Tang San, Out!

Everyone followed Le Zhengyu across the courtyard. The moment they stepped inside, they froze. From the outside and from the inside, it was completely different. The space within was enormous.

"This... this is way too big, isn't it?"

Someone could not help exclaiming in amazement.

"It didn't look big from outside. How does it feel like we've entered a whole new world?"

Tang San was also looking around, secretly shocked. He had grown up in Notting City, and the most imposing building he had ever seen was Spirit Hall. But compared with the academy before him, Spirit Hall was like a mud hut in the countryside.

This academy... isn't simple.

Tang San thought to himself.

Le Zhengyu led them across the square to an open area. There were no buildings in this area, only a massive platform. Around the platform stood several metal pillars, inlaid with some kind of glowing gemstone.

Le Zhengyu stopped and turned around.

"All right, this is as far as we go."

He swept his gaze over everyone present.

"Next is the second round of the assessment."

Le Zhengyu's expression grew somewhat serious.

"Before we begin, each of you come forward and take a watch, then wear it on your left hand."

From a box beside him, he took out black metal watches one after another and handed them out to everyone.

The watch was pitch-black all over, its surface smooth as a mirror. It had no hands, nor any markings, only faint circles of patterns that seemed barely there.

Tang San took the watch and turned it over in his hands, looking at it a couple of times, but could not make anything of it. Following Le Zhengyu's instructions, he put the watch on his left wrist.

"What is this thing?"

Xiao Wu curiously touched the watch.

"It looks so advanced."

"It should be some kind of soul tool."

Tang San said in a low voice.

Everyone had put on their watches.

Le Zhengyu nodded, then raised a hand and pointed overhead.

"Now, everyone, please raise your heads and look upward."

Everyone lifted their heads in unison.

Then, all of them went rigid.

Directly above them, on the dome several hundred meters high, hung a gigantic portrait.

The portrait was astonishingly huge. Painted on it was a pitch-black giant dragon, its scales as if cast from metal, blotting out the sky and the sun. Its golden eyes looked down on everything below, carrying a majesty that seemed to disdain all living beings.

The Golden-Eyed Black Dragon King.

Even though it was only a painting, the overwhelming pressure rushing toward them made it almost impossible to breathe.

Tang San's pupils suddenly contracted.

"W-what kind of soul beast is that?"

Someone's voice trembled.

"It's not a soul beast, it's a portrait... just a portrait..."

"How can a portrait possibly have this kind of presence?!"

Before the words had even faded, that pressure suddenly intensified.

Tang San felt as if his brain had been struck hard with a hammer. His vision went dark, and a terrifying aura poured down from above, pressing onto him like something tangible, making his legs begin to tremble.

This is... a test of willpower?

Tang San gritted his teeth, struggling to steady himself.

But around him, some people were already unable to hold on.

"Ah—!"

A young man screamed miserably. His legs went weak, and he collapsed straight onto the ground, his face deathly pale as he gasped for breath in great gulps.

After he fell, that pressure instead vanished for him.

With the first, there was a second.

Bang!

Bang!

One person after another fell. Some fainted outright, some curled up on the ground trembling, and some barely held on for a few seconds before ultimately failing to endure.

In just a dozen breaths, more than a dozen people had already fallen.

The veins on Tang San's forehead bulged, and sweat ran down his cheeks. He was still holding on.

Xiao Wu stood beside him, her expression not looking too good either. But she bit her lip without a word, stubbornly holding on and refusing to fall.

But there were also people who... clearly could still endure, yet chose to give up.

A fifteen- or sixteen-year-old youth had sweat all over his forehead, and his legs were trembling. He glanced at the people who had fallen beside him, then looked at Le Zhengyu. Le Zhengyu stood off to the side, expressionless, showing no intention of encouraging or stopping anyone.

"Anyway... it's not like falling down matters, right?"

The moment that thought surfaced, he could no longer hold on.

His legs went weak, and with a bang, he collapsed to the ground, gasping for breath.

With him as an example, several more people fell one after another.

It was not that they could not hold on, but that they did not want to.

It was too tiring, too uncomfortable. Since falling down would not lead to anything anyway, why torture themselves?

Tang San took it all in, sneering inwardly. He drew in a deep breath, his gaze growing even more resolute.

Time passed second by second.

After about another cup of tea's time, at last, that oppressive sensation slowly dissipated.

Le Zhengyu's voice rang out.

"That's enough. Everyone, get up."

Those who were still standing all felt as if a heavy burden had been lifted. Some squatted straight down, while others braced their hands on their knees and panted heavily.

Tang San's clothes had already been soaked through with sweat, but he still stood perfectly straight, not letting himself appear wretched.

Le Zhengyu took a square soul device from his chest and tapped it lightly. A virtual screen floated into view before everyone.

On the screen, everyone's names were densely arranged, with a color following each name: red, yellow, or green.

"Those in red are unqualified."

"Please leave on your own."

As soon as the words fell, the crowd exploded.

"What? Unqualified?"

"On what grounds?! You never said that beforehand!"

"Exactly! You told us to prepare ourselves, but you never said that falling down meant we'd be eliminated!"

Those whose names were displayed in red flushed one by one, glaring furiously at Le Zhengyu.

Le Zhengyu did not get angry. He did not even frown.

Only after those people finished cursing did he slowly speak.

"If you don't even have basic perseverance, what cultivation are you talking about?"

"Shrek Academy can train ordinary people into monsters, but there is one prerequisite: that person must at least be a person. Someone with no perseverance, no resolve, someone who wants to give up the moment they encounter difficulty—even if you give him more resources, he's nothing but trash. Yellow means there is still room to change, while red means there is no saving you."

"Trash is not accepted here."

Those few short sentences were like a basin of cold water poured over those people's heads.

Some opened their mouths, wanting to argue, but could not say a word.

Some lowered their heads, shame appearing on their faces.

Others gnashed their teeth, but in the end, they still turned and left in disgrace.

Le Zhengyu added one more sentence.

"Those who have been eliminated, please take back your one copper soul coin. Our academy does not get entangled in cause and effect."

Those people froze for a moment, then silently retrieved their copper soul coins from the box and left one by one.

The eliminated people departed one after another.

Tang San silently counted them. There were about twenty or so.

In other words, the first soul power test had not eliminated anyone, while the second test of willpower had directly weeded out nearly one-third of them.

The remaining forty-plus people all looked rather uneasy. They began to realize that although this academy's fees were cheap, the difficulty of its assessments was not low at all.

Ning Rongrong stood among the crowd, her gaze fixed tightly on that virtual screen.

Behind her name was yellow.

Ning Rongrong had wanted to collapse to the ground several times. After all, she was the little princess of the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Sect and had been pampered since childhood. Yet for some unknown reason, as if by some strange impulse, she had still managed to hold on for a while longer. If she had given up early, she probably would have been eliminated too.

Tang San and Xiao Wu's gazes also fell on their own names.

Green. There were only a handful of green names on the screen: Tang San, Xiao Wu, Zhu Zhuqing, as well as two or three other youths who looked rather steady.

The corners of Tang San's mouth lifted slightly.

"Green should be the best tier."

Le Zhengyu put away the soul device and said to the remaining forty-plus people, "Follow me. The third assessment—after you pass it, you will be able to join Shrek Academy."

He turned and walked toward the depths of the plaza.

Everyone hurried after him.

This time, they arrived before a domed building. Its doors were made of metal, without any patterns on them, smooth as a mirror.

Le Zhengyu placed his hand on the door, and it slid silently open to both sides.

Inside was a spacious hall, filled with dozens of strangely shaped metal pods.

"This is..."

Tang San stood in the doorway, completely stunned. He had never seen anything like this before, and it looked incredibly impressive. Looking at the thing, Tang San felt as though he were some primitive man.

"Everyone, go in order. Each of you choose a Virtual Pod, lie down inside, and put on the helmet. This is a virtual space, but not everything in it is virtual. If you can obtain anything good, it will naturally belong to you. One more reminder: if you encounter danger, remember to press the button in your hand, or you may meet with an accident."

Le Zhengyu's voice pulled Tang San back to reality.

Tang San took a deep breath, suppressed the shock in his heart, walked over to a Virtual Pod, and lay down inside.

The cushion in the pod was soft and comfortable. Following Le Zhengyu's instructions, he put on the helmet.

Then his vision went black.

When Tang San opened his eyes again, he found himself standing in a dense forest.

The fresh scent of grass and trees filled the air, and birdsong and insect cries came to his ears. Everything was so real.

Tang San lowered his head and looked at his hands. He pinched his arm hard. It hurt. Then he crouched down and grabbed a handful of soil. The dirt slipped through his fingers, the sensation so real it could not be any more real.

"This... this isn't an illusion."

Tang San murmured to himself, waves surging through his heart.

He stood up and warily surveyed his surroundings.

Just then, a figure walked out from among the trees.

It was a soul master who looked considerably weaker than him, wearing simple clothes. The man glanced at Tang San, then looked around, seemingly just as bewildered.

"You're here for the assessment too?"

The man asked.

Tang San did not answer. He merely nodded slightly.

"Let's go together. There seem to be soul beasts in this forest."

"It's safer with two people. Right, I just found a place a few hundred meters away. There are good things there."

Tang San thought it over and agreed, subconsciously overlooking one thing: if they had all entered together, then that man should have been not far away. If there really were treasures, he would have been able to reach them in just a few steps.

The two traveled together through the forest. Before long, Tang San suddenly stopped. Up ahead, he saw a pool of water. Half of it was red and half was blue; the two streams converged, yet remained clearly separate.

Could this be the legendary Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well?

Tang San's heart began to pound violently.

And around the pool grew all kinds of plants, each one giving off astonishing energy fluctuations. Every single one was a rare medicinal herb seldom seen in the outside world.

"This... this is..."

Tang San's voice was trembling.

"This is a treasure land!"

Seeing Tang San's delighted expression, the man smiled and spoke to him.

"How about it? This is a good place, right? I'll split it half and half with you. I saw that you're a rank twenty-nine soul master, and I'm only rank fifteen. Consider this my payment for your help."

A cold glint flashed through Tang San's eyes. Split it half and half? This fellow might not even be able to enter Shrek Academy. If these were taken by him, wouldn't that be a reckless waste of precious treasures? Besides, Le Zhengyu had just said that some of the things inside were real. If he obtained them, they would be his.

Moreover, this person had just said there were soul beasts here. In that case... dying at the hands of a soul beast would also be understandable. Le Zhengyu had also said they might meet with an accident. If someone encountered a powerful soul beast and died before even pressing the button, that would be perfectly reasonable.

While the man still had no time to react, Tang San directly used a Tang Sect hidden weapon, the Sleeve Arrow.

The man did not even have time to let out a scream before he toppled straight to the ground, the light in his eyes rapidly fading.

Tang San did not even glance at the corpse. He strode toward the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well.

"These immortal herbs are all mine."

The corners of his mouth curled into a smile.

He reached out, just about to pick the nearest immortal herb.

His vision went black, and every scene vanished completely.

Tang San's eyes snapped open, and Le Zhengyu's voice rang in his ears.

"Tang San, eliminated."