Flender Personally Welcomed Him

Li Yusong stood up, his smile gentle, his grizzled beard trembling along with it.

He was afraid Xia Yan would leave.

If Old Miser Flender found out, he would probably skin him alive.

"What's your name?"

"Did you come alone?"

Xia Yan summoned the Demon Suppressing Pagoda. "My name is Xia Yan. My Martial Soul is the Black Tower. I came alone."

Li Yusong stared at the Demon Suppressing Pagoda, covered in intricate, profound inscriptions.

His eyes went glassy.

He nodded involuntarily. "Wonderful. The Black Tower is wonderful..."

Yet his gaze remained glued to the Demon Suppressing Pagoda.

He raised a hand and helpfully pointed Xia Yan in the right direction. "Go straight. The second checkpoint is two hundred meters away. Tell the teacher there your Soul Power, and you can skip the test."

"My name is Li Yusong. Welcome to Shrek Academy."

An eleven-year-old Soul Elder—with a future so bright it could blind you!

As for the rule that students had to be twelve to enroll... who cared?

Xia Yan thanked Li Yusong for the directions, put away his Martial Soul, and left,

leaving Li Yusong and the others staring after him.

Everyone was utterly baffled. What was going on?

Why had he suddenly become so nice?

Was Xia Yan connected to someone important?

A bold young man stepped forward and handed over ten Gold Soul Coins as well. "Teacher, I'm twelve, and my Soul Power is at level twenty-one..."

Li Yusong turned around,

but his face wore a lazy, insincere smile. "Mm, not bad. Hold out your hand. I'll check your bone age..."

It was a completely different story from Xia Yan.

The road was lined with wooden houses. Xia Yan hadn't even walked halfway when a dark figure suddenly dropped from the sky.

He had wavy hair, a goatee, a hooked nose, and black-framed crystal glasses. A sly, old-fox air surrounded him.

Xia Yan had the feeling he'd have to stay alert around this man at all times, or his Gold Soul Coins would be talked right out of his pockets.

"You really came!"

Seeing Xia Yan look at him in surprise, Flender clasped his hands behind his back and said in a hoarse voice,

"We met in Suotuo City. Now, allow me to introduce myself again."

"My name is Flender. I'm the dean of Shrek Academy."

Xia Yan hadn't expected Flender to show up now. Shouldn't he have been resting at his shop in Suotuo City?

Or had he come because of Xia Yan?

"So... Dean, you're here to..."

Flender had been waiting at Shrek since yesterday. Just a moment ago, he'd suddenly felt, somehow, that the boy had arrived!

He'd hurried over to check,

and sure enough, Xia Yan was here!

Suotuo City was a big city, true, but it only had intermediate Soul Master Academies, not advanced ones. With Xia Yan's talent, if he'd been a local student, there was no way Flender wouldn't have heard of him.

So Xia Yan had to be from somewhere else.

And his reason for coming to Suotuo City was very likely to enroll at Shrek Academy!

Never mind anything else. Shrek Academy was actually quite famous in Suotuo City. At other academies, a Six-Ring Soul Emperor was one of the strongest of the strong, brought in to bolster their reputation and serve as a pillar of support.

But at Shrek, a Soul Emperor was there to greet prospective students.

With strength like that, a job like that, and such an air of mystery... it was no wonder over a hundred students came to enroll each year,

only for ninety-nine percent of them to be rejected.

He stroked his goatee and smiled with his hands behind his back. "Of course, I'm here to test you."

"Come with me."

As he described Shrek's various features, he led Xia Yan to the second checkpoint.

It was another open patch of grass.

Like the first checkpoint, there was an old man sitting at a table, though he looked even older than Li Yusong. A crystal ball sat on the table, and five students were lined up on the other side.

When the old man saw Flender approach, beaming, and sensed the Soul Power fluctuations from the unfamiliar Xia Yan at his side,

a look of shock flashed through his eyes.

A Soul Elder?!

Flender gave the old man a triumphant look. The old man was just as delighted.

There was no need to take the second checkpoint test, of course. With Flender himself making an appearance, whether or not Xia Yan took the test didn't matter at all.

The same went for the third checkpoint.

The two of them simply walked on.

On the way, Xia Yan saw a heavily bearded figure pushing a street cart toward them.

The man had short hair and a full beard, and looked like a rough, middle-aged fellow, but he wore a reddish-brown outfit that gave off a rather flashy air.

A flag on the cart showed three intertwined sausages. The cart held nothing but sausages, some thick and short, others thin and long.

As they drew closer, the sausages' aroma reached them.

Oscar was pushing his cart toward the village entrance to sell sausages. When he saw Flender, he stopped at once, intending to pretend he hadn't noticed and hurry around the bend.

When he reached the corner,

he stopped to sneak a look at Xia Yan.

He glanced over Xia Yan's build and appearance... Hm? Was he here to challenge him?

Oscar felt a thick sense of crisis.

Wait!

Oscar raised an eyebrow.

The dean was personally escorting him. Could this guy be a genius too?

Flender had a discerning eye; ordinary geniuses wouldn't catch his attention. He hadn't even shown up when Dai Mubai enrolled.

Oscar studied him carefully with his peach-blossom eyes.

The new guy looked good, and his talent seemed pretty decent.

Was he here to challenge Oscar's position as Shrek's number-one talent and best-looking student?!

No way.

He had to follow them and see!

Oscar really did deserve to be called Shrek's number-one genius.

Though he had a Food-type Martial Soul, he had Innate Full Soul Power, a feat that made history across the continent.

"The first checkpoint tests Soul Power and age. You just need to be under twelve and have Soul Power above level twenty-one to pass. It's the checkpoint that eliminates the most people,"

Flender said, ignoring Oscar, who was quietly following behind them. If he wanted to follow, fine—but why sneak around?

Was he a thief?

"The second checkpoint is for identifying your Martial Soul..."

"The third checkpoint..."

As they spoke, the two arrived at the final checkpoint, the fourth.

It was another wide-open patch of grass, twice the size of the second checkpoint.

A young man sat there, looking bored. He was tall and slender, with long golden hair draped over his shoulders and mismatched eyes, one golden and the other water-blue.

When he saw Flender arrive, he hurried to his feet and walked over,

greeting him respectfully. "Dean."

There was no one else it could be but Dai Mubai.

Flender was in an excellent mood. He turned to Xia Yan and said,

"This is the fourth and final checkpoint. It tests your combat ability, and it's the only one you can't skip. Take some time to get ready. After that, you'll spar with Mubai."

He introduced Dai Mubai as well. "This is Dai Mubai. He enrolled two years before you. He's currently the oldest and strongest student at the academy. His Innate Soul Power is level eight, and his Martial Soul is the White Tiger."

Then he said to Dai Mubai, "Mubai, this is Xia Yan, a new student this year. His Martial Soul is the Black Tower."

Dai Mubai looked Xia Yan up and down.

He didn't need to be told that Flender was in a good mood. Xia Yan's talent must be exceptional.

"Great."

He smiled amiably and held out his hand. "Hello, junior. You can call me Dai Mubai or Senior. Don't worry, this is only a spar. I won't go hard on you."

"Take your time getting ready. Our academy only accepts the strangest of monsters, so hardly anyone makes it to the fourth checkpoint. No one will bother us."

But what did it matter if Xia Yan had good talent?

Could he beat Dai Mubai?

Ha. Even if he weren't at Shrek Academy, he'd be the strongest at any other academy.

The strongest naturally had to carry himself with the grace of the strongest.

Of course, he would be magnanimous toward Xia Yan.

Xia Yan reached out to shake his hand. "No need. We can start right now."

Dai Mubai was the picture of grace. "All right."

The two of them walked toward the center of the field.