Ah Da moved through the Beast Arena like a sovereign inspecting his territory, his gaze proud and commanding as he stared down the soul beasts within.
Sensing Ah Da's terrifying aura, the soul beasts immediately knelt in submission. Any thoughts of resistance vanished in an instant.
However… as Ah Da listened to their pleas for help and complaints about Elder Gong's cruelty, even he couldn't help but feel a twinge of sympathy.
Ever since these soul beasts had been captured and brought here, they hadn't had a single good day. Now, upon seeing such a powerful elder of their kind, it was only natural for them to look upon Ah Da as a savior.
Unfortunately, this soul beast elder also seemed to be under someone else's control. Their chances of escaping were slim. All they could hope for now was a slightly better life going forward.
Ah Da was now loyal to Zhou Sicheng, so he had no conflicting thoughts. He simply relayed the soul beasts' words to Zhou Sicheng.
After listening, Zhou Sicheng couldn't help but glance at Elder Gong.
Noticing the look, Elder Gong asked, "What is it?"
Zhou Sicheng smiled. "Elder Gong, Ah Da told me that these soul beasts are calling him their king, and then they started complaining about you, saying that you…"
Zhou Sicheng didn't even need to finish before Elder Gong could imagine what these beasts were accusing him of. He let out a cold snort. "I feed them, house them, and even provide sparring partners. I treat them like treasured pets, and they still have the nerve to badmouth me? Truly a bunch of ungrateful beasts."
Hearing that, Zhou Sicheng and Qian Duoduo, who was standing nearby, both twitched at the corners of their mouths.
Ah Da, standing to the side, almost couldn't hold back from hitting Elder Gong with an Ice Explosion Spell…
How shameless could someone be?
Zhou Sicheng said, "Don't worry, Elder. Give Ah Da one day, and he'll make sure they all behave. But you'll need to cooperate with him afterward."
Elder Gong asked, "How should I cooperate?"
Zhou Sicheng chuckled. "You'll probably have to hold back your temper a bit and be a little nicer to them. Not too nice, though. Just enough for you and Ah Da to play good cop and bad cop. Within a month, I guarantee your 'precious ones' will be completely obedient, and you'll be living comfortably as their Beast King."
Elder Gong laughed with delight upon hearing this and couldn't help but begin imagining it. He also felt a strong sense of admiration—and a touch of envy—toward Zhou Sicheng's abilities.
If only he had such skills, he'd have tamed a bunch of soul beasts to work for him already. Now that would be a dream come true.
Zhou Sicheng thought for a moment and then said, "Once these beasts are fully tamed, as long as I'm still at the academy, I'll come by once a month to help you out. How does that sound?"
Overjoyed, Elder Gong exclaimed, "Ah, that would be amazing! Don't worry, I'll make sure you're well compensated. If I get my hands on anything good, you'll be the first to know."
Zhou Sicheng smiled faintly, then followed Ah Da to start taming the soul beasts. Elder Gong followed closely behind, eager to observe and learn whatever he could.
Unfortunately, he wasn't a real "Beast King" and couldn't communicate directly with the soul beasts. Otherwise, he wouldn't have needed Zhou Sicheng's help in the first place.
Seeing that the issue had been resolved, Qian Duoduo greeted them briefly before leaving. He had a pile of matters waiting to be dealt with and no time to waste.
After working for half a day, Ah Da hadn't even needed to use his poison—his terrifying strength alone was enough to force all the soul beasts into submission.
Even the ten-thousand-year soul beasts were no exception. With Ah Da mediating among them, they would likely be much more docile from now on.
By dusk, Zhou Sicheng had finally recalled Ah Da and, after bidding Elder Gong farewell, left the Beast Arena.
Before leaving, Elder Gong gave Zhou Sicheng a storage-type soul tool filled with cultivation resources and rare soul beast materials—pelts, scales, and more—as a small token of gratitude for his help.
Zhou Sicheng didn't decline. After all, he had promised to continue helping Elder Gong in the future. Taking some resources wasn't too much to ask, was it?
Besides, a strong expert like Elder Gong wasn't the type to take advantage of a student. If Zhou Sicheng refused, it would only make it harder for Elder Gong to ask for help next time.
Leaving the Beast Arena, Zhou Sicheng initially intended to return to the inner court—after all, the difference between the inner court cafeteria and the outer court one was like heaven and earth.
But then he remembered his two childhood friends in the outer court. He'd been at Shrek Academy for three days and hadn't seen them yet. So, he decided to head over to the new student dormitories.
The friends Zhou Sicheng referred to weren't Beibei or Tang Ya, but his childhood buddies—friends he had grown up with.
Their names were Cao Jinxuan and Long Xiangyue, and in the original story, they were Zhou Sicheng's closest companions—like sworn brothers.
All three hailed from Tianyuan City. Zhou's family was the city lord's household, while the Cao and Long families were also major clans. The three families shared a close bond and effectively governed the city together.
Zhou Sicheng, Cao Jinxuan, and Long Xiangyue were close in age and had grown up together since they were children.
Although the other two didn't possess the same level of talent as Zhou Sicheng today, compared to their portrayals in the original timeline, they had long since outgrown their past selves.
After all, with someone like Zhou Sicheng pushing them forward, those two had made significant progress over the years.
You could say it was the classic case of "those close to vermilion become red, and those near ink become black."
Dressed in the distinctive red uniform of the inner court, Zhou Sicheng—handsome, refined, and charismatic—drew countless gazes as he walked along the path.
He casually stopped a student to ask for directions to the new student dorms, then headed there at a leisurely pace.
Before long, Zhou Sicheng arrived at the dorm building. Just as he was about to ask someone to call Cao Jinxuan and Long Xiangyue, he noticed Mu En lying beneath the building, relaxing.
Old Mu had, of course, also noticed Zhou Sicheng—but he pretended not to and continued to enjoy the last warmth of the sunset.
Zhou Sicheng didn't say much either. He simply gave a slight bow in Mu En's direction and called out to a chubby new student passing by.
The boy was visibly nervous upon seeing Zhou Sicheng's red uniform—after all, this was an inner court senior!
"G-Good evening, senior…"
Zhou Sicheng smiled gently and retrieved a gold soul coin from his soul tool. "Could you help me call Cao Jinxuan and Long Xiangyue? Just tell them their big brother is here to see them."
The new student nervously waved his hands. "No need for that, senior! You're looking for Big Brother Cao and Big Brother Long, right? I know where they are—I'll go get them for you!"
Zhou Sicheng smiled and placed the gold soul coin in the boy's hand anyway. "Thank you."
Holding the coin and feeling the warmth of Zhou Sicheng's kind demeanor, the chubby student hurried off to call the two.
The other new students who saw the scene couldn't help but feel a little envious.
Especially the girls on the fourth, fifth, and sixth floors. Though they were only around eleven or twelve, they were at the age where they were beginning to have romantic feelings.
They had seen handsome boys before, but someone like Zhou Sicheng? That was a first. He immediately captured their attention.
But that red uniform… made him feel unreachable.
An inner court senior…
Still, seeing him only made these newly admitted students even more determined to work hard and one day enter the inner court themselves.
Mu En, observing from a distance, smiled subtly and sighed in his heart:
"This kid… even more charming than I was back in the day."
****
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