“Wow!
Look!
Is that Shrek Academy?”
“There are…
so many people!
Can we really get in?”
Tang Ya and Jiang Nannan looked at the magnificent, history-steeped building before them and the line serpentining from its front gate like a long dragon.
A complex mix of excitement, longing, and nervousness flushed over both their faces.
Wang Qiuer stepped gracefully off the carriage with her arms crossed.
She gave the sea of people only a casual glance before curling her lip in disdain.
“It’s just a school gate.
What’s the big fuss?
How long is this line going to take?”
“Since we’re here, we might as well make the best of it.”
Huo Yuhao was the last to get off.
He patted Tang Ya’s shoulder and smiled.
“Let’s go line up.
Shrek’s rules have always been strict—no matter who you are, everyone has to follow the process.”
“Mhm!” Tang Ya nodded vigorously and took a deep breath, as if trying to suck the very air of Shrek Academy into her lungs.
The group of five walked together toward the back of the queue.
However, the moment they stopped, they immediately became the center of attention.
“Hey, look over there!”
“Oh my god…
those girls are way too pretty, aren’t they?”
“That blonde beauty’s figure is incredible!
And the silver-haired one—she doesn’t even look real.
Is she a fairy?”
“The girl in the blue dress and the one with the rabbit Martial Soul next to her are super cute too!
Are they together?”
Whispers rippled through the long queue like stones tossed into a lake.
Countless gazes—filled with awe, jealousy, or curiosity—focused entirely on Huo Yuhao’s small group.
Tang Ya and Jiang Nannan were still somewhat unaccustomed to being thrust into the spotlight; blushing slightly, they unconsciously leaned closer to Huo Yuhao.
Wang Qiuer didn’t mind at all—she even puffed out her chest with relish, looking as if she were enjoying the attention.
Gu Yuena, on the other hand, ignored the surrounding stares completely; her attention seemed entirely captured by a cloud drifting across the sky.
As a result, every eye eventually converged on the sole male in the group.
“Who’s that little boy?
He looks completely ordinary.”
“Is he their little brother?
Man, he’s so lucky!”
“Hmph, probably some young master from a big family, traveling around with a bunch of pretty servant girls,” a sour-faced youth muttered under his breath.
Huo Yuhao turned a deaf ear to these hushed comments, keeping his calm gaze fixed on the ancient gate ahead.
In truth, his heart was far more agitated than his serene expression let on.
*Shrek.*
*I, Huo Yuhao, have returned.*
In front of the main academy gate, the teacher in charge of the first round of entrance testing was named Wang Yan.
He had been handling admissions here for several years and considered himself well-versed in all kinds of geniuses and eccentrics.
Today had felt as dull and drawn-out as any other day.
That was until his gaze was drawn to the group causing a commotion throughout the crowd.
As a knowledgeable Soul King, Wang Yan possessed self-control far beyond ordinary people.
Yet when he saw those four girls standing together—each distinct in style, yet every one impossibly gorgeous—he still couldn’t help freezing in surprise.
Then, his professional instincts kicked in, prompting him to subconsciously release his Soul Power to gauge the kids’ strength.
First was the most eye-catching blonde girl.
The moment his Soul Power brushed against her, Wang Yan’s expression turned sharply!
His Soul Power felt as though it had smashed into an invisible, indestructible wall!
His meager Soul Power probe couldn’t kick up so much as a ripple before it was swallowed whole without a trace.
A chill crawled up his spine.
He couldn’t see through her!
He couldn’t discern her true strength at all!
Yet he could feel the Soul Power inside her—a force as vast as a dormant volcano, terrifying enough to send a shudder through his heart!
“A…
Soul Emperor?”
A term he found hard to believe surged from his mind.
*No, maybe even higher!
How old is she?
Fifteen or sixteen?
How…
how is this possible?!*
Wang Yan forcefully suppressed the shock in his heart and shifted his gaze to another target who intrigued him just as much:
the silver-haired girl whose aloof aura made her seem detached from the mortal world.
This time, his Soul Power probe yielded a result.
Three rings.
Her Soul Power fluctuations clearly indicated the level of a Soul Venerable.
Wang Yan had just let out a sigh of relief when his heart leaped into his throat the very next second!
Even though this silver-haired girl displayed the strength of only three rings, the feeling she gave Wang Yan—that faint, ambient pressure originating from a higher plane of life—was actually even more dangerous than that of the blonde girl!
It was an absolute sense of dominance, as if she could erase him at any moment if she so wished!
Fine beads of cold sweat broke out on Wang Yan’s forehead.
Just where…
His gaze finally fell onto the most ordinary-looking black-haired boy surrounded by the four girls.
He looked about seven or eight…
Soul Power fluctuations…
around rank twenty-something?
Quite a good talent, but compared to the two “monsters” beside him, he seemed far too normal.
Wang Yan took a deep breath, realizing he might be about to witness history today.
After a long wait, it was finally Huo Yuhao’s group’s turn.
Wang Yan walked over in person with a stern expression.
His eyes lingered for a second on Wang Qiuer and Gu Yuena before settling on Wang Qiuer, who stood at the front of the line.
“You go first.
Release your Martial Soul and Soul Rings.”
Wang Qiuer yawned, appearing bored.
Without even releasing her Martial Soul, she simply flicked a thought.
Yellow, yellow, purple, purple, black, black!
Six Soul Rings quietly rose from beneath her feet.
The pressure radiating from those two deep, ten-thousand-year Soul Rings forced all the surrounding applicants to step back involuntarily, their breathing turning shallow and quick.
The entire area fell into a dead silence.
Everyone stared with wide eyes, as if witnessing a miracle.
A…
six-ring Soul Emperor at fifteen or sixteen years old?!
Wang Yan’s pupils shrank to needlepoints.
His guess was right, but witnessing it with his own eyes brought an incomparable shock.
Without asking any further questions, he pulled a special golden token from his robes and handed it over.
“Exempt from testing, direct pass.
Please head over to the elite waiting area to rest.” His voice carried a subtle tremble.
Wang Qiuer took the token and tossed it to Huo Yuhao without so much as a glance before striding off to the side on her own.
“Next.” Wang Yan turned his gaze to Gu Yuena.
Gu Yuena extended her right hand expressionlessly.
With a flash of silver light, a silver spear adorned with exquisite dragon patterns appeared in her palm.
At the same time, three Soul Rings rose from beneath her feet.
Yellow, yellow, purple.
Although nowhere near as shocking as Wang Qiuer’s six rings, an eleven- or twelve-year-old three-ring Soul Venerable with an optimal Soul Ring configuration was indisputably at the absolute peak of genius talent!
“Passed.
Direct admission.” Wang Yan handed over a silver token.
Gu Yuena took the token and, without looking at it either, passed it straight to Huo Yuhao.
Two consecutive direct passes left the surrounding applicants numbed beyond shock.
By now, they were merely curious as to what kind of “monsters” remained in this strange group.
“You two.” Wang Yan looked at Tang Ya and Jiang Nannan.
“Tang Ya, twelve years old.
Martial Soul: Blue Silver Grass.
Rank 22 Power-attack System Battle Soul Master!”
“Jiang Nannan, twelve years old.
Martial Soul: Soft Bone Rabbit.
Rank 24 Agility-attack System Battle Soul Master!”
The two reported their information just as Huo Yuhao had rehearsed with them beforehand.
A rank 20-plus Great Soul Master at age twelve was an undisputed genius anywhere else.
Yet after witnessing the previous two “freaks,” Wang Yan and the onlookers actually found this quite “normal.”
“Mm, good talent.
Go over there for the practical combat test.” Wang Yan pointed toward another field nearby.
Tang Ya and Jiang Nannan exchanged a glance, both seeing determination in each other’s eyes.
They knew this was the time to show the results of Wang Qiuer’s “special training”!
The combat test was simple: survive for five minutes against an academy teaching assistant of the same level to pass.
Tang Ya’s opponent was a Rank 23 Power-attack System Soul Master.
The moment the battle began, her opponent charged forward aggressively.
Tang Ya, however, didn’t immediately use her Blue Silver Grass to bind him as she used to.
Under Wang Qiuer’s hellish training, her body had become incomparably agile.
Tapping her toes, her body drifted to the side and rear like a weightless leaf.
At the same time, dozens of Blue Silver Grass stalks erupted from the ground—not to attack her opponent, but to form a complex, constantly changing mobile barrier around herself.
Her opponent immediately fell onto the defensive—unable to catch up, unable to land a hit, thoroughly frustrated.
“What fast reaction speed!
Her application of her Martial Soul isn’t limited to control anymore; she’s integrated it into her footwork!” The teacher supervising the practical test cheered inwardly, his eyes lighting up.
Catching an impatient flaw in her opponent’s movement, Tang Ya activated her second Soul Skill:
Ghost Vine Parasite!
An inconspicuous strand of Blue Silver Grass quietly wrapped around her opponent’s ankle.
In the next second, countess vines burst forth from her opponent’s form, bundling him up tight like a zongzi.
Battle over.
Total time: less than three minutes.
Jiang Nannan’s side was just as effortless.
Under Wang Qiuer’s rigorous drilling, her speed and reaction time had reached a whole new level.
Facing her opponent’s attacks, she dodged with minimal movement at maximum speed.
Then, using her long legs—which looked supple and light yet possessed explosive power—she launched precise counterattacks.
In less than five minutes as well, her opponent surrendered due to heavy Soul Power depletion.
“Both are prime talents!
Passed!” The combat instructor gave a glowing assessment.
Now, Huo Yuhao was the only one left on the field.
Everyone’s eyes converged on him once again.
“Huo Yuhao, seven and a half years old,” he calmly stated his age.
Inspirations of cold air whistled around the area.
Taking the entrance exam?
What kind of joke was this?
Wang Yan’s expression turned grave.
Looking at Huo Yuhao, he said in a deep voice, “Release your Soul Power and Soul Rings.”
Huo Yuhao nodded.
A wave of Soul Power surged from within him.
The Soul Power testing crystal ball flared instantly, its numbers scrolling at breakneck speed before finally settling on “27.”
*Hiss—*
The crowd fell into a dead silence once more.
A Rank 27 Great Soul Master at seven and a half years old!
This wasn’t just a genius—this was a monster!
A freak of nature!
Even Wang Qiuer in the elite waiting area couldn’t help a subtle curl at the corner of her lips.
Wang Yan felt as if his heart couldn’t take any more shocks today.
His voice trembled as he spoke: “Soul…
Soul Rings…”
Huo Yuhao raised his right hand, summoning his Spirit Eyes Martial Soul.
A white halo slowly rose from beneath his feet.
It was a white Soul Ring representing ten years.
“…”
The bustling square instantly plunged into a strange, eerie silence.
Everyone was stunned.
The applicants who had just been amazed by Huo Yuhao’s talent saw their expressions shift from shock to bewilderment, then to regret, and finally to unvarnished ridicule from some.
“What the hell?
A ten-year first Soul Ring?”
“And here I thought he was some incredible monster—turns out he’s trash!”
“With talent like that, absorbing a ten-year ring for his first?
His whole life is ruined!
What a waste of potential!”
The excitement on Wang Yan’s face froze instantaneously.
Looking at that white ring, his eyes filled with endless regret and disappointment.
It was over.
A peerless genius…
ruined just like that.
Yet Huo Yuhao’s face remained as calm as unruffled waters.
He looked at Wang Yan and said slowly, “Teacher, I still have my second Soul Ring.”
Before his words had even settled, a deep, mysterious purple halo rose from beneath his feet, right after that white ring!
That shade of purple was so deep it seemed to hold thunder and storm within!
A…
thousand-year Soul Ring?!
If the ten-year ring earlier had cast everyone down from heaven to hell, then this thousand-year ring kicked them straight down from hell into the eighteenth floor of the underworld, leaving even their souls quaking!
Attaching a thousand-year Soul Ring after a ten-year one?!
This completely defied the comprehension of everyone present!
How could a human body bear the shock of a thousand-year Soul Ring after taking a ten-year ring?!
This flew in the face of the Douluo Continent’s ironclad laws established over ten thousand years!
“A monster…
He’s the real monster!!” an applicant muttered like someone talking in their sleep, voicing what everyone felt inside.
Wang Yan’s mouth hung wide open, big enough to fit an egg inside.
Gazing at those unthinkable white and purple rings, he felt his entire worldview crushed to dust today.
Snapping back to his senses, he bellowed with all the breath in his lungs:
“Passed!
Rank S!
Highest Rank S evaluation!!”
Due to Huo Yuhao’s earth-shattering performance, the group was taken straight to the academy’s Academic Affairs Office, received personally by a vice dean.
After getting up to speed on the situation, the vice dean made an immediate decision.
“Student Huo Yuhao, your situation is extremely special.
To allow you to cultivate undisturbed, the academy has decided to provide you with a single dormitory.”
“Student Gu Yuena, reaching Soul Venerable cultivation at eleven years old makes you a top focus of the academy as well, so we are assigning you an individual room too.”
“As for Students Tang Ya and Jiang Nannan, your talent is also exceptional, so you will be placed together in a premium double dorm.”
“Thank you, Dean,” Huo Yuhao politely expressed his gratitude.
Only after setting them up did the vice dean turn his somewhat apprehensive gaze toward Wang Qiuer, who had been resting with her eyes closed the entire time.
“And…
Student Qiu’er, regarding your dorm…”
Wang Qiuer opened her golden eyes and gave him a faint glance.
“I don’t care where I stay.”
With that, she turned her head toward Huo Yuhao, her lips curving into a playful smirk.
“Either way, I’ll come find you tonight.”
Huo Yuhao: “…”
Vice Dean: “…”
Tang Ya and Jiang Nannan: “…”
Gu Yuena’s hand turning a book page paused briefly.
Huo Yuhao felt his temples throbbing.
Lowering his voice, he practically squeezed out the words through gritted teeth.
“My dear lady, you really had better not.”