Today, Luoyang Lu was giving a history lesson.
The academy does have history classes.
After all, one of its main purposes is to cultivate talent for the Federation, and history classes are meant to foster students' sense of national identity.
However, since the content is often dull, very few students can actually stay engaged.
But where does Luoyang Lu come from?
From the Spirit Pagoda, a force that has existed for ten thousand years.
With soul beasts and soul spirits possessing extremely long lifespans, not only is history well-recorded, but even amusing stories from history are meticulously documented in miscellaneous books within the Spirit Pagoda, available for leisurely reading.
Using two or three entertaining historical anecdotes, Luoyang Lu successfully piqued everyone's interest and smoothly transitioned into recounting the history from ten thousand years ago:
"Ten thousand years ago, the empire..."
Sitting in the back row by the window, Huo Yuhao twitched at the corner of his eye upon hearing some events he had personally witnessed.
Without making a sound, he activated Simulation, took out a carving knife and a piece of sentient metal, and began engraving a soul-guiding formation, effectively zoning out in class.
Although he believed in "reviewing the past to learn the new," when it came to the history from ten thousand years ago, especially anything related to Tang Sect and Shrek Academy, there was probably no "person" in this era more familiar with it than him.
For instance, how did Shrek Academy manage to become as powerful as it is today?
First, let's clarify one thing: ten thousand years ago, the Emperor of the Sun-Moon Empire, Xu Tianran, lived longer than he was originally supposed to, and the unification of the continent happened earlier than expected.
Now, let us welcome Emperor Xu Tianran to share his thoughts:
"I would never destroy Shrek. Even though they have always been my enemy, in my heart, they remain the supreme sanctuary of soul masters, and I myself am a soul master."
"When we unify the continent, I will don Shrek Academy's uniform and attend classes in its most sacred lecture hall, fulfilling my greatest childhood dream."
"Furthermore, I shall grant Shrek Academy the title of Sun-Moon Royal Academy, making it an eternal part of my empire, ensuring that my Sun-Moon Empire lasts for all eternity!"
At this point, the situation should be clear.
And we all know how it turned out, Sea God descended, Shrek's name remained unchanged, and instead, the Sun-Moon Empire was forced to rename itself to the Tian Dou Empire.
Yet, whether Xu Tianran was paying for his dream or simply trying to win over Shrek Academy, as emperor, he actually wore a Shrek uniform and studied at Shrek Academy even after unifying the continent.
This was huge. If even the emperor was personally endorsing it, naturally, a massive wave of people followed suit and joined Shrek Academy, primarily soul engineers from the former Sun-Moon Empire.
What happened next was obvious.
But in Huo Yuhao's opinion, this was still acceptable.
At least there was some attempt at winning them over, even if the cost-benefit ratio didn't seem great in hindsight.
He had witnessed even more outrageous situations!
For example:
"My grandfather was a member of Shrek. On his deathbed, he told my father: 'The glory of Shrek shall shine forever. No matter what happens, our family's descendants must never become enemies of Shrek!'"
"Shrek has never made mistakes. They have never chosen the wrong path. Time and time again, they have saved the Federation from destruction. Without Shrek, the Federation would have ceased to exist long ago! If we ever find ourselves opposing Shrek, we must ask ourselves, was it us, the Federation, who made the mistake?"
The above statements all came from a high-ranking military officer of the Federation ten thousand years later. Absolutely zero exaggeration.
After reading this, what could Huo Yuhao even say?
He could only remark: "Sir, what a brilliant insight!"
At the same time, he secretly felt relieved that over the years, the Spirit Pagoda had made some mistakes, allowing a few soul masters to nearly fall into the path of evil soul masters, harboring ambitious individuals who tried to turn the Spirit Pagoda into a new Martial Soul Hall, and even letting a god-level Dragon King infiltrate their ranks.
If the Spirit Pagoda had always been right, even he, as the first-generation Tower Master, would have been too afraid to remain here...
---
Meanwhile, Huo Yuhao wasn't the only one uninterested in hearing history from ten thousand years ago. Gu Yuena felt the same way.
She was more curious about what Huo Yuhao was up to.
Using a book to hide her face, Gu Yuena glanced at Huo Yuhao, blinking lightly.
She could naturally sense the spiritual and spatial fluctuations coming from him. (The principle of Simulation is that it uses spiritual energy to distort space, allowing the user to simulate various forms.)
No doubt about it, this guy was using his soul skill to zone out!
As the most powerful Dragon King secretly living in human society, Gu Yuena felt the need to remind this God King.
"Hey... um..." She hesitated, then changed her address, "Yuhao, can you include me too? I don't want to listen either."
The God King doesn't want to pay attention in class, and neither does the Dragon King!
Huo Yuhao heard her voice transmission, gave her a strange look, thought for a moment, then expanded the Simulation field to include Gu Yuena.
Then, Gu Yuena saw Huo Yuhao engraving a soul-guiding formation.
"..."
Fine. Even zoning out was so extraordinary, as expected of Yuhao.
For some reason, Gu Yuena, who was actually slacking off, suddenly felt like she was the only one being unproductive. She pursed her lips in frustration.
---
On the lecture platform, Luoyang Lu looked at Huo Yuhao and Gu Yuena, seemingly listening attentively, and a tic mark appeared on his forehead.
He knew what Huo Yuhao was doing, Huo Yuhao had told him in advance.
But for the sake of keeping classroom order, he had used Simulation instead.
But Gu Yuena, what exactly were you doing?
Don't think I didn't notice that you were suddenly included in the Simulation field!
Your posture has changed!
Continuing his lecture, Luoyang Lu secretly activated his special ability, Sound Transmission Secret Technique.
"Huo Yuhao knows ten-thousand-year-old history so well that he can even recall the exact dates of major events. What about you, Gu Yuena? Can you tell me the exact year, month, and day when the continent was unified? When the Federation was established? When was the first Federal Congress held?"
Gu Yuena stiffened slightly. "I'm sorry, I don't know."
Even though she had lived through that era, Huo Yuhao had walked the world, whereas she had remained in Lake of Life the entire time.
She never had the chance to learn about major historical events… nor did she bother with such useless information.
"If you don't know, then listen."
Luoyang Lu sighed.
"The Spirit Pagoda is part of the Federation. We are not the Martial Soul Hall from twenty thousand years ago. We must consider ourselves as members of the Federation and understand its history, we cannot be clueless!"
"The Spirit Pagoda is indeed powerful, but precisely because of this strength, some attitudes must be made clear. This is also why the headquarters of the Spirit Pagoda has been established in Mingdu and has remained unchanged for ten thousand years, this represents our support for the Federation. You and Yuhao will be the backbone of the Spirit Pagoda in the future, but you must not act recklessly."
If you are already powerful, yet do not keep a low profile, are you just waiting to be targeted by the Federation and besieged by various major forces?
There are times when one must remain low-key!
Look at the first Pagoda Master, he was the Hidden World Douluo.
He only came forward after reaching the rank of Limit Douluo.
Even our ancestors were like this, proving that keeping a low profile is nothing to be ashamed of.
The Continental Wind and Cloud Rankings were created precisely to divert attention and ensure that the Spirit Pagoda does not appear too conspicuous.
For the Young Genius Rankings, the Spirit Pagoda places its internal members on the list, even giving them high positions, or even the top spot, to demonstrate that they have not declined.
But the Continental Wind and Cloud Rankings are different.
After all, the meanings behind geniuses and true powerhouses are not the same.
For example, the first place in the Wind and Cloud Rankings was directly handed to Atlas Douluo by the Spirit Pagoda when the opportunity arose.
"The number one person on the continent is Shrek Academy's Atlas Douluo. No one is his match, that's what we, the Spirit Pagoda, say. Believe it or not, it's up to you!"
As for whether he really is or not, well… even they don't actually know.
After all, their strongest Quasi-God never fought that person at his peak. But so what?
They said 'person,' not 'soul beast,' and even Pagoda Master Ditian tacitly approved…
That ranking has existed for so many years, and people generally trust it. As long as the Federation's citizens believe it, nothing else matters!
Hearing this long-winded reasoning, Gu Yuena obediently nodded.
Then she remembered she was inside Simulation, Luoyang Lu couldn't see her.
So she sent another voice transmission: "Understood, Teacher Luo."
Luoyang Lu nodded in satisfaction.
Then, he suddenly realized something was wrong.
Wait... how exactly had they been communicating just now?
A two-ring Soul Master already mastered Sound Transmission Secret Technique?!
His expression turned complicated.
"As expected... absolute geniuses."