Boss, do you think he can last for one incense stick?

Li Yusong led the three of them through the village to a slightly more spacious clearing.

A group of boys and girls were standing in a long line, taking turns placing their hands on a crystal ball.

Li Yusong walked at the very front, his back held straight.

"Old Shao, busy?" he called out in greeting.

Shao Xin looked up, saw Li Yusong, and waved. "Old Li, what brings you here? Did the first round end so quickly?"

His gaze then fell on the three people behind Li Yusong, and he asked with curiosity, "Do these little ones really need you to guide them personally?"

Li Yusong leaned in, acting mysterious. "Old Shao, what do you know? Of these three behind me, two are monsters among monsters!"

He paused, then added, "Isn't Mubai injured? That brute Zhao Wuji is handling the fourth round now. I'm afraid he won't know his own strength; if he hurts these precious gems, Flender will skin me alive when he gets back."

Upon hearing this, Shao Xin's eyes lit up instantly.

"Monsters among monsters?"

He knew Li Yusong too well. This old man had eyes higher than the top of his head; for him to use such a description, they had to be geniuses on the level of rare treasures!

"Alright, no more chatting. I'm taking them straight to the fourth round. You keep testing."

As soon as he finished speaking, Li Yusong prepared to lead the three toward the final round.

At this, the students waiting in line wouldn't have it.

"On what grounds!"

A prickly youth shouted on the spot, "Teacher, we've been waiting here for ages. Why do they get to cut in line?"

"Exactly! It's unfair!"

The students felt they were being treated unjustly and began to stir in protest.

Shao Xin let out a cold snort, releasing a trace of his Soul Power. The pressure made the scene quiet down significantly. "Shrek has Shrek's rules. As long as your Soul Power exceeds level twenty-five, you can skip the middle two rounds and go straight to the fourth. If any of you have that ability, you can cut in line too."

Once these words were out, the previously noisy crowd fell instantly silent.

Level twenty-five?

What a joke! Most of the students present were hovering between level twenty-one and twenty-three; those at level twenty-four were as rare as phoenix feathers and unicorn horns.

What kind of concept was reaching level twenty-five before the age of twelve?

It was a genius among geniuses!

The prickly youth still refused to give in. "Who knows if they're actually level twenty-five? What if they're just using connections?"

Xiao Wu hated these kinds of whiny people, and having learned the essence of Su Chen's "showing off in public," she stepped forward and snatched the testing crystal ball off the table. "Watch closely, and don't blink!"

Before the words had even faded, she injected her Soul Power directly into it.

"Holy crap!"

"My eyes!"

The light from the crystal ball blinded the group of extras.

Shao Xin also instinctively covered his eyes with his hand, his face full of shock.

This Soul Power was far beyond level twenty-five; it wouldn't even stop at level thirty!

No wonder Old Li called them monsters among monsters.

This talent was on par with Tang San!

Following that, Su Chen and Zhu Zhuqing also gave it a brief test.

After this, no one dared to chirp another word.

Just as Li Yusong was about to lead them away, a crisp, melodious voice rang out from the crowd.

"Um... Teacher, I've also exceeded level twenty-five."

Everyone turned to look at the source of the voice.

A young girl wearing a jade-green dress walked out gracefully.

Her features were delicate, and her large eyes flickered with a touch of just-right shyness; she looked every bit the well-bred young lady from a prominent family.

Su Chen took one look and knew this had to be the little witch Ning Rongrong. She was indeed quite a beauty.

Still, her acting was impressive; she played the part quite convincingly.

Ning Rongrong took the crystal ball and injected her Soul Power with a shy expression. Although the light from the crystal ball wasn't as exaggerated as Xiao Wu's, it steadily surpassed the level twenty-five mark.

Level twenty-six.

Shao Xin grinned from ear to ear, clapping his hands repeatedly. "Good, good, good! There are monsters every year, but this year there are especially many!"

Li Yusong stroked his beard, glanced at Ning Rongrong, and said, "Let's go. I'll take the four of you straight to the final round."

The four followed behind Li Yusong, continuing deeper into the village.

Ning Rongrong walked at the very back, her lively eyes darting curiously between Su Chen and Xiao Wu.

The Soul Power Level of these two people must definitely be over thirty.

Twelve-year-old Soul Elders!

What absolute monsters!

If she could trick these two into joining the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, Father, Sword Grandpa, and Bone Grandpa would surely be overjoyed.

She had already begun to scheme in the depths of her heart.

They arrived at the fourth round.

In the center of the field sat a single, lonely lounge chair, upon which a man with an exceptionally burly and imposing physique lay sprawled out, snoring so loudly it sounded like a tractor engine.

Li Yusong stepped forward and slapped the big man on his belly.

"Old Zhao! Wake up! I've brought people for the assessment!"

Zhao Wuji opened his eyes from a nightmare, jolting in shock.

He had been dreaming of that lunatic carrying a hammer again, the one who had pinned him to the ground and rubbed his face in the dirt a hundred times over in his dream.

He shook his groggy head, finally seeing Su Chen and the other three before him.

"Wow, not bad this year. To think four of you actually made it to my final round."

He stood up and stretched his body, his bones popping and cracking. "Not bad, not bad. This is the final round. As long as you pass my test, you can officially become members of Shrek Academy. However..."

Before he could finish his sentence, Li Yusong pulled him aside.

The two huddled together, whispering.

Li Yusong gestured wildly as he spoke, his expression incredibly vivid, his spit nearly spraying onto Zhao Wuji's face.

As Zhao Wuji listened, the expression on his face began to shift.

"Oh~!"

"To think such a thing happened!"

He went from indifferent at the start to surprised, then stunned, and finally, the look he cast toward Su Chen was filled with an indescribable strangeness.

Once they finished, Zhao Wuji returned to the center of the field.

"The fourth round is very simple. As long as you can hold out against me for the time it takes for one stick of incense to burn, you pass."

Li Yusong chimed in at the right moment to boost his prestige: "Teacher Zhao Wuji is the Vice Dean of our Shrek Academy, a level 76 Power Attack System Soul Saint, with the Vajra Bear as his Martial Soul."

Upon hearing this, Ning Rongrong gasped in alarm: "Zhao Wuji, and his Martial Soul is the Vajra Bear? Could he be the Immovable Bright King?"

Xiao Wu, on the other hand, was indifferent; he was merely a Soul Saint.

In front of her boss, he was practically small potatoes.

However, she still asked curiously: "What, have you heard stories about him?"

Ning Rongrong nodded, her tone heavy as she said: "It is rumored that when he was a Soul Emperor, he was surrounded and attacked by sixteen Soul Emperors of the same level from the Spirit Hall, yet he managed to kill his way out of the encirclement. He is a truly ruthless man!"

Hearing of his past glorious deeds, Zhao Wuji lifted his head and tilted his chin, looking incredibly proud.

At this moment, he produced a stick of incense from nowhere, rubbed his hands together with Soul Power to ignite the tip, and tossed it onto the ground.

"I'll give you the time of one stick of incense to discuss your tactics." With that, he went back to lying on his chair.

Ning Rongrong's face was full of worry: "Holding out against a long-renowned Soul Saint for the time of one stick of incense... this is too difficult..."

She looked at Su Chen and the others, preparing to introduce her support abilities and discuss a strategy, only to hear Xiao Wu beside her speak in an even more troubled tone.

"One stick of incense, huh... Boss, do you think he can last for one stick of incense?"

Ning Rongrong: ????

What kind of nonsense is she spouting? It's us who have to last for one stick of incense, not him!

Has this girl been scared out of her wits?