Sea God Pavilion.
"Mystic Bird?!"
Yan Shaozhe practically sprang out of his chair, his eyes wide as he stared at the old man before him. "Teacher, is what you said true?"
Yes, Lin Mo really had guessed right.
The seemingly unremarkable old dorm supervisor sunning himself beneath the tree outside the freshmen's dormitory was none other than Mu En, the current Pavilion Master of Shrek's Sea God Pavilion and a rank-99 Limit Douluo.
Mu En nodded.
Seeing his teacher nod, the shock in Yan Shaozhe's eyes instantly turned to excitement, and he could not suppress the upward curl of his lips.
That was the Mystic Bird!
The Auspicious Mystic Bird!
If the Emperor Auspicious Beast, the Three-Eyed Golden Lion, was an auspicious beast that gathered the fortune of the entire soul beast race within itself...
Then the Auspicious Mystic Bird was humanity's heaven-ordained auspicious beast, likewise favored by heaven and earth.
Wherever the Mystic Bird was, the spiritual energy of heaven and earth would gather around him; anyone who bore goodwill toward the Mystic Bird or received his approval would see their cultivation speed multiply.
The more Yan Shaozhe thought about it, the more his heart burned.
If he took the Mystic Bird as his personal disciple, not only would Shrek gain a great auspicious presence, but the day he broke through the bottleneck of Super Douluo would also be just around the corner!
With that, he immediately slapped the table.
"Teacher, let's waive this child's freshman assessment and admit him directly into the inner court. I'll teach him myself!"
"There's no rush."
Mu En raised a hand to interrupt him. "Let this child take the freshman assessment as usual."
"But..."
"I want to observe him a while longer," Mu En said slowly. "Barring any surprises, he'll become your junior brother in the future."
Yan Shaozhe understood at once.
His teacher had taken an interest in accepting a disciple and wanted to make Lin Mo his personal disciple.
There was nothing he could do. Since his teacher had personally decided, he certainly could not compete with him as his disciple. He could only find another opportunity to get closer to the Mystic Bird.
Then Mu En rose, vast soul power pouring out of him as his robes stirred without wind. "I'll be making a trip to the Dou Ling Empire in the next few days. Keep an eye on this child for me."
Yan Shaozhe stiffened, then nodded solemnly.
"Understood, Teacher!"
Soon, the day classes officially began arrived.
When a bleary-eyed Lin Mo slapped his alarm off and crawled out of bed, he found Huo Yuhao still meditating on the wooden bed opposite him.
After yesterday's observations and occasional conversations, Lin Mo became even more convinced that Huo Yuhao was a child of destiny.
Parents sacrificed to heaven, a trash martial soul, low soul power.
A textbook trash-to-legend opening.
Hiss, but in my previous life, I remembered Huo Yuhao's martial souls being Spirit Eyes and the Ice Jade Empress Scorpion, didn't I? Yet there's not a trace of ice-attribute soul power on him now. Could martial souls actually be acquired later in life??
Lin Mo pondered as he washed up.
He began thinking, failed to think it through, and gave up thinking.
Forget it. What does Huo Yuhao's situation have to do with me? I just want to be an ordinary person living in peace.
A wonderful day begins with staying away from the protagonist~
With that thought, Lin Mo visibly brightened, humming a tune as he pushed open the door and headed toward the teaching building.
Inside the first-year teaching building, Lin Mo walked along a corridor surrounded by students wearing matching uniforms.
Ah, how I miss my school days.
Feeling nostalgic, Lin Mo soon found the sign for Freshman Class One and reached out to push open the classroom door. The moment his gaze swept over the room, his smile froze.
A question mark slowly rose from his forehead.
In the seat nearest him sat a petite, delicate girl with dark green hair.
Xiao Xiao, one of the future Shrek Seven Monsters.
The third row of the classroom.
This was the liveliest spot. Quite a few male students surrounded one seat, all nervous, awkward, and a little flushed as they tried to strike up a conversation with the stunningly beautiful girl with pink-and-blue hair sitting there.
Wang Dong'er, also known as Tang Wutong, was likewise one of the future Shrek Seven Monsters.
With vacant eyes, Lin Mo slowly closed the door.
There are only seven Shrek Seven Monsters in total, and I managed to run into half of them. Does whatever doesn't kill me have to chase me down and keep beating me?
Lin Mo stood outside the classroom, questioning his life.
Riiing!
The class bell suddenly rang.
Now Lin Mo was completely out of options. However unwilling he was, he could only steel himself and walk inside, choosing the most inconspicuous corner to sit in.
Huo Yuhao entered the classroom just as class began.
He had barely stepped inside when an old woman with an intensely oppressive presence followed him in.
Seeing the teacher arrive, the previously somewhat disorderly class immediately quieted down, everyone's attention gathering at the lectern.
"My name is Zhou Yi. I'm your homeroom teacher."
Zhou Yi wasted no words. "In my class, trash and good-for-nothings do not exist. Even if you are trash or good-for-nothings, I'll turn you into fighter jets among trash and VIPs among good-for-nothings."
Ignoring the instantly changing expressions below the lectern, Zhou Yi spoke again.
"Before class, we'll have a little pre-class test."
As she spoke, she raised a hand and pointed out the window. "See Shrek Square over there? Run laps. One hundred laps, with a time limit of two hours."
Zhou Yi swept a cold gaze over them, sending a chill down everyone's spine. "As for certain individuals hoping to cut corners, I suggest you give up on that idea. Don't imagine you can sneak anything past a Soul Emperor's eyes."
The instant her words fell, soul rings rose from beneath her feet, one after another: two yellow, two purple, and two black.
The immense pressure belonging to a Soul Emperor instantly filled the entire classroom, crashing down on them like a tide. Some students went pale on the spot, their backs stooping slightly.
"Now, everyone, onto the track."
No one voiced any resistance. They rose one after another and headed outside.
Zhou Yi withdrew her six soul rings as soon as she had released them, watching expressionlessly as the students left the classroom.
Everyone who passed the assessment and entered Shrek Academy was an elite carefully selected from the continent's various nations, and every one of them was a troublemaker. As a new official taking office, Zhou Yi naturally had to bring them to heel.
Shrek Square lay just outside the freshman teaching building.
Shrek Square was not particularly large, with each lap measuring roughly three hundred meters.
For these students with a foundation as soul masters, thirty kilometers was not particularly difficult. As long as they ran earnestly, they could finish within two hours.
Even so, looking at that long running track, Lin Mo's legs still felt a little weak, and he needed the bathroom again.
He crouched down, checked his shoelaces, untied them and tied them again, then finally stepped onto the track and began running laps.
Among all the students, Wang Dong'er had the highest cultivation and an exceptionally strong physique. Right from the start, he began running around Shrek Square at an astonishing speed, with no one able to keep up with him.
Seeing this, Lin Mo merely curled his lip and continued running at his own pace.
He likewise had a flying martial soul and was a two-ring Soul Grandmaster. His martial soul also possessed the space attribute, and he had all the experience in fleeing he had accumulated in his previous life.
If he really got serious, Wang Dong'er might not actually be able to outrun him.
In his previous life, his experience staying alive in the chaotic Sun Moon Empire and the Holy Spirit Church, where danger lurked on every side, could be summed up in one sentence:
Those who ran slowly were the front line.