Anping knew why Yali said that. He shook his head slightly and said, "You have to understand that you are the Holy Spirit Douluo, the deputy master of the Poseidon Pavilion, and the dean of the inner court of Shrek Academy. No one would dare to act up in front of you. They would all behave like good kids."
"But it's different when they face outsiders. Let me tell you about Ye Xinglan. She used to study in the inner court and then moved to the outer court. You must know her well, Holy Spirit Douluo."
Yali nodded slightly. She knew Ye Xinglan and admired her talent. She was curious about what Anping had to say.
Anping saw her nod and said: "It all started with the Skysea City Competition. Ye Xinglan represented Shrek Academy in the exhibition match. Xu Lizhi also showed up before the match. He hit it off with Tang Wulin, who was a student at Donghai College then."
"They became friends because Xu Lizhi was hungry and Tang Wulin gave him some food. When Ye Xinglan saw this, she warned Xu Lizhi not to eat anything from strangers."
Yali just shook her head slightly and didn't see anything wrong with that. After all, Tang Wulin and Xu Lizhi had just met. Ye Xinglan's words showed that she cared about Xu Lizhi's safety.
Anping didn't mind Yali's reaction and continued: "That day, Xu Lizhi felt grateful to Tang Wulin and invited him to dinner. Tang Wulin agreed and went with him. Ye Xinglan found them while they were eating and joined them."
"When they finished eating, Ye Xinglan told Tang Wulin to pay the bill. Xu Lizhi offered to treat them, but Ye Xinglan reminded him that he had no money and said that it was Tang Wulin's honor to pay for them."
"Tang Wulin was naturally angry and only paid half the money at the counter. The next day, Ye Xinglan asked the organizer to make him her opponent in the match, to get back at him."
Anping concluded: "Do you think this is an educational problem at Shrek Academy, Holy Spirit Douluo?"
Yali nodded slightly and said: "Ye Xinglan did act a bit arrogantly, but she was only ten years old at the time. It's normal for kids to be emotional, and it doesn't prove anything, right?"
Anping shook his head slightly and argued: "It has nothing to do with age. You said yourself that she was only ten years old, so why would a ten-year-old act like that?"
"It's because she thinks it's the right thing to do, but what makes her think that? There are two possibilities. One is that her teacher taught her that, and the other is that she saw all the other students doing that."
Anping concluded again: "No matter what the truth is, whether it's the teacher's influence or the environment, it shows that there is something wrong with the education at Shrek Academy."
Before Yali could argue back, Anping went on: "But maybe you think Ye Xinglan is just a rebel who likes to do things her own way. Then let's talk about someone else, someone I know better: Wu Zhangkong."
"I met Wu Zhangkong when I was at Eastsea Academy. The first impression he gave me was that he was proud and looked down on everyone. For example, he would tell the dean that he would only listen to him if he could beat him. That kind of thing."
"Most soul masters have some arrogance, to a greater or lesser degree. When they face people who are weaker than them or ordinary people, they naturally feel superior. After all, strength is respected."
"The problem was the challenge at Sun Moon Academy. Holy Spirit Douluo, you probably only saw that Wu Zhangkong led Tang Wulin, Xie Xie, Xu Xiaoyan, Ye Xinglan, and Xu Lizhi to challenge Sun Moon Academy and lost to me and Nana. You thought he had disgraced Shrek Academy, and that Dean Hongchen was overreacting by broadcasting it live to the whole federation."
"But do you know how they provoked us? Wu Zhangkong used a soul guide loudspeaker and played it at the gate of Sun Moon Academy to let them know the gap between them and the strongest academy on the continent. If he hadn't done that, Dean Hongchen wouldn't have let me and Nana, who had already applied for graduation, go out to fight, let alone make it public."
Yali heard the whole story for the first time. Back then, they only knew that they were angry at the dean of Sun Moon Academy for being unreasonable and ignored what Wu Zhangkong had done.
Seeing Yali frown, Anping continued: "We've talked about the students and teachers, now let's talk about Cai Yue'er, the dean of the outer court of Shrek Academy. According to Xiaoyan, this dean of the outer court claims that she is fair at Shrek Academy. Whether that's true or not, we don't care for now."
"Let's talk about what happened before we went to the Star Luo Empire. When we boarded the ship, the Secretary-General of the Federation approached Cai Yue'er. She was cold and sarcastic. Tell me, Holy Spirit Douluo, did the Secretary-General ever wrong Cai Yue'er?"
Yali shook her head slightly and said: "No, but the Federation has always disliked Shrek Academy. Yue'er did that because she was unhappy."
Anping shook his head slightly and said: "The Federation dislikes Shrek Academy because Shrek Academy is too proud and doesn't obey the Federation's rules. What kind of autonomy do they want? They recruit talented students from all over the Federation, but they refuse to comply with the Federation's regulations. Who has the problem here?"
Yali looked thoughtful. She had never considered this problem before, or she had always accepted it as normal. After all, Shrek Academy had been like this for 20,000 years.
Anping gave Yali some time to think, then said: "Of course, I don't have to say whether this is right or wrong, and it doesn't matter what you say. Only time will tell. How Shrek Academy interacts with the Federation has nothing to do with the City of Miracles. Let's talk about why you came here, Holy Spirit Douluo."
Yali sighed, then nodded slightly and said: "Okay, I have a few questions. First of all, I have no problem with compulsory education for school-age children, or with the curriculum for ordinary people."
"My only question is whether there are too many cultural courses in soul master education. The cultivation courses only increase gradually in middle school, while the cultural courses remain the same or even increase."
Anping knew what Yali was thinking, so he said: "Are you saying that this will waste their cultivation potential? I have a way to solve this problem, so you don't have to worry."
"Before anything else, a person should learn what is right and wrong, what they should and shouldn't do. Cultivation level is secondary. Otherwise, what good is it to have a high cultivation level in the long run?"
"Besides, having a rich knowledge is also beneficial for practice. Whether it's making battle armor, mechas, soul tools, or fighting with others, people with more knowledge will have an edge."
Yali understood the importance of knowledge. She was mainly concerned about wasting talent. But since Anping said he had a solution, she stopped worrying about it.
She nodded slightly and said: "There's also the matter of subject selection. Shouldn't soul masters be assigned what to focus on based on their martial souls and talents?"