A Test?

But this world was different.

At Notting Academy, Nezha and Xiao Wu had been on the same side. Both possessed Innate Full Soul Power. More importantly, Nezha had defeated him head-on.

That punch had shattered Tang San's pride.

From then on, Tang San had changed.

He no longer spent most of his time forging iron. Instead, he poured all his energy into cultivation.

At the same time, he had secretly kept watch on Nezha and Xiao Wu's cultivation progress. Seeing their Soul Power rise by a noticeable amount every so often, he pushed himself even harder, cultivating through the night just to avoid falling behind.

That was why Tang San had reached level thirty before graduation.

Level thirty meant he needed to obtain his third soul ring.

But Yu Xiaogang was weak. When he had taken Tang San to obtain his first soul ring years ago, he had nearly lost his life.

When obtaining the second soul ring, Yu Xiaogang had asked the headmaster of Notting Academy for help. The headmaster was a Soul Ancestor, but his strength was not outstanding among those of the same rank. He had nearly been injured while helping Tang San obtain his second soul ring.

Now they needed to hunt a thousand-year soul beast for the third soul ring. How could the headmaster dare accept such a task?

Yet he could not refuse. Yu Xiaogang's background was far too formidable. Not only was he the son of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Sect's leader, he also held a Spirit Hall elder's token.

The headmaster could not afford to offend him. He could only grit his teeth and accompany Yu Xiaogang and Tang San to the Soul Hunting Forest once more.

As for the Star Dou Forest, the headmaster absolutely did not dare go there.

Thousand-year and ten-thousand-year soul beasts roamed everywhere there. Whether an ordinary Soul Ancestor could even make it back alive was a question.

Not to mention that he had two burdens in tow.

Soul beasts were already scarce in the Soul Hunting Forest. For safety's sake, the headmaster was only willing to help Tang San hunt a soul beast that had barely passed a thousand years.

After searching and choosing for a long time, they ultimately found only a spider soul beast that was just over a thousand years old.

Tang San had no choice. He could only absorb this barely thousand-year soul beast, and the quality of his soul ring was far inferior to that in the original story.

As for where Tang San's father, Tang Hao, had gone?

Ever since Nezha had taken the hundred-thousand-year Blue Silver Emperor and soul bone from the waterfall cave six years ago, Tang Hao had gone completely insane.

He rampaged across the continent, searching everywhere for Ah Yin's traces while crazily attacking Spirit Hall branches in various places.

A crazed Titled Douluo wreaking havoc everywhere had left the entire Spirit Hall in a state of panic.

Bibi Dong had sent Titled Douluo after him several times, but each time they came up empty-handed. A Titled Douluo's speed and strength were what they were—capturing one was easier said than done.

That was why Tang Hao had not been by Tang San's side when he obtained his third soul ring. Beside him were only Yu Xiaogang and the trembling headmaster.

Without his Titled Douluo father protecting him, the soul ring Tang San could obtain was naturally of much lower quality.

Li Yusong, the teacher in charge of the test, nodded and made a mark in the register. "Pass. Next."

Tang San stepped aside. His gaze swept over the line behind him, pausing briefly on the girl in the white dress before moving away, his face expressionless.

The next person was the girl in the white dress standing before Zhu Zhuqing.

The girl walked forward with a smile and generously extended her right hand. In her palm, an exquisite seven-tier pagoda silently appeared, rainbow light flowing over its body.

The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda.

Zhu Zhuqing's gaze sharpened.

Though she came from the Star Luo Empire, this martial soul was too famous. It was the number one support martial soul in the world and one of the continent's strongest tool martial souls. Its reputation was even greater than that of some top-tier beast martial souls.

Anyone who could awaken this martial soul had to be a direct descendant of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.

A faint expectation rose in Zhu Zhuqing's heart again. The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect was one of the three great sects, and its disciples were notoriously proud. If even they had come to apply to Shrek Academy, then this academy had to possess something extraordinary.

This shabby village and its humble registration area might be a test deliberately set by the academy, meant to weed out mediocre people who only judged by appearances.

Li Yusong frowned slightly as he looked at the rainbow pagoda. "Do your family know you came here?"

If the little princess of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect had secretly run off to enroll in some unknown little academy, then once word got out, their academy would likely have the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect knocking at its door.

Ning Rongrong raised her chin slightly, her tone confident and frank. "They say education should know no class distinction. As long as I meet the requirements, you have no reason not to accept me."

Li Yusong froze for a moment, then smiled and shook his head.

This little girl had a sharp tongue and plenty of confidence. But since she had passed, he naturally approved her. As for the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect coming after them, Flender could deal with that.

With a broad stroke of his pen, he wrote "Pass" in the register.

Ning Rongrong turned and walked to the side. As she passed Tang San, she paused and gave him a curious look, seemingly quite interested in this twelve-year-old Soul Elder.

But Zhu Zhuqing was not looking at Ning Rongrong.

She was looking at Dai Mubai.

From the moment Ning Rongrong had stepped forward, Dai Mubai's gaze had been glued to her.

Greed showed undisguised in those double pupils as he looked the girl in white over from head to toe, an unpleasant smile hanging on his lips.

Zhu Zhuqing expressionlessly withdrew her gaze, lowering her opinion of this fiancé of hers by another notch.

Once Ning Rongrong had finished testing, it was Zhu Zhuqing's turn. She stepped forward without any unnecessary movements and directly released her martial soul.

Possessed by the Hell Spirit Cat, her pupils gleamed with an eerie green light beneath the sun. Sharp claws sprang from her fingertips, and a cat tail slowly swayed behind her.

Dai Mubai's gaze shifted from Ning Rongrong to Zhu Zhuqing. When it landed on her face, greed habitually surfaced in his eyes, but the instant Zhu Zhuqing released her martial soul, he froze.

The Hell Spirit Cat.

He knew this martial soul too well. It was the inherited martial soul of the Star Luo Zhu Family, the martial soul of his fiancée, Zhu Zhuqing.

He narrowed his double pupils and carefully examined the dirty-faced girl before him.

Her fitted clothes were caked in dust, her lips were cracked, and dark shadows lay beneath her eyes. In this wretched state, she was utterly unlike the icy Second Miss in his memories.

But he could not mistake those eyes.

Zhu Zhuqing.

His fiancée.

A teasing smile curled onto Dai Mubai's lips as he strode forward.

"Hello, my name is Dai Mubai."

When he spoke his name, his voice carried absolute confidence.

He believed that upon hearing the three words "Dai Mubai," Zhu Zhuqing would immediately show a delighted expression and respectfully call him "Brother Mubai," just as she had before.

Zhu Zhuqing did not look up. She did not even spare him a glance as she walked straight past him.

The atmosphere suddenly stiffened.

The smile on Dai Mubai's face froze. His outstretched hand hung in midair, awkwardly caught between withdrawing it and leaving it there.

Ning Rongrong's gaze shifted between him and Zhu Zhuqing, her eyes filled with curiosity and a faint, barely concealed eagerness to watch the show.

Tang San watched expressionlessly, but his deep blue eyes were clearly studying them as well.