At this moment, not every Elder from the Sea God’s Pavilion was present. Yan Shaozhe, Cai Mei’er, Xian Lin’er, Qian Duoduo, and Zhang Lexuan were absent from the current conversation. As the younger members of the Sea God’s Pavilion, they had all set off for the front line, ready to take on the Sun Moon Empire’s forces.
Hence, the Elders who stayed behind at the Sea God’s Pavilion were the older ones.
Huo Yuhao stopped walking, but his head remained lowered.
Elder Song scolded, “This is the Sea God’s Pavilion—not your Tang Sect. Do you think you can come and go as you please? Do you think you can just quit as you wish?”
Huo Yuhao’s head remained lowered as he kept quiet.
Elder Song stared coldly at him before continuing, “I know what you’re thinking. You must be thinking that our decision was wrong. You must be blaming the attack on Dou Ling Empire and the deaths of the royal family on our request for help! Am I right?”
Huo Yuhao shook his head and said, “Elder Song, that’s not true. It’s just that sometimes, I feel that the Academy is weighed down by too many responsibilities. Our heritage, which is over ten thousand years old, is both the foundation of our strength and an immense burden on our shoulders. This burden stops us from analyzing our situation rationally. In fact, it makes us overly conservative about everything we do. I just want to say that I am not blaming the Academy for everything that has happened. I am just feeling a little down. However, this war is far from over. Right after this, I intend to head to the battlefield and continue fighting.”
“If we were to fight the Sun Moon Empire head-on, there’s absolutely no chance of us winning. Hence, I can only rely on unorthodox methods. In other words, I might need to rely on what is seemingly unscrupulous to weaken their forces. This is the only way that we might stand a chance against them. I cannot allow the Academy to be shamed because of what I plan to do. Hence…”
“What?” After hearing his explanation, the Elders present seemed to have lost their rage as a look of surprise formed on their faces.
They had all thought that Huo Yuhao wanted to leave the Sea God’s Pavilion because he had lost his temper. Little did they expect him to want to leave because of a mature consideration.
Elder Xuan said, “Yuhao, do you really think that we can’t tolerate any scheming ploys or some unscrupulous methods? Even though the Academy’s reputation is extremely important, it should not be allowed to become a burden to our strategies. You are right to say that our Academy’s heritage is sometimes a burden. However, it is a burden that we need to take on and be responsible for. I admit that we need to accept partial responsibility for the death of the Dou Ling Empire’s royal family. However, Shrek City cannot afford to fall at all costs. This is something that cannot be debated.”
Huo Yuhao said, “I am sorry, Elder Xuan. In order to go up against the Sun Moon Empire, I might even utilize abilities which are similar to those of evil soul masters. This is something the Academy has never allowed. I cannot allow the Academy to lose its reputation because of my actions. I can imagine how the Sun Moon Empire would use this reason to attack the Academy in the future. I can only avoid shaming the Academy by leaving all of you.”
Elder Xuan spoke plainly, “Foolish lad, you’re thinking too much. What’s wrong with that?”
“Huh?” Huo Yuhao’s jaw dropped. How could it be fine for people to spread news that Shrek Academy had produced evil soul masters?
“Even though evil soul masters are our enemies, there is no power in the world that is objectively right or wrong. There are only evil people who harbor ill intentions against other humans. Powerful abilities when utilized in times of war are commonly considered evil abilities. But when they are used in other areas in beneficial ways, they are usually considered good abilities. This is the same for the abilities of evil soul masters. Do you really think we don’t know how you once utilized that power to help the Academy when the beast wave attacked us previously? If you remember correctly, none of us reprimanded you for that.”
“On top of that, the Academy’s ten thousand years of heritage has indeed given us a huge responsibility. However, at the same time, it has given us a reputation which will not be easily shaken by the Sun Moon Empire’s rumors. Do you know why the Sun Moon Empire’s army doesn’t dare to make a move on us? Other than you as a personal reason, they fear that they might lose the support of their soldiers and soul engineers if they were to attack us.”
“After all, our Academy is the number one academy in the entire world. It is where every soul master in the world dreams of joining. No soul master would treat us lightly, and the soul masters and soul engineers from the Sun Moon Empire are no exception.”
“As for what happened to the Dou Ling Empire, we are all very sorry to hear about their tragic fate. However, we can’t change what has already happened. All we can do is help the Dou Ling Empire stabilize their empire. At the same time, we can help protect them from the Sun Moon Empire’s army. Yuhao, just go ahead and do whatever you had in mind. The only thing which we, the old fellows, can do is stay within Shrek City and ensure that the bulk of their army stays here.”
Elder Song slowly walked towards Huo Yuhao. She was a lot shorter than him, and hence could only tilt her head upwards in order to look him in the eyes.
“Young one, sometimes, when it comes to certain things, we just have to change the way we look at them. Even if the Star Luo Empire and Dou Ling Empire were to fall, as long as their elites remain alive within Shrek City, there will still be hope.”
“Our Academy has already released all our soul tool research findings, as well as the information regarding martial souls in our library, to all the elite soul masters from the three empires currently staying within Shrek City. We might not be a country, and might not be the best when it comes to war, but our strength lies in passing on knowledge and tradition!”
After hearing Elder Song’s words, Huo Yuhao was startled! He had never expected the Academy to be using this method to counter the Sun Moon Empire’s schemes.
The Heavenly Soul Empire, Dou Ling Empire and the Star Luo Empire’s elite troops largely consisted of soul masters! There were more than ten thousand soul masters currently in Shrek City. That was almost a third of the total number of soul masters within the entire continent. It was probably close to half of the total number of soul masters within the three original empires of the Douluo Continent.
Shrek Academy was actually choosing to release all the research findings they had on soul tools, as well as the cultivation methods they had developed over their ten thousand years of history, to all these soul masters. This meant that all of these soul masters were, to a certain extent, being nurtured by Shrek Academy. Even if the war turned out to be a disaster for all three empires, as long as these soul masters were to inherit the spirit and learnings of Shrek Academy, they would always have a chance at restoring the three original empires of the Douluo Continent.
It seemed like the Academy had its own unique way of handling its responsibilities. It was, in fact, protecting the three original empires in its own way. This selfless spirit transformed the doubt in Huo Yuhao’s heart into guilt.
The look in Elder Song’s eyes turned softer as she gently patted Huo Yuhao’s shoulder. “Young man, it is good that you have a kind and brave heart. But you must remember that the Academy will never become your burden or your sole responsibility at any point in time. As long as we old fellows are still around, we won’t allow you to take on every responsibility out there. It is only after all of us have passed away when your generation will take the baton from us. And before that happens, the Academy will only be a supportive force behind you. We already chose to believe in you unconditionally the moment you became a member of the Sea God’s Pavilion. So go ahead and do what you want to do.”
“Elder Song…” Huo Yuhao’s voice started to tremble. In fact, tears were starting to well up in Tang Wutong’s eyes.
Elder Xuan stood up and walked to Elder Song’s side as he revealed a solemn expression. “Elder Song is right. As long as we are alive, we will bear this heavy responsibility. But you are also not wrong to say that we have been overly conservative and protective of what the Academy has achieved. Indeed, we are lacking the mentality and courage to do what is ultimately right. You have already matured and grown a lot. Now, you possess the ability to protect yourself. So run along and do what you think needs to be done. I believe that the two of you will be able to turn the tables. And while you’re working on that, Shrek City will never fall into the hands of our enemies when all of us present here are still alive.”
Huo Yuhao suddenly took a few steps backward before he kneeled down with a loud thud. He lowered his torso to pay his respects to every single Elder present. After doing so thrice, he stood up again and left the hall with Tang Wutong.
As Elder Xuan watched him leave, he revealed a heartening smile on his face. “This lad has really matured. I really admire Elder Mu for having such a great disciple. As long as he is around, the spirit of Shrek Academy will never be extinguished. I’m really curious as to what he can achieve in the future.”
Elder Song gazed into the distance as she said, “This lad is right. We’ve been bundling too many responsibilities onto ourselves. I really hope that the continent can tide through this difficult period together.”
Elder Xuan asked, “What do you think this lad’s next move will be?”
Elder Zhuang stood up and said, “I don’t think I can guess what he’s up to next. But judging from the look on his face, it should probably be something that will be extremely shocking to the rest of the world. If not, he would never have chosen to leave the Sea God’s Pavilion at this juncture with the character he has.”
Elder Xuan started to frown. It seemed as though he might have an inkling of what Huo Yuhao was about to do.
After leaving the Sea God’s Pavilion, Huo Yuhao held onto Tang Wutong’s hand as they left Shrek Academy for the Tang Sect.
Bei Bei had not taken his rest. In fact, no one from Tang Sect had rested at all.
Since the Sun Moon Empire’s army had camped outside Shrek City, the entire Tang Sect had been working like a machine. The reason was that only the Tang Sect’s Soul Tool Hall was capable of producing the powerful soul tools that could strengthen the defensive capabilities of Shrek Academy.
This time around, the Star Luo Empire and Dou Ling Empire did not only sent their elite soul masters and troops, but they had also brought large amounts of rare metals with them.
Now that Shrek Academy had shared its research findings with everyone, the different empires no longer cared about personal interests as they pooled their resources to protect each other’s empires. The Heavenly Soul Empire’s fall was an important reminder for them to unite and fight off their common enemy!
With sufficient materials, the soul engineers within Shrek Academy could begin their work. Averaging only four hours of rest every day, the soul engineers invested the rest of their time working on soul tools.
Even though Bei Bei did not know how to build soul tools, as the eldest senior brother of the Tang Sect, he helped to delegate the work along with Tang Ya. Some of the soul masters from the Star Luo Empire and Dou Ling Empire who had the gifts to become soul engineers even volunteered to help out under their instruction.
This was not only a learning process for them, as they tried their best to help alleviate the manpower shortage problem in the Tang Sect.
Hence, the Tang Sect had been running with a heavy toll on its manpower.
“Little junior brother.“ A tired Bei Bei’s heart sank after seeing the unpleasant expression on Huo Yuhao and Tang Wutong’s faces.
The first thought that hit him was that something wrong must have happened. “Where are Sanshi and the rest? Did they get…” Bei Bei gasped.
