Entrance assessment

"A genius? Hearing Shrek's greatest genius call someone else a genius has certainly piqued my curiosity. Bring him to meet me sometime," Yan Shaozhe said with a gentle smile.

Zhang Lexuan said, "He's already at Shrek Academy, but if you want to meet him, I'll need a small favor from you, senior brother!"

Yan Shaozhe smiled. "So this is what you were leading up to. Someone who could make you ask me for a favor must be quite close to you, little girl. But Lexuan, you should know Shrek's rules. Even I cannot violate the rules of Shrek Academy!"

Zhang Lexuan said, "Senior brother, of course I know Shrek Academy's rules. But rules are made by people, and they should account for individual circumstances. Besides, strictly speaking, the genius I'm introducing doesn't really violate Shrek's rules. His martial soul awakened three years ago, and his soul power has already reached rank thirteen. Senior brother, please make an exception!"

Yan Shaozhe took a sip of tea. "Reaching rank thirteen just three years after his martial soul awakened is indeed quite good. But he's only cultivated for three years, so there's no need to rush. He can come to Shrek Academy next year. If he really is the genius you say he is, another year won't be too late!"

Zhang Lexuan sighed. "He can only join Shrek Academy this year. Although his martial soul awakened just three years ago, he's already eleven. If he comes next year, he definitely won't meet the age requirement."

"His martial soul awakened three years ago, and he's already eleven? You mean his martial soul didn't awaken until he was eight?" Yan Shaozhe paused, then understood. His expression turned icy as he asked, "Is he a child from that incident three years ago? The lord of Pinghai City and those parasites in the three great empires truly deserved to die!"

"That's right. Senior brother, you remember the boy whose father died at the hands of an evil soul master, don't you? I awakened his martial soul three years ago. Now he's eleven and has shown considerable talent, but he's had two fewer years to cultivate than ordinary people. Ultimately, this happened because Shrek Academy failed in its oversight. Rejecting him from Shrek Academy because of that would truly chill people's hearts."

Zhang Lexuan sighed and continued, "And what happened three years ago already left him disappointed in Shrek Academy. If I hadn't insisted again and again, he would have preferred to go to the Sun Moon Empire rather than attend Shrek Academy or any academy in the three great empires!"

A long-buried memory surfaced in Yan Shaozhe's mind. That day, he had received an oversight assignment and personally gone to capture and kill Lin Youtian, the lord of Pinghai City. By chance, however, he had witnessed quite a spectacle. He had seen with his own eyes how a boy who was not even a soul master had lured Lin Youtian, who was already approaching the Soul Ancestor realm, step by step into a hopeless trap. Of course, the boy had still underestimated a soul master's strength. Had Yan Shaozhe not intervened, Lin Youtian might have escaped with his life.

But the composure and cunning that boy had displayed back then remained fresh in his memory.

Zhang Lexuan continued, "Senior brother, do you know? This time, I accompanied him to the Star Dou Great Forest to hunt the soul beast he needed for his first soul ring!"

"Wait, did he absorb a soul ring beyond his limit?" Yan Shaozhe was a powerful expert himself, so naturally, he knew what reaching rank thirteen immediately after absorbing a first soul ring meant.

Aside from having already built up substantial reserves as a Soul Scholar, his first soul ring must have been a perfect absorption, or even one that surpassed the limit.

"And that's not all!" Zhang Lexuan said. "For his first soul ring, he chose an eight-hundred-year-old Diamond Tiger. Moreover, this Diamond Tiger possessed a royal bloodline, and its strength was no less than that of a thousand-year soul beast. More importantly, from the moment we encountered it, he killed that soul beast entirely on his own!"

Even now, Zhang Lexuan could not forget the shock of watching Jiang Hai smash the eight-hundred-year-old Diamond Tiger to death, one blow of his coffin after another.

"What did you say? He single-handedly killed an eight-hundred-year-old king Diamond Tiger with a royal bloodline?" Even Yan Shaozhe was stunned. The boy appeared in his mind once more, and he thought, If it was him, perhaps that really was possible!

Yan Shaozhe said solemnly, "Lexuan, tell me everything again, without leaving out a single word, from your encounter with the Diamond Tiger to his absorption of its soul ring!"

Zhang Lexuan nodded and recounted everything she had seen.

After hearing Zhang Lexuan's account, Yan Shaozhe's expression grew much more serious.

Although there was a limit to soul ring absorption, that limit varied from person to person. Those born with strong physiques or who exercised regularly could absorb soul rings older than those an ordinary person could handle.

However, the human physique also had its limits. Training the body was far harder than cultivating soul power. Even someone born with a powerful physique would not be much stronger than a soul master who tempered their body with soul power. Thus, most people who exceeded the ordinary limit when absorbing their first soul ring only absorbed rings a little over five hundred years old. Someone like Jiang Hai, who absorbed an eight-hundred-year ring as his first, was exceedingly rare.

More importantly, Jiang Hai's ability to absorb a soul ring beyond his level stemmed from his martial soul. As his martial soul grew stronger, this advantage would only increase, allowing him to absorb ever older soul rings.

Ten thousand years ago, Tang San had likewise relied on soul rings far older than those of ordinary people to far surpass others of his rank and cultivate his way to godhood.

But Tang San had only truly pulled ahead of his peers with his fourth soul ring, whereas Jiang Hai would possess this advantage from the very beginning.

There was another crucial point: Jiang Hai possessed innate divine strength. Combined with the weight of his martial soul, the combat talent he had displayed could only be called miraculous.

However, Yan Shaozhe soon calmed down. After pondering for a while, he asked, "Lexuan, you said his martial soul was an enormous bronze coffin?"

Zhang Lexuan understood Yan Shaozhe's concern. She hesitated before saying, "Senior brother, have we always held a certain prejudice against coffin martial souls?"

"Birth, aging, sickness, and death are the natural course of life. Apart from the gods of legend, who in this world can escape death? A coffin holds a body; you could say it is a person's resting place after death. Is it truly an evil object? If a coffin is evil, why does everyone still wish to be laid in one and buried beneath the earth after they die? Perhaps our understanding of coffins has been prejudiced from the outset. Because we all fear death, we instinctively consider coffins inauspicious."

Yan Shaozhe glanced at Zhang Lexuan and asked, "Is that your own insight, or did that boy tell you this? Coffins aren't evil objects-an interesting argument. That's right. Whether we're soul masters or ordinary people, who doesn't fear death? We fear death, so we shun coffins. When we call coffins inauspicious, what we really mean is that we're afraid to die... Here is my written authorization. Take it straight to the registration area and tell the teacher there that he has permission to take the assessment!"

"Thank you, senior brother!" Zhang Lexuan happily accepted Yan Shaozhe's written authorization, thanked him, and ran out.

Watching Zhang Lexuan leave, Yan Shaozhe shook his head. "We've lived so many years, yet we don't see things as clearly as a child!"

"But who doesn't fear death? When you fear death, naturally you shun coffins. The road ahead of this boy won't be easy!" Yan Shaozhe shook his head, closed his eyes, and began to doze.

By the time Zhang Lexuan found the others, Bei Bei and Tang Ya had shown the two boys around Shrek and helped Huo Yuhao complete his registration.

"Bei Bei, Jiang Hai!"

Zhang Lexuan ran over excitedly, waved the written authorization in her hand, and smiled. "Jiang Hai, your problem is solved! Come on, follow me to the new students' entrance assessment. As long as you pass, you can join Shrek Academy. The entrance assessment might be a little difficult for others, but with your strength, it's practically in the bag. Still, let's make one thing clear: if I discover you deliberately lost, don't blame me for getting angry!"

Jiang Hai said helplessly, "Sister Xuan, don't worry. What sort of person do you take me for? You went through so much trouble to secure this opportunity for me. How could I deliberately throw it away? Brother Bei Bei, Sister Tang Ya, Yuhao, I'll be off first. Until we meet again!"

"Little brother Jiang Hai, I look forward to becoming your schoolmate," Bei Bei said encouragingly.

"Brother Jiang Hai, I know you can do it! I'll be waiting for you at Shrek Academy!" Huo Yuhao also pumped his fist at Jiang Hai, cheering him on.

"Don't worry. I won't let you down," Jiang Hai said with a smile.

"Come on, I'll take you there!" Zhang Lexuan said.

Jiang Hai bid farewell to Huo Yuhao and the others, and Zhang Lexuan led him to Shrek Academy's plaza, where the assessment was held.

A teacher sat inside a temporary tent, with a long line of people waiting in front to register and take the first assessment.

"Your circumstances are special, so you won't have to queue this time. But remember one thing: Shrek is a very fair place. Throwing your weight around and bullying your schoolmates are strictly forbidden. Of course, ordinary sparring and challenges are allowed. You should already know there's a Soul Fighting Arena over by the residential area. Once you reach your second year, you'll have a certain number of soul fighting assignments each term. Of course, good performances earn extra rewards too." As she spoke, Zhang Lexuan explained some of Shrek's rules to Jiang Hai.

"Teacher Wang Yan, are you in charge of registration and the first assessment this time?" Zhang Lexuan asked in surprise as she brought Jiang Hai before the teacher handling registration.

"Oh, Lexuan. Is there something you need?" Wang Yan asked.

Although he was a teacher, Zhang Lexuan's standing at Shrek was higher than his. She was a Soul Douluo in her twenties and a future Titled Douluo, while he was merely a Soul Emperor.

"Teacher Wang Yan, I've brought a friend to register for the assessment. Here's the registration fee. My friend's circumstances are a little unusual. His soul power is slightly below the requirement, but I've already spoken to Dean Yan and received his permission to give him a chance at the assessment. Here is Dean Yan's written authorization!" Zhang Lexuan took out the authorization Yan Shaozhe had given her as she spoke.

Wang Yan accepted the authorization and examined it. After confirming everything was in order, he returned it to Zhang Lexuan and nodded. "All right, but we still need to follow the procedure. Young man, hold out one hand."

At his words, Jiang Hai extended his left hand.

Although he was only eleven, his hands were covered in thick calluses. They looked nothing like the hands of an eleven-year-old boy.

Yan Shaozhe glanced at the thick calluses on Jiang Hai's hand, and the displeasure in his eyes vanished like smoke. He said gently, "Don't be afraid. I'm only going to check your bone age. What's your name?"

"Jiang Hai!" Jiang Hai answered.