Guaranteed admission? I refuse (two chapters in one)

All thirty students of Class One stood on the platform. Most looked fairly composed. They had done wilderness survival training before, so this was not entirely unfamiliar.

Xu Musheng stood directly in front of them and said with a smile, "Students, I'll be your guide for this preliminary selection. In a moment, I'll explain a few things you need to keep in mind. What happens after that will depend on your own abilities."

She gently raised a hand and tapped the air. A translucent screen appeared beside her hand.

"Your next task is to survive, working in groups of three. Some soul beasts live in this valley, and they are quite aggressive."

She paused, then continued, "The longer you survive, the higher your score in the preliminary selection. Killing soul beasts will also earn you bonus points, with different beasts worth different amounts. If a soul beast kills you, your preliminary selection will end, and your final score will be calculated."

Several students exchanged glances, their expressions varied.

Their class had formed teams long ago. Thirty students made exactly ten groups of three.

"Survive?"

"Sounds pretty much like our usual training..."

"It shouldn't be too hard, right?"

Hearing their murmurs, Xu Musheng's smile deepened. "I won't go into the details. You'll understand once you're in there. Let's begin, then. Good luck."

She gently swept both hands out to her sides. A layer of soft energy spread from her body, and the next instant, her figure turned into a streak of light and vanished without a sound.

Ye Zhiqiu noticed, however, that a second before she disappeared, she seemed to glance his way.

It was a brief look, but Ye Zhiqiu could sense the appraisal and curiosity in it.

So this is the boy who turned down the place? He really is unusual.

Silence settled over the platform.

Ye Zhiqiu stayed where he was, surveying the surrounding terrain before saying very quietly to the two girls beside him, "Let's observe first. No rush to go down."

Dong Qianqiu nodded, and Lan Mengqin had no objections either.

The three stood at the edge of the platform and looked down.

The valley was wide and open, its interior mostly rolling hills without any vegetation. Everything looked bare, with jagged rocks everywhere. Dark red markings covered the grayish-brown stone, resembling mineral deposits.

Then Ye Zhiqiu picked up an extremely faint tremor.

He tilted his head slightly, and Gravity Wave spread silently outward.

Every tremor in the ground, every current of air, and every pulse of heat deep underground within several hundred meters fed back into his senses through Gravity Wave.

Then he sensed it.

Deep beneath the valley, numerous moving heat sources were surging rapidly toward the surface.

He opened his eyes and said quietly, "Something's coming out of the ground."

Dong Qianqiu and Lan Mengqin turned to him together. Before either could ask a question, the roar came.

"Roooar!"

An earth-shaking roar suddenly exploded from the depths of the valley, as though something enormous had been startled awake. It echoed through the valley, lingering without end.

Every student jumped, instinctively looking toward the source of the sound.

The roar had come from deep in the valley. Then they caught a hazy glimpse of billowing smoke, as though something was scorching the earth.

"What's going on?"

Well trained, everyone reacted immediately, finding rocks to shelter behind and crouching to conceal themselves as best they could.

"Roooar!"

Another monstrous roar rang out, its deafening sound reverberating through the valley.

Thud, thud, thud.

Low, heavy thumps echoed throughout the valley, followed by a dense patter of smaller sounds.

Within Ye Zhiqiu's Gravity Wave perception, those heat sources were moving rapidly upward, drawing ever closer and clustering ever more tightly.

Countless creatures emerged from unknown places throughout the valley, rushing toward the surrounding mountain walls.

They were slender lizards, even the smallest over a meter long. Their skin was grayish-brown with faint dark red markings, and dark red light flowed through those markings like magma.

"Earthfire Lizards? This many?" Lan Mengqin recognized the soul beasts at a glance.

Ye Zhiqiu recognized them too. Earthfire Lizards were fire-attribute soul beasts that lived in groups, possessed extremely strong defenses, and usually inhabited volcanic regions. It was said that Earthfire Lizards with over ten thousand years of cultivation could evolve into Earthfire Dragons, a lesser dragon species.

There were far more than hundreds or even a thousand Earthfire Lizards in the valley now. They charged in every direction, and Class One, halfway up the mountain, would undoubtedly face their onslaught.

"Retreat to the summit."

Ye Zhiqiu did not hesitate. His voice was quiet, but Dong Qianqiu and Lan Mengqin heard him clearly.

Everyone else understood too. Reaching the summit first was the right choice. If the terrain outside the valley was open, escaping would be much easier. Earthfire Lizards had one weakness: they were not particularly fast.

Class One began moving toward the summit, quickly but without too much panic.

But just then—

"Roooar!"

The roar sounded again, closer, deeper, and louder than before.

Hearing it, the Earthfire Lizards below suddenly fled faster, as though something was driving them onward.

Then they saw it.

An enormous figure slowly emerged from behind a mountain wall within the valley.

Those heavy thud, thud, thud sounds were actually its footsteps.

Everyone's gaze froze.

The colossal creature raised its head, turning its enormous eyes straight toward them.

"What the hell is that?" someone cried out despite themselves.

It was an enormous soul beast, standing over thirty meters tall, with a massive tail dragging behind it.

Its body stood upright, its two legs and tail supporting its gigantic frame as it strode swiftly along.

A pair of small wings grew from its back. They were clearly too small to support flight, but they kept flapping, offsetting some of the sluggishness caused by its weight and increasing its speed.

Its head had a huge mouth and tapered to a point. Massive spikes extended from its crown down its back, all the way to its tail.

Dark red scales covered its entire body. For dozens of meters around it, the air warped in watery ripples, making the intense heat surrounding it easy to imagine.

Looking at the enormous beast, Ye Zhiqiu's thoughts raced.

In the original story, Lan Xuanyu called it an Earthfire Red Dragon. No point coming up with another name. That'll do.

An earth dragon with over ten thousand years of cultivation was already approaching the level of a true dragon.

Shrek Academy really was ruthless, putting something like this in the first stage of the preliminary selection.

It gave them no more time to think. The instant the giant creature looked their way, it opened its mouth and spat an enormous fireball at them.

The fireball was like a meteor, not only astonishingly fast but trailing a long tail of flame as it flew.

Its terrifying aura seemed capable of setting heaven and earth ablaze. The enormous fireball swelled as it hurtled through the air. It had been only a meter across when spat out, but by the time it neared their mountain wall, its diameter exceeded five meters.

It could practically rival the main cannon of a small warship.

"Run!"

Someone shouted, and every student in Class One turned and ran with everything they had.

No one could worry about formation now. Avoiding this monster's attack came first.

Ye Zhiqiu did not run. He stood his ground, his gaze fixed on the enormous approaching fireball, and raised his left hand slightly.

Dong Qianqiu and Lan Mengqin stood on either side of him. An ice spear and the Jade Phoenix Zither appeared in their hands simultaneously.

"I'll handle it," Ye Zhiqiu said.

A silver-gray orb of light appeared in his palm, a miniature galaxy slowly turning inside it. His first soul ring lit up at the same time.

Absolute Gravity.

An invisible force spread from his palm, locking precisely onto the enormous approaching fireball.

The fireball abruptly sank in midair, its straight flight path forcibly bent downward.

It skimmed past the rocks halfway up the mountain and struck the cliff about twenty meters from Class One.

Boom!

An enormous explosion thundered in their ears. Shattered stone and sparks flew in all directions, a heat wave blasted their faces, and a scorched smell filled the air.

Several students staggered a couple of steps under the shock wave, but no one was hurt.

Ye Zhiqiu lowered his left hand and turned to Dong Qianqiu and Lan Mengqin. "Come on. To the summit."

Without lingering, the three followed the main group toward the summit.

Killing this ten-thousand-year soul beast would not be difficult for Ye Zhiqiu, but he understood that this stage tested survival. What mattered was how long they survived.

Ideally, that meant time spent surviving this soul beast's attacks. Otherwise, even if everyone survived, they would earn few points. Only Ye Zhiqiu's trio would score highly for killing the Earthfire Red Dragon, while the others would have a hard time qualifying afterward. That was why he had not attacked.

They were classmates, after all. He would help where he could, and they posed no threat to his trio's standing anyway.

Although Class One's students were frightened, none ran aimlessly. As the only elite class in their year, they could still manage an emergency response of this level.

Soon, everyone had retreated to the summit.

The summit was a relatively flat patch of ground, not very large, with room for about thirty or forty people. Steep cliffs surrounded it, with the valley below.

Class One's students climbed up one after another, gasping for breath. Some collapsed straight onto the ground, while others braced their hands on their knees and panted.

Several nearby classmates were already slumped on the ground. Two girls' legs were trembling, but at least they had not cried.

As the only elite class in their year, Class One had far stronger mental resilience than ordinary classes. Still, a soul beast of this caliber lay far beyond anything in their usual training. Simply not breaking down was already impressive.

Just then, someone glanced down the other side of the mountain and froze completely.

"Look over there!"

Everyone turned toward the other side of the summit.

Then a deathly silence fell over the entire summit, lasting roughly two and a half seconds.

On the other side lay a valley almost identical to the one behind them.

The same grayish-brown rocky ground, the same dark red mineral markings, the same dense swarms of Earthfire Lizards charging wildly about, and the same enormous Earthfire Red Dragon roaming deep within the valley.

Even the two Earthfire Red Dragons' sizes, scale colors, and arrangements of spikes along their backs were almost identical. The only difference was their orientation, as though someone had mirrored the same image.

In that valley too, soul masters were fleeing, fighting, and being eliminated.

There were simply far fewer people over there.

Ye Zhiqiu took a quick look. Fewer than ten surviving candidates seemed to remain, scattered across different locations. Some hid in cracks in the cliffs, others lay behind rocks, and two were desperately running toward the valley's edge.

Then the Earthfire Red Dragons on both sides raised their heads simultaneously.

Both enormous beasts turned their gazes toward the summit, their yellow slit pupils glinting coldly in the dim light. Then both opened their mouths.

Two enormous fireballs shot toward the summit from opposite directions at the same time.

"Fuck!"

Someone swore, and everyone ran toward the mountainside at once.

Ye Zhiqiu did not follow the crowd. He stayed where he was and raised both hands slightly. A silver-gray orb appeared in his left palm, and his first purple soul ring lit up.

Absolute Gravity.

Invisible force spread from his palm, locking precisely onto the two enormous approaching fireballs. Their flight paths abruptly dipped in midair, their trajectories forcibly twisted by several degrees.

Then Ye Zhiqiu thrust both hands outward. The two fireballs skimmed past the rocks on either side of the summit and crashed into the valleys, exploding with thunderous booms. Flame and shattered stone sprayed outward, and several Earthfire Lizards that failed to dodge exploded into motes of light and vanished.

But Ye Zhiqiu knew this was only temporary.

Just as he was about to warn everyone, he heard more fireballs tearing through the air.

Then he saw both Earthfire Red Dragons stop spitting fireballs and tilt their heads back. Red light began gathering in their mouths, growing brighter and denser.

This time, however, they were aiming not at the summit but at the sky.

Ye Zhiqiu's pupils contracted. He instantly understood what the two Earthfire Red Dragons intended to do.

He spun around and called to everyone, speaking rapidly. "Get off the summit! Split up by team! Stay away from other teams! The system probably dictates this thing's targets. If two or more teams stay together, it'll attack them first! And don't fly into the air! Shrek's selection wouldn't have a loophole like that!"

His voice was not loud, but in the open surroundings of the summit, every word reached everyone's ears clearly.

Class One's students froze for a moment, then immediately sprang into action.

No one questioned him. No one hesitated.

Ye Zhiqiu had established his authority in class from the first day of school. No matter how casually he spoke, no one ignored him.

The ten teams quickly scattered, each choosing a different direction toward the mountainside or the foot of the mountain.

Several flying soul masters had already spread their wings, ready to take to the air. Hearing Ye Zhiqiu's warning, they forcibly folded their wings back and instead glided low along the ground.

Ye Zhiqiu did not remain on the summit either.

He led Dong Qianqiu and Lan Mengqin toward the mountainside at a steady pace, always maintaining a safe distance from the other teams.

Then he glanced up at the sky.

The grayish-white virtual sky had already been stained dark red.

Two enormous pillars of fire shot upward from either side of the valley, one on the left and one on the right, piercing the clouds.

Then the pillars exploded in midair.

Countless fiery meteors rained down from the sky.

Each was the size of a washbasin, trailing a long tail of flame and a shrill whistle as they poured down like a torrential storm.

The entire valley instantly became a sea of fire.

The fiery meteors struck the ground, blasting craters of every size into it. Shattered stone and sparks flew everywhere, while dust and smoke churned upward together.

The Earthfire Lizards struck by the fiery meteors instantly dissolved into motes of light, without even time to scream.

Among the soul masters, Ye Zhiqiu heard a short scream from roughly fifty meters to his left.

Another followed immediately, a little farther away.

He turned his head for a look. Two teams had been engulfed in the densest barrage of fiery meteors. All three members of one team were struck by three meteors at the same time, dissolving into motes of light before they could even release their martial souls.

The other team fared slightly better. One student dodged the direct impact, but the blast sent them flying into a rock wall, where they too dissolved into motes of light.

Two teams, six people, eliminated in an instant!