"Hello. We heard your academy is recruiting new students, so we're here to sign up." Xia Linyuan addressed the young man at the head of the group, who wore a yellow outfit, without any hint of deference or arrogance.
"Junior, I think you should go find your sister first." The young man pointed behind him, looking both amused and exasperated.
Xia Linyuan turned around, only to find that Gu Yuena had vanished. "..."
But Xia Linyuan always kept his word. Since he'd said he wouldn't go looking for her, he didn't. He simply waited beside the East City Gate.
Seeing that Xia Linyuan really wasn't coming to look for her, Gu Yuena stomped her feet in anger, but could only meekly walk over.
After greeting the young man from before, Xia Linyuan and Gu Yuena entered the city.
Xia Linyuan had barely left when someone else came up to the young man. "Hello. We're here to register for Shrek Academy's entrance exam."
The newcomers were two boys of the same age. They had delicate features and fair skin, and their big eyes were especially distinctive—a faint pinkish blue. Their neat, short hair was the same shade.
Staring at the two identical faces before him, the young man's mouth fell open in disbelief.
Th-these two were twins!
The twin on the left wore a rather haughty expression, while the one on the right smiled politely, giving off a very amiable impression.
Though they were twins, their personalities were completely opposite.
"Y-you can go in and register," the young man said dazedly.
"Thank you, senior." The more amiable twin smiled at the young man, then led her haughty sister into the city.
After walking a few dozen meters, the amiable twin's friendly smile suddenly crumpled. She groaned, "Sis! What are you doing? You came up with this crazy idea to disguise yourself as a boy and apply, so why drag me into it?"
She looked down at her clothes and groaned again. "Sis, if Dad and Second Dad find out we disguised ourselves as boys to apply to Shrek Academy, we're going to be in for it."
From their conversation, it turned out that the two handsome twins were actually twin sisters!
Hearing her younger sister complain, the haughty older sister immediately dropped the act. She stuck out her tongue mischievously. "Wulin, don't you think this is fun?"
"Fun, my foot!" Wulin rolled her eyes. "Sis, I did some research beforehand. The dorm rooms at Shrek Academy are all doubles. If we get assigned to the same room, fine—but if we don't, and we have to share with some strange boy, don't you think that'll be awkward?"
"Uh..." The older sister looked flustered at her younger sister's words. "That's impossible! We'll definitely be assigned to the same room. Don't worry, Wulin."
By the end, even she sounded unsure.
"Sis! I'm finding somewhere to change. I'm not going down with you!"
"Wulin, don't be like that. Lots of people saw you dressed as a boy outside just now. If you change back into girls' clothes, people will suspect me too."
After walking about two hundred meters into Shrek Academy, Xia Linyuan and Gu Yuena saw ten statues carved from granite.
Who else could they be but the Golden Iron Triangle and the original Shrek Seven Monsters?
As they passed the statues of Tang San and Xiao Wu, Gu Yuena asked Xia Linyuan, "Is that the statue of the Asura God's successor, the one who was so corrupt and immoral?"
"Mm," Xia Linyuan replied indifferently.
"What a cruel twist of fate. A hypocrite with such poor character has been revered as a god by mortals for the past ten thousand years. I wonder how they'd feel if they knew that the Sea God Tang San they worshipped was such a corrupt hypocrite." Gu Yuena sighed.
"If they can't see the truth with their own eyes, do you think they'll blindly believe everything we say? History is written by the victors. Do you think the victor will leave his own shameful deeds in the history books? How many people can be like the Empress, who had only a blank stone set before her tomb after her death, leaving later generations to judge her merits and faults?"
Gu Yuena blinked her violet, glass-like eyes. "Who was the Empress?"
"The first—and only—female emperor of a civilization in some world. She helped guide that era to its height, to some extent."
Gu Yuena's eyes lit up. "A woman like that truly was every bit the equal of any man!"
"Enough chatter."
Gu Yuena: "..." She really wanted to smash this guy over the head with a mallet! How could anyone in the world be so punchable?
After presenting their city lord's recommendation letters and registering at the new student admissions office, someone led them to the Beast Fighting Area.
Shrek Academy required new students not only to have a city lord's recommendation letter but also to pass an entrance exam.
The exam consisted of fighting a Ten-Year Soul Beast. Three teachers would assess each examinee's performance to decide whether they passed.
The Beast Fighting Area was divided into a section for keeping Spirit Beasts and an arena specifically for student examinations.
When Xia Linyuan and Gu Yuena arrived at the arena, there weren't many students taking the exam.
After all, this was an era when the Spirit Hall no longer offered free Martial Soul Awakening to commoners. Anyone hoping to awaken their Martial Soul either had to pay or become a noble's dog. Any student who could get a recommendation from a main-city lord and casually pay ten Gold Soul Coins in tuition came from a family that was either rich or influential.
Strictly speaking, in the original story, Jiang Nannan was the only true commoner at Shrek Academy.
The male lead, Huo Yuhao, was certainly poor, but don't forget that by blood, he was the son of Duke of White Tiger Dai Hao. He couldn't really be considered a commoner.
Even more ridiculous, students at Shrek Academy received a monthly allowance of one Gold Soul Coin from the three empires.
But at the entire academy, aside from Jiang Nannan and Huo Yuhao, who needed that one Gold Soul Coin? Who was that supposed to insult?
At one Gold Soul Coin, you'd have to go ten months without eating or drinking just to pay one year's tuition—or to cover a single use of the Soul Fighting Arena. Some students spent more than one Gold Soul Coin on a single meal.
And the three empires paid the money, while Shrek Academy took the credit. In that respect, Shrek Academy was becoming more and more like the Spirit Hall.
Hmm... Let him think. He remembered seeing a very apt description of Shrek Academy before he descended into the Abyss. What was it again?
Before you continue