Li Yusong's expression was displeased at first, but when he heard Dai Mubai say that Li Luo and the others had come to apply to Shrek Academy, his eyes immediately lit up.
"Ahem, your application fees can be refunded."
Li Yusong cleared his throat and spoke to the parent from earlier, but there was no sincerity on his face. He still looked just as cold, and his attitude was terrible.
But the child's parent didn't care about his attitude. As one of the common folk, he had always known how to read the room. Getting his hard-earned money back was all that mattered; the attitude was truly irrelevant.
The parent took back his hard-earned money, thanked Li Luo, then hurried away, afraid the people from Shrek might change their minds.
After seeing Shrek Academy's true face, the others waiting in line also began to leave.
The line of dozens had almost entirely dispersed. Aside from Li Luo and his group, along with a girl in a black, skin-tight outfit whose chest was quite full and who wore two cat-ear ornaments on her head, fewer than five prospective students remained.
They were all no older than twelve, with a Soul Power Level above twenty.
They still wanted to take a chance at getting into Shrek Academy.
Seeing this, Li Luo had no intention of stepping forward again. He wasn't a saint. If one party was willing to pay and the other was willing to take their money, he didn't want to meddle and end up covered in trouble.
But Li Luo's earlier intervention had already caught the attention of a certain girl in black.
Born into a noble family and bound to the imperial family from birth, Zhu Zhuqing had a certain innate air of nobility. So when she saw someone stand up for commoners, she was surprised and found it fascinating. That made her curious about Li Luo.
When Li Luo arrived, Zhu Zhuqing hadn't joined the line. Instead, she had watched everything from a distance.
Naturally, she had seen the person she had traveled a thousand miles to find at Shrek Academy.
Zhu Zhuqing joined the line behind Li Luo and his group, so Li Luo couldn't see her staring at him.
The line quickly reached Li Luo. Of course, the others who had been ahead of him had also passed the first stage of Shrek Academy's entrance process.
Li Luo walked up to Li Yusong and held out his arm for him to check his bone age.
But Li Yusong only glanced at Li Luo before waving him through.
"Mubai already told me about your situation. You don't need to take the test. You pass."
Dai Mubai had told Li Yusong about Li Luo's Soul Ring configuration.
Li Yusong felt that having Li Luo display his Soul Rings would draw too much attention and might attract the notice of others, so he let Li Luo skip the test and pass directly.
Tang San was next in line. He placed his arm on the table, and Li Yusong felt his bones. His brows furrowed slightly.
"Have you trained some kind of Soul Skill in your hands?"
Tang San nodded.
"Lift your lower leg."
Tang San did as he was told and raised his lower leg. After feeling it, Li Yusong's brows relaxed.
"All right, you're definitely under twelve. Your age qualifies. Release your Martial Soul."
Hearing this, Tang San raised his right hand. A Blue Silver King covered in pale golden patterns appeared in his palm, and three Soul Rings—yellow, purple, and purple—rose beneath him.
Tang San's Soul Ring configuration wasn't the ideal standard that people believed in, either. His second ring was a thousand-year one, beyond the usual limit.
That truly surprised Li Yusong.
He looked at Tang San in surprise, then turned to glance at Dai Mubai.
His look said, "Mubai, you weren't being honest. You didn't tell me this kid was a Soul Elder, or that his second ring was a thousand-year one."
But after seeing Li Luo's Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul, Li Yusong wasn't too surprised by Tang San's Blue Silver Grass.
Dai Mubai understood what Li Yusong meant and waved a hand helplessly.
"I don't know!"
Li Yusong didn't get the satisfactory response he wanted from Dai Mubai, so he turned back to Tang San.
"All right, you pass. Put away your Martial Soul."
Tang San left the line and stood properly beside Li Luo.
Dai Mubai knew the four of them were together, so he didn't hurry them along. He planned to take them all in together in a little while.
Next was Xiao Wu. She was far too playful, but the cultivation speed of a transformed Soul Beast was tied to the cultivation speed of the human Soul Masters she spent time with.
So Xiao Wu had only just reached level thirty. After condensing a thousand-year Soul Ring, she had advanced to become a Soul Elder.
Fortunately, Xiao Wu's Soul Ring configuration was the standard yellow, yellow, purple, so Li Yusong wasn't surprised again.
After all, where would they find so many freaks among freaks like Li Luo and Tang San?
That was what Li Yusong thought.
The last member of Li Luo's group was Ning Rongrong.
Ning Rongrong had started cultivating late, and she was naturally playful. With no one urging her to cultivate, even after her Martial Soul evolved into the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda, she still hadn't broken through to level thirty and become a Soul Elder before turning twelve.
Ning Rongrong's Soul Power Level was currently twenty-nine.
After checking her bone age, Li Yusong told Ning Rongrong to release her Martial Soul.
"Nine Treasures Turn Into Glazed Glass."
Ning Rongrong raised her right hand, and a crystal-clear, nine-story tower in nine colors appeared in her palm.
Li Yusong was greatly shocked when he saw the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda. He did know of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda, but Ning Rongrong's Martial Soul wasn't the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda—it was the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda. That left him unsure what to make of it.
"Child, what's your surname?"
"My surname is Ning. My name is Ning Rongrong."
Only after hearing Ning Rongrong's answer did Li Yusong confirm her identity.
But the worry he felt still hadn't lifted.
"Does your family know you're here?"
Li Yusong was afraid Ning Rongrong had run away from home. If anything happened to her, Shrek Academy couldn't bear the responsibility.
Ning Rongrong nodded to show that her family knew.
Only then did Li Yusong breathe a sigh of relief and signal that Ning Rongrong had passed the entrance tests for age and Soul Power.
Ning Rongrong bounced over to Li Luo and linked her arm through one of his.
Xiao Wu had linked her arm through his other one.
With only Zhu Zhuqing left behind Ning Rongrong, Dai Mubai didn't immediately lead Li Luo and the others into Shrek Academy.
Dai Mubai looked at Zhu Zhuqing, feeling for some reason that she seemed familiar.
He had some suspicions about her identity, but he wasn't sure.
As usual, Zhu Zhuqing placed her hand on the table. After checking her bone age, Li Yusong furrowed his brows and murmured,
"Eleven?"
"Summon your Martial Soul."
Zhu Zhuqing did as instructed. The shadow of a Hell Spirit Cat appeared behind her, and two yellow Soul Rings slowly rose around her.
When Li Yusong saw Zhu Zhuqing's Martial Soul, he clearly froze. He had apparently recognized her background.
But when he thought of Dai Mubai's identity, he didn't ask any questions. He told Zhu Zhuqing to join the group and follow Dai Mubai into Shrek Academy for the next round of assessments.
Dai Mubai's reaction was even stronger than Li Yusong's.
But Dai Mubai didn't show it. For once, he kept it to himself, walking along the side of the group as he led Li Luo and the others into Shrek Academy.
As they walked, though, Dai Mubai kept trying to get closer to Zhu Zhuqing.