Chapter 7: Enrollment, Shrek's Teaching Method
The next morning, since Jiang Nannan had already shown Ye Chen around the day before, he found Class Nine's classroom easily and walked straight in.
There were already quite a few students inside. Since the semester had been underway for some time, most of them had formed small groups, chatting casually with friends before class began.
Someone soon noticed him.
"Hey, this is Class Nine. You might have walked into the wrong room."
The speaker was a tall girl with short golden hair. Her eyes flickered with curiosity, but her tone was polite.
Ye Chen's face—already blessed with handsome features—combined with his 999 Charm stat made him irresistibly appealing to the opposite sex. For most girls, their impression of him started with a +30% friendliness bonus right away.
"Hello, I'm Ye Chen, a transfer student to Class Nine. Is there an empty seat anywhere?" Ye Chen smiled at the blonde girl.
He scanned the room. There was only one golden-haired student in Class Nine—this had to be Ning Tian.
"Ah, a transfer student?"
Ning Tian looked surprised. Was that even allowed at Shrek? She had never heard of a mid-term transfer before.
Still, despite her doubts, she didn't think he was lying.
After all, why would such a good-looking, honest-faced boy lie? He looked trustworthy—downright wholesome.
Her expression softened, and she said warmly, "Hi, I'm Ning Tian. You can sit next to me—there's no one here."
There were two seats beside her: on her left sat Wu Feng, and on her right was an empty chair.
The classroom was large enough for over a hundred students, with several seats still unoccupied.
"Whoa, check it out—handsome guy alert!"
Soon, chatter broke out across the classroom.
"Damn, who's that pretty boy?"
"Holy crap, why's he so good-looking?"
"This guy just walked in and already sat next to Ning Tian? Outrageous!"
The girls' eyes lit up in excitement; the boys muttered enviously.
Ye Chen's looks and vibe were simply too striking—not something people could ignore.
"Eh, who are you?"
A surprising voice cut in.
Ye Chen turned and met the sharp gaze of a red-haired girl with a stern face. He instantly guessed—Wu Feng.
He knew her type—a hotheaded girl who liked Ning Tian.
Ironically, in the original story, Ning Tian ended up… well, becoming a man.
How Ning Tian's father felt when his precious daughter became someone's "bro," Ye Chen could only imagine.
But beyond that, it proved Wu Feng wasn't into girls—she was just into Ning Tian.
"Wu Feng, this is Ye Chen, our new transfer student," Ning Tian said cheerfully by way of introduction.
"Transfer student? Shrek allows that?" Wu Feng echoed blankly.
Still, her gaze lingered on Ye Chen strangely.
Wu Feng's affection for Ning Tian came partly from their childhood bond, but also because Ning Tian's talent set the bar so high that Wu Feng developed impossible standards for other boys.
Yet when she looked at Ye Chen now, her heart skipped a beat for reasons even she couldn't explain…
The other students began whispering as well, all staring curiously at Ye Chen.
Ye Chen, ignoring the chatter, quietly sat down in the vacant seat beside Ning Tian. There was a narrow aisle between their desks—close but not too close.
Moments later, the class bell rang.
Everyone returned to their seats, behaving perfectly well.
Then a woman in a form-fitting violet dress stepped into the room.
She appeared around thirty, wearing glasses and carrying an air of quiet authority—Class Nine's homeroom teacher, Mu Jin.
Mu Jin's eyes lit up instantly when she saw Ye Chen sitting in the front row.
"Ye Chen, come up here," she said with a wave.
Ye Chen stood, walked to the podium.
"Everyone, let me introduce our new classmate—Ye Chen, a rank-41 Soul Sect," Mu Jin announced, unable to hold back her smile.
A 41st-rank Soul Sect freshman—her class was practically guaranteed to win the upcoming freshman tournament!
That smug Zhou Yi—who kept bragging her accomplishments every year just because she lucked into teaching talented students—would finally see what real luck looked like!
"Wait, what?! Rank 41?!"
"No way! He's got to be older than twelve!"
"Even if he is older, not by much! Where did this monster come from?"
The entire class erupted in gasps of disbelief.
The male students stared wide-eyed, muttering skeptically, while the female students' eyes sparkled with open admiration.
A boy that young, already so strong—and on top of that, handsome and approachable—who wouldn't fall for him?
"Ye Chen's about your age," Mu Jin continued, smiling proudly. "I hope everyone learns from him. Work together, improve together, and strive for good results in the Freshman Tournament!"
As an experienced instructor, she delivered a passionate, motivational speech that fired up the entire class.
But some of her comments were clearly directed at Ye Chen himself.
At present, Shrek Academy's curriculum focused on three main areas: theoretical study, combat training, and physical conditioning.
Of these, combat and physical training occupied the majority of students' schedules.
Physical conditioning had long been a core Shrek tradition—mandatory across all classes.
As Mu Jin went over the details, Ye Chen listened quietly, though inwardly unimpressed.
In his opinion, the academy's three-month "training period" wasn't particularly useful.
Cultivation always boiled down to two things—talent and resources.
In the era of the first Shrek generation, resources were scarce. But now, resources were plentiful.
Take Huo Yuhao, for example—after consuming one Profound Water Pill and one Soul Ascension Pill, he gained five levels almost instantly.
Without such resources, how could any student expect to gain five levels in just three months of self-cultivation?
Even the original Shrek Seven Devils couldn't have managed that.
It reminded Ye Chen of a saying from his past life:
"Why do you think ten years of hard study can compete with three generations of wealth?"
Likewise, how could three months at Shrek compare to six years of grinding before age twelve?
Three months… what could they possibly accomplish?
Basically—nothing.
Even "Huo Hang," blessed with cheat-like fortune, barely gained six levels during the first term. Two came from the Water Pill, three from the Ascension Pill, and one from pure effort.
If even that required divine luck, what chance did the average, unboosted student have?
Shrek's notorious elimination rate didn't just filter out low-talent students—it also cut off those from weak backgrounds, students lacking financial or resource support. Without such backing, their futures were doomed.
Those near the grade threshold at admissions? Already doomed from the start. Even with an extra year of practice, they'd be dropped eventually.
With over a thousand freshmen and a fifty-percent elimination rate, that bottom half was fated from day one.
Sure, there might be the occasional talent like Huo Yuhao who slipped through—an outlier who defied the odds—but they were the one in a thousand exception that Shrek prized.
If a student demonstrated true potential, Shrek would invest heavily.
But if their abilities were merely luck-based, they'd be gone soon enough.
The academy wouldn't waste time nurturing mediocrity.
Of course, those were just Ye Chen's private thoughts.
To Shrek's students, the academy was still a sacred land.
They genuinely believed that after these three months, through training and perseverance, they could shine on the stage of the freshman tournament.
…
After finishing her speech, Mu Jin gestured toward the door. "Alright, everyone, to the field! Today, we'll begin combat training."
"Yeah!"
Cheers broke out instantly across the classroom.
Soul masters were born warriors—though combat class was grueling, it remained everyone's favorite course.
(END CHAPTER)
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