Behind the admissions booth, Li Yusong lazily raised his eyelids.
His gaze swept over the newcomers, lingering for half a breath longer on Ning Rongrong and the boy on her back.
Their clothes, bearing, and the accessories casually revealed at Ning Rongrong’s waist didn’t look like those of ordinary children.
But he only looked for that extra half a breath before withdrawing his gaze and continuing to lean against his chair, basking lazily in the sunlight.
Shrek Academy didn’t accept trash, nor did it care about one’s background.
It only cared about monsters.
At the front of the booth, a middle-aged woman was talking with a broad smile on her face.
Standing beside her was a boy of twelve or thirteen, his chest puffed out and undisguised pride written all over his face.
“My son is a genius!
His second soul ring is already a 100-year soul ring!
Doesn’t your academy recruit geniuses?
Why won’t you accept him?” The woman’s voice wasn’t exactly quiet.
Everyone waiting in line turned to look.
The boy even stepped forward, looking around smugly as though waiting for everyone to gaze at him with envy.
Li Yusong didn’t even raise his eyelids.
“Rejected.” These simple words were delivered as casually as if he were shooing away a fly.
The pride on the boy’s face froze.
His father was stunned as well, then his face flushed red.
“What did you say?
My son is—” “Next.” Li Yusong lifted his teapot and took a sip straight from the spout.
The boy’s parents still wanted to argue, but a low voice came from the side.
“Didn’t you hear him?” Dai Mubai stood up.
He was already tall and imposing, and when he rose to his feet, his shadow completely covered the family of three.
In the next instant, three soul rings rose from beneath Dai Mubai’s feet.
Two yellow and one purple interlocking as they rose.
A powerful aura swept over them like a tangible force.
A 100-year soul ring.
A 100-year soul ring.
The proud boy’s face instantly turned pale.
His second soul ring was a 100-year soul ring.
Yet the person standing before him, who didn’t look much older than himself, already possessed a 1,000-year soul ring as his third.
That tiny bit of pride he had didn’t even amount to dust before Dai Mubai.
“Please.” A casual smile hung from the corners of Dai Mubai’s lips as he made a gesture toward the exit.
His gaze intentionally swept toward Ning Rongrong.
The look in his eyes seemed to say, “See that?” This is what real strength looks like.
Ning Rongrong didn’t even raise her eyelids.
She was busy lowering her head and wiping Ning Que’s face with a handkerchief.
The soul ring fluctuations startled Ning Que, however.
He frowned in his sleep, and Ning Rongrong immediately patted his back.
“It’s okay, it’s okay.
Keep sleeping…” Dai Mubai: “…” The family of three left with their tails between their legs, their registration fee unreimbursed.
Not a single person spoke up for them.
Li Yusong continued sipping his tea as though nothing had happened.
The line slowly moved forward.
At the very back of the line, a girl dressed in black raised her eyes.
She wore a tight-fitting black outfit that accentuated her tall, slender figure.
Her features were delicate and coldly beautiful, while her eyes carried a faint aloofness that seemed out of place for her age.
Ever since she arrived, her gaze had remained fixed on Dai Mubai.
His martial soul.
His name.
His appearance.
Everything matched.
Zhu Zhuqing’s eyes darkened.
After tracking him and gathering information for so long, she had finally found the man she had been searching for—her fiancé, Dai Mubai, who had fled from the Star Luo Empire.
But she had seen clearly from the shadows how he surrounded himself with women.
Zhu Zhuqing lowered her lashes.
Her expression remained unchanged, but the hand hanging at her side tightened slightly.
She withdrew her gaze and stopped looking at Dai Mubai.
Yet her eyes shifted, landing on the boy being carried on the girl’s back.
The boy’s soft golden hair hung loosely around his face, which was buried against the girl’s shoulder.
He was sleeping completely unaware of the world, one arm dangling outside and swaying gently with the girl’s movements.
Lazy and languid, like a cat basking in the sun.
But the instant Zhu Zhuqing looked at him, her heartbeat suddenly skipped.
A resonance from her martial soul?
What was going on?
The line slowly moved forward.
Behind the table, Li Yusong still looked as though he hadn’t fully woken up.
His fingers tapped against the tabletop at irregular intervals.
“Next.” Tang San stepped forward.
Without any unnecessary words, he extended his hand and placed it against the testing crystal.
Soul power surged into the crystal.
Rank 29.
Li Yusong raised an eyebrow and took another look at him.
At his age and with this level of soul power, he could be considered top-tier at any academy on the continent.
“Martial soul.” Tang San opened his palm, and Blue Silver Grass quietly emerged.
“Blue Silver Grass?” Li Yusong narrowed his eyes.
“You can cultivate that quickly with it?” Tang San remained expressionless.
Li Yusong looked at him once more but didn’t say anything else.
He simply made a mark in the registration book.
“Next.” Xiao Wu shot a provocative glance at Ning Rongrong before stepping forward and placing her hand against the crystal.
Rank 29.
The same.
Li Yusong’s drowsiness finally faded somewhat.
Two Rank 29 Soul Grandmasters, both only twelve or thirteen years old.
In previous years, candidates like them would already have been considered outstanding among the applicants.
“Not bad!
Not bad!” Li Yusong straightened up, a smile finally appearing on his face.
Ning Rongrong took another look at Tang San.
A useless martial soul.
Blue Silver Grass.
And yet he could cultivate it to this level?
For once, she put aside some of her contempt and muttered inwardly.
He’s an annoying fly, but he really does have some ability.
Xiao Wu noticed Ning Rongrong’s gaze and immediately turned around and glared at her.
Ning Rongrong rolled her eyes and turned her face away.
Xiao Wu was just about to say something when Tang San had already taken her hand and led her aside.
“Xiao Wu.” Tang San gently shook his head.
Xiao Wu snorted and swallowed the words that had reached the tip of her tongue.
But Tang San’s gaze passed over Ning Rongrong and landed on the golden-haired boy on her back.
Ever since they had encountered him on the street yesterday, he had faintly felt that something was different about that boy.
The boy who had been sleeping from beginning to end was not simple.
“Next,” Li Yusong called.
Ning Rongrong briskly carried Ning Que forward.
Li Yusong looked at her, then at the boy sound asleep on her back.
The corner of his mouth twitched.
What kind of posture was this?
“Put your hand on it.” Ning Rongrong supported Ning Que with one hand and pressed the other against the crystal.
The light suddenly flared.
Rank 29.
“…” Li Yusong’s finger froze in midair.
What was going on today?
But in the next moment— Ning Rongrong turned her palm over, and a Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda martial soul appeared.
Brilliant seven-colored light flowed around the exquisite pagoda.
Layer upon layer rose upward, its translucent structure reflecting dazzling rays of light beneath the sun.
The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda Martial Soul.
Everyone present was a soul master, and very few were unaware of what this martial soul represented.
The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, one of the Upper Three Sects.
The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda martial soul was one of the most powerful auxiliary-type martial souls on the entire Douluo Continent.
Li Yusong’s breathing even stopped for a moment.
To ordinary soul masters like them, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect was an absolutely untouchable major power.
A look of shock flashed through Dai Mubai’s eyes.
The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect…
No wonder.
No wonder she’d been so generous with her money last night.
Tang San’s gaze sharpened slightly.
Xiao Wu, however, was confused.
Why was everyone reacting so strangely?
“You…” Li Yusong put down his teapot, and his tone unconsciously became several degrees more polite.
“Does your family know you’re here?” The young lady of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect had actually come to study at a poor little village in the middle of nowhere.
Who would believe that?
End of Chapter