The next day, at first light, Tang San left the inn with Xiao Wu. Following the direction Dai Mubai had given them the day before, they left Suotuo City and continued along a small road.
After walking about three miles, a small village came into view. It looked utterly ordinary, even a little run-down.
"Third Brother, do you think there's really an academy here?"
Xiao Wu, following behind Tang San, leaned out curiously to get a better look.
"Teacher wouldn't lie to me! And didn't we meet a student from Shrek Academy yesterday?"
Despite saying that, Tang San still felt a little uneasy. He scanned the village, searching for clues to Shrek Academy's whereabouts.
At last, his gaze settled on an archway made of rough logs. A sign hung above it.
Tang San quickly used his Purple-Gold Demon Eyes and managed to make out what was written on the weathered wooden sign.
"Xiao Wu, Shrek Academy is over there!"
Once he had found Shrek, Tang San breathed a sigh of relief and pointed toward the archway for Xiao Wu.
After passing through the archway, Tang San and Xiao Wu saw a Soul Master sitting behind a battered wooden table, calmly processing applications for the parents and children waiting in line.
A flag stood on the table with the words "Registration" written on it.
"Th-this is Shrek Academy?" Xiao Wu's eyes widened in disbelief as she tugged at Tang San's sleeve. "It looks so poor!"
Tang San didn't answer her, but he was just as astonished. When his teacher had told him about Shrek Academy, he hadn't said a word about its conditions being this bad!
Everything here was a stark contrast to Dai Mubai's strength. Tang San had assumed that an academy capable of raising a powerhouse like Dai Mubai would have better facilities than the one in Nuoding City.
Reality had slapped him hard.
A line had already formed at the registration desk. Seeing it grow longer, Tang San hurriedly pulled Xiao Wu to the back.
When their turn came, Tang San took out the Gold Soul Coins he had prepared and handed them to Li Yusong.
Li Yusong tested Tang San and Xiao Wu's Soul Power and bone age according to procedure, then sent them straight through to the final examination.
"Go wait over there. Someone will take you inside for the rest of the examination shortly."
Just as Tang San was about to take Xiao Wu to wait in the open area, something unexpected happened.
Several children who hadn't met the requirements came out of the academy with their heads down, trailing after their parents. They had clearly failed the next part of the examination.
Their parents wore expressions of frustration and heartache. The registration fee was no small sum for them.
"What kind of lousy academy is this? It's just a place like this, and you dare charge ten Gold Soul Coins! What's wrong with my child's talent? Why didn't you let them in? Give us our money back!"
A slightly plump, middle-aged man in silk robes suddenly shouted. His face flushed bright red.
"Exactly! Give us our money back! Saying you only accept monsters is just a scam to swindle people!"
Another woman chimed in shrilly.
"That's right! Give us our money back! Otherwise, we're not leaving today!"
With someone leading the charge, the other parents grew indignant too. They crowded around the registration desk, and the scene quickly descended into chaos.
Li Yusong looked up without so much as twitching an eyebrow. In an even tone, he called toward the academy, "Ma Hongjun."
His voice wasn't loud, but it carried clearly.
The moment the words left his mouth, a round figure darted out. In just a few strides, he reached the registration desk and stood between Li Yusong and the parents.
Ma Hongjun didn't waste a word. He immediately used Martial Soul Possession, and scarlet flames surged around him as two Yellow Soul Rings appeared beneath his feet.
After years of hard cultivation, Ma Hongjun's Soul Power had reached rank twenty-eight, and his control over the Phoenix Flame had long since surpassed what it had been before.
Ma Hongjun stepped forward. He didn't use a single Soul Skill. The wave of heat rolling off him in his Martial Soul Possession alone was enough to cow the clamoring parents.
Most of those gathered around the table were ordinary people or low-ranking Soul Masters. Where would they ever have seen anything like this?
As the waves of heat washed over them, their breathing grew labored. Their faces burned, and fear rose uncontrollably in their hearts.
Several of the parents nearest him cried out and stumbled backward. The crowd was packed so tightly that they crashed into those behind them, causing another commotion.
Ma Hongjun swept his gaze over the fearful parents. His chubby face remained expressionless as he raised a finger and pointed to an old wooden board nailed to the front of the registration desk.
A line of large characters had been written on it in red ink:
"Registration fees are nonrefundable once paid!"
Ma Hongjun lowered his hand, clasped his fists, and stood there without moving. The heat radiating from his Martial Soul and the Soul Rings shifting beneath his feet urged everyone present to make their choice.
The parents who had started the trouble flushed red, then pale. They wanted to step closer and keep arguing, but the heat forced them to retreat several more steps.
They looked at Ma Hongjun, who was still young, then at Li Yusong, sitting calmly behind the registration desk. Their anger quickly faded, replaced by embarrassment and timidity.
They exchanged glances and muttered among themselves, but in the end, none of them dared step forward again.
Before leaving, a few of the braver ones spat angrily and muttered, "Guess it's our bad luck." Then they grabbed their children and hurried off, afraid that staying any longer would bring them trouble.
The others who had been hoping to watch a show or take advantage of the chaos hurried away too, their tails between their legs.
The commotion at the registration line died down, and order returned, but the mood had grown subdued and tense.
Tang San and Xiao Wu had quietly watched the entire farce from the side.
Tang San wasn't interested in the spectacle. His attention was fixed mainly on Ma Hongjun.
A rank-twenty-eight, two-ring Soul Grandmaster wasn't enough to surprise him. What truly weighed on Tang San's mind was the control Ma Hongjun had shown over fire. That scarlet flame was clearly no empty show.
If he really fought Ma Hongjun, his Blue Silver Grass, which couldn't withstand fire, would inevitably be suppressed by Ma Hongjun's formidable control over flames.
Shrek Academy truly lived up to its reputation as a place that only accepted monsters. The two students Tang San had met so far were both rare geniuses outside the academy.
The sense of urgency Tang San had felt because of Dai Mubai grew even stronger.
Seeing that the troublemakers had dispersed, Ma Hongjun ended his Martial Soul Possession and turned to nod at Li Yusong. Then he looked at Tang San and Xiao Wu and gave them a somewhat honest smile. He seemed like a completely different person from the unapproachable figure he'd been moments earlier.
"You two, come with me. We're heading to the place for the final examination."
The inside of Shrek Academy was still quite shabby. There were a few classrooms that had clearly been converted from houses and a flat dirt field, but it was already much better than the area outside. That was all thanks to Xiao Qing and Oscar's hard work. Without them, the academy's interior would have been in even worse shape.
Everything here reeked of poverty. If Tang San hadn't seen it with his own eyes, he would have found it hard to believe that this place could have produced a Soul Ancestor like Dai Mubai and a genius like Ma Hongjun, who could control fire.
Ma Hongjun was already used to it. As they walked, he casually introduced the place:
"That's the classroom, though we don't use it much. The teachers prefer hands-on lessons. The cafeteria's over there. Teacher Shao takes care of the food, and it tastes pretty good!..."
Chattering on, Ma Hongjun led the two of them to an open stretch of dirt in the center of the academy. Several people stood at the edge of the field.
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