Wanting to See the Moon

At that moment.

Li Changsheng and the others were on a mountain ridge, where their carriage traveled along a road carved into the mountainside.

In the distant sky.

In the nearby valley.

Li Changsheng saw buildings he had never even heard of.

In the sky, a massive, pitch-black structure floated like a star. It resembled an iron fortress, its entire body shaped like a sphere. Many thick, cannon-like barrels jutted from its surface, while dozens of towering pillars surrounded it, channeling a surging torrent of destructive Soul Power.

Li Zishuo was also leaning against the window, gazing blankly at the structure suspended in the sky.

Below, in the valley.

That seemed to be the city where Shrek Pre-Academy was located.

It was a large city nestled among the mountains, bustling with crowds and filled with countless imposing buildings.

Beside them, Exquisite Dice also looked up at the sky.

She gazed through the window.

With a hint of hesitation in her voice, she said, "That's the Pointing-to-Heaven Fortress, a combined Soul Tool built by the Sun Moon Empire. By Soul Tool rankings, this aerial fortress is infinitely close to a Level 10 Soul Tool. Even a Titled Douluo would fare no better than a fleeting illusion beneath such a Soul Tool."

"Is the Sun Moon Empire about to start a war?" Li Zishuo asked dazedly.

He had never seen a Soul Tool on such a massive scale.

"Start a war? No. This Pointing-to-Heaven Fortress was brought here thousands of years ago, when the Sun Moon Continent launched its invasion. It's already damaged."

"Damaged?" Li Changsheng asked. "Then why is it still floating in the sky?"

An aerial fortress.

Li Changsheng was this close to cursing.

Had Douluo Continent really developed that quickly over the past ten thousand years?

No, the Sun Moon Empire was from the Sun-Moon Continent.

But it was still shocking.

Seven Absolute Zither Master answered him. "It isn't actually damaged. The Sun Moon Empire simply doesn't have enough Titled Douluo to activate it. As for why it's floating in the sky, look at those dozens of black pillars. They're Soul Power converters, which can supply energy to the aerial fortress."

"After the Sun Moon Empire was defeated, the number of Soul Masters in the countries that once belonged to it fell drastically. Soul Tools are powerful, but the more powerful a Soul Tool is, the stronger the Soul Masters must be to bring out its true power. The Pointing-to-Heaven Fortress is made up of several Level 9 Soul Tools. Activating it probably takes... more than ten Titled Douluo. I heard from my teacher that it would also take at least one Limit Douluo."

Li Changsheng was shocked all over again.

Following the mountain road, they began to make their way down.

They headed toward the city below, where Shrek Pre-Academy was located.

It was worth mentioning that this entire city, built amid encircling mountains, did not all belong to the Pre-Education Academy. After all, it was only a Junior Soul Master Academy.

The academy occupied roughly half the city.

And, to mention one more thing, the city was called Two-Part City.

A very strange name.

But its meaning was just as the name suggested.

It was divided between the Star Luo Empire and the Sun Moon Empire.

The nearby Mingdou Mountain Range was considered Star Luo Empire territory.

On the other side, the Sun Moon Empire's Pointing-to-Heaven Fortress likewise made its formidable reputation known.

Two-Part City, built among the encircling mountains, had only one gate in the east. To reach it, one had to travel along the mountain road.

It was truly secure, fortified by both natural and man-made barriers.

Most importantly, building a city here meant paying taxes to neither empire.

After all, it was divided land, a place neither side governed.

Soon.

The carriage convoy reached the gate.

They did not stop, but drove straight into Two-Part City.

Two-Part City was divided in two. The outer section was where people lived, while the inner section was Shrek Pre-Academy.

Ordinary people were not allowed to enter the Pre-Education Academy.

The carriages rolled onward, arriving at the final city gate leading into the Pre-Education Academy.

There were far fewer merchants and the like here, so it was much quieter.

The carriages stopped.

"All right, let's get out," Exquisite Dice said, rising first. She stretched a little, then jumped straight down from the carriage.

Seven Absolute Zither Master, Li Changsheng, and Li Zishuo followed.

The city gate was deserted, with not a soul in sight. The empty street before it held not even a ghost, apart from Li Changsheng's group.

"Stop looking around. You'll need to get ready before entering the Pre-Education Academy," Seven Absolute Zither Master said from nearby, addressing Li Changsheng as he looked about.

"More preparations? What a hassle." Li Changsheng curled his lip.

Gu Feibai got down from the first carriage.

Li Changsheng peered inside. The two elegant, richly dressed women were nowhere to be seen. Were they still in the carriage?

Well, that wasn't important.

Soon, Seven Absolute Zither Master and Exquisite Dice walked off to one side. The new students, including Li Changsheng, lined up again and looked toward the languid middle-aged man, Gu Feibai.

"It seems everyone's improved quite a bit."

His keen perception came in handy at a time like this.

Just standing there,

Li Changsheng could feel that the Soul Power leaking from the children around him had increased to a noticeable degree—by about half a rank.

No wonder these geniuses had dared to come here and get thrown into the grinder. They were certain they could reach the Soul Scholar limit—ten ranks of Soul Power—within fifteen days.

Actually, it couldn't really be called fifteen days, could it? Including the nearly seven days it had taken them to get here, they had about twenty-one or twenty-two days.

But Gu Feibai's next words left Li Changsheng dumbfounded all over again.

Gu Feibai lazily swept his gaze across them. Skipping any pleasantries, he went straight to the point. "You only improved this much in six days? And you still think you can pass the assessment?"

No one spoke.

The children were shy. Even if Gu Feibai scolded them, they would probably just lower their heads and shrink back.

Soon, Gu Feibai called over Centrifugal Killing Mirror, who was standing beside him.

Centrifugal Killing Mirror stepped forward smoothly, as though he was already quite used to this sort of thing.

He had no habit of making idle conversation either. He simply passed a hand over his Storage Soul Tool, and several white masks appeared in his palm.

"Once you enter the Pre-Education Academy, no one is allowed to show their real face. I assume the specific reasons have already been explained to you on the way here."

Had they?

Li Changsheng glanced at Exquisite Dice, who was standing beside Seven Absolute Zither Master.

She looked over too. Though he couldn't see her expression, she seemed to take a small step back.

Centrifugal Killing Mirror continued, "You'll also each need a title. You'll register it here in a moment. I assume the meaning of a title has already been explained as well. Once you enter the Pre-Education Academy, your old names will be sealed away for six years. I assume the reason for that has been explained too."

Li Changsheng was even more speechless.

Fine. He only knew that these were the Pre-Education Academy's rules.

"After you receive your masks, you'll all enter the Soul Power Tide Chamber together."

With that, Centrifugal Killing Mirror called over two people beside him.

As for Exquisite Dice and Seven Absolute Zither Master, they stepped aside—more precisely, they came over to Li Changsheng's side.

"Oops, I forgot to tell you about all that," Exquisite Dice said sheepishly once she reached them.

"..."

Li Changsheng sighed, but didn't take it too much to heart.

They lined up.

Soon it was Li Changsheng's turn—or rather, Li Zishuo, who stood in front of him.

First, Li Zishuo handed Centrifugal Killing Mirror his Martial Soul certificate. Then he took the mask he was given, along with a sheet of paper.

The children ahead of them had filled theirs out quickly. They had probably been told the rules on the way, so they had already decided on their titles.

As for Li Changsheng and Li Zishuo, well, Exquisite Dice had said that this would happen only after they entered the academy.

Maybe they'd received the wrong information.

But Li Changsheng suspected the problem was more likely a lack of intelligence.

Worst of all, neither of them had mentioned it.

Li Changsheng looked at the title Li Zishuo had written.

"No Regrets in Moving."

His Martial Soul was the Exquisite Chessboard. He played chess; once a piece was moved, there were no regrets.

"That's poetic." As the journey went on, Li Changsheng had become more and more interested in this descendant of his.

He was quite clever, just a little shy around people. His talent wasn't particularly impressive, but he worked hard.

Centrifugal Killing Mirror looked over Li Zishuo's details. Once he had finished filling them in, he said, "No Regrets in Moving, you'll enter the Soul Power Tide Chamber to train as well. You may have been admitted without an exam, but your Soul Power is too low. You need to improve."

Centrifugal Killing Mirror's tone was cold. Then again, he always spoke that way. It wasn't that he looked down on Li Zishuo for being admitted without an exam. After all, the true geniuses in the Pre-Education Academy had their own paths of cultivation. As for ordinary geniuses, they just had to do their best to survive until graduation!

"All right, senior." Li Zishuo nodded. He didn't know what the Soul Power Tide Chamber was, but it sounded like a place that could speed up cultivation.

Soon, it was Li Changsheng's turn.

Instead, Seven Absolute Zither Master walked over by herself, her sky-blue, ethereal eyes fixed on the paper Li Changsheng had taken.

Centrifugal Killing Mirror, standing nearby, spoke up in surprise. "Innate Full Soul Power?"

Li Changsheng looked at the cold mask in front of him and nodded. "Mm."

"Your Martial Soul is the Heavenly Book? Junior, what kind of Martial Soul is it?" He studied Li Changsheng's Martial Soul information closely. After hesitating for a moment, he decided to ask.

"Probably a control-type Martial Soul. Once I've added a Soul Ring, if you have time, senior, we can spar." Li Changsheng weighed the pen in his hand, wrote four characters on the paper, and said with a smile.

"Then you'd better hurry. I'm taking the Shrek Academy entrance exam this month." He took the paper Li Changsheng had filled out and handed him a mask.

Seven Absolute Zither Master, who had been quietly watching, asked, "Does the title you chose mean something?"

Li Changsheng paused at her question, then shook his head. "It doesn't mean anything in particular. If I had to say, it's to commemorate someone."

"Then, shall I go ahead?"

Everyone but Li Changsheng had put on their masks and was heading toward the city gate. Li Changsheng said something to Seven Absolute Zither Master, casually put on his mask, and half-turned.

"Huh? All right, see you in a bit. Actually, you don't have to enter the Soul Power Tide Chamber." Her sapphire eyes blinked, looking quite lovely.

"I'm worried about Li Zishuo. Then I'll see you in a bit." Li Changsheng's soft voice came from beneath the mask.

"All right, then."

Li Changsheng turned and ran toward the others.

Seven Absolute Zither Master stood behind him, gazing at his retreating figure. A thin sheen veiled her sky-blue eyes, reflecting his running silhouette. Her cherry-red lips moved slightly. "Wanting to see the moon. What's that supposed to mean..."