At the request of the major empires on the continent, the Outer Academy of Shrek Academy enrolls around two to three hundred new students annually, divided into eight or nine classes. However, these hundreds of recruits are only Outer Academy students; they must pass countless tests to enter the true Inner Academy of Shrek. It is said that the Inner Academy is where the real monsters gather.
After all, every graduate from the Inner Academy of Shrek essentially holds a certificate marking them as future top-tier powerhouses on the continent.
On the surface, Shrek Academy claims to be a neutral soul master school that does not interfere in the internal affairs of the three great empires. Yet, it acts as a sort of global police force and even dares to go beyond the governments of these empires by targeting officials directly.
But Shrek's approach is nothing new — it's been like this for a long time, and in the future, Shrek Academy only becomes more extreme.
In the future Douluo Continent, some insightful individuals have tacitly dubbed Shrek Academy with a fitting nickname: the "Cancer of Douluo."
How did Shrek's so-called strength come about? Simply by annually recruiting the absolute best talents from across the Douluo Federation, even resorting to trickery to lure students from other schools during downturns, then indoctrinating them with the so-called "Glory of Shrek."
These so-called prodigies train using rare materials and the planet's life core, absorbing resources aggressively. But once they gain power and strength, instead of building the Douluo Federation or Douluo Star, their primary concern becomes building Shrek Academy. Some even subconsciously treat the Federation as the enemy.
What an utterly shameless and despicable education method! The proudest academy of Douluo has produced a bunch of ungrateful traitors, the biggest joke in the world!
How many people are there in Shrek Academy? So many precious materials have gone to waste. Ordinary students casually spend what would take an average citizen a lifetime to earn!
Some argue Douluo Continent respects strength above all and that Shrek upholds meritocracy. Yet Shrek's biggest hypocrisy is to claim absolute fairness and neutrality.
It boasts that it is just a normal academy, only educating students without involving itself in politics, yet it secretly directs the three empires' governments like they're servants.
If Shrek must meddle in politics, fine — then why not help the Federation address real issues: develop industry, agriculture, services, compulsory education, healthcare? If Shrek actually did that, it would be a true benefactor of Douluo. Even mimicking Ming Luo would be understandable.
Yet it always claims neutrality while ignoring mundane problems. When conflicts arise, it uses secret intelligence networks and unparalleled information to manipulate the empires' moves.
Originally, Douluo Star had its own life core shared by humans, soul beasts, and even pests. But under the joint schemes of Shrek Academy and Tang's Great God King, the core was seized by Tang San's parents, who arrogantly act like "This tree I planted belongs only to us."
Shrek and Tangmen's upper echelons feast while ordinary students must pay dearly for the opportunity to absorb energy. The golden ancient tree may be Shrek's, but its roots are the entire Douluo Star, nourished by the whole planet — yet 90% of the life energy is hoarded by Shrek's elites.
Even the powerful forces like the Spirit Transmission Tower and War God Hall barely receive any life aura from Douluo Star. No wonder the Spirit Transmission Tower conspired with the Holy Spirit Church to fire two godslayer-level soul-guided cannonballs at Shrek Academy — that's just self-destruction.
As for the soul beast clan? In the future, they are driven off-planet by the mighty Shrek Academy. Even the Beast God Emperor Tian, despite his high success chance in the divine tribulation, is forbidden from returning home to complete it.
Having sucked the blood of the great empires and grown prosperous, Tangmen aggressively recruits the Federation's top talents to develop weapons far ahead of the outside world.
Yet these weapons are neither shared with the public nor given to the state — they remain locked away, waiting for internal Federation conflicts to unleash them.
Remember, these resources are siphoned by Tangmen and Shrek from Douluo Star itself. If unified by the Federation, how many talents could be nurtured?
Shrek's top graduates all stay on campus, entering the future Federation's workforce late or never. Even the Sea God Pavilion admits that Outer Academy students aren't real Shrek students — only Inner Academy ones count.
If Shrek can cultivate a few crucial talents for the Federation when needed, those individuals are called "heroes" and "benefactors." But Shrek's daily sustenance comes from Federation production. Isn't the Federation doing Shrek a huge favor?!
Even with such a monopoly and sabotage, the Federation still single-handedly resisted the Dragon Horse Twins and at times seized the initiative.
Yet all honors go to Shrek. The Federation's millions of fallen warriors are forgotten, while Shrek shows off its mountain of resources and reaps lasting prestige.
Shrek Academy treats favoritism as virtue, double standards as tradition, and monopoly as neutrality. This is not just one generation — every generation is the same.
On the battlefield, Shrek openly and deliberately kills members of the Sun-Moon Royal Academy and Holy Spirit Church. When Shrek's own get injured, the Sea God Pavilion's vice leader personally demands compensation.
The Sun-Moon Empire has many Level 9 soul tutors; the Holy Spirit Church has two ultimate Douluos, yet neither confronts Shrek for justice.
This is ironic: villains lose because they have a conscience, but Shrek wins because it has none — shameless to the extreme!
This is the common realization among readers who grew up with the original story — they now see through the plot's moral distortions. This incarnation of Huo Yuhao also feels disgusted by Shrek's actions.
Even the Rakshasa Goddess Bibi Dong, after viewing the later Douluo storyline through memory sharing, was so disgusted by Shrek she vomited into the Sea of Spirits.
Of course, problems shouldn't be seen in black and white. Though Shrek is full of villainy, some individuals still maintain self-awareness despite brainwashing. Huo Yuhao's future task is to gather these people under his wing — like the female teacher Mu Jin before him, who despite being sidelined, still has excellent teaching methods.
Naturally, no matter how much Huo Yuhao despises Shrek and the Tang Buddha behind it, toppling them requires knowing one's limits. If he can't beat them, he'll join them. Last life's Huo Yuhao's cheats were largely built on having Shrek's backing.
Thinking this, Huo Yuhao's prejudice against the scheming Mu Jin lessens; with proper guidance, she'll become a star professor someday.
"The entrance exam consists of two parts: a comprehensive physical ability test, and a practical combat test. I believe you will pass smoothly," Mu Jin glanced at Huo Yuhao and explained.
"Okay, Teacher Mu, I believe in myself," Huo Yuhao replied obediently with a smile.
Mu Jin nodded and led Huo Yuhao to the exam channel. Many were already lining up — clearly candidates with solid backgrounds and soul powers meeting the standards.
Without the previous exemption from tests, it did feel a bit time-wasting. Huo Yuhao sighed and took his place at the end of the queue.
In front of him was a girl with fiery red short hair tied in a playful ponytail. Her eyes were a rare red, giving off a somewhat terrifying aura. But on closer inspection, her features were delicate and her skin as fair as jade — only her gaze was cold.
The girl turned and looked at Huo Yuhao. Unlike the original story, he now looked striking after leaving the Holy Spirit Church. His attire was eye-catching, and an aura of melancholy surrounded him. With various cheats improving his looks, he had gone from plain to handsome.
After all, the young beauty Zhongli Yu of the Holy Spirit Church was the one who styled him — this made the red-haired girl glance at him twice.
Noticing her gaze, Huo Yuhao smiled slightly. "Hello, I'm Huo Yuhao. You can also call me Huo Gua."
(End of Chapter)
If you'd like to read advance chapters support me at my patreon.com/YugiroTL