Chapter 559: Boarding the Ship

The Federation secretary-general, Pan Wen, walked over to the Shrek Academy group and bowed his head. “Hello, Elder Cai.” 

Pan Wen was a middle-aged man of average height. And a balding head. He’d hardly stand out in a lineup of other senior government officials. In fact, he’d hardly stand out anywhere. Despite his ordinary appearance, however, he was a rising star in the world of politics and had a decent shot at being appointed the chairman. 

“Hello, Secretary-general Pan,” Elder Cai said curtly, maintaining the measured distance between representatives of Shrek Academy and the Federation. The two had never had a close relationship. 

Pan Wen smiled. “Elder Cai, we’ve arranged for your honored academy’s group to stay on the Star Luo ship with the group from the Imperial Star Luo Academy. Those are the same students who came on an exchange here. I’m sure they will be eager to entertain themselves in sparring with your students during the long voyage ahead.” 

Elder Cai spent a moment considering about what Pan Wen had said. “Oh, you mean those kids we rejected from visiting Shrek!” Everyone in the vicinity turned to Elder Cai, gawking at how provocative her words were. 

A bead of sweat ran down Pan Wen’s forehead as he suddenly began laughing. “Yeah. That’s right! How unfortunate that they had wanted to do their exchange at such an inconvenient time for Shrek! Isn’t this a wonderful opportunity now during the voyage?” 

Elder Cai grunted her affirmation and nodded. 

“That’s great then! Elder Cai, please allow me to escort you and your talented students to your rooms.” Pan Wen hurried them along after giving them enough face. 

The truth was that he was helpless before her. In his lofty government post, he knew full well what sort of power Shrek Academy wielded. It had always been a challenge for the Federation in deciding how to handle Shrek Academy. In fact, the two main objectives of the Federation were to control Shrek Academy and the Spirit Pagoda.  Of course, that was just wishful thinking. Those two organizations were the most influential throughout Douluo, and more importantly, all of the strongest soul masters congregated there. There was some room for cooperation with the Spirit Pagoda, but Shrek Academy was a monolith that refused to budge no matter what the Federation tried. They were forced to turn a blind eye out of consideration for Shrek Academy’s hidden might and lack of ambitions. Shrek Academy had never expressed any intent to expand and its students were moral soldiers that spread all over the continent. They were by no means forming an army, so the Federation could accept granting them autonomy, no matter how reluctant. 

Led by Pan Wen, the Shrek Academy group entered a special elevator that took them straight to the ship. 

As Tang Wulin’s eyes wandered around, he caught sight of another group of people boarding the ship. They wore white uniforms, their faces reflecting the youth of those in their late teens. Then they returned Tang Wulin’s gaze, pointing at his group. If he had to guess, Tang Wulin would say they were discussing Shrek Academy’s green uniforms. 

“Are those guys students from the Imperial Star Luo Academy?” Xie Xie asked in a murmur. 

Yue Zhengyu wagged his finger at Xie Xie. “Who cares where they’re from? We can whoop their ass either way.” 

Xie Xie rolled his eyes. “I’ll believe it when I see it. Why don’t you go over and fight them now?” He scoffed. “Bet you’ll lose.” 

“Are you trying to stir up trouble?” Yuanen Yehui asked, shooting a sharp look at Xie Xie. 

“You see that?” Yue Zhengyu said, puffing out his chest. “My class president favors me still. You’ve gotten on her bad side with your shit stirring!” 

This time, it was Yue Zhengyu who was at the receiving end of her glare. “He’s not wrong either. A single look and anyone could tell you’re no good.”

“Eh…”

At the sight of Yue Zhengyu’s fallen expression, Xie Xie broke into a laugh, an arrogant smirk quickly forming on his lips. 

Situated at the back of the group, Xu Lizhi chuckled at the antics of his friends. Right beside him, Ye Xinglan just rolled her eyes. “These boys and their boring nonsense.”

In truth, they were all bored. After going through an intense period of cultivation and studies, they had a hard time adjusting to such idleness.  But now, ever since they left campus, each day had been spent with nothing to do but sit and cultivate. The same activity that had kept them busy before now felt less riveting in comparison.

Without a quiet space to work in, Ye Xinglan hadn’t had a chance to work on making any battle armor, despite how confident in success she felt at her current level. It was only the most complicated cores that proved a challenge, and she wouldn’t be able to make them until she became a sixth-rank maker. She still had a long way before she could make a breakthrough. 

The night before, after Ye Xinglan consulted with Tang Wulin, they decided that she would begin making armor for the rest of the team once her own was finished. Minus the core, that was. Once she advanced her skills further, she could make the core and complete her battle armor.

After boarding the ship, Tang Wulin turned back to look at the shore. There, a crowd of people roamed about. They looked like like tiny ants from a distance. Before he could enjoy the view further, staff members from Star Luo came to greet his group and sort through their cabin arrangements.

The ship was simply enormous and would easily have been able to accommodate every single person going on this trip by itself. But since they had two ships anyway, the passengers were divided between them. 

A couple of minutes later, they each had a key to their cabins. Thanks to the ship’s excessive size, sharing cabins was unnecessary. 

Without a single word, Elder Cai immediately left for her room, which was situated on the highest floor, separated from the rest of them. Pan Wen continued leading the remainder of the Shrek Academy group with a smile on his face.

“Really though, Shrek Academy’s uniforms are so ugly! I can’t believe they can stand it!” someone said with a tone of arrogance.

The Shrek Academy group immediately turned to the source of the voice. As fate would make it, the voice belonged to one of the white-clad students of the Imperial Star Luo Academy. There were twelve of them altogether, eight boys and four girls. The one who had spoken was a short but rugged-looking boy. 

Yue Zhengyu swung his head from side to side and put his hand to his brow as if looking around. “Huh? What was that? I could have sworn I heard someone?” 

Although the boy from the Imperial Soul Academy was short, he wasn’t such a midget that he couldn’t be seen! Yue Zhengyu’s words stoked a blaze of fury within him. 

“Brat, what’d you just say?” The short boy charged at Yue Zhengyu and rammed into him with his chest. 

Yue Zhengyu didn’t even bother to dodge. “Woah there! Oh, so this is where you were! Sorry, I have a bad neck so I can’t look down. But well, you’re quite—pft—vertically challenged.” 

The short boy jumped and rammed Yue Zhengyu with his chest again. But Yue Zhengyu didn’t move a single inch. In fact, he short boy felt as if he had crashed into a metal wall. The moment his feet touched the ground again, he scurried back a couple of steps as he judged the difference in their strength. 

“Is this how you people from Star Luo show their affection? It’s so strange! Do your girls do this too?” Yue Zhengyu said, stealing a glance at the four girls in white uniforms as he spoke. 

Hiding in the back, Tang Wulin couldn’t bear to watch and covered his face with his hands. “We don’t know him. We just met this guy today. Do whatever you want to him and don’t involve us!” Then he turned around and began walking away briskly. That damn Yue Zhengyu! All he knows how to do is stir up trouble! 

Gu Yue followed right behind Tang Wulin without the slightest hesitation. On the other hand, Xie Xie patted Yue Zhengyu on the shoulder and said, “Good luck,” before leaving as well.