Can you take me to Shrek?

Yu Zhen nodded, then looked at Bai Yushan and said, "Xiaoshan, as you can see, these five teachers each have their strengths. Whichever class you want to join, the choice is yours."

At these words, the looks in all five teachers' eyes changed.

For the president of Eastsea Academy to personally let a student take his pick, that student had to possess either extraordinary talent or great wealth and status. He was certainly no minor figure.

Long Hengxu, however, looked somewhat troubled. "President, I've already placed student Bai Yushan on Class One's incoming student roster."

As it turned out, Eastsea Academy's tradition was to place more talented students in the earlier-numbered classes.

At nine years old, the average Soul Power cultivation in the East Sea should have been around rank fourteen or fifteen. Those above average were generally assigned to Classes One and Two, while those below that level were assigned to Classes Four and Five.

Long Hengxu had read Bai Yushan's records. His rank-sixteen Soul Power cultivation placed him in the upper-middle range even in Class One. Coupled with his freakish physical fitness, his placement in Class One was nailed down.

Yu Zhen waved a hand, signaling that Long Hengxu need not concern himself with it.

He leaned back in his swivel chair, his hands folded over his stomach, and watched Bai Yushan with a smile, looking like an old father watching his child pick out candy.

Bai Yushan showed no restraint at all. He could even have been called downright rude as he walked up to Ye Yingluo, tilted his head to size her up, and asked, "Can you take me to Shrek?"

Ye Yingluo froze.

In all her years as a teacher, she had seen plenty of troublemakers and geniuses, but no student had ever dared to stand so bluntly before her and ask her a question like that in such a tone.

Shrek? The best Soul Master Academy on the entire continent? The Shrek that admitted students only once every three years, with an outrageously low acceptance rate?

She opened her mouth, wanting to say something, but had no idea what to say.

Take a student to Shrek? She had never even been to Shrek herself. What qualified her to take anyone else there?

"Well..."

Ye Yingluo's voice caught in her throat. The pride on her face deflated bit by bit, like a punctured balloon.

"All right, you don't need to answer."

Bai Yushan waved a hand, turned, and walked away, not even bothering to spare her another glance. She looked pretty proud, but the moment she heard Shrek, she wilted. All show and no substance.

Fuck, what's so special about Shrek? Why be so afraid of what lies ahead and behind?

He walked up to Qin Zhixu and looked him up and down. Glasses, refined manners-obviously a bookworm. Too much scholarly air. Didn't look like he could fight.

"What about you? Can you take me to Shrek?"

Qin Zhixu adjusted his glasses, fell silent for two seconds, then said sincerely, "I can't. But I can do everything in my power to uncover your potential and make you stronger than you are now."

Bai Yushan gave a disdainful laugh.

"You couldn't even beat the middle-aged geezer beside me. What shameless boasting."

He pointed at Chen Qingquan. Qin Zhixu glanced at the plainly dressed middle-aged man with graying temples and offered no rebuttal. He truly could not gauge the man's depths, but how could someone who sat in Yu Zhen's office and called the president his brother be ordinary?

Black lines covered Chen Qingquan's face, but he still spared Bai Yushan's dignity in front of everyone and refrained from beating him. He took a deep breath and suppressed the urge to hit someone.

Bai Yushan walked up to Ye Yingrong.

Ye Yingrong wore a faint smile, her features gentle. She looked far easier to talk to than her older sister. She could tell that the child before her simply wanted a steadfast teacher to lead him, someone who could give him a promise, direction, and confidence.

She had already rehearsed her response in her mind, ready to tell him in a gentle but firm tone that, although she could not guarantee she would take him to Shrek, she would work hard and improve alongside him.

Bai Yushan skipped straight past her.

"Don't bother saying anything. You're probably about the same as your sister. If she can't do it, what makes you any better?"

Ye Yingrong's smile froze on her face.

Bai Yushan had already reached Kong Hanwen. The pale, plump middle-aged man's eyes narrowed to slits, his grin stretched toward his ears, and the flattery on his face seemed practically carved into his bones. He bent at the waist and rubbed his hands in front of him like a lapdog begging for food.

"Student Bai Yushan, hello, hello. I'm Kong Hanwen from Class Four. The conditions in my class are excellent. I'll secure the very best for you..."

Bai Yushan could not even be bothered to comment and skipped straight past him.

"Forget you, too."

Kong Hanwen's words stuck in his throat. The smile on his face froze for an instant before he awkwardly withdrew it.

Finally, Bai Yushan looked at Wu Changkong.

Now this teacher was somewhat interesting.

Neither servile nor overbearing, he stood there like a pine rooted in the snow.

The other four teachers had all been showing themselves off to some degree, all trying to please him to some degree. Only this man stood motionless and silent, his eyes filled with cold indifference. It was no act. He truly did not care.

Their gazes collided in the air. There were no sparks or lightning, only a very pure appraisal.

Bai Yushan was judging whether Wu Changkong had real ability, while Wu Changkong was judging whether Bai Yushan deserved a second look.

"What about you? Can you take me to Shrek?"

Bai Yushan spoke in a slightly lower voice than when he had questioned the other teachers. It was not courtesy, but seriousness.

Wu Changkong chuckled. "That depends on whether you have what it takes."

Bai Yushan's eyes lit up briefly. No agreement, no refusal, no promises, no guarantees.

This answer satisfied him more than any answer from the previous four teachers.

"So that means you can do it?"

Bai Yushan pressed.

Wu Changkong did not answer directly. Instead, he asked, "What is your Soul Power cultivation, and what was your Innate Soul Power?"

Bai Yushan was not afraid of the question. "Rank-three Innate Soul Power. Rank-sixteen Soul Power cultivation."

At these words, although the previous four teachers otherwise showed no reaction, contempt appeared in all their eyes.

Rank-three Innate Soul Power, reaching rank sixteen after three years of cultivation. That pace barely counted as decent in Eastsea City, but it was nowhere near enough before true geniuses. And here they had thought he was someone extraordinarily talented.

So he was just another child of a prominent family who reached for heights beyond his grasp, thinking himself invincible under heaven because he had a little cleverness and talent.

Rank sixteen counted as reasonably talented among Eastsea Academy's incoming students, but hardly exceptional. To dare talk of attending Shrek Academy under such circumstances-he truly had no idea what he was saying.

Only Wu Changkong's expression remained unchanged.

He asked another question, his voice slightly lower than before. "Your cultivation is lacking, so you must be very confident in your actual strength?"

Cultivation was a number; strength was the result. High cultivation did not necessarily mean great strength, and low cultivation did not necessarily mean weakness.

Bai Yushan spread his lips in a grin. That grin held madness, wild arrogance, and the exhilaration of something long suppressed finally finding an outlet.

He stood up and loosened his wrists, his neck cracking. Something churned in his eyes. It was not lightning, but something deeper: fighting spirit, longing, an urge to let loose.

"You'll see soon enough whether I am."

He turned his head and looked at Yu Zhen.

"Uncle Yu Zhen, interested in watching my performance?"