Inside the bathroom.
Steam filled the air as the medicinal bath infused Tang Wulin's body with energy, helping him relentlessly attack the second layer of the Golden Dragon King seal. Finally, with the crisp sound of a shell breaking, the young man stood up, face full of excitement.
Scalding hot energy surged and coursed throughout his body.
"Breakthrough!"
He didn't know his exact level, but it should be around twenty-seven or twenty-eight.
"Not bad."
Old Tang nodded slightly.
"Old Tang, do you think… I can catch up to him?" Tang Wulin's eyes filled with anticipation the next moment.
Ever since the Soul Train incident, that silhouette had planted a seed in his heart.
Coming from a humble background, it was his first time seeing such a shocking battle. At this point in time, even a glimpse of Wu Zhangkong's two-word battle armor would have made him tremble with excitement. Much less witnessing a clash between top-level powerhouses right after leaving 'the novice village'—the impact was unimaginable.
"Tch, if it were my God Realm… cough cough, back in my prime, I could have crushed him with just a wave of my hand! And he'd dare look at me? He'd be courting death!" Old Tang, unable to keep a straight face, spoke flatly.
"Courting death?" Tang Wulin looked puzzled, clearly his first time hearing this phrase.
"It's a Tang Sect rule—if anyone's courting death, you kill them outright." Old Tang spoke with pride.
"Sounds like some of those Soul Tool games I used to play… You tag them first, then finish them." Tang Wulin muttered.
"Mmm. You're teachable, child." Old Tang looked pleased.
Tang Wulin: "…"
"But for now, you still need to lay low," Old Tang said after a moment of contemplation, his tone grave. "I've never seen those two before. That girl gives me the sense of a primal behemoth, but that boy… feels more like…"
"A clump of chaos itself."
"Even you can't sense it clearly?" Tang Wulin was shocked.
"I'm too weak now, only a sliver of my soul remains," Old Tang shook his head.
"Forget it. For now, just cultivate according to the Tang Sect methods I've taught you. Once you master Mystic Jade Hand, Mysterious Heaven Skill, Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track, etc., you'll surely become a top powerhouse in this era. Those two will be nothing to you then."
"Mhm!"
By the time Tang Wulin pushed open the bathroom door—
Everyone outside was already packed and ready. Xie Xie urged anxiously, "Wulin, hurry up! Teacher Shen Yi has already called us several times. We missed the sign-up cut-off yesterday, and it was only because of Teacher Wu that we got one more chance…"
"If we're late again, even Teacher Wu's help might not save us!"
"What?!!"
Tang Wulin was in chaos, being rushed by the wind.
At the Shrek Academy Admissions Office
Unlike the casualness of ten thousand years ago—where as long as you passed the age and soul power check, you could enroll—today's Shrek Academy was much "stricter."
Applicants under fifteen, with soul power above level twenty-five, could apply.
And thanks to Tang Wulin and group arriving late, their entrance exam had extra difficulty added.
"Huh? There's someone else?"
Xie Xie looked at a silver-haired girl sitting in the soul car, surprised.
"She's late too. Anyway, she's subject to the same exam as you guys, so the Academy didn't care—just put her in with you," Shen Yi shrugged.
"My name is Tang Wulin!" the boy introduced himself with enthusiasm.
"..."
The silver-haired girl only glanced at him indifferently, then turned her head away, arms crossed, saying nothing.
"She's so cold…" Xie Xie muttered quietly.
"Looks like another genius," Xu Xiaoyan said seriously.
"Haha, she really is a genius," Shen Yi smiled. Of course, the Academy wouldn't just grant a "special pass" to any random disciple—unless she was only thirteen and already level thirty-seven…
"You might only be close to her in the exams. Once you enter Shrek Academy, you'll only be able to look up to her from afar," Shen Yi added.
"So exaggerated?"
Everyone looked incredulous.
Shen Yi did not elaborate further, just led Tang Wulin and the group into a large hall before leaving.
The first challenge, waiting for them, was enduring the pressure from a drop of Darkgolden Black Dragon King blood…
Golden and silver dragons, of course, were unafraid.
From this moment, several hidden elders of the Sea God's Pavilion began to take an interest.
"Report to the Pavilion Lord?"
"Of course! The Pavilion Lord must be informed about this!"
"But, those rainbow eyes, that dragon aura… I've only seen them in an old book…"
"Who is it?!!"
All the elders looked at a dignified, white-haired fellow wearing a monocle and a sharp windcoat.
He looked awkward. "Dragon God…"
"Tch~!"
The rest of the elders just rolled their eyes.
"If she's the Dragon God, then I'm the 'Human God'," Zhuo Shi grumbled. "Bookworm, you claim to have read all the books in Shrek's inner court, but now you're spouting Dragon God nonsense?"
"Can you be a little more realistic?"
"White hair, rainbow eyes, and the aura of a dragon as described by Zhangkong, plus an incredibly tough body, able to thrash Na Nali flat—doesn't that line up with the Dragon God legend?" the white-haired elder retorted.
"That Na Nali isn't easy to deal with. Swapping with you, Zhuo Shi, or you, Cai Yue'er, you'd be lucky not to get beaten up by her, much less doing the beating."
"So what if I say 'Dragon God'?"
"But Old Lin, if she really were the Dragon God, wouldn't the beast clan have risen by now…?"
"Maybe she just stepped out from some spatial rift?"
"A Dragon God that weak? With one punch, Na Nali should be minced meat."
"Maybe she's just awakening?"
"…."
The courtyard became a noisy mess.
Elders, who were always dignified, now bickered like a bustling market.
"Everyone, quiet!"
Zhuo Shi took a deep breath.
The rest respectfully silenced themselves.
"I think there's another possibility." He spoke seriously. "Maybe Zhangkong was also mentally controlled. Everything we're seeing was fabricated by that Na Nali to sow chaos in Shrek Academy…"
"..."
The scene lapsed into a strange, quiet tension.
Wu Zhangkong seemed to want to speak but swallowed his doubts.
"Forget it. Better report to the Pavilion Lord first."
"I'll go see that disciple Zhangkong brought."
"I heard there's a thirteen-year-old with a Silver Dragon spirit at level thirty-seven or thirty-eight. Don't you all fight with me over taking her as a disciple."
The group of elders nodded. No matter how intense the argument, reporting to the Pavilion Lord was better—let that 'big thigh' have the headache.
Soon, only the master and disciples remained in the courtyard. The atmosphere was awkward.
"Tsk, they stopped moving," Su Wen curled his lips.
He sensed that faint spiritual mark, lingering around Shrek City these days but never heading for the Devil Emperor's lair to inform.
"They noticed?"
"They shouldn't have. My technique's too subtle. Maybe this means they're just cautious…"
"Or they passed messages using mental methods."
"No matter. Consider it a sacrifice in the grand game."
Su Wen enjoyed the sweet cakes that Na'er handed over with both hands, his face thoughtful.
"When do we head for Shrek?"
"Now!"
The white-haired girl stepped out of the bedroom, killing intent surging, dragon spear in hand.