Chapter 29.4: The Two Deans
Naturally, Yan Shaozhe—who overlooked the Martial Soul Department—had a slightly larger amount authority amongst the two Deans. However, the Soul Tool Department was an independent body which had a certain amount of competitiveness with the Martial Soul Department. Due to this, he didn’t really have that much jurisdiction over the Soul Tool Department.
Other than the two Deans, the Martial Soul Department and the Soul Tool Department each had their own Vice-Deans who were in charge of taking care of the outer courtyard. After all, Yan Shaozhe and his counterpart in the Soul Tool Department focused more of their energy on the inner courtyard, as the inner courtyard was the true nucleus of Shrek Academy. Due to this, they wouldn’t normally bother with matters in the outer courtyard.
The Dean of the Martial Soul Department’s outer courtyard was also the Vice-Dean of the Academy. He was a scholar who spent most of his time on the studies of the fifth and sixth year students. He picked excellent students from the outer courtyard to become disciples of the inner courtyard, while sending these disciples through many types of strict assessments. However, he didn’t manage many matters other than that. Other than the Dean from the outer courtyard, the person who had the greatest authority in the Martial Soul Department was Du Weilun.
As the Director of Studies for the outer courtyard’s Martial Soul Department, Du Weilun had an extremely large amount of authority. However, there were no competitors for his position. During his twenty years of teaching, he’d conscientiously given an outstandingly large number of contributions to the Martial Soul Department. As a result of this, Yan Shaozhe was extremely reassured when he took charge of things, and completely trusted his judgement when it came to the students.
“Weilun, who do you favour in today’s match?” Yan Shaozhe asked with a smile.
Du Weilun chuckled. “I’m slightly more confident in Dai Huabin’s team. Although Huo Yuhao’s team managed to defeat two other teams that were led by Soul Elder-ranked freshmen, the overall strength of Dai Huabin’s team is definitely somewhat stronger than that of Huo Yuhao’s team. This is especially so for his two teammates; they’re both quite strong. All three of them have a decent chance at entering the inner courtyard in the future.”
Yan Shaozhe smiled and nodded. At that exact moment, a vigorous voice suddenly rang out, “Since Director Du thinks that Dai Huabin will win, I’ll say that the other party will win.”
Yan Shaozhe didn’t even turn around, but the trace of a smile had already appeared on his face, “Qian Duoduo, why’d a fella like you come running over here? As soon as I smelled the scent of copper from your body, I knew it was you.”
The newcomer was a sturdy fifty-or-so year-old man. He didn’t have any wrinkles on his face, but he had a head full of white hair that resembled steel needles, making him look someone who’d experienced a lot in life. His tall, stalwart body looked as if it had been carved from granite itself, and he was at least 2.2 meters tall. His wide shoulders and rugged muscles didn’t seem to have gone limp due to his age, while his bronze skin glowed with a metallic luster due to the rays of the sun, and a strong smell of metal wafted off his body. However, the person next to him was the person that Zhou Yi had taken Huo Yuhao to see in the past; Fan Yu.
Yan Shaoze didn’t even look back, but Du Weilun had already turned around, a trace of astonishment flashing through his eyes. He hurriedly bowed in respect. “Vice-Dean Qian, how do you do? What brings you here?”
The good-natured Qian Duoduo who always had a smile on his face was the Vice-Dean of the Soul Tool Department, who took care of the daily activities within it. He had a lofty position in the Soul Tool Department, and he only had one person above him. His position in Shrek Academy was slightly higher than even Du Weilun’s.
In Shrek Academy, promotions couldn’t be randomly given out. There were two main ways to obtain a promotion: The first method was based on a teacher’s ability to teach, as well as the contributions he’d made to the Academy, while the other method was by relying on one’s own strength. Throughout the enormous Shrek Academy, there were only a total of four Vice-Deans, and they could be considered the true backbones of Shrek Academy. However, a person who’d obtained such a high position clearly hadn’t done it by doing something as simple as contributing to the Academy. Their individual strengths were all at the peak.
Vice-Dean Qian Duoduo chuckled. “I was just passing by, when I heard you and Old Yan guessing who would win. I personally like betting, so Old Yan, would you like to bet with me?”
Yan Shaozhe finally turned around, laughing as he did so. “A fellow who smells of copper like you would never come here without a reason. I don’t believe that you’ve come here with such a simple purpose in mind. If you’re coveting the people from our Martial Soul Department, you’d better take a look before doing anything.”
Qian Duoduo casually walked over to Yan Shaozhe and sat down. “What do you mean, ‘the people from our Martial Soul Department’? They’re only freshmen. They haven’t chosen their Departments yet. You can say that again when they’ve made their final choices in their third year. Your Martial Soul Department just provides a foundational level of education to these freshmen. So come on, do you wanna bet or not?”
Du Weilun had already moved to one side, greeting Fan Yu as he did so. Fan Yu smiled in return, and the two found a place to sit behind the two Vice-Deans.
Fan Yu had an extremely high position within the Soul Tool Department. Although his current position was lower than Du Weilun’s, Du Weilun clearly understood that Fan Yu was definitely going to be the future Vice-Dean of the Soul Tool Department, and that he could even be the successor to the Dean. Contrarily a Director like him was highly likely to have reached the end of his career.
Yan Shaozhe wasn’t fooled by Qian Duoduo’s provocation. He smiled and shook his head. “I’m not going to bet with you. Old Qian, you’re even trying to make a quick buck from me. When I get back, just watch me tell on you to Lin’er.”
Qian Duoduo’s facial muscles twitched as he indignantly said, “Give me a break, you were an expert at acting shamelessly even when you were young. I’m more moral than you. You use Lin’er as a shield every time, do you have any face at all?”
As Du Weilun listened on, his heart twitched. These two major figures—who could change the entire balance of the Douluo Continent—are actually arguing over here. If the students were to hear them…
Yan Shaozhe chuckled as he looked at Qian Duoduo’s indignant expression. “Fine, what do you want to bet?”
Only then did a smile reappear on Qian Duoduo’s face. “If my team wins, you’ll have to let me pick a freshman from your Martial Soul Department to enter the Soul Tool Department within three years, and you can’t stop me from using any tricks.”
Yan Shaozhe snorted coldly and curled his lips. “I knew that you were up to no good. I’m not betting.”
Qian Duoduo replied with an easy-going voice, “Don’t be so impatient, let me finish talking first. Firstly, I won’t choose any of the students you’ve selected to be core disciples. Next, I won’t choose any students who are able to cultivate above Rank 30 before finishing their second year. Is that fine with you?”
Yan Shaozhe was stunned. “Old Qian, do you even need to make a bet with me? Don’t you take these kinds of students every year?”
Qian Duoduo had a gloomy expression on his face as he said, “Don’t bring it up. These new fellas keep aiming so high that they don’t even understand our Soul Tool Department. They’ve basically entirely ignored us. We’ve had no lack of students over these past few years, but students who’re truly suitable for our Soul Tool Department are rarities among rarities. You know about that plan of ours, and if we want to nurture a talent like that according to our plan, we can’t do it using ordinary Soul Engineers. It’s true that Soul Engineers are extremely important, but the people who can properly use them are just as important as the people who make them! Therefore, I want to choose a few students who have better martial souls. However, the fellas from your side are all following you like a chicken following a hen. You’ve hidden them so well that I haven’t even had a chance to pick any students. If I don’t get any suitable students, our plan is basically screwed. Don’t forget, you also agreed to that plan during the Dean’s Meeting. If you won’t support our work, then I’ll just bring Lin’er to the Martial Soul Department’s inner courtyard next time. Let’s see if you dare to stop her.”
When he saw Qian Duoduo’s sincere look, Yan Shaozhe pondered to himself for a while. Afterwards, he said, “You won’t choose any of my core disciples? And you won’t choose any of our students who’re able to reach Rank 30 by their second year?”
Qian Duoduo immediately assumed the appearance of a righteous person, “When have I, Qian Duoduo, not kept my word?”
Yan Shaozhe nodded and said, “Fine, I’ll take that bet. In addition to that, I’ll still let you choose a student even if you lose, so you can’t say that I’m not supporting your work. However, if you do lose, you’ll have to give me a hundred Stationary Soul Cannon Shells for me to play with if you lose. Also, they have to be high-explosive ones. Those toys are really fun to play with.”
Qian Duoduo’s expression immediately changed. “Old Yan, you’re being too black-hearted. Do you know how much it costs to make a hundred shells? I need a hundred gold soul coins to make just one of those ‘toys’.”
Yan Shaozhe smiled. “If you don’t dare, let’s call the deal off. I wasn’t willing to make a bet with you in the first place.”
Qian Duoduo had a pained look on his face as he replied, “Fifty of them.”
As if he was scared that Qian Duoduo would regret his decision, Yan Shaozhe immediately said, “Deal.” How could he casually use a high-explosive shell specially made for a Stationary Soul Cannon just to satisfy himself? Even having the chance to play with one was already quite decent. Although he was the Dean of Shrek Academy, he couldn’t damage his own house!
Qian Duoduo stared blankly at Yan Shaozhe. Afterwards, he looked at Yan Shaozhe with a startled look on his face. “You old thing, I’ve been tricked by you again!”
Yan Shaozhe immediately burst into laughter. However, he didn’t notice the crafty look that had flashed through Qian Duoduo’s eyes.
