Meanwhile, within the Sky Screen, in the modern era, the battle between Tang San and Dai Mubai in the animation was nearing its end.
At first, the two had traded blows evenly, but everything changed once Dai Mubai unleashed his third Soul Skill.
Dai Mubai easily broke free of Tang San's Blue Silver Grass, and even Tang San's poison had no effect at all.
"Did Tang San just... lose?" Ye Guyi found it somewhat hard to believe.
Tang San, the Sea God, had actually lost to Dai Mubai in his youth?
"Why did Tang San's Blue Silver Grass become so weak? It wasn't like this when he fought me," even Qian Renxue remarked.
They were not the only ones who thought so. In the Peerless era and the Dragon King era, countless Soul Masters were marveling at the same thing. Tang San had actually lost?
Yun Ming, in particular, who had always regarded Tang San as an opponent, found it even more unbelievable.
"Are you kidding me? Tang San actually lost?"
Faced with countless people's confusion, Jiang Yan offered an answer from within the Sky Screen.
"If Tang San only had Blue Silver Grass, then he had no chance of winning this match," Jiang Yan said.
"Taking the poison route with Blue Silver Grass isn't very powerful in the early stages. The reason Tang San's Blue Silver Grass repeatedly allowed him to challenge opponents above his level when he had three to four rings was his third Soul Ring from a Man Faced Demon Spider, his Eight Spider Soul Bone, his ten-thousand-year fourth Soul Ring from a Cave Demon Spider, and the immortal herbs from the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well."
"These are conditions ordinary Blue Silver Grass Soul Masters simply can't meet."
"But even with all those boosts, Tang San's Blue Silver Grass still couldn't match Feng Xiaotian when they faced each other."
Then Jiang Yan turned to Qian Renxue and said, "As for the Tang San who fought you, his Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul had already evolved into the Blue Silver Emperor. Of course ordinary Blue Silver Grass couldn't compare."
Hearing this, Ye Guyi asked, "So Tang San has other means?"
"Of course. Tang San's trump cards have always been the Clear Sky Hammer and Tang Sect Hidden Weapons," Jiang Yan said.
"Then could Tang San beat Dai Mubai if he used everything he had?" Ye Guyi asked.
Before Jiang Yan could speak, Dai Mubai in the Sky Screen Livestream Room could no longer sit still.
[Dai Mubai: Me, fight Little San going all out? You're kidding, right?]
Dai Mubai remembered that when Tang San went all out back then, he had even suppressed Zhao Wuji, who was already a Soul Saint.
Hearing all this, Yun Ming breathed a sigh of relief, while thinking to himself, If I faced Tang San going all out at the same level, I wonder which of us would win?
At that moment, within the Sky Screen, Jiang Yan did not answer Ye Guyi's curious question, keeping her in suspense instead.
"You'll see Tang San going all out very soon."
"Oh, all right," Ye Guyi said.
The animation progressed quickly, and before long, it reached the part where Tang San and Xiao Wu went to register at Shrek Academy.
Seeing such a desolate academy, Xiao Wu immediately felt a bad premonition rise in her heart.
"Brother, did Grandmaster get it wrong? No matter how I look at it, this doesn't look like an academy. Could it be a scam?"
Tang San gave a wry smile. "We're already here. Let's take a look first."
At that moment, not only Xiao Wu, but even Qian Renxue, Ye Guyi, and Leng Yaozhu, who were watching the animation, found this desolate Shrek Academy absurdly outrageous.
Meanwhile, in the Sky Screen Livestream Room, Qiangu Dongfeng pulled no punches and directly posted a comment.
[Qiangu Dongfeng: Anyone who didn't know better would think this was a scam. This counts as an academy? Does this place even have a dining hall? These were Shrek Academy's conditions twenty thousand years ago?]
[Yu Xiaogang: What do you mean by that?]
[Flender: What do you mean by that?]
[Qiangu Dongfeng: Exactly what I said.]
At that moment, in the animation within the Sky Screen, a boy standing ahead of Tang San and Xiao Wu in line had both his parents with him.
The boy's mother said, "Is this some kind of mistake? This is the so-called Soul Master Academy? The academy that claims its graduates can become imperial viscounts?"
The boy's father said uncertainly, "That's what the people from Spirit Hall said, so it shouldn't be wrong, should it? But this academy really is far too run-down."
At those words, the people from Spirit Hall watching the Sky Screen were stunned.
Had that happened? Why did they know nothing about it?
Even Qian Renxue within the Sky Screen was puzzled. "Why haven't I heard of this?"
As Spirit Hall's young master and the former crown prince of the Heaven Dou Empire, Qian Renxue had never heard of an academy whose graduates could become imperial viscounts.
"Of course that was their dean, Flender, blowing his own trumpet. Without boasting like that, how could his shabby academy recruit students?" Jiang Yan sneered.
[Flender: Who's boasting?]
[Bibi Dong: ?]
[Bibi Dong: So your Shrek Academy recruits students entirely under our Spirit Hall's banner?]
[Flender: Of course not! No one from our Shrek Academy said that!]
[Qian Daoliu: That had better be the case!]
Meanwhile, within the Sky Screen, Ye Guyi asked a question.
"But aren't Shrek Academy's admission requirements very strict? Then what's the point of tricking so many people into coming to register?"
"You'll find out in a moment." Jiang Yan smiled. "Don't picture Shrek Academy as such a wonderful place. What they do, and how low they'll stoop, goes completely beyond your imagination."
"Oh?" Leng Yaozhu looked at Jiang Yan. "Could they stoop even lower than Shrek Academy twenty thousand years later?"
"All I can say is that the people from both eras are six of one and half a dozen of the other. No matter how sound your values are, once you enter Shrek Academy, they can reshape them. The most classic examples are Tang Wulin and Huo Yuhao. Before and after joining Shrek Academy, they were completely different people," Jiang Yan said.
[Huo Yuhao: ?]
[Tang Wulin: ?]
Tang Wulin, in particular, who was just preparing to take Shrek Academy's entrance examination, was stunned.
"What did I do after joining Shrek Academy? Surely I didn't do anything that broke laws or violated discipline?"
At that moment, in the animation, a boy paid his registration fee, but the old man in charge of registration merely squeezed his hand before shaking his head and saying, "You don't meet the age requirement. You can leave."
The boy visibly froze, then turned to look at his father.
His father hurriedly put on an apologetic smile. "Teacher, my son only just had his thirteenth birthday..."
But the old man said impatiently, "Don't hold up the people behind you! Don't you know the academy's rules?"
"We only accept children under thirteen here. Anyone over thirteen is rejected without exception!"
At that moment, the boy's father still wanted to get back the ten Gold Soul Coins he had paid for registration. "Then our registration fee..."
The old man said bluntly, "Once you register, there are no refunds!"
The boy's father could no longer hold back and shouted angrily on the spot, "You're blatantly swindling people! Refund our registration fee, or we're not leaving!"
The old man glanced at him, long since accustomed to this, and said indifferently, "Mubai, someone wants their registration fee back. Handle it."
Dai Mubai, who had been waiting nearby for a long time, revealed his White Tiger Martial Soul. Three Soul Rings appeared beneath his feet. "You want your registration fee back? Fine. Beat me, and you'll get a full refund!"
Within the Sky Screen, in the modern era, this was clearly Qian Renxue and Ye Guyi's first time seeing such a scene. Ye Guyi was particularly indignant and cursed on the spot, "Seriously, isn't this just swindling people?"
"Exactly. This is the overbearing Shrek Academy," Leng Yaozhu commented.
Jiang Yan nodded, then added, "Refusing to refund registration fees is just their usual routine. Why else do you think he tricks so many students into coming to register?"
Qian Renxue immediately followed up, "Isn't this just bullying commoner Soul Masters?"
"That's right. Did you think Shrek Academy was full of good people?" Jiang Yan sneered.