shi now?"
"He's already reached Heavenly Soul City and is nearing the Skysea Alliance," said the Amorous Douluo, seated to Yun Ming's right.
"That's good."
Yun Ming nodded, then looked around at the elders of the Sea God Pavilion, frowning slightly.
Shrek had faced defeat ten thousand years ago.
They had lost the Soul Master Tournament and the battle against the Sun Moon Empire.
However, events like the descent of the Sea God, the Butterfly God's ascension, Emperor Xu Tianran's enrollment in Shrek, the influx of Sun Moon soul engineers, and the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Eye falling into the academy's hands through the Sea God's oracle had gradually restored Shrek Academy's confidence.
Looking back over twenty thousand years, Shrek Academy was the only institution to have produced deities.
Even the first Tower Master of the once-dominant Spirit Pagoda had fallen before achieving godhood, hadn't he?
With deities standing behind them, Shrek was eternal, its glory everlasting.
Some harbored such thoughts, leading Shrek to once again cultivate a sense of honor and pride.
And in this era, the vanity of being the continent's number one had fallen upon him, causing some to lose sight of the bigger picture...
Thinking of this, Yun Ming looked at the elders below and said, "The outcome of the Skysea Alliance competition is irrelevant. Losing a match doesn't affect our foundation. What's important is the public opinion, this is the Federation's warning to the academy..."
The elders listened quietly, not immediately speaking.
This Sea God Pavilion Master was widely recognized as the most powerful figure on the Douluo Continent, standing at the pinnacle of humanity.
With him at the helm, Shrek Academy was as solid as a rock. Even the formidable Federation dared not act rashly.
He was Shrek's pillar of strength.
Yun Ming continued, "In recent years, the academy has indeed been too ostentatious. I hope this incident will serve as a reminder for the academy to rein itself in..."
After Yun Ming finished, one elder spoke up, "Now, the Spirit Pagoda is building momentum for the next generation. With Huo Yuhao's talent, the Federation's attention should shift to the Spirit Pagoda, right? As for reining ourselves in, we've already hidden much of our strength. We're not as conspicuous as the Spirit Pagoda."
Hearing this, the Amorous Douluo turned to look at the elder, his heart stirred.
He didn't fully understand Shrek Academy's sense of honor, but he was aware of a portion of its strength.
Take the Limit Douluo, for example. Besides the four of them, there were three other Limit Douluo closely tied to Shrek Academy, two in the reclusive sect, Clear Sky Sect, and one in the War God Hall, a fellow disciple of the Atlas Douluo.
A total of seven Limit Douluo, all but him and the Heartless Douluo being quasi-deities. In terms of limit strength, Shrek surpassed the Spirit Pagoda, with two of them even being true deities, undeniably powerful.
As for whether Shrek had hidden cards up its sleeve, the Amorous Douluo wasn't sure, since he had joined later. But…
Strength was one thing; conduct was another.
Among the Federation's four major powers, the Spirit Pagoda, the Illustrious Virtue Hall, and the War God Hall all followed the Federation's lead.
Shrek Academy, however, not only had an almost autonomous Shrek City but had also been acting too flamboyantly in recent years.
Out of the four, Shrek stood out as the exception, didn't it?
Yun Ming also looked at the elder, "Given the current situation, the Spirit Pagoda and the Federation remain on good terms. Don't harbor any illusions."
The Sea God Pavilion elder, seeing the calm in Yun Ming's eyes, felt a chill, "I understand."
The Spirit Pagoda hoped they would take the forefront, but these elders also felt the Spirit Pagoda was the one leading the charge.
Logically, with so many Super Douluo and Limit Douluo, the Spirit Pagoda should be the more conspicuous one.
However, Di Tian and Xue Di's conduct was too steady. It seemed they each had their own confidence, and that confidence kept them grounded.
Coupled with the fact that the first Tower Master of the Spirit Pagoda was a reclusive Douluo, the entire Spirit Pagoda's demeanor appeared overly cautious. Over ten thousand years, hardly any troublemakers had emerged.
The Federation had gone from being wary, to feeling like it was battling shadows, to finally accepting a harmonious coexistence with the Spirit Pagoda.
Now, with the Spirit Pagoda promoting a prodigy like Huo Yuhao, the Federation hadn't even reacted, instead turning its attention to Shrek. This elder couldn't help but feel displeased.
Compared to the Spirit Pagoda, hadn't they been relatively low-key this time?
This was also Cai Yue'er's thought.
In the top-floor room of the hotel, Huo Yuhao's group of seven and Luoyang Lu, upon entering at Shrek's invitation, immediately noticed the elderly woman and Shen Yi behind her.
Seeing Cai Yue'er, Luoyang Lu's eyes narrowed slightly, but he soon seemed to recall something, his expression relaxing as he led the seven to sit before the elderly woman. He spoke solemnly, "I apologize for not welcoming you sooner, Silver Moon Douluo."
Silver Moon Douluo, Cai Yue'er. Sixty years ago, she had been a terrifying presence on the continent, known for her erratic behavior and unpredictable temperament.
Back then, the soul master world had been thrown into chaos by her alone, with Shrek Academy eventually stepping in to bring her under control.
Since then, this former troublemaker had vanished like the moon behind clouds, never to be seen again.
No one expected her to appear this time.
Cai Yue'er nodded faintly, her gaze shifting to Huo Yuhao, lingering for a moment before moving to Gu Yuena, "You only used three elements in the competition, but from what I observed, you're capable of more, aren't you?"
Gu Yuena hadn't expected Cai Yue'er to focus on her. She raised an eyebrow, "I can use six. Do you have any advice?"
"Six-element control?" Cai Yue'er's lips curved into a slight smile, "Such a martial soul is unprecedented on the continent. Even I'm getting a bit excited."
With that, she turned to Luoyang Lu, "I'm here today to discuss these children's enrollment in Shrek Academy. They have remarkable talent, and I can arrange for them to enter the inner academy."
Luoyang Lu raised an eyebrow and smiled, "Which soul master academy they attend is entirely up to the children. I won't interfere."
Seeing Luoyang Lu's confident demeanor, Cai Yue'er frowned slightly and turned back to Gu Yuena, "Would you be willing to join Shrek Academy? If you agree, I'll personally mentor you."
Gu Yuena shook her head calmly, "If Yuhao doesn't go, neither will I."
Beside her, Shen Yi's brow furrowed as he looked at Gu Yuena, speaking earnestly, "Elder Cai is one of the Sea God Pavilion elders at Shrek Academy, titled Silver Moon Douluo, a 96th-ranked Super Douluo and one of the continent's top powerhouses. It would be a great fortune to become her disciple."
Gu Yuena: "Oh."
A 96th-ranked Title Douluo? So what? Is that supposed to be impressive?
Wang Jinxi and Zhang Yangzi also remained indifferent.
Their teacher's martial soul fusion could rival a Limit Douluo. Had they boasted about it?
Tang Wulin, Xu Xiaoyan, and Xie Xie reacted similarly.
Tang Wulin had already become Bear Lord's disciple. A Super Douluo wasn't that awe-inspiring anymore.
Seeing the children's lack of reaction, Shen Yi was momentarily at a loss.
What was going on? These kids didn't even react to a Super Douluo?
Cai Yue'er's eyes suddenly turned cold, a frosty aura settling over her brow, "If you're unwilling to join the academy, then let's discuss how you've tarnished the academy's reputation!"