Lucky star, lucky star, out of his mind

See that? Now that was what you called wicked.

Compared with a scoundrel like Chen Ping, what Bei Bei and Tang Ya had done could, at most, be called the thoughtless rudeness of youngsters who did not know better.

Taking a few deep breaths, Chen Ping rubbed his hands together vigorously and looked at the gleaming yellow Soul Ring.

He had seen plenty of Soul Rings over the years. Never mind yellow hundred-year Soul Rings-he had even seen purple Thousand-Year Soul Rings and black Ten Thousand Year Soul Rings.

He had seen the world!

Even so, seeing a Yellow Soul Ring he had earned with his own hands floating before him, Chen Ping still swallowed awkwardly, unsure what to do with himself.

Five years! Do you know how I spent these five years?!

Throughout those five years, he had dreamed every waking moment of the day he would advance from Soul Scholar to Soul Master.

He reached out to grab the Soul Ring before him, only to realize halfway through that this was not how one absorbed a Soul Ring.

Summoning his Willow Wood Staff Martial Soul, Chen Ping held his breath and focused, trying to draw the Soul Ring onto his Martial Soul.

The next moment, the Yellow Soul Ring, a full four hundred and eighty years old, slipped over Chen Ping's Willow Wood Staff just as he wished.

At that instant, Chen Ping felt the surging soul power within the Lesser Touch Dragon King's Soul Ring.

Boom!

Like raging waves, soul power surged into Chen Ping's meridians, one swell after another.

Had this happened a few months earlier, Chen Ping would definitely have been unable to withstand such a violent torrent of soul power.

This Soul Ring was nearly five hundred years old, and it had come from a Soul Beast on the same tier as the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon.

Even for a Shrek student, choosing a Soul Ring like this as their second Soul Ring would have been quite an excellent result.

With poor luck, they might never even encounter a Soul Ring that suited them so well.

They could only settle for second best, choosing a six- or seven-hundred-year Soul Ring from a Soul Beast one or two tiers lower.

That alone showed how important a Soul Ring's quality was.

Chen Ping had only been absorbing it for a few minutes, yet he was already drenched in sweat. The soul power contained within this Soul Ring was simply too abundant.

Seemingly inexhaustible soul power coursed through his cramped meridians.

If Chen Ping had not forcibly drawn out his potential some time earlier, temporarily widening his meridians a little and raising his cultivation speed to the level of someone with an innate soul power of four or five,

this surging soul power probably would have blasted his meridians apart.

While Chen Ping battled wits and strength with his high-quality first Soul Ring, several ten-year and hundred-year Soul Beasts did indeed appear nearby.

Bei Bei and Tang Ya, however, were diligent guardians. Those Soul Beasts were driven away before they could even lay eyes on Chen Ping.

Having a Soul Elder and a Soul Grandmaster stand guard would have cost at least several hundred gold if he had been paying for it.

Some time later.

"Mm..."

Letting out a long breath, Chen Ping slowly opened his eyes. His bright eyes shone brilliantly, and his vitality, energy, and spirit had all improved enormously.

In a Soul Master's cultivation, breaking past level ten and becoming a Soul Master was the true starting point.

Without a Soul Ring, one was not a Soul Master, merely a Soul Scholar. That was an ironclad rule.

As he activated his soul power, the gleaming yellow Soul Ring descended from above Chen Ping's head.

Wave after wave of fluctuations unique to a hundred-year Soul Ring radiated outward, making Chen Ping's breathing quicken slightly.

"Congratulations, Junior Chen Ping."

Bei Bei walked over with a smile and cupped his hands in greeting. Only after Chen Ping obtained this first Soul Ring did Bei Bei feel certain that he truly qualified to become his junior.

After reaching level ten, Chen Ping had continued accumulating a full two levels' worth of soul power. On top of that, this four-hundred-and-eighty-year first Soul Ring had provided him with another two levels of soul power!

Now, having just finished absorbing his Soul Ring, Chen Ping's soul power level had shot straight up to fourteen.

He was only one final step away from meeting Shrek's minimum admission requirement of level fifteen in a little over two months.

"Yes, yes! Congratulations, little brother Chen."

Tang Ya also walked over, beaming, and looked at her own pale purple Soul Ring, which radiated a noble aura.

The quality of this Soul Ring was far better than the Mandala Snake or Cave Demon Spider she had originally planned on. At the very least, it had to be on the same tier as a Man Faced Demon Spider.

Obtaining a Soul Ring of this quality required not just strength, but luck as well. And had her luck not taken a sudden turn for the better the moment this Junior Chen Ping arrived?

What did that make him? A lucky star!

If she did not hoodwink (crossed out) a treasure like this into joining the great family (crossed out), the historic sect that was the Tang Sect, would she not be letting down all its ancestors?

Giving Bei Bei a meaningful look to signal that he should chat more with Chen Ping, Tang Ya excitedly sat down, closed her eyes, and focused, beginning to absorb the Thousand-Year Soul Ring produced by the Touch Dragon King.

Bei Bei could only give a helpless, wry smile before sitting down with Chen Ping to stand guard over Tang Ya.

Watching the Soul Ring Tang Ya was absorbing, Chen Ping fell into a daze.

Oh no. What I shifted with the principle of leverage might not have been just a Touch Dragon King, but the entire world's plot!

Because of that reckless thrust of my staff, the Touch Dragon King toppled onto its side.

Tang Ya has her third Soul Ring now, so when Huo Yuhao comes to the Star Dou Forest in two months, he won't run into Bei Bei and Tang Ya.

Without the Tang Sect's exemption from the entrance examination, Huo Yuhao might not get into Shrek at all...

The more Chen Ping thought about it, the more alarmed he became. He did not even hear Bei Bei calling to him beside him.

No, with how absurdly powerful Huo Gua's Spiritual Detection is, as long as Shrek's teachers aren't idiots, they'll definitely give him a chance.

Not joining the Tang Sect might actually be a good thing for Huo Gua.

Perhaps this is the so-called worldline correction force. As the saying goes, small currents can be changed, but the great tide is hard to defy. That's probably how it works.

Only then did Chen Ping finally come back to his senses and hear Bei Bei calling him.

"Ah... yes, Brother Bei Bei, I'm listening."

Chen Ping swayed slightly and focused his gaze on Bei Bei. In truth, aside from knowing that Bei Bei had been calling him, he had not heard a single word.

Bei Bei could only smile at that and ask again, "I was just asking what you plan to do next, Brother Chen."

"Would you like to look around Shrek City with us? We can show you around the school while we're at it."

Chen Ping's eyes lit up at the suggestion. "That would be wonderful. But I wonder, Brother Bei Bei, do you happen to know Teacher Wang Yan from our school?"

"Teacher Wang Yan?"

A thoughtful look appeared in Bei Bei's eyes. After a moment, he said somewhat uncertainly, "The name does ring a bell. I think he's currently the youngest senior teacher at our school."

"I've heard that if you look solely at Soul Beast theory and Soul Master theory, even quite a few Inner Court teachers are no match for Teacher Wang."