By the time Xia Yi and Gu Yue returned to Shrek Academy, it had already been twenty-eight days since their leave of absence.
Gu Yue's former seat had already been taken over by Xu Xiaoyan.
Originally, Xu Xiaoyan had been sitting with Tang Wulin.
But after Na'er arrived, she directly kicked Xu Xiaoyan out.
Having no other choice, Xu Xiaoyan noticed that Gu Yue's seat had been empty for almost a month, so she took it instead.
She had planned to return the seat to Gu Yue when she came back.
Unexpectedly, when Gu Yue saw Xu Xiaoyan sitting in her spot, she didn't say a word.
Instead, she simply followed Xia Yi to the last row and sat there.
"Na'er, why is she in the outer court too?" Seeing Na'er, Xia Yi muttered softly.
However, he didn't really care.
As long as Na'er didn't bother him, he wasn't interested in interfering with her.
"Damn it, why did they have to come back at this moment? It must have been Wu Jin who noticed something was wrong and told them to return. Hmph! A pair of shameless lovers!" Xia Yi didn't care, but Na'er was gritting her teeth in anger at Xia Yi and Gu Yue.
Originally, she and Shen Yi had everything planned out. After class started, she would find an excuse to pick on Wu Jin.
Then she would propose re-electing the class leader.
After that, she would help Tang Wulin remove all obstacles, ensuring that he would take the class leader position.
But the sudden return of Xia Yi and Gu Yue disrupted all her plans.
She wasn't afraid of anyone—except Xia Yi and Gu Yue.
Most importantly, she couldn't stand the thought of losing to Xia Yi.
Soon, the class bell rang, and Shen Yi walked into the classroom.
When she saw Xia Yi and Gu Yue, she was momentarily stunned before quickly signaling Na'er with her eyes.
She was very confident in Na'er's strength, but if her opponent was the monster Xia Yi, it was a completely different story.
If they tried to remove Gu Yue from the class leader position, she wasn't sure how Xia Yi would react.
If Xia Yi got angry and Na'er stepped up to compete for the position, she would simply be acting as Xia Yi's punching bag.
Shen Yi didn't want Na'er to be Xia Yi's target of frustration.
Right now, Tang Wulin's team consisted of Tang Wulin as the leader, with Na'er, Ye Xinglan, Xu Lizhi, Xie Xie, and Xu Xiaoyan as members.
This was indeed a powerful lineup, including three inner-court geniuses. But against Xia Yi, Gu Yue, and Wu Jin, they were still at a disadvantage.
Xia Yi's Fox Mind Technique was simply unsolvable, and his Absolute Zero ability, when stimulated by spirit wine, was terrifyingly powerful.
He wasn't afraid of group battles at all.
With Xia Yi and Gu Yue around, the idea of forcing Wu Jin to step down as class leader had to be put on hold.
"They didn't come back earlier or later, but right at this exact moment. It must be intentional." Shen Yi also believed that Xia Yi and Gu Yue had returned on purpose.
In reality, the reason Xia Yi and Gu Yue returned to Shrek Academy was that Xia Yi had been feeling restless lately.
He had a persistent sense that something was going to happen.
This feeling came inexplicably, yet it felt extremely real.
Because of this, Xia Yi decided to return to Shrek Academy and focus on training.
In the days that followed, Xia Yi spent most of his time attending classes, forging, cultivating, and studying.
Even Gu Yue was surprised—she felt that Xia Yi had changed a lot recently.
He barely even made jokes anymore.
"Could it be that he's finally settling down?" Gu Yue muttered to herself.
She wasn't the only one who noticed Xia Yi's change—even the powerful soul beasts like Di Tian and Leng Yaozhu had realized it.
Naturally, they were all very pleased.
They believed that Xia Yi had become more serious because of Gu Yue.
Before, Xia Yi's carefree nature made him feel approachable, but now, his serious demeanor gave them a different but equally good impression.
This was what a true genius should be like.
And more importantly, if Xia Yi was willing to change for Gu Yue, they could only be happy about it.
With Xia Yi and Gu Yue around, Na'er didn't dare to act out too much. As a result, the first-grade class remained relatively peaceful for a while.
However, with the secret influence of Cai Yue'er, Wu Zhangkong, and Shen Yi, the standing of Xia Yi, Gu Yue, and Wu Jin within the first grade was subtly declining.
Meanwhile, Tang Wulin's team was becoming increasingly prominent.
The core of the class began shifting toward them.
Although Wu Jin was still the class leader, many of the responsibilities that should have been his were now directly assigned to Tang Wulin by Shen Yi and Wu Zhangkong.
Wu Jin didn't care about any of this, and Xia Yi cared even less.
To them, the title of class leader was meaningless.
This actually allowed them to focus on their cultivation with peace of mind.
***
That day, Xia Yi was in the Shrek Academy Blacksmith Association, forging as usual, when Feng Wuyu suddenly appeared behind him.
It wasn't until Xia Yi failed in his forging attempt that Feng Wuyu finally spoke in a calm tone.
"Trying to forge an alloy with three different metals? You're really bold. Do you even know that only peak-level fifth-rank blacksmiths or sixth-rank blacksmiths can attempt that? And you've only just broken through to the fifth rank."
"Does Shrek Academy just love spying on people?" Xia Yi rolled his eyes.
He had noticed Feng Wuyu's presence shortly after he began forging.
But since Feng Wuyu hadn't said anything, Xia Yi couldn't be bothered to acknowledge him.
This was his first attempt at forging a three-metal alloy, and Feng Wuyu just happened to show up. If Feng Wuyu wasn't watching him all along, Xia Yi wouldn't believe it even if he was beaten to death.
"Can't you speak more nicely? I'm not spying—I'm observing! You should be honored that I'm taking an interest in you. Do you know how rare that is?" Feng Wuyu glared at Xia Yi but spoke without a hint of shame.
"Fine, fine, whatever you say. As long as you're happy." Xia Yi shrugged nonchalantly.
"With your usual troublemaking nature, you haven't caused any incidents lately. Could it be, as they say, that falling in love has made you mature?" Feng Wuyu smirked at him.
"Troublemaking? Do I look like someone who causes trouble?" Xia Yi said with a perfectly straight face, without the slightest hint of embarrassment.
His shamelessness was professional-grade.
"Kid, let me be honest with you. I have a mission—to take you as my disciple. I was waiting for the right opportunity, but I never found one. So, I've decided—today, you will become my apprentice. If you refuse, you're not leaving this blacksmithing room."
After saying that, Feng Wuyu plopped down onto a nearby chair. With a flick of his finger, a sphere of Dragon Flame wrapped around the room's door.
Before Xia Yi could even respond, Feng Wuyu shamelessly added, "Don't bother trying to reason with me—I won't listen. Either you acknowledge me as your master, or we sit here for a year or two until I run out of patience. Of course, you could always call Heavenly Phoenix Douluo and ask her to come rescue you."
Xia Yi's lips twitched. He could feel the terrifying heat of Feng Wuyu's Dragon Flame.
With his current strength, if he tried to force his way out, he'd probably be burned to ashes.
"Is everyone in Shrek Academy this shameless?" Xia Yi asked through gritted teeth.
"If you're going to say that, then I might as well be shameless." Feng Wuyu grinned, completely unbothered.
He wasn't ashamed—he was proud.
He simply didn't believe that Xia Yi would use his Soul Communicator to call Leng Yaozhu over such a trivial matter.
And even if he did—so what?
It wasn't like Feng Wuyu had harmed him.
Besides, he was already notorious for being unreasonable.
As long as he remained shameless, there was nothing Leng Yaozhu could do about it.
Moreover, accepting Xia Yi as his disciple was a task assigned to him by Yali and Yun Ming, with Long Yeyue's full support.
In Long Yeyue's grand scheme, Feng Wuyu taking Xia Yi as a disciple was a crucial step in driving a wedge between him and Leng Yaozhu.
Many believed that Xia Yi's recent changes were due to Gu Yue, but Long Yeyue and her associates were convinced that their plan of sowing discord was taking effect.
They speculated that Xia Yi had started to doubt Leng Yaozhu.
That inner turmoil was the reason he had lost his usual playfulness.
By now, Leng Yaozhu must have noticed Xia Yi's changes as well.
If Xia Yi were to become Feng Wuyu's disciple—
No matter the reason, Leng Yaozhu would undoubtedly feel a sense of estrangement.
Long Yeyue's schemes were never just isolated plans; they were intricate plots woven together through a series of carefully calculated steps.
Each step was meticulously crafted after thorough consideration and repeated evaluation.
"You're even more shameless than I am," Xia Yi said, his face dark.
"I always have been," Feng Wuyu burst into hearty laughter.