Feeling the gazes directed at her and Ning Tian, Wu Feng unconsciously puffed out her already developing chest. She slipped an arm around Ning Tian's and tipped her radiant face up slightly, a hint of smugness in her voice:
"Ning Tian, looks like we do have some appeal after all."
Ning Tian nodded along, but a trace of wistful resentment crept into her airy voice. "Yes, I thought I had no charm at all."
As she spoke, her azure eyes shifted slightly, flicking toward Nezha. Anyone with eyes could see what that glance held.
Wu Feng nodded too, swishing her fiery-red ponytail, her tone carrying a puzzling undertone. "Exactly. Some wooden-headed fool-I wonder whether he really doesn't know or is just pretending?"
Naturally, Nezha heard every word the two girls said.
His expression remained unchanged, but inwardly, he felt bitter. He knew perfectly well that Ning Tian liked him. In talent and looks, no one else in the sect could truly match her, and he knew that better than anyone. But what was going on with Wu Feng's tone?
Didn't she like Ning Tian?
He still clearly remembered how, at six years old, she had grabbed Ning Tian's arm outside the Training Ground, acting coy, nuzzling her palm, and getting jealous over nothing.
How had six years passed only for this girl to seemingly set her sights on him? Had he accidentally turned Wu Feng straight while practicing his spear all these years?
Nezha silently sighed. He had never figured out women's thoughts back when he was a corporate drone in his previous life. Now that he had reincarnated and begun cultivating anew, he was still lost in a fog.
As time passed, it finally became their turn in the registration line.
The registration station stood before a row of long tables just inside the east gate. Several Shrek Academy teachers sat behind them, with registers and crystal balls for testing soul power laid out before them.
The boys and girls ahead stepped forward one by one, handed over their recommendation letters, and tested their soul power. Some left beaming with their admission slips, while others retreated to the side with drooping heads.
When it was the trio's turn, the teacher handling registration looked up and swept his gaze over them, clearly momentarily dazzled by the group.
"Recommendation letters."
Ning Tian took three letters from her Storage Soul Tool and handed them over.
The teacher opened and checked them individually, confirming that their ages met the requirements. The recommender's field prominently bore the name of Ning Zhiyuan, sect master of the Nine Treasures Glazed Tile Sect, along with the seal of the lord of Nine Treasures City.
Once he confirmed everything was in order, the teacher nodded, put the letters away, and pointed at the crystal ball beside him.
"Test your soul power one at a time."
Wu Feng went first.
She strode forward and pressed her palm against the crystal ball. As she channeled her soul power, two yellow soul rings rose from beneath her feet, their light interweaving. Radiance filled the crystal ball, and its reading settled firmly at level twenty-six.
A wave of quiet exclamations immediately rose around them. Shrek Academy's admission standards were exceptionally strict. Anyone who reached level twenty or above at twelve would be considered a genius anywhere.
This girl with the scarlet ponytail was only around twelve, yet she was already a level twenty-six Soul Grandmaster. That talent would have placed her among the best in any previous year's incoming class.
A flicker of approval crossed the registration teacher's eyes. He picked up his pen, noted it in the register, and nodded. "Qualified. Admitted."
Wu Feng withdrew her martial soul, proudly tossed her ponytail, and stepped aside. She lifted her chin toward Ning Tian and Nezha, her eyes plainly saying, See how amazing I am?
Nezha gave her a thumbs-up to show that she was indeed very impressive, and the corners of Wu Feng's mouth immediately rose even higher.
Ning Tian was next.
She stepped forward, her white skirt stirring slightly, her movements calm and unhurried. She gently pressed her palm against the crystal ball, and as she channeled her soul power, the blue sphere instantly blazed with light.
The crystal ball at the registration station could only measure up to level thirty.
Now, light filled every corner of it, leaving not the slightest gap. The entire sphere shone clear and bright with a lustrous blue glow, signifying that Ning Tian had at least level thirty soul power.
"Level thirty? A Soul Elder?!"
Surprise appeared in the testing teacher's eyes, and even the pen in his hand paused.
Reaching level thirty soul power at twelve firmly placed her in the Little Monster category by Shrek Academy's past admission records.
The incoming students waiting in line around them clearly understood what it meant when the crystal ball's brightness reached its limit.
A quiet stir spread through the crowd. Some sucked in sharp breaths, others whispered among themselves, and countless gazes turned as one toward the girl in the white dress with a single ponytail.
"All right, you pass. Next!" The testing teacher composed himself and waved a hand, though his gaze had yet to leave the register.
Then Nezha stepped forward.
He raised his right hand and casually pressed his palm against the crystal ball.
As he channeled his soul power, the crystal ball's brightness reached its limit once more. Its radiance was even fiercer than before, and the entire sphere seemed to ignite, blazing white all over. Even the crystal itself grew slightly warm.
"Another Soul Elder?!"
The teacher could not help smacking his lips. He looked up at Nezha, then down at the crystal ball, then up again, clearly not having expected to encounter two monsters of this caliber in succession today.
"There are monsters every year, but this year has an especially big crop!"
Even the other Shrek students maintaining order nearby turned to look, their faces full of surprise.
Most were second- or third-year students whose soul power levels were only just above the Soul Elder threshold. Yet these newcomers, who had not even enrolled, already stood where they had only arrived after years of arduous cultivation.
At this, the teacher quickly put away his astonishment and looked at the three with a warm smile.
"Welcome to Shrek Academy. Head on in!"
Nezha and the two girls nodded. Paying no attention to the varied gazes around them, they turned and walked deeper into the academy.
Once they entered Shrek Academy, the crowd thinned noticeably. The clamor was shut away behind them, replaced by an ancient simplicity and solemnity steeped in ten thousand years of history.
Along the way, they passed statues of the Golden Iron Triangle and the original Shrek Seven Devils from ten thousand years ago. Cast in bronze, they had weathered wind and rain without corroding. The seven figures stood in different poses, yet all faced the distance, as though still guarding the academy.
They also passed an artificial lake whose emerald waters lay like a mirror. Its surface was broad, its ripples shimmering in the light. This was Shrek Academy's famous Sea God Lake.
Only then did the group finally reach Shrek Square, where they saw teaching buildings in white, yellow, purple, black, and gray, representing the different year groups.
The five buildings stood in sequence, uniform in style, their shades progressing from light to dark, as though a single brushstroke had painted the students' journey from enrollment to graduation across the square.
The three arrived at the white teaching building, completed their check-in and registration, and received their dorm keys, two sets of uniforms each, and a white freshman badge.
Nezha looked down at the two sets of uniforms in his hands, and the corner of his mouth twitched.
Shit green.
The dark-green fabric carried an indescribably dull sheen. The cut was reasonably neat, but the color was truly beyond words.
He silently stuffed the uniforms into his Storage Soul Tool, deciding to wear them as little as possible.
As expected, Ning Tian and Wu Feng were assigned to the same room, while Nezha was assigned to room 107.
Since they had only just registered and their class assignments had not yet been announced, the three decided to first take a look at the dormitory building famous across the continent.
There was only one dormitory building, likewise divided into white, yellow, purple, and black sections to distinguish the year groups. It had six floors in total: the first through third housed the boys, while the fourth through sixth housed the girls. There was also a bizarre rule forbidding boys from entering the fourth floor or any area above it; anyone caught would be expelled.
"This is the Shrek Academy famous across the continent?"
Wu Feng planted her hands on her hips and looked up at the building before her, its plain exterior bordering on shabby. The spirit of mockery blazed within her, and she finally could not hold her words back.
"Boys and girls actually share one building?! Is Shrek Academy really that poor?"
Before you continue