Night fell over Dormitory 2A, quiet and unnoticed.
Hao Ming sat on the doorstep of his house, with no desire to sleep at all.
Breathing in the clean air, he looked up at the stars. He had spent so long dreaming of escaping the Rocky Mountains — and now that he had, he was fed. There was no need to hunt, no need to kill, no need to survive. And yet these days brought him no happiness. He simply drifted along.
Hao Ming stopped looking at the starry sky and turned his head toward the forest.
At that same moment, a faint crack of breaking branches came from the trees. A young man stepped out of the darkness — of average height, with tousled dark hair shot through with golden strands, and a face that could have been called truly handsome if not for its sleepy expression. His arms hung loosely at his sides, and he walked with an unhurried, languid gait.
Reaching the middle of the yard, he took his time looking over the houses, yawned, and finally noticed Hao Ming.
"Oh. So there's someone who doesn't sleep at this hour?" he said without much surprise. "Is this Dormitory 2A?"
Hao Ming nodded silently and automatically pointed toward the last empty house.
"That one's free."
Jin Luo gave a slight nod of thanks and headed toward the vacant house.
Their brief encounter ended there.
Hao Ming remained sitting on the doorstep, lost in thought.
The next morning began with Hu Cheng appearing in the middle of the courtyard without warning, radiating the same carefree energy as the day before, waking everyone at once with a shout that sounded more like a battle cry than a greeting.
"Up and at 'em! The first day of class waits for no lazybones!"
The six students emerged from their houses one by one — some groggy, some anxious, some already fully composed. Hao Ming had been waiting in the yard for a while by then; sleep, like the nights before, simply hadn't come.
Thus seven students gathered in the middle of the courtyard.
Hu Cheng swept his gaze over the whole group, nodded to himself with satisfaction, and clapped his hands.
"Excellent, everyone's here." A wide smile spread across his face. "I'm Hu Cheng. Though you've probably heard of me already. Starting today, I'll be your personal instructor."
Hui Mi, Xiao Yu, and Zhou Shengyang looked at him with excited faces, full of open admiration.
Qin Ye and Sheng Ming watched him calmly, as though they'd known him for a long time.
Jin Luo stood with an expression suggesting none of this concerned him in the slightest. Hao Ming observed in silence, his face level and composed.
"You are all now fourth-year students. Two more years, and you'll be free birds," Hu Cheng said, sweeping his gaze across the group. "I won't beat around the bush: the formation of the Dormitory 2A class was carried out in a hurry, though the idea itself had been brewing for a long time."
"Most of you probably think you were sent here because of your strength, your reputation — good or bad — your talent, or some particular trait."
"And you'd be completely right!"
"But why did we need to gather all of us here specifically?" Xiao Yu asked. Even he couldn't find an answer to that question. In truth, it was on everyone's mind.
Hu Cheng tilted his head, as if weighing where to begin.
"Eeeh," he exhaled at length, scratching the back of his head. "I don't like blowing smoke, especially at kids. I'll answer honestly — you're old enough for that. The initiative to create a special squad of students in Dormitory 2A isn't just the Academy's idea, but the Federation's own."
"It's too early to name the main goal — I don't even know yet whether I can shape anything out of you, or whether you'll want that yourselves."
He raised his index finger.
"First reason: for the past four years, the Academy has been keeping an eye out for especially promising students, but for a long time it couldn't find a seventh. This year, one appeared."
Jin Luo and Zhou Shengyang shot a quick glance at Hao Ming. Sheng Ming looked at him with curiosity. Hui Mi frowned — apparently because Sheng Ming's gaze had lingered on Hao Ming a moment longer than he would have liked.
"So. The government needs to form a group of Spirit Masters from the Central Federal Academy capable of defeating the Seven Monsters of Shrek Academy."
"Us?!" Xiao Yu exclaimed. He froze with his mouth half-open, unable to believe his own ears.
"Yes, yes. Exactly you."
Zhou Shengyang spoke first.
"Instructor Hu Cheng, why should I waste my time on this? Isn't this whole rivalry just for the Academy's reputation? I'm certainly grateful to the Federation for my free education, and I intend to repay it. But spending my strength and time on some Shrek Academy — that isn't worth my attention." His voice carried a note of incredible arrogance.
Jin Luo yawned slowly, not even bothering to cover his mouth.
"Broadly speaking, I agree with the big guy."
Hui Mi, on the other hand, looked unexpectedly interested — for the first time that morning, something like excitement flickered across his lips.
"Ha-ha, well, I like it! Instructor Hu Cheng, I think I alone would be enough to deal with the entirety of Shrek Academy, Seven Monsters included."
"Uncle Hu Cheng! What am I even doing here, I'm a weakling!" Xiao Yu was nearly in tears, wringing his hands. "You should've taken Lin Lin instead of me — her talent's one of the highest in the whole fourth year!"
Veins bulged on Hu Cheng's forehead.
"Quiet!"
His voice rang out like a roar. The air around them shuddered, everyone's ears rang at once, and the mouths of the four young men seemed to seize shut, as if bound by some invisible force.
"Heh-heh," Sheng Ming watched the scene with obvious delight, covering her mouth with her hand to hide a smile. She found the whole situation thoroughly amusing.
"In my day, students at any academy dreamed of fighting the Shrek Seven and earning glory for the ages, bringing honor to their own academy. And you... you...!"
The air around him seemed to thicken — slowly, almost imperceptibly, like an approaching storm you first feel on your skin, and only afterward realize you're looking at a darkened sky.
Xiao Yu was the first to sense something was wrong — his breathing grew heavy all at once, as if an invisible hand had pressed down on his chest. He glanced sideways at the others and saw the same thing on their faces.
Zhou Shengyang instinctively tensed his shoulders; his proud bearing wavered for a moment — he tried to hold his ground, but his legs, against his own will, carried him half a step back.
Hui Mi clenched his teeth, sweat breaking out on his forehead — all his recent excitement evaporated instantly, replaced by an almost animal sense of danger.
Even Jin Luo, who had been lazily squinting at the sun until then, straightened up, and the habitual drowsy serenity vanished entirely from his face.
The pressure intensified with every second — it felt as though they themselves were shrinking, while Hu Cheng's figure grew before their eyes, swelling into a colossal mountain looming over them, pressing them down toward the very earth.
Hao Ming, by contrast, didn't so much as flinch. A few days ago, this same aura would have left him drenched in sweat — but after so many clashes with Hu Cheng in training, his body and mind had already committed this pressure to memory, and now it registered less as a threat to his life than as a signal that a fight was about to begin.
The four young men were sweating so heavily their clothes had begun to soak through. Qin Ye and Sheng Ming, in contrast, looked perfectly calm — Hu Cheng's aura seemed to deliberately pass them by. Both watched the scene unfold with unshaken composure while the others struggled against the pressure bearing down on them.
"You're... too clever..." The aura vanished as suddenly as it had appeared, as if the storm had been dispersed with a single wave of the hand.
Xiao Yu was the first to exhale loudly, as though he hadn't breathed at all until then, and he collapsed onto the ground, gasping greedily for air.
<
Zhou Shengyang slowly straightened his shoulders, trying to look as though nothing had happened — but his chest was still rising and falling faster than usual.
Hui Mi wiped a hand across his damp forehead and let out a short, nervous laugh, as though he couldn't quite believe it was over.
Jin Luo sank silently to the ground, leaning his back against the nearest tree, and stared up at the sky with the expression of a man who had just reconsidered a couple of his life choices.
Hu Cheng surveyed all seven of them — some still trying to catch their breath, some pretending nothing had happened — and appeared, by all accounts, thoroughly pleased with the effect he'd produced.
"Well then, now that the herd's gone quiet," he said breezily, as if nothing at all had occurred, "let's get back to business."
"If you manage to achieve this goal — do you really think you'll get nothing in return? The Academy will be investing incredibly valuable resources in you this whole time, and I'll be training you personally. And if you can defeat the Shrek Seven Monsters, you won't just help the Federal Academy become the number one academy — you'll be helping yourselves first and foremost."
"Each of you has your own goals and desires. Beating Shrek Academy will earn you reputation — the strongest organizations will want you at any cost. And the Federation itself will reward you besides."
Xiao Yu, who had finally recovered his voice, asked with genuine curiosity.
"Why would the Federation reward this at all? Isn't Shrek Academy part of the Federation? Why does the Federation want to 'defeat' it?"
Hu Cheng exhaled slowly — he had never been the type who enjoyed spelling everything out, and he was clearly already regretting having taken this on. Before he could find the words, a brief flash of light burst beside him — and an irritated Xie Ruyang appeared in the middle of the courtyard.
"You decrepit old man! I knew I should've explained it to them myself — your vocabulary's about as rich as a dead fish."
Hu Cheng merely shrugged, entirely unbothered.
"Yeah, yeah... If you knew all that, you should've explained it to them from the start."
"If you hadn't kicked up such a fuss in the government, I would have," Xie Ruyang said, rubbing the bridge of his nose in irritation. "The Temple of the War God and the Central Council haven't made this much noise in ages — Qin Tianmo and I had to calm them down ourselves."
"All you needed to do was scare them a little," Hu Cheng replied, unbothered. "Some old men have been warming their seats for far too long."
Xie Ruyang didn't waste his breath sparring with him. Instead, he turned to the astonished students and spoke in an entirely different tone — warmer now, but businesslike.
"Let's not waste time on greetings. I'll get straight to it."
"Over its forty-thousand-year history, Shrek Academy stopped being just an academy long ago. An entire city has grown up around it — Shrek City — and within the Academy itself lies another, inner city. Within its walls you'll find the Weather Spirit Association, the Tang Sect, the School of Life, even the Tree of Eternity stands on their grounds, and even the Federation's own association is headquartered in that city. The city where the Academy sits operates on its own currency and its own rules."
Xiao Yu immediately picked up the thought.
"That's basically its own country!"
Xie Ruyang nodded.
"Exactly right. Shrek Academy's influence is simply too great, and its students are fiercely loyal to it — while their combined strength is colossal. I won't lie to you: it accounts for roughly fifty to sixty percent of the Federation's entire military power."
"For the Federation, they're a thorn in the side. Personally, I couldn't care less what they get up to... but if things keep going this way, in another hundred years there won't be a Federation left — just Shrek," Hu Cheng put in.
Xie Ruyang waved a hand sharply at him, as if swatting away a fly, telling him to be quiet and stop interrupting.
"Put simply: with your strength, we want to diminish Shrek's reputation and rein in its influence, while at the same time raising the standing of the Central Federal Academy."
"The second reason is more complicated and delicate. But to put it simply: the Federation needs to create a special unit... no, more precisely, a special force, for the purposes of defense."
Zhou Shengyang narrowed his eyes.
"Defense... Director, but defense isn't everything. Is it?"
Xie Ruyang nodded with a faint smile.
"Nothing gets past Zhou Yan's child when it comes to military matters. But I can't tell you more than that — it's classified information, sealed under a special clearance. Just know this: the world beyond the Federation isn't nearly as friendly or safe a place as you might think."
"These two reasons should be enough for you for now. There are quite a few additional reasons as well, no less important, but still secondary," Xie Ruyang paused, sweeping his gaze over each of them in turn. "But listen, all of you — you are not obligated to agree to this. Though I do sincerely ask you not to make a snap decision."
He fell silent a beat longer than usual. The smile on his face dimmed slightly, and his gaze, which had until then moved over the students' faces with a certain businesslike ease, grew heavier — as though the Director were weighing whether to say what was on the tip of his tongue at all. Even Hu Cheng, who had been leaning back with his arms crossed, glanced at his old friend with mild surprise — he hadn't seen Xie Ruyang look this serious in a long time.
"You see, I don't just want to use you as weapons of the Federation," he said at last, and his voice came out quieter than before. "It matters to me that each of you grows — truly, not only in strength, but as a person. I won't hide it: I have my own goals and dreams. If the Federal Academy were to become the number one academy someday, that would be the happiest day of my life. My own teacher, the previous Director, watched for far too long as Shrek stood at the top, expanding and swallowing up an incredible share of the Federation's resources. I'll be honest: as far as resources go, we simply cannot provide the same for every student. But at the same time, Shrek is far too patriotic an academy — one that binds its students to itself with chains of instilled loyalty."
"What I want is to show everyone that an academy exists for learning — that an academy should remain an academy, and not turn into a shell that, sure, makes you stronger, but doesn't let you grow as a person."
Xie Ruyang's face softened for a moment, warming.
"But your decisions and opinions matter more than any reputation — if you aren't ready, I have no intention of breaking you or forcing you into it for the sake of a good story."
"So if you genuinely don't want this — tell me so, after you've trained here for at least half a year."
Xiao Yu let out a breath of relief, as though a weight had lifted off his shoulders. At the same time, he understood the Director perfectly — during his time at the Academy, he'd grown attached to the old man.
"Understood!"
Zhou Shengyang gave only a brief nod — but a respectful one, looking toward Xie Ruyang.
"Well, no one needed to force me," Hui Mi snorted. "I was on board before any of the explaining even started."
Jin Luo, still sitting under the tree, lazily raised a hand to show he'd heard, but showed no hurry to get up or commit to a decision.
Hao Ming stood in silence, trying to understand what exactly a person was supposed to feel in a situation like this — to agree or not, when you never really had a choice about where to go next in the first place. In his opinion, Hu Cheng wouldn't have let him go regardless — so what difference did it really make, what he said out loud now.
Xie Ruyang swept his gaze over all seven of them once more, lingering on Qin Ye and Sheng Ming. The two of them nodded in unison. Xie Ruyang shook his head.
He turned to Hu Cheng and said something quietly — so quietly that no one else could make it out. Hu Cheng only shrugged in response, with a carefree smile.
"Alright, I won't keep you any longer," Xie Ruyang said, sweeping his gaze over the students once more and giving them a warm smile.
A moment later, the Director vanished as abruptly as he had appeared, leaving behind only the faint scent of tea, lingering in the air.
Hu Cheng watched the spot where Xie Ruyang had just been standing, then sighed with exaggerated relief.
"Finally. That old man — once he opens his mouth, he just doesn't know when to stop."