"Get the hell over here!"
"You think you're the only one who gets special treatment, brat?"
Zhao Wuji told Xiao Wu and the other three to step aside. He had personally decided to teach Chen An a lesson and test him alone.
"What?"
"This isn't how the plot goes, is it? Aren't you supposed to have a showdown with God King Tang?"
Chen An looked deeply awkward. Even with cheats, he couldn't beat a Seven-Ring Soul Sage.
Besides, the Ultimate Ice he relied on hadn't fully recovered. What was he supposed to fight with now?
Tang San could rely on hidden weapons and Tang Sect techniques to barely put up a fight, but Chen An had no other tricks up his sleeve at all.
"Release your Martial Soul!"
"They've all passed the test. You just have to last one incense stick against me!"
"So nobody can say I'm bullying a junior, I won't use my Martial Soul. That's fair to you, right?"
Zhao Wuji stood quietly, seemingly very confident in his own strength.
"Fuck, he's showing off right in my face?" Chen An looked thoroughly displeased as he grumbled inwardly.
He decided to go for broke. If the tiger didn't show its might, people really would take him for a rabbit.
Green lone bamboo floated above his palm, and two white Soul Rings slowly rose from beneath his feet.
"Hm?"
"White ten-year Soul Rings?"
Everyone present except Tang San and Xiao Wu was utterly shocked.
Especially the Immovable Wisdom King, Zhao Wuji, whose old face was burning.
He had wanted to pick an exceptionally strong newcomer to demonstrate his strength and establish the image of a powerhouse, which might help with teaching later.
But now it was the complete opposite.
Winning would bring no glory, and losing would be even more humiliating!
Zhao Wuji thought that, had he known, he would have ignored a weakling like Chen An and focused on the four freakishly talented youngsters, especially Tang San.
"First Soul Skill, Piercing!" Chen An charged straight at him with his transformed bamboo sword.
Zhao Wuji shook his head.
He turned sideways and easily dodged it.
"Slow!"
"Far too slow!"
"I'm starting to wonder how the hell you got into Shrek!"
Zhao Wuji hurled a heavy punch straight at Chen An.
The latter hurriedly blocked with his bamboo sword, but was still blasted three meters away.
"Damn!"
"My strength and speed are too poor. Without Ultimate Ice, I can't beat him at all!"
Chen An focused his mind, first slowly drawing all the Ultimate Ice in the space to his sword's edge, then swinging hard. "Ice Slash!"
The sword Qi formed from Ultimate Ice swept across its entire path, the dense ice instantly freezing the surrounding air dead.
The bone-piercing chill and his awareness of the threat made Zhao Wuji's heart lurch.
He instinctively tried to catch the sword Qi barehanded, but when it came within about a meter, he suddenly sensed something was wrong.
"Seventh Soul Skill, Martial Soul Avatar!" Zhao Wuji reacted extremely quickly, hurriedly unleashing his Great Strength Vajra Bear Martial Soul Avatar to block it.
Only with his defense increased by 200% and the enormous gap in Soul Power did the sword Qi formed from Ultimate Ice finally dissipate completely.
Zhao Wuji shook his cold, numb arm, a trace of surprise flashing through his eyes.
He knew he had been careless.
The power before him was incredibly overbearing. It clearly wasn't an ordinary ice element, but rather the harnessing of a kind of law of heaven and earth. Fortunately, Chen An's Soul Power Level was too low to fully unleash it.
"Huff, huff..."
"Damn it, the level gap is still an impassable chasm!"
Chen An panted, feeling that the hand he had swung his sword with was utterly drained and powerless.
He knew that, against high-ranking Soul Masters, Soul Skills produced by low-age Soul Rings had very little power.
And even with Ultimate Ice, without vast Soul Power to support it, its effectiveness was greatly reduced!
Thud!
As dizziness flooded his head, Chen An collapsed heavily.
"Xiao An!"
The instant Chen An fell, Xiao Wu flashed over and caught him.
Looking at Chen An's haggard, pale face, she fixed her eyes on Zhao Wuji.
"Frozen purgatory, from a disciple at withering's end!"
Xiao Wu murmured under her breath.
The ice lotus seed tied in her hair immediately shone, and a vast chill plunged straight into Zhao Wuji's forehead like a sharp knife.
"Hm? Why does it feel a little chilly?" Zhao Wuji rubbed between his eyebrows, but had no time to think it over. He shouted urgently, "Don't just stand there! Hurry and take this brat to rest!"
And so, Shrek's entrance test for its new students ended with an unexpected outcome.
The boys' dormitory.
Xiao Wu stood anxiously outside.
At that moment.
Tang San walked out.
His expression was serious, his eyes filled with confusion and conflicting feelings. "Xiao An is fine. Don't worry."
Xiao Wu nodded and forced a faint smile.
"Can I go in and see him?" she asked tentatively.
Tang San fell silent for a while, seemingly very conflicted inside.
In the end, he pointed in a direction. "The last room on the left."
"Thank you." Xiao Wu bowed politely, even her tone much nicer than usual.
Watching Xiao Wu gradually walk away.
Tang San narrowed his eyes, his clenched fists nearly turning white.
Shrek dormitory, room 091.
Chen An struggled to sit up, his vision gradually clearing.
"I... where am I?"
"Xiao Wu? Why is she beside my bed?"
"Ah!"
Chen An felt his entire body ache terribly at the slightest movement.
The moment he got out of bed, he discovered that his legs were weak and he couldn't muster any strength at all.
As luck would have it.
Xiao Wu opened her eyes just as Chen An was about to fall. She hurried forward to support him. "Xiao An, you're very weak right now. You need to rest properly!"
Hearing that, Chen An returned to bed.
He used his remaining mental power to check his physical condition.
The power of Ultimate Ice had actually been completely depleted? Although he was puzzled, that was still within what he could accept.
Wait!
The power of Ultimate Fire was gone too?
How strange. Did calling upon Ultimate Ice also consume Ultimate Fire?
Chen An was utterly bewildered.
He could clearly sense the two cold stones sitting apart inside the bamboo-joint space.
By rights, a crimson flame dragon should have been coiling around one of them.
"Xiao An, have some water."
While Chen An was lost in thought, Xiao Wu brought over a bowl of cold, clear water.
"That's good!" Chen An gulped it down, then suddenly smacked his lips. "Why does this water taste a little fishy?"
Xiao Wu froze for a moment.
She took it and tasted a small sip. "A little. Maybe it's a local countryside specialty!"
"How did it turn out? Did the four of us pass?" Chen An took the bowl back and carefully drank from the side bearing a mark.
Xiao Wu's face flushed, and she turned toward the wall. "We passed. I heard Grandmaster will be coming to the academy in a few days too!"
Chen An gave a chuckle.
He yawned, ready to burrow back under the covers and go back to sleep.
"Wait!"
"Xiao Wu, what are you doing?"
He had thought Xiao Wu would take the hint and leave, but she had only gone to lock the door.
"Nothing. I'm sleepy too."
Xiao Wu stretched and looked at Chen An with adorable eyes.
He naturally understood what she meant.
"No, absolutely not!"
"If someone sees us, my reputation as a gentleman will be ruined!"
Xiao Wu pulled a face and grinned without saying a word.
"Don't, don't, don't!"
"I'm warning you, don't cross the line! Sleep farther over that way!"
Chen An directed her until his mouth was dry. This rabbit spirit was too tormenting and wouldn't follow a single instruction.
"Ah!"
"Don't go in! It hurts!"