Douluo: The True Eye

“Elder Mu, what brings you here?” Outside Star Luo Plaza, on a deserted rooftop, Xuan Zi looked somewhat awkwardly at the old man who had left Shrek Academy at some unknown time and arrived here.

Although seemingly crippled, as a Limit Douluo, Mu En could go virtually anywhere on the Douluo Continent if he wished. Even if there were exceptions, Star Luo City was certainly not one of them.

At this moment, Ma Xiaotao had truly fallen unconscious, and her entire body's soul power was sealed by Mu En, leaving her without any ability to act.

“Heh, what brings me here? If I hadn't come, were you just about to jump down and overturn the stage of this Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Soul Dueling Tournament?”

Hearing this, Xuan Zi seemed to be struck by a hidden worry, but he still stubbornly said, “Elder Mu, this is all because of me. If it weren't for that damned Evil Soul Master, I believe that with the strength of our Shrek Academy…”

“It would have been impossible to lose to the mere Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy. Moreover, if it weren't for their evil soul tool, Xiaotao wouldn't have fallen to her current state. With Xiaotao's strength, she could have single-handedly turned the tide!”

“I…”

Xuan Zi looked at Mu En's old face under the sunlight, which seemed somewhat unpredictable as the clouds shifted, and his voice grew softer and softer.

“Speak up? Why aren't you talking?” Mu En opened his eyes and looked at Xuan Zi, whose face was now flushed, and said, “Do you know why I didn't seek out other inner court disciples to come with you to Star Luo City to participate in the competition?”

“Why did I let things take their course, allowing these young children to undergo trials?”

“Then when will the fledgling eagles have a day to spread their wings and soar? Xuan Zi, haven't you ever been defeated, ever lost, ever experienced setbacks?”

“Setbacks make people grow, and even if the price of this growth is a bit high, it is still worth it. People cannot cling to the past and refuse to let go.”

Saying this, Mu En sighed and fell into a long silence.

That's what he said, but how could he let go? Now that Shrek Academy has left his control, can Xuan Zi, as the next helmsman, really continue to steer the ship of Shrek Academy?

“I have already investigated Xiaotao's problem. It is not the problem of the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy.”

“Don't tell me you didn't see it. You and Shaozhe have both failed in your duties.”

“Glory and hope have harmed Xiaotao. You and I both have inescapable responsibilities.”

Xuan Zi lowered his head and remained silent. Then, Mu En continued, “Victory or defeat, it's all fleeting clouds.”

“If these children can emerge from this, their future soaring is just around the corner. But if they fall into obsession because of this…” Mu En shook his head.

“To achieve the limit, aptitude, talent, temperament, and luck are all indispensable. If there is any deficiency, then even if one wastes their entire life, they will not make any progress.”

“This may be the last time I'll guide you, Xuan Zi. Don't嫌I'm being long-winded.” Mu En's gaze turned to the distance, watching Wang Yan stagger out of the Shrek Academy rest area.

After several attempts to fight for the opportunity to speak on stage, Wang Yan sighed inwardly. Most people in Shrek Academy now have rigid thinking.

He doesn't have much time left now. He can only hope that these teenagers can learn from this experience and, with his help, avoid repeating the same mistakes in the future.

Watching Wang Yan rush onto the stage with an amplified soul tool in hand, and looking at the Star Luo Empire's Emperor nodding almost imperceptibly in the distance from the imperial viewing area, Tiansha Douluo moved aside from the center of the stage.

Wang Yan's voice, accompanied by the amplified soul tool, spread throughout the entire Star Luo Plaza.

At this moment, most of the audience was still immersed in the heavy blow of Shrek Academy's defeat, unable to extricate themselves for a long time.

Even those gamblers who had lost most or all of their fortunes were somewhat unable to believe it, immersed in a daze.

Because, you know, this is Shrek Academy! How could Shrek Academy possibly lose? Isn't this just a dream?

There was no angry scolding, no loud shouts, only a inexplicable, extremely strange silence, suppressing the spirits of the audience in the entire Star Luo Plaza.

“Everyone, I am Wang Yan, the leading teacher of Shrek Academy. Here, I have a few words to say.”

Hearing the voice and the keyword that stirred everyone's reaction, Shrek Academy, all the audience's gazes were cast upon Wang Yan.

Everyone's gaze seemed to carry a substantial force, pressing down on Wang Yan.

But at this moment, Wang Yan couldn't care about so much. He only hoped to do everything possible to recover the glory that originally belonged to the Ten-Thousand-Year Shrek.

“Distinguished audience, residents of the Star Luo Empire, I am very sorry, our Shrek Academy has disappointed everyone this time, but our Shrek Academy's children have really done their best this time.”

“The reason for the failure, all the blame lies with me, and has nothing to do with these children who fought to the last moment to maintain the glory of the academy.”

Speaking of this, Wang Yan's voice trembled slightly, “Our Shrek Academy is respected by everyone as the number one academy on the continent, and has never failed to live up to everyone's expectations in previous competitions.”

“Originally, we had made full preparations for this competition, but no one can decide which will come first, tomorrow or an accident.”

“The members of the Shrek Academy team participating in this competition are mostly reserve team members under the age of fifteen.”

“Originally, this competition was just a place for them to gain experience. The oldest of them is no more than fifteen years old, and the youngest is no more than twelve years old. Their strength ranges from Soul Ancestor to Great Soul Master.”

“But the reason why they shouldered the responsibility of facing strong teams is because of me, because of my negligence.”

Speaking of this, Wang Yan's voice was particularly painful, “Originally, this involves the secrets of the academy, and I shouldn't say it here, but I want to clear the names of these children, and I want to clear the name of our Shrek Academy.”

In Star Luo Plaza, Wang Yan's voice echoed, echoing in everyone's ears.

Some were disdainful, some were doubtful, but more were curious. Indeed, as Wang Yan said, Shrek Academy's lineup was not complete, and Ma Xiaotao was also taken away due to a sudden reason, making it even more incomplete.

“What is Shrek Academy doing? Can't they afford to lose?” In the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy's rest area, Xiao Hongchen frowned as he watched Wang Yan speaking eloquently on the stage.

At this moment, the leading teachers of the Sun Moon Royal Soul Master Academy also shook their heads in a daze, but they could also perceive the meaning in Wang Yan's words.

“Hahaha, second brother, I'm about to die laughing.” Not in the audience, but in a house with a clear view of the arena.

A middle-aged man who looked over forty years old, tall and with a particularly thick right arm, laughed loudly, his strange right arm constantly hitting the table beside him, shattering the tabletop with a single blow.

Although the sound was not clear enough after it spread out of the Star Luo Plaza, it was not a problem for high-level soul masters to hear it clearly.

“Hmph, isn't the Shrek Academy always like this, liking to stand on the moral high ground and overlook and suppress other forces?”

“However, this kind of shameless spirit is quite troublesome to deal with, after all, our sect has always had a bad reputation, or rather, mostly because of Shrek Academy.”

Another man, although small in stature, with a particularly large head and piercing eyes, replied.

“Watch and learn more, even if our sect doesn't use it, at least we have to understand what these hypocrites from Shrek are up to, so we don't fall into their trap in the future.”

These two were naturally Lang Ya and Yu Tao of the Body Sect. Although their names were not well-known, they were disciples of the Body Sect who traveled outside to understand the situation of the continent.

Wang Yan continued to recount that day of disaster caused by the Grim Reaper Envoy, for the Shrek Supervision Group, for the inner court disciples.

Of course, in addition to the original experience, a lot of artistic processing was naturally added.

For example, blurring the strength of the Grim Reaper Envoy, and exaggerating the various evils committed by the Grim Reaper Envoy's bandit group.

At the same time, he also highlighted the fearless and indomitable spirit of the inner court disciples in the Shrek Supervision Group.

Because of the nearly ten thousand years of reputation accumulated by Shrek Academy, most of the audience was deeply attracted by Wang Yan's narration and believed what he said.

“It was also because of this vicious Grim Reaper Envoy that one of the original first-team members died and one was seriously injured, and the other five suffered varying degrees of damage.”

“This is why, in the previous淘汰赛 (elimination rounds) and 循环赛 (round-robin matches), most of the time, the reserve team members played.”

“It wasn't until the round-robin matches had been going on for a while that some of the first-team members of our Shrek Academy recovered.”

“But the Grim Reaper Envoy's methods are insidious, and the abilities of the evil soul masters are strange. In fact, these children are still fighting with injuries.”

“Even Ma Xiaotao, the strongest member of our Shrek Academy's first team, left hidden dangers because of the battle with the Grim Reaper Envoy, coupled with the soul tools of the Sun Moon Royal Soul Master Academy, which led to her…”

Speaking of this, Wang Yan's words couldn't help but choke up.

At this time, most of the audience, like him, seemed to feel the same way, feeling the tragic scene faced by the Shrek Supervision Group.

“？ ？ ？ Am I that strong? Why don't I know about this?” In a hidden corner, an inconspicuous, thin, middle-aged man muttered to himself.

This person was the escaped Grim Reaper Envoy. In fact, the reason why he wanted to form a bandit group was more to follow the instructions of the Holy Spirit Church.

Or rather, the reason why he could get soul tools and be able to compete with the border troops of the Star Luo Empire for so long.

Apart from the fact that the border troops of the Star Luo Empire were useless, the main reason was that he had the Sun Moon Empire and the Holy Spirit Church behind him to transport supplies.

The Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Tournament, as a grand event in the soul master world held every five years, after losing their foothold, the Grim Reaper Envoy and some evil soul masters dispersed and sneaked into Star Luo City.

Looking for opportunities to hunt down some foreign, low-level soul masters without backgrounds.

After all, the nourishment that the flesh, resentment, and soul of a soul master can bring is far greater than that of ordinary civilians.

Apart from the Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Tournament, under normal circumstances, most soul masters have fixed activity ranges and power circles. Unless they are all killed, it is not easy for these evil soul masters to attack.

The Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Tournament is a mixed bag. If one or two people go missing, as long as they are not core disciples of those major forces, it will be difficult to track them down.

As for the patrols, defenses, and maintenance of order by the civilian soldiers of the Star Luo Empire, for these evil soul masters, it is really not a problem, after all, they are best at fighting with people.

As long as they don't provoke those major forces, the Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Tournament is also a feast for evil soul masters.

“It was because my strength as the leading teacher was not strong enough that such a situation occurred, and even the son of the White Tiger Duke, Dai Yueheng, the original captain of our Shrek Academy's first team, also died heroically.”

Wang Yan bowed deeply, and then said: “This is my dereliction of duty as a teacher. I am sorry for these children, sorry for the academy, and also sorry for everyone, sorry for your expectations of our Shrek Academy. It's all my fault.”

“These children have given all their efforts and fought to the end.”

After listening to Wang Yan's words, the concepts in the hearts of most of the audience at this time have undergone subtle changes.

From the collapse of the myth of Shrek Academy falling from the altar, it was transformed into emotions towards Wang Yan personally. It was because of him that the Shrek Academy team failed, not because there was a problem with Shrek Academy.

But at the same time, because Wang Yan was able to stand up and bear these consequences, the resentment towards Wang Yan personally was also diluted a lot.

‘Is this the spirit of a craftsman?’ Huo Yuhao muttered to himself: ‘I don't know where Wang Yan learned this from.’

But now he is ready to run away. The competition is over. What is he doing staying in Star Luo City?

Mu En in the distance shook his head and said to Xuanzi: “Let's go, go back to the academy. Your great-grandson is really the same as you.”

Standing in Wang Yan's position, it cannot be said to be right or wrong, but this is already the best solution he can imagine.

It's just that this world ultimately speaks with strength.

He can regain the audience's goodwill towards Shrek Academy in Star Luo Plaza, but how can he regain the hearts of those more distant civilians and soul masters who did not listen to his narration?

Being able to hold it up, but unable to let it go, this body of Shrek Academy's glory may instead be the culprit that leads to Shrek Academy's demise.