Chapter 53 Mocking Shrek! Poison Doesn't Kill Them, New Scheme Emerges!
"ah?"
Du Bu Si remained frozen in the main seat, his usually cold and stern face now filled with a blank stare that could easily give one the illusion of being in a daze.
"Is that so?"
Vina, Long Aotian, Chen Lu, Gu Tong, and Wang Yanfeng—these elites of the Body Sect who usually prided themselves on being geniuses and calm in the face of adversity—were all gaping in astonishment, and the hall fell into a deathly silence.
They even subconsciously rubbed their ears, strongly suspecting they had just hallucinated.
If Liu Yuan is an outcast expelled from Shrek Academy, then Shrek's current recruitment efforts seem utterly absurd.
More importantly, in the minds of everyone in the Body Sect, Liu Yuan, a monster who could fight against five-ring opponents at the age of twelve or thirteen, and who possessed double pupils and an indestructible body, was simply a treasure bestowed upon the sect by the heavens.
How could someone with such talent and ability be expelled?
"Then it just means that everyone at Shrek Academy is blind," Chen Lu muttered, but then frowned.
"But Shrek Academy is the number one academy for thousands of years. Surely their higher-ups and teachers wouldn't all be so outrageous as to act like this?"
"Liu Yuan, what exactly happened?" Du Busi came to his senses and asked in a serious tone.
"Explain yourself clearly. Why did those old fogies at Shrek kick you out?"
Liu Yuan stood in the hall, his expression unusually calm.
What might have been the darkest moment of his life in the eyes of others appeared calm and uneventful in his narration.
"Master, this matter is actually not complicated."
Looking at everyone, Liu Yuan slowly began to speak: "My parents were both inner court students of Shrek Academy. But during an academy mission when I was young, they encountered a powerful enemy and both perished."
"At that time, I had just awakened my martial soul, and my innate soul power had reached level nine. The higher-ups of Shrek Academy took me in and raised me because of my decent talent and the fact that my parents had died for the academy."
Du Busi nodded. With innate soul power at level nine, such talent was indeed among the kind that Shrek Academy had to keep.
"But an unexpected event occurred." A trace of reminiscence flashed across Liu Yuan's double pupils.
"During a routine training session, my martial soul underwent a mutation. The mutation was extremely thorough; due to the surge of soul power, I went blind and became a blind man."
"For the next six years, although I stayed at Shrek Academy, my soul power almost stagnated due to the blockage caused by the mutation of my martial soul, and it did not improve at all."
Liu Yuan paused, a hint of sarcasm in his voice.
"During those six years, in the eyes of everyone at Shrek Academy, I was a useless person who occupied resources but produced nothing."
"Until a few months ago, Xuanzi finally ran out of patience. He thought that a useless person like me was not worthy to stay at Shrek and waste food, so he ordered me to pack my things and leave immediately."
"I didn't have much attachment to that place, so I left Shrek that same day."
"Unexpectedly, just as I was about to leave, the six-year-long spirit mutation ended completely."
"My eyes not only regained their sight, but also evolved into the double pupils I have now."
"You all probably know what happened next. I went to the Star Dou Great Forest to try to obtain a spirit ring, where I met Vina and Mu Xue, and then joined the Body Sect at their recommendation."
After Liu Yuan finished speaking, the hall fell silent once again.
The expressions on Du Bu Si and the others' faces became extremely interesting at this moment.
This dramatic reversal left even these seasoned veterans feeling a sense of absurdity.
Chen Lu scratched his head, saying with a wry smile, "I never expected things to turn out this way."
"No wonder the Shrek Academy people are looking for you like crazy, even going so far as to poach members from our Body Sect."
"But if that's the case, then the Ling Luochen they're sending now probably doesn't even know that the person they're inviting is you, right? After all, from the Shrek group's perspective, Liu Yuan should still be that blind, useless person who's been sitting in the corner for six years."
Liu Yuan nodded calmly: "I think so. During those six years, I had almost no contact with outsiders. Not many people in Shrek knew me, and they probably couldn't connect the current me with the 'useless person' from back then."
Wang Yanfeng slapped his thigh and said with a hint of schadenfreude, "Then we can only say that Shrek Academy is really unlucky."
"I guarded you for six years, only to drive you away on the eve of your martial soul's mutation. If that Xuanzi knew the truth, he would probably be so angry that he would vomit blood on the spot."
"Unlucky?" Poisonous Undying sneered, the emerald green in his eyes flickering uncertainly. "I think they deserve it! This kind of academy doesn't deserve such outstanding disciples at all."
Poison Undying suddenly stood up from his seat, his tone full of disdain for Shrek's code of conduct.
"They took you in because they saw you had a level nine innate soul power, but kicked you away without a second thought once they saw you were crippled. Where is the integrity of the number one academy for ten thousand years when it comes to such profit-driven behavior?"
"To put it bluntly, even if Liu Yuan, you are truly ruined for the rest of your life, your parents still died for Shrek Academy."
"Based on this alone, it would be perfectly reasonable and justified for Shrek Academy to support you for life! Yet they actually kicked you out at that time. Shrek Academy has absolutely no sense of responsibility."
Long Aotian strongly agreed with this.
In his view, although the Body Sect acts domineeringly, it is absolutely protective of its own and would never do such a treacherous thing.
Vina sighed with lingering fear, "No wonder you were so resolute, Liu Yuan. Anyone who had been treated like that would never have wanted to go back to Shrek Academy."
Liu Yuan smiled faintly, looked at Du Busi, and said in a more relaxed tone, "So, Master, can you rest assured now? I really won't go to Shrek Academy. That kind of place is not suitable for me."
Looking into Liu Yuan's clear and determined eyes, Du Bu Si blushed slightly and coughed awkwardly.
Looking back now, his previous aggressive attitude of wanting to dismantle Shrek Academy seems like an overreaction.
"Alright, now that things are clear, I will naturally believe you."
With a wave of his hand, Du Busi conjured up many crystal-clear pills that exuded a rich medicinal fragrance on the table in the main hall.
"You all completed this mission exceptionally well, and the process was indeed arduous. These are specially made foundation-strengthening and vitality-cultivating pills from the sect, which will greatly benefit the stability of your current cultivation. Take these rewards back and get some rest for a few days."
Liu Yuan, Long Aotian, Vina, and the other six bowed again, then took their rewards and left the sect leader's hall in an orderly fashion.
When only Poison Immortal and Elder Chen remained in the main hall, Elder Chen breathed a long sigh of relief.
"Sect Master, now we can rest assured."
"There is this unfair past between Liu Yuan and Shrek Academy. As long as Liu Yuan is not stupid, he cannot be poached by Shrek Academy."
Poison Immortal did not respond immediately. He paced slowly in the hall, his brows furrowing slightly again, and said thoughtfully, "Not enough."
Elder Chen was taken aback for a moment, then asked with some confusion, "Sect Master, what do you mean by that? Liu Yuan has already put it this way, so there shouldn't be any problem with his sense of belonging, right?"
Poison Undying stopped and turned to look at Elder Chen, his expression becoming unusually serious.
What you said earlier made a lot of sense.
"Liu Yuan's talent is truly astonishing. As his reputation on the mainland grows, more and more forces will want to win him over, and the incentives they offer will become increasingly outrageous."
"As a sect, it is not enough for us to simply trust his character; we ourselves must do our best in everything."
A shrewd, calculating glint flashed in Du Bu Si's eyes.
"As long as our Body Sect can give him more and better than anyone else, let him get everything he needs in this sect."
"By then, if anyone tries to recruit him, he won't even give them a second glance."
"What we need to do is ensure that he has no reason to leave. Trusting him is one aspect, but ensuring our own safety is another."
Elder Chen nodded in deep agreement: "Sect Master's insight is profound. So, do you mean to further favor Liu Yuan in the allocation of resources?"
"Cultivation resources, techniques and secret arts, guidance from renowned masters… I believe our Body Sect has already achieved the best we can." Poison Immortal narrowed his eyes, then suddenly changed the subject, "But after careful consideration, I've realized we're still missing one crucial thing."
Elder Chen was even more puzzled: "What?"
"Beauty!" Poison Undying spat out those two words heavily.
"Even heroes can't resist the charms of a beautiful woman! Although Liu Yuan is still young, we must take precautions against such things."
"If some faction sends a stunningly beautiful female soul master to use her beauty to seduce that young man, who is hot-blooded and has a strong temper, he might get bewitched, which would be a huge problem."
"Therefore, we must quickly finalize his marriage and completely bind him to the interest chain between our Heavenly Soul Empire and the Body Sect."
Elder Chen was stunned. He hadn't expected that Du Bu Si would think so far ahead, even preparing to use the marriage alliance as a tactic.
"Then what you mean, Sect Master..."
Poison Undying didn't answer directly. Instead, he strode to his desk and, with swift, flowing strokes of his pen, quickly wrote a letter bearing the sect leader's secret seal. Then, he shouted:
"Someone! Summon Vina back immediately!"
Vina, who had just walked out of the main hall and hadn't gone far, ran back in a daze.
Poison Immortal solemnly handed the letter to Vina, and solemnly instructed her, "Vina, you must set off immediately and return to the Heavenly Soul Imperial City at full speed."
"This letter concerns the future of the sect and must be delivered to His Majesty the Emperor personally without any delay."
Although Vina was filled with curiosity and doubt, seeing the extremely serious expression on Poison Undying's face, she dared not ask any more questions, immediately put away the letter, and solemnly agreed.
"Vina understands."
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