Outside the eastern city gate, the crowd was bustling.
As the number one academy on the continent, Shrek Academy attracted countless young Soul Masters every year on enrollment day.
The long line stretched all the way from the city gate, with almost no end in sight.
And the requirements for entering Shrek were exceptionally harsh.
First, one had to possess a letter of recommendation issued by the lord of a main city in one of the three Douluo kingdoms.
Second, one could not be older than twelve.
Third, Soul Power could not be below level fifteen.
Those three requirements alone were enough to shut out more than ninety percent of young Soul Masters.
The line Mu Tianyi stood in slowly advanced.
Before long, it was his turn.
The person responsible for assessing this line was a young man with a square face.
The young man was around twenty years old. His purple academy uniform marked him as a fourth-year student, and his steady aura made it clear that he was no weakling.
He looked up at Mu Tianyi. He had initially seemed somewhat absentminded, but when his gaze landed on that almost excessively handsome face, he still froze for a moment.
"Hold out your hand."
Mu Tianyi raised his hand as instructed.
The young man briefly checked his bone age. After confirming it was correct, he accepted the recommendation letter and inspected it carefully.
A moment later, he nodded and said in a businesslike tone,
"The recommendation letter is fine."
"Next, release your martial soul."
Mu Tianyi remained calm.
The next instant—
Buzz!
A faint ripple of Soul Power suddenly spread outward.
Four soul rings slowly rose beneath his feet.
Purple! Purple! Black! Black!
At the same time, he slightly raised his right hand. A streak of brilliant gold light gathered in his palm, eventually forming a miniature Bright Sacred Dragon.
The air seemed to fall silent for an instant.
Then...
"A-a thousand-year first soul ring?!"
"No way, is that real? Ten-thousand-year soul rings?"
"And he's a damn Soul Ancestor?!"
Startled cries exploded through the crowd.
The new students who had been waiting in line all turned to stare, their eyes wide with disbelief.
A twelve-year-old Soul Elder was already enough to be called a monster.
What kind of colossal figure was this?
More importantly, his first soul ring was already thousand-year level. While most of them had not even reached the Soul Elder realm, Mu Tianyi already possessed two ten-thousand-year soul rings?
Come on, even if the Sea God had been reincarnated, he would not be this absurd.
Even the square-faced young man conducting the assessment could no longer maintain his composure, his eyes filling with intense shock.
Not far away, several pairs of eyes shot over from every direction and stared fixedly at him.
"This is just too perfect..."
"He's handsome, and his talent is this terrifying too..."
Several girls whispered among themselves, their gazes toward Mu Tianyi carrying an undisguised hint of admiration.
A boy like this seemed as if he had stepped straight out of a storybook.
If it were them, they would probably fall for him without hesitation as well.
After a long while.
The square-faced young man finally took a deep breath and forcibly suppressed the turmoil in his heart.
When he looked at Mu Tianyi again, there was now obvious respect in his eyes.
The strong were respected wherever they went.
The young man quickly pulled out a form and lowered his head to fill in the information.
"Mu Tianyi, age twelve, level forty-five Soul Ancestor..."
When he wrote that much, even the hand holding his pen paused.
Then he handed over the form together with the recommendation letter.
"After entering the academy, go directly to the white freshman teaching building to register."
"When the time comes, hand this form and the recommendation letter to the teacher in charge of registration."
Mu Tianyi accepted the form and gave a slight nod.
"Thank you."
His tone remained calm, as though he had not been the one who had just caused such a commotion.
Then, beneath countless stunned, envious, and reverent gazes, Mu Tianyi walked toward the interior of Shrek Academy.
As one of Shrek's privileged elites, Mu Tianyi could find his way into the Outer Court with his eyes closed.
After entering the campus, the first thing that came into view was ten towering statues.
They stood in a single row along both sides of the main road. Each was three zhang tall, exquisitely carved and lifelike.
They depicted the Golden Iron Triangle and the Original Shrek Seven Devils from the founding days of Shrek Academy.
Mu Tianyi swept his gaze over them without offering any comment.
By all rights, one of his ancestors in this life was standing among them.
Pointing and commenting in front of his ancestor would be somewhat disrespectful.
Without slowing down, he was about to turn toward the white freshman teaching building when a clear voice suddenly called from behind him.
"Brother, please wait."
Mu Tianyi paused and turned around.
The newcomer was a boy of eleven or twelve.
He was half an inch shorter than Mu Tianyi. His long black hair was bound with a silver crown and draped behind his shoulders, lending his fair face a scholarly air.
He wore a brocade robe and jade belt, with a fine green jade pendant hanging at his waist. His every movement carried an innate composure, making it obvious that he came from no ordinary background.
But those were not what drew the most attention.
It was his eyes.
The pupils of those eyes actually shimmered in seven colors.
Red, orange, yellow, green, cyan, blue, and violet layered over one another, as though a rainbow had been shattered and blended into them. They gleamed with flowing light and possessed an indescribable beauty.
Mu Tianyi narrowed his eyes slightly.
He vaguely sensed a draconic aura hidden within the boy's body.
However, that martial soul was of no low grade. It seemed to be... beneath his own.
PS: I do not want to see anyone arguing with me that the Rainbow Dragon is of higher quality than Mu's. The setting that the Rainbow Dragon was the Dragon God's wife was made up by later fans, not from the original text. In the original work, the Rainbow Dragon was utterly unremarkable.
Interesting.
Mu Tianyi simply stopped, turned around, and waited for the other party to approach.
When the boy saw that he had stopped, obvious delight appeared on his face. He hurried over, cupped his hands in greeting, and smiled brightly and warmly.
"I am Gongyang Mo. Greetings, brother."
Gongyang Mo?
Mu Tianyi's brows lifted slightly, and his interest was piqued.
He remembered that name.
A Rainbow Dragon martial soul, a top-tier support-type Soul Master of the Inner Court, hailed as the continent's number one support-type Soul Master.
The Rainbow Dragon martial soul was many times stronger than a certain Glazed Pagoda that had been passed down for ten thousand years yet could still only maintain seven layers.
"At the registration area just now, I saw your assessment." Gongyang Mo straightened up, Mu Tianyi's reflection mirrored in his seven-colored eyes as he spoke sincerely and eagerly.
"A thousand-year first soul ring, a ten-thousand-year fourth soul ring, and a level forty-five Soul Ancestor at twelve years old. Honestly, I have never seen talent as astonishing as yours in all my life."
Mu Tianyi's expression did not change as he waited for him to continue.
Gongyang Mo did not beat around the bush. Changing the subject, he spoke frankly.
"My martial soul is support-type. I have little advantage in one-on-one combat, but in team battles, I can increase my teammates' strength by at least forty percent."
"A figure like you is bound to accomplish extraordinary things in the future. I want to..."
He raised his head and looked straight at Mu Tianyi.
"To be friends."
Mu Tianyi looked at him for two seconds, the corners of his lips lifting slightly.
This little scheme of his was quite well calculated.
Gongyang Mo's meaning was clear.
I think highly of you, and I want to cling to you early.
A level forty-five Soul Ancestor with two ten-thousand-year soul rings had limitless prospects ahead of him.
It was better to establish a connection while he had yet to rise to prominence than to fight through a crowd to curry favor with him later.
A smart man.
Mu Tianyi was not displeased.
Although Gongyang Mo's intentions were nakedly obvious, his strength justified his calculations.
A Rainbow Dragon martial soul, a seed for the continent's number one support-type Soul Master, and he seemed to receive additional boosts when supporting dragon-type Soul Masters.
With someone like that offering himself up, Mu Tianyi had no reason to refuse, whether by sentiment or logic.
"Mu Tianyi." He extended his hand, his tone calm yet not distant. "I'll be your friend."
Before you continue