"Tang San, you go first!"
"Let me see what that Fake Grandmaster Yu Xiaogang has taught you over these past few years!"
Looking at Tang San in the distance, Yao Xuan spoke indifferently.
Tang San's face instantly paled.
Even now, he could not forget what had happened five years ago.
He gritted his teeth and forced himself to step forward.
"Little Scumbag, we meet again."
Xiao Wu folded her arms and tipped her chin at him. "How well has your master taught you these past five years?"
"Enough talk!"
Tang San's expression darkened.
As soon as he finished speaking, he made the first move.
His figure flickered as he unleashed Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track, leaving only an afterimage where he had stood.
With a flick of his wrist, more than a dozen pebbles shot through the air!
"Still the same old trick."
Xiao Wu curled her lips, and her figure flickered before vanishing into thin air.
Third soul skill, Teleportation!
Every one of the pebbles missed.
Tang San's heart sank. Retreating, he summoned Blue Silver Grass and used it to launch himself four or five meters into the air.
"You certainly run fast."
Xiao Wu looked up with a smile, then vanished as well.
The instant Tang San landed, he felt a chill at the back of his neck.
"Right here."
Hearing that voice, Tang San's scalp prickled, and he rolled on the ground.
Before he had completed the roll, two legs clamped tightly around his waist.
First Soul Skill, Waist Bow!
Xiao Wu's whole body abruptly tensed like a fully drawn bow!
Whoosh-!
Tang San was hurled away and crashed headfirst into a low wall.
With a boom, half the earthen wall collapsed!
"Cough... cough, cough..."
Tang San crawled out of the dirt, covered in dust, blood seeping from the corner of his mouth.
"Tang San, is that all you've got?"
Xiao Wu clapped her hands and strolled toward him. "Or did you fail to learn even the little your master had to teach?"
Tang San hung his head without speaking.
His right hand quietly drew back to his waist.
A hidden compartment in Twenty-Four Moonlit Bridges held his newly made hidden weapons.
With a curl of his fingertips, several gold needles as fine as hair slipped beneath his fingernails.
"Take this!"
He suddenly roared and flung another handful of pebbles with a backhand motion.
Xiao Wu dodged sideways and charged straight at him.
Now!
Several faint streaks of gold shot from Tang San's fingernails!
Those gold needles were as fine as hair, impossible to notice without deliberately watching for them.
A trace of coldness flashed through Yao Xuan's eyes.
He did not move.
He merely gave a slight turn of his thoughts.
Before those gold needles he had already launched could even clear Tang San's sleeve, they actually exploded on their own!
Pfft, pfft, pfft, pfft!
In an instant, every one of those Dragon Whisker Needles buried itself in Tang San's own body.
The moment their tips entered his flesh, they contracted into coils inside him.
"Aah-!"
A piercing scream burst from Tang San's mouth.
The coiled Dragon Whisker Needles churned and tugged inside his body, hooking his muscles and pulling at his fascia.
That agony was simply not something a person could easily endure!
Some had even shot into his internal organs.
With a thud, Tang San dropped to his knees, his whole body curling into a ball.
"How... how could this... my Dragon Whisker Needles..."
He screamed as he tried to force the needles out.
But those needles seemed to have grown into his flesh, not budging in the slightest.
"So young, yet already so vicious and underhanded."
Qian Renxue frowned and turned her face away.
"Brother Xuan, look at him! He's exactly like that stray dog from earlier!"
Xiao Wu planted her hands on her hips, her little face flushed red.
"Trash like this deserves to enter Shrek Academy?"
Wang Qiu'er spoke coldly, her beautiful eyes filled with disgust.
"How dare you use something so filthy against one of my people? You deserve punishment!"
Only then did Yao Xuan raise his eyes and glance at Tang San on the ground, speaking coldly.
With that, he pointed toward the large tree at the village entrance.
An invisible force swept Tang San into the air.
He was hung upside down from a horizontal branch of the old tree, swaying in the wind.
Up in the tree, Tang San howled in pain, unable to cry out even a single complete sentence.
Having dealt with Tang San, Yao Xuan turned his gaze toward the remaining two.
"The rules haven't changed. You just have to last against Xiao Wu for the time it takes an incense stick to burn."
He pointed at Xiao Wu beside him as he spoke.
"But Ning Rongrong is a support-type soul master. Making her fight alone would be far too unfair."
"You two will fight together."
"Last one incense stick, and you pass."
After a pause, Yao Xuan added.
"Understood."
Hearing Yao Xuan's words, Ning Rongrong raised her eyebrows, eagerness shining in her eyes.
"All right."
Zhu Zhuqing nodded as well.
"Go easy."
At the same time, a strand of divine sense silently entered Xiao Wu's sea of consciousness.
Xiao Wu blinked without turning around.
An attendant placed an incense stick in the burner at the edge of the square, and wisps of smoke curled upward.
"Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Pagoda, First: Strength!"
Ning Rongrong gave a low cry and raised both hands.
Behind her, the phantom of a Seven-Story Glazed Tile Pagoda slowly rose.
Two Soul Rings gently revolved around the pagoda.
Then a soft ray of light fell upon Zhu Zhuqing.
Zhu Zhuqing felt her strength suddenly increase by a measure.
"Second: Speed!"
Another low cry rang out.
A second ray of light followed close behind.
Zhu Zhuqing's movements immediately became considerably faster.
"Thank you!"
Zhu Zhuqing murmured, vanishing before her words had faded.
First Soul Skill, Hell Stab!
Her claws sprang out, and her figure became a black shadow as she lunged straight at Xiao Wu!
Xiao Wu dodged sideways. The sharp claws grazed her sleeve, tearing a slit in it.
"Such fast claws!"
Xiao Wu praised her.
She turned her wrists, all ten fingers lashing out in rapid succession!
Second Soul Skill, Netherworld Hundred Claws!
Over a hundred claw shadows blanketed the sky as they descended upon Xiao Wu!
Xiao Wu's figure once again vanished into thin air.
Every one of the claw shadows missed.
"Right here."
The voice came from behind Zhu Zhuqing.
Zhu Zhuqing's heart tightened, and she abruptly turned.
A palm gently landed on her shoulder.
With just a little more force, she would be out.
But that hand merely gave her a gentle push.
Zhu Zhuqing staggered back two steps before steadying herself.
That push had clearly held back most of its strength.
She raised her head and looked at Xiao Wu.
Xiao Wu winked at her without saying anything.
Zhu Zhuqing immediately understood.
Without drawing attention to it, she turned and charged again.
The incense stick in the burner grew shorter, inch by inch.
With Ning Rongrong's enhancements, Zhu Zhuqing lunged at Xiao Wu again and again.
Again and again, Xiao Wu effortlessly blocked her and sent her back.
Yet no matter how they fought, they could not touch even a corner of that young girl's clothes.
Finally.
The last wisp of smoke dispersed in the air.
"Time's up."
Yao Xuan spoke indifferently.
Xiao Wu stopped.
Zhu Zhuqing braced her hands on her knees, panting heavily.
Ning Rongrong was exhausted as well, a fine layer of sweat beading on her forehead.
They exchanged a glance and saw the same thought in each other's eyes.
From beginning to end, throughout that entire incense stick, the young girl had never taken the fight seriously.
If she had truly wanted to win, the two of them probably could not have withstood even her first move.
A girl of twelve or thirteen actually possessed strength of this caliber.
What about the person who had taught her?
Both raised their heads at the same time, looking toward the black-haired youth.
Zhu Zhuqing's heart beat a little faster.
She suddenly felt that she really had been right to come here.
Ning Rongrong pressed her lips together as well, unable to find the slightest fault.
"Congratulations. Welcome to Shrek Academy."
Seeing the expressions in the two girls' eyes, Yao Xuan smiled and welcomed them.
Just then.
A familiar figure appeared at the entrance to Shrek Academy.
Before you continue