Tang Ya absorbing the Mandala Snake wasn't something they had to worry about, but Ji Siyuan absorbing the Flame Demon Lion had everyone on edge.
"Brother Sky Dream, do you think Yuan Ge can succeed?"
Tian Meng lounged lazily in his Sea of Consciousness. "Why are you worrying already? Weren't you supposed to keep your identity hidden? Nobody's even said much to you, and you're already blushing."
Huo Yuhao—no, his Sea of Consciousness had already become Huo Yutong's.
"Brother Sky Dream! I'm asking you something serious! He's not only the Supreme Elder of our sect, but he just saved us, too."
The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm calmly told her, "Although the upper limit for a human's First Soul Ring has never been established, nobody has ever absorbed a thousand-year Soul Ring as their first."
"So can he do it or not?" She was really worried. If he couldn't, she'd have to stop Ji Siyuan.
"I don't know," Tian Meng answered honestly. "This Ji Siyuan is no ordinary person. He's hiding a great secret. If it were anyone else, I'd guarantee they couldn't do it, but he really might be able to."
Outside, Bei Bei was trying to talk him out of it, saying he could help find a Soul Ring of around four hundred years. But Ji Siyuan remained determined to absorb it.
With no other choice, the two of them could only watch him absorb the Soul Ring.
Ji Siyuan sat cross-legged and let the Soul Ring slowly descend onto him.
How could a body nourished by Immortal Spirit Qi compare to one that had merely eaten some other spiritual fruit?
His absorption went completely smoothly.
He even absorbed it faster than Tang Ya had.
Bei Bei stared at him. "Your First Soul Ring is a thousand years old. Are you even human?"
"Huh? It's fine, I guess. Seems pretty normal to me." Ji Siyuan stretched, acting as if it were nothing out of the ordinary.
Bei Bei could only look at him enviously.
Once Tang Ya had finished absorbing her Soul Ring, they set off for Shrek.
They also sold the Flame Demon Lion's body for a little money.
At Shrek, having no money really made it impossible to get anywhere.
"Wait, doesn't our Tang Sect only have one spot? What are the two of you going to do?"
Ji Siyuan hadn't even thought of that.
"Uh, what were Shrek's admission requirements again?"
Tang Ya answered, "Reach rank fifteen before the age of twelve."
Huo Yuhao lowered his head. He couldn't do that. He was only rank eleven.
Just as they all thought Ji Siyuan couldn't meet the requirement either, he spoke up. "That seems doable. I'm rank fifteen."
Huo Yuhao was all right, since he didn't know Ji Siyuan had only just awakened his Martial Soul. But Bei Bei and Tang Ya knew perfectly well—they were the ones who had made it happen.
"You only just awakened your Martial Soul! How could you already be rank fifteen?"
"Is that so hard? Maybe I was born with rank fifteen Soul Power."
"That's impossible. Innate Full Soul Power is only rank ten." As Bei Bei spoke, his voice trailed off. There really had been Martial Souls in history whose innate full Soul Power exceeded rank ten.
The Angel Martial Soul of Spirit Hall was incredibly powerful. The books had told their story.
"God Rank!"
Tang Ya asked, "Bei Bei, what did you say?"
"Nothing. Forget about all that. Isn't it perfect that Siyuan has reached rank fifteen? Let Yuhao use the Tang Sect's spot, and Siyuan can enter on his own. I'll handle the recommendation letter."
Ji Siyuan and Tang San were both dumbfounded. "What's a recommendation letter?"
The letter had originally been meant to show how precious the Tang Sect's spot was. Now it was the last hurdle they had to cross.
Although Bei Bei had offered to handle it, Ji Siyuan still found the whole thing disgusting.
Tang San was even angrier. "What kind of trash school is this? They even require recommendation letters? Doesn't that shut ordinary Soul Masters out of any chance to grow? How many powerful Martial Souls came about through mutation? What kind of school does something like this make them? A full-blown aristocratic school? Absolute trash!"
Ji Siyuan really was a Tianlong, but nobody here would recognize him, and he couldn't let them recognize him either.
His identity was a constraint here.
"Come on, Uncle Tang. What if this is the kind of school you establish someday?"
"Absolutely not. No matter what happens, I, Tang San, would never establish a school like this."
Tang San was still fuming when Tang Ya answered.
"Our ancestor, Tang San, was one of the original Shrek Seven Devils. That's why the Tang Sect has a spot."
Ji Siyuan smiled at Tang San. "Uncle Tang, you might be giving yourself too much credit."
"No, that can't be." Tang San couldn't accept it. "It can't be me."
After selling the body and pocketing some Gold Soul Coins, they soon arrived at Shrek.
Tang Ya showed them around while Bei Bei went to get the recommendation letter.
She pointed to seven towering statues. "These are the original Shrek Seven Devils." Then she singled out one in particular. "That's our ancestor, Tang San."
Ji Siyuan looked up. "Hey, Uncle Tang, he looks exactly like you. You really did start this school."
"What was the version of me in this world thinking? Was he crazy? I don't think someone like him could ever become a god."
Tang Ya said, "Our ancestor Tang San was the Sea God. They say he even became two gods at once."
Tang San's expression changed instantly. "Even a man like that could become a god? The Divine Realm must be full of scheming and backstabbing—especially after someone like him got in."
"Uncle Tang, he seems to be the Sea God, too."
Tang San fell silent for a moment. "It's fine. I'm not the Sea God anymore. The divine position is yours now."
At last, he'd found something that was different, and Tang San was delighted. "Siyuan, listen. I bet this man used his divine position to lure someone else, choosing a time when they didn't want to become a god. Then he got both fame and fortune."
"Isn't that a bit much?"
"Do you think I reached that conclusion because of this school? No. I reached it because of the stories this Tang Sect tells. When I return in the future, I might have to fight him."
"You're going to fight yourself?"
Tang San said, "I hope all my guesses are wrong. Let's look around the school first. You'll definitely be living here in the future."
Tang Ya said, "See those three? They're the founders of Shrek: Flender, Liu Erlong, and Grandmaster Yu Xiaogang. The three of them founded Shrek Academy together."
"I don't think this school is a good place." Tang San said, "I don't know the others, but this Yu Xiaogang is just as I told you—he's really not right in the head."
Then Tang San launched into a long explanation:
How his outrageous cultivation methods had harmed several people's bodies, how he'd made careless judgments that contradicted his own principles, how a two-ring Soul Master had declared war on the most powerful faction, and so on.
"So I bet this school isn't normal at all. It might have outrageous teachers and outrageous teaching methods."
Ji Siyuan nodded. He agreed with that.
"Uncle, should I switch to another school?"
Tang San was silent for a moment. "Stay here. A school chosen by a Child of Destiny must have something special about it. There'll be people here to look after you, too."
This world was nothing like he'd imagined. At least if Huo Yutong went to the same school as the Daughter of Destiny, things probably wouldn't go too wrong.
Hopefully, no new problems would come up.