The War God Hall wasn't clean either. The fact that the Godslayer Soul Missile could be stolen meant nobody would believe there weren't several high-ranking officials in the War God Hall connected to the Holy Spirit Cult.
Tang Sect was even worse, a force that only allowed entry but no exit. That point alone was enough for Arthur to pass on it immediately.
As for Shrek Academy, their Battle Armor technology was actually quite good, and they had plenty of talented individuals.
Arthur planned to go there to learn and, if possible, recruit some geniuses.
But he never considered joining Shrek to climb the ranks, because it was pointless.
Today's Shrek was too bloated. Even if he could climb to the position of Sea God Pavilion Master, he'd be tied down by all sorts of social obligations and relationships.
Just thinking about it made Arthur furious.
Shrek Academy, Tang Sect, War God Hall, Spirit Pagoda, these four largest forces, and not a single one of them was decent.
What a damn mess the Douluo Continent had become.
"Then how much longer do we have to wait?" Her face full of hope, Mu Xi would soon be heading to Shrek Academy too. She actually hoped to go together with Arthur.
"Three years, I'd say." Arthur thought it over and gave a specific timeframe. In three years, he'd be twelve, the age when most normal prodigies attended Shrek.
Besides, after cultivating for three more years, Arthur was confident he could overwhelm everyone with sheer dominance and see if he could recruit a few talented followers to help him hunt evil soul masters in the future.
"Three years..." Mu Xi's expression soured. She couldn't wait three years. Looked like she'd have to go ahead on her own.
"Then I'll wait for you at Shrek Academy."
"We'll see." Arthur waved dismissively and turned to leave. "That's it for forging today. Now I need to go get beaten up by that old geezer."
Su Wuyan's method of teaching the Flashfall Star technique was simple and brutal, just fight.
In his view, once the basics were learned, having purposeful combat would make progress even faster.
That old geezer was a pure brute.
And Arthur couldn't even argue, because his intuition told him that direct combat really was his fastest path to improvement.
With his intuition at work, even if he understood nothing, he'd still make the most correct moves in battle.
Not to mention when he had the foundation and was consciously using Flashfall Star.
Arthur's mastery of Flashfall Star was now perfect. Perhaps his understanding couldn't match Su Wuyan, the creator, but in actual combat, Arthur used it even more seamlessly.
Intuition was just that unreasonable, even if my understanding is lacking, I can still do it right!
However, even though Arthur used it more perfectly than Su Wuyan, at equal soul power levels, he still couldn't beat him.
Because this technique's characteristic was using strength to bully the weak. Su Wuyan's Super Douluo stats were right there. Forget being suppressed to the same level, even if he was suppressed to ten levels below Arthur, he could still beat him senseless.
That was why Arthur kept getting pummeled.
And that old geezer still felt like he had amazing skills.
"I think you're already practicing really well. Is it still necessary to work this hard?"
Mu Xi had watched Arthur train with his uncle before. Even as an outsider, she could tell how impressive Arthur was.
His movements flowed like water, naturally harmonious, with a unique rhythm circulating through them.
"It used to be that way."
Arthur said seriously.
"But now, rather than him teaching me, we're more, discussing the Dao together?"
"Discussing the Dao?" Mu Xi didn't understand.
"Mm, something like that." Arthur didn't explain further.
In reality, he and Su Wuyan were now more like perfecting the Flashfall Star technique together.
Arthur's execution was perfect, but for many improvised moves, he knew how but not why.
And Su Wuyan, as the original creator, had sufficient understanding to incorporate those moves into the technique.
Arthur would then learn the principles and rely on his intuition to execute them even more perfectly.
Round and round, complementing each other.
Seeing Arthur didn't want to say more, Mu Xi stopped asking. Her eyes flickered slightly as she suggested, "Then let's eat together first. My treat. No matter how important cultivation is, you still need to eat."
"Sure."
Free meal, he'd be a fool not to take it.
After eating with Mu Xi, the two parted ways. Mu Xi continued practicing forging. Over the past few years, Arthur had put considerable pressure on her in that area.
Arthur went to find Su Wuyan for training.
He'd train until he was too exhausted to move, then return to his room to meditate.
A few days later, East Sea Academy.
The school Arthur had previously attended was called East Sea Elementary Academy, but it had no relation to East Sea Academy whatsoever.
East Sea Academy's perimeter was surrounded by high walls, and the academy entrance was built from massive stones.
The main gate was imposing and magnificently grand.
It was a large academy with both intermediate and advanced divisions.
The intermediate academy division was compulsory education with no tuition fees, taking up two-thirds of the entire academy's area.
The remaining third was the advanced academy division, which was also East Sea Academy's true essence.
The intermediate division allowed soul masters from East Sea City and surrounding areas to enroll with a recommendation letter from elementary academy. It had a six-year curriculum and, compared to elementary academy, focused more on practical martial soul application.
Walking into the academy, one could see the campus adorned with bluestone paths complemented by lush greenery, a pleasing sight.
Arthur had come to tour the place beforehand, so he didn't need senior students to guide him. He made his way alone, familiar with the route, to the administrative office to register.
He received two sets of uniforms and a dorm key. Study materials would be distributed when classes started.
He was assigned to Class 1 of the first year.
This was expected, class assignments were based on talent in sequential order.
Arthur's talent was leagues ahead of everyone else in Class 1.
Actually, he would've preferred Class 5. After all, any class was the same to him.
Class 5, where Tang Wulin was, held more appeal for him.
He didn't have any particular agenda.
Arthur simply wanted to see the protagonist of Dragon King's Legend, Tang Wulin, with his own eyes to satisfy his curiosity.
In his previous life, when reading the book, Arthur's impression of the early Tang Wulin had been pretty good.
But the later the story went, the more Tang Wulin became a mess. Still, having already spent money on it, Arthur had no choice but to frown his way through to the end.
Rounding the teaching building, he came to the dormitory building behind it, which was just as tall, both were twelve stories.
His dorm was on the third floor, Room 306.
The entire building was noisy and chaotic. Many people were reporting for enrollment, along with their parents.
There was even a dusty smell in the corridors.
The new students were chattering away, full of anticipation for the future, very excited.
Parents were tirelessly repeating their instructions, telling their children to take care of themselves and to tell the family if anything happened.
The chaotic scene might be uncomfortable for some.
But Arthur found it quite nice. He liked the liveliness, liked the atmosphere of daily life.
Entering his dorm room, he found two bunk beds, two desks, and four chairs.
Looked like this was a four-person room.
Arthur seemed to be the first to arrive. He set down his luggage, preparing to tidy up.
Suddenly, an angry roar came from downstairs.
"What are you doing?!"
After some commotion came the sounds of fighting, seemed like a brawl had broken out.
Fighting right after enrollment?
Arthur froze, a thought flashing through his mind.
Campus bullying?
School had just started, they were still in the dorms, and people who didn't even know each other were already fighting. Aside from campus bullying, there didn't seem to be any other explanation.
His figure moved.
Arthur couldn't stand bullying the most.
Who was he?
He was the scourge of evil, dedicated to eliminating evil soul masters!
Since he'd run into this, he had to do something about it.