Lin Yan's Hidden Depths

Unlike other academies, Shrek Academy's internal layout and scenery were all extremely close to nature. Walking through it felt like entering a natural world, with every corner bringing a light, comfortable feeling.

After passing along the lakeside path, the group of three arrived before an enormous square.

"Junior brothers, this is Shrek Square. Whenever the academy holds important celebrations or ceremonies, this is the venue we choose. The entrance test for new students is being held here as well," Yu Feifei introduced.

Lin Yan glanced at the vast square before him.

At that moment, the several-thousand-square-meter square was indeed extremely lively. It had been divided into several different areas, each packed with people and buzzing with noise, brimming with a festive atmosphere.

Lin Yan asked, "Senior sister, what does the new student test include?"

Yu Feifei explained, "It's actually very simple. There's some registration and a few basic tests. As long as you meet the requirements—under twelve years old and with soul power above level fifteen—you can usually pass without any trouble."

"Oh!"

Lin Yan nodded in understanding.

Led by Yu Feifei, Lin Yan and Bei Bei first completed their identity registration in the registration area near the entrance, then continued inward.

Before long, the two arrived at the second section of Shrek Square—the age-testing area.

The so-called age-testing area was where they checked whether the new students met the age requirement. The method was very simple as well.

At the innermost part of the area stood a row of tables and chairs. Five elderly men sat behind the tables, feeling the bones of the queued new students to determine their bone age.

Watching this, Lin Yan secretly shook his head.

If he remembered correctly, by this point, Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineer Academy had already developed auxiliary soul tools capable of detecting bone age.

Yet Shrek Academy, the number one academy on the continent, still used such a primitive, outdated method.

It was clear that in terms of soul tools, Shrek Academy truly lagged far behind Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineer Academy.

Bei Bei and Lin Yan stood at the back of the line and began waiting.

They were both ten years old, still far from the twelve-year age limit, so they naturally passed this section without incident.

After leaving the area, both of their forms had "ten years old" written in the bone-age column, along with an official stamp.

The third area ahead was the soul power testing area.

There was another row of tables and chairs, but instead of elderly men like in the previous test, the people sitting behind them were male and female students wearing yellow uniforms like Yu Feifei's.

The reason was very simple.

Bone testing required experience and strength; it was not a skill just anyone possessed.

Testing soul power was different. All it took was a soul power crystal, and the staff here only needed to record the results, so the academy's Academic Affairs Office had directly assigned upperclassmen to oversee the area.

After waiting for around ten minutes, it was finally Bei Bei's turn.

Bei Bei stepped forward and placed his right palm on the soul power crystal ball on the table.

The next moment, the crystal ball burst into light, displaying the number twenty-five.

"Twenty-fifth level soul power!"

The moment those words rang out, both old and new students nearby were greatly surprised.

Possessing twenty-fifth level soul power before the age of twelve already qualified as a genius by ordinary standards.

What was more, Bei Bei's form clearly stated that his bone age was ten!

Yu Feifei looked at Bei Bei in shock. "I never expected Junior Brother Bei Bei to have twenty-fifth level soul power at only ten years old."

Yu Feifei's voice was filled with astonishment.

The reason was simple. She had only reached twenty-fifth level soul power when she was nearly fourteen, yet Bei Bei had achieved such cultivation more than three years ahead of her!

At that moment, only one word remained in her mind: genius!

Taking a deep breath, Yu Feifei quietly asked Lin Yan, "Junior Brother Lin Yan, what is your relationship with Junior Brother Bei Bei?"

Lin Yan smiled. "I'm his cousin."

"His cousin?"

Yu Feifei blinked and asked, "Then does your cousin have a girlfriend?"

A strange expression appeared on Lin Yan's face. "He doesn't. But Senior Sister, my cousin is only ten!"

"Oh, right. Ten really is far too young!"

A trace of distress appeared on Yu Feifei's face.

After Bei Bei completed the test, the soul power level column on his form now bore the number twenty-five.

Once the test was over, Bei Bei stepped to the side and made room for Lin Yan.

After handing his form to the young man behind the table, Lin Yan placed his palm on the crystal ball.

The next moment, a burst of light several times stronger than before erupted.

The instant the light appeared, it drew the attention of everyone nearby.

Under the gazes of the crowd, the number thirty-two suddenly appeared on the surface of the crystal ball.

"Thirty-two?"

The many gazes directed this way gradually shifted from confusion to shock.

That was hardly surprising.

Even in Shrek Academy's outer court, students generally only became Soul Elders in their third or fourth year, at an average age of around fourteen or fifteen.

New students could not be older than twelve, so the chance of a Soul Elder appearing among them was extremely rare. At most, there would only be one or two each year, and sometimes there would not even be a single one.

Yet at that moment, a thirty-second-level Soul Elder had appeared among the new students.

Moreover, judging from the bone age on his form, he was only ten years old!

A ten-year-old Soul Elder?

The male student responsible for registration behind the table stared at Lin Yan as if he had seen a ghost.

He too had been born into a fairly powerful Soul Master family, but he had never heard of anyone becoming a Soul Elder at the age of ten!

Seeing the yellow-robed young man standing there in a daze, Lin Yan smiled and reminded him, "Senior Brother, is that enough?"

"Ah—"

The young man's body trembled, and he immediately came back to his senses. He looked at the number on the crystal ball, nodded, then somewhat flusteredly recorded Lin Yan's soul power cultivation on the new student form and stamped it with a red seal.

"Cousin, let's go."

With so many people staring at him without blinking, Lin Yan felt rather uncomfortable and immediately spoke.

"Mm."

Bei Bei nodded, and the two quickly left together.

At the same time, Yu Feifei snapped out of her daze and hurried after them.

Her gaze continuously examined Lin Yan, and the shock in her voice was impossible to hide. "Cousin Lin Yan, I thought your cousin was the genius. I never expected you to be the one hiding your true abilities."

Lin Yan chuckled. "I wasn't hiding anything. Senior Sister, that means we've passed the test, right?"

"Mm."

Yu Feifei nodded. "Now you can take your forms to complete registration, then collect your uniforms and dormitory keys. But today is the first day of admissions season, so the class assignments will not be ready so quickly. They will be announced in a few days."

Next, Lin Yan and Bei Bei completed their registration together. Each of them paid ten gold soul coins as an application fee, which was no small amount.

Since they were both assault-type Soul Masters and had registered one after the other, they were assigned to the same dormitory.