After the fifth trial ended, the remaining trials no longer mattered.
Mu Han had earned perfect scores in all five of the first trials.
And in the fifth, he had far surpassed the other perfect scorers.
Aside from him, the best blacksmith seemed to be only a third-grade one, right?
The best mecha maker was only at the third-grade level, too.
There were fourth-grade designers and repairmen, but they were nowhere near Mu Han.
A thirteen-year-old Grandmaster.
How could Mu Han be anything but a monster?
Even Shrek Academy would clamor to recruit a talent like him.
He was undoubtedly a Divine Craftsman in the making.
There was only one Divine Craftsman in the world.
That was why even at Shrek Academy, most top Battle Armor Masters only had three-word armor.
Without a Divine Craftsman, there could be no Four-Word Battle Armor.
If Shrek Academy had a Divine Craftsman of its own,
then all its Three-Word Battle Armor Masters could advance to Four-Word Battle Armor.
At the thought, Zhuo Shi swallowed. Strictly speaking, Mu Han was his grand-disciple.
Though Mu Han had already founded an organization called the Fatui and couldn't possibly stay at Shrek Academy,
the bond between them remained.
Just as Gu Yue and Leng Yaozhu had gone their separate ways,
Leng Yaozhu was still Gu Yue's teacher.
Mu Han was Wu Zhangkong's student, and Wu Zhangkong was Zhuo Shi's disciple.
There was nothing wrong with calling Mu Han Zhuo Shi's grand-disciple.
The key was that Mu Han didn't seem to object, either. "Grandmaster, I want to learn how to use bloodline power."
Confusion showed in Zhuo Shi's eyes. Then he shook his head. "Driving bloodline power requires tremendous vitality."
Wu Zhangkong was his favorite disciple, but Zhuo Shi had never taught him those techniques.
It wasn't that Zhuo Shi was hoarding his knowledge. Wu Zhangkong simply wasn't suited to it.
And from what he could tell, Mu Han wasn't suited to it, either.
Mu Han said nothing. He silently activated his fourth Soul Skill.
Countless droplets of metal melted into liquid and floated around him like blood.
His fourth Soul Ring should have possessed an absolutely certain effect, but now only the pure bloodline of the Three-Legged Golden Toad remained.
Yet the vitality flowing through him like blood was enough to cut off Zhuo Shi mid-sentence.
He had only refined a single drop of the Three-Legged Golden Toad's blood essence.
It couldn't compare with Tang Wulin's Golden Dragon King Bloodline.
After all, Tang Wulin had inherited the complete Golden Dragon King Bloodline!
But the Three-Legged Golden Toad could control metal, and within Mu Han's fourth Soul Skill, metal was no different from blood and vitality.
Besides, Mu Han had already used Memory Metal to create a clone.
With this fourth Soul Skill, his control over metal had reached an even higher level.
The two began training on Sea God Island.
Mu Han didn't learn Zhuo Shi's Nine Absolutes of the Red Dragon. All he needed was a method for circulating vitality.
A master could show you the door, but the rest depended on you.
True combat techniques had to be discovered through real battles.
And the opportunity to put them to the test came soon enough.
In the original story, Cai Yue'er had taken a liking to Gu Yue's talent and wanted her to join the inner court as her disciple.
But Gu Yue had already become Leng Yaozhu's student,
and Cai Yue'er had injured Tang Wulin before, so Gu Yue had refused.
Now Cai Yue'er had set her sights on Xu Xiaoyan instead.
After all, compared with the original story, Xu Xiaoyan was far stronger now.
She had started cultivating nearly half a year earlier than she had in the original story.
And her Martial Soul's Second Awakening had come three or four years earlier, too.
Xu Xiaoyan was already at level forty. She only needed a second Soul Spirit to advance to Four-Ring Soul Ancestor.
Perhaps because of Mu Han, Xu Xiaoyan had also gone to great lengths to raise her first Soul Spirit to the thousand-year level.
So her Soul Ring Configuration matched Mu Han's from three years ago: three purple Soul Rings.
But Xu Xiaoyan wanted to stay with Mu Han, so she couldn't remain at Shrek Academy.
She refused Elder Cai's offer to take her as a disciple, even when Elder Cai dangled a Soul Spirit and Soul Bone as bait.
At Shrek Academy, the Sea God Pavilion was where the rules were made.
And Cai Yue'er was the dean of the outer court.
If she wanted to make things difficult during the entrance exam, no one could stop her—not even the other elders.
Elder Cai sneered. "There's no such thing as absolute fairness in this world. Never count on someone else to give you fairness."
"Only you can bring fairness to yourself, and only when you're strong enough to enforce it."
Xu Xiaoyan looked gentle, but she was stubborn and strong-willed inside. After hearing that, she turned and walked away.
Just then, Gu Yue came up beside her. "Come on. I'll take you to the Spirit Pagoda to get a Soul Spirit."
Though Leng Yaozhu was gone, Gu Yue was still with the Spirit Pagoda.
"Hey, hey, don't go." Tang Wulin hurriedly grabbed Gu Yue. "Do you still want to get into Shrek Academy?"
Gu Yue flung his hand away. "We're not going to this trash academy!"
Cai Yue'er spun around, glaring darkly at Gu Yue. "Shrek isn't short on geniuses. Plenty of people are stronger than you."
"So that's why you got beaten like a dog by Mu Han three years ago, right?" Gu Yue didn't hold back, going straight for the insult.
Shen Yi's face turned deathly pale. She could feel the terrifying Soul Power radiating from Cai Yue'er.
She had no idea what to do. She was so anxious she could have cried.
Just then, a furious shout rang out. "No wonder the stubborn raise the stubborn."
"You're all so impressive. Get lost, all of you!"
Gu Yue and Xu Xiaoyan, who had been about to leave, both froze.
Shen Yi hurriedly signaled to them with her eyes. "This is my teacher and Senior Brother Wu's teacher—your grandmaster."
Zhuo Shi's expression softened slightly. "Do you think you're so impressive?"
"Giving up everything for your companions. That's impressive, isn't it?"
"What did you come here for? Just to show off how stubborn you are?"
"Why don't you try harder? All you know is how to fight back. You don't even know how to plead?"
"I never wanted to be a Soul Master in the first place." Xu Xiaoyan's voice was calm, as though she were talking about some everyday matter.
"Hm?" Zhuo Shi's eyes widened. Her meaning was clear: she wouldn't bow her head just to stay at Shrek.
Shen Yi's expression was complicated. Her heart was a tangled mess.
This scene was just like before. Her senior brother had left with the same stubbornness.
"Go, then. But before you leave, you should at least get this off your chest." Just then, a large hand settled on Xu Xiaoyan's head.
"Mu Han!" Xu Xiaoyan's eyes reddened at once. "That old thing bullied me!"
"Little brat, who are you calling an old thing?" Cai Yue'er was furious, barely restraining herself from attacking.
But Mu Han wasn't going to hold back. "I'm talking about you, Cai Yue'er. Can't you tell?"
As he spoke, he threw a punch with his right hand.
Countless droplets of liquid metal gathered into a gigantic truck, with the words "Explosive Corrosive Burning Poison" written across it.
The truck charged straight at Cai Yue'er,
and a crescent moon silently appeared behind her.
Nine Soul Rings spiraled up from beneath her feet.
But in the next instant, her body shot away like a cannonball.
She was embedded in the wall.
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