Soul Land IV (Douluo Dalu) : Ultimate Fighting-Novel

737 – Shrek Seven Monster Candidates

“En en, I’m just imagining the future with you. Teacher, what do you know about the situation at the branch? We’ll be leaving in three days”. Lan Xuanyu asked.

Tang Zhenhua said in a low voice, “Actually, from a certain perspective, the main role of this academy is to be a symbol. The branch is truly the part of the academy contributing to the Federation.”

Lan Xuanyu was stunned. “Why do you say that?”

Tang Zhenhua said, “In our academy, the Outer Court only accepts 30 students every year. It would be considered lucky if half of them could graduate successfully, and it is even harder to get into the Inner Court. This is mainly to prevent overconsumption of the Eternal Tree’s life energy.

“As for the branch, the most ordinary teachers are students who graduated from the Outer Court. Their teaching resources are all from the main academy, and their teaching methods are the same as ours. Other than not having the resources brought by the Eternal Tree, they are no different from the main academy. Their Outer Court recruits over 1,000 students every year, and the competition is intense, even more so than the main academy. Although the Inner Court of the branch doesn’t have as high a requirement as the main academy, those students are all elites picked out after countless hardships, and the Inner Court of the branch only recruits a total of 80 students every year. Their combat experience is very rich.

“Most of the graduates have joined the military and become the main pillar of the military. Contrary to us, the strongest in the branch are in the Interstellar Command System. Currently, among the seven great fleets of the Federation, two commanders are from our Shrek Academy.”

Lan Xuanyu asked curiously, “What about the main academy? Has there been a commander before?”

Tang Zhenhua shook his head and said, “In this main branch, Inner Court students are not allowed to join the military. They can enjoy the benefits of their military rank, but are not allowed to hold a real position. Even if they serve in the military, they can only be secondary roles and not official positions.”

Lan Xuanyu was surprised. “Why is that? Shouldn’t our Inner Court seniors be more outstanding?”

Tang Zhenhua said, “No reason, political necessity. Shrek Academy’s influence on the entire Federation is simply too great. In order to reduce our influence, it is already an unwritten rule that Inner Court students are not allowed to assume official military positions. Very few Inner Court students enter the military. The reason why the Federation has the Sky Fighter Division and why it isn’t directly affiliated with the military is related to this. It is the same reason why the true elites of the Tang Sect and Spirit Pagoda are unable to assume official positions in the military.

“The strong are mostly from these few large forces. Other than the War God Temple, the other large forces are independent and are not under the Federation’s jurisdiction, so the Federation is especially cautious in terms of military power.”

“Then why can the branch academy do it?” Lan Xuanyu asked.

......

Tang Zhenhua smiled and said, “That’s because the branch’s full name is Douluo Federation’s Central Academy and not Shrek Academy’s branch. Only the inner circle of our academy would call them the branch. All of the teachers in Douluo Federation’s Central Academy come from us, but all of the other resources come from the Federation. This is an agreement between the Federation and us, and it is also the reason why we can be independent from the Tang Sect.”

Lan Xuanyu was enlightened. “This means that the branch actually belongs to the federal military?”

Tang Zhenhua said, “You can put it that way. The branch academy is the Federation’s highest military academy, but anyone who understands the situation would know how this academy came about. Our only request is that the teachers of the Central Academy must be sent out by us and no other forces can be involved. Otherwise, Shrek Academy will completely withdraw. So, the students of the branch academy will more or less be influenced by our Shrek Academy and will naturally be very close to Shrek Academy.

“We will not take control of the military, but we hope to maintain a good relationship with it. After all, with the development of technology and the advancement of soul technology, individual combat power is no longer as important. In front of a strong space fleet, individual strength is not enough.”

Lan Xuanyu said unwillingly, “Even a god-rank powerhouse?”

Tang Zhenhua said, “In a frontal confrontation, even a god-rank powerhouse would not be able to withstand the main cannon of a strong space warship. It can only be said that a god-rank powerhouse has better chances of surviving in front of a Space Fleet. A real space war still depends on Space Fleets. A god-rank powerhouse is more like a super special forces soldier that can play a crucial role on the battlefield. So, you chose the Interstellar Command Center correctly.”

Lan Xuanyu said, “But if I enter the Inner Court in the future, won’t I be unable to become the commander-in-chief of a space fleet?”

Tang Zhenhua laughed and said, “You’re thinking too far ahead. You have great ambition! Although a commander-in-chief holds an honorable position, how can he be free? A true powerhouse will not be controlled by others. This is also the reason why our Shrek Academy has to maintain a certain degree of independence and neutrality. In the future, if you own a powerful fleet, you will also become a supporter of the Federation.”

Lan Xuanyu looked at him and said faintly, “Teacher, are you encouraging me to go further on the path of space pirates?”

“You little brat, are you asking for a beating?” Tang Zhenhua scolded him jokingly. “Is that what I meant? There are some things that you can’t know right now. We’ll talk about it when you’ve truly grown up.”

Lan Xuanyu chuckled and said, “By ‘certain things’, are you referring to our Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect having their own Fleets?”

Tang Zhenhua was stunned at first, then turned pale with fright and cried out, “How did you know?!”

“I guessed it! Seems like I guessed correctly,” Lan Xuanyu said proudly.

The Tang Sect was able to develop antimatter missiles and assault warships, would they really not have their own Fleet? Could it be that all the research and development results were given to the Federation? Was it something only doable by the Federation’s research and development center ?

Tang Zhenhua smiled bitterly. “You’re indeed smart, but don’t tell anyone that this is a taboo.”

Lan Xuanyu asked curiously, “Does the Federation know about this?”

Tang Zhenhua said, “They definitely know, but the Federation can only turn a blind eye to it. I’m not sure how many Tang Sect warships there are or how strong they are either. Only the true core members of the upper echelons know.”

Lan Xuanyu’s eyes lit up. “In other words, I might become the commander of the Tang Sect’s Fleet in the future. The Tang Sect’s Fleet doesn’t stipulate that Inner Court students can’t be commanders, right?”

Tang Zhenhua could not help but raise his hand and knock him on the head. “Don’t just think about good things. Work hard and improve yourself first. If you have nothing to do, go and cultivate. Let me tell you, the sparring match with the branch will not be so easy to deal with. The average age of your opponents is 22 years old and graduates from their Inner Court are at least Two-Word Battle Armor Masters. We don’t win every time.”

“En en, I understand. Don’t worry, we will definitely win. This is a level four Sky Fighter mission, and if we win, we will get points and Sea God Lake water. Where is the branch?”

Tang Zhenhua squinted his eyes and said in a low voice, “The branch is on Sen Luo Planet.”

“Sen Luo Planet? The first planet that the Federation gave to the soul beasts, and also the third administrative planet that we humans discovered and finally obtained?” Lan Xuanyu’s eyes lit up.

“Yes, that’s the place. The branch was established there to train the students of the branch better. Although the Central Academy doesn’t have the resources provided by the Eternal Tree, there are a large number of soul beasts living on Sen Luo Planet. There, they might be able to gain the favor of dying soul beasts and have a real Spirit Soul.”

Lan Xuanyu had never been to Sen Luo Planet before. The Beast God Di Tian, the Emerald Swan Bi Ji, and the Abyssal Demon Dragon Demon Queen had all lived there before moving to the Elven Planet.

According to what Lan Xuanyu knew, there was another batch of soul beasts living on Sen Luo Planet and there might even be soul beasts that were stronger than the Beast God Di Tian.

It would be interesting to go there and take a look.

In the next three days, Lan Xuanyu’s team did all sorts of preparations. They were informed that they would take the Tang Sect’s spacecraft to reach Sen Luo Planet.

Senluo Planet was a planet owned by the Federation, but civilian spaceships were prohibited from going there. Only spaceships that had been specially approved were allowed. After all, it was an independent world of soul beasts. Although it was still controlled by the Federation, it was relatively autonomous.

Three days passed in the blink of an eye. When Lan Xuanyu brought his team to Shrek Space Center once again, he couldn’t help but feel like he had become a “flying man”.

Recently, they had been flying too many times and spent more time in space than on Mother Planet.

The teacher leading the team to Sen Luo Planet’s Federation Central Academy for the exchange was Xiao Qi, and this was his perk as the teacher-in-charge. He would be the one leading the team of the students he taught, and there were no other accompanying members.

Shrek Academy had no intention of mobilizing a large force.

The one responsible for sending them to Sen Luo Planet was a small Tang Sect spacecraft. Without anyone to send them off, they boarded the spacecraft through a special channel.

Lan Xuanyu sat in the spacecraft and looked out of the window. He felt the dense life energy and clenched his fists subconsciously.

Although everything seemed so calm, he knew that they were shouldering the honor of Shrek Academy!

In the distance, at the top of a tall building, a figure stood there quietly and watched the spacecraft take off. A faint smile appeared on his face and in the next moment, a silver light flickered and that figure disappeared without a sound.

Shrek Academy, Eternal Sky City.

“They left?” Wang Tianyu looked at Ying Luohong.

Ying Luohong nodded and said, “They have already set off.”

Wang Tianyu said, “Didn’t the branch apply for increasing the number of people entering our Inner Court? Tell them that if they can defeat our representative team this time, we will give them another spot.”

“Ah?” Ying Luohong looked at Wang Tianyu in shock. “Teacher, this…”

Wang Tianyu said indifferently, “This is the Sea God Pavilion’s decision.”

Ying Luohong immediately understood. “Should we increase the pressure on Lan Xuanyu’s team?”

Wang Tianyu said, “After a discussion, the Sea God Pavilion has decided to nominate the seven of them as candidates for the next generation of the Shrek Seven Monsters.

Ying Luohong was startled and instinctively covered her mouth. She obviously knew what this meant.

The Shrek Seven Monsters were only selected once every century.

At this very moment, the Shrek Academy’s Sea God’s Pavilion Master with the title of Thunder God was one of the current Shrek Seven Monsters!

Even she didn’t know who the current Shrek Seven Monsters were. She only knew that there were three from the Tang Sect and the remaining four belonged to Shrek Academy.

She knew of two of the Tang Sect’s three members. They were Tang Sect’s Douluo Hall Master Meng Fei and Vice Hall Master Tang Miao. As for the other one, she didn’t know who it was.

On Shrek Academy’s side, other than Wang Tianyu, she knew another one, but didn’t know the other two. She couldn’t even tell if they were alive or dead.

Every time Shrek Academy conducted the Shrek Seven Monsters’ selection, it meant that Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect would choose the next generation’s successors.

Those who could participate in the qualifier were all the most outstanding talents in Shrek Academy’s Inner Court. In the history of Shrek Academy, there were only a handful of Outer Court students that could be included in the list of candidates. One could only imagine how much importance the academy placed on Lan Xuanyu’s team.

The Shrek Seven Monsters were after all the Shrek Seven Monsters!

Wang Tianyu looked at the agitated Ying Luohong and said indifferently, “If they lose this time, they will automatically be disqualified. You’re not allowed to divulge any information to them.”

“En, en.” Ying Luohong nodded her head repeatedly, unable to control herself.

Author’s note : I’ve finally written the 12th book about the familiar Shrek Seven Monsters, and even my blood is boiling. In the first few series of our “Douluo Continent” series, there has never been a situation where two generations of Shrek Seven Monsters coexisted. I want to give it a try this time. Currently, I’ve already told everyone that there are three Shrek Seven Monsters, and the other four will be revealed later. It will be very interesting.

In the next volume, Lan Xuanyu and his team will head to Sen Luo Planet. What would they encounter? What kind of opponents would they face in the competition with the branch? Let us wait and see. Finally, thank you for all your support. Your support will allow our “Douluo Continent” series to go further.