Bonus Chapter. Enjoy!
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The seat at the head of the long table, directly facing the main door, was empty.
However, if one looked carefully, they would notice that not far behind that head seat, near the window, there was a reclining chair.
On the reclining chair lay an old man.
The old man's frame was withered and thin. He wore a faded gray robe that had been washed until it was pale, his face was covered in deep wrinkles, and his eyes were half-closed, as if he might fall asleep at any moment.
The reclining chair rocked gently with his faint breathing, mingling with the sound of waves coming from outside the window.
The commotion within the Sea God Pavilion seemed to have nothing to do with him.
*Slap!*
A sharp sound suddenly shattered the quiet within the pavilion.
Xuan Zi's large, greasy hand slammed hard onto the table in front of him, causing the teacups on it to jump.
His earth-yellow eyes were now wide open, filled with an incredulous light.
"Shao Zhe!" His voice rose several pitches, carrying a slight tremor. "Is the information on this all true?!"
The other elders now all looked up, dozens of gazes falling squarely on Yan Shaozhe.
They were all waiting, waiting for Yan Shaozhe to give an answer.
Yan Shaozhe stood at the far end of the long table, a slow curve finally forming at the corner of his mouth.
"Of course it's true." His voice was not loud, yet it clearly reached everyone's ears. "Even if I had a few extra guts, I wouldn't dare to falsify something like this."
As his words fell, the pavilion fell into a brief silence.
Then...
*Hiss!!!*
Someone was the first to suck in a sharp breath, and then as if contagious, waves of sharp inhalations rose and fell around the long table.
These elders, who had seen countless geniuses and weathered countless storms, could not help but be visibly moved.
"An eleven-year-old Spirit Ancestor... In my one hundred and ninety-three years of life, I've never even heard of such a thing!"
"Two purple, two black spirit rings... How did he manage that? The age of that second spirit ring must be over five thousand years, right?"
"Twin Spirits, one a mysterious mental-type, the other Ultimate Ice... He must be heaven's favorite!"
"Unprecedented, absolutely unprecedented!"
Around the long table, the murmur of discussion gradually grew louder.
These elders, usually stern and unyielding as mountains, now argued back and forth like children who had discovered a Treasure Trove, their excitement plain to see.
As time passed, the discussions gradually subsided, and the Sea God Pavilion returned to silence.
All gazes were now focused on Yan Shaozhe.
"Shao Zhe, this child must be taught seriously. He is the future of the academy."
Lin Huiqun looked at Yan Shaozhe, her expression serious.
But then her tone shifted.
"In my opinion, keeping him in the Outer Court is a pure waste of time. He should be directly admitted to the Inner Court and taught by me personally."
As soon as she said this, several gazes around the long table fell upon her.
However, before anyone else could speak, the person sitting opposite her had already seized the opportunity.
"Lin Lao makes a good point. Huo Yuhao should indeed enter the Inner Court, but..."
"You personally teaching him? That's probably not suitable. You possess a Tool Spirit, after all."
Lin Huiqun raised an eyebrow, looking at the speaker. It was precisely Zhuang Yusen, the Life Douluo.
She gave a thin, insincere smile.
"What's wrong with a Tool Spirit? Don't think I don't know what you're scheming. You just want to be Huo Yuhao's teacher, don't you?"
"But your Life Tree is a plant-type Spirit. That's not suitable either."
Zhuang Yusen retorted, "Why am I not suitable? My Spirit is of the life attribute, and I cultivation attribute-based abilities."
The two went back and forth, their words sharp, on the verge of a full-blown argument.
Just then, a woman's voice interjected. "Both of you, stop arguing."
The speaker sat to the right of the head seat, clearly no ordinary figure.
She was currently the academy's third-in-command, the Cyan Shadow Douluo, Song Yunzhi.
She offered a faint smile, her gaze sweeping over Lin Huiqun and Zhuang Yusen.
"Huo Yuhao's second Spirit is a Beast Spirit. One of you has a Tool Spirit, the other a plant-type Spirit. Teaching him would ultimately be a step removed. This matter... I am the most suitable."
Lin Huiqun: "..."
Zhuang Yusen: "..."
The two exchanged a glance, both seeing the same meaning in the other's eyes: absolute refusal to yield!
"Teaching students often depends more on experience, not on whether the Spirits are similar."
"You didn't say that before!"
"You shut up..."
"Both of you, calm down. Listen to me..."
For a moment, the Sea God Pavilion seemed to erupt like a boiling pot.
Three elders, usually lofty and dignified, now argued back and forth, their faces flushed red.
If the Outer Court students were to see this scene, their eyeballs would probably drop from shock.
*Slap!*
A sharp sound suddenly exploded, causing the teacups on the table to hum and rattle.
Everyone fell silent in unison, looking towards the source.
They saw that Xuan Zi had stood up at some point. His greasy hand was on the table, and his earth-yellow eyes slowly swept over everyone present.
"All of you, stop arguing."
"Huo Yuhao... I will teach him personally."
As his words fell, the pavilion plunged into an eerie, deathly silence.
Then...
"No!"
Almost everyone shouted these two words in unison, as if they had rehearsed it countless times.
Faced with a heaven-defying talent like Huo Yuhao, which of these elders in the Sea God Pavilion wouldn't want to take him under their wing?
Xuan Zi was naturally no exception.
Although he was slovenly and unreliable, he still had an eye for talent.
A seedling like Huo Yuhao might not appear once in a thousand, or even Ten Thousand Years.
If he could take him as a Disciple and personally train him, what a glorious achievement that would be?
Currently, the master of the Sea Gods Pavilion, Elder Mu, was severely injured and had not managed affairs for many years.
Looking across the entire Shrek Academy, in terms of seniority and strength, if Xuan Zi claimed second place, who would dare claim first?
Logically speaking, Xuan Zi was indeed the most suitable candidate.
However, the unanimous resistance from everyone now was not due to his strength, but because of his reputation.
Of course, this reputation was not a good one.
After all, everyone present remembered that incident from a few years ago clearly.
That year, Xuan Zi had taken over a dozen exceptionally talented students from the academy to the Star Dou Great Forest for Spirit hunting.
No one expected they would encounter a hundred-thousand-year Spirit Beast in the mixed zone.
If Xuan Zi had been present at the time, with his strength, protecting the students and retreating unscathed would have been no problem at all.
But the problem was... he wasn't there.
He, who should have been closely following and protecting the students, had at that moment gone to raid a bird's nest... for a bite to eat!
When he returned, satisfied after raiding the nest, what he saw was a devastated campsite, shocking bloodstains everywhere, and only a pitiful few survivors among those dozen-plus Genius students.
Those children were all geniuses meticulously selected by Shrek Academy, future pillars painstakingly cultivated with immense effort.
But because of Xuan Zi, they had turned into cold corpses.
This incident became a stain Xuan Zi could never erase from his life, and a silent pain shared by everyone at Shrek Academy.
With such a precedent, how could everyone possibly feel at ease handing Huo Yuhao over to him?
If this peerless Genius also met with some accident due to his momentary negligence, who could bear the loss for Shrek Academy?
Xuan Zi stood by the long table, looking at the unanimous refusal from everyone, at the complex gazes directed at him. His expression stiffened for a moment.Then, he understood.
He opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but the words died on his lips.
He did not insist further, only slowly sat back down, his face now etched with nothing but dejection.
He leaned back in his chair, his gaze lowered, as if he had aged many years in an instant.
Just then, an aged voice slowly sounded, breaking the suffocating silence.
"What are you all fighting over here?"
On the reclining chair, the old man who had been resting with his eyes closed had, at some point, opened them.
"Since you want to keep a Genius like Huo Yuhao, since you want him to truly belong here, shouldn't you first ask for his own opinion?"
Elder Mu's voice was not loud, but it struck everyone's hearts like a heavy hammer.
Everyone fell silent.
These academy elders had been aloof and high above for too long.
So long that they had forgotten that those students were also living people, with their own thoughts and their own choices.
In their view, if a Titled Douluo wanted to take a Disciple, wasn't that the greatest favor? Why wouldn't the other party rush to accept?
Yan Shaozhe was silent for a moment, then looked up at the old man on the reclining chair and asked respectfully, "Teacher, then... shall I invite Huo Yuhao here to ask him in person?"
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A/N:
5 Power Stones = 1 Extra Chapter
I hope all of you are enjoying this story so far. I would appreciate some Power Stones if you can spare any. Leave a review if you like the story. Thank you.