Douluo: Unlocking the Great Secrets of the Human Body, Becoming a Heavenly Demon

Bai Xu was somewhat surprised. "Why are you here?"

"I actually saw you in the Spirit Pagoda yesterday. I guessed you were coming to apply to Shrek Academy, so I came too."

Gu Yue said, "Don't misunderstand. Teacher said that only by graduating smoothly from Shrek would I have the credentials to establish myself in the Spirit Pagoda."

"Oh, then let's line up together."

Bai Xu said nothing more and did not mention what had happened when they parted ways in the Star Dou Great Forest. Gu Yue, however, seemed somewhat more cheerful and more mature.

"By the way, what level are you now?" Bai Xu asked.

"Level 37. I'm close to becoming a Soul Ancestor, but I can't compare to you."

"Haha, I just got lucky. Besides, my soul spirit has awakened too." Bai Xu spoke meaningfully.

Gu Yue was puzzled. "Your soul spirit awakened?"

The next moment, Da Huang flew out of Bai Xu's eyes, transforming into a hazy cloud as it transmitted, "Hello, Silver Dragon."

Gu Yue was startled. "Spirit of the Plane!"

"He's called Da Huang now. He's merely my soul spirit. Don't worry."

Gu Yue sighed and pointed ahead. "You really are the chosen one. But the line ahead has already moved forward quite a ways. The chosen one should get moving."

Bai Xu had been too busy talking with Gu Yue to notice that the line ahead had moved ten meters forward. He hurried after it so as not to hold up those behind him.

"I heard you're enrolling as a Work-Study Student?" Gu Yue asked.

"Gu Yue, Teacher Leng mentioned this Work-Study Student thing to me before, but after looking into Shrek's admissions policy, I found that regular students don't have to pay." Thinking of the lousy Work-Study Student dorms from the original story, Bai Xu felt rather speechless. He had simply refused; he might as well stay in the regular dorms.

"That's strange. I heard Teacher Leng say that the recommendation letter he gave you was for a Work-Study Student, not a regular student."

?

Filled with doubt, Bai Xu opened the recommendation letter. The first thing he saw was a small note that read: "Bai Xu, regular student spots are tight. I could only get you a Work-Study Student recommendation spot. Your teacher feels ashamed."

Seeing this, Bai Xu did not bother reading the official wording in the recommendation letter. Pulling strings like this must have cost Leng Jiuming dearly. It was clear that his teacher truly had no money left.

This student feels ashamed!

"Haha, a Work-Study Student it is. But you're a Work-Study Student too?" Bai Xu curiously glanced at Gu Yue's recommendation letter.

"Yes. I heard Work-Study Students live in the same building. Maybe we'll even be neighbors."

"Neighbors are good. Neighbors can visit each other." Bai Xu suddenly laughed.

As they chatted and laughed, it was already their turn for the assessment.

After passing the recommendation letter, Soul Power, age, and martial soul tests, the two followed the crowd to a massive plaza.

The plaza was over a thousand meters in diameter. At its center was a circular artificial pool over a hundred meters wide, with fountains spraying from within. In the middle of that pool stood a statue.

It was a lifelike human figure: Spirit Ice Douluo Huo Yuhao, the first founder of the Spirit Pagoda and master of Shrek Academy's Sea God Pavilion.

A teacher introduced it. "This plaza is called Spirit Ice Plaza. It was built ten thousand years ago, when construction began on Shrek Outer City and the inner city was designated entirely for the Academy. It is now the main teaching building of Shrek Academy's outer court. The plaza was named after the title of Spirit Ice Douluo Huo Yuhao, who once dominated the world ten thousand years ago. You should all know his story, so I won't say much more. Come, follow me into the teaching building."

Gu Yue poked Bai Xu's back with her index finger. "You should know Spirit Ice Douluo Huo Yuhao's story, right?"

"I know it completely. I'll tell you all his gossip later. But he's called Dai Yuhao now."

"Alright."

The inside of the teaching building was like a maze. After several twists and turns, they could not tell where they were at all. Then the teacher stopped before a large door and amplified his voice with Soul Power. "The first test examines spiritual power. Students will enter in the order their names are called, ten per group. Teachers will score you after it ends. Remember your scores."

"First group."

"Second group."

It was not until the nineteenth group that Bai Xu and Gu Yue were called.

The two stepped through the doorway and arrived beneath a vast dome, its ceiling covered in an enormous mural.

The instant the ten of them entered, they felt crushing pressure.

Everyone looked up. There was only one creature in the mural: a gigantic black dragon. It had a pair of golden eyes, massive outspread wings, and a dark-purple glow radiating from its entire body. Though it was merely a painting, it had been rendered with extraordinary realism. Even the scales on its body were clearly visible. The immense pressure came from it, as though it would collapse the entire space.

Thud!

Someone had already failed to endure it and dropped to their knees.

Gu Yue's body trembled slightly, but she was otherwise unaffected. Bai Xu, however, was drenched in sweat, seemingly unable to bear the pressure on his shoulders. His body even bent forward.

Seeing this, Gu Yue could not help but feel puzzled. Spiritual power at the Spirit Sea Realm Middle Stage should have been enough to withstand this pressure. Why was he struggling so much?

Seeing Gu Yue still standing there in a daze, Bai Xu fiercely pinched her calf, making her wince in pain and bend over with him.

"Why did you pinch me?" Gu Yue said in a low voice.

"Don't stand out so much. Show just a little of what you can do and play it safe," Bai Xu transmitted.

!

Gu Yue was somewhat disdainful, but she still put on an act, struggling bitterly alongside Bai Xu.

After roughly a minute, only two people remained standing.

"Bai Xu, ten points. Gu Yue, ten points." An elderly man immediately announced the scores with the help of Soul Power. "Next, continue forward for the second test: the Beast Arena."

They passed through a corridor and entered another hall.

Suddenly, the light in the entire hall dimmed, as if night had fallen.

Strange streaks of pale silver light lit up across the ground. They intertwined with one another, outlining a dazzling scene. The dome overhead also began to change.

The surrounding scenery shifted dramatically. When the light brightened again, everyone was astonished to find that though the night sky remained, they had appeared in a massive circular arena.

Deafening cheers rang out all around them. Not far in front of them, a powerful aura emerged.

Looking closely, they saw a three-thousand-year Three-Eyed Giant, a spiritual-attribute soul beast.

"This is a thousand-year Three-Eyed Giant. Its weakness is the third eye on its forehead. Be careful, everyone. This thing can suppress us with a spiritual field!"

A student was already shouting, calling on everyone to work together against it.

Bai Xu and Gu Yue were among them and did not perform too conspicuously. The ten of them attacked together and brought it down after a minute of fierce combat. Everyone received eight points, an average score.

The third test involved passing through guillotine blades and tested adaptability. The two passed safely and received ten points.

The fourth test examined special talents.

It was worth mentioning that the chief examiner here was not the Silver Moon Douluo from the original story, but an elderly man accompanied by several young teachers.

Bai Xu passed steadily with spiritual power close to the Spirit Sea Realm Late Stage from the Middle Stage. Gu Yue also passed thanks to her elemental control. Her command of several elements truly astonished the teachers. Some even showed interest in taking her as a disciple, but Gu Yue said she already had a teacher. Once they learned that teacher was a Titled Douluo, they did not press the matter further.

The fifth test examined artistic talents—put plainly, a secondary profession.

Bai Xu received zero points because he could do nothing. When asked, he claimed he understood everything, but in actual practice, he could not do a thing. Unbeatable in theory, hopeless in practice.

The sixth and seventh tests were both easy points. Shrek's entrance assessment had ten categories for a total of one hundred points, with sixty needed to pass. These two were free points, so even if someone failed them, their score would not look too terrible.

At this point, Bai Xu already had fifty-eight points.

The eighth test challenged a Shrek student from the previous year. Enduring for ten minutes against them counted as a pass.

Ten students had long been waiting in the hall for everyone to select an opponent.

The teacher leading them said flatly, "You may begin selecting your opponents. Once selected, they cannot be changed. There is only one requirement during the match: no Soul Tools may be used. You have ten minutes to choose, after which the battles will begin in turn."

"Don't you think this assessment is kind of boring?" Bai Xu sighed.

"A little. It isn't difficult for you, but it's different for everyone else."

"Gu Yue, I heard that if a whole team enrolls as Work-Study Students, they'll only be assigned one room."

"What are you trying to do!?"

"Don't panic. I only heard about it," Bai Xu explained upon seeing Gu Yue's evasive posture.

"No, I feel like you're telling the truth."

"Hehe."

Bai Xu's challenge was extremely simple. A Mental Attack instantly caused the previous-year Shrek student to lose all combat ability. His spiritual power had already reached perfection at the Spirit Sea Realm Middle Stage. With the boost of his First Soul Skill, it reached the Late Stage. Coupled with his incomparable spiritual quality, he easily passed with full marks.

The elderly man nodded and gave a fairly satisfied evaluation. "Reaching the Spirit Sea Realm Late Stage at this age—this youngster is truly formidable."

Bai Xu thanked him. After Gu Yue passed as well, they headed straight for the next test.

The Ninth Test was an illusory space similar to the Spirit Ascension Platform. With soul beasts nearly extinct in the present day, the heart of this assessment was to have the students kill the final Three-Eyed Golden Lion, reasonably distribute the final soul ring and soul bone, and make the students understand the plight of soul beasts.

The intention was good, but after entering the Academy, they would probably throw it to the back of their minds. Shrek no longer advocated slaughtering soul beasts, but they had certainly killed plenty.

With a flash of light, Bai Xu and Gu Yue appeared out of thin air in another world.

It was indeed very similar to the Spirit Ascension Platform. This was a dense forest, but it appeared even more primitive.

Bai Xu transmitted, "How much did the previous battle consume? Do you need to recover?"

Gu Yue wondered why he did not simply speak aloud, but she did not voice the question. She replied through transmission as well, "No."