Through the Fourth Test!

"All right, all right, you pass." Zhao Wuji canceled his Martial Soul Avatar and withdrew his Martial Soul Possession, returning to the burly man he had been before. Only now, Zhao Wuji's body was covered in charred skin and blade wounds.

Meanwhile, Lin Qing, who had put away his Martial Soul, merely looked somewhat disheveled, with barely any injuries on his body.

"That was also thanks to Teacher Zhao not going all out. Otherwise, no matter how strong I was, I couldn't have been a match for a Soul Sage in a single exchange." Lin Qing said, "Against a Soul Sage powerhouse like Teacher Zhao, I could only resort to some little tricks and slash away that stick of incense. Otherwise, I really couldn't have held on until it burned out."

"Quit kissing my ass, kid. I was originally planning to use only my first four Spirit Skills, but you made such a mess of me. Still, you really are a monster." Although Zhao Wuji said that, he was rather pleased inside. At the same time, he could not help marveling at Lin Qing's strength.

"Mubai, go get Teacher Shao Xin to treat me and these students." Zhao Wuji instructed Dai Mubai, who stood outside the square with a dazed expression.

Dai Mubai had originally thought Lin Qing would definitely get a brutal beating from Zhao Wuji, but he had never expected Lin Qing to be this powerful. A thought could not help arising in Dai Mubai's mind: Maybe I should just give Zhu Zhuqing to him. How could I possibly make an enemy of someone like this? I'd better stay far away whenever I see him in the future.

"Dai Mubai, what are you still standing around for?" Seeing that Dai Mubai had not moved for so long, Zhao Wuji immediately roared at him.

"Oh, oh, okay, Teacher Zhao. I'll go right away." Only after Zhao Wuji's roar did Dai Mubai come back to his senses. He immediately jogged off to find the teacher named Shao Xin.

Taking advantage of this time, Lin Qing helped Zhu Zhuqing and the others up and leaned them against a large tree nearby. As for Xiao Wu, Lin Qing leaned against the tree himself and held her in his arms.

Zhao Wuji also sat cross-legged nearby to regulate his breathing and recover a little. At the very least, he could not let his old friend see him looking too miserable.

About ten minutes later, Dai Mubai arrived at the square with a middle-aged man.

"Old Zhao, weren't you testing the new students? How did you end up like this?" The moment Shao Xin arrived at the square, he saw Zhao Wuji covered in wounds.

"Wasn't it this little monster? He made me look this miserable." Zhao Wuji sounded a little embarrassed as he spoke.

"What? You're saying those little guys did this to you?" Shao Xin's eyes went wide and his mouth fell open as he pointed at Lin Qing and the others in utter disbelief.

"To be precise, not them, but that kid who's still awake. Pretty much all the injuries on my body were caused by him alone." Although saying so would make Zhao Wuji lose even more face, he was not the sort of person who falsified things. He spoke honestly: whoever had done it had done it. He would never deliberately conceal Lin Qing's strength for the sake of his own pride.

"What did you say? This kid did it all by himself?" Shao Xin's eyes widened even further, and his voice was more than twice as loud as before.

"All right, Old Shao, stop being so surprised for now. Give us some healing candy beans first and treat me and these little guys." Zhao Wuji had not forgotten why he had called Shao Xin over.

"Fine, I'll make some candy beans for you right away." Only then did Shao Xin suppress the shock in his heart and summon his Martial Soul. A candy bean appeared in his hand, followed by seven Spirit Rings—two yellow, two purple, and three black—displaying his identity as a food-type Soul Sage.

Afterward, Shao Xin released a Spirit Skill, creating several candy beans and tossing them to Zhao Wuji and Lin Qing.

"Thank you, Teacher." Lin Qing did not refuse. Although his body had already fully recovered, there was no reason not to take a free treat.

After seeing Lin Qing swallow the candy bean, Shao Xin began feeding candy beans to the others. When he reached Xiao Wu, Lin Qing spoke up. "Teacher, let me do it."

"Sure." Shao Xin could naturally tell that Lin Qing had an unusually close relationship with this little girl, so he said nothing more and directly handed the candy bean to Lin Qing.

Lin Qing took the candy bean and held it in his mouth. He gently supported Xiao Wu's cheek with one hand, then fed the candy bean to her mouth-to-mouth.

The corner of Shao Xin's mouth twitched when he saw Lin Qing feeding her the candy bean that way.

He had not expected that merely coming over to deliver candy beans would leave him stuffed with public displays of affection.

After swallowing the candy beans, everyone's condition steadily improved.

Of the four, Tang San was the first to awaken. Although his level was lower than Xiao Wu's, his spiritual power far surpassed hers. Moreover, his body had been gradually recovering under the circulation of the balanced and peaceful Mysterious Heaven Skill, which was why Tang San woke up the fastest.

"Is it over? It looks like we failed. I wonder whether we can still join Shrek Academy." Tang San subconsciously assumed that, no matter how strong Lin Qing was, he could not have lasted through an entire stick of incense alone. Furthermore, Tang San had not completely lost consciousness, so he had a rough sense of the passing time. From what he felt, it had been far short of a stick of incense.

"My head hurts so much!" The second to awaken was naturally Xiao Wu, the strongest aside from Lin Qing.

When Xiao Wu woke up and opened her eyes, she felt a stabbing pain in her head. She was also groggy and uncomfortable.

Seeing this, Lin Qing could only reach out and gently massage Xiao Wu's head to ease her discomfort.

"Lin Qing, is it over? Did we pass?" Xiao Wu asked as she enjoyed Lin Qing's massage.

"Of course we passed. With me on the job, it was easy!" Lin Qing bragged in front of Xiao Wu.

Men, no matter when or what the situation was, always wanted to show off in front of the girls they liked. Whenever they were before someone they liked, their desire to perform became especially strong, just like Lin Qing's now.

When Tang San heard Lin Qing say that they had actually passed the fourth test, his eyes widened in disbelief.

"Lin Qing, you're that strong? You actually lasted so long against that Soul Sage teacher!" Xiao Wu covered her mouth, equally astonished.

Xiao Wu knew the full power of Lin Qing's Nichirin Blade, but in her understanding, Lin Qing's combat strength should have only barely reached the level of a Soul Emperor. She had never expected him to fight a Soul Sage for so long. After all, Xiao Wu had only heard Lin Qing describe his strength; hearing about it was ultimately not the same as seeing it firsthand. Thus, her understanding of Lin Qing's strength had remained theoretical, without any concrete sense of it.

"No. Actually, I used a large-scale attack to smash that incense into pieces while Teacher Zhao was off guard. Teacher Zhao also acknowledged our result, so we passed." Lin Qing said modestly.

After that, Zhu Zhuqing also woke up. She was somewhat dizzy as well, but she still forced herself awake.

As for Ning Rongrong, she was the last to wake up. After all, she was only a support Soul Master. However, perhaps because she had recovered for longer, her dizziness was not as severe as Zhu Zhuqing's or Xiao Wu's when she woke up. Her head merely felt a little heavy.

"All right, little monsters. Since you're all awake, it's time for me to announce the results." Seeing that everyone had awakened, Zhao Wuji clapped his hands.

Everyone turned their gazes toward Zhao Wuji, their eyes filled with anticipation as they hoped to hear the answer they wanted.

Sure enough, in the next moment, a smile appeared on Zhao Wuji's formerly stern face. Baring his teeth, he said, "Congratulations, little monsters. You've passed the fourth test. From now on, the five of you are officially members of Shrek!"