Seeing Yan Shaozhe take advantage of his arrival to release Ma Xiaotao, Li Mu's mouth twitched.
He looked ahead, while Yan Shaozhe remained completely unaware that Li Mu had spotted him.
Yan Shaozhe stood there calmly, ready to wait for Li Mu to rescue Ma Xiaotao.
Then the two would have a legitimate reason to get in touch, allowing him to continue scheming against Li Mu to help his precious disciple escape the scourge of her evil fire.
His plan was sound, and Ma Xiaotao charged swiftly, but before she could reach him,
Li Mu had already raised his hand. Strange flames ignited around him, enveloping his entire body in rose-red fire.
His body became a figure of flame in an instant, and as Ma Xiaotao came crashing toward him,
he abruptly leaped backward.
Li Mu had no intention of bothering with her. Ma Xiaotao's already completely uncontrolled power went out of control once again.
She threw back her head and let out an immense cry, like that of a phoenix.
The cry shook the nine heavens. Formidable power spread and roared wantonly around her, its force reflected between heaven and earth.
It set all of heaven and earth trembling, and at the sight of the dark Evil Fire Phoenix that had suddenly appeared, Yan Shaozhe's brows abruptly furrowed.
Only after leaping up did he see what had happened. Ma Xiaotao had already crashed into the ground.
She rose to her feet, ultimate evil flames spreading wildly around her. The black fire had already ignited the nearby grass.
Li Mu, meanwhile, stood there calmly, flames circling his body.
Ma Xiaotao's flames surrounded him, yet could not advance an inch.
Sensing these flames, Yan Shaozhe frowned, and an inconceivable thought emerged in his mind.
Could the flames this brat commands also be ultimate fire?
Impossible. For anyone in this world, possessing a single ultimate attribute already defies the heavens. If someone could possess two, that would be too terrifying.
As he thought, Yan Shaozhe abruptly leaped forward, a formidable presence spreading around him.
Yan Shaozhe charged over with that formidable presence, and Li Mu tilted his head slightly to look at him.
Noticing the wariness in Yan Shaozhe's eyes, Li Mu showed little expression.
He stepped backward, then swiftly vanished from where he stood.
He had appeared quickly and disappeared just as quickly. By the time Yan Shaozhe arrived, Li Mu was already far away.
Only the completely out-of-control Ma Xiaotao remained, black flames spreading over her body.
Seeing Yan Shaozhe approach,
she threw a punch. Yan Shaozhe fell silent for a moment, then raised his hand, and an enormous Bright Phoenix emerged behind him.
Then, beneath the suppression of his formidable power, Ma Xiaotao, whose face had still been crazed, was subdued in an instant.
She collapsed to the ground and fell unconscious.
As he examined the unconscious Ma Xiaotao's condition, Yan Shaozhe's eyes flickered again and again.
Even now, he could not determine the nature of the power Li Mu commanded.
But as he looked at the place where Li Mu had disappeared,
Yan Shaozhe fell silent for a moment and ultimately did nothing.
After all, before he could sound out certain things, Yan Shaozhe was still very interested in Li Mu.
Naturally, he was unwilling to fall out with Li Mu completely at this point. As for Yan Shaozhe's actions, Li Mu's expression did not change.
That old fox Yan Shaozhe had schemed against him several times, even using him as the borrowed blade to kill another.
The man really thought he did not know. It was only that his strength was still too weak for him to turn against Yan Shaozhe.
Once he grew strong enough, he would kill Yan Shaozhe at the first opportunity.
As he thought, Li Mu's gaze grew a little colder.
Still, his expression remained fairly composed. After briefly tidying himself up, he returned to the academy.
A day passed in a flash, and the next morning arrived.
Large numbers of students had already gathered at the academy gates. Many clustered there, most with excitement in their eyes.
The freshman assessment was crucial for many people. After all, if they passed,
they could remain at Shrek Academy and become official members.
But if they failed the freshman assessment, they would have to leave, departing Shrek Academy, this central hub, for good.
They would have to go elsewhere. For many people, Shrek Academy was really not much different from heaven.
After all, whether in terms of its environment or any other aspect, this place was quite good.
Once they had to leave here and go somewhere else,
not only would their prospects become uncertain, but other aspects of their lives would also be affected.
As the crowd continued to gather, Li Mu, Wang Dong, and Xiao Xiao stood there silently, waiting quietly.
As people went up one after another to draw lots, the overall process proceeded quite quickly.
In just a few minutes, it was the three of them's turn to draw.
Looking at their current opponents, Li Mu's expression did not change.
Their opponents this time were merely an ordinary trio, whose strongest Soul Master had only two rings.
Two-ring Soul Masters might pose something of a challenge to others.
But with him and Wang Dong there, along with Xiao Xiao's support,
an ordinary team of Two-Ring Soul Masters was no different from ants to them.
As the match began, three boys stood before the trio.
Seeing their lineup, the three boys showed little change in expression.
After all, on the surface, Li Mu, Xiao Xiao, and Wang Dong all had only ordinary two-ring combat strength.
Once both sides were in position, the teacher announced the start of the match, and one figure on the opposing side abruptly leaped forward.
Gray wolf fur appeared all over his body. His power was swift, and he charged rapidly toward Li Mu.
Yet as he watched the figure charging toward him, Li Mu merely raised his fingers slightly.
A glimmer of water gathered in his hand. Then he shaped his hand like a gun and lightly tapped three times.
With those three taps, three streams of water shot out, knocking all three opponents straight to the ground and instantly rendering them unconscious.
As the trio was instantly defeated, many of the surrounding students and teachers watched the scene in shock.
These three might indeed have been ordinary Soul Masters, but their strength was already far from weak.
Yet against Li Mu, they had been brought down almost in a single strike.
To many, this was inconceivable, while Li Mu merely patted his body lightly, his expression somewhat odd.
When he looked toward the referee, the referee fell silent for a moment before slowly raising his hand to announce his victory.
From their taking the stage to their leaving it, from the beginning of the match to its end, less than ten seconds had passed in total.
The students who had initially paid Li Mu little mind turned their gazes toward him almost instantly.
As for the astonishment in their eyes, Li Mu simply acted as though he had not seen it.
He walked out calmly, his expression composed.
As the group stepped down, many of the surrounding students kept their eyes on them.
But before they could think much more about it, the teacher who took the stage had already announced the names for the second match.
As one match began after another, Shrek Academy's freshman examination formally got underway.