"Am I wrong? You knew it was him all along, and you knew that he was the cause of my nightmares, yet you intentionally arranged a meeting between us! Is this how you treat your sister?

" Shen Xing was on the verge of tears at this point.

A hint of sympathy welled up in Shen Yue's heart at the sight of Shen Xing's fragile display, and she sighed,

"Members of our family must endure more hardship than the average person. I'll admit that I arranged everything, and in reality, we had been working very closely with Shrek Academy for a very long time. In fact, we are the military family with the closest relationship with Shrek Academy; you simply didn't know this as you haven't entered the core circle of our family yet. Why do you think I had been assigned to the Northsea Legion in the past? The truth of the matter is that we've always been looking after the demonic island for Shrek Academy.

"

Shen Xing faltered slightly upon hearing this.

"Why didn't you tell me all this earlier?

"

Shen Yue sighed,

"With your stubborn personality, you would've kicked up a huge fuss as soon as I told you. Perhaps your encounter with him really was a nightmarish experience, but don't you feel like your growth was accelerated during the course of this nightmare? Without that experience, how would you have reached the rank of colonel at such a young age?

"

Shen Xing bit down on her lower lip, and she was suddenly at a loss for what to say or do.

A meaningful look appeared in Shen Yue's eyes as she said,

"If you can't forget him, then go to Shrek Academy to look for him.

"

"Go to Shrek Academy? What can I do there?

" Shen Xing asked.

Shen Yue replied,

"I don't know; that's up to you. You have to directly face your feelings toward him. Let me ask you this: what if he really had been your blind date partner on that day?

"

Shen Xing shuddered slightly upon hearing this, and she suddenly arrived at a realization as a stunned look appeared on her face.

Shen Xing sighed,

"I've already done everything in my power to protect you. Otherwise, according to the will of the seniors in our family, they would want you to discard your dignity and throw yourself at him at all costs. Given your past history with him and his constantly elevating status, you would be the perfect candidate to enter a political marriage with him to benefit our family, but is that what you want?

"

Shen Xing stared blankly at Shen Yue.

Was that what she wanted? She really didn't know.

The thought of a political marriage orchestrated by her family immediately evoked a sense of resentment within her. She truly hated being a member of such a family. If she were to enter a political marriage, she would become a pawn, a tool that would strengthen her family's bond with Shrek Academy.

Would she really be able to be with him under such an arrangement, especially considering he already had another woman in his heart?

"Don't think too much about it. Our family really did use you throughout the course of all of this, and that's why you were able to progress so quickly up the military ladder. I've taken on as much pressure for you as I can in exchange for your freedom. You can do whatever you want from now on; no one is going to try to use you again.

"

Shen Yue's voice had become a lot gentler as she spoke.

"Big Sister...

" Shen Xing threw her arms around Shen Yue in a tight embrace as tears flowed down her face.

Shen Yue sighed with a wry smile,

"I've already sacrificed far too much for our family; I don't want my only sister to walk the same path as I did. I've taken on all of the responsibility of our generation, so you don't need to shoulder any of the burden. I don't regret anything that happened in the past. At the very least, it helped you grow and mature, and you're able to look after yourself now. Your future is now in your hands; do with it as you please.

"

"But Big Sister, I really don't know what to do...

"

......

The construction of Shrek City was still ongoing, and most of the forestation project around the main school building was already complete. Construction for the housing for the Yuanen Family was also complete, and Shrek Academy had officially announced that it was giving a sector of land that spanned a quarter of the circumference of the Sea God's Lake permanently to the Tang Sect.

In that area, the Tang Sect was responsible for its own construction, which was also progressing at a rapid rate.

The entire Shrek City was heading in a very positive direction.

After the first semester of classes, some students had already been expelled, but the vast majority of students were able to fulfill the lofty requirements set for them and continue to further their education.

However, on a certain day, a new face had appeared in Shrek Academy.

This was an elderly man with a head of white hair, and he appeared on the drill ground of Shrek Academy at the break of dawn every morning, sweeping the drill ground in front of the main school building with a large broom.

It would take him from dawn to noon to sweep the entire drill ground, and he did this every single day.

The students who came out for their morning training would often spot the elderly man, and he would respond with warm smiles whenever he was greeted by the students, but he very rarely spoke.

His attire was also very plain and simple, consisting of the most ordinary of rough cloth garments.

Yi Zichen had already built up a habit of waking up early in the mornings. In the entire first class, Luo Guixing paid him the most attention as he possessed exceptional aptitude and outstanding work ethic.

Luo Guixing told Yi Zichen that Shrek Academy was never short of prodigies, but only a very small proportion of those prodigies went on to become truly powerful beings, and all of them were exceptionally hard workers.

Yi Zichen was becoming more and more enamored of Shrek Academy, and ever since he had witnessed Tang Wulin in action, he had made up his mind that he was going to become just as powerful someday.

Thus, even though he possessed outstanding aptitude, he didn't dare to slack off even in the slightest. He worked hard in his cultivation every day, and the vast majority of his time was dedicated to cultivation.

Every morning, he would go for a run on the drill ground as a warmup in preparation for the subsequent practical combat lesson.

Soon, he discovered that he was able to see that elderly man every day during this time period, and in all honesty, he was rather perplexed by his presence.

The elderly man appeared to be at least 70 to 80 years of age; wasn't it too large a workload for him to be sweeping such a massive drill ground every day?

On this day, Yi Zichen decided that he couldn't stand by and watch any longer, and he jogged over to the elderly man.

"Let me sweep in your stead, Grandpa.

" 1

The elderly man looked up, and a faint smile appeared on his face at the sight of the genuine look in the young boy's eyes.

"It's alright, this is my morning exercise, just like what you're doing right now. It's just that I'm too old and don't want to run, so I'm exercising by sweeping instead. Continue on your run; I'll be fine.

"

"Really?

" Yi Zichen was still a little concerned.

The elderly nodded with a smile.

"I see you running here every day; you really are a hard-working child. Is this mandated by the academy?

"

Yi Zichen shook his head in response.

"The academy doesn't force anyone to do anything; I'm doing this because I want to. My teacher says that the greater someone's aptitude is, the harder they have to work; only then will they be able to achieve more in the future.

"

"Oh? Are you saying you have great aptitude?

" the elderly man asked with an intrigued expression.

Yi Zichen blushed slightly, and he hurriedly shook his head in response.

"Not at all; no one in Shrek Academy dares to proclaim that they have good aptitude! Make sure to take it easy and look after yourself, Grandpa; I'm going now.

"

After that, he continued on his morning run.

The elderly man looked on at his departing figure with a smile, and murmured to himself,

"It's so good to be young! I didn't think that it would be so enjoyable to watch these young people every day.

"

Right at this moment, a cold voice rang out beside him.

"How much longer do you intend to do this?

"

A hint of surprise and elation appeared in his eyes, and he hurriedly turned to find the person that he was constantly thinking of day and night.

1 Grandpa here is a respectful way to refer to an elderly man, the two of them obviously aren't actually related.