The Fourth Trial

Dai Mubai placed a hand on each of An Chen and Tang San's shoulders. "Come on. I'll take you through directly to the fourth trial. No need to line up."

Tang San was somewhat surprised. "Wouldn't that be inappropriate?"

"Let's go." An Chen remained calm.

Only an idiot would turn down a free advantage.

"Don't worry, this isn't favoritism. It's the treatment you deserve." As Dai Mubai spoke, he led the three of them forward.

Dai Mubai whispered a few words into the ear of the teacher overseeing the second trial, then pointed at An Chen's group behind him.

The teacher in charge nodded. "Fine. Take them directly to the fourth trial."

Just as Dai Mubai was about to lead the three away, the applicants in line were unwilling to accept it.

One male applicant spoke up directly. "Teacher, what's going on? Why can they skip ahead to the fourth trial while we have to pass through each stage one by one?"

The teacher replied evenly, "If your Soul Power exceeds level twenty-five as well, you can also skip directly to the fourth trial instead of wasting time here."

The male applicant asked doubtfully, "Their Soul Power is above level twenty-five? How is that possible? We're all only twelve years old. How could they be that much stronger?"

Dai Mubai's expression turned cold as he rebuked him. "Just because you can't do it doesn't mean others can't. When I entered the academy, my Soul Power was also level twenty-five."

Hearing that, An Chen somehow felt a flicker of anger rise within him. He said coldly, "Not everyone is as useless as you."

The boy opposite him spoke with a slight tremor in his voice. "We've only barely reached level twenty. How could you possibly already be level twenty-five?"

Dai Mubai handed over the crystal ball used to test Soul Power. "Let them see for themselves."

An Chen took the crystal ball and poured his Soul Power into it. The crystal ball in his hand instantly emitted a dazzling radiance, the sign of Soul Power reaching level thirty.

He then handed the crystal ball to Tang San and Xiao Wu beside him.

The same light shone again, completely silencing the other applicants.

Just when everyone thought the matter was over, a crisp voice rang out.

"Teacher, I think I should be able to skip the second and third trials as well."

The speaker was a girl in a white dress. She had short hair cut to her ears, an exquisitely delicate and exceptionally fair face, and an otherworldly temperament.

Ning Rongrong, the eldest daughter of the Seven Treasures Glazed Sect and inheritor of the Seven Treasures Glazed Pagoda, the greatest support Wuhun in the world.

Xiao Wu instinctively passed her the crystal ball. White light lit up—level twenty-six.

Ning Rongrong was about to speak when the crystal ball vanished from her hand. Another figure silently appeared at her side, and white light shone again, several degrees brighter than Ning Rongrong's—level twenty-seven.

It was the cold girl who had arrived last with Dai Mubai, Zhu Zhuqing.

As Zhu Zhuqing approached, An Chen's intuition gave a faint twitch.

The teacher in charge of testing revealed undisguised astonishment. "Five monsters all at once. Good, good. Looks like I might finally get a raise. Mubai, take all five of them to the fourth trial."

"Yes." Dai Mubai answered, his evil eyes giving the cold girl a somewhat complicated look before he turned and headed deeper into the academy.

This time, no applicant raised an objection.

Strength had already proven everything.

The five followed Dai Mubai inside as he explained, "There are four trials in total. The first eliminates applicants whose Soul Power is below level twenty-one or who are older than thirteen. It filters out the most people."

"The second tests Soul Power and Wuhun, examining development potential and Soul Ring combinations."

"The third tests control over one's Wuhun. If you can't control it, that means you aren't diligent enough as a Soul Master."

"The fourth tests practical combat experience. Those raised in pampered comfort are rejected without exception."

Tang San asked, "But my Wuhun is Blue Silver Grass. It should have the least development potential. Why...?"

Dai Mubai laughed heartily. "The academy has a rule. If your Soul Power exceeds level twenty-five, then regardless of your Wuhun, you directly pass the second and third trials. One force can overcome ten techniques. High Soul Power is reason enough."

Tang San's Clear Sky Hammer was probably difficult to control now. An Chen nodded.

"What about the fourth trial?"

"Practical combat experience." Dai Mubai paused. "The headmaster once said that those raised in pampered comfort are rejected without exception."

Xiao Wu blurted out, "Are you selecting students or picking wives? Isn't this way too strict? Only monsters could possibly pass all four trials."

Dai Mubai gave a bitter smile. "Shrek Academy has existed for twenty years and has admitted only forty-two students, averaging a little over two per year. If all five of you are admitted this year, that'll set a record. In the past two years, the academy hasn't accepted a single student. At present, including me, there are only three students enrolled."

"Three?" Other than An Chen and the cold girl, the other three cried out in surprise almost simultaneously.

An Chen said nothing. He had long known what Shrek was like. This rundown academy would become famous across the continent twenty years later, and every person who left it would be someone capable of stirring the winds and clouds.

Dai Mubai continued, "The headmaster once said that it's better to have none than accept the mediocre. Even if the academy has to close, it will never accept trash—only monsters. The graduation requirement? Reaching level forty, Soul Ancestor, before the age of twenty. Out of forty-two students, only fourteen truly graduated. The most outstanding one is now the youngest elder in Spirit Hall, with authority second only to the Supreme Pontiff."

By the end, Dai Mubai's tone was filled with respect.

Tang San smiled. "I'm very fortunate to have come here."

Yes, you will be fortunate—the son of the Clear Sky Douluo, possessor of twin Wuhuns, one of the most dazzling names on the continent in the future.

"We're here." Dai Mubai stopped.

Before them was an open area of only around two hundred square meters.

A middle-aged man who appeared to be in his fifties was sitting in a chair, dozing off.

Sunlight fell across him while dust swirled around his feet.

An Chen looked at him once, then again.

He recognized the man.

Zhao Wuji, known as the Immovable Bright King, a level seventy-six Soul Saint with the Vajra Gigantic Bear Wuhun, and vice headmaster of Shrek Academy.

In the original story, this man was the examiner for the fourth trial.

Out of habit, he activated Spirit Vision, only to turn it off after half a breath.

His scalp tingled slightly.

That unremarkable middle-aged man's Ether Body was so solid it nearly glowed, and its color was astonishingly dense.

More than that, the instant Spirit Vision touched the man, An Chen seemed to hear an immensely distant, heavy roar beside his ears, as though some enormous creature deep beneath the earth had turned over.

It was the Listener's instinct. He heard the ferocious beast lurking within that body.

Dai Mubai stepped forward. "Teacher Zhao, I've brought people for the fourth trial."

The man in the chair finally opened his eyes slowly.

His gaze swept across the five of them as if he were appraising rare curios.

"Hm? Five people made it to the fourth trial this year?" He sat upright in surprise.

Dai Mubai added, "Five, and all of them skipped the second and third trials."

Teacher Zhao's eyes lit up as he rose from his chair. He was not tall, even shorter than twelve-year-old Tang San, but the muscles beneath his clothes made his jacket bulge. Broad-shouldered and thick-backed, he stood there like a wall.

His expression was amicable, but that did nothing to lessen the pressure he gave off.

An Chen subconsciously held his breath. Even without Spirit Vision, anyone could tell at a glance that this man was trouble.

"All five are above level twenty-five? Not bad, not bad. There are quite a few little monsters this year." Zhao Wuji's gaze swept warmly across the five of them. "I'm Zhao Wuji. I'll personally test you in this final trial. The rules are simple. First, I'll give you the time it takes for one incense stick to burn to discuss matters. Then, the five of you will join forces and withstand my attacks for one incense stick's time. As long as even one of you lasts until the end, all of you will pass."

He paused. His tone remained amiable, but his words were anything but. "Don't think about taking shortcuts. No one can rely on speed to escape this area, and no one can withstand even one punch from me alone."

An Chen silently processed it. Five people, endure for one incense stick. As long as one person lasts until the end, they win.

Zhao Wuji spoke as though they were merely playing around, but the conditions were not lenient in the slightest.

"Teacher Zhao, isn't that a bit inappropriate?" Dai Mubai hesitated.

Zhao Wuji glared at him. "What's inappropriate about it? The headmaster isn't here, so I call the shots in the academy. All right, I'm going to light the incense. You don't have much time, so prepare yourselves. Xiaobai, you can also tell them about my abilities and characteristics so they know what to expect."

After saying that, he somehow produced an incense stick from nowhere and rubbed its tip between his fingers.

The incense tip ignited. In the blink of an eye, the incense had been planted firmly into the ground, completely motionless.