"That's right! I'm just a lowly Soul Sage, not worthy of the attention of a noble lady from the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Clan like you."
Flender didn't seem angry; instead, he went along with it and said, "Since you look down on me, and I don't think much of you either, you can leave. Our Shrek Academy doesn't welcome students who don't follow the rules."
"Pfft!"
Xiao Feng couldn't help but laugh at those words.
Flender furrowed his brow, displeased. "Kid, what's so funny? Do you find what I said amusing?"
"Sorry! Sorry! I just didn't expect that, as the dean of Shrek Academy, you would say that Shrek Academy doesn't need unruly students."
Xiao Feng waved his hand and said, "If I remember correctly, isn't there a rule in Shrek Academy that says: 'Those who don't dare to cause trouble are useless?' So aren't Shrek Academy's students notorious for stirring up trouble outside?"
"Kid, you seem to know a lot about our Shrek Academy. Are you thinking of joining us?"
"No, no, no. I haven't lost my mind. Why would I join Shrek Academy and ruin my future?"
Hearing this, Flender's face darkened. "Kid, are you insulting our Shrek Academy?"
"I'm not insulting your academy; I'm just stating a fact."
Xiao Feng stared directly into Flender's eyes and said calmly, "The admission requirements for Shrek Academy are under the age of 13, a spirit power level of 21 or higher, and the first two-spirit rings must be century-old rings.
"And that's just the basic requirement. In fact, Shrek Academy has four internal entry tests, and only those with a spirit power of 25 or higher can pass."
"That's right! So what?" Flender nodded proudly. "We only accept monsters at Shrek Academy. We'd rather have fewer students than accept mediocrity. Those who can't meet our standards are not fit to join."
"You make it sound impressive as if Shrek Academy is truly remarkable."
Xiao Feng sneered, "Can you tell me what training plans Shrek Academy has for these 'monsters'? Other than making them run to build stamina and sending them to the Spirit Arena for practical experience, do you have any other methods?
"Like providing a simulated training environment, finding the most suitable spirit rings for their martial souls, or teaching them how to identify the age of a spirit beast by its appearance?"
"..." Flender fell silent.
Seeing this, Xiao Feng continued, "As far as I know, your graduation requirement is to reach level 40 and become a Soul Ancestor before the age of 20. Shrek Academy has enrolled over 60 students so far, but only 14 have graduated.
"Even though those who graduated have gained some fame across the continent, that doesn't prove your academy's strength.
"It just shows that these students had exceptional talent to begin with, and despite wasting eight years at your academy, they didn't fail. If those students had attended other academies with their natural talent, they would've received far better training.
"Saying they'd all reach the level of Titled Douluo might be an exaggeration, but becoming a Soul Sage should've been easy. Now, how many of the students who enrolled at Shrek Academy have actually reached Soul Sage?"
Flender's face alternated between pale and flushed as he listened to Xiao Feng's criticism, but he had no way to refute it.
Lies don't hurt; the truth is the sharpest blade!
"I always thought Shrek Academy was so amazing~ it turns out it's just a scam!" Ning Rongrong, realising how poor Shrek Academy's teaching was, waved her hand dismissively, her face full of disdain. "In that case, I'm withdrawing from Shrek Academy."
Seeing that Ning Rongrong was really going to leave, Flender's face turned completely dark.
Without Ning Rongrong, a super auxiliary spirit master, Shrek Academy would be left with only six students, not even meeting the minimum requirement to compete in the Continental Advanced Spirit Master Academy Elite Tournament.
"Hmph! Do as you wish!" Flender, unable to forcefully bring Ning Rongrong back, left in anger, his robe fluttering.
After Flender stormed off, Ning Rongrong suddenly spoke in a playful tone, "Brother Xiao, you have to take responsibility for me now."
"Responsibility? For what?"
"I snuck out from home this time. If I go back now, I'll lose all face~"
Ning Rongrong made a pitiful expression. "Originally, I planned to stay at Shrek Academy for a while, raise my spirit power to level 30, and then go back. Now I can't stay at the academy, and I can't go home either. You can't just let a helpless girl like me wander around alone, right? What if I run into some bad people and get bullied? Wouldn't you feel guilty?"
Of course, Xiao Feng didn't believe Ning Rongrong's nonsense. As the young lady of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Clan, she surely had people secretly protecting her.
However, Xiao Feng didn't expose her lie and instead played along, asking, "So, what do you want me to do?"
"It's simple. Either you become my bodyguard for a while, until I've had enough fun and decide to return to the clan, or you teach me how to control spirit beast corpses. With a powerful spirit beast puppet as my bodyguard, I won't need you to protect me."
Ning Rongrong smiled mischievously.
"You're really bold!" Xiao Feng rolled his eyes at Ning Rongrong, half-jokingly saying, "The technique for making spirit beast corpses into battle puppets is a secret passed down in the Xiao family. It's only passed to males, not females.
"Unless you marry me and give me a fat baby boy, you should just forget about it and go to sleep. You can have anything in your dreams."
(ω)
Hearing this, Ning Rongrong stared at Xiao Feng's handsome face for a while, her cheeks turning red.
Marrying Xiao Feng and giving him a fat baby boy didn't seem like a bad idea!
As Ning Rongrong daydreamed, Xiao Feng suddenly spoke, "Actually, it's easy if you want to surprise your father. I can help you evolve your Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda into the legendary Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda."
"What did you say? You're not joking, right?" Ning Rongrong's face changed drastically, forgetting her daydreams.
(End of chapter)
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