Sun Moon Imperial Soul Master Academy.
A new round of admissions had begun.
By the age of the Legend of the Dragon King, the admissions standards at Sun Moon Imperial Soul Master Academy had also risen. During the Sun Moon Empire of ten thousand years ago, nearly everyone on the Sun Moon side had relied on drugs to boost their cultivation. As a result, their Soul Power was generally decent in the early stages, and the admission threshold wasn't especially high. The main goal had been to train Soul Engineers on a massive scale.
But in the current age of the Federation, there was no longer any need for so many Soul Engineers to provide combat strength and prepare for war. Sun Moon Imperial Soul Master Academy had also begun to focus more on training Soul Masters.
To enter the junior division at age nine, applicants needed at least twenty levels of Soul Power. That was the minimum; local residents of the Ming Capital could enter with fifteen.
Even with this privilege, they only qualified to take the assessment. Many Soul Masters with twenty levels of Soul Power weren't guaranteed to pass, let alone those with fifteen. There were very few of them.
"Liushuang, it's admissions day! Want to go see if there are any handsome junior students?"
The cool, blue-haired, blue-eyed girl slowly turned around at the sound of the voice, glancing sideways at Weng Daimin as she came running over.
The latter giggled and draped an arm over her shoulder. "I heard this year's new students are pretty special."
"Not interested." Xue Liushuang's expression was indifferent. Her cool, beautiful face showed no emotion.
"Oh, come on. Just come with me and take a look."
Weng Daimin moved closer and begged in a soft, wheedling voice.
Xue Liushuang mercilessly saw through her best friend's act. "I think you just want to go see Long Chen."
Caught red-handed, Weng Daimin's cheeks instantly flushed a faint pink. Her eyes darted to the side as she playfully stuck out her little pink tongue, then wrapped both arms around her friend's and gave them a gentle shake.
"Liushuang, you're the best."
"Don't do that. I'll go."
Xue Liushuang could only sigh helplessly. She reached out and lightly tapped her friend on the forehead.
"Let's go, let's go!"
It was admissions season at the gates of Sun Moon Imperial Soul Master Academy, and the crowds were immense. Soul Masters from all over the continent hoped to send their children to this academy. In fact, Sun Moon's admission requirements were much simpler than those of Shrek Academy. Yet its resources were no worse at all, making it an outstanding value.
The four students from North Sea Academy had arrived at the designated location.
They registered with their recommendation letters. Even Shen Nanxun, the young master of the Shen Family, had no faster shortcut available.
He still had to register normally and go through the assessment process.
A young teacher was in charge of registration. He took their recommendation letters, glanced them over, and raised an eyebrow.
"North Sea Academy, huh? Not bad, not bad. Go on, take the assessment."
Students from the academies run by the major legions were generally much better than average. Sun Moon's teachers also preferred these disciplined, talented students.
Along with the other assessment candidates, they arrived at a broad plaza large enough to hold nearly a thousand students. At its very center stood a statue.
The dragon head was made of a special gray metal. Its face was fierce, and a faint aura of destruction emanated from it.
"The Purple Brilliant Heaven Destroying Dragon?" Shen Nanxun recognized the true identity of the dragon-head statue at a glance.
It had once been the inherited Martial Soul of the Sun Moon Empire's imperial family, a companion to the Dragon God and the ancestor of the lesser dragons.
The ancient, imposing dragon-head statue crouched atop a raised platform. All at once, wisps of gray light slowly spilled from its body.
Then the statue's tightly shut eyes snapped open. Two deep, icy gray lights shone in its sockets.
As if born from the mighty presence of a dragon, a powerful pressure instantly spread outward from it.
The students in the plaza were immediately cowed by the pressure. Quite a few with weaker constitutions fainted on the spot. Even the stronger Beast Martial Soul Soul Masters and those with powerful mental strength were forced to bend over and drop to one knee, their faces contorted with pain.
"The assessment officially begins!"
A white-haired, white-bearded old man floated in midair, hands clasped behind his back as he surveyed the crowd. His brows were slightly drawn as he spoke in a slow, measured voice. "Your goal is to reach the top of those steps. Crawl, roll—whatever it takes. If you make it to the top, you pass."
"Director Zhang's overseeing this round again." Outside the plaza, two beautiful figures stood among the students who had gathered to watch.
Weng Daimin kept tossing out complaints.
"Old Zhang tested our year, too. He seems to love watching students suffer. Do you think he's a sadist?"
"I'd advise you to watch what you say. Last time, he heard you gossiping behind his back. Want the whole school notified again?" Xue Liushuang sensibly put some distance between them, to avoid getting caught in the same blast.
Weng Daimin rubbed her nose and gave an awkward laugh. Before she could say anything, though, her eyes suddenly lit up.
"Liushuang, look over there!"
Across the plaza, while every student was doubled over, two figures stood perfectly straight!
"This feels awful!" Dong Yi'an knelt on the ground, his mind reeling. He felt like he was about to throw up at any moment.
Ye Xi wasn't doing much better beside him. Sweat dotted her forehead as she used her Soul Power to resist the pressure. She clenched her teeth to keep herself from collapsing to her knees.
"Boss, Brother Xun, are you all right?" Dong Yi'an struggled to look up. He would have been better off not looking; the sight made him question everything.
"What?!"
Shen Nanxun stood there, his expression unchanged, looking bored. Na'er was even more outrageous: she was chewing on a lollipop as she curiously watched the people around her.
"Shen Nanxun, what's going on with them? Why's everyone kneeling?"
"No idea." Shen Nanxun shrugged, grabbed Dong Yi'an, and set off toward the steps.
Na'er took Ye Xi by the hand, and they walked forward just as easily.
The two of them felt the pressure vanish, leaving them completely at ease. The so-called simulated pressure of the Purple Brilliant Heaven Destroying Dragon was nothing to them. They treated it as if it didn't exist.
And so, this was the scene in the plaza: while everyone else struggled forward on their hands and knees, the four of them walked ahead at an unhurried pace.
"Freaks, all of them!" Zhang Hanlin, the Soul Douluo, stroked his beard and sighed at the sight.
"There are freaks every year, but this year there are more than ever."
The pressure of the Purple Brilliant Heaven Destroying Dragon, simulated using a Soul Tool, should have required at least a level-fifty Soul King to withstand without difficulty. Yet those two little ones completely ignored it and could even bring their companions along.
Once they reached the top of the steps, they had left the plaza. They didn't have to wait; a teacher waiting outside led the four of them to the next stage.
The entrance assessment at Sun Moon Imperial Soul Master Academy wasn't all that complicated. For those with sufficient Soul Power and a recommendation letter, there were only three tests. The one they'd just completed was the first, while the second was rather unusual.
The great way was simple.
It was precisely because there were only three tests that their difficulty became clear.
The second test took place in a room in the main teaching building. The teacher brought them to the door, then stepped away.
The room was laid out like an altar, with circular steps in the middle. Two objects floated above the steps: one shone brilliantly like the sun, while the other was as cool and radiant as the moon.
"Welcome to the second assessment, the Sun Moon Altar. It consists of the Sun Blazing Array and the Moon Cold Yin Array. Candidates must withstand the power of both arrays and reach the top of the altar. Those who make it to the top pass."
As the mechanical voice faded, two utterly different lights rose on either side of the narrow path leading to the altar. One side was like a frigid hell, its biting chill passing through flesh and straight into the marrow. The other was like a blazing sun, its scorching heat searing every inch of skin without distinction.
They had to cross the narrow path, scorched by two forces at opposite extremes, to reach the steps at the end.
It was clear that Sun Moon's first two assessments were quite similar. They tested strength, but placed even greater emphasis on willpower.
Only those who persevered could pass.
Before you continue