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Three months after the conclusion of the Continental Soul Master Classic, Su Wen began the process of opening the "Mountain of Books and Sea of Learning" for the newly constructed Scholastic Palace branches.
Four months in, the Shrek Seven Devils, led by the Golden Iron Triangle, departed from Heaven Dou City.
By the sixth month, they arrived in Soto City in a rather bedraggled state.
"Our Soto City Scholastic Palace is the first branch on the entire continent, aside from the headquarters, to be equipped with the Mountain of Books and Sea of Learning!"
The staff member responsible for receiving the group from Shrek Academy introduced the facilities of the Soto City branch with evident pride.
Before leaving, Su Wen had named the core main hall the "Hall of Seeking Knowledge" and the thirty-six surrounding rooms the "Thirty-Six Classrooms."
Flender and the others were led into the Hall of Seeking Knowledge.
"Everyone, this is our Hall of Seeking Knowledge. It is the heart of the Scholastic Palace. That book over there is the core of the Mountain of Books and Sea of Learning space for this branch."
"By injecting soul power and collecting your respective Soul Seals, you can freely enter the Mountain of Books and Sea of Learning space via the seal. Which of you would like to go first?"
Flender and his group exchanged glances.
They had already informed themselves about the process of this new version of the Mountain of Books and Sea of Learning. Now, they looked at one another, hesitating.
Finally, Yu Xiaogang stepped forward. "I will go first."
He approached the glowing book suspended in the air and injected his soul power into it.
A moment later, a page detached itself.
However, the page did not transform into the shape of Luo Sanpao.
Yu Xiaogang frowned, assuming this was due to the mutated nature of his Martial Soul, and did not pay much attention to the form of the Soul Seal.
But when he saw the content written on the page clearly, his face instantly turned foul.
His complexion went ashen, tinged with an iron-green hue.
"What is it, Xiaogang?"
Flender and Liu Erlong stepped forward. Looking at the page in Yu Xiaogang's hand and reading the words written there, their faces also turned green with rage.
There were only three words on the page.
"Go Eat Farts."
Catching a glimpse of the content on the page, the expression of the staff member guiding the Shrek group also changed.
Gone was his previous amiable demeanor, replaced instantly by a look of hostility.
"People from Shrek?"
"Apologies, but you are not welcome here," he said in a cold, dismissive tone.
At the same time, other Soul Masters in the vicinity, witnessing a Scholastic Palace staff member show such an attitude for the first time, gathered around curiously.
Upon learning the situation, the surrounding Soul Masters immediately began to ostracize the Shrek group.
Yu Xiaogang stood in the center of the Hall of Seeking Knowledge, being pointed at by numerous Soul Masters. His face was a mask of iron-green anger. Out of the corner of his eye, he swept his gaze across the crowd, noting their eyes filled with hostility and disdain. He felt both excruciating embarrassment and burning rage.
Su Wen!
To think he would target us to this extent?
How did he do it?
It was just collecting a Soul Seal; how did he manage to identify us?
"Hmph, Master Wen's ideal is to promote the development of the Soul Master world and disseminate knowledge, but that doesn't mean he has to share it with just anyone."
"Exactly. Master Wen is selfless and impartial in teaching knowledge to all Soul Masters, but he is still human. Do you enemies really have the nerve to come to Master Wen's Scholastic Palace to steal his cultivation techniques?"
"Exactly, exactly!"
"It's a good thing Master Wen returned midway to upgrade the Mountain of Books and Sea of Learning. Otherwise, we might have actually let these people steal the techniques."
One by one, the Soul Masters condemned the shameless group from Shrek.
Flender and the others looked as if they had swallowed flies. Their soul power fluctuations flickered ominously, seemingly ready to erupt at any moment to teach these Soul Masters a lesson.
Yu Xiaogang's hands gripped Flender and Liu Erlong tightly, restraining them from acting on impulse.
Even though Yu Xiaogang was arguably the most furious among them, he knew they could not break out into a conflict with the people of the Scholastic Palace here.
This was the Scholastic Palace. Everyone here could be considered a scholar of the Palace.
And in the current continent, the number of Scholastic Palace scholars was countless. Wherever a Palace was established, the vast majority of Soul Masters were its students.
Once a conflict erupted within the Scholastic Palace, it would be equivalent to making enemies of more than ninety percent of the Soul Masters on the continent.
The Shrek group left the Soto City Scholastic Palace with their tails between their legs, utterly humiliated.
However, this was not the end of their troubles.
The exposure of their location and identity was destined to attract wave after wave of interception and assassination attempts.
After all, a hundred-thousand-year soul bone was simply too tempting.
Blazing Fire City.
Su Wen had been traveling and opening the Mountain of Books and Sea of Learning for three months now, meaning half a year had passed since the end of the Soul Master Competition.
"Eh? Did Yu Xiaogang and Tang San really shamelessly go to other branches to steal techniques?"
Upon receiving the news, Su Wen immediately felt a sense of scorn for their behavior.
Fortunately, after leaving Soto City and arriving at the second city to set up the system, he had received a message from Heaven Dou City regarding the treatment Tang San and the others received there. Reminded by this, he had immediately upgraded the technology of the Mountain of Books and Sea of Learning.
There were no complex restrictions; it was simply that if the Shrek Seven Devils or the Golden Iron Triangle injected their soul power into the book, no functional Soul Seal would appear.
Su Wen had previously collected their blood and replicated their Martial Souls.
The Soul Seal was essentially a copy of a Soul Master's Martial Soul. Once it detected a match with the Shrek Seven Devils or their teachers, it naturally triggered the "surprise" Su Wen had prepared.
Of course, there are thousands of Martial Souls, and overlaps do occur. Therefore, Su Wen's settings also included directional targeting; even if the Martial Soul was the same, the nuances of different Soul Masters' cultivation would ultimately differ.
So, the lockout only targeted those specific ten people.
No, that wasn't quite right—it also included all direct descendants of the Clear Sky Clan who had inherited the Clear Sky Hammer Martial Soul.
It could be said that among all the major Mountain of Books and Sea of Learning installations across the continent, only the headquarters in Heaven Dou City still had a loophole they could potentially exploit.
However, since that was the headquarters, the manpower Su Wen had arranged there early on was very comprehensive, and the order was the best maintained. The management was composed entirely of core members of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Clan.
Thus, neither the Clear Sky Clan nor the ten members of Shrek would have any opportunity to enter the Mountain of Books and Sea of Learning.
"Little Wen, you've finally arrived at our Blazing Fire City."
Huo Tianyang adopted a welcoming posture, leading Su Wen directly toward the Scholastic Palace branch.
"You have no idea. The Soul Masters of our Blazing Fire City have been impatient for a long time, just waiting for your arrival to open the Mountain of Books and Sea of Learning."
"It can't be helped; they just want to learn so badly. They want to progress too much!"
It was evident that Huo Tianyang was under some pressure.
Because his relationship with Su Wen was very close, too many powerhouses in Blazing Fire City had approached him, making requests on behalf of their younger generations, asking him to contact Su Wen to open the facility as soon as possible.
Huo Tianyang was anxious himself.
He had his own descendants; Huo Wushuang and Huo Wu were both currently Soul Ancestors. Although they had missed out on the ideal configuration for their first four soul rings, they could still enjoy the benefits of Su Wen's numerous techniques.
After all, soul power was the foundation.
For Huo Wushuang and Huo Wu, the evolution of their Martial Souls was secondary—their Martial Souls were already top-tier. Cultivation speed was what mattered most to them.
"Uncle Yang, I know you're in a hurry, but please, hold your horses," Su Wen said helplessly.
Opening the Mountain of Books and Sea of Learning consumed a significant amount of mental energy.
Although repeated creation of the illusory space had deepened Su Wen's understanding of space and his mastery over using Earth, Fire, Water, and Wind to open the "World Within the Book," three full months of this monotonous life had left him mentally exhausted.
(End of Chapter)