Zhao Wuji

Dai Mubai led the four of them deeper into the academy.

After crossing the cinder playground and reaching the second test, he went back to the first test to pick someone up, telling the others to wait.

A makeshift stall stood beside the second test. A wooden board lay across two crates, with several sausages arranged on top. The stallholder was a boy in his early teens, with messy hair, a face full of whiskers, and a hint of a smile naturally playing at the corners of his mouth.

Oscar. Innate Full Soul Power, Food-type Martial Soul. Wang Xingyu knew full well that, among the Shrek Seven Devils in the original story, Oscar's talent was second only to Tang San's.

Tang San walked up to the stall and looked at the sausages. "How much?"

"Five copper coins each."

Tang San took a few copper coins from his storage pouch and bought three sausages, handing one each to Xiao Wu and Wang Xingyu.

Wang Xingyu took his. The sausage was still warm, its surface glistening faintly with oil. He naturally knew how outrageous Oscar's soul incantation was, but he didn't feel anything about it.

He brought the sausage to his mouth.

"Don't eat it!" Dai Mubai's voice came from behind him. Wang Xingyu didn't turn around. He took a bite, and the savory flavor of the meat melted in his mouth, carrying the faintest hint of sweetness.

Dai Mubai strode over, followed by a girl dressed in black. Her features were strikingly cold and beautiful, and her eyes were like the surface of a frozen lake. Zhu Zhuqing.

Wang Xingyu stopped chewing halfway through his mouthful. She's twelve? A twelve-year-old has a figure like that? It's pretty much the same as in the anime. People really do develop fast in a fantasy world.

Dai Mubai reached the stall and glanced at the half-eaten sausage in Wang Xingyu's hand. "You can't eat that sausage."

"Why?" Xiao Wu held up her sausage, caught between taking a bite and putting it down.

Dai Mubai turned his head toward Oscar. "Make another one."

Oscar grinned. He held out a hand, and a Yellow Soul Ring lit up over his palm. Soul Power surged, and a sausage materialized out of thin air in his hand. Then he spoke.

"I Have a Big Sausage."

The sausage nearly fell from Xiao Wu's hand. Her mouth hung open, and her eyes went round. Tang San's expression stiffened for a moment as well.

Wang Xingyu chewed his sausage and took another bite. "It's just a soul incantation. It tastes all right. Makes me want to come up with one for myself."

Tang San glanced at him and took a bite of his own sausage. Xiao Wu looked from one to the other. Seeing them both eating, she took a bite too. "It's pretty tasty."

Dai Mubai watched the three of them in silence for two breaths. "Impressive."

"Let's go. Fourth test." Dai Mubai turned and walked ahead. Zhu Zhuqing's Soul Power was also above level twenty-five, so she was exempt from the second and third tests and went straight to the fourth.

The group crossed the playground and arrived at an open clearing in the deepest part of the academy. A man stood in the center. He wasn't tall, but he was extremely broad and thickset, with a short crew cut and a face full of thick flesh. Zhao Wuji, the Immovable Wisdom King, a level seventy-six Beast Martial Soul Battle Soul Saint.

Zhao Wuji saw Dai Mubai approaching with five children and grinned. "Five? Quite a haul today."

Dai Mubai stepped aside. "Tang San, Xiao Wu, Wang Xingyu, Zhu Zhuqing, Ning Rongrong. They're all exempt from the second and third tests, so they came straight here."

Zhao Wuji swept his gaze over the five of them, pulled a stick of incense from his clothes, and planted it in the dirt at his feet.

"The rules are simple. I'll give you the time it takes one stick of incense to burn to discuss your tactics. Once another stick burns down, you pass as long as one of you is still standing here." He rolled his neck. "Don't worry about hurting me. Fight with everything you've got."

A layer of earthy yellow light rose around Zhao Wuji as he activated his Immovable Wisdom King Martial Soul Possession. Seven Soul Rings rose from beneath his feet: two yellow, two purple, and three black. The pressure of a Soul Saint bore down like a collapsing mountain.

"Zhao Wuji, level seventy-six Beast Martial Soul Battle Soul Saint, Martial Soul Great Strength Vajra Bear," Dai Mubai said quietly. "I'll watch from the sidelines. I can't interfere." With that, he retreated to the edge of the clearing.

Zhao Wuji folded his arms and stood there waiting for them to confer, without rushing them.

The five retreated to the edge of the clearing. Tang San was the first to crouch down, picking up a twig and drawing on the ground.

"He's a level seventy-six Battle Soul Saint, a strength type with extremely high defense. Even the five of us together can't withstand him head-on, so we can only keep moving and skirmish. Everyone, tell us your abilities."

"Tang San, plant Martial Soul Blue Silver Grass, level twenty-nine Control-Type Battle Spirit Master."

"Xiao Wu, Beast Martial Soul Soft Bone Rabbit, level twenty-nine Power Attack System Battle Soul Master."

Wang Xingyu crouched down. "Wang Xingyu, plant Martial Soul Blue Silver Grass, level twenty-one Support System Battle Soul Master. My First Soul Skill can absorb an opponent's Soul Power. When you spread your Blue Silver Grass over him, I'll absorb his Soul Power at the same time, and he'll lose it faster." Tang San nodded.

Zhu Zhuqing's voice was as cold as she was. "Zhu Zhuqing, Beast Martial Soul Hell Spirit Cat, level twenty-seven Agility Attack System Battle Spirit Master."

Ning Rongrong spoke softly. "Ning Rongrong, Tool Martial Soul Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda, level twenty-six Support System Tool Soul Master. I can provide boosts. The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda can increase everyone's attributes, but I only have enough Soul Power to maintain it for one stick of incense."

"That's enough." Tang San drew several circles on the ground. "Rongrong stays at the very back and handles the boosts. Zhu Zhuqing and Xiao Wu, move around him on the left and right. Focus on harassing him; don't take his attacks head-on. I'll keep him occupied from the front. Xingyu, you're with me."

Xiao Wu leaned in. "What about me?"

"Improvise," Wang Xingyu said, looking at her. "When you find an opening, go straight in with that combo of yours."

The corners of Xiao Wu's mouth curled up. "All right."

Zhu Zhuqing stood to the side. "I'll cut in from the flank and circle behind him while Xiao Wu keeps him occupied from the front."

Tang San stuck the twig into the ground. "Then it's settled."

"Okay." Xiao Wu stood up and flexed her wrists.

Zhao Wuji saw the five huddle together and then disperse. He chuckled. "Finished planning? Let's begin."

The tiny red glow at the tip of the incense flickered in the wind.

Tang San struck first. Blue Silver Grass spread across the ground, his First Soul Skill, Iron Thorn Strangulation, winding toward Zhao Wuji. At the same time, Ning Rongrong's Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda lit up, and several rays of light fell on the five of them.

Wang Xingyu's Blue Silver Grass stretched along the ground, spreading out alongside Tang San's vines. His First Soul Ring lit up, and Life Drain went to work. The Soul Power drawn from Zhao Wuji flowed back along the vines into his body, then passed through the connection to Tang San.

Zhao Wuji glanced down at the vines around his ankles, his brow furrowing slightly. They weren't tightly bound, but his Soul Power was draining away. He stamped his right foot, shaking the ground and snapping the vines.

He sent another shock toward Tang San's Blue Silver vines, but it failed to break them the first time. He stamped harder, and this time they finally snapped.

"Not bad. That Blue Silver Grass is pretty strong."

Xiao Wu moved.

Moon Shadow lit up, and two afterimages shot apart to either side. Zhao Wuji swept his right arm across, tearing the afterimages to pieces with the force of the wind.

But the real Xiao Wu had already circled to his side. She twisted sharply at the waist, her whole body like a fully drawn bow. Waist Bow. A Self-Created Soul Skill. Her leg swept up from below and kicked Zhao Wuji squarely in the side of the waist. His center of gravity shifted, and his whole body lifted off the ground.

Xiao Wu didn't stop. Moonfall. A purple Soul Ring lit up, and she sprang upward, shooting above Zhao Wuji's head in the blink of an eye and pausing briefly in midair.

Then she flipped over, head down and feet up, and crashed down like a meteor. Both feet slammed into Zhao Wuji's chest with a muffled boom.

Zhao Wuji was kicked toward the ground. His back struck the earth, sending dust flying. Xiao Wu used the rebound to spring away, landing outside the battle circle. She shook out her ankle, breathing slightly hard.

The clearing fell silent for a moment.

Everyone was shocked not only by Xiao Wu's combo, but even more by her thousand-year Second Soul Ring. Dai Mubai said that, sure enough, it was just as he had expected.

Zhao Wuji sat up and brushed the dust from his chest. He looked down at the footprints on his chest, then at Xiao Wu, and suddenly laughed. "A Self-Created Soul Skill followed by a thousand-year second ring? Nice combo. Too bad-" He stood and rolled his shoulders. "The gap in our Soul Power is too great. You didn't even scrape my skin."

Xiao Wu snorted and tossed her scorpion braid behind her.

Zhu Zhuqing cut in from the side. Pushing the Hell Spirit Cat's speed to its limit, she extended the cat claws from her fingertips and went straight for the back of Zhao Wuji's neck. Without turning his head, Zhao Wuji dipped his right shoulder and thrust it upward. Her claws scraped across his shoulder blade with an ear-piercing metallic screech. Zhu Zhuqing used the force to flip backward, putting distance between them as she landed.

Zhao Wuji stamped his right foot and shot out of the battle circle like a cannonball, charging straight at Ning Rongrong and Wang Xingyu. The support fighters first.

Ning Rongrong's face turned slightly pale. Wang Xingyu didn't retreat. Blue Silver Grass spread out before him as Life Drain operated at full strength. Zhao Wuji brought a palm down, but Wang Xingyu turned sideways to avoid it, his Blue Silver Grass winding around Zhao Wuji's arm. The instant Soul Power was drawn out, Zhao Wuji's arm halted for a moment.

In that instant, Tang San's Blue Silver Grass shot in from behind, coiling around Zhao Wuji's waist and legs and dragging him half a step back. Two vines simultaneously wrapped around Ning Rongrong's and Wang Xingyu's waists, pulling them back out of attack range.

Zhao Wuji looked down at the vines around his waist, then at Wang Xingyu and Ning Rongrong, who had been pulled out of the battle circle. He chuckled. "Control System. Good reactions."

Xiao Wu charged in again. Moon Shadow left two afterimages as she rushed him head-on. Zhao Wuji struck down with his right palm, scattering the afterimages, but the real Xiao Wu had already circled to his side and unleashed Waist Bow once more.

This time it was a back throw. She pressed herself against Zhao Wuji, gripped his belt with both hands, and twisted sharply at the waist. His center of gravity shifted, and he staggered two steps sideways.

Zhu Zhuqing cut in from the other side, her cat claws blocking the direction in which he tried to regain his balance. At the same time, Tang San's Blue Silver Grass coiled around his ankles and pulled in the opposite direction.

Zhao Wuji dropped to one knee. The clearing fell silent for a moment.

"Fifth Soul Skill, Gravity Squeeze!"

The pressure around them instantly blasted Zhu Zhuqing and Xiao Wu away.

Tang San leaped up and caught Xiao Wu as she flew toward him. Wang Xingyu also used his Blue Silver Grass to catch Zhu Zhuqing.

"Good! The incense hasn't even burned halfway, and you lot can fight better than I thought."

He stood and brushed the dirt from his knee, the light of his seven Soul Rings brighter than before. "Next, I'm getting serious."

The tiny red glow at the tip of the incense flickered in the wind. In the clearing, five people faced off against an iron tower.