Blacksmith certification?

Gunpowder smoke swirled with falling debris as a hideous, scorched crack split the bluestone arena.

Seeing this terrifying sight, Zhou Rui stood frozen.

He immediately turned around, faced Xiao Jin, and decisively raised his hand: "Teacher, I surrender!"

What a joke. If that thing had hit him, would he still be alive?

Xiao Jin, looking at the arena, which was more than half destroyed, also fell silent.

Meanwhile, Dai Xichen, watching from below, couldn't help but turn his gaze to Lu Lin.

This guy is interesting.

It's a shame his level is still too low, otherwise, he would have liked to spar with Lu Lin.

After a brief silence, Xiao Jin spoke:

"Let's end this election here. Dai Xichen is the class monitor, and Lu Lin is the vice monitor. Does anyone have any objections?"

Seeing Lu Lin's display, the remaining students had no desire to continue fighting. They quickly nodded, agreeing with Xiao Jin's wise decision with both hands and feet.

Lu Lin walked off the stage as if nothing had happened.

With the characteristic of recovering soul power during battle, the previous attack, though terrifying, hadn't consumed much of Lu Lin's energy.

Zhou Rui and the others looked at the somewhat slender figure, and only one thought flashed through their minds—is this guy with only level seventeen soul power even human?

A monster!

Oh, their Shrek Academy was a monster academy to begin with, so it made sense!

Xiao Jin was also speechless. The election had been ruined by Lu Lin.

However, this little fellow named Lu Lin was quite interesting.

Xiao Jin narrowed his eyes, looking at Lu Lin, and thought to himself.

As Lu Lin calmly walked off the stage, Qin He immediately jogged over:

"Wow, Lu Lin, what was that move just now? It was so scary, but it didn't look like a soul skill. Is it a Self-Created Soul Skill?"

Lu Lin smiled faintly: "I said it was a surprise, so it's a Self-Created Soul Skill, I guess."

Due to the lack of direct offensive means for his main body, Lu Lin had to find another way and created this "Buddha Fury Red Lotus."

Its inspiration, of course, came from the "Flame Emperor" Xiao Huohuo.

Not the one from the Heaven Dou Great Soul Arena.

This move combines the fire lotus form of the Pure Fire Green Lotus with that trace of chaotic energy.

If not for Lu Lin's powerful mental energy, honed through training with dual consciousness control, he wouldn't have been able to execute it at all.

You call this a surprise?

Qin He was somewhat taken aback upon hearing this, but the facts proved his judgment was not mistaken.

Lu Lin, who managed to obtain three Recommendation Letters, was not as simple as he appeared on the surface.

I'm f***ing amazing!!

Just then, Xiao Jin spoke coldly from the side:

"Qin He, Ruan Yi surrendered without a fight. Both of you will run ten laps. Execute it immediately."

Ruan Yi's face stiffened upon hearing this. Running ten laps on the track would be a death sentence! He should have at least used a soul skill to slack off if he had known!

Ruan Yi hadn't expected Xiao Jin to agree so readily back then, only to be waiting for him here!

Lu Lin couldn't help but chuckle, casting a sympathetic glance at Qin He.

He knew that given Xiao Jin's personality, Qin He surrendering immediately after stepping onto the stage wouldn't end well.

A prophecy fulfilled!

Lu Lin leaned in and whispered something to Qin He. Upon hearing it, Qin He's eyes immediately lit up. He looked at Lu Lin, his eyes seeming to ask, "Can this work?"

Lu Lin nodded with a smile.

Just then, Zhou Rui, who was standing nearby, also raised his hand and said dully, "Teacher, I accept the punishment too."

Xiao Jin was taken aback.

He wasn't being biased by doing this, of course.

Ruan Yi and Qin He had surrendered without a fight, while Zhou Rui had at least surrendered midway through the match. Naturally, they were different.

However, since Zhou Rui voluntarily accepted the punishment, Xiao Jin wouldn't refuse and lightly nodded in agreement.

Thus, Xiao Jin led Lu Lin, Dai Xichen, and others back to the classroom to continue their lessons. Meanwhile, the two unlucky fellows Qin He and Ruan Yi, along with Zhou Rui, went off to run laps.

About an hour later, the three of them, exhausted as dead dogs, appeared at the classroom door.

For some reason, Qin He was hiding behind Zhou Rui, like a shrinking turtle.

Xiao Jin knew the reason, of course. He glanced strangely at Xiao He and the other two, then cast a sideways glance at Lu Lin, who was sitting below.

But the latter's eyes looked at his nose, his nose looked at his heart, and he sat upright, as if he knew nothing.

However, Xiao Jin knew that Qin He and the other two had indeed run ten laps, not a single one less.

He nodded and let the three of them sit back down for class.

Qin He felt as if he had been granted a general amnesty upon hearing this. He scurried back to his seat, and as he passed Lu Lin, he silently said "thank you."

Lu Lin smiled knowingly.

As mentioned earlier, Shrek Academy's area was outrageously large, and the sports field was naturally the same.

Zhou Rui was fine, but for Qin He and Ruan Yi's small frames, running ten laps would have probably cost them half their lives.

So Lu Lin gave him a tip—of course, it wasn't about slacking off and running fewer laps. If they dared to do that, they would probably be expelled by Xiao Jin the next moment.

Lu Lin merely suggested that when their stamina was almost depleted, they should use their martial souls and soul skills. Qin He was a Food System Soul Master, and although Lu Lin didn't know what his specific two soul skills were, he guessed they should be related to support abilities.

Anyway, Xiao Jin hadn't said they couldn't use their martial souls.

Of course, he hadn't said they could either.

In short, as far as Xiao Jin knew, only a minority of students did this...

Xiao Jin didn't object to it either.

After that, Lu Lin's life at Shrek Academy gradually settled into a routine.

Lu Lin's mysterious roommate still hadn't appeared.

According to Xiao He, in three months, a competition between the freshman classes would be held, and the winners would directly receive a Soul Bone—Lu Lin didn't know where he got this information.

Even though this guy had only just enrolled.

However, regardless of whether this news was true or false, Lu Lin had no interest in it for the time being.

He was currently dining in the cafeteria.

As Xiao Jin had said, Shrek indeed possessed the continent's top resources, and this statement was not false, at least for Soul Masters.

Perhaps it was due to its proximity to the vast Star Dou Great Forest.

The most direct manifestation of this was the numerous stalls in the Shrek cafeteria selling precious delicacies and tonics made from soul beast meat. As long as you were willing to spend money, even a hundred-year soul beast could end up in your stomach.

Lu Lin had eaten here for a few days and faintly felt signs of his soul power breaking through.

Of course, the price of eating like this was quickly running out of money.

A nourishing meal set made from sixty-year soul beast meat costs one Gold Soul Coin.

And as everyone knows, one Gold Soul Coin, or one hundred Copper Soul Coins, is enough for an ordinary family of three to live for several tens of days.

From this, one can see how expensive Shrek Academy is.

For this reason, Lu Lin had to find a way to earn some money. Otherwise, the savings he had accumulated over the past two years would eventually be eaten up.

Taking advantage of the weekend, Lu Lin slipped out of the academy.

It was already dusk.

The huge city was bathed in a warm golden hue.

Shrek City was located at the junction of the Star Luo, Heaven Soul, and Dou Spirit three kingdoms, with the Star Dou Great Forest directly to the southeast.

In a way, Shrek City was now the core region of the entire continent.

Its prosperity was incomparable not only to Frostwind City, where Lu Lin had grown up, but even to Heaven Dou City, which he had visited before.

Blacksmith Association.

As soon as Lu Lin entered the lobby, he saw a beautiful woman approaching him.

Before she could speak, Lu Lin got straight to the point: "I'm not here to buy anything, I'm here to get certified as a blacksmith."

???

Upon hearing this, the woman's face immediately showed a string of question marks.

Then she looked Lu Lin up and down, confirming that he was clearly just a twelve or thirteen-year-old child, and said tactfully, "I'm sorry, blacksmith certification isn't something..."

If she couldn't reason with him, she'd have to force him out, she thought. But before she could finish her sentence, her pupils contracted.

It turned out that Lu Lin had taken out an enormous Forging Hammer from his Storage Soul Tool, swung it around a few times with one hand, and then smiled at her, saying:

"Is this enough now?"