Under Wu Changkong's guidance, Cai Yue'er finally met Long Yeyue.
When she walked into that simple and quiet room, she saw Long Yeyue sitting on an old wooden chair, holding a cup of tea that no longer gave off steam.
Compared to a few years ago, Long Yeyue looked much older now, the wrinkles on her face were deeper, and there was a clear layer of fatigue at the bottom of her eyes.
However, the moment she saw Cai Yue'er, the expression on Long Yeyue's face instantly became extremely colorful, a mix of pleasant surprise, relief, and disbelief, with excitement taking the majority.
Nowadays, Shrek Academy was waiting to be rebuilt, and Long Yeyue would never turn away any strong person who could increase the academy's strength and Foundation.
She stood up, walked forward in a few steps, grabbed Cai Yue'er's hand, and said with an unmaskable excitement in her tone: "Yue'er is back, this is truly wonderful!"
She seemed to have completely forgotten the incident where she had publicly scolded Cai Yue'er as an 'idiot' at the Sea God Pavilion meeting; at this moment, her eyes held only the joy of an old friend's return.
After the two exchanged pleasantries for a few sentences, Cai Yue'er's expression gradually straightened, and her tone became a bit more serious: "Elder Long, do you know the current situation of the outside world?"
Long Yeyue nodded. Although these 'orphans' of Shrek Academy had always lived underground, they were not completely isolated from the outside world. They had their own information channels and always maintained attention on the major events happening on the continent.
Cai Yue'er continued: "Elder Long, I feel that right now is the best time to rebuild Shrek Academy."
Hearing this, Long Yeyue frowned slightly, obviously holding a different view.
She was silent for a moment, then slowly spoke: "My plan is to wait a few more years, until the Students' strength improves a bit more, before letting Shrek Academy reappear on the continent."
It had to be said that Long Yeyue's idea could be considered prudent.
The academy still had too few Titled Douluo-level powerhouses nowadays. Exposing themselves to the world too early, if targeted by people with ulterior motives, might once again bring about a catastrophic disaster.
Waiting a few more years, letting these Students' strength improve a bit more and their Foundation become a bit more stable, would indeed make the certainty of re-emerging much greater.
But Cai Yue'er directly retorted: "Elder Long, even if we wait a few years, how much can the strength of these Students improve?"
Long Yeyue did not reply, because she clearly knew in her heart that a few years of time was indeed limited for the growth of a Spirit Master. Spirit Power improvements and Spirit Breakthroughs were not things achieved overnight, and waiting a few years might not necessarily bring about a qualitative change.
Seeing her silence, Cai Yue'er continued: "Now the high-level officials of the Federation already know the news of Na'er repelling the abyss. She is a hero of the entire Federation, and even the entire continent, and she is also a Student of Shrek."
Speaking up to here, Cai Yue'er stopped. She knew that Long Yeyue should be able to understand her meaning.
Now borrowing Na'er's "reputation" to let Shrek Academy see the light of day again could indeed be considered a good opportunity that conformed to the general trend.
It could both allow the outside world to notice Shrek's existence again, and utilize Na'er's fame to win more support and resources for the academy.
But Long Yeyue's expression at this moment was conflicted. After being silent for quite a while, she gently sighed: "I have thought about these too, but now something is wrong with Na'er."
Naturally, Cai Yue'er did not know the specific details, and her eyebrows frowned slightly: "What problem?"
Long Yeyue immediately told the matter of how Na'er and Gu Yue could not separate after their Spirit Fusion. Cai Yue'er obviously had not expected such a situation to happen, and the expression on her face changed slightly.
She was silent for a moment, as if digesting this message, and only then slowly spoke: "So between the two of them now, that Gu Yue is in command?"
Long Yeyue nodded: "Right now they are at the Spirit Pagoda."
This time it was Cai Yue'er's turn to be silent. She sat on that old wooden chair with her hands crossed on her knees, her gaze slightly lowered, digesting the impact brought by Long Yeyue's words just now. Who could have thought such a twist would appear?
Na'er and Gu Yue could not separate after Spirit Fusion, and now the two stayed at the Spirit Pagoda with Gu Yue as the dominant one.
This meant that the trump card Shrek Academy had managed to wait for with great difficulty was not in their own hands at this moment.
After a moment of quietness, Long Yeyue spoke again, her voice a few parts heavier than just now: "What you said is correct, this is indeed a good opportunity."
"If we are not in a hurry to truly rebuild Shrek Academy, but instead release the message first, what do you think?"
Hearing this, Cai Yue'er's eyes suddenly lit up, as if she had been enlightened on a certain key point by these words: "Elder Long's meaning is?"
Long Yeyue slowly said: "Let's not expose these Students first, but instead report to the continent in your and my identities that Shrek Academy will be rebuilt in the near future."
Hearing this, Cai Yue'er was silent for several breaths, carefully pondering these words, but her eyes were getting brighter and brighter.
Cai Yue'er raised her head, her tone carrying a trace of unsuppressible excitement: "This is a good method. It both seizes this good opportunity created by Na'er, letting the continent's gaze focus back on Shrek Academy, and can use this to probe the thoughts of various major factions, seeing which people are willing to support us, and which people might secretly obstruct us."
Seeing her agreement, Long Yeyue's face finally revealed a trace of long-lost smile, and she nodded: "Then it's settled."
Long Yeyue was a person of action. Only three days after determining the action plan, she set off for Heaven Dou City.
Although last time because of the matter of the Vast Sea Cosmic Shroud, she and the Tang Sect almost had a falling out, when all was said and done, the Tang Sect was always the faction with the closest relationship to Shrek Academy today.
The origin between the two families could be traced back to two Ten Thousand Years ago, and this Foundation could not be completely severed by a single disagreement.
Moreover, in Long Yeyue's view, last time's matter was fundamentally the Tang Sect's fault.
After all, that Vast Sea Cosmic Shroud was handed to Na'er by her own hands, yet it was "accidentally" fused into Tang Wulin's body. In any case, this was something the Tang Sect should give an explanation for.
However, the most important matter right now was not to pursue these old accounts.
One thing worth mentioning was that Tang Wulin was now able to control that Vast Sea Cosmic Shroud, but he had not handed it over.
After learning that he was Tang San's son, his previous psychological knots regarding "snatching" had quietly unraveled.
That crystal was originally his father's thing, so taking it back could not be considered forcible robbery.
Yet it was inconvenient for him to make his true identity public; after all, this truth was too bizarre, and even if spoken out, not necessarily anyone would believe it.
Therefore, in the end, Tang Wulin chose to temporarily conceal this matter, still telling the outside world that he could not perceive the Vast Sea Cosmic Shroud.
Fortunately, Long Yeyue's visit this time was not to pursue the matter of that crystal. She needed to utilize the Tang Sect's channels spread across the continent to announce that Shrek Academy was about to be rebuilt.
The Tang Sect's forces spread across three continents, and the message was sent out from the Tang Sect, quickly spreading across the three continents, and this message indeed made everyone know it in a short period of time.
The public mostly carried excited emotions towards this. Shrek Academy's Legacy had lasted for two Ten Thousand Years, and it had already taken root in the hearts of countless people.
Therefore, hearing that it was about to be rebuilt, many ordinary Spirit Masters and commoners felt heartfelt joy.
As for the reactions of those major factions, they were much more complicated.
Some had long had a close relationship with Shrek, and naturally expressed support at the first instance.
But there were also some factions that were unwilling to see Shrek step back onto the central stage of the continent.
After all, the prestige and appeal possessed by that academy were too immense. If it made a comeback, it would inevitably re-divide the right to speak and resources in the continent's pattern.
-------------------------------------------------
A/N:
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.