The Fight to Claim Him

Shrek Academy stood in Shrek City, in the heart of the continent, more than a thousand li from Star Luo City.

After traveling in fits and starts, Ye Tianming and Huo Yutong finally saw its legendary gate that morning.

The gate was a towering stone archway. At its center was a carving of a monster baring its fangs and brandishing its claws, with a plaque beneath it.

Six large characters were carved on the plaque.

Shrek Academy.

A long line stretched before the gate. Boys and girls from across the continent craned their necks to see ahead.

The line moved quickly, and so did the applicants. Most emerged moments after entering, sent away with red-rimmed eyes.

"Not enough Soul Power. Next."

"Martial Soul quality is too poor. Rejected."

The teacher conducting the assessment spoke evenly, leaving no room for argument.

Watching the children her age leave in tears, Huo Yutong unconsciously tightened her small hand around Ye Tianming's sleeve.

"Brother Tianming, I... I only have one ring. Will I...?"

Ye Tianming ruffled Huo Yutong's hair and spoke softly.

"What are you afraid of? They're looking for monsters, not Soul Rings. And you're a monster."

The line inched forward until it was finally their turn.

A stern-faced, middle-aged teacher sat behind the assessment table, a crystal ball for testing Soul Power before him.

He glanced up. His gaze settled on Huo Yutong, and his brows drew together before he asked,

"Name, age, Martial Soul."

"Huo Yutong, ten years old. Spirit Eyes."

"Release your Soul Ring. Let me see."

Huo Yutong took a deep breath. A Yellow Soul Ring slowly rose beneath her feet.

A ripple of muffled laughter immediately spread through the applicants waiting behind them.

The teacher shook his head as well.

"You dare come to Shrek with only one ring? Little girl, do you know what kind of place this is?"

Huo Yutong suddenly raised her head. A faint glow appeared in her blue eyes.

"Teacher, could you... let me try?"

She did not wait for his answer. Her Yellow Soul Ring glimmered.

In the next instant, every blade of grass and tree within thirty meters of her, every insect and bird, even every line of the monster carved into the stone archway, formed an image so clear it seemed three-dimensional in her mind.

The teacher shared that image and froze.

"This support Soul Skill is simply..."

Beside her, Ye Tianming handed over the letter of recommendation and Command Token Dai Hao had given him. The teacher shot to his feet.

The indifference vanished from his face, replaced by excitement he could not contain.

A Spiritual Martial Soul was one in ten thousand.

A reconnaissance Soul Master who could turn everything within thirty meters into an image with no blind spots would be an irreplaceable core member of any team.

And there was a letter of recommendation, too...

"Accept her! We have to accept her!"

The teacher blurted it out and swiftly wrote her name in his register. When he finished, he looked up at Huo Yutong again, growing more pleased the longer he looked.

"Excellent. What remarkable Spirit Eyes!"

At some point, the laughter behind them had died away.

Some of the applicants even heard music slowly begin to play in their heads.

When Ye Tianming's turn came, the teacher collected himself and asked in earnest,

"And you? Name and Martial Soul."

"Ye Tianming, eleven years old. Azure Dragon Martial Soul."

"Release your Soul Rings, too. Let me see."

Ye Tianming wasted no words. With a thought, his Azure Dragon Martial Soul quietly possessed him.

A vast, pure draconic pressure spread from him without warning.

Even the monster carved into the stone archway seemed to dim under its weight.

The waiting applicants felt their chests tighten. Several with lower cultivation collapsed to the ground.

Then three Soul Rings slowly rose beneath Ye Tianming's feet.

One yellow, two purple!

Yellow, purple, purple!

The courtyard before the assessment fell deathly silent.

The teacher's smile froze. He rubbed his eyes in disbelief, as if he could not trust what he was seeing.

"A... a three-ring Soul Elder?"

"And you're only eleven?!!!"

Eleven years old. A three-ring Soul Elder.

What did that mean?

Countless geniuses across the continent never reached the threshold of Soul Elder in their entire lives. Yet this child stood there at eleven.

His Second Soul Ring was already a Thousand-Year Soul Ring.

"Teacher, what do you think? Can I join Shrek?"

"Could you... please wait a moment?"

The teacher scrambled to his feet and ran into the academy, shouting as he went.

"Dean Yan! Dean Qian! Something... something huge has happened!"

Before long, two figures arrived, one after the other.

The man in front was middle-aged, steady in bearing, with eyes sharp as lightning.

Behind him came a slightly plump, ruddy-faced older man. Before he had even reached them, his eyes were fixed on Ye Tianming.

"An Azure Dragon Martial Soul, eleven years old, and level thirty-six?"

"And his Second Soul Ring is already a thousand-year ring?!!!"

The speaker was the steadier-looking man, Yan Shaozhe, dean of the Martial Soul Department.

Yan Shaozhe stared at the Soul Rings beneath Ye Tianming's feet, golden light blazing in his eyes.

"Good! What an extraordinary dragon-type Soul Elder! The Martial Soul Department is taking this child!"

"And why should you get him?"

The speaker was Qian Duoduo, dean of the Soul Tool Department.

Qian Duoduo widened his eyes and pulled Ye Tianming toward him.

"A talent this good belongs in my Soul Tool Department!"

"Young friend, come with me. I'll teach you as my personal disciple!"

The two deans argued before the courtyard full of applicants until their faces were red.

Caught between them, with each pulling him from one side, Ye Tianming suddenly spoke.

"Deans, I'm not going with either of you."

Both men froze.

"What do you mean?"

Ye Tianming turned toward Huo Yutong, who stood nearby watching him with wide eyes. The corner of his mouth lifted slightly.

"I'm only going to First Year, and I'm joining her class."

Both deans frowned at that.

Yan Shaozhe's face darkened first.

"Nonsense. You're a level thirty-six Soul Elder, and you want to join First Year?"

"The strongest freshmen there only have two rings. What would be the point?"

Qian Duoduo chimed in anxiously.

"Exactly, young friend. You'd be wasting your talent."

Ye Tianming answered calmly, without the slightest hurry.

"Deans, I came to Shrek to learn, not to compare Soul Rings."

"I still need to learn the first-year fundamentals from the beginning. And as for whether I'd make it impossible for my classmates to learn..."

Ye Tianming paused for a moment before continuing.

"During the Freshman Assessment, I can refrain from using my third Soul Skill or my full strength as a Soul Elder. I'll only control the field. That wouldn't count as bullying, would it?"

The two deans exchanged a glance, their expressions softening.

A genius willing to hold back his cultivation and build his foundations from the beginning was even rarer than one who let talent go to his head.