Notting Academy, the top floor of the dormitory building, Yu Xiaogang's room.
Lin Mo pushed open the wooden door. Yu Xiaogang's room still looked as simple as ever.
This time, however, besides Yu Xiaogang, there was also an unfamiliar figure inside.
He was a middle-aged man who looked to be about fifty. Though no longer young, he was extremely burly, and his face was especially distinctive.
His chin jutted forward, his cheekbones were broad, and his face was flat. He also had a hooked nose.
His entire face looked like the sole of a shoe.
He wore a pair of black-framed crystal glasses with rigid, square frames.
A shady businessman.
That was Lin Mo's first impression of him.
The man's highly distinctive appearance let Lin Mo recognize him at a glance.
Yu Xiaogang's friend, one of the Golden Iron Triangle's Horn of Flight, and the founder and current dean of Shrek Academy: Flender.
Yu Xiaogang's friend, the founder and current dean of Shrek Academy, Flender.
He was also the Golden Iron Triangle's Horn of Slaughter, possessed a Cat Eagle Martial Soul, and was currently at the Soul Saint level, with a Soul Power Level of around seventy.
"Greetings, Grandmaster. And who might this be?"
Lin Mo pretended not to know and gave Yu Xiaogang a slight nod, asking about the person standing beside him.
Hearing Lin Mo's question, Yu Xiaogang slowly raised his head from where he was seated, a gentle smile appearing on his face.
He raised a hand and gestured toward Lin Mo, his voice full of praise. "Flender, this is Lin Mo, the young man I've mentioned to you many times before.
"He's a peerless genius, the kind Notting Academy sees only once in a century!"
"Lin Mo is only eight years old, yet his Soul Power cultivation has already firmly surpassed level twenty, bringing him to the threshold of becoming a Soul Grandmaster.
"Among Soul Masters of his age across the entire Heaven Dou Empire, it's hard to find anyone who can match that rate of cultivation."
"Heroes emerge in youth. A true genius, indeed!"
Flender's small eyes lit up slightly as he spoke with admiration.
Though he had already secretly "spied" on Lin Mo many times, he still put on an act as if they were meeting for the first time.
"I'm Flender. I've come especially for you. At Xiaogang's request, I'll be taking you to obtain your Second Soul Ring."
"I'm also the dean of the academy you'll soon be attending."
"The academy I founded is called Shrek Academy. Your situation fits our motto perfectly: We only accept monsters, not ordinary people."
"I daresay only a genius like you, who reached the level of a quasi-Soul Grandmaster at eight years old, could truly be called a monster!"
In response to Flender's words, Lin Mo nodded slightly once more.
"Greetings, Dean Flender."
Hearing Lin Mo's words, Flender burst into laughter.
The next moment, his body suddenly moved. He was so fast that no ordinary person could have followed him; in an instant, he was at Lin Mo's side.
Without any unnecessary movements, Flender reached out with his pair of slightly withered hands and began running them over various parts of Lin Mo's body.
A warm stream of Soul Power seeped slowly into Lin Mo's body wherever Flender touched him.
Feeling the strange sensations throughout his body, Lin Mo's mind tensed slightly. He quickly understood why Flender had made such a sudden move.
Flender meant to assess Lin Mo's physical constitution firsthand.
Once he realized this, Lin Mo reined in his body's instinctive resistance, allowing Flender's hands and Soul Power to move freely over and through his body as he examined him.
Since Flender wanted to investigate him and see what he had up his sleeve, Lin Mo might as well take the opportunity to show off his strength instead of holding back.
With that thought, Lin Mo's mind stirred, and he immediately activated Inversion of Three!
Vmmm—!
A faint white glow spread slowly from beneath Lin Mo's skin, and his black hair instantly turned snow-white.
His wheat-colored skin paled as well, taking on a translucent, jade-like sheen. Even the brown in his eyes seemed to fade.
His entire presence transformed in an instant, taking on a few more hints of an ethereal, otherworldly quality.
The first stage of Inversion of Three, Qi-flesh Transformation, fully unleashed!
The instant Lin Mo entered this state, Flender's movements stopped abruptly, and his eyes narrowed slightly.
Flender raised a hand and struck Lin Mo in the chest.
Lin Mo reacted swiftly, instinctively clenching his fist and driving it straight toward Flender's palm.
Bang!
Fist met palm, and the clear sound of the impact echoed through the cramped room.
Lin Mo staggered backward several steps. His arm went numb, and the blood and qi in his body surged uncontrollably.
Only after retreating several paces did he finally steady himself.
Seeing this, Yu Xiaogang shook his head helplessly.
"Flender, I told you already, there was no need to test him so deliberately. Xiaomo's talent and physique are far more impressive than you think."
After speaking, he turned to Lin Mo, his eyes full of apology.
"Don't take it to heart, Xiaomo. The old fool has always been like this. He means you no harm; he simply wanted to get a clear idea of your true strength."
Lin Mo nodded lightly. "I understand, Grandmaster."
Flender had simply not wanted to draw a hasty conclusion based solely on Yu Xiaogang's one-sided description.
So he had tested Lin Mo himself, hoping to feel his physical constitution firsthand and see whether it really was as extraordinary as Yu Xiaogang had claimed.
Hearing was believing, but seeing was believing even more. Nothing was more convincing than testing him personally.
Still, Lin Mo wasn't the least bit discouraged by the result.
A quasi-Soul Grandmaster at level twenty clashing with a veteran Soul Saint at level seventy and losing was only natural.
There was a difference of more than fifty levels of Soul Power between them.
Meanwhile, after finishing his test and getting the result he wanted, Flender finally allowed a rare smile to appear on his face.
"Not bad! Lin Mo, you're truly impressive!"
Flender looked Lin Mo over as he stood in his Inversion state, his small eyes full of approval.
"You've really opened my eyes."
"Your physical constitution, your reflexes just now, and the tremendous force you unleashed are all absurd for someone at your current Soul Power Level."
"Forget ordinary One-Ring Soul Masters—they're nowhere near your level. Even among all the Two-Ring Soul Grandmasters, I doubt there's anyone who could match you in close-quarters strength.
"With your sheer physical power alone, you wouldn't suffer much against most three-ring Power Attack System Soul Elders."
He had always observed Lin Mo quietly from afar and had only seen him spar with others.
But watching from a distance could never compare to testing him firsthand.
Only after personally striking him today did he truly grasp the strength of Lin Mo's talent.
Without any Soul Skill to assist him, Lin Mo had unleashed such astonishing force through sheer physical strength alone.
His physical constitution had already far surpassed that of an ordinary Two-Ring Soul Grandmaster!