Shrek life was harsher than anything Xue had faced before. Training schedules relentless, instructors merciless when laziness detected. Meals scarce, dorms cold, fields rough. Yet to him it felt familiar, almost easier than childhood scorn of first life. Hunger did not kill frost. Pain did not melt snow.
Huan thrived in battle classes, Yan excelled in script studies, writing new frost runes adapted to southern herbs under advice of strange instructors who despite ridicule saw value in her patience. Xue became silent shadow who tied them together. He rarely won spotlight, but whenever partner risked collapse, his frost always bought seconds that saved matches. The instructors noticed even as they scolded. "Boy, without you, half your partners fall faster."
Nights he spent quietly copying new drafts into a Frost Codex destined for return north one day. Heritage always mattered more. Shrek was proving ground not for him alone but seeds of clan. His creed never left lips: always "Clan above self."
By end of first month, perception shifted. Students still mocked his lower rank, but fewer dared underestimate. Villagers near academy openly thanked "Frost brother" whenever he helped again. Zhao Wuji growled less insults, Flender even muttered once that frost had place among monsters indeed.
One evening standing on cracked walls, Xue looked southward sky. Tang San trained silently nearby, Blue Silver catching breeze. Xue whispered low: "Born same day, different paths, yet here we stand. Frost beside grass. Destiny woven."
The Tome burned faint behind soul: Milestone Complete: Shrek Integration. Clan Path widened. Legacy preserved in monster era.