Douluo Continent: When Huo Yuhao Becomes the Lord of the End

Chapter 92: Bring down the price of Shrek Academy!

Compared to the original Douluo Three Kingdoms, the Sun Moon Kingdom has undergone significant changes since the old emperor seized power through a coup.

Not only did it break with the tradition of limiting martial soul awakening to nobles, as was the case in the original Douluo Three Kingdoms, but it also opened the martial soul awakening ceremony to commoners for the first time. Furthermore, it granted commoner offspring the qualification to enter a soul master academy controlled by the royal family for training after they awakened a high-potential martial soul.

Of course, the selected commoners had to swear allegiance to the royal family, and their subsequent development was entirely controlled by the imperial system. It would not be an exaggeration to say that they were screening potential talents for the royal family and cultivating loyal forces.

The policy of universally benefiting the people with the awakening of their martial souls did not receive subsidies; everything was funded by the royal family to build up talent reserves for the war. This involved tapping into the grassroots forces and expanding the awakening base to quickly replenish the Soul Master Legion in order to cope with the war on the continent.

On the other hand, it was also to weaken the influence of sects within the Sun Moon Empire, break the traditional sects' monopoly on martial spirit resources, and strengthen central authority; finally, it was also for the purpose of controlling public opinion, using 'universal benefits policies' to alleviate grassroots conflicts and reduce the people's willingness to resist war.

But even with so many calculations and motives, you have to admit that, in this messed-up era, the Sun and Moon's policy is a great step forward.

Compared to the original Douluo Three Kingdoms, Sun and Moon truly gave ordinary people a chance to climb the social ladder.

As for Xuanzi, who had just been questioned, he really didn't expect that stopping to join in the fun would result in him being dragged into Kong Deming's insults.

Did Shrek Academy produce the recommendation letter at the city lord level? He didn't know, but wasn't that a product of sending talent to the Three Kingdoms, along with the outer academy? How can you blame us for this?

Therefore, he rushed out to refute, "Shrek's principle has always been this: our academy only trains monsters, never mediocre talents."

"If you are a little monster with extraordinary talent, Shrek Academy will treat you the same regardless of your background!"

That's all he could say now, trying to protect Shrek's reputation. But Kong Deming seized the opportunity to take the lead and laughed dismissively.

"Only train monsters? What kind of skill is that? Those geniuses who are already exceptionally talented, even without Shrek Academy, how low could their future possibly go?"

"Geniuses with the potential to become Title Douluos have been nurtured into Title Douluos. Where does your sense of superiority come from?"

"If Shrek Academy could cultivate children of average talent into strong individuals, that would be a real achievement for you. Xuanzi, your words are laughable to this old man. That's the very principle of Shrek Academy!"

People from common backgrounds will be treated equally, that's for sure, but the prerequisite is that you, as a commoner, must have the opportunity to step through the doors of Shrek Academy.

Not everyone is like Huo Gua, who was able to meet two kind people in the Star Dou Great Forest who were eager to give him recommendation letters as a Soul Master of only a dozen or so levels.

"You!!" Xuanzi pointed at Kong Deming, cowering and unsure how to refute.

Because it is the truth, and there is no denying it!
Actually, looking at this year's and even the previous year's students, and even those from Shrek Academy's inner and outer academies—Bei Bei, Xu Sanshi, Dai Yueheng, Ning Tian, ​​Wang Dong, Zhu Lu, Dai Huabin—it's clear they all come from a different background.
Even Ma Xiaotao and Ling Luochen, every single one of these people, are exceptionally talented and come from wealthy families; they are all completely unrelated to ordinary people.

The only one, Jiang Nannan, got her position through the Xuanming Sect's recommendation by selling her asshole.

In the original storyline, Huo Gua, after obtaining Tang Ya's guaranteed admission spot, faced considerable discrimination and contempt when he first entered school and before he had even shown his talent.

They've even reached the point where they have to go out to buy grilled fish just to survive. How could such an academy possibly provide subsidies for impoverished students?

Shrek has never cared about the common people.

Even those genius soul masters who occasionally rise from the bottom are only given a pittance after they have fully displayed their talents, and they are only allowed to be bound to Shrek Academy before they can be trained with peace of mind.

The basic premise is that the awakening of martial souls is controlled by the major noble families, making it difficult for commoners to awaken their martial souls. The probability of a high-ranking noble becoming a soul master is higher than that of a low-ranking noble.

It's no wonder Shrek Academy requires a recommendation letter from a city lord-level official; such a requirement is extremely unfriendly to lower-level soul masters and is highly restrictive for admission. This is also why, even though ten thousand years have passed, the power structures on the continent remain the same, and even the most powerful martial souls at the top have remained largely unchanged.

The path for those at the bottom to rise is blocked, and resources are limited. If it weren't for the collision between the Sun Moon Continent and the Douluo Continent, which shifted the conflict on the Douluo Continent side, it would be difficult to guarantee that the bottom level on the Douluo Continent would remain so stable.

When talking about representatives of genius soul masters without a background, we have to mention Zhang Lexuan. Of course, she can be considered half a genius without a background for now, and she can't be associated with ordinary people.

This one is even more significant, born into the Heavenly Soul Noble Family. His family was assassinated due to involvement in political struggles, and his family was destroyed. He was rescued by Mu En, and then his talent was recognized and he was adopted.

This should be considered the core of Shrek Academy, right?

You Shrek Academy may not feel comfortable with disciples from major sects and families entering the Sea God Pavilion, but you can rest assured about those who have no background and have grown up in Shrek Academy since childhood.
After all, she is the senior disciple of the inner courtyard, someone nurtured by Mu En, and is capable of inheriting the legitimate identity of the Sea God Pavilion Master.

No, no, no, you clearly underestimated Shrek's vigilance. So what did Shrek do? That's right, it's still the same underlying logic from the mainland: falling in love, or even something more disgusting.

The old scoundrel Mu En used the blow of losing his own descendant as an excuse to arrange a marriage for Zhang Lexuan, using revenge as leverage and demanding repayment of a debt of gratitude, to betroth her to Bei Bei, who was more than ten years younger than him, as a child bride.

Moreover, Moon never told Beibei about this from the beginning; he only told her about it after Beibei got together with Tang Ya.

Can you believe that someone you've always considered a sister or mother suddenly becomes your betrothed? This damn feudal dregs have really been thoroughly exposed, no wonder Beibei almost broke down trying to escape.

Of course, Mu En is a cunning old man, and we don't expect him to have the right values ​​in this kind of thing. In the end, it's all for the sake of continuing the glory of his family in the Sea God Pavilion. Even if Bei Bei can't help him, Zhang Lexuan is enough.

No one is truly without selfishness, and old man Moon is no exception.

Later, during the trial in the Valley of Love and Destiny, Tang Shenwang directly used his divine power to erase Zhang Lexuan's emotional memories of Beibei. Of course, this was done without consulting her own wishes, which is why Zhang Lexuan forgot about the matter.

We can describe this behavior as 'reward-based forgetting', and attribute its core motivation to the narrative arrangement of 'relieving the pain of both parties,' which is actually just feudal dross.

But I digress. Let's get back to the main topic.

Xuanzi was still arguing; he had fallen into the trap of self-justification, and his words were becoming increasingly illogical.

"Shrek has always been like this. We do not interfere in the affairs of the continent, but only cultivate strong people to send to the whole continent. This is the school motto established when Shrek was founded."

"As for Shrek Academy's mission, our original Shrek Seven Devils, led by our ancestor Tang San, overthrew the evil Spirit Hall organization ten thousand years ago. Our ancestor Tang San became a god, praised by everyone on the continent. Which sect or country could cultivate such a powerful figure?!"

Well, first there was the City of Slaughter, and now there's the Spirit Hall. Xuanzi is quite knowledgeable about the history of the continent, and he can reveal everything in one go.

He thought that after saying this, Kong Deming would stop, but to his surprise, Kong Deming didn't respond at all and instead brought up the Spirit Hall.

"Speaking of the Spirit Hall, I've learned a little about this organization from fragments of history. I seem to remember that before your Shrek Academy became the number one academy on the continent, this organization called the Spirit Hall also provided free Spirit Awakening services for the common people at the bottom of the continent!"

"How come the Spirit Hall can do all this, but Shrek Academy has abandoned the common people, leading to the rampant spread of evil spirit masters? Who is the real evil organization here?!"

This is a statement that strikes at the heart.

Kong Deming's plan is to relentlessly pursue a single point; it's starting to resemble a debate.

(End of this chapter)