Inside the office.
Flender watched the two students leave.
His crafty smile slowly faded, and he adjusted the square glasses on his nose.
"What do you think?"
Li Yusong suddenly spoke up beside him.
Naturally, he meant the prodigious student who had just left.
A prodigy on the verge of becoming a Soul Elder at just nine years old.
He clearly lay beyond the bounds of ordinary people-a true monster.
"I sensed that his physique was incredibly powerful, stronger than anything I've ever seen."
Flender sat in his chair and analyzed the situation seriously.
He had noticed earlier that Lin Mo's flesh was brimming with vitality and energy.
It was nothing like the physique a Soul Grandmaster should possess.
"Exactly. When I checked his bones earlier, I realized his body was no weaker than mine!"
Li Yusong nodded, still sounding incredulous.
After all, he was a Soul Emperor!
Yet a Soul Grandmaster's physique was already on par with his?
"If he isn't a freak who only appears once in ten million years, he probably possesses some special constitution or martial soul."
Flender stroked his beard and offered his thoughtful guess.
The world was vast, and extraordinary geniuses emerged without end.
A few freaks appearing was hardly surprising.
"I did catch a glimpse of his martial soul earlier. It was a fire-attribute snake, but it had a pair of horns on its head. It was on the level of a high-grade martial soul."
Li Yusong frowned, sounding uncertain.
After all, he had never seen this martial soul before.
He could not identify exactly what it was offhand.
"A horned fire snake? Probably a mutated martial soul. It doesn't sound particularly special."
Flender answered after a moment of contemplation.
None of the martial souls he knew matched that description.
After turning it over in his mind, a mutated martial soul was the only explanation he could find.
"So how should we handle this boy?"
Li Yusong nodded and asked in a businesslike tone.
After all, this was his first time encountering such a freak.
For the moment, even he was unsure what to do.
"How? Serve him cold, of course. Just treat him like any other student."
Flender waved his hand dismissively as he spoke.
After all, Shrek Academy had few resources to spare.
They would simply let this prodigious student grow wild.
"Uh... fine. You're the dean. You have the final say."
The corner of Li Yusong's mouth twitched, but he said nothing more.
He turned and left the office.
He intended to see whether the unlucky fellow who had been taught a lesson had stayed.
Shrek Academy.
Lin Mo and Xiao Wu settled into their respective dorm rooms.
As they grew older, the academy dormitories had begun housing boys and girls separately.
The little rabbit found this rather hard to adjust to, but there was nothing she could do. Those were the school rules.
"Ring, ring, ring..."
The two had just finished unpacking when a clear bell rang out.
It sounded rather like a bell announcing the start of class.
Lin Mo and Xiao Wu instinctively stepped out of their respective rooms.
They headed to the field to see what was going on.
Dean Flender was already standing in the middle of the field, waiting for everyone.
The blond-haired Dai Runaway was there as well.
Huh? This guy still joined Shrek Academy?
Seeing him there, Lin Mo was a little surprised.
He had thought this prince of the Star Luo Empire would be unable to stomach the humiliation.
Then he would choose to keep running.
Now it seemed he did have a little endurance in him.
"Don't tell me the entire academy only has three students?"
Beside him, Xiao Wu furrowed her pretty brows as she spoke.
There were no other students on the field apart from them.
No matter how she looked at it, this was not normal.
This had to be a human traffickers' den!
At that thought, the little rabbit instinctively edged closer to the boy.
On the other side, Dai Mubai saw Lin Mo approaching.
His hair immediately stood on end, and he instinctively stepped aside.
This guy's strength was simply terrifying.
He was a genuine monster!
"All right, let me introduce myself again. I'm Dean Flender. Welcome to Shrek Academy!"
Seeing that everyone had arrived, Flender cleared his throat and spoke loudly.
His expression was as warm as a spring breeze, as though something wonderful had happened.
And for him, it truly had. Shrek Academy had recruited three students at once this year!
Such a grand occasion was unprecedented!
The three standing before him, however, wore different expressions, and not one offered any applause.
"Ahem... you've arrived at just the right time. I intend to put together a Shrek Team!"
"As long as you perform well enough from now on, you'll have a chance to become one of the first-generation Shrek members!"
Seeing the students' lukewarm response, Flender gave a slightly awkward cough and continued.
He painted such a lavish pie in the sky that flowers seemed to rain down around it, making it sound wonderfully tempting.
"Shrek? Even the name sounds ugly..."
Xiao Wu pursed her lips and muttered quietly.
With so few people on the field, however, even the softest voice could be heard clearly.
"You little brats really don't know how to respect your elders! All right, that's enough for today. Dismissed!"
Hearing his academy's name disparaged, Flender immediately ran out of steam and waved his hand helplessly.
Dai Mubai promptly greased his heels and slipped away at the speed of light.
After all, staying near Lin Mo made him feel that his life could be in danger at any moment!
Xiao Wu stuck out her tongue, ready to drag her big brother into the city for a feast.
But Flender suddenly stopped them and said:
"Your soul power has reached a bottleneck, too. Do you need me to take you hunting for soul beasts to obtain soul rings?"
Although his academy was shabby, he still had the strength.
Helping students hunt soul beasts was naturally a piece of cake.
At his words, Xiao Wu's delicate brows knitted together, and she did not know how to answer for a moment.
She instinctively looked at the boy beside her.
"Thank you, Dean, but we can handle our soul rings ourselves."
Lin Mo shook his head and politely declined.
He had a much bolder idea for the Blazing Sun Serpent's third soul ring.
If it worked, absorbing a fifty-thousand-year soul ring would be no mere dream!
"Yes, exactly! We can handle it ourselves!"
Xiao Wu hurriedly nodded in agreement beside him.
After all, she was a hundred-thousand-year soul beast.
She could condense her own soul rings without hunting her own kind!
If Flender helped, it would only make things harder to manage.
"You'll handle it yourselves? Fine, then. Be careful."
Flender frowned, but ultimately nodded.
Although he did not know what they intended to do.
Since they had already said as much.
He had no intention of meddling further.
"Hehe! Mo, let's go! Let's head into the city for a feast!"
With no one stopping her anymore, Xiao Wu took the boy's hand and jogged out of the academy.
Shrek was built on the outskirts, in a remote area with few people nearby.
Only when they grew tired of running did the two stop and continue toward the city at a leisurely walk.
Just then, however, Lin Mo suddenly asked in a casual tone:
"Xiao Wu, you're a hundred-thousand-year soul beast, aren't you?"
Before you continue