The next day, the Shrek Academy group visited the Royal Academy.
Meng Shenji asked:
"Dean Flender, after a night of thinking, what's your decision?"
Flender replied,
"Chair Professor Meng Shenji, I've made up my mind. Shrek Academy will not be joining the Royal Academy."
"Since that's the case, then see yourselves out."
Meng Shenji waved his hand.
Just then, Qin Ming stepped forward and said,
"Honorable Professors, I, Qin Ming, respectfully resign as the Royal Academy's team leader and hereby withdraw from the Royal Academy."
Zhi Lin's eyelids twitched.
"You say you're leaving the Royal Academy?"
"Yes. I wish to return and serve my alma mater," Qin Ming responded.
Bai Baoshan couldn't help but speak up:
"Qin Ming, don't forget—when you first came to our academy, your foundational physique was ruined. It was us at the Royal Academy who saw your potential, provided you with resources, rebuilt your body, helped you acquire your fifth and sixth soul rings. Without us, you wouldn't have become the youngest Soul Emperor on the continent!"
Qin Ming replied firmly, without arrogance or submission:
"Professors, everything I have, I owe to Shrek Academy, my alma mater—not the Royal Academy.
Yes, it's true that my fifth and sixth soul rings came through your support, but over the years, I've also trained many talented students for the Royal Academy. I have repaid my debt in full."
Upon hearing this, Flender immediately stood straighter. The three professors' expressions grew visibly darker.
"Blazing Fire Wolf?"
Bai Baoshan sneered.
"I say you're a white-eyed wolf—an ungrateful traitor!"
With that, he unleashed the full pressure of his Soul Douluo aura toward Qin Ming.
Flender realized things were going south and quickly stepped forward to mediate:
"Professors, let's all calm down. No need for violence."
Zhi Lin said coldly:
"Flender, I didn't say anything when you took my best student, and now you show up planning to steal one of my teachers? You've really got some nerve!"
Flender quickly waved his hands,
"Chair Zhi Lin, you're misunderstanding. Both Yu Tianheng and Qin Ming volunteered to join Shrek. It wasn't Shrek's doing!"
"Oh?"
Meng Shenji turned to Flender.
"So you're saying—it was their personal decision to leave the Royal Academy and join Shrek?"
Flender nodded.
"Very well. That means... Qin Ming's choice is his own."
Meng Shenji then looked at Zhi Lin and Bai Baoshan.
The two understood.
Suddenly, the aura of two Soul Douluo flared up, pressing down on Zhao Wuji and Flender, making it impossible for the Shrek group to move forward.
"Stop! Don't hurt Shrek!"
Qin Ming stepped in front of the three professors.
Meng Shenji looked at him coldly, his tone no longer as gentle as before:
"I see it clearly now. Your heart was never truly with the Royal Academy. I don't know what kind of witchcraft that backwater Shrek Academy used on you…"
"Don't insult my Shrek!"
Qin Ming roared in fury.
Meng Shenji ignored his rage and continued calmly,
"Qin Ming, do you know how to formally leave a faction?"
Qin Ming lowered his head in silence. At that moment, Meng Shenji released his power, and a tide-like surge of soul pressure suddenly enveloped Qin Ming.
Instinctively, Qin Ming resisted. His Flamefire Cang Wolf Martial Soul emerged, and six soul rings—yellow, yellow, purple, purple, purple, black—circled around him.
Meng Shenji took slow, deliberate steps toward Qin Ming, watching as Qin Ming struggled under the pressure, his eyes still unyielding and locked on him.
"This continent... it's easy to join a faction. But leaving one? That's not so simple."
"Chairman Meng Shenji, don't do this!" Flender interjected urgently. He already had a good idea of what Meng Shenji was planning and quickly pleaded.
"Dean Flender," said Bai Baoshan, "this matter has nothing to do with your Shrek Academy. It's an internal affair of our Royal Academy. Please do not interfere."
Meng Shenji ignored Flender. He looked at Qin Ming and said coldly, "You want to leave this faction? Then you'd better give back everything you got from it. Your first four soul rings weren't acquired through the Royal Academy, so I'll just be taking the last two."
With that, he struck Qin Ming's abdomen with a single palm. Qin Ming's breath caught, and his Flamefire Cang Wolf howled in agony. The two outermost soul rings shattered violently, and his soul power plummeted from Soul Emperor to Soul Ancestor.
Qin Ming coughed up a mouthful of blood, his eyes filled with hatred as he glared at Meng Shenji. Flender, watching from the side, could only shake his head regretfully.
"Oh, I almost forgot—there's still a soul bone." Meng Shenji removed Qin Ming's left arm and forcibly extracted a millennium-grade soul bone.
Qin Ming vomited blood and immediately passed out. The removal of the soul bone caused his soul power to fall again—from level 49 to level 39.
Holding the bloodstained soul bone, Meng Shenji said coldly to Qin Ming:
"Now, I approve your withdrawal from the Royal Academy."
With dark expressions, the Shrek party turned and left the Royal Academy.
Flender looked down at Qin Ming. By his usual profiteering logic, Qin Ming was now a lost cause—he could be discarded. But this was a pivotal moment for Shrek Academy's rise. In such times, reputation was more important than profit.
So Flender came to Qin Ming's side, patted his right hand gently, and said warmly:
"Qin Ming, don't worry. No matter what you've become, you'll always be Shrek Academy's pride. Shrek Academy will always be your home."
"Thank you, Teacher," Qin Ming replied.
The group from Shrek Academy then arrived at another academy on the outskirts of the city. It was called Blue Tyrant Academy Academy, and they enrolled themselves as new members.
As he stepped into the grounds of the academy, Flender felt a wave of emotion. He hadn't seen Erlong in over twenty years. Though they had exchanged letters from time to time, he had no idea how she'd been doing.
Yu Xiaogang, upon seeing the name "Blue Tyrant Academy," immediately realized in his neatly cropped head that this was Liu Erlong's school.
After all, just like Dai Mubai, our dear "Gangzi" had claimed to sever ties with his clan but continued using clan resources whenever convenient. Yu Xiaogang certainly knew that Liu Erlong had used his uncle Yu Luomian's resources to establish this school.
His mind wandered back to the humiliation he had suffered over twenty years ago—a trial that allowed Flender's martial soul to evolve, which in turn caused him to lose his proud Golden Sacred Dragon fusion technique. The memory still made Yu Xiaogang seethe with resentment. Why had fate treated him so unfairly?
Still, over these twenty years of interaction with Flender, he had come to learn that Flender was a good-natured man who never dared cross any boundaries. This made Yu Xiaogang very satisfied.
Liu Erlong was his cousin, and even though they no longer shared a fusion technique, they had once bowed to heaven and earth in a marriage ceremony.
Though they never consummated it, she was, in name, his wife. Yu Xiaogang had long since viewed her as his property.
Even if he didn't touch her, he certainly wouldn't allow a peasant-born mutt like Flender to get involved. If Liu Erlong and Flender had anything going on, wouldn't that make him the laughingstock of the world, his head crowned with lush green grass?
Even knowing this was her turf, and even knowing Flender was still sticking to his "gentleman's conduct" mantra while trying to repair his relationship with Liu Erlong, Yu Xiaogang pretended to be oblivious.
Eventually, they reached a bamboo grove. Within the grove, a woman's voice could faintly be heard singing a love song.
Yu Xiaogang's lips curled into a checkmark-shaped smile. Just from the lyrics, he knew she was singing out of longing for him. Who would've thought—even without the soul fusion technique, Erlong still pined for him.
But, alas... they were cousins. This life was destined to be impossible.
As they walked deeper, the singing grew louder and more passionate. In his mind, Yu Xiaogang was already calculating how to handle the awkward reunion.
Though her infatuation would help him impress Tang San by showing off his irresistible charm, it had been twenty years. If Liu Erlong was still as obsessed with him, how should he gently reject her? What a tough spot for the great Yu Xiaogang~
Behind him, the four reborn squad members watched him put on his fake troubled expression while leaking smugness from every pore. All four instantly gave him a withering look of utter contempt.
It was obvious now—Grandmaster had already recognized this place as Liu Erlong's domain. Yet he still pretended to be lofty and aloof.
Heh. Go ahead and act, you repressed little failure.
You called yourselves "spiritual husband and wife," but in your past life, no matter how noble you pretended to be, you couldn't resist Erlong's charms in the end. Didn't you two have a child? If not, how else would Mu En and Bei Bei be born ten thousand years later?
Deep in the bamboo grove, the woman—watering flowers with a small kettle—was still singing. Upon hearing footsteps, she stopped and turned toward the sound.
She froze.
The kettle in her hand slipped and fell.
Yu Xiaogang looked at Liu Erlong. Years of acting training kicked in. His face immediately took on an expression of pain and inner turmoil. He turned around and walked away without a word.
The reborn four stood to the side with a look that said: "Here comes the good part."
Sure enough, Liu Erlong stepped toward them, her pace picking up speed—faster and faster—until finally, she leapt into someone's arms.
The reborn squad was stunned.
Yu Xiaogang, after walking a few steps, realized Liu Erlong hadn't come to stop him. Somewhat puzzled, he turned to look back—
And saw a scene that nearly made him implode.
Liu Erlong had thrown herself into Flender's embrace. Flender wore a face full of surprise—and bliss.
"E-Erlong, what's the matter? Didn't you always love Xiaogang?" Flender stammered, still worried this was just a show for Yu Xiaogang's sake.
Liu Erlong raised Flender's face so their eyes met and said:
"These past few decades have taught me one thing—rather than chasing the person I love, I should cherish the one who loves me."
And with that, she kissed him.
This scene fell squarely into Yu Xiaogang's eyes.