Jing Shaoyu's team's first destination was Heaven Dou City.
Heaven Dou City was the largest city closest to Shrek Academy, and Heaven Dou Advanced Soul Master Academy was also a renowned advanced soul master academy on the continent. In terms of history, it was even older than Shrek Academy.
Heaven Dou Advanced Soul Master Academy was initially named Heaven Dou Royal Academy, an advanced academy founded by the royal family of the Heaven Dou Empire. Twenty thousand years ago, it was undoubtedly one of the top academies on the continent, second to none. At that time, Shrek Academy might not have been established yet, or it might have still been a small village in Suotuo City.
Later, when the Heaven Dou Empire split, Heaven Dou Royal Academy was absorbed by the Tianhun Empire and renamed Di'ao Academy. As it was still a soul master academy founded by the royal family and had the Body Sect as a powerful ally, Di'ao Academy's strength increased rather than decreased, once becoming the second-largest academy on the continent, second only to Shrek Academy.
However, with the advent of the Sun Moon Unification War, the Tianhun Empire fell, the Body Sect declined, and Di'ao Academy also began to decline.
Nevertheless, even a starved camel is bigger than a horse. After the Federation era, Di'ao Academy was renamed Heaven Dou Advanced Soul Master Academy and remained one of the academies with the deepest heritage and strength on the continent. While it might not be able to break into the top three, it was definitely in the top five.
In summary, choosing Heaven Dou Academy as their first stop was definitely not a problem; in fact, it was second in significance only to the final battle with Sun Moon Royal Academy.
The girls did not object to Jing Shaoyu's choice of Heaven Dou Academy as the first target. Shen Yi, who was listening on the side, watched him with interest, wanting to see how Jing Shaoyu planned to get Heaven Dou Academy to accept their challenge.
Jing Shaoyu did not prepare a complicated method; he chose a simple and quick approach—finding someone.
Why is Shrek Academy's influence so vast and deep? A very straightforward statistic can explain the reason: nearly 99% of soul master academies on the continent have students from Shrek Academy, whether they graduated or dropped out. These people all share the common background of Shrek Academy.
Heaven Dou Academy, as a prestigious advanced academy on the continent, naturally also had graduates from Shrek Academy, and quite a few at that. For example, the current dean of Heaven Dou Academy, Yang Yue, was from Shrek Academy. Of course, Jing Shaoyu naturally couldn't meet such a Titled Douluo-level figure, but he did meet the dean of students at Heaven Dou Academy.
Indeed, the dean of students at Heaven Dou Academy was also a graduate of Shrek Academy.
"Junior, are you sure you want to have a friendly exchange match with our students at Heaven Dou Academy?" Li Zhi, the dean of students at Heaven Dou Academy, was a middle-aged man with a scholarly appearance. He smiled and looked at Jing Shaoyu as he asked.
"Of course, senior," Jing Shaoyu smiled and replied. "As you know, it's the final exam period for our first-year students. The requirement for our exam is to complete a seven-person soul duel with your academy."
"Are you challenging us in the name of your academy?" Li Zhi's eyes flashed with surprise and shock, and his tone became somewhat excited as he spoke.
"Senior, what do you think?" Jing Shaoyu smiled wryly and said, "We are challenging your students as students of Shrek Academy, not in the name of Shrek Academy. As for how your academy promotes or interprets it, that's not something we can decide."
Here, Jing Shaoyu found a loophole. The rules only stated that the seven of them could not challenge in the name of the academy, but they did not take away their student cards. This meant they could challenge as students of Shrek Academy.
It is well known that Shrek Academy and students of Shrek Academy are different.
Although the public habitually equates the two, facts are facts. Jing Shaoyu did not violate the rules, so Shen Yi could only watch helplessly as he conversed with Li Zhi, unable to interfere.
"I see," Li Zhi finally breathed a sigh of relief. If these seven children could truly represent Shrek Academy, then this matter would be beyond his authority as a dean of students. He said, "I understand. Please wait a moment, juniors. I need to discuss this with my colleagues before I can give you a response."
"Alright, take your time," Jing Shaoyu smiled.
Li Zhi hurried away and returned after more than ten minutes, wearing a warm smile.
"Juniors, we have discussed it and decided to accept your challenge," Li Zhi said with a smile. "Please follow me. Our students are already prepared."
"Thank you, senior!" Upon hearing this, Jing Shaoyu immediately showed a delighted smile. After exchanging glances with the others, he followed Li Zhi as they walked through Heaven Dou Academy. Shen Yi followed behind them, her expression slightly helpless.
They arrived at the training ground of Heaven Dou Academy, which was already filled with people. Most of them were students of Heaven Dou Academy, with a small number of teachers. A large screen faced the entrance of the training ground, with the words: "Welcome Shrek Academy to our academy for an exchange match."
Jing Shaoyu was momentarily stunned, then noticed that after the word "Academy," there were two small characters, "students," almost negligible. He couldn't help but laugh. Not bad, Heaven Dou Academy's promotional work was well done—next time, don't do it.
He didn't mind too much. After all, they were here to challenge, and they had to give the other side some benefits as compensation for the mental distress. They couldn't just beat them up and give nothing in return, right? They didn't owe them anything.
When Jing Shaoyu and his team of seven entered the training ground, they immediately attracted the attention of all the students and teachers of Heaven Dou Academy in the stands. Everyone looked at them at the same time, and as if rehearsed, they let out a loud "Wow," followed by waves of exclamations and shouts.
"Are these the students of Shrek Academy? They look so young!"
"But they are all so good-looking!"
"Exactly! That boy leading them is so handsome, even more handsome than Xue Tianhe!"
"And those girls are so beautiful! That silver-haired girl is so delicate, like a porcelain doll!"
"Are all students of Shrek Academy this good-looking? I'm in love!"
"..."
The surrounding voices reached the ears of Jing Shaoyu and his team. Everyone reacted differently, but Jing Shaoyu just smiled faintly, not caring about their comments.
"Sorry about that, junior," Li Zhi said apologetically to Jing Shaoyu. "These students are all very admiring of Shrek Academy, so they gathered here. If you don't want them to watch the match, I can disperse them now."
"It's alright, senior," Jing Shaoyu chuckled. "Having an audience is quite nice."
"Good. I was worried that their presence might lead to the exposure of your Martial Souls and Soul Skills," Li Zhi said with an awkward smile. In this era, a Soul Master's Martial Soul and Soul Skills were not as important as they were in ancient times when they were kept strictly confidential.
Jing Shaoyu and his team followed Li Zhi to the stage of the training ground. The seven students representing Heaven Dou Academy were already waiting there. The leader was a golden-haired young man with a handsome appearance and an air of nobility. When he saw Jing Shaoyu and his team, he subconsciously frowned, perhaps thinking that Jing Shaoyu and his team were too young, and he didn't want to bully the younger ones.
Behind the golden-haired young man were the other six students of Heaven Dou Academy, three males and three females, all around nineteen or twenty years old. They stood on either side with the golden-haired young man as their leader, looking at Jing Shaoyu and his team with varying expressions—curiosity, disdain, anger, indifference—each different from the other.
As the two sides approached, the students of Heaven Dou Academy all looked away from Jing Shaoyu's team and turned their attention to Li Zhi, respectfully calling out, "Teacher."
"Mm," Li Zhi looked at the seven of them with pride, then turned to Jing Shaoyu and said, "Juniors, these seven are our academy's outstanding students. The oldest is twenty, and the youngest is eighteen, just meeting your requirements."
"Got it. Thank you, senior," Jing Shaoyu nodded, his gaze sweeping over the seven students of Heaven Dou Academy. From their auras alone, it was clear that they were all Soul Grandmasters or above.
At this moment, Cai Yue'er stood in a corner of the training ground's stands, accompanied by an elderly man with white hair.
"Heaven Dou Academy has produced a good seedling this time!" Cai Yue'er's gaze fell on the golden-haired young man on the stage, and she couldn't help but praise.
"Haha, to receive a compliment from the dean of Shrek Academy is undoubtedly the greatest reward for Heaven Dou Academy in this exchange match!" The elderly man laughed heartily and said, "Big sis, can you give me a hint? Are these seven children the candidates for the next generation of Shrek's Seven Monsters?"
The elderly man was none other than Yang Yue, the dean of Heaven Dou Academy, and he was a classmate of Cai Yue'er.
"Not yet," Cai Yue'er said with a deep gaze.
"I see," the white-haired eld
erly man nodded in understanding and said with a smile, "So this final exam is their assessment!"
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