Shrek Academy

Early the next morning.

Lin Xiao climbed out of bed early, washed up briefly, and stretched.

After loosening up his limbs, he knocked on the door next door.

"Ohayou, Goshujin-sama~"

Xiao Wu gently rubbed her eyes and greeted Lin Xiao.

"Hurry up and get ready. I'm taking you out for some fun today."

Xuan Zi was right beside him.

Lin Xiao's goal today was to have Xuan Zi fight Zhao Wuji and Flender in an unfair one-versus-two battle that was extremely unfavorable to him.

He would also sign Xiao Wu up for one-on-one Soul Fighting at the Suotuo City Great Soul Arena to test the results of her six years of training.

"Oh, okay!"

Xiao Wu's eyes immediately lit up. She loved watching drama unfold.

Seeing the ill-intentioned looks in Lin Xiao's and Xuan Zi's eyes.

She could already picture someone else having a very unlucky day.

After they finished washing up, Lin Xiao gnawed on a steamed bun and handed Xiao Wu a carrot.

The two ate as they walked, soon reaching the edge of Suotuo City.

They looked at surroundings even more dilapidated than a rural village, and an academy gate made of wooden planks with the words "Shrek Academy" carved into it.

Xiao Wu's face was full of disdain.

We're here? This is the place?

Li Yusong was sitting on a wooden chair.

He shouted:

"Shrek only accepts monsters, not ordinary people! The registration fee is ten Gold Soul Coins, strictly nonrefundable!"

Dai Mubai lay up in a nearby tree, a blade of foxtail grass between his lips, looking utterly relaxed.

Tang San and the others had just successfully registered.

Just as Dai Mubai was about to jump down from the tree and lead the new students into the academy.

His eyes suddenly widened.

He hurriedly jumped down.

"Teacher Li! Watch out for that person up ahead!"

Li Yusong followed his gaze and saw Lin Xiao.

"I clashed with him yesterday over an issue at the hotel. He's a Soul King! His soul ring configuration is far beyond normal, too!"

Even Dai Mubai's voice trembled slightly.

Li Yusong narrowed his eyes.

"Then go get Teacher Zhao."

He was only a rank sixty-one Soul Emperor.

His first soul ring was even white. Since Dai Mubai himself had said that this boy's soul ring configuration was extraordinary.

He naturally would not provoke the other party.

The gap between a Soul King and a Soul Emperor was not all that great.

And his own soul ring configuration was inferior.

So Li Yusong decided to wait and watch until Zhao Wuji arrived.

But Lin Xiao had other ideas.

He first looked at Dai Mubai and raised an eyebrow.

"Well, if it isn't the little tiger. You still dare show your face in front of me? Didn't yesterday's beating hurt enough?"

Dai Mubai, who had been about to slip into the academy to fetch Zhao Wuji, stiffened, then headed straight into Shrek Academy without looking back.

All the bystanders turned their eyes toward Lin Xiao.

Along with Tang San's hate-filled gaze.

Lin Xiao cleared his throat.

Ever dedicated to his work, he continued his promotion.

"The Spirit Pagoda will be opening in Heaven Dou City soon. Everyone's welcome to visit!"

Then he released his soul rings.

Looking at those rings, even the lowest of which was red.

Li Yusong frowned.

Though the aura of those soul rings pressed down on him so heavily that he barely dared breathe.

His many years of experience as a Soul Master told him that this person's soul ring configuration might be fake.

Besides, advertising at Shrek's gate-wasn't that a slap in his face?

And so, finding courage from who knew where.

He summoned his martial soul.

Six rings appeared, and he held the Coiling Dragon Staff in his hand.

"Boy, this is Shrek Academy. Loud disturbances are forbidden!"

Lin Xiao was utterly astonished.

You're going to use dominance consciousness even knowing you're outmatched?

Hajiri, I acknowledge you.

He simply frowned and raised his middle finger.

"Old geezer, you're pretty brave, huh?"

His soul rings erupted with an intense oppressive force once more.

Everyone present hurriedly backed away, terrified by those fearsome soul rings.

An unusual light flickered in Zhu Zhuqing's and Ning Rongrong's eyes.

Even the hand Li Yusong held his Coiling Dragon Staff with had begun to sweat without his noticing.

But he still answered.

"Damn right! I'm super brave, okay?"

"Who's shouting and making a scene at the academy gate?"

A rough voice suddenly came from inside the academy.

Li Yusong breathed a sigh of relief. He knew the owner of that voice all too well.

The Immovable Wisdom King, Zhao Wuji, a rank seventy-six Great Strength Vajra Bear Battle Soul Saint.

Even back when he was a Soul Emperor, he had achieved some truly fearsome feats in battle.

At last, someone who could keep the situation under control.

Probably?

Zhao Wuji's broad figure emerged from the academy. At the sight of Lin Xiao's soul rings, he was first startled, then seemed to think of something.

Delight appeared on his face.

"Boy, you're the one shouting at our academy gate, right? If you've got the guts, fight me. If you lose, you join our Shrek Academy. If you win, you can do whatever you want with me. How about it?"

Zhao Wuji folded his arms and spoke confidently.

Even though that soul ring configuration made no sense to him, and he secretly thought the world had changed.

A Soul Saint with a Martial Soul Avatar was not someone a mere Soul King could challenge.

Rank seventy-six against rank fifty-nine. The advantage is mine!

Lin Xiao nodded. He happened to want to test just how nasty his current abilities were.

By now, Xiao Wu had jumped into a nearby tree with an armful of carrots and begun munching.

Her face was full of smiles. Her favorite part had arrived.

Zhao Wuji summoned the seven optimally configured soul rings of his Great Strength Vajra Bear.

The onlookers froze again.

Although that young man was already frightening enough.

They had never imagined that tiny Shrek actually had both a Soul Emperor and a Soul Saint!

At the academy gate, Ning Rongrong, who had just recovered from her shock, gently nudged Zhu Zhuqing with her elbow.

"Hey, who do you think will win?"

Zhu Zhuqing's expression remained cool. She merely shook her head silently to indicate that she did not know.

"I think the handsome guy will win!" Ning Rongrong had something of a weakness for good looks.

Seeing Lin Xiao, who was about her age, so powerful and so handsome, she instantly took his side.

"First Soul Skill, Immovable Bright King Body!"

"Fifth Soul Skill, Gravity Compression!"

Faced with Lin Xiao, whom he could not begin to fathom.

Zhao Wuji did not act carelessly, opening with two soul skills at once.

Powerful gravity bore down on Lin Xiao.

It pressed that patch of ground slightly lower.

Shattered stones flew outward.

Lin Xiao stood completely unmoving in the center of the gravity field.

"Not bad pressure."

He felt Zhao Wuji's soul skill and gave it a fairly favorable assessment.

But to Zhao Wuji, it sounded like a provocation.

He roared, "Second Soul Skill, Great Strength Vajra Palm!"

Then he thrust his palm forward fiercely.

Lin Xiao leaped up, and the wooden stick in his hand slowly changed shape.

"Gungnir, serve me. First Soul Skill, Pierce. Third Soul Skill, Ice Seal."

Intense ice power gathered at the spear's tip.

Lin Xiao hurled it forward. The spear tore through the air with a series of sharp sounds.

Zhao Wuji gathered soul power in his palm and moved to block it.

He had thought he would stop it easily.

But Gungnir pierced straight through his palm and bored through his forearm.

Then it abruptly dissipated and returned to Lin Xiao's hand.

Zhao Wuji was also frozen for one second.

The instant he thawed, he felt that the bones throughout his forearm had been pierced through. The searing pain instantly reddened his eyes.

"Seventh Soul Skill, Immovable Wisdom King Avatar!"

Enraged, he became a Great Strength Vajra Bear several meters tall and charged forward, intent on smashing Lin Xiao away.

"Ice-Fire Divine Domain."

The Left and Right Arm Bones of the Ice and Fire Dragon Kings instantly erupted with immense power, and the two domains merged into one.

Zhao Wuji immediately felt pain boring into his heart.

At the same time, his abilities were constantly being weakened.

A sense of mortal danger rose from the depths of his heart. If he did not surrender now, he would die!

"I surrender!"

Seeing Zhao Wuji fold in an instant.

Lin Xiao withdrew his domain.

"So you're just a little teddy bear."

At that moment, Flender was also slowly approaching on his Four-Eyed Cat Owl.

"Looking at Zhao Wuji's forearm, which had been pierced clean through, Flender felt enormous pressure."

He knew his old partner's strength perfectly well, yet he had never expected that, before this boy of no more than twelve or thirteen.

Even with his Martial Soul Avatar active, Zhao Wuji had not dared take the boy's second attack.

He fiercely glared at Dai Mubai and Li Yusong, who were peeking out with half their heads exposed to watch.

If Dai Mubai had not provoked Lin Xiao over two women.

If Old Li had not inexplicably rebuked him.

How would Old Zhao have gotten hurt?

He spoke with a hint of apology.

"Young friend, please stay your hand. I am Flender, the headmaster of Shrek Academy."

Lin Xiao had had enough fun.

So he glanced at Xuan Zi.

Flender was instantly pressed to the ground.

He raised his head with difficulty, only to see nine soul rings flashing around the old man before him.

"A Titled Douluo!"

The academy teachers who came rushing over all blanched in shock.

"Your Eminence, spare me!"

Flender forced himself to speak under the crushing pressure.

"I am Xuan Zi, the Taotie Douluo and Grand Elder of the Spirit Pagoda."

With that, he withdrew his pressure and simply stood there quietly, staring straight at Flender and Zhao Wuji.

Dai Mubai's face turned deathly pale when he heard those words.

In their Star Luo Empire, only the emperor and empress could barely reach the level of a Titled Douluo by using a Martial Soul Fusion Skill.

Not a single person had reached Titled Douluo through their own cultivation.

Yet on the night before the new students started school, he had actually offended a Titled Douluo.

He felt like crying, but no tears would come.

"Dai Mubai! Old Li!"

Flender and Zhao Wuji's furious roars rang out from the academy gates.

Neither of them was an idiot. At this point, how could they not understand?

Li Yusong broke out in a sweat, dropped to his knees on the spot, and loudly apologized.

Dai Mubai also forced down his fear and slowly stepped forward.

"Your Eminence, I'm sorry."

He lowered his head.

Xuan Zi looked at him, waiting for Lin Xiao's next instruction.

"How about this? Kneel down and slap yourself ten times, and we'll call it even. What do you say?"

Lin Xiao spoke with mocking amusement.

Dai Mubai's expression changed drastically, and anger surged up from the bottom of his heart.

But at the sight of those nine Soul Rings, he still chose to heed his fear.

Gritting his teeth hard, he dropped to his knees and began slapping himself.

"One, two, three..."

Every number Lin Xiao counted became another mark of humiliation.

Finally, after ten slaps, Lin Xiao nodded in satisfaction.

Then he picked Xiao Wu up with one hand and left with Xuan Zi.

Only then did everyone recover their senses.

The onlookers scattered as though fleeing a disaster, asking around and spreading word of the Spirit Pagoda wherever they went.

For the people of this little city tucked away in a forgotten corner of the world,

seeing Xuan Zi, a Titled Douluo, was no different from seeing a god.

The Shrek group gasped for breath.

Flender snapped angrily:

"Mubai, Old Li, look at what you've done! You actually offended a Titled Douluo! You nearly got us old men killed here today, do you realize that?"

Dai Mubai gritted his teeth, unable to shake off his humiliation.

"Weren't you the ones who said anyone who doesn't stir up trouble is mediocre?"

At those words, even Flender fell somewhat silent.

Dai Mubai said nothing more. He merely snorted coldly, clenched his fists, and went back inside Shrek Academy.

Flender and the others could only shake their heads, silently pondering the existence of the Spirit Pagoda.

Then they looked toward Tang San and his group, whose faces were filled with disbelief.

"Come on. Let's go take the assessment."

Back in his dormitory, Dai Mubai's face was full of resentment.

He resented not only Flender and the others for reprimanding him, but also Lin Xiao for humiliating him repeatedly in the street.

He wanted revenge.

Even though he knew he would never have that chance, no matter what.

Still, he roared, if only to vent his anger.

"Once I become strong, I'll trample you into the dirt and grind you beneath my feet!"

Only after smashing several cups did he stop.

The Shrek group passed the assessment.

Then they each returned to their dormitories.

Tang San's expression shifted uncertainly, and no one knew what he was thinking.

Zhu Zhuqing turned the scenes from that morning over in her mind, a thoughtful glint flashing in her eyes.

Ning Rongrong was determined to call home and have her family thoroughly investigate Lin Xiao.

But then she remembered that she had sneaked out.

She could only quiet down again and fidget with her hands.