Chapter 68.2. Shrek Guardians

Elder Xuan and the seven members of the official team stood at the very front, while the seven members of the preparatory team trailed behind them. Because of that, Xu Sanshi and Jiang Nannan were able to listen in on Bei Bei’s conversation with the others.

It wasn’t easy for Xu Sanshi to obtain an opportunity to go out with Jiang Nannan. Naturally, he was tagging along with her shamelessly.

Jiang Nannan was simply helpless in front of Xu Sanshi. Thus, she strictly forbade him from entering a one meter area around her and from harassing her. After Xu Sanshi nodded like a baby chick eating rice, she ignored him.

Seeing that Huo Yuhao and the rest were working hard, Xu Sanshi immediately devised a plan. He smiled mischievously, “Nannan, see how hard they’re working. Why don’t we practice as well? Look, my hard and thick skin is great for you to practice your throwing skills. Naturally, I can take on your grappling skills as well.” His thirsty face was clearly telling Jiang Nannan, grapple me, grapple me!

Jiang Nannan turned around and looked at him with an icy look in her eyes, “It’d be better for you to scram than anything else.”

Xu Sanshi immediately contorted his face and said indignantly, “Nannan, just what can I do to make you understand my heart!? I’m sincere towards you. Just how can I make you be willing to be together with me?!”

Jiang Nannan stared at him hatefully, and a tint of red that arose from either bashfulness or anger faintly appeared on her exceptionally beautiful face. “I won’t be together with the hedonistic son of a rich family like you no matter what. A beast’s intentions still come from a beast’s heart. Stop bothering me. Also, I’m called Jiang Nannan. Please use my surname while referring to me.”

With that, she turned around and sped up, increasing the distance between her and Xu Sanshi.

Xu Sanshi covered his face with his hands and cried out sorrowfully, “Just let me die, die, die.”

Bei Bei was already next to him somehow. With a smile on his calm face, he asked sincerely, “Do you need help?”

Xu Sanshi put his hands down and flew into a rage, “Are we brothers? Are we still brothers? I just knew that you’d be a guy who enjoys schadenfreude and kicking someone who’s down. If Xiao Ya weren’t here, you’d have revealed your true nature already.”

Bei Bei had a look of surprise on his face. “You want to talk about being brothers now? Why do I recall you saying that you’d be willing to ‘stab yourself twice for the sake of your brother, but stab your brother for the sake of a girl’!”

Xu Sanshi was left embarrassed. He raised his head high. “A girl can give me a child, can you? A girl can sleep with me on a bed, but can you?”

Bei Bei gave a warm smile, “I can’t do the former, but I can do the latter.”

Elder Xuan, who was walking in front, suddenly staggered mysteriously. Then, he violently spat out the mouthful of wine he had in his mouth before glaring fiercely at Bei Bei and Xu Sanshi.

The two of them straightened their faces, not daring to say anything more.

“Okay! Come over!” Elder Xuan spat out a mouthful of saliva, then used his dirty, greasy sleeve to wipe his mouth before yelling out unhappily.

The group of fourteen hurriedly stepped forward and formed a circle around him. Due to the fact that they were just training, Huo Yuhao, Wang Dong, and Xiao Xiao were slightly out of breath.

Xu Sanshi still believed that it was Bei Bei’s words that had triggered Elder Xuan. “Just wait for your scolding. Hehe.” He whispered coldly.

At this moment, Bei Bei didn’t have any traces of a smile on his face. He had a ruthless look, and he mouthed a few words, “Since I’m going to get scolded, I’m gonna tell Jiang Nannan that you actually like guys. You were only chasing her to hide your real sexual orientation.”

“Your sister…” Xu Sanshi’s face reddened.

Bei Bei maintained full eye contact with him and said, “I don’t have a sister.”

Elder Xuan suddenly ruffled his hair and glared at the two of them, “If you two spout anymore bullshit, I’m gonna beat you to the point where you won’t even be able to take care of yourselves anymore.”

Ma Xiaotao laughed, “Elder Xuan, you’re in perfectly good condition! However, our public morals are truly degenerating! They’re so young, but they’ve inclinations like this. I suggest that the academy have a rectification campaign.”

“I’m perfectly straight!” Bei Bei and Xu Sanshi cried out together.

“Psh——” Ma Xiaotao had a look of disdain on her face, “Was I talking about the two of you? I was talking about Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong. What’re you panicking for? There’s no gold hidden here.”

Xu Sanshi smacked Bei Bei and said indignantly, “I blame you for all of this! My reputation!”

Jiang Nannan snorted and whispered, “Did you even have a reputation? You’re a…”

Xu Sanshi’s hearing wasn’t bad. “Nannan, it isn’t like that! That time, I…”

“You dare?” Jiang Nannan suddenly raised her head. Her gaze resembled that of a dagger, and it was even that of an exceptionally sharp one. Xu Sanshi shivered instinctively, then instantly shut up. He put on a righteous appearance, giving off the impression that he wouldn’t say anything even if he was killed.

Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong were inwardly laughing themselves to death, but everyone here was an upperclassman. It wouldn’t be good for them to laugh out loud, so they held in their laughter to the point where their stomachs hurt.

Wang Dong whispered, “Adultery. There’s definitely adultery between seniors Xu and Jiang.”

Suddenly, everyone felt the temperature surrounding them drop. The words ‘killing intent’ arose involuntarily in their hearts, making all of them shut up.

The killing intent that had appeared instantly caused Huo Yuhao, Wang Dong, and Xiao Xiao to stiffen up due to their low cultivations. Fortunately, it only lasted for a moment before disappearing.

Elder Xuan acted as if he’d heard and done nothing, and spoke in a low voice, “We aren’t far from the academy, and there a few things that I have to say now. You seven from the preparatory team have to listen carefully to me. This concerns the future direction of your path in the academy.”

Elder Xuan’s usual attitude wasn’t too calm, but this was the first time they’d seen him act so seriously. Huo Yuhao and the other six felt their hearts go cold, and they immediately curbed their previous laughter. Then, they paid full attention to Elder Xuan.

The seven from the inner courtyard seemed to know what Elder Xuan was about to say, but they had solemn looks on their faces. Moreover, they radiated a unique sort of arrogance.

Elder Xuan said, “Our Shrek Academy has existed for over ten thousand years. Normally, a powerful soul master can live for two hundred years at the very least, while some can live even longer. Moreover, more and more students enter the inner courtyard every year. However, the total number of inner courtyard disciples who currently remain within the academy doesn’t even reach a hundred. Do you know why this is the case?”

Xu Sanshi said, “It’s because our seniors have graduated, right?”

Elder Xuan shook his head, “You’re half-right. There are a few disciples of the inner courtyard who leave the academy after graduating, but I now want to talk about the disciples who don’t graduate.”

At this point, Elder Xuan’s voice clearly contained a few more traces of sorrow, “They were all good kids. Though they weren’t able to truly graduate, their names still exist within the school register. They took the ideals of the academy as their own ideals. It’s not that they didn’t have the strength to graduate, but because they died for the sake of the academy’s ideals.”

“In reality, there are many other students who have the qualifications to enter the inner courtyard. However, many of them choose to leave the academy after graduating from the outer courtyard. It’s because entering the inner courtyard of Shrek Academy doesn’t just signify that you’ll get better things and better teaching. The weight of the responsibilities you’ll receive will be similarly large. Those students who choose not to enter the inner courtyard admit that they aren’t able to shoulder this task. After agreeing to keep this a secret, they leave.”

“The academy respects the choices of all of its students, but I want to say that every single student who has entered the inner courtyard to pursue their studies is a hero. Not a hero of the academy, but a hero of the entire Douluo Continent.”

The word ‘hero’ was still very unfamiliar to the young Huo Yuhao and the rest. However, this word carried an indescribable weight to it when it came from Elder Xuan’s mouth.

Elder Xuan said solemnly, “The thing that you aren’t allowed to disclose is the fact that you’ve already taken a step into the inner courtyard from the very moment you guys became members of the preparatory team. However, it’s just because of this that I have to confirm whether you are willing to shoulder the burdens of the academy before we leave. If you’re not willing to, I can return you to the academy, and nobody will blame you. You will still complete your studies and graduate successfully. Furthermore, I have to say that there isn’t much the inner courtyard has that the outer courtyard doesn’t. The reason why disciples of the inner courtyard are strong is linked to that responsibility I mentioned. If you choose to go back, you’ll have to keep the same secret as the students who choose to leave after graduating. Can you do it?”

Huo Yuhao’s group of seven could feel that the secrets that Elder Xuan was about to reveal weren’t that humongous. The seven replied simultaneously, “Yes.”

Elder Xuan said, “The Douluo Continent was originally extremely large. After the collision and fusion it had with the Sun Moon Continent, it became even larger. Of the four great empires, the Sun Moon Empire covers the largest area. Its various mineral resources are extremely plentiful. However, they’re still foreigners to us. Even if several thousand years have passed, they aren’t compatible with the three empires of our Douluo Continent. We aren’t able to truly accept their existences. This formed a mutual alliance we have against them. Although there isn’t any large-scale war on the Douluo Continent, disputes always exist. If this dispute occurs among the normal countryfolk, it won’t cause too much damage. However, a dispute among soul masters is different.”

“Not all soul masters are kind. A large number of people will have inflated egos due to their strength, and they’ll get an air of haughtiness that makes it seem as though they’re the number one expert under the heavens. They may even have evil intentions as a result. These people will then bring about enormous casualties to the ordinary folk. A soul master committing an evil act is a common occurrence, and it’s getting higher as the days go on. Oftentimes, the more talented and stronger a soul master is, the higher the destructive power he’ll have after stepping onto the path of evil. There was once a Soul Emperor who massacred an entire village just because the food they served him wasn’t up to his standards. Why is that the case? It’s because soul masters far exceed ordinary people in terms of strength, and also because they lack restrictions and control.”

“Our Shrek Academy doesn’t consider itself a righteous organisation, but we aren’t willing to allow calamities like this occur. Roughly six thousand years ago, the academy split into the outer and inner courtyards…”