A Beating

After leaving Flender's shop, Shi Yi found a secluded spot outside Suotuo City. He took out the crystal, shattered it with forging techniques, and gathered the scattered golden specks.

The golden specks reflected dazzling light beneath the setting sun. Shi Yi slowly crouched down. Every golden grain was remarkably uniform in size, about as large as a grain of rice. They were perfectly round, glimmering with a faint golden radiance. Shi Yi picked one up and pinched it between his fingers, discovering that the golden particle was somewhat soft, yet extremely elastic.

"It's soft enough, but once Soul Power is infused into it, it becomes exceptionally hard. It's somewhat like a non-Newtonian fluid. Only the Tang Sect would turn something this valuable into hidden weapons." Shi Yi shook his head slightly.

Hair Crystal grew vastly stronger after being infused with Soul Power. In the original work, it could even pierce Zhao Wuji's Soul Power defense. Although the Tang Sect techniques had contributed to its power, this still showed just how tough Hair Crystal was.

"If material like this were made into trigger-based defensive Soul Tools, ordinary Soul Masters would have trouble breaking through its defenses. If it were given the ability to absorb Soul Power, the higher the energy level of the Soul Power, the harder the Hair Crystal would become. It could even absorb the enemy's Soul Power and render their attacks harmless. I just don't know whether these materials can cover the whole body. Engraving Core Formations onto such resilient metal would probably be quite difficult, and ordinary flames likely can't fuse it together." Shi Yi thought to himself.

With that in mind, Shi Yi began gathering the scattered Hair Crystal from the ground. This was a highly promising Special Metal.

Once Shi Yi had finished collecting it, he looked at the bag full of Hair Crystal in astonishment. A crystal that was not particularly large had actually contained over ten thousand Hair Crystal needles. Its incredible malleability was obvious.

Over ten thousand needles... Tang San probably couldn't fire them all even in a lifetime, Shi Yi thought.

The Dragon Beard Needle ranked quite highly among Tang San's hidden weapons. Such a precious hidden weapon would presumably only be used by Tang San at critical moments.

It was one thing for ordinary hidden weapons to be impossible to retrieve after firing them. If a Dragon Beard Needle was fired, there was a high chance it could never be recovered—unless the opponent had already been killed.

Shi Yi now understood why Tang San had added the Sharpness attribute to his martial soul. Those advanced Tang Sect techniques used hundreds or even thousands of hidden weapons at a time. That was practically throwing money at people.

Early the next morning, after breakfast, Shi Yi left the hotel. He exited Suotuo City through the southern gate and headed toward his destination.

After leaving Suotuo City and following the road south, vast stretches of farmland lined both sides of the official road. Suotuo City's reputation as the grain capital of the Balak Kingdom was well deserved.

Shi Yi strolled unhurriedly along the official road when he noticed two overlapping figures ahead.

"Well, Xiao Wu, having Xiao San carry you on his back so early in the morning?"

Xiao Wu and Tang San were both startled by the familiar voice. They turned around and saw Shi Yi standing behind them with a smiling expression.

Xiao Wu's face reddened slightly. She hurriedly climbed down from Tang San's back, snorted at Shi Yi, and said, "What business is it of yours?"

Tang San also walked up to Shi Yi somewhat awkwardly and greeted him, "Senior Disciple Brother, morning."

"Xiao San, take care of yourself," Shi Yi said with a soft laugh.

Tang San coughed lightly. "Senior Disciple Brother, you're joking."

Shi Yi smiled at Tang San. "Come on. Today is your entrance test."

Tang San was somewhat surprised. "Senior Disciple Brother, aren't you enrolling with us?"

Shi Yi smiled and shook his head. "By Shrek's standards, I'm already overage. You don't need to worry about that. I have my own way of getting in."

"Someone's probably sneaking in through the back door," Xiao Wu said sarcastically.

Shi Yi paid no mind to the sarcasm in Xiao Wu's words. Instead, he nodded in agreement. "That's right. You guessed it. I usually hate going through the back door, but if it's a back door for me, I'm quite happy to use it."

"Shameless!" Seeing how unconcerned Shi Yi was, Xiao Wu only became even angrier.

Shi Yi laughed heartily at Xiao Wu's exasperated expression.

"You!" Before Xiao Wu could do anything, Tang San grabbed hold of her.

"Senior Disciple Brother is joking. He has made considerable achievements in martial soul theory research. It isn't impossible for him to join the academy by making use of his exceptional abilities," Tang San said as he held Xiao Wu back.

"Xiao San, privilege is privilege. In that regard, you're not as straightforward as Xiao Wu. Of course, privilege can also be earned through one's own efforts." Shi Yi smiled and patted Tang San on the shoulder.

With that, Shi Yi walked ahead on his own.

Watching Shi Yi's retreating back, Xiao Wu stuck out her tongue at him and snorted. "Xiao San, your Senior Disciple Brother is no different from those disgusting Nobles' children."

Tang San looked helpless but said nothing. In a sense, they themselves had also benefited from privilege. Having come from the Tang Sect, he naturally understood that sometimes, information itself was the privilege of being one step ahead.

Without Master, they would never have known about Shrek Academy, much less come here. After spending all these years together, Tang San had gained some understanding of Shi Yi. Many times, even his own teacher could not influence this Senior Disciple Brother's choices. Shi Yi had never been someone willing to suffer losses. Since Shi Yi had also come here, this academy must have something extraordinary about it.

"Alright, let's go take a look too," Tang San said, soothing Xiao Wu.

Before long, Shi Yi arrived at a small village. Seeing a large crowd gathered at the village entrance, he knew he had come to the right place. Tang San and Xiao Wu also joined the queue at the entrance.

Shi Yi did not line up like Tang San and Xiao Wu. Instead, he bypassed the registration queue and headed into the village.

After looking around the village for a while, a kind villager soon led Shi Yi to the village chief's house.

Shi Yi explained why he had come, saying that he wished to rent two rooms beside Flender's Shrek Academy.

Once the village chief learned of Shi Yi's identity as a Soul Master and his intentions, he immediately became much more welcoming.

Soon, Shi Yi followed the village chief to two houses near Shrek Academy. They were fairly spacious, but clearly had not been occupied for a long time.

Shi Yi took a casual look and saw that there were no major problems with the houses. He promptly paid the rent, and the village chief enthusiastically called over two people to clean the rooms for him.

Shi Yi preferred peace and quiet and did not particularly enjoy living with others, unless it was someone like Yu Xiaogang, a man of few words.

Looking at the tidy room, Shi Yi took bedding out of his Soul Tool. Most of the commonly used furniture was already in the house.

Shi Yi planned to turn the other room into a place for his research.

"After coming to this world for so long, I've finally managed to get a place of my own and a laboratory." Shi Yi lay on the bed and muttered.

The feeling of lying alone in bed reminded Shi Yi of the days when he had struggled on his own in his previous life.

After an unknown amount of time had passed, a powerful fluctuation of Soul Power spread through the air. Sensing it, Shi Yi curled his lips into a faint smile. Xiao San, enjoy one of the few beatings life has in store for you.

Tang San was not a Control System Soul Master now. Blue Silver Grass with only two Soul Rings could not break the defenses of Zhao Wuji's Great Vajra Bear. It could even be said that Zhao Wuji was Tang San's natural counter with the way he had developed Blue Silver Grass. On top of that, the Hair Crystal was still in Shi Yi's hands, so Tang San did not even have his only winning move. Unless something unexpected happened, Tang San, this Assault System Soul Master, would be thoroughly beaten by Zhao Wuji. Of course, Haozi would help him win it back that night.

"I can't miss a good show like this."

With that thought, Shi Yi slowly got up. After casually shutting the door, he headed in the direction from which the Soul Power fluctuations had come.

The house the village chief had arranged for Shi Yi was practically next door to Shrek Academy. Before long, Shi Yi passed through several large trees and arrived at an open clearing.

Tang San was already fighting Zhao Wuji alongside three others.

A man came over to Shi Yi's side. He was around one meter eighty tall, somewhat taller than Shi Yi, and appeared quite young. His shoulders were broad, and his handsome features carried a hint of resolve. A head of golden hair draped down his back nearly to his waist.

The most eye-catching feature was his eyes. They were a pair of wicked, unusual eyes, and both pupils were double pupils.

"Who are you? Shrek Academy isn't a place you can just barge into." Dai Mubai questioned him without any courtesy.

Shi Yi smiled faintly, pointed at Tang San, who was desperately using Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track to evade attacks in the clearing, and said, "I'm his Senior Disciple Brother. I came to take a look."

Dai Mubai's expression eased upon hearing that. "You came to join the academy?"

Shi Yi nodded. "Mm... you could put it that way. But I'm already over twelve, so I didn't register."

Dai Mubai nodded slightly and said nothing more, though an almost imperceptible trace of disdain flashed through his wicked eyes.

Seeing that Dai Mubai had fallen silent, Shi Yi turned his attention back to the fight.

The situation in the clearing was more or less as Shi Yi had expected. Blue Silver Grass lacked control abilities. Although Tang San was firing hidden weapons more frequently, their effect on the battle had diminished. Against a battle-hardened Soul Saint like Zhao Wuji, Ning Rongrong, Zhu Zhuqing, and Xiao Wu were soon eliminated, leaving Tang San alone to continuously maneuver around Zhao Wuji with Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track.

Seeing Xiao Wu injured, the hidden weapons Tang San fired immediately became more vicious. Nearly all of them targeted Zhao Wuji below the belt, making even Shi Yi feel a chill in his own crotch. However, Tang San did not challenge Zhao Wuji to a one-on-one duel like in the original work. He had presumably discovered the shortcomings of the Attack System himself.

Shi Yi understood that this was merely a slow death. With Zhao Wuji's defense, he could completely ignore Tang San's hidden weapons and Blue Silver Grass. Yet people would always grow tired.

At this moment, the drawbacks of Tang San's original development path were laid bare without reservation. Shi Yi believed that Tang San's chosen path would be nearly unbeatable in one-on-one battles against opponents of the same level, and it had also raised the future potential of the Clear Sky Hammer. However, the weaknesses of the Attack System were equally obvious: it was easily countered.

In team battles, it was countered not only by the Control System but also by defensive types. If the enemy Attack System was stronger than you, it could counter you as well. The Control System, however, was versatile. While Yu Xiaogang's plan leaned toward the Clear Sky Hammer, it retained the most important aspect of control. After all, Yu Xiaogang did not know that Tang San's martial soul was an unawakened Blue Silver Emperor. Yu Xiaogang's plan was actually not bad. At the very least, it offered more options in the current situation.

Tang San's figure continued darting across the clearing, but a sense of helplessness filled his entire body. He had always believed his development plan was the optimal choice. Even at the Rose Hotel, when facing Dai Mubai, he had been able to win with the Tang Sect's secret arts. Yet now, he was beginning to doubt himself.

Clang, clang, clang, clang, clang, clang, clang...

Countless Blue Silver Grass leaves, carrying sharp energy, struck Zhao Wuji's body with a crackling sound. Tang San understood now. Zhao Wuji's cultivation was simply too high, while he lacked a means to decide the battle with a single blow.

"Little Monkey, do you have no other moves besides these?" Zhao Wuji said to Tang San.

As soon as he spoke, intense golden light erupted almost instantly, followed by a sudden furious roar. "Roar..."

Within the intense golden light, everything Tang San had done became futile. The violent shockwave made Tang San spit out blood while still in midair. His entire body went numb and weak, and his insides felt as though they were burning.

"It's over, Little Monkey." Zhao Wuji withdrew his martial soul and slowly walked over to Tang San.

"Teacher Zhao, what about..." Dai Mubai hurried over and said.

Zhao Wuji's palm, as broad as a fan, immediately landed on the back of Dai Mubai's head. He snapped irritably, "What is there to ask? They've already passed the test. Did you really expect them to beat me? If they ran off, wouldn't Flender scold me to death? Go get Oscar and have him help them recover."

"Yes, yes, yes..." Dai Mubai quickly replied.

At that moment, Zhao Wuji noticed Shi Yi, who had been standing at the edge of the clearing. Pointing at him, he asked Dai Mubai, "What's this kid doing here?"

Dai Mubai quickly answered, "He said he's Tang San's Senior Disciple Brother. He originally wanted to register, but he's over twelve. He only came here to have a look."

Zhao Wuji nodded. "Since he's this Little Monkey's Senior Disciple Brother, he counts as family. Take him to find somewhere to stay, so outsiders don't say Shrek has no hospitality."

Shi Yi bowed slightly toward Zhao Wuji and said with a light smile, "There's no need to trouble yourself, Senior. I've already rented a house in the village and will be staying for a while."

Zhao Wuji nodded slightly, then said to Dai Mubai, "Go arrange dormitories for the newly enrolled little monsters."

Seeing that there was no more entertainment to watch, Shi Yi slowly returned to his room.

After returning to the room, Shi Yi realized he was rather hungry. Thinking of Shrek Academy's food, he felt somewhat helpless.

I was so focused on buying materials that I forgot about this. I need to go to Suotuo City and buy some supplies. If I eat at that Cafeteria, won't I end up malnourished? Shi Yi thought.

Then Shi Yi slowly got up and headed toward Suotuo City.