Book 1: Skydream Iceworm

Chapter 6.4: Number One Academy in the Douluo Continent

There were three sculptures in the front, with the middle sculpture resembling an old man. He had a set of spectacles and a beaming look on his face. His figure was average, but he was slightly plump, and he looked like a yes-man.

Bei Bei said to Huo Yuhao, “The person in the middle is the founder of Shrek Academy, and also the first dean of the academy, Flender. The person to his left is an ancestor of my clan. He created the teaching foundations that are currently used by various martial soul systems within Shrek Academy. He’s also one of the martial soul world’s ten core role models, and has the title of Grandmaster. His name is Yu Xiaogang. My mother was a direct descendant of his bloodline. The woman to the right is also another ancestor of mine, Liu Erlong. She’s Grandmaster’s wife. The three of them were able to merge together and form the Golden Iron Triangle. If Dean Flender could be said to have founded Shrek Academy, then Grandmaster would be the true spirit behind it. He was also the person who single-handedly raised Shrek’s Seven Monsters, whose sculptures are behind them.

The sculpture of Grandmaster looked like a middle-aged man who’d wasted away a bit, while Liu Erlong was a charming middle-aged woman.

There were seven sculptures lined up horizontally behind them. When Huo Yuhao’s gaze fell upon the sculpture in the middle, who stood at the forefront of the others, his body couldn’t help but tremble.

It was a statue of a tall man who had a handsome appearance, but the most peculiar thing about him, were his eyes. There was a pattern on his forehead with the word “King”, and although it was only a sculpture, it had a sort of imposing and strong pressure.

“The seven sculptures that stand behind the Golden Iron Triangle are Shrek’s Seven Monsters, who previously created their own glory. The person who’s standing in front is the White Tiger Douluo, Dai Mubai, while the second person is the Sausage Douluo, Oscar. The third person is our Tang Sect’s ancestor, the Asura Douluo, Tang San.

Tang San was the most handsome amongst the seven. His blue hair was draped across his shoulders, and he wore a simple set of warriors robes. Blue vines that were clearly his Bluesilver Grass martial soul had coiled around the sculpture. There was also a faint smile at the corner of his mouth, but his lifelike gaze was fixed on a woman who was fifth in the row, who had braided hair.

“The fourth person is the Evil Phoenix Douluo, Ma Hongjun, while the fifth person is Tang San’s wife, the Soft Bone Douluo, Xiao Wu. According to the stories, she was a hundred thousand year soul beast who chose to cultivate as a human. The person even further back is the Nine Treasure Douluo, Ning Rongrong, who holds the title of the world’s strongest auxiliary soul master; she was also the Sausage Douluo’s wife. The last person is the Netherworld Douluo, Zhu Zhuqing. She was the wife of the White Tiger Douluo.”

The first generation of Shrek’s Seven Monsters sculptures all had different shapes, but the fact that they were all Titled Douluos attested to how strong they’d been in the past.

Tang Ya’s gaze was fixed on the sculpture of the Asura Douluo, Tang San. The Golden Iron Triangle and the first generation of Shrek’s Seven Monsters had laid the foundation for Shrek Academy. Even though ten thousand years had gone by, and even though Shrek Academy had raised an uncountable number of outstanding geniuses and experts, the number of sculptures had never increased, and had remained at ten.

Bei Bei explained to Huo Yuhao, “We’ll have to separate here. If you walk to the left, you’ll arrive at the Martial Soul Institution. If you walk to the right, you’ll arrive at the Soul Engineering Institution. These are the two largest branches of Shrek Academy, and they both belong to the outer courtyard. If you were to compare them, the Martial Soul Institution is larger, while the Soul Engineering Institution is smaller. Furthermore, the Martial Soul Institution is also divided into many departments. We’ll go to the Martial Soul Institution to get you registered first. The basic requirement for you to enroll in the Soul Engineering Institution is for you to pass the first assessment for new students.”

Huo Yuhao’s gaze was still stuck on the ten sculptures. When he thought about the legends that his mother had told him about, he occasionally felt a shocked feeling rise in his heart.

The road to the left of the sculptures was still very wide, and could fit four or five carriages side-by-side. There was a signboard next to the road with the words ‘Lakeside Path’ written on it.

You could faintly see a large body of water hidden within the shady green trees to the right. This also meant that there was an enormous lake behind the ten sculptures of the Golden Iron Triangle and Shrek’s Seven Monsters.

Tang Ya noticed Huo Yuhao’s gaze, and couldn’t help but speak with a slightly proud voice, “That’s an artificial lake made for the sake of commemorating our Tang Sect’s ancestor, Tang San. It’s called Sea God’s Lake, because according to the legends, our ancestor Tang San inherited the Sea God’s legacy. The Sea God’s Lake has an extremely large surface area, and is filled entirely with groundwater. Our Shrek Academy’s inner courtyard is located on an island in the middle of the Sea God’s Lake. Every single disciple from the outer courtyard feels honored if they’re able to reach the centre island of Sea God’s Lake.

Bei Bei looked toward the Sea God’s Lake with a deep gaze, and a determined and stubborn light flashed through his eyes.

The Sea God’s Lake was indeed very large. As they followed the lakeside path to head southward, they only needed to turn westwards after a full fifteen minutes had passed. Only after they’d walked another fifteen minutes or so did the path finally begin to recede, causing a vast, rectangular plaza to appear in their line of sight. A signboard with the words ‘Shrek Plaza’ also stood beside the plaza.

There were many tall teaching areas behind Shrek Plaza. The colours of these teaching areas were all different, and were separated into four main colours—white, yellow, purple, and black. If one gazed into the far south of Shrek Plaza, they’d even be able to see a grey teaching area.

Bei Bei pointed towards the teaching areas next to the plaza as he said, “The different coloured teaching areas represent the different years of students, which are differentiated according to the colours of soul rings. The white teaching areas are for new students, just like the lowest level ten year soul rings. Accordingly, the yellow teaching areas are for the outer courtyard’s second and third year students, and the purple teaching areas are for the fourth and fifth year students. The black teaching areas are for the sixth year students. If you’re able to leave the black teaching areas, you’ll be able to obtain a graduation certificate from the academy’s outer courtyard.

“Those grey teaching areas in the distance belong to the Soul Engineering Institution. If you compare were to compare their size here, the Soul Engineering Institution takes up roughly a third of the teaching area, while the Martial Soul Department takes up a full two-thirds. Besides these teaching areas at the front, there are also many special teaching grounds located in the back, such as the Soul Dueling Arena, the assessment areas, the dormitories, the teacher’s offices, and so on.”

The new students’ white teaching areas were located to the far south, and were also the closest to the lakeside path. The three of them walked southwards from Shrek Plaza, arriving at the teaching area.

Because it was currently the period that new students were admitted in, the new student’s teaching area was especially lively. A few new students who’d already passed their assessments were currently there to enroll.

With Bei Bei and Tang Ya’s guidance, Huo Yuhao was able to report for his registration extremely smoothly. The school’s fees were paid by Bei Bei, with the fee for a new student unexpectedly being ten gold soul coins. Furthermore, this didn’t include his food expenses. If one had to quit school due to failing an assessment, their school fees wouldn’t be refunded.

After collecting his dorm key and two sets of school uniforms, as well as a white freshman badge, Huo Yuhao followed Tang Ya and Bei Bei towards the new student’s teaching area.

Tang Ya said, “Little Yuhao, the dormitory’s behind the teaching areas; it’s the largest building in the entire academy. You can go there by yourself later. New students will formally start their classes in three days, so you can familiarize yourself with the environment during the next few days. We’ve paid for your first year’s school fees, but you’ll have to rely on yourself for next year. The academy has various types of competitions, all of which have prize money for winning them. Also, you’re already a soul master, so once you finish registering, you can collect a salary that the three empires give out once a month. You should save some of it, but it should be enough for food.”

Huo Yuhao made sure he remembered everything that Tang Ya said. When he was about to bid his farewells to Teacher Xiao Ya and Bei Bei, Bei Bei looked at the nearby bulletin board and furrowed his brows slightly when he saw the announcement pasted on it.

Huo Yuhao didn’t need to walk up to it; He merely circulated his soulforce a bit, and the strong visual abilities of his Spirit Eyes exhibited their use, allowing him to see the words on the announcement clearly.

Huo Yuhao’s mother had taught him how to read since he was young, so although he’d never formally attended school, his education level wasn’t bad at all.

He saw the words that were written on the announcement: “Teacher in charge of the class one: Zhou Yi. Teacher in charge of class two…”

Zhou Yi? I think that I’m in class one! Because he’d registered early, Huo Yuhao had been directly assigned to the first class of new students, class one.

Tang Ya had also noticed. She let out a low cry of surprise. “Ah? Why is it that perverted old grandma, Zhou Yi? Doesn’t she teach year three? Why would she be assigned to teach new students?”

Bei Bei smiled bitterly, “I heard that Teacher Zhou was overly strict when she taught the third year students, which resulted in only ten percent of her students being promoted to fourth year students. Furthermore, she was reported by the students to the academy many times, which led to her being demoted to teaching new students. Junior brother, you must be careful. There aren’t many monstrous students within the outer courtyard of our Shrek Academy, but there are many monstrous teachers. Of them, the worst is this Teacher Zhou.