As soon as Lin Yuan left the Balak City Auction House, he turned into an empty alley, shed his disguise, and transformed himself into an ordinary young genius soul master.
That afternoon, Lin Yuan hurried more than a hundred li to Suo Tuo City.
First, he rented a room with a balcony.
He took out the flowerpot he had been carrying with him, the one used to bury the Palm Heaven Bottle, and placed it on the balcony to collect green liquid.
Then he filled a tub with ice water and took out the three pieces of 1,000-year whale rubber he had purchased at a high price.
The Supreme Holy Qiankun Skill circulated through his body, and blue flames rose from his right hand.
Lin Yuan grabbed one piece of whale rubber and quickly roasted it with the flames.
Before long, the 1,000-year whale rubber melted.
Lin Yuan swallowed the first piece in a few quick gulps, then sat cross-legged in the ice water and began refining it.
After finishing the refinement, he took out the second piece.
And then the third.
He repeated the process over and over.
By the time Lin Yuan had finished refining all three pieces of 1,000-year whale rubber, he could clearly feel that his physical constitution had improved tremendously.
Excluding the enhancement provided by his second soul ring, if he had previously only been able to withstand a 1,500-year soul ring, he could now withstand at least a 3,000-year soul ring.
By this point, Lin Yuan had already spent an entire day and two nights inside the inn.
It happened to be the day registration opened for Suo Tuo City Intermediate Soul Master Academy.
With his rank 24 soul power and powerful mutated martial soul, Thunder Bamboo, Lin Yuan assumed the name Lan Si.
Not only did he successfully enter Suo Tuo City Intermediate Soul Master Academy, but he also received numerous benefits, including exemption from the entrance examination and a scholarship.
Coincidentally, today was also the day Shrek Academy held its admissions examination.
Suo Tuo City Intermediate Soul Master Academy had no classes that day.
After putting away his luggage, Lin Yuan simply pretended to be a student who admired Shrek Academy and had come to take the entrance examination.
He mixed into the crowd.
As a result, he happened to see Dai Mubai standing there with his right arm wrapped in bandages.
Because he didn’t have enough money to pay the registration fee, he was rejected by Li Yusong, who was in charge of the first registration checkpoint.
Dai Mubai looked so humiliated that he practically wanted to die.
Fortunately, at the critical moment, Flender, a man with an aquiline nose and square-framed glasses, stepped forward to help him out.
He promised that as long as Dai Mubai passed the entrance examination, he could pay the registration and tuition fees later, after receiving his soul master subsidy.
Only then did Dai Mubai reveal his White Tiger martial soul and two yellow 1,000-year soul rings, successfully passing the first checkpoint.
Flender then brought him into Shrek Academy for the subsequent examinations.
Lin Yuan guessed that the people secretly protecting Dai Mubai had probably contacted Flender in advance.
That was likely why Flender had “coincidentally” appeared there.
It was similar to how Ning Rongrong had entered Shrek Academy in the original story.
Ning Fengzhi had entrusted someone to deliver a letter to Flender beforehand.
Immediately afterward, Meng Baichuan and Meng Yiran stepped forward as well.
Meng Yiran would turn thirteen in two days, so she had just barely managed to enter before reaching the age limit. This chapter was copied from g.com without permission.
Their martial souls were the Dragon Staff and Serpent Cane, respectively.
However, their soul-ring configurations were both yellow, purple, purple.
The moment Lin Yuan saw their martial souls and soul rings, he couldn’t help frowning slightly.
Previously, he had only roughly sensed their soul-power fluctuations.
Now that the two had released their soul power, he finally realized just how high their cultivation was.
Meng Baichuan’s soul power was approximately rank 33.
Meng Yiran’s soul power had reached at least rank 35.
Such a cultivation speed was simply too strange.
Meng Baichuan had, at most, cultivated for the same three years as Lin Yuan.
With innate full soul power, the first soul ring could raise one’s soul power by three or four ranks, the second soul ring could raise it by another two or three ranks, and the third soul ring could likewise provide another two or three ranks.
Even after subtracting this nearly twenty ranks of inherent soul-power increase, there were still thirteen or even fifteen additional ranks.
That meant an average increase of four or five soul-power ranks every year.
Even for a transmigrator with innate full soul power, that was somewhat too outrageous.
Meng Yiran’s cultivation speed was even more bizarre.
In the original story, she was sixteen years old three years from now when she finally broke through rank 30.
Her talent wasn’t particularly outstanding.
Yet she had somehow achieved results far beyond the original story three years ahead of schedule.
Even if she had eaten whale rubber like ordinary food, it shouldn’t have been possible.
Could she have consumed an Immortal Herb?
That seemed unlikely.
In recent years, Lin Yuan had constantly been keeping an eye on the soul master world.
He might not be able to discover every talented soul master born within the various sects.
But if a Titled Douluo appeared, it would be an event significant enough to shake the entire soul master world.
There was no reason he wouldn’t have heard about it.
If Meng Baichuan had obtained an Immortal Herb, it was impossible for him to give one to Meng Yiran while leaving Dragon Duke and Serpent Granny without one.
Could they possess a cultivation technique like Lin Tian?
That seemed unlikely as well.
Lin Yuan hadn’t sensed any dangerous aura from either of them.
“Looks like there’s more to this matter than meets the eye.
I need to observe them carefully.”
As Lin Yuan pondered this, several applicants had already been rejected.
Some had failed to reach rank 20, while others were over the age limit.
Yet Shrek Academy still refused to refund their registration fees, causing the rejected applicants to start arguing with the academy.
In the end, Li Yusong released six soul rings, one white, one yellow, three purple, and one black, and frightened the troublemakers into retreating.
He then openly announced Shrek’s admission requirements.
The crowd waiting in line scattered immediately.
…
The following evening, after finishing his classes, Lin Yuan returned to his single dormitory and cultivated for the entire afternoon.
Then he changed into a fitted cyan robe with a hood, put on a mask, and entered the Suo Tuo City Great Soul Arena.
Using the name Qin Xuan, he registered for a one-on-one solo match at the Soul Grandmaster level.
This was his third identity.
The first was Zong San, the registered soul master identity he used to receive the soul master subsidy.
The second was Lan Si, the identity under which he had enrolled in Suo Tuo City Intermediate Soul Master Academy.
And the third was Qin Xuan.
Qin Xuan’s opponent was a Soul Grandmaster whose martial soul was a battle axe.
The man was around thirty years old, with a soul-ring configuration of one white and one yellow.
It was a standard configuration for a lower-level commoner soul master.
Because his opponent’s soul power had already reached rank 29, Lin Yuan did not display overwhelming strength and instantly defeat him.
Instead, after exchanging blows with his opponent for some time, Lin Yuan gained only a slight advantage.
He then released a small-scale Bamboo Forest Mirage.
Using the misty sea to confuse his opponent, he followed up with Lone Bamboo Throw and knocked the man off the Soul Arena platform with a single strike.
The victory had not been particularly easy.
In the eyes of the spectators, he had won largely because of his superior soul-ring configuration.
It was not enough to make him stand out too much.
Afterward, he began waiting.
He was waiting for Flender to bring Meng Baichuan and the others to the Great Soul Arena for their matches.
This was a compulsory part of Shrek’s curriculum.
However, perhaps because Dai Mubai’s arm had not fully healed yet, Flender only brought Meng Baichuan, Meng Yiran, and a red-haired, chubby boy.
That red-haired chubby boy was undoubtedly the lecherous Phoenix, Ma Hongjun.
Judging from his bruised and swollen face, as well as the fear and ingratiating expression in his eyes whenever he looked at Meng Yiran and Meng Baichuan, he had probably been taught a lesson during the day.
Lin Yuan didn’t care about this.
His true targets were still Meng Yiran and Meng Baichuan.
The moment he heard the broadcast announce their names, Lin Yuan immediately moved toward the spectator stands overlooking their arena.
They had registered for both one-on-one and two-on-two matches.
There was also a Great Soul Arena in the city where Lin Yuan’s parents lived.
Lin Yuan had often disguised himself and entered it to participate in matches.
Judging from their battles against their opponents, both siblings were extremely powerful.
At the very least, Lin Yuan had never seen a Soul Elder as formidable as them.
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