Xu Zhengyang glanced regretfully at the poisonous miasma, particularly its core. He knew clearly that this was not somewhere he could enter yet.
After leaving Sunset Forest, Xu Zhengyang did not go to Heaven Dou City. Instead, he headed straight for the junction of the three great empires, where there was something that could resolve his doubts.
Xu Zhengyang passed through major cities along the way, learning about the situation on the Douluo Continent.
Even in the relatively weak Heaven Soul Empire, the presence of its soul masters was completely different from that of those in the Sun Moon Empire. Soul masters in the Sun Moon Empire pursued increases in soul power, generally had very poor physical constitutions, and were sorely lacking in combat experience.
But the soul masters of the Douluo Continent were clearly fiercer, their imposing presence openly displayed. They were also more confident, and they did not have any flashy soul tools.
It could be said that soul tools were relatively scarce on the Douluo Continent. Lower-ranking soul masters, in particular, had virtually none.
For more than ten days of continuous travel, Xu Zhengyang mostly walked during the day and cultivated at night. He had even increased the weights he carried.
That day, he finally reached his destination: Shrek City.
Shrek City stood at the junction of the three great empires, built on the Lima Plains near the Tianling Mountain Range. It was one of the foremost cities on the Douluo Continent, with a population exceeding two million.
Shrek Academy, located in Shrek City, was renowned throughout the world. It had won every Soul Master Tournament over nearly ten thousand years and was known as the continent's number one soul master academy. Even with the development of soul tools, Shrek Academy continued to produce geniuses in abundance, firmly maintaining its lead over the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy.
The entire city had been established by Shrek Academy and was divided into an inner city and an outer city. The inner city housed Shrek Academy, and only its teachers and students were allowed entry. It was not open to outsiders.
The outer city was open to everyone, whether they were soul masters or not. Its commercial exchanges were extensive enough for it to be called the commercial heart of the Douluo Continent.
As Xu Zhengyang looked at the enormous Shrek City, his eyes were filled with conflicting feelings and envy, and even a trace of anger.
He knew very well how Shrek Academy had actually been established ten thousand years ago. It had relied on that profiteer Flender, along with some of Yu Xiaogang's so-called theories, and had even absorbed the Four Elemental Academies of that time.
But he knew equally well that what truly allowed Shrek Academy to stand unshaken was the absolute prestige of the Shrek Seven Monsters' ascension to godhood, and the deterrent Tang San and the others posed to the great empires.
Beyond that, there was Shrek's teaching model with its astonishing elimination rate-or rather, its life-and-death elimination contests with their astonishing mortality rate. That was what allowed Shrek to sift out countless elites and cultivate so many high-ranking soul masters.
Shrek's deep foundations truly terrified countless factions. Not only did it have an Ultimate Douluo presiding over it, but it also had the Golden Ancient Tree, which could be called the very foundation of Shrek Academy, as well as no shortage of Titled Douluo. The great empires all had large numbers of elite disciples trained by Shrek Academy. It could be said to have already transcended worldly affairs.
It was also because of Shrek Academy that the Sun Moon Empire had been prevented from unifying the world back then. The people of the Sun Moon Empire both hated and feared Shrek Academy, and were even filled with yearning for it.
Only after actually entering Shrek City did Xu Zhengyang understand what deep foundations meant.
Xu Zhengyang arrived outside Shrek City's north gate and saw more than five thousand people gathered there. Bustling vendors were everywhere, making it extraordinarily lively. He then entered Shrek City through the north gate.
Xu Zhengyang could clearly sense that most of these people were soul masters, and their imposing presence was far from weak. They seemed more like soul masters who had undergone all kinds of trials, with clearly richer combat experience than those he had seen on the streets of Dongyang City.
In particular, there were large numbers of young people who looked between twelve and fifteen years old, each brimming with vigor and confidence.
As their ages increased, however, their numbers grew smaller and smaller. There were virtually none over twenty.
Yet among those who looked close to twenty, each had a presence like a mountain. They were all experts of at least the Soul Ancestor rank, and occasionally there were even Soul King experts. Even Xu Zhengyang, with his current strength and experience, was utterly astonished.
Xu Zhengyang found a hotel in Shrek City and settled in, then began learning about Shrek Academy as a whole.
Over the following period, Xu Zhengyang spent every day gathering information of all kinds in Shrek City. Even the guards at the city gates wore fitted yellow uniforms with a green emblem on their chests-the uniforms of Shrek Academy's students.
Information was not restricted within Shrek City. On the contrary, people everywhere were spreading tales of Shrek students' heroic deeds. One student had reached the Soul King or even Soul Emperor realm at a tender age; another genius disciple had actually entered the Star Dou Great Forest alone and defeated three ten-thousand-year soul beasts through his own strength. More astonishing still, a twelfth-year senior had reached the Soul Sage level above rank seventy by graduation and had even obtained a hundred-thousand-year soul ring.
All sorts of colorful, exciting news spread through Shrek City. After hearing it, people worshipped Shrek Academy even more, their enthusiasm growing all the more frenzied.
In particular, when certain genius disciples walked through the outer city, they drew countless gazes.
The news circulating throughout Shrek City was varied and tangled, but every piece of it demonstrated Shrek Academy's strength and the formidable talent of its students.
The longer Xu Zhengyang stayed in Shrek City, the more wary he became of Shrek Academy's deep foundations. It could be said to have gathered talent from all three great empires of the Douluo Continent. Whether it was the Dai Clan of the Star Luo Empire, the major sects, or even the various cities, all recommended people to come and study at Shrek Academy.
But to enter Shrek Academy, one needed a recommendation letter from at least a city lord, and also had to pass an extremely rigorous assessment. This assessment was not a contest of soul power. Instead, it placed great emphasis on martial soul application, tactics, and the ability to withstand pressure-or, more precisely, practical combat ability.
Xu Zhengyang had arrived during the admissions season. Besides the students themselves, there were also many extremely powerful attendants. These attendants all stayed in Shrek City and could not enter Shrek Academy.
Yet even so, no one complained. The interior of Shrek Academy could be called absolutely safe. At the very least, people from other factions would not harm its students. As for injuries, disabilities, or even deaths that occurred during their studies within the academy, these major factions likewise seemed to have long since prepared themselves mentally.
It was a terrifying tacit understanding, as though every student entering Shrek Academy had to prepare in advance to die during their trials, each carrying the resolve to meet death.