Chapter 10. Shrek Academy
After leaving the Rose Hotel, I felt more than satisfied. It was only a little strange to me how easily Dai Mubai accepted defeat, but that wasn't exactly a bad thing. I had no intention of completely destroying the Shrek Seven Devils. And if I really managed to do it in a way that left him without a grudge, all the better.
For now, I needed to find a place to spend the night. Fortunately, despite the rather steep prices for ordinary people, it wasn't a problem for me to settle into a cozy hotel. Thankfully, my family was still sending me a regular allowance, so there was always money on my card. And since Soto City was truly a big city, with even a spirit master arena, using a card here was perfectly normal.
Shrek Academy was only supposed to start taking in students the day after tomorrow, so I had to wait out the rest of today and all of tomorrow.
And since I had absolutely no desire to eat dog food, I wasn't planning to spend this time with Tang San and Xiao Wu, and to be honest, the city itself didn't interest me that much either. So I decided to devote this time purely to cultivation, as well as once again going over my plans in my head, thinking about how I should act. After all, it was at Shrek Academy that I'd be able to meet the daughter of the head of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda, Ning Rongrong. And if I could catch her interest with my techniques—and she, despite being spoiled, was still a smart girl—then the chances of piquing her interest were quite high. And to do that, I was going to use one overly frisky man.
"Testing the Mini Supernova on an opponent at the Saint level with a spirit that has strong defensive properties will be very useful," I smiled, imagining how it would look.
The day I needed arrived quickly. I left the city and followed the path toward the village located some distance away, and in fact the territory of that very village was what Shrek Academy had rented.
To be perfectly honest, Shrek Academy was crap. For its students, the limit of what it was actually able to provide was spirit rings, while actual combat experience was gained at the spirit arena in the city. In other words, aside from helping with spirit rings, this academy was useless to most spirit masters. But for me, the value lay not in the academy itself, but in the people I could meet here.
First, naturally, there was Ning Rongrong, who was directly tied to my future plans.
Second, there was Oscar. The whole thing was about his martial spirit. His spirit was a food-type spirit—a sausage. More importantly, it was incredibly useful in training. Even though my body had been strengthened to the point that I was physically stronger by twenty ranks than my cultivation level, I'd still need training to avoid losing that edge, and that's where Oscar came in. The sausages created by his first and second spirit abilities would allow me to train my body much more efficiently. To the point that it would be no worse than the training I'd had under Grandpa Mu's supervision.
And third, strangely enough, was Dai Mubai… Rules still existed, and until I became strong enough, I had to abide by them. The fact that he'd failed to win my favor for a spirit fusion could be brushed aside as his incompetence, and left at that. But only on the condition that we "together" won the battle against my sister and the crown prince. So, if I wanted people not to get in my way, I still needed to win according to the rules; after that, I could make a grand gesture and simply renounce my right of succession in favor of my sister. Then either Dai Mubai would also give up, or he'd be forced to try to gain my sister's attention. And by then, it would no longer have anything to do with me.
And that was basically it. That was the full extent of Shrek Academy's usefulness, and beyond that it even began to cause harm. I wasn't going to hypocritically denounce them for what Shrek Academy became ten thousand years later in the canon and how disgusting it was. But even now this academy had a motto that personally drove me up the wall:
"Those who don't dare to cause trouble aren't worthy of being called monsters."
Sounded like a bandit slogan. And there were plenty of moments that revealed the two-facedness of the academy's dean and teachers: as soon as someone stronger appeared, they'd start groveling, but they were more than happy to bully those weaker than themselves. Double standards. I was perfectly capable of accepting that; drawing a line between people close to you and strangers was normal, and one way or another, there were always sides in any conflict. I had chosen mine, and my side was the Star Luo Empire. But when hypocrisy turned into a way of life—that was something I disliked.
All these thoughts had stirred my emotions so much that, as I approached the academy and saw the line of people already waiting to enroll, I actually felt angry. Which was wrong. One couldn't just follow emotions alone; rationality was necessary.
Taking a deep breath in and out, I calmed down noticeably, although the flame of irritation still burned inside me, and took my place in the line. Contrary to my expectations, Xiao Wu and Tang San were nowhere to be seen among those present.
To be honest, it seemed really strange that, despite how shabby the entrance to this academy looked, so many people had come here hoping to register. The old wooden, peeling gates alone were something to behold, with a tattered sign hanging over them that read "Shrek Academy," next to a crooked drawing of a green monster's face that, frankly speaking, looked very much like the main character of the cartoon "Shrek."
It was obvious that this academy was in far worse condition than even the elementary spirit master academy in Nuoding City.
"Brother, are you sure the Grandmaster wasn't mistaken? No matter how you look at it, this doesn't look like an academy. Maybe someone tricked us and we came to the wrong place?" a doubt-filled voice drifted over from nearby. Looking in that direction, I saw the rabbit girl sitting on Tang San's shoulders, staring at the gates with a confused expression.
"Tang San, Xiao Wu. Come here!" I called out to them, waving my hand to get their attention.
"Zhuqing!" Xiao Wu quickly spotted me, jumped nimbly down from Tang San's shoulders, and landed beside me.
"Zhuqing, what's wrong with this academy? We're being tricked, right?" the rabbit girl immediately started rattling on, clearly not very pleased. And, amusingly, the group of people right behind them in line was having almost the same conversation, hoping that these front gates were just a test, and that the real academy would be elsewhere.
"I'm afraid I'll have to disappoint you. This really is Shrek Academy, and it really is as dirt-poor as it looks at first glance."
"Then why do we even need to enroll here?" Xiao Wu complained, and even Tang San's face was full of doubt.
"The dean of this academy is a Spirit Saint, and he's also a close friend of the Grandmaster. Besides the dean, there are also Spirit Emperors among the teachers, and another Saint as well. They'll be able to help us obtain the spirit rings we need," I explained.
"But he's just a Spirit Saint. Uncle Tang could have helped you."
"Most likely, Uncle Tang wanted, in his own way, to make it clear that we shouldn't always rely on him and Dugu Bo for everything."
"I think so too," Tang San frowned, more hurt than anything else by how long his father had stayed out of contact.
"All right, let's not keep guessing and just enroll in this academy quietly. There's nothing wrong with studying here for two years," I said. To be honest, I was mostly trying to convince myself, not Xiao Wu or Tang San. They probably noticed, but to their credit, they didn't comment.
Meanwhile, a scene had begun at the front of the line. As always, despite the clearly stated admission rules, there were still idiots who thought they could get lucky. In the end, even though you had to be under thirteen to enroll, the father of a thirteen-year-old boy had gone ahead and paid the registration fee. But after the check it became obvious the boy didn't qualify. And of course, no one intended to return the registration fee, which made the man start protesting.
"Mubai, someone wants their registration fee back," I heard the bored voice of the old man in charge of registration.
At his words, Dai Mubai stepped out of the shadows of the gate. "You want your registration fee back? Fine. Beat me, and I'll give you all your money back."
As he spoke, he summoned his spirit rings. Seeing two yellow and one purple ring, the boy's father paled, muttered "no luck," and left immediately. Dai Mubai swept a threatening gaze over everyone present.
"How shameful," I sighed involuntarily. A prince of one of the two great empires was being used like some hired thug.
The next people in line stepped up confidently, clearly expecting to pass without a hitch. In terms of age, the boy did qualify, and when he summoned his spirit, it turned out to be a vine. A yellow spirit ring appeared around him, but from its aura it was obvious that the ring was at the lowest limit of hundred-year spirit rings and, to make matters worse, came from a fairly weak spirit beast. It was highly unlikely that the ring's ability was anything particularly good.
"Not qualified, you can leave," the old man said, shaking his head.
The confident faces of the boy's parents froze; this clearly wasn't what they had expected.
"Why? Didn't you see that my son's first spirit ring is a hundred-year ring? There aren't many spirit masters like that!"
The old man said indifferently:
"His first ring is indeed not bad. However, he's nothing more than an ordinary person."
The boy's father frowned. "I don't understand what you mean."
The old man impatiently got up from behind the table. He addressed not only the boy's parents but also the people waiting in line behind them.
"You should familiarize yourselves with the rules before coming to Shrek Academy to register. Coming here without understanding the situation just means throwing away your registration fee. It's not too late to regret it now. Do you know what 'Shrek' means in the name 'Shrek Academy'?"
I already knew where this was going. Yet another disgusting side of Shrek Academy. The old man continued:
"Shrek is a kind of monster. Even among spirit beasts it's an extremely strange and rare creature. Our Shrek Academy is an academy for monsters. In other words, we only accept monsters, not ordinary people. Anyone who is thirteen or older, or whose spirit power hasn't reached the twenty‑first rank, shouldn't waste their time here."
In short, the academy accepted only those who were considered geniuses among geniuses. If an academy was famous for only producing geniuses, what would people think first? Naturally, that it had some incredible training methods that helped them develop. But if you think about it logically: if you only take people who are geniuses even among geniuses, what will happen if such a genius just continues to develop while getting a bit of help with obtaining spirit rings? That's right: a genius will remain a genius. And if that genius studied somewhere else that actually had resources, the result would have been even better. The clearest example of this was the canonical Shrek Seven Devils. Especially after Tang San gave each of them an immortal herb. All of them not only became Titled Douluo, but managed to ascend. And Shrek Academy prospered for thousands of years on the back of their achievements.
So how could an academy like this manage to lure in geniuses at all? Well, that was the subtle manipulation at work. First, they talked about "monsters," and since in this world that was also what people called geniuses above geniuses, they poked at the vanity of those very geniuses, who were flattered by the thought of being above others. And second…
The old man, who at first glance looked like an ordinary farmer, released his spirit. A wave of Spirit Emperor pressure descended on everyone present, and six spirit rings shone around him—in an honestly terrible configuration: white, yellow, three purple, and black. Any one of our trio could easily defeat him purely due to our superior physical attributes and the advantage in spirit power that our ring configurations gave us. However, for ordinary spirit masters, the fact that even a teacher in charge of registration was a Spirit Emperor—a number of whom, in a kingdom as large as Balak Kingdom, could be counted on one hand—was more than enough to make them discard all doubts. They were already imagining how powerful the academy's dean and other teachers must be. And, strictly speaking, those who enrolled wouldn't really be deceived: the staff did include Saints, who were even rarer than Spirit Emperors. Seeing that, many people would decide they'd made the right choice.
And one of those people was standing right next to me.
Tang San, who had been full of doubts just a moment ago, was now looking at the academy's signboard with clear interest. It was obvious that he liked how it sounded: an academy that only accepted monsters.
"Tang San. Don't set your hopes too high on this academy. There are powerful people here, but that's where it ends. An academy that only accepts geniuses will naturally produce geniuses, but that's not the academy's achievement. Here, at Shrek, you won't find resources or anything else that could truly help your development."
"Why do you say that?" Tang San looked at me, bewildered. I hadn't managed to hide my contempt for this academy.
"Because there are many things about this academy that I despise. However, since we've decided to study here, we naturally have to complete the training program. Just remember, Tang San, don't take everything they say at face value. Think for yourself as well."
"All right," Tang San nodded seriously.
"Then maybe we just shouldn't enroll?" Xiao Wu spoke up.
"No matter how much I despise this place, I have to enter Shrek," I shook my head. Meanwhile, the long line of more than a hundred people was thinning before our eyes. Judging by the eyes full of regret of those who were leaving, Shrek Academy would get another batch of rumors that would only benefit it. Soon, there were at most a dozen people left in front of us.
And Dai Mubai, who'd been unable to see us earlier because of the long line, finally noticed us. The way his face lit up in happiness sent shivers down my spine, and for a moment a treacherous thought flashed through my mind: just turn around and walk away.
"Xiao Wu, what do you think, he can't be a masochist, can he?" I asked my friend uncertainly. She just giggled.
"Maybe he is. You know, after you left, he chased those twins away and kept staring for a long time in the direction you went."
Hearing that, my mood immediately soured, and I started regretting not having been even harsher with him.
While I was lost in thought about how to handle this blond, the line reached a girl who had come completely alone. She was a bit shorter than Xiao Wu, and her clothes and figure gave her the look of a fragile porcelain doll. This was one of my targets—Ning Rongrong.
She showed her spirit to the old man, and he shot to his feet. Compared to her sect, he was nothing more than a minor Spirit Emperor.
"Excuse me, may I take the preliminary test?" the girl asked softly.
The old man pulled himself together and, giving her a serious look, asked:
"Does your family know you're here?"
The girl didn't answer that question directly. She only smiled and said:
"They say that education spares no one. As long as I meet the academy's requirements, you have no reason not to accept me."
The old man seemed to falter for a moment, then waved a hand to Dai Mubai and said:
"Escort her."
Dai Mubai led her into the academy, and gradually the line reached us.
I paid the registration fee for the three of us—thirty gold spirit coins. After that, just like everyone else, we had our bone age checked at the wrist, except for Tang San, whose bone age was checked at the ankle because of his techniques.
"All right, your age fits. Now, release your spirits," the old man said calmly.
We summoned our spirits. The light from our rings fell across the old man's previously calm face. His expression didn't change, but his eyes seemed to lose focus. What he was seeing was simply too incredible.
"So they're also…" I heard Dai Mubai's voice; he was staring at us in shock. And we were worth staring at, especially Xiao Wu. Unlike Tang San and me, she was already a full Spirit King, with two yellow and three black rings—a configuration that seemed utterly absurd and flew in the face of all known spirit master development theories. Tang San and I were no better in that regard. Only my white ring made my configuration look a bit less imposing.
"Old man, are you okay?" Xiao Wu snapped her fingers in front of the unresponsive examiner's face.
"Y-yes, of course, sorry," the old man came to, then added excitedly, "Dai Mubai, take these young monsters to the final stage."
"Of course." Dai Mubai's shocked expression turned into a wide smile, and he approached us, his gaze focused on me in a way that made me uncomfortable.
"I'm glad you decided to join us. Come on, I'll take you through."
As we walked through the academy, everything was just as I expected. It was an ordinary village with a lot of open space set aside for the academy's use.
Soon we stopped not far from a group of students who had already passed the previous test.
"Wait here, I need to tell the teacher that you'll be skipping this stage."
"All right," Tang San replied, while I did my best to keep my distance.
"I sell sausages, sausages for sale! Come, come, don't miss out as you pass by. Oscar brand sausages—tasty, fragrant, and sweet. Low price, high quantity. Only five copper coins per sausage. If you eat Oscar brand sausages, I guarantee it'll be easier for you to pass the entrance exam," a young man's voice reached us, bringing with it an amazing meaty aroma.
Looking in that direction, I already knew whom to expect. The spirit master who was the most useful part of Shrek Academy: Oscar. Also another confirmation of how absurdly fast spirit masters developed.
He was clearly a very handsome youth with peach-colored eyes. However, there was one detail that aged him so much that even those used to how quickly spirit masters grew wouldn't guess his true age. He had a fairly thick beard, even though he was only fourteen.
"Oscar!" Dai Mubai suddenly appeared next to him, looking quite angry.
"B-boss Dai? Want a sausage?" Oscar offered, his face clearly showing fear.
"Get lost. You're disgracing the academy. I've warned you more than once not to sell sausages on campus. Do you want everyone to throw up?" As soon as the blond finished his tirade, he looked over at us and said, "Guys, don't eat his sausages."
The commotion drew the attention of the others nearby, some of whom had just been about to buy a sausage that looked incredibly appetizing.
"What's wrong with his sausages?" Xiao Wu asked curiously.
Dai Mubai's previously angry expression turned awkward, and he glanced at Oscar.
"Little Ao, make me a fresh sausage."
Oscar's face immediately fell. "Brother Dai, there's no need for that. We've been studying together for years. If you do this, the newcomers will start to dislike me."
"Oscar, don't force my hand."
With a face full of resentment, Oscar stretched out his hand and, trying to speak as quietly as possible, shouted:
"Your daddy here has a big sausage!"
His spirit power concentrated in his palm, and two yellow spirit rings appeared around him. The first ring lit up, and a fresh sausage materialized in his hand—it looked more like a meat sausage link, radiating a delicious meaty aroma.
"How can such a bizarre spirit even exist?" someone blurted out immediately. Everyone who had wanted to buy sausages just a moment ago lost all desire after hearing that, which only made Oscar even more upset. However, there was one ray of hope.
"Give us three sausages. Keep the change," I tossed him a gold coin. He caught it and looked first at the coin, then at me, with obvious disbelief.
"Is she really going to eat such a disgusting sausage?" whispers immediately started around us.
"Hmph, a bunch of little perverts," I snorted. Then, seeing that Tang San and Xiao Wu were just as grossed out by Oscar's chant as everyone else, I added, "What are you, children? All food-type spirits have their own incantations for summoning. It's shameful to be a spirit master and reject an advantage because of a few words."
Oscar's face lit up with pure joy. It was probably the first time anyone had stood up for him like that. And honestly, that whole moment had always annoyed me. Food was food, and words were just words. That's why I'd always found it hard to understand the level of disgust the canonical characters felt toward Oscar's sausages.
I handed two sausages to Tang San and finally decided to try mine. From the first bite it was clear it was worth it. It was nothing like the "sausages" from my previous life, where there wasn't even a hint of meat. Oscar's sausage was truly delicious, and more importantly, I felt a gentle spirit power spreading comfortably through my body. Without realizing it, I closed my eyes for a moment, savoring the taste and sensations. When I opened them, I saw Dai Mubai's face, which looked pretty amusing at that moment.
"Oscar—that is your name, right?" I turned to the youth, who was now looking at me as if I were a goddess. He immediately nodded vigorously in response.
"What do your first and second abilities do?" Tang San, who still hadn't dared to try the sausage despite my words, pricked up his ears. Sensing this was his moment, Oscar puffed out his chest and said proudly:
"My first spirit ability lets me make Big Sausages that remove fatigue, heal injuries, and slightly restore spirit power. And my second spirit ability lets me make Small Sausages that remove poisons and cleanse toxins from the body."
"Those are excellent abilities," I praised him. Meanwhile, Dai Mubai's expression was growing darker and darker.
"You charged five copper coins per sausage, right?"
"Yes, that's right, but for you, beautiful, I'm willing to make as many sausages as you want for free!"
"No need. You don't have any chance with me anyway," I decided to dampen his enthusiasm. Otherwise a certain prince, despite being rejected, might do something stupid out of jealousy. His face was far too revealing.
"Uh, I understand," he said, though from the way his hand went to stroke his thick beard, it was obvious he didn't understand at all. But that wasn't important.
"How about a deal? As long as we're studying at this academy, you'll make sausages for me every day to help with training, and I promise I won't shortchange you on payment. Agree?"
"Of course, you can count on me!" Oscar declared, thumping his chest.
"All right, enough wasting time. Let's move on," Dai Mubai finally couldn't take it anymore.
"As you say," I rolled my eyes at his painfully obvious jealousy. To be honest, I was also eager to test myself against a Spirit Saint. But just as we were about to go on, someone called out to us.
"Hey, why do they get to skip a stage and we don't?!" one of the applicants complained. Tang San, who was still holding the two sausages, unsure what to do, finally just put them away into his spirit tool.
"If your spirit power is above the twenty‑fifth rank, you can also skip this stage and proceed to the final test," the examiner's indifferent voice rang out. "If your spirit power is lower, then you'll have to pass each test in order."
"Impossible! We're all twelve years old! How could anyone have that high spirit power?!" someone shouted from among the examinees.
Hearing him, I couldn't help exchanging a look with Tang San and Xiao Wu. If a mere rank twenty‑five shocked our peers this much, what would their reaction be if they knew what we had achieved?
"Fool, do you think that just because you can't do something, others can't either? When I enrolled, I was at rank twenty‑five. And even then, compared to them, I don't dare call myself a genius," the blond said, sneaking a glance at me. Not seeing any reaction on my face, he hesitated, then took a white crystal from the table and tossed it to Tang San. "Tang San, show them your spirit power."
I couldn't stop a smirk. Apparently, Dai Mubai didn't want to traumatize the poor newcomers too much. The crystal's upper limit was rank thirty. Naturally, as soon as Tang San filled it with his spirit power, it lit up brightly.
"How is that possible…" the loudest of the boys was stunned. For people like him, comparison was the cruelest thing.
"Senior, I think I should also be exempt from this test," Ning Rongrong calmly stepped out of the line. She walked up to Tang San with a polite smile and held out her hand. He placed the crystal on her palm.
The crystal lit up again. The light wasn't as bright as Tang San's; clearly she hadn't reached rank thirty yet, but her spirit power was around rank twenty‑six.
"Well? Can I go on with them?" the girl asked the examiner, smiling coquettishly, while he stroked his beard with a satisfied grin.
"Of course you can. There are a lot of monsters this year. Looks like I can count on a pay raise. Mubai, take them to the fourth exam."
"Of course," Dai Mubai nodded. No one else dared argue, though a few people kept glancing at me and Xiao Wu with barely hidden disbelief.
As we walked, no one spoke much, until Tang San finally couldn't hold back his curiosity:
"Senior Brother Dai, what will we face in the fourth exam?" he asked respectfully, treating Dai Mubai as a senior student.
"The fourth exam is meant to test combat experience. Many people, despite having excellent talent, grow up too pampered in noble families and end up with very little fighting ability, even if they have strong spirits. Naturally, such spirit masters don't deserve to be called monsters, so they aren't accepted."
"A noble family doesn't always mean greenhouse conditions. You, of all people, should know that," I interjected, since his words sounded as if he hadn't been born into a noble family himself.
"I think our case is a bit different," Dai Mubai replied with a forced smile.
"Boss Dai, what do you mean?" Oscar asked, burning with curiosity.
"…"
"What are you so afraid of? You think the people who matter won't find you? If you wanted to hide, you should at least have changed your name," I couldn't resist teasing him. He was irritating me too much today.
"Zhu Zhuqing and I both belong to noble clans of the Star Luo Empire. Typically, the children of clan heads are engaged to each other from childhood," the blond decided to simplify the story, casting a warning glance at Oscar.
"Huh? So you're engaged?" Oscar was stunned.
"Technically, yes," the blond nodded.
"Dai Mubai, don't forget our bet," I reminded him coldly.
"What bet?" Oscar's ears perked up, and Ning Rongrong watched with genuine interest.
"None of your business," Dai Mubai snapped at him.
"He's just embarrassed that he lost to a girl three years younger than him," Xiao Wu giggled.
"You!" The blond looked at the rabbit girl in outrage, not expecting that betrayal.
"What? Want to fight?" Xiao Wu taunted him with a bright smile.
"Hmph!" Perfectly aware that he couldn't do anything against a Spirit King, the blond just snorted and continued walking in silence.
Soon, he led us to an open space of about two hundred square meters, where a man in his fifties was sitting on a chair.
"Teacher Zhao, I've brought the candidates for the fourth exam."
"Oh? We really have people making it to this stage this year—and four of them at once?" the man said, clearly surprised.
"All four of them were exempt from the second and third tests, and I'm no match for three of them," the prince added with a crooked smile.
Zhao's eyes lit up, and he rose from his chair. He looked incredibly sturdy, like a tank, but his height was even a bit shorter than that of twelve‑year‑old Tang San, though still just a little taller than me.
"Four people above the twenty‑fifth rank—good, good. Looks like we have plenty of little monsters this year. My test is the last one. Complete the task, and you'll officially become members of Shrek Academy. But my test isn't easy. Every spirit master must possess real combat experience. What I'm testing is your ability to fight."
His smiling gaze swept gently over all of us.
"My name is Zhao Wuji. Since all four of you have been exempted from the second and third exams, I'll personally play with you. Now I'll give you the time it takes for one stick of incense to burn to understand each other's abilities and discuss your plan. When the incense burns down, the test begins. The goal is for the four of you to withstand my attacks for as long as the incense burns. If even one of you is still standing when it's finished, you all pass. I hope you understand: no cheap tricks. None of you are capable of avoiding my attacks with speed alone. At the same time, here's a piece of advice: relying on the strength of one person is useless if you want to withstand my attacks. Your only chance of success is coordination."
"Teacher Zhao, this isn't such a good idea," Dai Mubai said doubtfully.
Zhao Wuji gave him a hard look.
"What do you mean, 'not such a good idea'? The dean isn't here; right now, I'm in charge of the academy. If I say it's good, then it's good. All right, I'm lighting the incense. You don't have much time, get ready. Little Bai, you can also tell them about my spirit's characteristics so they know what to prepare for."
Having said that, he took a stick of incense from somewhere and held it delicately between two fingers. With a light flick of spirit power, it ignited and was stuck into the ground in an instant.
That done, Zhao Wuji sat back down and closed his eyes.
Dai Mubai's expression was extremely serious as he turned to us.
"Everyone, come a bit closer."
All the examinees gathered around him.
"This time I won't be able to help you. I didn't expect Teacher Zhao to suddenly decide to test you personally," Dai Mubai said with a dark look.
Xiao Wu smiled. "Oh, come on. If he's a Spirit Emperor like the one at the gate, I alone would be enough to deal with him."
Dai Mubai looked at her as if she were an idiot.
"Even if, by some miracle, you could defeat a Spirit Emperor, it wouldn't help with Teacher Zhao. He's a Spirit Saint of the seventy‑sixth rank. He's the academy's vice dean, and only the dean surpasses him in experience and knowledge."
"You've already seen our ring configurations. Obviously we shouldn't be judged by the standards of ordinary spirit masters. Just tell us what he can do."
"Aren't you the one who's always telling others not to underestimate opponents?" the blond looked at me in annoyance.
"I did. And I'm well aware of what he's capable of. But where else am I going to find such a perfect target at the Saint level?" I shrugged.
"Target?" Xiao Wu repeated, then her face lit up in realization. "You want to use that thing?!"
"Yes. So first, I want to test his durability. If he turns out sturdier than I thought, we'll team up."
"All right," Tang San didn't argue.
"And I don't count at all?" Ning Rongrong asked irritably.
"Ahem, you're right, sorry," I apologized. It really had come out rather rude. "Let me introduce myself."
"Zhu Zhuqing, Hell Civet, agility‑type spirit master, fiftieth rank." I summoned my spirit, showing my rings.
The girl's eyes widened so much it looked like they might fall out of their sockets.
"Tang San, Blue Silver Grass, control‑type spirit master, fiftieth rank," Tang San followed.
"Xiao Wu, Rabbit, attack‑type spirit master, fifty‑second rank," the rabbit girl said, as if hammering the final nail into the coffin of the sanity of the heir to one of the three great sects. She summoned her spirit.
Seeing this, Zhao Wuji shot to his feet.
"What the hell is going on here?!" In an instant, he appeared beside us, his powerful aura pressing the grass flat to the ground. "Three fiftieth ranks?! At your age?! Is this some kind of joke, or am I still drunk from yesterday's ale?"
He stared at the shimmering rings in turn; the flashes of black among the purple looked like a death sentence for common sense.
Ning Rongrong, who just a minute ago had been bristling with indignation, now opened and closed her mouth soundlessly. The pride of the heir to the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School crumbled to dust. Her clan valued talent, but this…
"Teacher Zhao," Tang San said calmly, "doesn't your academy only accept monsters? We just prepared ourselves to meet your standards."
"My standards?!" Zhao Wuji let out a slightly hysterical laugh, rubbing his knuckles. "You're wiping your feet on my standards! Fiftieth rank at twelve… If Flender hears about this, he'll either go insane from happiness or decide you're a bunch of old geezers from Spirit Hall in disguise."
He suddenly grew serious, and his body began to swell and bulk up, thick fur covering him.
"All right, since you've decided to show your trump cards, I won't hold back either. Forget 'last until the incense burns out.' If the three of you are at the fiftieth rank, then your task is to make me move from where I stand."
"Very good. Guys, let me start," I said, stepping forward to face the big man.
"As you wish," Tang San shook his head. He wasn't going to argue, and Ning Rongrong hadn't even had time to recover from her shock.
"Girl, don't be arrogant. Despite your accomplishments, you still haven't obtained your fifth ring," the teacher frowned.
"I know. But allow me to give you a piece of advice, Teacher Zhao. Use your seventh ring, or you're going to get hurt." Having said that, I no longer dared to waste time and immediately began forming my technique. With movements honed over the years, I swiftly formed two streams of spirit power and sent them crashing into each other. A piercing, shrill sound split the air. A bright ball of plasma appeared between my palms, arcs of static electricity dancing around it, making my hair lift and float. Then—I fired.
Realizing instantly that I wasn't joking, Zhao, with his endless experience in life‑and‑death battles, activated his first and seventh rings the moment the plasma ball left my hands. A terrifying power radiated from him as a massive bear silhouette formed around his body. The True Spirit Body that every spirit master gained with their seventh ring drastically boosted all of their attributes. It all happened in an instant, and then the rapidly spinning plasma sphere slammed into the barrier. The shrill sound cut off abruptly, leaving a fleeting moment of silence, followed by a sharp explosion and a blinding flash that made everyone instinctively shield their eyes.
When they opened them again, they saw a crater where Zhao Wuji had just been standing, and some distance away stood the teacher himself. His True Spirit Body was riddled with cracks in the chest area; he was clutching his chest and breathing heavily, clearly in severe pain.
Knowing perfectly well that it wouldn't be over until he himself admitted defeat, I immediately formed two more layers of spirit power, but didn't rush to collide them yet. Instead, with a neutral expression, I asked:
"Shall we continue?"
"Stop!" Zhao Wuji abruptly raised his huge paw, signaling the end of the fight. His voice was hoarse. "That's enough."
He had already realized: for spirit masters who weren't especially fast, like himself, this technique was simply too terrifying.
"Excellent," I allowed myself a smile, simply dispersing the energy before it could take on its dangerous form.
"Ptooey," Zhao Wuji spat out a mouthful of blood and withdrew his spirit, then walked toward us, rubbing his aching chest.
"Girl, were you trying to kill me?" he complained.
"No. It just seemed to me that you were perfectly suited to the role of a test dummy."