Chapter 186: Mu En Takes A Disciple
The Sea God Island at night was extremely tranquil, the golden light emitted by the Golden Ancient Tree both sacred and brilliant in the pitch black night.
Occasionally, swimming fish would startle the water surface, rippling waves that carried the golden radiance from the Golden Ancient Tree, like surging molten gold.
A pure white and cold full moon hung in the sky, the silver cold moonlight unable to penetrate the golden radiance of the Golden Ancient Tree, the two clashing in mid-air and dyeing the sky above Sea God Island half gold and half silver.
At the core of Sea God Island, on the third floor of the Sea God Pavilion carved from the Golden Ancient Tree, a white-haired old man quietly leaned back in a rocking chair on the balcony, gazing at the wondrous sight in the sky.
He had seen this scenery for a full two hundred years, and every time he felt the unique and powerful nature of the Golden Ancient Tree beneath him.
The faint light it emitted could rival the moon, the golden light and moonlight weaving together to form unique Star Power, the most coveted supplement for all Star Power-type Martial Souls.
Unfortunately, the only person at Shrek Academy capable of absorbing this Star Power was Zhang Lexuan.
But today, Mu En did not contemplate that Star Power; instead, he fell into deep thought.
The thin and aged body lying on the rocking chair appeared somewhat fragile, as if it could be scattered by a gust of wind.
“Bai E, what is your wish?”
“My wish? My wish is to fulfill everyone’s wishes!”
“What… what if it can’t be fulfilled?”
“Can’t be fulfilled?”
“Then send them to tomorrow!”
Bai E’s clear voice echoed continuously in Mu En’s mind.
He didn’t know how he had returned to the Sea God Pavilion, as he had been savoring Bai E’s words, his body completely guided by instinct.
“A wish for the future to fulfill everyone’s wishes…”
“I, Mu En, have lived for over two hundred and fifty years, with the Bright Holy Dragon Martial Soul, level ninety-nine, and I thought myself sufficiently enlightened.”
“I never expected to be outshone today by a second ring child.”
“Bai E, your wish is truly ardent.”
“I always thought it was your Extreme Light Martial Soul that forcibly shaped your character.”
“Now I realize I was utterly wrong; perhaps you shaped the Extreme Light!”
“As Sea God Pavilion Master, my research on Martial Souls is confident not to lose to any theory class teacher.”
“Extreme Light absolutely cannot grant someone such profound enlightenment!”
“How should I describe this enlightenment and character?”
Mu En closed his eyes, his breathing as precise and steady as a machine, the white-haired old man beginning to recall every word in his life to define Bai E’s character.
Accompanied by the autumn wind carrying a chill, the old man suddenly opened his eyes and burst into hearty laughter.
His voice echoed at the top of Sea God Island, the branches and leaves of the Golden Ancient Tree swaying slightly, unclear if stirred by the wind or the voice.
“He’s a savior!”
“Hahaha!”
“After living most of my life, I end up using ‘savior’ from pulp novels to describe this character!”
As the laughter subsided, Mu En’s eyes sparkled with vitality, his once cloudy eyes now crystal clear.
“No one is more suited to the position of Sea God Pavilion Master than him.”
“If he can’t become Sea God Pavilion Master, then this Sea God Pavilion is truly beyond saving.”
“If even he can’t change Shrek, change the Douluo Continent, then this world looks unsalvageable.”
Mu En was very happy; he could finally see Shrek’s future clearly, a brilliant and romantic future.
Finding such a successor for Shrek, even if he died, he could face the previous generations of Sea God Pavilion Masters with pride.
He could proudly puff out his chest and tell his teacher.
“Teacher, I have arranged the future of Shrek Academy properly!”
If he let Xuan Zi or Yan Shaozhe inherit Sea God Pavilion Master, he would die with eyes wide open.
Forget facing previous Sea God Pavilion Masters; he wouldn’t even want to leave a corpse, as he had no face to speak of resting in peace!
He feared the resentment of this Shrek Academy would turn him into a zombie like in those Magic Net horror stories.
Worth mentioning, the most popular novel on Magic Net currently is “Ghost Blows Out the Light,” transported by Huo Yuhao and slightly adapted based on Douluo Star’s geography.
The bizarre story attracted countless Magic Net users, even leading to imitators of tomb-raiding captains appearing on the Douluo Continent, and apparently a sect has formed.
This group has made the four empires suffer, as they specifically target imperial mausoleums.
The Dou Ling Empire’s imperial mausoleum has already been raided by them; rumor has it the Avalanche Emperor who fought alongside Sea God and Imperial Advisor Yu Xiaogang’s corpses were stolen.
Someone said they saw these two skeletons at an auction on a small island at sea.
Rumor has it they were bought by collectors from the Sun Moon Empire for five million Dream Coins and taken back for collection.
This incident enraged the Douluo Three Kingdoms, who sternly condemned the Sun Moon Empire via Magic Net.
The Sun Moon Empire responded: “fake news.”
Of course, Huo Yuhao knew it was real; the bones had already arrived at Mingde Hall.
Jing Hongchen even asked Enthusiasm if he was interested in studying them together, since they were related to Sea God.
What if these two corpses had left some Divine Power? That would be a huge gain.
Huo Yuhao had zero interest in these two things—pure bad luck. If Buddha had left Divine Power on them, he would drink from Niangni Spring on the spot!
Mu En ended his contemplation, using Soul Power to support his body, slowly floating into his residence to rest. Tomorrow, after Bai E and Mademos finished school at noon, he planned to take them as disciples.
……
The next day at noon dismissal.
For students, this was an event comparable to a Soul Fighting Competition!
Snatching food and seats in the cafeteria at the fastest speed was truly an art!
From starting position, to shortest path planning, speed arrangement, even backstabbing companions—all indispensable!
“Mademos! Next up is the exciting rice-snatching time!”
Wang Yan always left ten minutes of self-study at the end of the last class before noon, letting them organize notes or warm up, to sprint to the cafeteria when the bell rang.
The most affordable and valuable food in the cafeteria could only be snatched by the fastest.
“Little White, Little Enemy, do you really not need Hundred Realms Gate?”
“I can take you there directly.”
Bai E and Mademos both waved their hands to refuse.
“No need, Teacher Ti Bao. Mademos and I agreed: whoever is slower today has to yield the bathroom this afternoon!”
“I’ll definitely win!”
Mademos looked disdainfully at Bai E and said:
“Where does your confidence come from?”
“From the milk tea powder you mixed into my protein powder?”
Bai E’s body stiffened, his face struggling to hold composure as he said:
“Ah?”
“When did you find out?”
Mademos snorted coldly; should he say that because the protein powder recently tasted good, he even went to the South District commercial street to find the merchant to buy the same kind?
Only to be told by the merchant they didn’t sell milk tea-flavored protein powder.
Thinking of this, Mademos’s fists clenched!
He swore that this time back, he would secretly replace all those Chimera-like clothes in Bai E’s closet with Shrek uniforms!
A smile appeared on Ti Bao’s tender and cute face; these two always got along very well.
“Um, Vice Class Monitor Ti Bao, can you take me too?”
A classmate nearby quietly raised his hand; he had a Support Type Weapon Martial Soul and couldn’t compete with those Assault Type Beast Martial Soul big guys, having eaten Kenlaishi for weeks straight.
He felt like he was turning into a burger!
“Me too!”
“Please take me!”
Ti Bao looked at the classmates raising hands one after another, her red hair tie swaying slightly, her tender cute voice like an angel’s in their ears.
“Of course no problem!”
“We’re classmates, after all.”
“After class, I’ll open Hundred Realms Gate; everyone just go through.”
“Be sure to stay safe.”
“Vice Class Monitor Ti Bao! Waaah!”
Xue Qing and other classmates were deeply moved, nearly draping Ti Bao in dragon robes to usurp Feng Jin’s bird position.
Then shouting oaths of loyalty!
Class 1 students felt lucky to join this class.
The class was full of genius monsters; one brick could hit three or four.
Plus super monsters like Bai E and Mademos; just knowing them was enough to brag about outside.
Befriending these monsters and adding them on Magic Net was worth the ticket price, even if expelled later for failing assessments!
The class atmosphere was very united; any minor conflicts, Feng Jin would help mend the rifts.
If injured, Feng Jin would help heal.
Girls unable to grab the bathroom could ask Ti Bao to open Hundred Realms Gate, and she was happy to help.
Moreover, Teacher Wang Yan was very responsible, taking every student to the training ground to have teachers analyze their Martial Souls and physiques.
Then formulating future development plans, even saying if Soul Rings were needed later, contact him and he would find teachers to hunt souls.
Class 1 of Year One also had great face outside; everyone knew the year’s super monsters were in Class 1, leading to the assumption all inside were geniuses.
Wang Yan sat on the podium watching the students below, his gaze gentle.
Year One Class 1 was much easier to manage than Year Two Class 1.
The two class monitors were very popular, no need to worry about internal conflict.
“These little monsters are full of vitality.”
“But this Hundred Realms Gate Martial Soul is truly wondrous, very low Soul Power Consumption, yet capable of ultra-long-distance space teleportation.”
“Ti Bao’s First Soul Skill is Revelation, boosting Spiritual Power by one hundred percent.”
“Second Soul Skill is Corridor, freely extending and expanding space in a certain area.”
“Worthy of a super Martial Soul; these Soul Skills are simply outrageous.”
Soon, the dismissal bell rang; Bai E and Mademos flipped out the window directly, making Wang Yan’s eyebrows twitch.
“These two kids, looks like too little homework.”
Then Ti Bao opened Hundred Realms Gate, a triangular golden doorway instantly appearing at the classroom door, brilliant light filling the entire room.
The classmates surged forward, passing through Hundred Realms Gate straight to the cafeteria.
Students passing by Class 1’s door were filled with grief and indignation.
“Damn it!”
“Is there no law, no justice?!”
“Does a space teleportation gate really allow doing whatever one wants?”
After saying that, they could only continue running outward unwillingly; any later, and it would be burgers again!
Ti Bao poked her little head out from Hundred Realms Gate, waving at Wang Yan and saying:
“Teacher Wang Yan, hurry and come too.”
Wang Yan smiled, packed his lesson plans, passed through Hundred Realms Gate to the cafeteria.
Meanwhile, Bai E and Mademos turned into one gold and one red streak of light in the campus, classmates around unfazed.
After all, many had seen it often, and quite a few had been beaten by the red streak.
In the end, Bai E had a slight edge this time; perhaps the milk tea powder really worked.
“Hahaha.”
“Partner, the afternoon bathroom is yours!”
Mademos waved his hand and said:
“Got it.”
“Buy food first.”
“Then go back to eat.”
“Don’t forget the Martial Soul Analysis homework due this afternoon.”
Bai E nodded while following Mademos into the cafeteria.
The two bought some Soul Beast meat and rice as staples, got their food, and prepared to leave the cafeteria.
Just as they stepped out, Mu En wheeled up suddenly beside them and said:
“Bai E and Mademos, could you come with this old man?”
Bai E and Mademos exchanged a glance, somewhat doubtful, but still smiled and said:
“Of course.”
Mu En looked at the two with increasing satisfaction, nodded, and chuckled:
“Come, follow me this way.”
Bai E and Mademos followed Mu En along the green path beside the cafeteria.
They didn’t see Mu En ahead smile slightly, his finger slashing forward.
A silver light instantly engulfed the three; Bai E and Mademos’s pupils contracted.
Just as they prepared to activate their Martial Souls, they found themselves on a scenic island.
The island was dotted with elegant pavilions, its core a massive golden tree.
Bai E said in some shock:
“This is?!”
Mademos looked at the giant tree ahead and said:
“This is Sea God Island.”
Mu En turned his wheelchair to face them, chuckling:
“Correct, this is Sea God Island.”
“The core of all Shrek Academy.”
“You must have many questions, but first let me introduce myself.”
“I am the current Sea God Pavilion Master Mu En, also your Grandpa Mu.”
“In a sense, I am also Shrek Academy’s principal.”
Bai E and Mademos were both somewhat shocked; they hadn’t expected that lonely old man to be Shrek Academy’s most powerful figure.
“So you…?”
Mu En said straightforwardly to the two:
“I want to take you as disciples.”
Bai E was about to say something when Mademos beside him pulled him back, gesturing with his eyes to keep listening to Mu En.
“I’m old.”
“Took a few disciples before, but none were promising enough to take over.”
“You’ve seen Shrek Academy; it’s somewhat chaotic now.”
“I want to change it, make it better.”
“At first, I was drawn by your talents.”
“Later, in interacting with you, I found your hearts far rarer than your talents.”
“Bai E, your wish that day lingers in my mind.”
“In so long a life, no one’s wish has shocked me so.”
“I believe you with such a wish will be Shrek Academy’s future.”
“So I want to take you as disciples, hope you’ll help me change this academy.”
“And I will teach you everything I can.”
After speaking, Mu En looked at the two with hopeful eyes, hands gripping the wheelchair arms tightly—this was the first time he felt nervous about taking disciples.
He said nothing of grand futures or empty promises.
At this moment, any words were pale; only his sincere heart was most real and powerful.
Bai E and Mademos exchanged a glance, understood each other, nodded together and said:
“Mm!”
“We are willing to become your disciples!”
“We’ve always felt Grandpa Mu you are a warm person.”
“Like the morning sunlight.”
Mu En was stunned for a moment, not expecting the two children to value his character, then burst into laughter.
“Hahaha!”
“Unexpectedly, we master and disciples are in agreement on selecting people!”
“That’s perfect!”
“This time I’m sure I didn’t misjudge, hahaha!”
