Ma Xiaotao

The enormous Bronze Coffin descended, blocking every attack for Jiang Hai.

Jiang Hai let out a low shout, his strength erupting as he yanked hard and snapped the vines around his right leg inch by inch. His right hand seized the rim of the Bronze Coffin, hoisting its fifteen hundred jin of weight and sweeping it forcefully through the air. A terrifying gale surged forth, driving everyone back.

At that moment, Jiang Hai seemed like a sleeping lion awakened.

What terrifying strength! We've struck gold this time-a Light Goddess Butterfly, the continent's most beautiful butterfly martial soul, and a boy born with monstrous strength! Ma Xiaotao thought.

She had also noticed Wang Dong's two soul rings, one yellow and one purple.

Meanwhile, like a lion roused from slumber, Jiang Hai gripped the heavy Bronze Coffin and sprang forward at incredible speed. In an instant, he reached the girl who had used her soul skill to bind him, and the thousand-jin coffin hurtled toward her with a roar.

"Not good! This brat doesn't know the first thing about cherishing a delicate flower!" Purplish-red flames suddenly flared around Ma Xiaotao. With a flash of fire, she whisked the girl, whose face had gone white with fright, out from beneath the enormous falling coffin.

Boom!

The ground shuddered, and the granite shattered. Now safely out of danger, the girl was utterly terrified and burst into loud sobs.

"Was this even a sparring match? This was outright murder! If Ma Xiaotao hadn't saved her, that heavy coffin would probably have crushed her into meat paste!"

Ma Xiaotao rubbed her forehead. "You're out. Be good and stay right here!"

By then, Jiang Hai was already swinging the enormous coffin at another candidate. With that warning fresh before his eyes, the boy turned deathly pale. He didn't want to die. "I surrender!" he shouted.

The Bronze Coffin swept past him, and the tremendous gust knocked him straight to the ground. Thinking of how close he had come to dying, he too began to cry, overcome with grievance after his narrow escape.

"Wasn't this just bullying? Shrek Academy's practical assessment was so dangerous! If he hadn't surrendered quickly enough, or if that monster had made a mistake, wouldn't he have been smashed apart just like the shattered ground?"

"Everyone, attack together!" someone immediately called. The others were deathly pale, but they still refused to surrender or give up their hard-won chance to take Shrek's assessment. They were already eleven and a half. If they failed this time, they would lose their chance to enter Shrek Academy forever.

They all mustered their courage and unleashed their soul skills, still unwilling to give up.

But Jiang Hai had already charged up to a boy and swung the coffin down. Ma Xiaotao flashed forward and successfully rescued him!

Three coffin strikes from Jiang Hai had eliminated three people.

Yet Jiang Hai showed no sign of fatigue. Like a fierce tiger released from its cage and let loose among sheep, he swept the Bronze Coffin sideways, sending one person flying. Then he hauled it up to block another person's soul skill and blasted that opponent away with a punch.

Two more were eliminated.

Aside from Wang Dong flying overhead, only three people remained on the field.

Wang Dong could no longer hold back either. Even she wasn't entirely confident that she could withstand such a heavy blow.

"Wing Guillotine!" Wang Dong shouted under her breath. Golden light appeared along the edges of her beautiful butterfly wings. With a flash through the air, a pair of terrifying guillotine blades slashed toward him.

The soul ring for Wang Dong's first soul skill was certainly far more than a mere three- or four-hundred-year ring. The Light Goddess Butterfly was famed as the continent's most beautiful butterfly and was itself a top-tier soul beast, with unbelievably fast speed. Wang Dong's timing with this soul skill was also impeccable.

Jiang Hai swung the coffin and eliminated another person, leaving it no time to return and defend him. The Bronze Coffin had now reached fourteen hundred jin. Its power had risen by more than a single tier, but it also drained him more heavily and was more cumbersome to wield. Wang Dong's Butterfly Wing Guillotine, on the other hand, was extremely fast—the perfect counter to Jiang Hai.

Even Ma Xiaotao had to nod earnestly. Wang Dong's timing truly was excellent.

Just as Ma Xiaotao was about to rescue Jiang Hai from beneath Wang Dong's Butterfly Wing Guillotine, golden light spread from the Bronze Coffin, bathing Jiang Hai in gold as well. His first soul skill shone brilliantly, its yellow glow faintly flickering toward gold.

"First soul skill, Diamond Body."

The golden light of the Butterfly Wing Guillotine's wing blades sliced through the golden radiance around Jiang Hai. His grip on the Bronze Coffin abruptly became a push, and he used the force to launch himself upward. He threw a punch, unleashing the strength amplified by Diamond Body and knocking Wang Dong out of the air.

Jiang Hai borrowed momentum once more in midair and descended before one of the two remaining opponents. One punch sent that boy flying. With a beckoning hand, he made the Bronze Coffin vanish, then materialize again at his side. He seized it and advanced on the other boy. As the enormous coffin bore down on him, Jiang Hai's imposing presence, like a god descending from heaven, finally shattered the boy's resolve. Trembling, he said, "I surrender!"

In the blink of an eye, Jiang Hai alone had swept all nine opponents except Wang Dong out of the match.

Wang Dong rubbed her shoulder. Despite the substantial soul power protecting her body, Jiang Hai's punch still left it throbbing with pain.

What kind of monster was he? He was only a one-ring soul master, yet he was stronger than a soul grandmaster like me.

Her second soul ring was a Thousand-Year Soul Ring, after all, and it had given her physique an enormous boost.

Having driven everyone else back, Jiang Hai watched Wang Dong warily. Although the bloody wound on his back was slowly healing through Diamond Body's regenerative ability, Wang Dong's first soul skill had left an indelible impression on him. He couldn't forget that she still had an unused purple thousand-year soul skill!

The Bronze Coffin stood upright beside him. The instant Wang Dong unleashed her thousand-year second soul skill, he would slip inside it and rely on the coffin's own strength to withstand her attack.

She was Sea God Tang San's daughter, after all, and the second most overpowered character in Peerless Tang Sect after Huo Yuhao. Jiang Hai didn't dare underestimate her in the slightest, and that Butterfly Wing Guillotine had already proved why.

Yet everyone present except Jiang Hai was staring at him in disbelief.

None of those sent from various regions to take Shrek Academy's entrance assessment were weak, especially those who had made it to the fourth stage.

"Mommy, is Shrek Academy's assessment really this hard? I want to go home!" sobbed the girl Jiang Hai had eliminated first.

This was a crushing blow to their confidence. With so many of them together, not a single one could withstand even one attack from him.

No, there was still one...

The girl looked at Wang Dong, who was rubbing her shoulder. That boy, prettier than she was, had nearly injured that freak. But Wang Dong had two soul rings, and one was even a purple Thousand-Year Soul Ring.

Were we really this bad? Mommy lied to me.

The more Le Qianqian thought about it, the more aggrieved she felt. Her mother was a Soul Douluo, yet she had still lied to her. She didn't like her mother anymore. Bad Mommy!

The others felt much the same. Had Shrek Academy gotten its admissions rules wrong? Only soul grandmasters should be allowed to apply; otherwise, no normal person could possibly pass this insane fourth stage.

Jiang Hai had no idea what the others were thinking. He had actually intended to slack off and merely put on a show of fighting. Who knew Wang Dong would attack him right away, while others ambushed them? Wang Dong had flown away, but he had no wings. Left with no choice, Jiang Hai could only let these adorable little flowers experience the world's cruelty ahead of schedule!

"Do we keep going?" Jiang Hai asked Wang Dong, though the question was also directed at himself.

Wang Dong glanced at the first soul ring flickering around Jiang Hai and gritted her teeth in frustration. But she knew she had already lost. Even if she used her second ring's thousand-year soul skill now, it wouldn't prove anything. If a soul master with only one ring forced her to use a thousand-year soul skill, how was that any different from losing?

Seeing that Wang Dong no longer wished to fight, Ma Xiaotao nodded and walked to the center of the arena. "The assessment is over. Jiang Hai, Wang Dong, Le Qianqian, and Chen Yong have passed. Everyone else is eliminated!"

Chen Yong was the boy who had still found the courage to rally everyone to attack after Jiang Hai effortlessly defeated three people. He was indeed the strongest among the others, with soul power likely approaching Level 20. His martial soul was a brown bear, and he possessed great strength. Unfortunately, it was still insignificant compared with Jiang Hai's monstrous strength.

Of the four whose names Ma Xiaotao had called, Jiang Hai and Wang Dong remained expressionless, while the other two looked utterly incredulous.

They had lost so miserably, yet they could still join Shrek Academy?

Then joy followed.

Le Qianqian stopped crying too, her expression caught between tears and laughter. It was quite amusing.

Those who had lost their chance looked dejected and disappointed. So many hopes had been placed upon them, yet they had still lost, narrowly missing their chance to enter Shrek Academy.

Shrek Academy wasn't merely the continent's foremost academy. Its standing on the Douluo Continent was that of a sacred land, even above the imperial families of the three great empires. Four thousand years ago, when the Sun Moon Continent collided with the Douluo Continent, the Douluo Three Kingdoms had initially been at an overwhelming disadvantage in the war against the Sun Moon Continent. Shrek Academy had turned back the raging tide and propped up the tottering edifice, establishing the continent's present balance of power.

No matter which country someone came from, joining Shrek Academy brought immense benefits and honor.

The three great empires even used the number of students admitted to Shrek Academy each year as one measure of their national strength.

"I won't accept this!" A boy stepped forward and stared stubbornly at Ma Xiaotao. "Why do Le Qianqian and Chen Yong get to join Shrek Academy too? Le Qianqian was clearly the first one eliminated!"

Still caught up in her delighted surprise, Le Qianqian hadn't expected someone to turn their attack directly on her. She glared at him indignantly, and Chen Yong's gaze toward him was equally unfriendly.

Just as everyone thought a conflict was about to erupt, Ma Xiaotao waved her hand indifferently. "Whether you accept it is your business. You've already failed your assessment. Shrek Academy doesn't welcome failures. You may leave now. Of course, if anyone intends to cause trouble, I'll be happy to take you on."

As Ma Xiaotao spoke, a piercing Phoenix Cry rang out. Six deep-hued soul rings bloomed around her-yellow, yellow, purple, purple, black, black-and an immense pressure surged toward them.

Six rings-a Soul Emperor!

At that moment, even Jiang Hai's and Wang Dong's eyes grew solemn. Such a young girl was already a six-ring Soul Emperor. She truly lived up to Shrek Academy's name.

Ma Xiaotao!

Watching the flames around Ma Xiaotao, where an evil aura intertwined with searing heat, Jiang Hai finally realized who stood before him: Shrek Academy's genius second only to Zhang Lexuan.