Of course, a place that held treasures would always attract thieves. Numerous arrogant experts who'd thought highly of themselves had secretly tried to infiltrate Sea God's Island in the past, in hopes of stealing the items within. However, none had ever been able to leave once they entered the island.
Meetings would be held at Sea God's Island every time a major event happened within Shrek Academy. These meetings were of the highest importance to the academy. Only the Deans and Vice Deans of the Martial Soul Department and Soul Tool Department, along with the resident elders of the Hall of Consecration, had the right to take part in these meetings. Important matters would be resolved through a show of hands.
The Dean and Vice Dean of both departments had one vote each in these meetings.
Currently, the grand conference hall was completely silent. Inside of the room, ten people sat around a long oval table. A recliner had been placed at the innermost section, where the head of the long table sat. The light around the recliner was extremely dim; one could only faintly see that a person seemed to be lying on it. Compared to the ten people sitting around the round table, his posture caused him to appear particularly unusual.
Xian Lin'er and Qian Duoduo sat on the right hand side of the long table, at the very end, while Yan Shaozhe and a woman who looked to be around fifty years old sat at the end of the table on the left hand side. The woman looked like she'd been extremely beautiful when she was young. Though they were both women, she didn't even glance in Xian Lin'er's direction. She instead maintained a stern appearance as she sat next to Yan Shaozhe. Just like Qian Duoduo, they sat opposite one another.
Besides the four of them, the six people who were sitting closer to front of the table were all Elders. Every single one of them were old, gray-haired individuals. Of course, their forms were different, a fact that could be seen through the way each of them sat.
Xian Lin'er, Qian Duoduo, Yan Shaozhe, and that woman that looked fifty years old sat in a comparatively proper manner, while the Elders all sat in various postures. Present amongst them was the Elder that Wang Yan had called Elder Xuan. He was seated near the front of the table and to the right of the chairperson. This also meant that he was currently seated in the first seat at Yan Shaozhe's end of the table.
At that moment, Elder Xuan had a drumstick in his left hand and a wine calabash in his right. He looked extremely relaxed as he continued to eat and drink at the table.
"Now that everyone has arrived, let's begin the meeting. Shaozhe, take charge of the meeting." A gentle voice rang out. Hearing this voice would cause one to feel as if their soul and mind had been cleansed, yet it wasn't enough to discern the owner's age. This voice came from the head of the table—from the one lying on the recliner that was hidden within the darkness.
"Yes, teacher." Yan Shaozhe stood and bowed towards the person sitting at the head of the table.
If any outsiders were to hear the way Yan Shaozhe addressed that person, they would jump in shock. One had to realize that Yan Shaozhe was famous for being over sixty years old, but in reality, he was over ninety years old. Furthermore, his teacher was actually still alive and in good shape! This was really shocking news!
Even Elder Xuan put his drumstick and wine calabash down when he heard the gentle voice rang out. He rubbed his oily palms on his clothes, then proceeded to sit relatively straight. The other resident Elders also assumed rather proper sitting positions; only the person lying down kept their posture.
Yan Shaozhe bowed slightly toward the Elders in front. "Teacher and fellow resident elders, Lin'er and I have gathered everyone here today and initiated a Sea God's Island meeting for a matter that will decide whether or not our academy will continue to prosper in the centuries to come."
"Bang!" Xian Lin'er violently slammed his hand down on the table. "Cut the chit chat and stop trying to scare people Yan Shaozhe. Get to the point."
The elders became somewhat shocked when she slammed her hand down on the table. The looks in their eyes turned somewhat strange as well. The old woman who was sitting to the right of the chairperson frowned and said, "Lin'er, this is a meeting on Sea God's Island. If you're going to make a ruckus, get out."
There was a slight change in Xian Lin'er's expression when she heard this. She snorted, but didn't say anything else.
The old woman's hair was as white as snow, but there weren't many wrinkles on her face. An extremely gentle glow was also present within her eyes. No matter what way one looked at it, she looked like an amiable old grandmother. She then turned towards Yan Shaozhe, gave him a small smile, and said, "Shaozhe, continue."
"Yes, Elder Lin." Yan Shaozhe looked towards Xian Lin'er. Even though a somewhat apologetic look was present in his eyes, his determination shone through even more. As the Dean of the Martial Soul Department, he definitely couldn't let his personal feelings affect his decisions.
Xian Lin'er turned her head to the side, refusing to look him in the eyes.
Yan Shaozhe lowered his voice and said, "To all the resident elders, the matter is as follows…" As he spoke, he didn't conceal the truth. He began with the bet he'd made with Qian Duoduo, then narrated Huo Yuhao's performance without missing a single detail.
"…When this student returned from the holidays, not only did he have a second martial soul, it was also an Ultimate martial soul. Even though his first martial soul isn't that good, as an Ultimate type soul master, he's bound to become a pillar for the academy in the future—if he's nurtured with care. Furthermore, this child is an orphan. There's a possibility that we could also fight for him to stay within the academy.
"I lost the bet with Dean Qian, but it must be stated that only the Martial Soul Department has the experience to properly raise and teach someone with an Ultimate element. It's also the only way he'll reach his full potential."
Yan Shaozhe's words were simple, but he spoke in a very natural manner as he exposed the way that Qian Duoduo had laid a trap by using a stratagem in order to ensure that Huo Yuhao could become a core disciple of the Soul Tool Department.
When they heard what he had to say, surprised looks on all of the resident elder's faces. Elder Xuan in particular had knit his eyebrows closely together—as if he could no longer see the drumstick before him.
There were two ways a Sea God's Island meeting could be held. One was the periodic meeting that was held annually, while the other was an interim meeting. The periodic meetings were normal, but when an interim meeting was held, it implied that something major had happened in the academy. The few times that an interim meeting had been held throughout the course of history had decided the direction that the continent would head towards.
It was definitely worth hosting a interim meeting for an Ultimate attribute soul master. However, when the resident elders realized that the Martial Soul Department and the Soul Tool Department were fighting over the student, their expressions relaxed quite a bit. This was an internal problem; it should be relatively easy to settle compared to other matters.
As soon as Yan Shaozhe had finished speaking and had sat down, Qian Duoduo immediately stood up.
"Fellow elders, I don't completely agree with Dean Yan's narration. Sure, we made a bet. However, when we did so, even the Soul Tool Department didn't know that Huo Yuhao would gain a second martial soul. It goes without saying that this is an extraordinarily rare occurrence. Anyway, what we saw in him was his talent towards soul tools.
"Huo Yuhao had been formally declared as Fan Yu's disciple. In the short span of six months, he's gone from a normal soul engineer—someone who'd never once touched a soul tool in his life—to a Class 2 soul engineer and now half step towards Class 3 soul engineer. This rate of improvement is a new record in the academy's history. This child is both hardworking and endures hardship. He has no small amount of Fan Yu's praise. When we learned of this, we had already decided to take him in as a core disciple; how could we let such a talent slip through our fingers? Furthermore, the Martial Soul Department chose not to make him a core disciple, despite him leading his team to win the freshmen test. However, just as luck would have it, Dean Yan discovered his second martial soul, thus he is now fighting us over him. What happened to the academy's rules? I stand here as a representative of the Soul Tool Department: No matter what happens, the Soul Tool Department absolutely won't give up on such a talented person. Furthermore, the Soul Tool Department has already decided to put all of our resources into nurturing this child. We shall strive to nurture him into Shrek Academy's first Class 9 soul engineer within thirty years.
"In order to nurture Huo Yuhao, Dean Xian, Fan Yu, and I have talked things over. We've decided that the Ultimate Soldier Plan will rest on his shoulders. As such, He Caitou—who was originally tasked with carrying out this plan—will act as an auxiliary soul engineer and will help educate him.
"Fellow resident elders, I can understand Dean Yan's feelings; an Ultimate-type martial soul is indeed extremely important to the Martial Soul Department. However, is it not important to the Soul Tool Department as well? Their department has already become the number one martial soul department on the continent, yet ours hasn't. We're always striving to do our best in the hopes that we'll make a breakthrough. Yet, what do we lack the most? Talent! Fellow resident elders, please think this through. Ever since our department was established, when have we not accepted the rejects of the Martial Soul Department? How are we supposed to compete with the Sun Moon Empire under such circumstances? We aren't lacking in money, nor are we lacking in resources now. What we are lacking in is talent! Huo Yuhao has displayed extraordinary talents towards being a soul engineer. Furthermore, he now has twin martial souls, one of which is an Ultimate attribute. I'm absolutely confident that I can nurture him into an extremely powerful soul engineer. As such, we definitely will not, and are not willing to, part with this student."
Qian Duoduo went straight to the point without beating around the bush. His words were far more direct than Yan Shaozhe's had been. In reality, the Soul Tool Department was actually being reasonable about this matter.
Xian Lin'er said, "Dean Qian's intentions are my intentions. The Soul Tool Department is willing to stake everything on this child. If he's unable to fulfill the Ultimate Soldier Plan, I'm willing to resign from my position as Dean of the Soul Tool Department."
Yan Shaozhe and the woman sitting beside him were shocked when they heard her say this. This was too cruel! Xian Lin'er really was being ruthless when she made this move.
It was true that the Martial Soul Department had held absolute dominance within the academy ever since Shrek Academy had been founded. However, when both departments were aligned side by side, Xian Lin'er and Qian Duoduo were on par with them in soul rank. Even though most of the resident elders were from the Martial Soul Department, they couldn't disregard the opinions of both Deans from the Soul Tool Department. This was even more true since the Soul Tool Department were actually being reasonable about the matter.
For a moment, Yan Shaozhe couldn't help but feel that things really had become more difficult for him. If they continued to fight like this, the conflict between both parties would really spiral towards an all-out explosion. This wasn't what he hoped to see.
Elder Xuan finally spoke up. He coughed slightly before he said, "I understand your intentions, and I examined this student Huo Yuhao in the past. At that time, the Martial Soul Department didn't want him mainly because of his ten year soul ring. Moreover, it'll be extremely difficult to obtain soul rings for his Spirit Eyes in the future as it's a spiritual-type martial soul. Thus, it'll be hard for him to perform to his fullest potential. Though it was a Body Soul, I investigated his body's condition. From the state of his body at that time, I saw that the possibility of him awakening his Body Soul a second time was very small."
"As we all know, the more important the location of a Body Soul is, the stronger it is. However, this only applies after the second awakening. The more important the location of a Body Soul, the smaller the chances of it awakening a second time. The eyes are the window to the spirit, making them the strongest spiritual-type martial soul among Body Souls. This means that it will be too hard for him to awaken it a second time. I've never heard of a Body Soul on this level, even within the Body Sect. Thus, I can guarantee that the origins of his second martial soul are unrelated to his Body Soul."
"This is somewhat strange. Where did his second martial soul come from? I feel that it'd be better for us to dig into this a little deeper."
Elder Lin who was seated opposite Elder Xuan smiled slightly. "Elder Xuan, you're straying from the topic at hand. We can investigate this child's situation later, but our current meeting is being held to decide the path of his future cultivation."
Elder Xuan laughed mischievously. "Naturally, it'd be better for him to remain with our Martial Soul Department. Regardless of where his second martial soul came from, as long as it's truly an Ultimate one, staying in the Martial Soul Department is clearly the best option for him. We have precedent in training soul masters with Ultimate martial souls, and we're still lacking a few men."
Elder Lin shook her head. "This isn't proper. What Qian Duoduo said makes sense; the Soul Tool Department has always been extremely lacking in talent. That child's already a core disciple of the Soul Tool Department. Making such a change in the academy's policy isn't conforming to the academy's rules."
Elder Xuan curled his lips, "What isn't conforming to the academy's rules? Let me ask you this: where does the Soul Tool Department recruit students from? At the very least, from the third years in the Martial Soul Department. But, what about this Huo Yuhao? He's just entered Year 2. The Soul Tool Department's the one who has broken the rules in the first place."
Yan Shaozhe was overjoyed. He inwardly thought to himself, The older generation is still more experienced than the younger one! Even if Elder Xuan was normally drunk, he wouldn't be vague in the least during important moments.
The elder seated beside Elder Lin shook his head. "Elder Xuan, what you're saying doesn't have any meaning at all. I understand soul engineers better than you, and this is the first time I've heard of a person becoming a Class 2 soul engineer within six months. I'm afraid that even the Sun Moon Empire doesn't have a student on this level. Furthermore, all of us approved of the Ultimate Soldier Plan during a meeting here. Now that Xian Lin'er and Qian Duoduo are trying to realise this plan together, we should be encouraging them. In any case, this student is staying in our academy, so going to the Soul Tool Department gives the same results."
Elder Xuan snorted. "The same? How can it even be the same? Leaving him in the Soul Tool Department is an utter waste of his talent."
Xian Lin'er became angry, and stood up. "Elder Xuan, why is leaving him in my Soul Tool Department a waste? The Martial Soul Department keeps repeating over and over again that they have experience in training a soul master with an Ultimate martial soul, but from what I recall, Huo Yuhao has an Ice-type Ultimate martial soul. Do you have experience in nurturing an Ultimate Ice martial soul? Moreover, you're an elder. You shouldn't be favouring the Martial Soul Department. Since you keep siding with the Martial Soul Department, is there any point in our Soul Tool Department existing?"
Elder Xuan became angry as well. "You girl! I'm biased because a martial soul is the root of a soul master, as well as the root of our Shrek Academy. The Soul Tool Department is indeed important, and I don't want to keep helping the Martial Soul Department in this dispute either. Why don't we do this? Shaozhe, choose ten core disciples from the Martial Soul Department and let Lin'er choose three of them for an exchange. This should be fine."
Yan Shaozhe's eyes lit up, Right! This was a good plan. Didn't your Soul Tool Department say that you were lacking talents? Then, I'll use talents to barter with you.
He hurriedly declared his position, "This isn't a problem. Why don't we use five core disciples of the Martial Soul Department and trade them for Huo Yuhao? This can be considered to be us having very good faith. It's true that our Martial Soul Department hasn't been supporting the Soul Tool Department enough during these years. Why don't we do this? Dean Xian, Dean Qian, though we're in charge of different departments, we all have the same goals; that is, to develop and strengthen our Shrek Academy even more. Right here, I'll promise you two that from now on, our Martial Soul Department won't choose our core disciples before they enter Year 3. After Year 3, we'll choose them along with you guys, allowing these students to choose the future path of their cultivations. This way, I'm confident that we won't even need ten years for the Soul Tool Department to develop at a rapid pace."
The expressions of the originally furious Xian Lin'er and Qian Duoduo softened immediately after listening to Yan Shaozhe's words. They had no choice but to admit that he was a man who made very prompt decisions. Furthermore, his promise to the Soul Tool Department would be of tremendous benefit towards their future development. At the same time, this revealed his determination to obtain Huo Yuhao. Qian Duoduo's stinginess was in the form of money, but Yan Shaozhe's stinginess was in the form of talents. The fact that he could make a concession like that truly signified that he was extremely sincere.
Elder Lin, who was seated on the first seat on the right side of the long table, turned towards Xian Lin'er, "Lin'er, what do you think?"
Xian Lin'er revealed a pondering light in her eyes, but Qian Duoduo stood up slowly. "Dean Yan, Dean Cai, various elders. I'm declaring my position on behalf of myself. With regards to me alone, I'm not willing to accept this trade. No matter how many fine horses you give us, it won't be worth a single Thousand Mile Colt. A large number of talents coming into our Soul Tool Department will truly give us an opportunity, but it is very likely that a single Huo Yuhao can directly make us flourish. At that time, will we have any lack of talents? With the current situation of our Soul Tool Department, it's more suitable for us to pool all our resources on a single person. I'm very grateful for Dean Yan's sincerity, but I personally hope that we can keep Huo Yuhao."
Xian Lin'er slowly stood up after listening to his words. "I agree with Dean Qian's words. Our Soul Tool Department refuses the trade. He's already one of our core disciples, and we will absolutely not give in."
Yan Shaozhe's expression became grave. He'd already made such a large concession, but Xian Lin'er and Qian Duoduo were still unwilling to give in to him. His heart surged with flames of anger.
"As the Dean of the Martial Soul Department, I'll declare where I stand. The appearance of an Ultimate soul master occurs less than once in a thousand years, and our Martial Soul Department cannot give up on a talent like this. I am determined to obtain Huo Yuhao. Since we've convened here today, we'll put it to a vote to determine his final destination."
The lady beside him who hadn't spoken yet slowly rose to her feet, "I support Dean Yan. An Ultimate element must stay in our Martial Soul Department."
She was the Vice-Dean of the Martial Soul Department, a person called Cai Mei'er, who normally remained within the inner courtyard.
Both parties weren't willing to give way to each other, and the various elders had awkward expressions on their faces. Regardless of how they settled this matter in the end, they would leave one party unhappy. Furthermore, this matter would definitely cause an enormous conflict between the two parties. Even if the Martial Soul Department held an absolute advantage, the Soul Tool Department was still an irreplaceable part of the academy. If they were to suffer a setback again, it would be overly detrimental to its development. There was even a high possibility that an outflow of talent would occur.
Because of that, the various elders were extremely cautious in their actions; none of them took the initiative to declare where they stood.
"All of you, sit down." The warm voice coming from the person seated at the head of the table rang out once again. After hearing this voice, both opposing parties immediately curbed themselves a bit. They respectfully sat back in their original positions.
The warm voice said indifferently, "You've both expounded on your reasoning very clearly. However, haven't you all thought of a single possibility? Let me ask you this–when our Shrek Academy was founded at the very beginning, what was our original objective?'
"To nurture talented soul masters who are monsters. Shrek Academy only trains monsters, not ordinary people." Yan Shaozhe replied respectfully.
The warm voice said, "Correct, we only train monsters, not ordinary people. Since that's the case, why don't we be a bit more bold and train a true monster? This child Huo Yuhao has met the requirements to be considered a very gifted person. He's an orphan, and this means he won't be inclined toward any particular empire in the future. At the same time, it's very likely that he'll remain in the academy. Qian Duoduo."
"Present." Qian Duoduo stood up hurriedly, then said respectfully, "Elder Mu."
The warm voice said, "I ask you this: during the six month period in which Huo Yuhao trained to become a soul engineer, were his studies in the Martial Soul Department interrupted at any time?"
"Never." Qian Duoduo replied immediately, "He trained for four hours with Fan Yu every night. It's because of this exact reason that I called him a genius! Even when he was distracted with his studies in the Martial Soul Department, he was able to become a Class 2 soul engineer within a mere six months."
"Good. Then let me ask you all this: during the process in which Huo Yuhao became a Class 2 soul engineer, were his studies in the Martial Soul Department interrupted? Did his cultivation speed decrease?"
Yan Shaozhe said, "No. His second martial soul's already awakened, and when I made a move earlier, I was able to tell that his soul power was around Rank 30. I've investigated this as well. This child was only at Rank 13 when he first entered the academy, but he was able to increase his soul power by 17 ranks within a short year. Regardless of whether he's innately talented or lucky, the facts are before us. Thus, your disciple thinks that he's more suited to stay in our Martial Soul Department. Even if his cultivation speed drops after he reaches Rank 30, a talent on this level shouldn't be affected by it too much."
The warm voice suddenly laughed, and his laughter was slightly coarse. "You're all confused by the situation at hand. Since this kid was able to study in the Martial Soul Department and the Soul Tool Department at the same time for an entire year without letting his studies fall, and instead displaying a genius-level performance, what are you fighting over? Why don't you just let him study in both fields at once?"
"Ah?" Yan Shaozhe, Cai Mei'er, Xian Lin'er, Qian Duoduo were all stunned.