(A beautiful picture of Ning Rongrong)
Just then, a pale blue system panel suddenly appeared in front of Tang San-
[Ding! The God-Level Choice System has triggered a choice node!] [A: Eat the sausage in one bite! Reward: one piece of Plate Crystal! Side effect: swelling and pain in a random location!] [B: Throw the sausage in Oscar's face. Reward: 10 system points (redeemable for items in the system shop). Side effect: may invite unnecessary conflict.] [C: Give up eating the sausage. Reward: ten Gold Soul Coins. No side effects!]
Tang San's heart jolted. Here it comes again! My system has another choice for me!
Option B was a little too unbecoming. He couldn't let his image as a gentleman be ruined in front of Xiao Wu.
Option A was simple enough, and the reward was actually Plate Crystal!
That was the raw material for making Dragon Whisker Needles, the finest of Hair Crystals!
Besides, the side effect was just a little swelling and pain. It was nothing!
Option A!
Under everyone's gaze, Tang San picked up the sausage!
Even Oscar's eyes widened.
Looking like a man going to his death, Tang San opened wide and swallowed it in one bite!
He ate so fast that the sausage lodged in his throat.
He thumped his chest several times before he barely managed to swallow it.
Oscar's mouth twitched at the sight, and he couldn't help taking half a step back.
Dai Mubai wiped away his cold sweat. "Wait, I already warned you. Why did you actually swallow the sausage?"
Dai Mubai was ranting inwardly. Damn, is there something wrong with the way this Tang San's brain works...?
With a ding, the system panel popped up in front of Tang San!
[Ding! Option A completed! Congratulations, host, you have obtained one piece of Plate Crystal! It has been placed in the system space!] [Randomly generating side effect: one localized area of swelling and pain!]
Tang San's mouth twitched violently, and ten thousand horses galloped through his mind.
Why did it have to be there?!
Never mind, never mind. With Plate Crystal, I can make Dragon Whisker Needles. It's just a small side effect. I'll put up with it and it'll pass.
Dai Mubai wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and cleared his throat twice.
"Ahem, let's go. I'll take you through the exams. You don't have to wait in line."
Tang San hesitated. "Isn't that improper?"
Dai Mubai waved a hand. "Don't worry, I'm not playing favorites. This is the treatment you've earned."
As he spoke, he led Tang San and Xiao Wu toward the front of the line.
Another elderly teacher was in charge of the second round of testing.
Dai Mubai went over to the teacher, whispered a few words in his ear, and pointed at Tang San and Xiao Wu.
The teacher nodded. "All right, take them straight to the fourth round. If they pass, they're admitted."
Behind them, Ning Rongrong and Zhu Zhuqing also passed the Soul Power test and went straight to the fourth round.
Xiao Jue naturally tagged along, thick-skinned as ever.
Just then, his system panel popped up with a ding:
[Ding! Recovered one Gluttony Point!] [One of the Seven Deadly Sins, Gluttony, has been unlocked!] [Martial Soul obtained: Beelzebub, Sin of Gluttony!] [Current Gluttony Points: 1] [Martial Soul bonuses: increased recovery! Increased resistance! The higher the Gluttony Points, the greater the bonuses!]
Xiao Jue's eyes went wide. "I have a Martial Soul! Could I have seven Martial Souls, System?"
[That's right! And the Martial Souls this system provides don't require cultivation to increase their levels. Their levels are equal to the system points recovered! The levels of the seven Martial Souls are calculated separately!]
Xiao Jue slapped his thigh. "All right, so it still comes down to recovering system fragments. But at least I don't have to toil away cultivating day and night. Just what I wanted!"
He happily followed behind the others, but suddenly noticed that the icy Zhu Zhuqing had actually glanced back at him several times.
A faint blush had even appeared on her cheeks.
Xiao Jue touched his face, utterly baffled. "Strange, is there something on my face?"
Tang San had originally thought it was just a hemorrhoid, nothing serious.
But after only a couple of steps, he realized how terribly wrong he had been.
The friction from walking made the hemorrhoid ache!
It hurt like hell!
It was like having a red-hot pebble stuck in there, and every step was torture!
Beads of cold sweat broke out on Tang San's forehead. His legs turned slightly inward, and even his walking posture became somewhat strange.
Dai Mubai glanced back at him, then opened his mouth but said nothing.
Xiao Wu asked with concern, "Brother, what's wrong?"
Tang San forced a smile. "It's nothing. Maybe I just choked on the sausage earlier..."
"This is the place."
Everyone came to a stop.
They had reached another open space in the village.
It was much smaller than the second testing area, only about the size of a basketball court.
A rough-looking man in his fifties sat in a chair, dozing with his head bobbing.
Dai Mubai said, "Teacher Zhao, I've brought some people here for your assessment."
"Hmm? Someone's made it to me this year? And there are four of them?"
Zhao Wuji opened his sleepy eyes and looked at the four people before him in surprise, as though he had seen something unbelievable.
Dai Mubai continued, "Not only did the four of them make it to your fourth round, they were also exempted from the second and third tests."
Zhao Wuji's eyes lit up, and he rose from his chair.
He wasn't tall and looked quite ordinary, but he appeared extremely sturdy.
Another striking feature was that he looked like he had no neck!
"Not bad, not bad. Looks like there are quite a few Little Monsters this year."
Zhao Wuji grinned, revealing a mouthful of big yellow teeth that gave the impression of terrible breath.
"You should already know that this is my final round. Pass my test, and you'll officially become students of Shrek Academy!
"But my test isn't so easy to pass.
"Combat experience is something every Soul Master must have as part of their strength. What I'm testing is your actual combat ability!"
Zhao Wuji knocked his fists together and continued:
"For the test, the four of you must withstand my attacks for the time it takes one incense stick to burn. As long as one of you can last until the end, you all pass."
After a brief discussion among the four, the match soon began.
An incense stick appeared in Zhao Wuji's hand, but before he could light it, Ning Rongrong had already made the first move.
"Seven treasures emerge, glazed light shines."
She spun gracefully in place, and dazzling seven-colored light immediately poured from her body.
Where the light gathered, a seven-colored pagoda over a foot tall had appeared in the palm of Ning Rongrong's right hand.
But Ning Rongrong was ranting inwardly:
Not one of these guys scores above 90 for looks. How am I supposed to invest?
Tang San only scores 60, and this Zhao Wuji is only 33?!
Dai Mubai is a little better at 83, but my Tycoon System requires me to invest in a guy who scores above 90 for a chance to trigger a hundredfold rebate!
Ning Rongrong stopped thinking about it and gave the other three her boost.
Xiao Wu and Zhu Zhuqing darted out. With Ning Rongrong's boost, the two of them were even faster.
Seeing the two women attack, one from the front and one from the side, Zhao Wuji's lips curved up slightly.
He didn't counterattack. Instead, he set his bulky body in motion.