Preparing for Enrollment

"Really?"

En Ci looked at En Zuo suspiciously. Why did this kid seem so strange today? But his long-standing trust in En Zuo suppressed those doubts.

Yet with the evidence so conclusive and En Zuo still unwilling to pursue the matter, En Ci, as his teacher, could not say much more.

After all, Huo Yuhao had not committed any fundamental wrongdoing. Given the potential he had displayed, he was worthy of Monster Academy's cultivation.

En Ci knew what to do. This matter would be handled lightly, and no one would pursue it further in the future.

Over the past two days, although Huo Yuhao had not officially enrolled, the academy's teachers had responsibly assessed his abilities.

Innate soul power rank one, with a ten-year soul ring that possessed four soul skills.

No one was foolish enough to mock him aloud.

Not to mention that Huo Yuhao had been personally brought in by En Zuo, that Long Yue had declared his protection over him, and even Dean En Ci had shown obvious interest in the boy.

Furthermore, the abnormalities in his martial soul and soul ring were practically carved from the same mold as the deeds of the Ice Spirit Douluo Huo Yuhao ten thousand years ago.

When one person bore some resemblance to another great powerhouse, people might smile knowingly and make a few jokes.

But if they were identical, it inevitably made people draw connections and feel a trace of reverence.

"Perhaps you really did find yourself an extraordinary companion." En Ci laughed helplessly.

"But don't get complacent. You are still five people short of forming a soul master team. If you cannot gather them, then in the team competition, you will face the risk of fighting enemies with fewer people."

En Ci composed himself and said solemnly, "If, four years from now, your team cannot defeat the Heavenly Kings Team led by Long Yue..."

"Then..."

"You, the captain, will be temporarily drafted into Monster Academy's Heavenly Kings as the eighth Heavenly King for the competition."

En Zuo nodded without hesitation. If he could not even defeat Monster Academy's Heavenly Kings, then defeating Shrek itself would be nothing but a fallacy.

En Ci nodded in satisfaction. In his view, as long as Long Yue remained the leader of the Eight Heavenly Kings and continued cultivating steadily, he would be a formidable opponent En Zuo had to deal with.

Aside from Tong Yu, it was difficult to find a genius soul master as powerful as Long Yue anywhere on the Star Luo Continent. In En Ci's eyes, En Zuo was already quite fortunate to have picked up a soul master resembling Huo Yuhao from ten thousand years ago.

Yet En Zuo looked utterly confident of victory.

A vague unease rose in En Ci's heart. Surely En Zuo could not bring Tang San here to become a Monster Academy student too?

"Teacher, since there's nothing else, what about Yuhao?" En Zuo had been holed up in his dormitory these past two days, busy designing battle armor and paying little attention to academy affairs.

After all, Huo Yuhao already had Long Yue watching over him, so En Zuo did not need to worry too much about everyday matters.

His main concern was that En Ci might discover Huo Yuhao's suspected "deception" and use some means to detain him.

"Him..." En Ci's aged face twitched slightly, clearly puzzled. "I heard he refused the financial aid Monster Academy offered and set up a grilled fish stall in the vendors' area outside the academy."

"In his spare time between training, he started selling grilled fish."

"I heard business has been quite good. He does not even need to call out to customers. Not long after he sets up his stall each time, the grilled fish is completely sold out."

Thinking of this, En Ci could not help but sigh. Judging solely from the tragic circumstances Huo Yuhao had described, his resilient mind, his body martial soul, and the ten-year Wind Baboon soul ring that provided four soul skills—

No matter how one looked at it, he was an outstanding student.

En Zuo's attention was focused elsewhere. It had appeared—the legendary Supreme Charm Fish. Legend had it that every soul master who ate Huo Yuhao's grilled fish praised its flavor without exception.

He had not expected Huo Yuhao-brand grilled fish to remain so popular even ten thousand years later.

Gold would always shine. That saying truly did not deceive him.

With Huo Yuhao's matter settled, En Ci revealed the arrangements he had made for the two of them. "I intend to arrange your entrance examinations within the next two months."

"After completing the entrance examinations, you will become official members of Monster Academy and be assigned to classes based on your results. This year's first-year enrollment has reached 1,580 students, and we expect to open fifty classes."

An examination?

En Zuo was not worried about whether he could pass. With his rank thirty-five soul power and three ten-thousand-year soul rings, the combined age of the soul rings possessed by the disciples conducting the assessment might not even exceed that of his first soul ring.

What concerned him was how Huo Yuhao, with only rank eleven soul power, could pass the assessment without severely overtaxing his body.

As the Star Luo Empire's highest institution, Monster Academy's enrollment requirement was rank twenty soul power or above by the age of twelve.

Huo Yuhao was nearly twelve and had only rank eleven soul power. Being granted the right to take the assessment was already an enormous relaxation of the standards.

If he were granted exemption from the examination,

the outcome would instead be counterproductive.

En Zuo understood Huo Yuhao's stubborn personality.

Leaving aside how the other students might view Huo Yuhao, Huo Yuhao himself would never accept it.

Huo Yuhao had strong self-respect. If something could be earned through his own efforts, he would never rely on powerful connections to obtain it.

Monster Academy had no Tang Sect, nor had it ever made exceptions for special admissions.

Having suffered unfair treatment since childhood, how could Huo Yuhao accept doing something unfair to others?

"Does Huo Yuhao know about this?"

"Yesterday, Long Yue informed Huo Yuhao of it on my behalf," En Ci said.

En Zuo pondered for a moment, then said seriously, "Teacher, I want to see Huo Yuhao."

But in En Ci's eyes, this looked like En Zuo wanting to grant Huo Yuhao an exemption from the examination.

En Ci found it rather interesting. He had not expected the ever-confident En Zuo to lack confidence in whether the person he had chosen could pass the freshman assessment. "Do you think he will fall during the freshman assessment and fail?"

"Judging from the information on paper alone, there is absolutely no way he can pass." En Zuo's expression showed no surprise, but he quickly added, "Yet I have always felt that he will definitely pass through his own ability."

"Why?" En Ci did not understand.

"Because his name is Huo Yuhao."

Supporting En Ci, En Zuo walked toward the outer edge of the dormitory area, smiling as he said, "Teacher, why has Shrek been able to sit firmly as Douluo Star's number one academy for so long? It is not because of Shrek's so-called glory, nor because of cultivation talent."

"It is because of the determination in their hearts to seize victory at all costs."

"I saw that determination in Huo Yuhao."

"He will not fail."

"En Zuo... you are too naive." En Ci shook his head. "Determination alone is not enough. Without absolute strength to support it, Shrek could never have maintained its current status."

Over the past ten thousand years, relying on its reputation, Shrek had practically monopolized all the outstanding students across the entire Douluo Continent. Geniuses took pride in having come from Shrek.

One could say that geniuses had made Shrek what it was today. Likewise, Shrek had made these geniuses what they were today.

A soul master's determination and will were merely a small aspect that did not constitute strength.