Was This Still Shrek?

Shrek Academy, Soul Fighting Zone.

In the spectator stands, Xuan Zi alternated between bites of chicken leg and mouthfuls of wine as he watched the outer courtyard students fighting in a chaotic melee below. He asked the man beside him:

"Wang Yan, this year's Main Team members were the previous Reserve Team, weren't they?"

"How strong are they now?"

Wang Yan had already been appointed the teacher leading the team for this competition, so he was naturally thoroughly familiar with the students' information.

He bowed slightly and answered respectfully:

"Ma Xiaotao and Dai Yueheng have reached ranks sixty-seven and sixty-four, respectively."

"Besides those two Soul Emperors, the other five all have soul power above rank fifty-five."

Seemingly remembering something, Wang Yan added:

"With Tang Yin's Eight Spider Lances draining it, Ma Xiaotao's evil fire has been suppressed to a certain extent. She can now fight at full strength for short periods without any strain."

Xuan Zi took a huge gulp of wine and laughed heartily:

"Wonderful, wonderful! Our Shrek truly abounds with talent!"

Wang Yan asked in confusion, "Dean Yan said Tang Yin had to join the Reserve Team, but you went straight to a battle royale to select its members. This..."

Xuan Zi pointed at the battle below and chuckled:

"Do you think I don't know Tang Yin is close to Bei Bei, Xu Sanshi, and the others? I have my own considerations in doing this."

"And those Eight Spider Lances in Tang Yin's hands do have a touch of the legendary divine might of our ancestor Tang San!"

Wang Yan followed Xuan Zi's pointing finger, and his pupils contracted slightly.

Tang Yin had deployed his Eight Spider Lances.

Like a real Man Faced Demon Spider, he moved rapidly through the Soul Fighting Zone.

Combined with the Purple Demon Eye's insight into the battlefield and the unpredictable movements of Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track,

he approached a target without taking much damage.

An Eight Spider Lance flashed out in a light stab, withdrawing the instant it touched, and he raced toward his next target without lingering.

Since He Caitou had "taunted" him earlier, he deliberately gave He Caitou some special attention.

First, he fired the Godly Zhuge Crossbow repeatedly to break his shield, then viciously injected ten times the dose of venom he gave anyone else!

This meant that the students stabbed by his spider legs

only went weak in the limbs after five breaths, their faces turning purple before they foamed at the mouth and collapsed limply to the ground.

But the moment the spider leg withdrew from He Caitou, his eyes rolled back and he fell, convulsing all over.

Watching this, Fan Yu's face turned as black as the bottom of a pot as he stood in the spectator stands.

Unable to restrain himself, he walked up to Xuan Zi and protested:

"Xuan Zi, our Soul Tool Department only asked for one place in the competition. Is even that too much?"

"And I didn't even prepare any Fixed Soul Cannon Shells for He Caitou."

"Yet Tang Yin gets to use mechanical hidden weapons!"

Xuan Zi frowned. "Shrek Academy is a holy land for soul masters, not soul engineers. He Caitou simply isn't as skilled as his opponent. Who can he blame?"

"Besides, the Sea God Pavilion's motion to ban mechanical hidden weapons has only just passed. It won't take effect until next month."

"Tang Yin hasn't broken the rules."

Finally, Xuan Zi waved his hand impatiently.

A terrifying pressure approaching that of a Limit Douluo descended on Fan Yu, leaving him unable to speak.

In the Soul Fighting Zone, most of the students had caught on and unleashed fierce attacks in response to Tang Yin's utterly inhuman conduct!

For a time, great swaths of yellow and purple soul rings shone, and the soul power fluctuations within the Soul Fighting Zone rose another notch.

All manner of hundred-year and thousand-year ranged soul skills were hurled at Tang Yin without regard for soul power consumption.

Boom, boom, boom!

Even with Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track beneath his feet and the Eight Spider Lances aiding his movement, Tang Yin suffered considerably.

Blood seeped from the corner of his mouth, and his soul power fell into disorder.

Not only had he suffered minor injuries, but he had also consumed more than half his soul power!

A vicious gleam flashed through Tang Yin's eyes. To fulfill the promise he had made to Teacher Xiao Ya before entering the arena, he thought:

Simple. I'll just devour it.

With that, he stopped concealing the aura of the Eight Spider Lances and let it show.

An eerie purple-black light bloomed across the Eight Spider Lances, reversing the course of the battle outright.

Tang Yin lunged straight at the nearest two-ring soul master. With one stab of the Eight Spider Lances, he instantly refined a portion of the student's soul power and life force!

Tang Yin's aura surged. With his condition greatly restored, he pounced on his next target.

How could a group of low-level soul masters with two or three rings have enough means at their disposal to stop the sharp spider legs and potent venom of the Eight Spider Lances?

Wang Yan watched Tang Yin sustain himself through battle, growing fiercer the longer he fought.

His stabs left the outer courtyard students howling incessantly, and his draining left them listless and weak.

Dai Huabin and Zhu Lu's Martial Soul Fusion Skill was also broken without suspense when Tang Yin used the same old trick.

Wang Dong did not even have a Martial Soul Fusion Skill and could only join forces with Xiao Xiao to resist. But with too few methods at their disposal, they too struggled to withstand the Eight Spider Lances.

Wang Yan said blankly, "Xuan Zi, isn't the devouring ability of these Eight Spider Lances a little too similar to that of evil soul masters?"

He did not dare say outright that this was an evil soul master's ability and could only bring it up obliquely.

Tang Yin might well make an appearance at the tournament. If it caused an uproar then, it would have nothing to do with him as the teacher leading the team!

"Wang Yan, you dare question our ancestor Tang San after reading a few books?"

"Ten thousand years ago, before our ancestor Tang San became a god, there were barely any evil soul masters on the continent. Could it be that you're suggesting our ancestor Tang San was an evil soul master?"

Wang Yan wiped away his cold sweat and hurriedly lowered his head. "I wouldn't dare."

Xuan Zi slowly lowered the wine flask in his hand and continued, looking at Wang Yan:

"Your concerns are unnecessary as well."

"The Sea God Pavilion reached a conclusion about Tang Yin's case long ago. Even the Pavilion Master said nothing."

"With our Shrek Academy's supreme authority in the field of soul masters, if we say this is an orthodox skill, then it is an orthodox skill."

"And that applies not only to Tang Yin, but to Ma Xiaotao as well. Let's see who dares pass judgment or wag their tongues!"

As they spoke, Tang Yin had already used his Eight Spider Lances to drain everyone in the Soul Fighting Zone into collapse. Even the air was filled with a thin purple venomous mist.

Apart from Bei Bei, Xu Sanshi, and Jiang Nannan, who were relatively close to him, not a single person remained standing.

Outside the arena, Tang Ya screamed repeatedly with excitement at the sight. This was the Tang Sect's peerless prodigy, Tang Yin!

Wang Sheng Jia, who was recording the battle off to one side, pushed up his silver-rimmed glasses.

The shock in his heart was no less than that of Bei Bei, Xu Sanshi, and Jiang Nannan in the arena.

Where in the world have I ended up?

Is this still Shrek Academy, the holy land of soul masters that hates evil to its core?

A mole!

The Holy Church definitely has a mole among the academy's upper ranks!

I saw Tang Yin's method of devouring life force and soul power perfectly clearly!

If we lured Tang Yin into the Holy Church, he'd even qualify to be a Holy Son.

Tang Yin dared to use the Eight Spider Lances' devouring ability openly, yet he wasn't apprehended. What could that be if not a mole shielding him?

The biggest question now is, who is this mole?

Tang Yin, Bei Bei, Xu Sanshi, and Jiang Nannan successfully secured places on the Reserve Team, but the remaining choices left Wang Yan in a quandary:

"Xuan Zi, the Reserve Team still needs three more members."

"I've drawn up the following shortlist based on the eliminated students' performance in this battle royale and their potential for growth. Please make the final decision."

Xuan Zi took the list and glanced at it:

He Caitou, Xiao Xiao, Wang Dong, Dai Huabin, Zhu Lu, Wu Feng, Ning Tian, the Lan sisters.

He said indifferently:

"We should still give the Soul Tool Department some face. Add He Caitou."

"Dai Huabin, Zhu Lu, Wu Feng, and Ning Tian bear their clans' imprints too deeply. It'll be difficult to put them to use for me, so leave them out of the Reserve Team for now."

"Although the Lan sisters' Martial Soul Fusion Skill is somewhat interesting, their martial souls are fundamentally too weak. Xiao Xiao, meanwhile, is the only person with twin martial souls we've had in years, after all."

"So give the remaining two places to Xiao Xiao and Wang Dong."

Hearing this, Wang Yan felt a slight pang of regret. He had originally thought quite highly of those two pairs of students with Martial Soul Fusion Skills.

Xuan Zi smiled faintly and said:

"Wang Yan, broaden your thinking. Whether I'm tending one sheep or a whole flock, I'm still tending sheep."

"It doesn't matter if they weren't selected. Even if they can't join the Reserve Team, taking them along to broaden their horizons in the spectator stands would still be a good thing."

"Just find a few more teachers to look after them."

Wang Yan's eyes lit up at that. "Xuan Zi, will you be protecting us from the shadows this time?"

Xuan Zi said with a warm smile:

"With so many talented young people, I wouldn't feel at ease leaving them to anyone else."

"Let me be the one to steer them safely through."