Shrek Academy Entrance Exam Begins!

Wang Xiaofeng followed behind the middle-aged man, looking around as if trying to find what made Shrek Academy extraordinary. But all he saw were villagers; he did not see a single person with fluctuations of Soul Power.

"Sir, everyone we passed was from the village. Why haven't I seen any Shrek students?"

"Shrek has very few students. It's rare to see one. Once you enroll, you'll know." With that, the middle-aged man gave a mysterious smile. After leading Wang Xiaofeng to the Cafeteria in the center of the village, he left on his own.

A few idle villagers were having breakfast in the village Cafeteria. Wang Xiaofeng took a look. Though the food was simple, the portions were generous enough to fill one up.

The aroma in the Cafeteria made him feel even hungrier.

"Auntie, one bowl of White Porridge and five buns, please." Wang Xiaofeng pointed at the large pot before him and spoke to the middle-aged woman cooking nearby.

"Kid, I haven't seen you around before. You new here?" the middle-aged woman asked as she set his breakfast before him.

"No, Auntie. I'm here to register. I just came a few days early." Wang Xiaofeng wolfed down the food, his cheeks puffed round like a hamster's.

Once he was full, Wang Xiaofeng chatted with Aunt Li about everyday matters, subtly trying to pry information about Shrek Academy out of her.

The process went rather smoothly. Wang Xiaofeng learned quite a bit of gossip about Shrek. For instance, Shrek currently had only two students. One of them was the young master of a wealthy family, supposedly quite the womanizer. Some villagers had seen him take different young girls into three different inns in a single day.

For another, Shrek's headmaster was extremely stingy and had already delayed wages for half a year.

Wang Xiaofeng silently remarked that this gossip was delicious.

"Auntie, do you know what Shrek's entrance exam tests?"

Wang Xiaofeng subtly extended his claws, but the middle-aged woman seemed somewhat wary of this topic. No matter how indirectly he asked, she refused to say anything.

Wang Xiaofeng felt helpless. He had not expected this kind of probing to fail as well. He stopped pressing the matter and smoothly brought up his desire to stay somewhere for a few days. The auntie found that she got along well with Wang Xiaofeng, so she simply told him to stay at her house. There were plenty of rooms anyway.

And so Wang Xiaofeng settled down in the village. During that time, he also asked other villagers about the contents of the assessment, but without exception, he got no answers. That only made him even more curious.

(At a villagers' meeting somewhere in the village: Shrek makes its money every year by tricking people into paying registration fees. For the sake of our rent and wages, make sure everyone sticks to the same story, understood!)

...More than ten days later...

At last, the day of Shrek's student recruitment arrived. Wang Xiaofeng finished cultivating early in the morning and went to the Cafeteria for breakfast, full of energy.

"Xiaofeng, good luck! Have a couple more buns." The villagers in the Cafeteria cheered Wang Xiaofeng on, though they did not hold much hope in their hearts. It could not be helped; Shrek Academy's standards for accepting students were simply too strict.

"Thank you, everyone! I'll definitely work hard to get into Shrek!" Wang Xiaofeng felt that all his efforts to get close to the villagers these past few days had been worthwhile.

After breakfast, Wang Xiaofeng arrived at the Village Entrance and found that quite a few people had already gathered there. Most were boys and girls around his age, and most of them were accompanied by their parents.

A table stood beneath a tree. Behind it sat an old man in his sixties. On his chest was a round green badge bearing the Shrek emblem. If Wang Xiaofeng's guess was correct, this should be a teacher from Shrek Academy.

At this moment, there were around a dozen applicants ahead of Wang Xiaofeng. Quite a few of them were frowning, clearly dissatisfied with how run-down Shrek was.

A boy standing ahead of Wang Xiaofeng had both parents with him. His mother said, "Is this some kind of joke? This is the so-called Soul Master Academy? The academy that claims its graduates can become Imperial Viscounts?"

The boy's father frowned. "Since we're already here, let's wait a little longer. Maybe this is some kind of test. The real academy might not be here."

There were certainly plenty of similar conversations among those waiting in line. Deep disappointment showed on the faces of most of the youths and their parents.

The old man sitting behind the table and handling registrations looked utterly lazy, dressed exactly like the villagers.

No wonder I'd stayed in the village for so long without seeing a Shrek teacher. Was this what it meant to come from the masses and return to the masses? Wang Xiaofeng felt as though he had grasped the legendary art of hiding in plain sight.

At that moment, a boy stepped up to the table to register. The old man said lazily, "The registration fee is ten Gold Soul Coins. Just put them in that box."

The boy's accompanying father hurriedly took out ten Gold Soul Coins and placed them into a box nailed together from several wooden boards nearby. "Hold out one hand." The boy did as instructed and extended his hand before the old man. The old man squeezed it twice, then shook his head and said, "You don't meet the age requirement. You can leave."

The boy froze for a moment and turned to look at his father. Eliminated just like that? His father quickly forced a smile. "Teacher, my son only turned thirteen a few days ago. Could you perhaps make an exception? A few days shouldn't make much difference, right?"

The old man said somewhat impatiently, "Don't hold up the people behind you. We only accept children under thirteen here. Anyone over thirteen will not be accepted. You may leave."

The boy's father said, "Then what about our registration fee..."

The old man replied bluntly, "Once registered, no refunds."

A dark line immediately slid down Wang Xiaofeng's mind as he listened intently from behind.

So that was it. Now everything made sense. This was why the villagers had refused to speak of it. The truth always... Ahem, wrong line.

So they were tricking ordinary people who did not know the truth into paying registration fees. To attract so many people, this academy's headmaster must be an expert at pyramid schemes. I'd better be careful in the future, in case I get brainwashed.

Just as the boy's father flew into a rage from embarrassment and wanted to make a move, a powerful aura burst forth from the old man. Everyone around him felt their bodies tremble.

A dense blue radiance suddenly erupted from the old man's body. A chessboard carved with mysterious patterns appeared in his right hand. Strangely, the chessboard looked extremely illusory, almost unreal. The pieces on it, however, were lifelike, gleaming with different lights.

Most terrifying of all, six Soul Rings—yellow, yellow, purple, purple, black, black—rose from beneath his feet. Their dazzling radiance immediately became the focus of the entire crowd.

The overwhelming aura pressed down on everyone until they could barely breathe. The old man waved at the stunned family of three before him. "Next."

The glow of the Soul Rings faded, and all Soul Power vanished in an instant. The old man returned to his previous lazy appearance.

The testing went quickly. None of the people ahead passed the test, and soon it was Wang Xiaofeng's turn.