Shrek Academy's entrance examination was much the same as in the original story.
But since Mu Han hadn't missed the deadline, he wasn't taking the exam as a work-study student. He was going through the regular examination instead.
To ensure fairness, candidates weren't allowed to form teams for the regular examination.
In other words, everyone's order was shuffled during the regular examination.
So Mu Han simply took the exam alone.
He didn't come with Gu Yue this time.
Besides, Gu Yue was currently at odds with him.
She had finally managed to become the disciple of the Spirit Pagoda's vice-master.
Then Mu Han had gone and poached Leng Yaozhu.
Gu Yue's standing in the Spirit Pagoda was now a rather complicated matter.
It wasn't that she was being suppressed.
But her chances of promotion in the future had become considerably slimmer.
Leng Yaozhu had wanted to take Gu Yue with her, too.
Gu Yue and Leng Yaozhu had a good relationship.
But she'd joined the Spirit Pagoda for its resources, not for Leng Yaozhu!
So the master and disciple had more or less fallen out.
And the culprit behind it all was the Fatui, founded by Mu Han.
Xu Xiaoyan had come to register with Mu Han, but the two of them had been randomly assigned to different sessions.
The first round was still a test of spiritual power.
The painting above their heads had been created by a Titled Douluo skilled in painting.
A drop of the Golden-Eyed Black Dragon King's blood had been added to the ink.
As a result, the mural radiated tremendous pressure, bearing down on everyone from above.
Some people shuddered and nearly fell over, their faces filled with horror and turning deathly pale in an instant.
Others fared even worse. Their bodies swayed, and they toppled straight to the ground.
Mu Han's reaction was the smallest of all. He had refined Di Tian's blood essence, after all.
It didn't matter if they'd added just one drop of Di Tian's blood to the ink.
Even if the entire painting had been made with Di Tian's blood, what would it matter?
A blue-haired boy was the only one whose reaction came close to his.
His body trembled a few times, and shock flashed through his eyes. Then he gradually returned to normal.
He was Luo Guixing, one of the members of the Youth Genius Ranking, nicknamed "Imprisonment."
Elemental Soul Masters were rare to begin with, and those of the space element were the most mysterious and unpredictable.
Developing his abilities toward the control type—just imagine how powerful that would be.
He specialized in the space element, and his Soul Skills were certain to be formidable.
In the second round's beast-fighting arena, he activated his Soul Skill at the very first opportunity.
He actually controlled the Earth Demon Rhinoceros before Mu Han did.
Mu Han was also good at seizing the moment.
He usually took care of the control, letting the others handle the offense.
But that had also made him quite skilled at attacking.
With a single sweep of Mu Han's blade, the Earth Demon Rhinoceros—renowned for its defense—was cut cleanly in two.
The Bloodthirsty Demon Bear Right Arm Soul Bone, paired with the Dark Gold Terrorclaw Right Palm Bone.
Then there was the effect of his Martial Soul, Gold-Water Mutual Containment.
Earth gave birth to metal, and metal gave birth to water. The Soul Bone Skill: Bloodthirsty Water Blade!
Bloodthirst was the Bloodthirsty Demon Bear's innate Soul Skill.
The Hundred-Thousand-Year Bloodthirsty Demon Bear Right Arm Soul Bone had only provided a single Bloodthirst Soul Skill.
When a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Bone granted only one Soul Skill, it meant that skill's power exceeded that of an ordinary Hundred Thousand Year Soul Skill.
It was practically the equivalent of fusing two Hundred Thousand Year Soul Skills into one.
Two enhancement-type Hundred Thousand Year Soul Skills, combined with the Darkgolden Terrorclaw's strongest explosive power and perfect compatibility.
Only then could a terrifying Soul Skill like Bloodthirsty Water Blade be born.
Bloodthirsty Water Blade had a simple effect: it could pierce any defense.
It was somewhat like Tang Wulin's Forbidden Space-Time Dragon Emperor Slash in the original story, and somewhat like the Super Divine Artifact Heavenly Saint Abyss.
But in truth, the foundation of this move came from Xu Xiaoyan's Star Staff.
Back then, Mu Han and Xu Xiaoyan had completed a Martial Soul Fusion, helping Xu Xiaoyan achieve a Martial Soul Second Awakening.
But Mu Han had gained some benefits as well.
Aside from the mutation in his spiritual power, his Soul Spirit had also inherited some of the Star Staff Martial Soul's traits.
For example, Soul Skills that were guaranteed to take effect.
Originally, Mu Han's fourth Soul Skill should have been one that was guaranteed to take effect.
But when Mu Han broke through to become a Four-Ring Soul Ancestor, his Right Arm Soul Bone and Right Palm Bone happened to fuse as well.
As a result, that guaranteed-effect property was inherited by Bloodthirsty Water Blade.
Xu Xiaoyan's guaranteed-effect ability could at the very least immobilize an opponent for one second.
Mu Han's, on the other hand, could break through any defense with absolute certainty.
Even if it only grazed the opponent, it was guaranteed to inflict damage.
Never mind an ordinary thousand-year Soul Beast.
Even a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast would suffer a serious loss if it tried to meet Bloodthirsty Water Blade head-on.
Shen Yi, who was overseeing the examination, hadn't expected these youngsters to be so ferocious.
That was an Earth Demon Rhinoceros!
Even with her strength, she would have to go to some trouble to kill one without the aid of Battle Armor.
After all, the Earth Demon Rhinoceros had such formidable defenses.
Yet Mu Han had killed it in a single blow?
Luo Guixing had controlled it, but in truth, even without his control, it wouldn't have mattered.
The Earth Demon Rhinoceros wasn't very fast, after all.
The exam didn't require them to kill their opponent.
So even the other candidates who hadn't attacked still received fairly high scores.
Mu Han and Luo Guixing, however, both passed with perfect scores.
They had also both earned perfect scores in the first round's spiritual power test.
The third round tested courage. They had to pass beneath that enormous guillotine.
Once again, the two of them breezed through with perfect scores.
But in the fourth round, the gap between them became clear.
The fourth round tested their strengths: they had to demonstrate what they were best at.
Luo Guixing's specialty was naturally control using his space attribute.
But compared with Mu Han, he fell far short.
If Luo Guixing's control ability was "space,"
then Mu Han's ability was "the world"!
Mu Han once again earned a perfect score of ten, while Luo Guixing could only manage eight points.
Perhaps he would have had a chance of earning ten points otherwise.
Unfortunately, he was outclassed by Mu Han.
That was why he lost a point. You could say Luo Guixing had bad luck.
But by the fifth round, Mu Han and Luo Guixing went their separate ways.
The fifth round tested secondary professions.
Luo Guixing's secondary profession was mecha manufacturing.
Mu Han knew how to do that too, but he was being tested in blacksmithing.
There, he also encountered another member of the Youth Genius Ranking.
He was over a meter and ninety centimeters tall, much taller than many adults.
His voice was deep and muffled, and his build was extremely broad.
But his eyes were tiny. When he narrowed them, you could barely see his pupils.
He was Yang Nianxia, the Dark Bear of the Youth Genius Ranking. His Martial Soul was the Dark Gold Bear.
He possessed almost all the Dark-Gold Terrorclaw Bear's traits, apart from its pair of terror claws. He was undoubtedly the best meat shield.
On top of that, he was a Level 3 Blacksmith, which was extremely rare at his age.
In fact, never mind blacksmithing, which was the hardest profession to advance in early on.
In any secondary profession, reaching Level 3 was enough to earn a perfect ten in the fifth round.
But Mu Han was a Level 6 Blacksmith.
He didn't show off his full abilities, but just one Spirit Forging was enough to astonish everyone.
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