Shrek Academy

Seven years later.

Balak Kingdom, Suotuo City.

At the western gate, two young people walked together, a boy and a girl who looked no more than twelve or thirteen. The boy wore a fitted blue outfit, with a belt inlaid with twenty-four pieces of jade around his waist. His appearance was rather ordinary, but a smile always lingered at the corners of his lips. The girl beside him was far more mischievous and lively. Most eye-catching was the enormous scorpion braid hanging down to her calves. These two were the twelve-year-old Tang San and Xiao Wu.

Just as in the story, after receiving six years of instruction from the Grandmaster at the junior Soul Master academy, Tang San and Xiao Wu had come to Suotuo City to enroll at Shrek Academy. The familiar Rose Hotel, the clichéd turn of events—just as Xiao Wu and Tang San were about to take the key to the last available room, a frivolous and arrogant voice rang out.

"Hold it. I'd say the last room should be mine, shouldn't it?"

Dai Mubai had an arm around a pair of twins—or, more accurately, they were supporting him. His steps were strange, uneven and limping. A faint bruise could still be seen at the corner of his mouth, yet his Soul Power, as high as rank thirty-seven, still made Xiao Wu and Tang San feel pressured.

"Hey, do you even understand first come, first served?"

Xiao Wu snorted, her face full of displeasure. Dai Mubai merely glanced at her, icy coldness filling his mismatched eyes. He was already in a foul mood, and now some little girl was actually lecturing him?

"So what? I reserved this room in the first place!"

"So what? Get lost."

Dai Mubai's face instantly darkened.

"Little girl, talking like that comes with a price."

The moment he finished speaking, Dai Mubai shoved the twins aside and shot forward like a cannonball. Xiao Wu was just about to make a move when Tang San, standing beside her, met him head-on without the slightest fear.

Bang!

Their fists collided. The instant they made contact, Dai Mubai's expression changed. He had not expected this kid, several years younger than himself, to possess such strength! Yet Tang San was even more shocked. Dai Mubai was not much older than him, but his Soul Power surpassed Tang San's by far. More outrageous still—what was with that strength?

After the clash, Tang San staggered back nearly ten steps, while Dai Mubai moved back only half a step.

"What tremendous force!"

Tang San could not help but praise him.

However, those words seemed to hit a sore spot. Dai Mubai stiffened, and a faint stab of pain came from the corner of his mouth. Decent strength?

"Kid, you've got some guts, but that won't be enough!"

Three horizontal strokes and one vertical stroke formed the character for king upon his forehead! White Tiger Possession! Two yellow and one purple Soul Rings pulsed around his body.

Tang San did not dare let his guard down. Vine-like Blue Silver Grass emerged from his palm, while two yellow Soul Rings displayed the Soul Power of a Soul Grandmaster.

"Soul Power above rank twenty-five? Interesting!"

Dai Mubai raised an eyebrow. Such Soul Power fluctuations, at such an age...

"A Soul Elder... What a monster!"

Tang San's face turned grave. Dai Mubai was an entire major realm above him, not to mention that Thousand-Year Soul Ring. This would not be an easy fight.

The two launched into a fierce battle. Dai Mubai's formidable strength made Tang San, who had always ranked at the top of his junior academy, feel long-forgotten pressure. He even had the feeling that Dai Mubai seemed stronger than the Soul Ancestor headmaster of Nuoding Junior Soul Master Academy!

Tang San prepared to reveal every trump card he had, but in the midst of the fight, Dai Mubai suddenly stopped.

"Forget it. I'm not interested in fighting two twelve-year-old brats!"

Dai Mubai yawned. In truth, he was nowhere near as relaxed as he looked. The injury to his leg prevented him from using his full strength, but as for how he had gotten that injury...

Whenever he thought of that bastard who loafed around all day, spoke in that mocking tone, and had higher Soul Power despite being a year younger than him, his teeth itched with hatred!

"Judging by your cultivation, you're probably heading to Shrek Academy too, right? Keep a low profile, especially you, little girl! Otherwise, don't blame me for not warning you when you suffer for it!"

Dai Mubai waved his hand and left, leaving Tang San and Xiao Wu staring at each other.

"Brother, what did that guy mean?"

Xiao Wu felt that Dai Mubai's words carried some hidden meaning.

Tang San unconsciously touched Twenty-Four Moonlit Bridges. The hidden weapons inside were his true trump cards, while the crystal he had purchased from that strange shop before entering the hotel would soon become his greatest trump card.

He had immense confidence in the hidden weapons of the Tang Sect!

Only...

"Shrek Academy, Dai Mubai the Evil Eye White Tiger! At his age, someone could actually injure him? It seems this Shrek Academy truly has hidden dragons and crouching tigers..."

The next day.

Tang San and Xiao Wu got up early, mainly because Tang San did not want to recall the awkward scene from the previous night. After leaving Suotuo City, the two strolled along a country road for a long while, until a village came into view.

The two looked at each other, but with a "we're already here" attitude, they decided to investigate.

Yet the run-down state of Shrek Academy still exceeded Tang San and Xiao Wu's expectations.

A partially rotted wooden gate, a strange academy emblem, and the five crooked characters reading "Shrek Academy"... If they had not seen so many people lining up at registration, Tang San and Xiao Wu would never have believed this was a Soul Master Academy!

"What?! He doesn't qualify? Are you kidding me? My son is a genius at his junior Soul Master academy! Didn't you see it? His first Soul Ring is a hundred-year one! There aren't many Soul Masters with a hundred-year first ring!"

Tang San and Xiao Wu had just joined the line when they heard an angry roar from a middle-aged man ahead.

"Scammers! Give us our money back! That was ten Gold Soul Coins!"

"I already told you, once you register, the registration fee will not be refunded! Next!"

The man was clearly unwilling to accept it. Then Tang San and Xiao Wu saw Dai Mubai, whom they had encountered at the Rose Hotel yesterday. He did not waste words. Martial Soul Possession! Three Soul Rings rose and fell around him, and his Soul Elder cultivation instantly shut the middle-aged man up.

"I told you already, Shrek Academy only accepts monsters! A genius? Only someone twelve years old with Soul Power above rank twenty can barely be called a genius! And genius is merely the entry ticket here!"

Li Yusong, who was in charge of admissions, stood up impatiently. An extremely powerful aura suddenly burst from his body, and a long staff appeared in his hand. Six Soul Rings rose around him—one white, two yellow, two purple, and one black! The aura of a Soul Emperor was fully revealed. He slammed the Dragon-Patterned Staff in his hand into the ground, and several people in line lost their footing and fell.

"Next!"

After that display, there were clearly far fewer applicants. Those who remained all met the requirements, paid the ten Gold Soul Coin registration fee, and passed the first test.

"Only monsters? This academy is pretty interesting!"

The numbness in his calves quickly faded. Tang San and Xiao Wu stood beside Dai Mubai. After fighting yesterday, the atmosphere between Tang San and Dai Mubai had improved considerably. It was a case of no friendship without a fight, and the two chatted idly.

A moment later, two more students approached. They were Ning Rongrong and Zhu Zhuqing.

"Let's go! I'll take you to the next test. But judging by the Soul Power fluctuations from all of you, you should all be above rank twenty-five, right? As long as you reach rank twenty-five, you can go directly to the fourth test!"

Everyone nodded. Ning Rongrong had the lowest Soul Power among them, but even she was rank twenty-six. After a round of showing off in front of one another and displaying their Martial Souls, they smoothly arrived at the fourth test.

Before they even entered the fourth test grounds, a golden beam suddenly shot into the sky in the distance. Just as Tang San and the others were wondering what it was, a foul stench drifted over from afar.

"Come take a look! Oscar-brand stinky tofu! Eat it, and you'll have a better chance of passing the test!"

The voice was soft and limp, but its owner had a face full of beard. A wooden cart stood before him, piled high with stinky tofu. Beside him was a reclining chair, upon which lay a boy who looked fourteen or fifteen. He wore a pair of sunglasses and lounged lazily, occasionally picking up a piece of stinky tofu from the cart and tossing it into his mouth.

"This is..."

Tang San's mouth twitched. What kind of extraordinary people were all gathered at Shrek Academy?

The three girls beside him all covered their noses. The stench was simply too intense!

"Little Ao! How many times have I told you not to sell stinky tofu in the academy?!"

"And you! Su Sanjia! Stop using your soul skill as Little Ao's advertising sign!"

Dai Mubai looked ready to devour someone, but Tang San's expression was strange. Why did Dai Mubai's tone seem to carry a faint hint of lacking confidence?