Shrek Academy Enrollment: A Twelve-Year-Old at Level Thirty-Five Stuns Everyone

Lin Xuan took another look, then turned his attention away.

Looking at a beautiful girl might be good for the soul, but staring was rude.

Meanwhile, Dai Mubai had left the ring and was heading for the competitors' passage. The middle-aged man called Tie Niu stood onstage, raising his battle-axe to the cheers of the crowd.

In a corner of the stands, Zhu Zhuqing frowned as Dai Mubai left the arena.

That afternoon, outside the Rose Hotel, Zhu Zhuqing had happened upon Dai Mubai with his arms around a pair of twins.

What he planned to do with them went without saying.

Zhu Zhuqing was no innocent. Of course she knew what that meant.

She was furious. She had braved the dangers of the Star Dou Great Forest to reach Suotuo City, while Dai Mubai had been here chasing women.

And now he had lost to a Soul Master whose Soul Power was only one level above his.

"Hmph! No wonder. Lust has drained him dry!"

Zhu Zhuqing's expression darkened, and she turned away from the stands.

At the same time, Xiao Wu tugged at Lin Xuan's arm.

"Lin Xuan! I want to go up and fight too!"

"No. It's too late tonight. Wait until we've enrolled." Lin Xuan refused outright.

Tang San nodded. "Right. We don't know how things work here yet. We can come back once we're settled at the academy."

Xiao Wu looked at Lin Xuan, then at Tang San. Since they both agreed, she pouted but didn't press the matter.

Usually, if Lin Xuan agreed to something Tang San opposed, Tang San would come around too.

But if neither Lin Xuan nor Tang San agreed, there was no changing their minds.

The three of them watched two more matches, both between Soul Elders above level thirty. The fighters traded blows, but neither match had any standout moments.

By the end of the third match, Xiao Wu was yawning.

"Let's go back." Lin Xuan stood up.

Xiao Wu rubbed her eyes and nodded. She reached over and took hold of the hem of his shirt.

The three of them followed the departing crowd outside.

As they left the Battle Arena, a night breeze brought the scent of food from the city's restaurants.

Back at the inn, Tang San went to his room alone.

Lin Xuan opened their door. Xiao Wu sprang onto the bed and burrowed under the covers without even taking off her shoes.

"At least take your shoes off."

"Mm..."

Xiao Wu gave a muffled reply and kicked twice beneath the covers. Both shoes thudded to the floor.

Lin Xuan shook his head, picked them up, and set them beside the door.

Tomorrow, they would go to Shrek Academy.

Lin Xuan put out the oil lamp and lay down on the empty half of the bed. At some point, Xiao Wu had rolled toward him. Her head rested against his shoulder, and her braid lay across his chest.

He moved the braid aside and closed his eyes.

Early the next morning, the three checked out and headed straight for Suotuo City's south gate.

Outside the city, they followed the main road south for about forty minutes. Shops gave way to farmland, and farmland to woods.

After they walked a little farther, Tang San pointed to a cluster of low buildings ahead. "That should be it."

Lin Xuan looked over from a distance.

Several ramshackle wooden buildings stood crookedly together. Even the tallest was less than two zhang high.

The thatch on their roofs was uneven, with holes in places. A wooden sign stood in the courtyard, bearing a few large, crooked characters.

Shrek Academy.

Xiao Wu stopped in her tracks.

"This? Little San, are you sure this is the Shrek Academy Grandmaster talked about? It's a wreck! It's even worse than Notting Academy!"

"Yeah."

Tang San sounded calm. Yu Xiaogang had clearly warned him what to expect.

But he didn't look happy. He hadn't imagined the academy his teacher recommended would be this run-down.

How was this any different from Holy Soul Village?

Xiao Wu turned to Lin Xuan, suspicion written all over her face.

"Lin Xuan, did that Grandmaster trick Tang San? This place looks worse than the pigsty at Notting Academy."

"It's not quite as bad as a pigsty."

Lin Xuan looked around.

"More like a chicken coop."

Tang San gave a quiet cough up ahead and said nothing.

Only when they drew closer did they see a line outside the academy gate. About a dozen boys and girls, all around eleven or twelve, waited there. Some had come with parents; others were alone.

A long table had been set up at the gate. Behind it sat an old man—Li Yusong—with a Soul Power Detector in front of him.

Lin Xuan glanced along the line.

Near the front stood a girl in a white dress, around five foot five. Her bearing set her apart from the other applicants, who looked dusty from the road.

Her skin was strikingly fair, and she stood straight with her chin slightly raised. She was clearly from somewhere important.

That air of privilege told Lin Xuan exactly who she was.

Ning Rongrong of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.

Lin Xuan glanced toward the middle of the line.

Zhu Zhuqing was there too, dressed in fitted black clothes. She stood among the crowd with her arms crossed, silent.

Both of them were here.

"Let's line up." Lin Xuan walked over and joined the end of the queue.

Xiao Wu followed and stood beside him, looking around. "Waiting in a line like this feels so shabby."

"If you don't like it, you don't have to."

"I didn't say I wouldn't." Xiao Wu grumbled, then stood still.

Tang San took the spot behind them.

The line moved slowly.

One by one, the applicants ahead stepped forward and placed a hand on the Soul Power Detector. Li Yusong read out their levels, then told them whether they had passed.

Most were rejected.

"Level thirteen, age eleven... You don't meet the requirements. Please leave."

"Level nineteen, age twelve... Two levels short. Sorry."

Applicants were turned away one after another. Some parents pleaded on their behalf, but Li Yusong ignored them all.

"Level twenty-one is the minimum. If you're below that, don't waste your time."

Xiao Wu stood on tiptoe to watch. "So many are getting rejected."

"An academy for monsters is bound to have high standards," Tang San replied.

Then he took a deep breath. That answer had at least helped him save a little face.

Still, Tang San couldn't help wondering. At level thirty-one, with Xiao Wu at level thirty-three and Lin Xuan at level thirty-five, the three of them had already drawn interest from plenty of advanced Soul Master Academies before graduating.

Tang San had chosen Shrek Academy because he trusted his teacher, Yu Xiaogang, not to steer him wrong.

Even so, despite knowing what to expect, Tang San found it hard to accept.

The place was a wreck!

Meanwhile, the line grew shorter.

Zhu Zhuqing and Ning Rongrong both passed. They were level twenty-seven and level twenty-six, respectively.

A few more applicants went through. Finally, it was Lin Xuan and his companions' turn.

Lin Xuan sat down at the table and placed his hand on the Soul Power Detector.

The Inscription on the detector lit up.

Behind the table, Li Yusong stared at the display.

The number changed.

Thirty-five.

Li Yusong rubbed his eyes and looked again.

Thirty-five.

He looked up and studied Lin Xuan. The boy before him appeared thirteen at most. He was lean, with pleasant features.

"Th-thirty-five?"

"How old are you?"

"Twelve."

Li Yusong's hand froze in midair.

A twelve-year-old Soul Elder at level thirty-five. That number would cause a sensation at any academy.

"What's your Martial Soul?"

"Paper. Support type."

Support type.

Li Yusong opened his mouth, then closed it again. His hand shook as he wrote it down, smearing the ink across the paper. He had to start over.

The two people in the waiting area had heard everything.

Ning Rongrong had been looking down, fiddling with the hem of her dress. At the words "level thirty-five," her head snapped around.

She stared at Lin Xuan for two seconds, her expression shifting from indifference to disbelief.

Level thirty-five? Support type? Nine whole levels above me?

She was the young lady of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect. She had grown up with the sect's finest resources. She might not have trained very hard, but surely a twelve-year-old Support Soul Master couldn't have surpassed her by that much?

Zhu Zhuqing turned to look as well, her eyes full of shock.

Twelve years old. Support type. Level thirty-five!

It was almost too much to believe!