"But Young Master, what about your safety?" The Porcupinefish Douluo asked hesitantly.
"Don't worry, I won't be leaving the Prince's residence these days. Besides, with my strength in the entire Heaven Dou City, there are very few people who can hurt me," Qian Renxue said.
"Understood." Upon hearing this, the Porcupinefish Douluo no longer hesitated and respectfully responded, turning into a shadow as he flew toward the Heaven Dou Royal Academy.
On the other side, while Lan Si was on his way to the Sunset Forest, Dai Mubai had just finished beating up Xue Beng and was now meeting with Qin Ming and others, led by Sun Buyu.
"Dean, you finally arrived! I've been waiting anxiously!" Qin Ming exclaimed joyfully as he walked up to Flender and the other Shrek Academy teachers, quickly bowing to them.
Flender smiled and nodded, "Haha, you're still so formal. Speaking of which, I will be working with you in the future! By the way, how have you arranged things here?"
Qin Ming smiled, "Don't worry, Dean. I've already informed the three committee members of the Heaven Dou Academy, and they warmly welcome all the teachers to join. Although they are skeptical about the younger students being close to Lan Si in age and having a similar soul power, with Lan Si's endorsement, everything will be fine. I'll arrange a place for you to rest, and after lunch, I'll take you to meet the academy's higher-ups to finalize things."
"Thank you for that." Qin Ming's arrangements clearly satisfied Flender, and he followed Qin Ming to their accommodations.
Strolling along the shaded path of the academy, Qin Ming and Flender walked in the front, and the usually taciturn Zhu Zhuqing rarely spoke up to catch up to them. "Qin Ming, do you know where Lan Si is right now?"
Upon hearing this, Qin Ming was slightly taken aback and realized, "Oh, you must be Lan Si's girlfriend. He should be in Heaven Dou City now."
"What? That little guy didn't come? Even if he doesn't come to greet us as his future teachers, he should at least greet his girlfriend," Flender said somewhat dissatisfied.
Qin Ming smiled wryly and shook his head, "Dean, you misunderstood him. Lan Si rarely stays in the academy. Most of the time, he either goes to the Great Soul Arena in Heaven Dou City or heads to the Sunset Forest nearby for training. He fights soul beasts to hone his combat skills, so he wouldn't know that you were coming today."
Fighting soul beasts?
Flender frowned, and the others showed unusual expressions as they asked, "That little guy is really pushing himself?"
The Sunset Forest isn't like the Great Soul Arena; while it isn't as dangerous as the Star Dou Forest, it's still a survival of the fittest place. Although the soul beasts have decreased due to rampant hunting by humans in recent years, there are still many soul beasts close to ten thousand years old or even older. Even a Soul Saint would not guarantee absolute safety when entering.
"Yes, it seems that as a teacher, I haven't done my job well and haven't taught him enough," Qin Ming sighed as he recalled Lan Si fighting the Shrek Seven Monsters a month ago. "Maybe that's why he has such strength far beyond his peers."
"There was a time I asked him, 'Lan Si, why are you working so hard? Can't you get stronger by staying in the academy and training with your classmates?' Do you know how he answered me? He said, 'Because I have someone I want to protect in my heart.'"
Upon hearing this, the Shrek group exchanged glances, including Tang San, Xiao Wu, Dai Mubai, and Yu Xiaogang, who all disliked Lan Si. Their eyes unconsciously turned to Zhu Zhuqing, knowing that the person Lan Si referred to was Zhu Zhuqing.
Facing their gazes, Zhu Zhuqing's face turned slightly red. Feeling shy, a warm current flowed through her heart. She clenched her small hand, silently vowing never to hold Lan Si back.
"I really envy Zhuqing for having a boyfriend who loves her so much and is willing to work hard for her." Standing beside Xiao Wu, Ning Rongrong, who had grown distant from Zhu Zhuqing due to previous comments at the Suotuo City Great Soul Arena, covered her face with her delicate hand and sighed.
Hearing this, Oscar seemed to be injected with enthusiasm, quickly walking up to Ning Rongrong with a smile, saying, "Rongrong, I'm also willing to work hard for you!"
"You?" Ning Rongrong looked Oscar up and down. In terms of appearance, he wasn't much worse than Lan Si; both were handsome. Lan Si was the sunny type, while Oscar was more of the humorous type. But in terms of strength, Ning Rongrong really didn't think much of him. After a moment of thought, she replied, "You should take care of yourself first."
Oscar's forehead was filled with black lines, "Uh, Rongrong, I'm serious."
"Is that true?" A barely noticeable cunning smile appeared at the corner of Ning Rongrong's mouth.
Oscar nodded seriously, "More genuine than real gold."
"Then prove it to me. I don't want you to compare with Lan Si. I'm a support-type soul master, so as long as you can beat Third Brother or Dai Tiger and prove you have the ability to protect me, I will immediately agree to be your girlfriend." While speaking, Ning Rongrong pointed at Tang San and Dai Mubai.
Upon hearing this, Tang San and Dai Mubai frowned. They felt displeased at Ning Rongrong saying they were not as good as Lan Si but found themselves unable to retort since they had just been defeated by Lan Si not long ago. So they could only suppress their dissatisfaction and glare at Oscar.
Being stared at by the two, Oscar felt a bit uneasy and raised his hand to weakly ask, "Rongrong, that's a bit difficult. Can I change it to Fatty?"
"Fatty?" Ning Rongrong turned her gaze to Ma Hongjun, who had a chubby face, standing at five feet tall and four feet long, resembling a meatball. After pondering for a moment, she replied, "That's fine."
In her opinion, Oscar was just a support-type soul master, and the food system was one of the hardest to cultivate. Although Ma Hongjun wasn't particularly outstanding among the Shrek Seven Monsters, he possessed a powerful fire attribute beast martial soul. It was practically a pipe dream for Oscar to beat the Evil Fire Phoenix.
"Alright, Fatty, you'll be my opponent from now on. For Rongrong's sake, I will definitely defeat you one day in the future," Oscar said as he patted Ma Hongjun on the shoulder.
Ma Hongjun didn't care much, curling his lips, "What? Do you think Fatty is easy to bully? Although my soul power isn't as high as yours, I'm still a battle soul master, and my martial soul is the Evil Fire Phoenix. Just come at me!"
As they spoke, they arrived at a separate courtyard on the west side of the Heaven Dou Royal Academy. After arranging their accommodations, everyone took a short break, had lunch, and then followed Qin Ming to the committee meeting.
Just like in the original story, after some mutual flattery between Flender and the three committee members of the Heaven Dou Royal Academy, they were about to finalize the merger of Shrek Academy with Heaven Dou Royal Academy when Xue Beng arrived with Prince Xue Xing and the old poisoner Dugu Bo.
Xue Beng sneered at the Shrek teachers and students, thinking of driving them out of the Heaven Dou Royal Academy.
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