Volume One

Chapter 40: Accompanying Zhu Zhuqing to the Scam Academy

"The soul ring configuration is too poor, disqualified."

"Hurry up and move aside, don't hold up the people behind you. Don't you know the academy's rules? We only accept children under thirteen; anyone over thirteen is rejected without exception," the old man said with some impatience.

These hired villagers all acted as shills for Shrek Academy, weaving through the crowd of applicants to talk up how great the academy was, claiming that every graduate would be granted the title of Viscount by the empire, and at the end, they never forgot to add, "This is what the people from Martial Soul Hall said."

The next morning, the sun was shining brightly.

Watching the direction in which Dai Mubai left, Tang San smiled slightly and said, "Judging by the tone of his voice, he seems to be from Shrek Academy."

Tang San said calmly, "Even if I have to crawl away, I will do it alone. That is why I didn't let you intervene. He was right; the gap in strength between one soul ring is immense. After he used his third soul skill, even if we joined forces, we might not be his match. If he insisted on making us crawl out, then I would have no choice but to fight to the death. In terms of strength, I might not be his equal, but if I fight for my life, I have a seventy percent chance of making him die with me."

"Hold out your hand," the old man said softly.

Hearing Tang San say this, Zhu Zhuqing, who was watching the battle not far away, couldn't understand it. To risk mutual destruction over a room—she wondered if this person had manure for brains.

Upon hearing this, the young boy's commoner father hurriedly took ten Gold Soul Coins from his pocket and placed them into the wooden box beside them.

The words had barely fallen when a figure suddenly leaped down from the tree nearby. One could see three soul rings—two yellow and one purple—rising around his body.

"You... you are simply robbers! If you don't refund our registration fee, we will stay here and not leave today, and you won't be able to recruit any more students either." Everyone has a temper, and the boy's father couldn't help but shout in anger.

Hearing this, Zhu Zhuqing nodded slightly, and then the two of them accelerated their pace toward the village.

It must be said that Shrek Academy's public relations were very well executed. To dispel the doubts of those coming to register, they had specifically hired some villagers from the surrounding area to blend into the crowd of applicants.

On the other side, Dai Mubai was hugging two beautiful twins and laughing loudly, "Let's go, I'll take you to another hotel. Tonight, this young master will show you what it means to be a pillar supporting the sky."

"Age over thirteen, unqualified, disqualified!"

After saying this, Tang San stepped toward the counter.

Su Xing smiled and said, "Let's go, we'll go over and ask if they know the location of Shrek Academy. This is my first time here, and I don't know the exact location of this Shrek Academy."

"Giving the teacher a calendar in private, disqualified..."

Hearing this, Xiao Wu drooped her rabbit ears and suddenly whispered, "Brother, if he had really defeated you just now, would we really have to crawl out?"

"Zhuqing, look, right? It's exactly as I said," Su Xing patted Zhu Zhuqing on the shoulder to remind her.

After saying this, Zhu Zhuqing walked toward the registration line.

The next second, Dai Mubai shuddered violently, and then, a surge of evil fire rose within his body.

Su Xing looked in the direction Zhu Zhuqing was pointing. He saw a small village about a mile away, consisting of about a hundred households, even smaller in scale than Holy Soul Village.

Suotuo City, Rose Hotel.

"Skeletal development incomplete, disqualified."

Everything that happened here was seen by Zhu Zhuqing, her eyes filled with disdain. She couldn't help but wonder: as the saying goes, one who stays near vermilion gets stained red, one who stays near ink gets stained black. Was the current Dai Mubai really someone she could still rely on?

South of Suotuo City, on both sides of the main road, were vast stretches of farmland. As the grain capital of the Bala Kingdom, Suotuo City's agriculture could be considered quite developed.

A table was placed at the entrance of the village, with a man over sixty sitting behind it. Behind the village entrance, an archway hung a somewhat tattered plaque with a few sloppy characters written on it: "Shrek Academy."

Another night passed without incident.

The old man said unceremoniously.

Before long, a young boy came to the table to register. The old man said lazily, "The registration fee is ten Gold Soul Coins. Just put it in that box."

"Look, there seems to be a village ahead," Zhu Zhuqing raised her arm and pointed forward.

In short, the reasons for disqualification were strange and varied.

The old man smiled slightly and said disdainfully.

"Soul power has not reached level twenty, disqualified."

It fooled those parents and students into a daze.

"Right, I didn't lie to you, did I? Rather than calling this an academy, it's more like an extremely dilapidated village," Su Xing echoed.

As soon as these words were spoken, not only was the boy stunned, but his father was also stunned. The father asked in confusion, "Teacher, my child just turned thirteen, how is he age-ineligible?"

"This place is too run-down!" After Su Xing and Zhu Zhuqing arrived at the gate of Shrek Academy, they found over a hundred applicants in front of them, many of whom were frowning, clearly harboring many doubts.

Seeing this, Su Xing followed along.

After arriving at the village and asking around, the two learned that Shrek Academy was nearby, but the registration ceremony for Shrek Academy would not begin until tomorrow.

Thus, the two spent 10 Silver Soul Coins to stay the night at a villager's house.

The boy held out his hand to the old man. The old man squeezed it lightly, shook his head, and said, "Age ineligible, you can go."

"Is that so? Young Master Dai, don't be like last time and fail halfway through."

Hearing this, one of the beauties suddenly reached out and grabbed little Mubai.

"Ah??? When did you ever say that children over thirteen were not wanted? When you were promoting your academy, did you post your requirements? All you advertised was how great your academy was!" the boy's father questioned.

"Hey, little girl, you're here to register too, right? The registration fee is ten Gold Soul Coins. Just put it in the box." Seeing that Zhu Zhuqing was dressed well and looked decent, the old man waved his hand and said.

"These people are really strange," Zhu Zhuqing snorted lightly and turned to walk toward another exit of the hotel.

Zhu Zhuqing considered herself not someone who judged by appearances, but Shrek Academy was simply too dilapidated, and she couldn't help but complain a little.

Hearing this, Zhu Zhuqing shook her head, clearly very disappointed in Shrek. Then, she sighed and said, "Since we're already here, let's just register and go in to take a look."

"Registration fee: once paid, no refunds!"

"Mubai, you handle these people."