Entrance Examination

Tang San put the Plate Crystal on the table. Xiao Wu leaned in to look, and Wang Xingyu gathered around too.

Tang San gripped the edge of the Plate Crystal with Mysterious Jade Hand and gently bent it. A fine crack appeared in the crystal, spreading along the Hair Gold inside like a fissure across ice.

He applied force from several different angles, peeling away the Plate Crystal's outer shell piece by piece to reveal the mass of golden filaments inside.

The Hair Gold was so fine that the thickness of a single strand was almost impossible to see with the naked eye. But in the morning light, it refracted a faint golden sheen, like a tangled mass of threads of light.

Using Controlling Crane Capturing Dragon, Tang San picked up a strand of Hair Gold and laid it in his palm. Xiao Wu leaned close, her eyes widening. "It's so thin! What can you use it for?"

Tang San said nothing. He gently rolled the strand between his fingers, forming it into an exceedingly fine needle.

The needle was almost transparent in the morning light, with only a glint of gold at its tip. He flicked his finger, sending the golden needle into the bedsheet. Two seconds later, a small hole burst open in the fabric.

"Dragon Whisker Needle." Tang San held the golden needle in his palm. "Hair Gold is naturally extremely fine and tough. Once straightened, it can spring back into its original shape on its own. After it enters a human body, it curls and twists, burrowing deep into the muscle. To get it out, you'd have to cut out that entire piece of flesh."

Xiao Wu reached out to touch the golden needle, and Tang San didn't stop her. She pinched its tail and held it up before her eyes. The needle was almost invisible in the light. "If this thing got into someone's flesh, who could find it?"

"If they couldn't find it, they could only leave it inside. Every time the muscle contracted, the needle would burrow deeper."

Xiao Wu handed the golden needle back to Tang San and drew in her neck.

Wang Xingyu took it and twirled it between his fingers a few times. The Hair Gold had a peculiar feel, as light as holding a ray of light, yet so resilient that it wouldn't break even when bent almost in half. He had read the description of Dragon Whisker Needles in the original novel in his previous life, but holding one himself was different.

All he could say was that Zhao Wuji was in for a treat.

"Good stuff." He handed the Dragon Whisker Needle back. Tang San took it and put it in his storage bag.

That night, rather than Wang Xingyu and Tang San sleeping on the floor while Xiao Wu slept on the bed, all three slept on the bed. The Rose Hotel's bed was not small, but with three people lying side by side, it was still a little cramped.

Tang San slept in the middle, with Xiao Wu on his left and Wang Xingyu on his right.

Xiao Wu was curled up in the blanket, with only a length of her scorpion braid visible on the pillow. Her breathing was even. Tang San lay on his back with his hands folded over his abdomen, his sleeping posture as proper as a puppet's.

As for Wang Xingyu, he felt he would fall onto the floor if he so much as turned over.

He sighed inwardly. He had transmigrated to Douluo Continent as a twenty-first-level Soul Grandmaster, with a Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul and a thousand-year second ring.

He had been worried about the two of them and their relationship, but now he felt like a third wheel. Oh well, a third wheel it was. He closed his eyes.

The next morning, Wang Xingyu woke up on the floor.

The three left the Rose Hotel and headed out of the city. Shrek Academy was in a village outside Suotuo City. Xiao Wu skipped along the way, but after entering the village, her steps grew slower and slower until she stopped in front of a crooked wooden gate.

Most of the paint had peeled off the gate, exposing the dull gray wood beneath. A sign hung from the frame, its writing blurred by wind and rain, with only the characters for "Shrek" barely legible.

"This is Shrek Academy?" Xiao Wu pointed at the dilapidated gate. "It's way too run-down. Why did we come here? And why did you tell Little San not to get a Soul Ring?"

Wang Xingyu waved his fan, which bore the words "Tang Sect." "It's run-down, sure, but the teachers are good. There are two Soul Emperors and several Soul Saints in there, and the dean is a seventy-eighth-level Soul Saint. Besides, academies that are too formal have lots of rules and restrictions. This place may be stingy, but there's freedom."

He turned his head to glance at Tang San. "As for Little San's Third Soul Ring, we can talk about it after enrollment and make use of the teachers here. Having a Soul Saint-level teacher accompany us to the Soul Hunting Forest is much safer than blundering around on our own."

What Wang Xingyu didn't say was that Tang San would soon obtain the Eight Spider Lances here. An External Soul Bone that could devour and strengthen, and most importantly, could evolve, ultimately becoming the Sea God's Eight Wings.

Although he didn't recommend taking the poison route, one Soul Skill and one Soul Bone were still a gain overall.

Xiao Wu tilted her head and thought for a moment, then reluctantly accepted the explanation and stepped through the gate.

The academy was even more run-down inside than outside. There were several rows of low stone buildings, and the track on the grounds was paved with cinders that sent dust flying whenever the wind blew. Quite a few people were already lined up on the grounds to register, old and young alike, all accompanying children.

A table stood at the front of the line, with a gray-haired old man seated behind it. The register before him was packed with applicants' information.

Wang Xingyu and the other two joined the end of the line. A commotion suddenly broke out ahead. A middle-aged man slapped the table, his face flushed red. "Why won't you admit him? Fine, don't admit him, but you should at least refund the registration fee!" A boy of about ten stood behind him, head lowered and the tips of his ears red.

Li Yusong raised his eyelids. "Registration fees aren't refundable. Those are the rules."

The middle-aged man tried to argue further, but Li Yusong extended his right hand, and a jet-black Coiling Dragon Staff emerged from his palm. He planted the long staff on the ground, and the dragon relief on its shaft glimmered faintly. Six Soul Rings rose from beneath his feet: one white, one yellow, three purple, and one black.

The oppressive presence of a Soul Emperor spread silently. The middle-aged man's face went from red to white, and he dragged his son away with his tail between his legs.

"We only accept monsters, not ordinary people." Li Yusong withdrew the Dragon Pattern Staff. His voice was not loud, but everyone on the grounds heard him clearly. "Only come if you meet the requirements. Don't waste the registration fee."

Xiao Wu wrinkled her nose. "How overbearing. If someone doesn't qualify, they should refund the registration fee."

"You should check the requirements before enrolling. I can understand why they don't refund it," Tang San said.

The line inched forward. When it was the three's turn, Li Yusong didn't even look up. "Name, age, Soul Power Level."

"Tang San, twelve years old, level twenty-nine."

"Xiao Wu, twelve years old, level twenty-nine."

Li Yusong's pen stopped. He looked up and reached for their wrists to test their bone age.

But he couldn't feel Tang San's wrist. Tang San explained that he had cultivated a hand technique, so Li Yusong had to feel his ankle instead. He was indeed twelve.

Twelve years old and level twenty-nine. At that rate, they would be top geniuses at any academy. "Release your Martial Souls."

Tang San held out his right hand, and Blue Silver Grass emerged from his palm, swaying gently in the wind. Xiao Wu, meanwhile, summoned a pair of rabbit ears.

Li Yusong looked at the Blue Silver Grass, his brows furrowing slightly. Blue Silver Grass, a Trash Martial Soul. Could someone with a Trash Martial Soul cultivate to level twenty-nine at twelve?

"Well? We meet your requirement of accepting only monsters, don't we?" Tang San said with a smile.

Li Yusong nodded. "You two can go straight to the fourth round. You're exempt from the second and third."

"Wang Xingyu, twelve years old, level twenty-one."

Level twenty-one was just on Shrek's admission threshold. Li Yusong nodded. "All right, go to the second round."

Dai Mubai came over from the other side of the grounds, intending to take the two directly to the fourth round.

But Tang San and Xiao Wu didn't leave, and neither did Wang Xingyu. He summoned his Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul.

Two Soul Rings rose from beneath his feet: his First Soul Ring was yellow, and his Second Soul Ring was purple. Li Yusong's pen tip froze above the register.

"Well? Can I go straight to the fourth round?"

The applicants and parents lining up around them all fell silent. The middle-aged man earlier had been so intimidated by the Soul Emperor's six Soul Rings that he hadn't dared breathe loudly.

But now, a twelve-year-old boy stood with two Soul Rings at his feet, one of them purple. A thousand-year second ring. Li Yusong stared at the purple Soul Ring, silent for two breaths.

"Yes. Go with them. You're exempt from the second and third rounds and can go straight to the fourth."

Dai Mubai was also deeply shocked. He had thought only Tang San's Second Soul Ring was a thousand-year ring, but the fan-waving boy's Second Soul Ring was one too. What about Xiao Wu?

Dai Mubai looked at Xiao Wu. "Hey, don't tell me your Second Soul Ring is a thousand-year ring too?"

Xiao Wu didn't answer directly. She only smiled and said, "Guess."

Dai Mubai felt himself questioning life. What kind of monsters were these? But questions or not, he still had work to do. He brought along a girl in a cyan dress as well, and the four went to the fourth round together.

This girl should be Ning Rongrong.

After they had walked a few steps, Xiao Wu turned her head and lowered her voice. "What's the fourth round?"

"I don't know." Wang Xingyu waved his fan, which had "Tang Sect" written on it.

He actually did know. The examiner for the fourth round was Zhao Wuji, a seventy-sixth-level Soul Saint, the Immovable Wisdom King.

The final round of the entrance test was a fight against Zhao Wuji. Last for one incense stick, and they would pass. A hard battle lay ahead, and it was time to test the fruits of his efforts since transmigrating.