Soul Beast Transformation

Not long afterward, Ning Jiao and Zhu Zhuqing finished breakfast and headed to the outskirts of Suotuo City, arriving at the gates of Shrek Academy.

Strangely, this academy, which had clearly been a little village in the original story, actually looked rather respectable now!

For instance, its entrance sign was much grander, and it even had its own perimeter walls.

Ning Jiao was somewhat puzzled.

"Rongrong isn't here yet."

Zhu Zhuqing looked at Ning Jiao beside her.

"Don't worry about her. Since you know what her Martial Soul is, you should naturally know she'll be fine."

Ning Jiao shook his head and spoke casually, his gaze falling on the black-haired woman and the woman with the scorpion-tail braid nearby.

"They're here too..."

Zhu Zhuqing murmured, also spotting Tang Lan and Xiao Wu in the line ahead.

"Huh?"

Ning Jiao's eyes suddenly filled with astonishment, for he had spotted the woman sitting at the admissions desk by Shrek Academy's gates.

Her black hair draped over her shoulders, her gaze was sharp, and her figure was curvaceous. Barring any surprises, she was most likely Liu Erlong-but why was Liu Erlong here?

"Ah, ever since your father faked his death back then, Heaven Dou City has undergone a tremendous upheaval."

"Xue Ye coughed up blood and moved against the Spirit Hall Branch and the great clans overnight, looking as though he wouldn't stop until one side was dead..."

"As for the Blue Tyrant Academy you mentioned, it probably left around that time to avoid suspicion."

Dugu Bo stroked his chin as he answered Ye Ling's curious questions.

"He didn't care about Heaven Dou anymore?"

Ye Ling raised an eyebrow. With Xue Ye acting like that, Heaven Dou was bound to face turmoil!

"The ministers jointly petitioned to impeach Xue Ye. The person currently exercising imperial authority in his stead is Prince Xue Xing."

"As for Xue Ye, I haven't seen him in a very long time."

Dugu Bo sighed with an inexplicable sense of emotion, then suddenly gave Ye Ling a strange look.

If Xue Qianren had actually been Ye Ling's father in disguise, then Xue Ye truly had suffered eight lifetimes' worth of bad luck!

"As for the concern for Heaven Dou you mentioned, let me ask you this: among the Xue Family's descendants today, is there really anyone capable of shouldering such a great responsibility?"

"Xue Ye can no longer perform as a man, and that fellow Xue Xing is extremely lustful. Who knows how many young women he's ruined over the years by exploiting the convenience of exercising imperial authority?"

"Perhaps Heaven Dou doesn't have much time left..."

Dugu Bo looked thoughtfully toward the distant Heaven Dou Imperial Palace, and all of this had come about simply because Xue Qianren had crippled every member of the Xue Family's younger generation.

"Great-grandpa, do you want to be emperor?"

Ye Ling jumped from one idea to the next, looking straight at Dugu Bo.

"Heh, I'm an idle cloud and a wild crane, free of all restraints."

Dugu Bo chuckled and shook his head. He didn't know what means Ye Ling possessed, but he couldn't be bothered to get involved in this mess.

"Are relations between the Heaven Dou Empire and the two great sects rather delicate now too?"

Ye Ling continued asking, an inscrutable look entering his eyes.

"Perhaps."

Dugu Bo answered uncertainly. In theory, that was indeed the case.

He hadn't paid much attention to these matters, so naturally, he didn't know much about them.

"Oh~"

Ye Ling nodded and said no more.

Then hadn't Blue Sky's first target after gathering strength already been decided?

Heaven Dou, whose people could barely survive, needed order to descend upon it!

Xue Ye, as compensation, watch in your dreams as Xue Qianren becomes a true emperor for the ages.

Ye Ling sighed inwardly. Though Xue Ye had certainly acted out of self-interest, his kindness toward Xue Qianren had been real...

"Don't let your eyes wander. The admissions teacher is probably very strong."

Zhu Zhuqing discreetly tugged at the hem of Ning Jiao's clothes.

If he let his gaze stray where it shouldn't, he would definitely be caught!

"Oh, come on, do I look that lecherous?"

"Actually, I just thought this admissions teacher looked familiar. I think I've seen her in Heaven Dou City before."

Ning Jiao swatted Zhu Zhuqing's little hand away and spoke with a deeply aggrieved expression.

"You know perfectly well what sort of person you are."

Zhu Zhuqing chuckled and spoke softly.

"Don't say that..."

Ning Jiao pressed his lips together. Zhu Zhuqing's little expression had truly captivated him.

As the saying went, a smiling Zhu Zhuqing and an aloof Ning Rongrong-now those were true masterpieces!

"Just look at you~"

Zhu Zhuqing rolled her eyes at Ning Jiao and stopped paying him any attention, turning instead toward Tang Lan, who was undergoing the test.

"There's no need to pay first. Once you pass all the assessments, the registration fee will be included in your tuition."

Liu Erlong spoke calmly, stopping Tang Lan as she reached for her money.

"Our academy doesn't accept students older than nineteen."

(A little tip: for certain reasons, the age for awakening a Martial Soul has been moved to twelve!)

Liu Erlong placed her fingers on Tang Lan's wrist, and her expression suddenly froze.

"Teacher, I've practiced some hand techniques, so the bone age you feel might be different."

Tang Lan nodded and explained.

"Oh?"

Liu Erlong raised her slender eyebrows and placed her fingers against Tang Lan's waist through her clothes. As her Soul Power circulated, she nodded.

"Tang Lan, eighteen years old. What's your Soul Power cultivation?"

"Our Shrek Academy is now divided into an Inner Court and an Outer Court. Anyone who reaches level twenty-four by eighteen can proceed directly to the Inner Court assessment."

Liu Erlong asked curiously. Ordinarily, this information would be explained by the teachers at the later assessments, but she was rather interested in Tang Lan, whose hand techniques were quite good, so she had asked out of curiosity.

"Level twenty-nine."

Tang Lan spoke calmly.

"Gasp~"

"An eighteen-year-old level twenty-nine Soul Grandmaster!"

"How terrifying!"

"Did she start cultivating in her mother's womb or something?"

Cries of astonishment rang out from the line nearby.

Meanwhile, Zhu Zhuqing watched Ning Jiao's loud exclamations with a face full of gloom. No wonder Ning Rongrong had asked her to bring him to the assessment. Could she have been finding this little brother of hers annoying?

"Uh..."

The corner of Tang Lan's mouth twitched. The moment she heard that familiar voice, she knew who this astonished bystander was.

"My turn too! My name is Xiao Wu, Wu as in dancing, and my Soul Power Level is also twenty-nine!"

"But I'm younger than Lan~"

Xiao Wu proudly planted both hands on her hips, then held her little hand out to Liu Erlong.

"What!"

"Another expert!"

"Could she have started cultivating when she was still an egg cell?"

"Surely she can't be a legendary case of Soul Beast Transformation!"

Ning Jiao sucked in another breath of cold air!

"Just keep indulging her!"

Zhu Zhuqing covered her forehead. She wanted so badly to flee!

Gulp!

Xiao Wu's delicate body froze on the spot. She had been thoroughly enjoying the praise, but her expression suddenly stiffened.

She swallowed, and her entire body trembled slightly!

"Brat in the back, shut up!"

Liu Erlong finally lost her patience, silencing the entire line with a roar.

"Never mind them. Your bone age meets the requirements too. Welcome to Shrek Academy."

Liu Erlong smiled gently at Xiao Wu and motioned for the two of them to enter and head to the next assessment station.