Chapter 91: Lowering Shrek's Price!
Compared to the Original Douluo Three Kingdoms, the Sun Moon Empire side had undergone significant changes after the old emperor ascended to power through a coup.
Not only did they break the previous tradition—similar to the Original Douluo Three Kingdoms—of limiting Martial Soul awakening to nobles, but they also opened the Martial Soul awakening ceremony to commoners for the first time. Additionally, they granted descendants of commoners who awakened high-potential Martial Souls the qualification to enter Soul Engineering academies controlled by the royal family for training.
Of course, selected commoners had to swear allegiance to the imperial family, and their subsequent development was entirely controlled by the Empire's system. It was not an exaggeration to say it was for screening potential talents for the imperial family and cultivating loyal forces.
The Sun Moon Empire's policy of universal Martial Soul awakening for the common people received no subsidies; everything was funded by the royal family, serving as a talent reserve for war. This meant unearthing grassroots power, expanding the awakening base, and rapidly replenishing the Soul Engineer legions to cope with continental warfare.
On the other hand, it was also aimed at weakening the influence of Sects within the Sun Moon Empire, breaking the monopoly of traditional Sects over Martial Soul resources, and strengthening central authority. Finally, it also served the purpose of public opinion control—using a 'universal benefit policy' to alleviate grassroots conflicts and reduce public resistance to war.
But even with so many calculations and objectives, you have to admit that, just speaking of this turbulent era, the Sun Moon Empire's policy was a significant step forward.
Compared to the Original Douluo Three Kingdoms, the Sun Moon Empire indeed gave the common people a chance to rise.
As for Xuan Zi, who was just called out, he truly didn't expect that stopping to join the fun would also lead to him being included in Kong Deming's scolding.
Did Shrek create the city lord-level recommendation letters? He didn't know, but weren't they a product created along with the outer court to send talents to the three kingdoms? How could this be blamed on them?
Therefore, he anxiously came out to retort, "Shrek's motto has always been this way. Our academy only cultivates monsters—never mediocre talents."
"If you are a Little Monster with extraordinary talent, even if you are from a commoner background, Shrek treats everyone equally!"
He could only say this now, trying to maintain Shrek's reputation. However, this statement was seized upon by Kong Deming, who sneered.
"Only cultivating monsters? What kind of ability is that? Those geniuses who are already extraordinarily talented—without your Shrek, how much lower could they possibly go in the future?"
"Geniuses with Titled Douluo potential are cultivated into Titled Douluo; where does your sense of superiority come from?"
"If your Shrek could cultivate children with ordinary talent into powerhouses, that would be your true ability! Xuan Zi, your words truly make this old man laugh, and so does your Shrek's motto!"
Treating commoners equally is a given, but the premise is that you, as a commoner, must have the opportunity to reach Shrek's gates.
Not everyone is Huo Yuhao, who could meet two good people in the Star Dou Great Forest and have them eagerly send a recommendation letter for a low-ranked Soul Master.
"You!!" Xuan Zi pointed at Kong Deming, cowering and not knowing how to refute.
Because the facts were irrefutable!
In fact, looking at the backgrounds of the students from this and the previous session—and even Shrek's inner and outer courts: Bei Bei, Xu Sanshi, Dai Yueheng, Ning Tian, Wang Dong, Zhu Lu, Dai Huabin...
Even Ma Xiaotao and Ling Luochen—all of them possessed remarkable talent and family backgrounds, completely unrelated to commoners.
The only exception was Jiang Nannan, who relied on selling herself to gain a recommendation from the Xuanming Sect.
Even Huo Yuhao, in the original storyline, after receiving Tang Ya's guaranteed admission slot, faced a lot of discrimination and disdain when he first enrolled and had not yet revealed his talent.
He even reached the point where he had to go out and buy grilled fish just to survive. How could you say such an academy provides subsidies for poor students?!
Shrek had never truly cared about the common people at the bottom.
Even those rare genius Soul Masters who rose from the bottom were only given meager support after fully displaying their talent, and only then were they eagerly bound to Shrek and cultivated with peace of mind.
The foundation was laid: Martial Soul awakening was controlled by major noble families, making it difficult for commoners to awaken Martial Souls. The probability of Soul Masters appearing among upper-class nobles was simply higher than among commoner Soul Masters.
No wonder Shrek required city lord-level recommendation letters; such a requirement was very unfriendly to commoner Soul Masters and extremely restrictive for admission.
This is also why, even after ten thousand years, the powers on the continent remained largely unchanged, and even the most powerful Martial Souls at the top had essentially undergone no significant evolution.
The path for the lower classes to rise was locked, and resources were limited. If not for the collision between the Sun Moon Continent and the Douluo Continent—allowing conflicts on the Douluo Continent to be diverted—it would be difficult to guarantee that the lower class on the Douluo side would remain so stable.
Speaking of representatives of talented Soul Masters without backgrounds, Zhang Lexuan must be mentioned. Of course, she can temporarily be considered a semi-backgroundless genius, but still not a commoner.
This person was even more significant. She was born into a Heavenly Soul Empire noble family. Her family was assassinated due to involvement in political struggles and was annihilated, and she was rescued by Mu En. Later, she displayed her talent and was adopted because of it.
Surely this could be considered a core member of Shrek, right?
Your Shrek doesn't trust disciples from big Sects and major families to enter the Sea God's Pavilion, but surely you can trust someone with no background who grew up in your Shrek from a young age, right?
After all, she was the Inner Court's Senior Sister, cultivated by Mu En; this was a legitimate identity capable of inheriting the position of Sea God's Pavilion Master.
No, no—you still underestimated Shrek's vigilance. So, what did Shrek do? That's right—it was still the continent's underlying logic: romance, or even worse.
That old scoundrel Mu En, using the grief of his descendant's passing as an excuse, arranged a marriage for Zhang Lexuan, using revenge as a threat and gratitude as the price, designating her as a child bride for Bei Bei, who was more than ten years younger.
Moreover, Mu En never told Bei Bei about it from the beginning, only revealing it after Bei Bei got together with Tang Ya.
Can you believe that someone you've always regarded as an older sister or mother suddenly becomes your unbetrothed wife one day? This damn feudal dross was truly mastered, and it's no wonder Bei Bei almost collapsed from evasion.
Of course, old man Mu En was already playing tricks, and one couldn't expect him to have correct values in such matters. Ultimately, it was still to ensure the continuation of his lineage's glory in the Sea God's Pavilion; even if Bei Bei couldn't be propped up, Zhang Lexuan was enough.
No one is truly selfless, and old man Mu En was no exception.
Later, during the Qiankun Wenqing Valley trial, God King Tang directly used his Divine Power to erase Zhang Lexuan's emotional memories of Bei Bei. Of course, this was done without consulting her wishes, which is why Zhang Lexuan forgot about the matter.
We can describe this act as 'reward-based forgetting,' and its core motivation can be attributed to a narrative arrangement of 'relieving both parties' suffering,' but in reality, it's just a damn feudal dross.
I've strayed too far—let's get back to the topic.
Xuan Zi was still arguing, having fallen into a self-proving trap, and his words began to lack any logic.
"Shrek has always been this way. We don't interfere in continental affairs; we only cultivate powerhouses and send them across the continent. This has been our academy's motto since Shrek's establishment."
"As for Shrek's motto, our first generation of Shrek Seven Devils, under the leadership of Ancestor Tang San, overthrew the evil organization Spirit Hall ten thousand years ago. Ancestor Tang San became a god, praised by everyone on the continent. Which Sect or country can cultivate such powerhouses!!"
Well, first there was Slaughter City, and now there's Spirit Hall. Xuan Zi was quite proficient in continental history, spilling everything at once.
He thought that by saying this, Kong Deming would know when to stop, but who knew Kong Deming didn't take the bait at all and instead started talking about Spirit Hall.
"Speaking of Spirit Hall, this old man also learned a bit about this organization from fragmented historical records. I seem to recall that before Shrek became the continent's number one academy, this organization called Spirit Hall also provided free Martial Soul awakening for the common people at the bottom of the continent, didn't it?"
"How is it that Spirit Hall could do all this, yet your Shrek abandoned the common people at the bottom, leading to the rampant evil Soul Masters now? Who exactly is the evil organization?!"
These were words designed to pierce the heart.
Attacking one point relentlessly—that was Kong Deming's plan. And honestly, it really did feel like a debate now.
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End of Chapter