At that moment.
Below the Sea God Awakening Hall, seven or eight children had already gathered in the open plaza. There were adults among them, too, warmly reminding their own children of this and that?
That was more or less the scene.
Li Changsheng came alone.
The others noticed him right away.
Their eyes held a hint of surprise.
After all, Li Changsheng had made it here all by himself.
And there was something about his bearing that made the children feel he was much like an adult.
Li Changsheng observed them as well.
Eight children had arrived so far. They wore all kinds of clothes, but every outfit was new and clean. Some carried travel bundles, while others came empty-handed, likely with Storage Soul Tools on them.
Nearly all the children stood with their families, and a faint sadness hung over the gathering.
"Hm?"
Li Changsheng spotted a familiar figure.
Li Zishuo?
Yes, there was no mistake. In the crowd, Li Zishuo stood alone, much like Li Changsheng. His eyes were red-rimmed, and he kept stroking the bracelet on his wrist, which looked like a Storage Soul Tool.
His Innate Soul Power was only level six, wasn't it? How had he come here too?
With that question in mind, Li Changsheng glanced at the crowd beside him, then headed over to Li Zishuo.
Well, however you looked at it, he was a descendant of Li Changsheng's bloodline.
By the time Li Changsheng reached Li Zishuo, the boy was still stroking his Storage Soul Tool bracelet.
The sorrow around him grew more intense, almost tangible.
"Are you very sad?" Li Changsheng asked, his expression calm. It sounded as if he'd meant to say it, yet also as if he hadn't.
At the sound of his voice, Li Zishuo froze for a moment, seemingly checking whether the other boy had really been speaking to him. Then he looked up.
His eyes were very red, and tears had blurred his clear, bright gaze.
Up close, he actually bore a slight resemblance to Li Changsheng. But there was a timid quality to Li Zishuo's bearing, while Li Changsheng gave off an air of maturity and indifference.
"Ah, y-you're Li Changsheng, the one with Innate Full Soul Power?"
Li Zishuo pointed at Li Changsheng with his little finger, his voice filled with shock and amazement.
He had seen the scene when Li Changsheng awakened his Martial Soul.
At the time, he'd been astonished and envious.
Of course he knew what Innate Full Soul Power meant. It meant someone was a true genius.
If he'd awakened with Innate Full Soul Power too, perhaps a lot of things would have changed for him.
"Mm. That's right, I'm Li Changsheng. I remember you, Li Zishuo. Your Martial Soul is the Exquisite Chessboard."
The people around them seemed to have heard their conversation.
Adults and children alike were at least a little stunned.
Innate Full Soul Power?
"H-how do you remember me?" Li Zishuo asked, eyes wide with surprise.
"Because your Martial Soul looks nice," Li Changsheng replied blandly.
"My Martial Soul looks nice?" Li Zishuo smiled, rather pleased with himself. "Of course it does. It's the Martial Soul our Li Family has passed down for ten thousand years, and it's a powerful control-type Martial Soul. My father says that if I can add a Hundred-Year Soul Ring, I'll be able to exert powerful control. If I join a Soul Master team in the future, I'll be the core."
Li Changsheng was somewhat surprised.
Li Zishuo seemed to know a lot. He understood Soul Master teams and Martial Soul specialties, among other things. It seemed he'd started learning about them even before his Martial Soul Awakening.
Why couldn't Li Changsheng remember there being a child like this in the Li Family?
No, rather, he usually didn't pay attention to such things.
More children arrived in ones and twos, some alone and some accompanied by their parents.
Before long, there were more than ten of them.
Li Changsheng and Li Zishuo chatted quite happily.
Li Zishuo smiled shyly and told Li Changsheng, "When I heard your surname was Li, I thought you were from our Li Family. After I got home, I even asked my father whether our family had someone named Li Changsheng."
Li Changsheng smiled faintly. "My Martial Soul is a book, not the Exquisite Chessboard. I suppose sharing the surname Li is just fate."
Li Zishuo nodded, his little face brightening with an even bigger smile. "Right, right. Fate. It's fate."
From talking with Li Zishuo, Li Changsheng learned why the boy could be here despite having only level-six Innate Soul Power.
There was an exemption from the entrance exam to Shrek Academy reserved for someone from God Soul Village.
That exemption could also be exchanged for one to the Shrek Pre-Academy.
That meant that of everyone present, Li Zishuo was the only one who was already a proper student of the Pre-Education Academy.
Li Changsheng and the others still had to pass the entrance assessment.
Li Changsheng asked Li Zishuo, puzzled, whether exchanging an exemption to the main campus of Shrek Academy for one to the Pre-Education Academy wasn't a bad deal.
Li Zishuo shyly repeated what his father had once told him.
"Shrek Academy has strict rules and holds assessments every month. If you go to an ordinary Soul Master Academy, even with an exemption, you could be expelled after just a month if your own strength is too weak. The Pre-Education Academy is different. It reformed its system this year. There are still assessments, but they're less strict. And a Soul Master's foundation is very important. If you train quickly at the Pre-Education Academy, you can still get into Shrek Academy through your own efforts after graduating. With a solid foundation, you won't have to worry about getting expelled or anything like that."
Li Zishuo was very shy, and he probably spent most of his days cooped up in a study. He had none of the arrogance one might expect. Somehow, Li Changsheng also felt an inexplicable sense of closeness to him.
After hearing that, Li Changsheng could only marvel at how savvy the boy's father was.
Indeed, Soul Masters trained at the Shrek Pre-Academy were quite extraordinary. As long as they graduated alive, getting into Shrek Academy would probably be easy. Usually, the true geniuses of the Pre-Academy aimed for Shrek Academy's inner court from the very beginning.
In any case, Li Changsheng had found the conversation with his descendant from ten thousand years in the future quite pleasant.
A little over an hour passed.
No one else came, and it seemed the group was complete.
Fifteen people.
That was the final head count.
It was a lot. Aside from Li Zishuo, every one of those children had Innate Soul Power of at least level eight.
Soon, several people came down from the Sea God Awakening Hall above.
The man at the front was middle-aged, with a refined, approachable appearance and a faint smile at the corner of his mouth. His gentle gaze swept down over them.
But why did Li Changsheng feel there was something rather mad about that gentle gaze?
Su Xinhe was there too, following behind the middle-aged man.
After him, Li Changsheng saw the five prodigies from the Shrek Pre-Academy whom he'd seen at the Spirit Soul Grand Soul Fighting Arena.
Just as before, they wore different masks, though they had changed into casual clothes.
Li Changsheng's pupils suddenly contracted as he realized why the Pre-Academy's geniuses had come.
The Exchange Battle...
A Clear Sky Sect genius.
He'd actually forgotten about that Wang Dong over the past few days.
He turned around and looked all around him.
Everyone gathered here was a child, while their parents stood some distance away, watching from afar.
Some were nobles and some were commoners, but none dared show anything in the presence of powerful Soul Masters.
"Where's Wang Dong?"
Indeed, that person named Wang Dong wasn't here!
"Was she not going to study at the Pre-Education Academy? Did she think it wasn't good enough?"
Li Changsheng shook his head. Perhaps she had already set out.
"Children, I have some unfortunate news to share with you."
The middle-aged man at the front clapped his hands as he walked down step by step, then spoke in a clear, ringing voice.
Li Changsheng's thoughts snapped back to the present, and he looked up.
Unfortunate news?
What unfortunate news?
Before you continue