Douluo Jueshi: I Don't Want to Be an Evil Soul Master

Chapter 353 Disagreement
At Shrek Academy, Zhang Lexuan quietly landed in front of the Sea God Pavilion. The golden tree beside her swayed slightly, as if helping to dispel the chill from her body.

"Lexuan?"

"Dean Cai, what are you doing here?"

Zhang Lexuan was slightly surprised. Just as she opened her mouth, she heard Cai Meier's concerned voice at the same time, "You look much better. Did you find Ye Xishui's whereabouts?"

“Hmm… Ye Xishui is dead.” Zhang Lexuan paused, not mentioning Lin Xiao, “She was seriously injured in the battle with Elder Mu, and died in the far north not long after.”

“Well…” Cai Meier opened her mouth, but did not continue to ask, “Since you’re here, come with me to the Sea God Pavilion.”

"Has something happened at the academy again?"

“No.” Cai Meier shook her head and walked towards the Sea God Pavilion. “However, it is also a very serious matter for the academy.”

As they spoke, Cai Meier led Zhang Lexuan into the Sea God Pavilion's meeting hall. This was the place where Sea God Pavilion meetings were usually held, and several figures were already seated when Zhang Lexuan entered.

The main seat was empty. Apart from the two deans of the Soul Guidance Department, the only elder present was Elder Zhuang from the Healing Department, and Huo Yuhao, who was not a Title Douluo.

Cai Meier looked around and saw that there were still many empty seats, but she knew that these were all the Shrek Academy students who could attend the Sea God Pavilion meeting.

"Le Xuan is back?"

When Xian Lin'er saw the figure following behind Cai Mei'er, she asked a question, but her expression didn't improve much.

"Mm." Zhang Lexuan nodded, then sat down, her gaze turning to Cai Meier, who hadn't yet sat down.

"Elder Zhuang, have Elder Xuan and Elder Song not recovered from their injuries yet?"

Upon hearing this, Elder Zhuang sighed slightly, "Elder Song's injuries have recovered well, but Elder Xuan's injuries are not only from the Sun Moon Empire's attack, but also from the backlash caused by his overuse of the power in his martial soul."

After looking around, Elder Zhuang no longer concealed anything at the Sea God Pavilion meeting and revealed the truth: "Elder Xuan, I'm afraid it will be very difficult for him to break through again."

As soon as the words were spoken, the Sea God Pavilion meeting hall fell silent. A heavy atmosphere weighed on everyone's hearts. It was Xian Lin'er who broke the silence.

"How is Shao Zhe doing?"

Cai Meier shook her head, "After he came back, he wouldn't even see me. Maybe he thinks that Old Master Mu did it to save him... plus the recent rumors..."

"What does this have to do with Shao Zhe?" Xian Lin'er complained, but Qian Duoduo nudged her arm, and she stopped talking.

"Dean Cai, let's talk about the Poseidon Pavilion meeting first." Qian Duoduo looked up at Cai Meier.

“Alright, then I’ll begin.” Cai Meier nodded. “The two deans should have seen the academy’s report as well. The number of students enrolling in Shrek Academy this year is much smaller than in the past.”

Xian Lin'er and Qian Duoduo exchanged a glance and nodded slightly. "That's right. Perhaps due to the impact of the continental war, not only us, but almost all academies have seen a certain degree of decrease in the number of new students."

"But compared to before, our number of new students is less than a third of that of previous years, and there are fewer students from noble families among the new students who have signed up."

After Cai Meier said this, everyone except Huo Yuhao probably guessed the reason.

Although Shrek Academy is known as the number one Soul Master Academy in Douluo Continent, some noble families can provide their children with resources that are not much less than those of Shrek Academy, and may even exceed them.

Enrolling in Shrek Academy was largely about giving children a prestigious education. However, Shrek Academy hadn't even clearly explained the issue of evil spirit masters, so some cautious nobles naturally dared not send their children there anymore.

Although this might displease Shrek Academy, they were even more unwilling to get involved in trouble. If the rumors were confirmed, their positions in the three great empires could be jeopardized.

For those nobles, once Shrek Academy gained power, they would naturally try to befriend them, but at the first sign of trouble, they would run away faster than anyone else.

It's no wonder Cai Meier said this matter was quite serious for Shrek Academy. Shrek, after all, is just an academy.

"boom--"

Xian Lin'er slammed her hand on the table. "Isn't this all the fault of those evil soul masters!"

Qian Duoduo bumped Xian Lin'er's arm again.

Old Zhuang, however, waved his hand and said, "You've all been tired lately, so it's understandable that Lin'er is like this."

"However, she is right. Shrek Academy is in such a predicament because of evil soul masters. We cannot silence the public. Only the innocent will clear their names."

“Elder Zhuang is right.” Xian Lin’er calmed down a bit and nodded. “Although the three great empires are not as hostile to us as before, we cannot neglect the Shrek Supervisory Group. We have been protecting the continent for so many years, and someone will eventually see it.”

"I think..."

Just as everyone was pondering, Zhang Lexuan suddenly spoke, drawing everyone's attention.

Seeing the deans turn to look at her, Zhang Lexuan paused and completed the sentence, "I think the academy's previous attitude towards evil spirit masters was inappropriate."

"Le Xuan!"

Cai Meier's expression suddenly turned serious. "Do you know what you're saying?"

“I know, Dean Cai.” Zhang Lexuan nodded and stood up. “I want to say that we were too arbitrary in our judgment of evil spirit masters before.”

"After Xiao Tao was brought back by Elder Xuan, she remained unconscious, and no one wanted to talk about her. But she did a lot for the Holy Spirit Cult after all."

"Xiao Tao was coerced by the Holy Spirit Cult, how can you confuse the two?"

“Then how do you know that some evil spirit masters weren’t coerced into doing their things?” Zhang Lexuan turned to look at Cai Meier. “Perhaps they didn’t want to become evil spirit masters, but just lacked the opportunity to make a choice.”

"you--"

Cai Meier was speechless for a moment, and for some reason suddenly thought of Yan Shaozhe, who had been reluctant to see anyone. Another reason he was unwilling to see anyone was probably that he had the blood of an evil soul master. They had "monitored" too many soul masters like him in the past.

“Le Xuan, people like Xiao Tao are ultimately a minority…” Xian Lin’er also offered a word of advice.

"But it does exist."

The Poseidon Pavilion meeting hall fell silent. No one had expected Zhang Lexuan to suddenly bring up such a topic, which was almost a denial of all the previous actions of Shrek Academy.

For a moment, almost everyone's attention was focused on the only elder present, Zhuang Lao.

(End of this chapter)