Lin Yang and his two companions appeared beside the main road outside Suotuo City's southern gate.
"Third Brother, are you sure you have the right address? Why can't I see anything?"
Xiao Wu shaded her eyes with a hand and gazed into the distance. Apart from endless farmland, she saw nothing that looked remotely like an academy.
"I'm not sure of the exact location either. Let's keep looking farther south."
Tang San glanced around, a trace of doubt in his eyes as well.
"Stop looking. Let's go."
Lin Yang glanced back at Suotuo City's towering gate, then turned and took the lead toward the south.
He had deliberately found ways to delay their journey by two days, just so they would arrive right as enrollment began.
Otherwise, they would fall into the scripted sequence involving the Rose Hotel and Dai Mubai. He neither wanted nor had any interest in following even that plot step by step.
Seeing Lin Yang set off first, Tang San and his sworn sister, Xiao Wu, followed.
After traveling a little farther, the three spotted a small village ahead. Lin Yang searched his memory and knew this was where Shrek was located.
"Come on. It's just ahead."
As he spoke, Lin Yang quickened his pace.
"Hey, hey, wait for me!" Xiao Wu hurried after him.
"How does he know that's Shrek?"
Tang San stared at the figure gradually receding into the distance and muttered to himself, a flicker of doubt crossing his eyes.
He shook his head, discarded the thought, and hurried to catch up.
At the entrance to the village-or rather, Shrek Academy-all three fell silent.
"You're kidding. Did Grandmaster get it wrong? This doesn't look like an academy no matter how you look at it."
Xiao Wu looked left and right, her face filled with surprise and disbelief.
Her reaction was understandable. After all, even Nuoding Academy wouldn't have a wooden main gate.
If the sign hadn't read "Shrek Academy," she would have thought this was some remote village, and a very poor one at that.
Tang San was also rather stunned. He checked repeatedly and confirmed that it really was Shrek. There was even a line of people waiting to register at the entrance, so this had to be the place.
"Let's take another look. We're here already."
Standing behind Xiao Wu, Lin Yang studied Shrek Academy before him. He had known it was run-down, but seeing it firsthand really drove home that a hundred accounts couldn't compare to one look.
Many of those waiting in line shared their thoughts and began discussing it with their parents.
An elderly man in his sixties sat at the academy entrance. Several applicants had already been turned away by him.
After those applicants were eliminated, Shrek Academy's admission standards became clear.
Under thirteen years old and above rank twenty-one. Those were the only two requirements, and quite a few people chose to leave.
Just then, Lin Yang sensed someone join the line behind him and turned his head slightly.
It was a girl who looked only eleven or twelve, yet had a strikingly curvaceous figure. She had long, jet-black hair, fair skin, and exceptionally beautiful features.
But she radiated an icy air that warned strangers to keep their distance. Unlike Lin Yang's languid indifference, her coldness seemed utterly devoid of life.
Was this Zhu Zhuqing, one of the Shrek Seven Devils?
Noticing Lin Yang's gaze, the girl raised her head slightly and looked at him.
Their two expressionless faces stared at each other. Neither spoke, making the atmosphere decidedly strange.
Just then, Lin Yang felt a sharp pain at his waist. He turned and found Xiao Wu glaring fiercely at him.
A fair, delicate hand was resting at his waist, only releasing its grip once he turned back.
Xiao Wu shot him one more fierce glare before turning away, though her pale ears twitched slightly, as if listening for the slightest rustle of wind through grass.
Lin Yang looked toward the front of the line again, where a girl in a white dress was registering.
"Excuse me, have I passed the preliminary test?"
The girl's voice was soft and lovely, with a sweetness that made listeners feel pleasantly weak.
Surprise flashed across the elderly man's face, and his brows furrowed slightly.
"Does your family know you've come here?"
"Education should make no distinctions. As long as I meet the requirements, you have no reason to reject me, do you?"
The girl smiled. Paired with her ear-length hair, it made her look very sweet.
The elderly man hesitated, then waved a hand.
"Mubai, take her inside."
A tall, blond young man stepped out from beside him. With little expression on his face, he led her into the academy.
Ning Rongrong of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect and Dai Mubai of the Star Luo Imperial Family. Two of the Shrek Seven Devils, Lin Yang silently recited.
The remaining applicants soon took their turns before the elderly man, until it was Tang San and his companions' turn.
Tang San noticed the blond young man beside the elderly man staring at the back of the line, his eyes filled with astonishment.
He was just about to look back when the elderly man's words pulled his attention back.
"Are you registering or not? If not, don't stand here blocking the way."
"We're registering together."
Tang San dropped the thirty Gold Soul Coins he had prepared into the wooden box beside them, then held out his hand.
Because Tang San practiced the Mysterious Jade Hand, the elderly man couldn't determine his bone age at first. Only after squeezing his calf a few times did he confirm it.
Next, he squeezed Xiao Wu's and Lin Yang's hands, then nodded.
"Your ages are suitable. Release your martial souls."
Xiao Wu and Tang San activated their martial souls, and two yellow Soul Rings rose around each of them.
Rabbit ears sprouted from Xiao Wu's head, soft fur appeared on her hands, and her figure became more slender and elongated. Her martial soul was the Soft Bone Rabbit.
Tang San merely had thick Blue Silver Grass grow from his hand. Though called grass, it actually looked more like vines. His martial soul was Blue Silver Grass.
The elderly man's gaze didn't fall on either of them. He, Dai Mubai, and even Zhu Zhuqing at the back all looked to the other side.
Lin Yang's eyes turned scarlet, with three black tomoe arranged in a triangle within each eye. Apart from that, his body underwent no changes. His martial soul was the Three-Tomoe Sharingan.
But that wasn't what drew everyone's attention. It was the two Soul Rings slowly rising from beneath his feet.
His first soul ring was a deep yellow. Their eyes widened as though they had seen something inconceivable.
A moment later, his second Soul Ring slowly rose. It was a brilliant purple-a Thousand-Year Soul Ring!
Gasps sounded all around them. Tang San and Xiao Wu silently deactivated their martial souls.
"You... this is..."
The elderly man's voice trembled slightly.
"A Thousand-Year Soul Ring. Aren't you recruiting monsters? Am I not enough?"
Lin Yang deactivated his Sharingan and looked at the elderly man, the corners of his lips lifting.
"Enough, enough, absolutely enough! Mubai, hurry and take them inside."
The elderly man's eyes lit up. He immediately repeated "enough" several times and urged Dai Mubai to take them inside, as though afraid they might run away.
"Ah, yes."
Dai Mubai came back to his senses, a trace of embarrassment appearing on his face. He hurried forward to invite them into the academy.
But once he approached, his gaze still couldn't help drifting toward Zhu Zhuqing behind them.
"Hey, what are you staring at? Are we going or not?"
That look in his eyes irritated Xiao Wu, and she immediately urged him on.
"Ah, yes, yes. We're going right now."
Dai Mubai faltered for a moment, then stopped dawdling and led them into the academy.
Xiao Wu snorted and glanced at Lin Yang. Seeing that he remained expressionless, she instead felt relieved and followed them into Shrek Academy.
Zhu Zhuqing glanced at their retreating figures. Her gaze lingered on Dai Mubai for a moment before shifting to Lin Yang.
"Next. Are you still registering or not?"
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