Xiao Xiao

"What genius? What are you muttering about?" A crisp female voice rang out beside his ear again. "Can't you lower your head and look? Are you really a new student? You're so tall!"

Yuwen Tuo froze, then instinctively lowered his head. What entered his sight was a little girl with green hair. She had a sweet, adorable appearance, long hair tied into a side ponytail, green eyes, and a green dress.

Yuwen Tuo's face immediately darkened. He had thought she was some formidable expert, but it turned out the girl was simply too short for him to notice her.

That appearance also reminded him of someone—Xiao Xiao, the future fifth member of the Shrek Seven Devils.

She had indeed enrolled in the same year as Huo Yuhao.

She was the same age as Huo Yuhao, so she should have been around ten or eleven now. Girls that age were generally at least 1.3 meters tall, but this little girl was, at most, 1.2 meters.

Fortunately, according to the original work, she was a classic late bloomer. After growing up, her pure and adorable looks would become gentle and graceful, delicate and captivating. Her future was still promising.

More importantly, she was also a rare wielder of Twin Martial Souls, with enormous potential.

Yuwen Tuo smiled and deliberately said, "That's right. Big Brother is about to become a new student at Shrek Academy. What is it, little sister? Are you thinking of enrolling at Shrek too? But you're still too young. Come back after growing a few more years."

"I-I'm not a little sister!" Xiao Xiao's little face flushed red with anger. She was merely a bit petite; she was not actually a child.

"I'm also a new student here to register for Shrek. I came over to greet you because you look so... ah, no, because you caught my eye. Don't underestimate me."

Yuwen Tuo smiled faintly. Now he was even more certain that this girl was Xiao Xiao. Not only did she look like her, but her personality was much the same as he remembered.

She had originally wanted to say that he was handsome, but changed it to "caught my eye" out of embarrassment.

At this point, Xiao Xiao still cared about appearances, which was why she fell for Wang Dong, who dressed as a boy in the original work.

"I see. It seems I misunderstood. Sorry, sorry. My name is Yuwen Tuo. I'm twelve years old, a level-twenty, one-ring assault-type Battle Soul Master. Please guide me," Yuwen Tuo said seriously, no longer teasing Xiao Xiao. Too much would be counterproductive.

"You're so polite, so I won't be angry anymore. Hello, my name is Xiao Xiao. I'm eleven years old, a level-twenty-two, two-ring control-support Battle Soul Grandmaster. Please guide me as well." Xiao Xiao had a good temper, and her anger vanished as soon as Yuwen Tuo apologized. "Oh, right. You said you're level twenty. Why do you only have one ring?"

"Well, due to some special circumstances, I can't obtain my second soul ring for the time being."

"Special circumstances? Oh, I get it. You couldn't make it before the registration deadline, right? You must have only recently broken through to level twenty, but because you wanted to enroll at Shrek, you didn't have time to go to Star Dou Forest, right?" Xiao Xiao filled in the blanks.

"Uh, more or less..." Yuwen Tuo thought about it. At least two parts of Xiao Xiao's answer were correct.

First, he had indeed only recently broken through to level twenty. Second, he really could not go to Star Dou Forest. The only wrong part was that he would never temporarily give up obtaining a soul ring just to register at Shrek. He could not wait to leave Shrek, but if he wanted to leave now, he first had to join. Only then would he have the chance in the future to meet the person who could help him.

"You made the right choice. The opportunity to enroll at Shrek is far more precious than hunting a soul ring." Xiao Xiao nodded. "But your talent is a little lacking. If this were Shrek from ten thousand years ago, you wouldn't have met the requirements. You wouldn't even pass the first test."

When Shrek had first been established ten thousand years ago, one had to reach two rings before the age of twelve. And that was only the minimum requirement. After that, they would still assess whether one's cultivation direction was correct, whether one's combat ability was outstanding, and so on.

In this era, the admission requirements had only been relaxed to give more people—noble children—an opportunity.

There were two requirements for admission to Shrek Academy's outer court. The first was being no older than twelve, while the second was possessing no less than level-fifteen Soul Power.

Xiao Xiao wanted to pat Yuwen Tuo on the shoulder, but realized she could not reach. Jumping up to do it would be embarrassing, and she rather liked Yuwen Tuo's face, so she did not want to ruin her ladylike image in front of him. In the end, she could only pat his arm. "But it's fine. Since you're enrolling together with me, I'll protect you. How about we take the New Student Assessment together when the time comes?"

Xiao Xiao extended the invitation. She was quite confident and proud, but that was only natural. Based solely on the strength and talent she displayed openly, breaking through level twenty and reaching two rings at eleven years old made her one of the best among all the applicants.

At least, to someone unaware of the situation, she was stronger than Yuwen Tuo, a twelve-year-old with one ring.

It was precisely because of this talent that the city lord of her city had personally written her a recommendation letter for Shrek Academy.

"Then thank you. Come on, it'll be our turn soon," Yuwen Tuo said with a smile.

Up ahead, Huo Yuhao had already finished registering. He originally did not meet the admission requirements, since he had only just passed level ten. However, he had joined Tang Ya's Tang Sect. As the sect established by Tang San, Shrek Academy's legendary student, the Tang Sect possessed one test-exempt admission slot every year.

At present, including Sect Master Tang Ya, the Tang Sect only had three members. Senior Brother Bei Bei had enrolled long ago, so that slot naturally belonged to Huo Yuhao. No one could compete with him for it.

Yuwen Tuo and Xiao Xiao walked up to the registration desk.

The registration teacher said to them, "Extend your arms and reveal your Martial Souls."

Extending one's arm was to test bone age. This method had remained unchanged for more than ten thousand years, and it was indeed effective.

"Mm, twelve years old and eleven years old. Both of you meet the age requirement."

Naturally, Yuwen Tuo and Xiao Xiao could not falsify their ages. Yan Shaozhe had also waited until Yuwen Tuo turned twelve before releasing him, so as not to break the academy's rules. Otherwise, another year later, he would have exceeded the admission age.

The two released their Martial Souls. Xiao Xiao's was a large cauldron—the Three Lives Soul-Quelling Cauldron. It was an extremely ancient Martial Soul whose inheritance had been severed several times. In ancient times, cauldrons had been Nation's Heavy Weapons. When the three cauldrons were separated, their attack was strongest; when the three cauldrons combined, their defense was strongest. It could be considered a top-tier Martial Soul.

Two yellow soul rings circled it, making the registration teacher's eyes light up. Among the students registering today, Xiao Xiao's aptitude was definitely among the best.

Yuwen Tuo, on the other hand, appeared relatively ordinary. Although his was the rare Fire Element Martial Soul, he only had one ring. His talent was sufficient for admission, but it did not draw much attention.