Suotuo City is located on the Lima Plain, home to some of the most fertile land in the Heaven Dou Empire.
At the same time, it lies close to the Star Dou Great Forest.
Grain merchants and Spirit Masters seeking to hunt Spirit Beasts often stop here to rest, indirectly bringing prosperity to the city.
Chang Kong's cultivation had now reached Rank 29, only one step away from breaking through to Rank 30.
When they entered Heaven Dou City earlier, in order to avoid being discovered by the Seven Treasure Glazed Sect and other powerful forces, the Golden Eagle Spirit Douluo did not follow them into the city. Instead, he remained stationed outside.
Now that they had arrived in Suotuo City, he no longer had such concerns. He entered the city and secretly protected the two from the shadows.
Compared to the prosperity of Heaven Dou City, Suotuo City appeared relatively underdeveloped.
Many nobles from Heaven Dou City who had believed the rumors felt deceived after arriving in Suotuo City.
However, since they had already come, they still decided to stay and enjoy themselves for a period of time.
The sudden influx of people over a short period indirectly stimulated the city's commercial growth.
If this had happened in the past, the gap between this place and Heaven Dou City would only have been even greater.
Hearing Chang Kong complain about the city's "poor" commerce, Wu Qi said irritably,
"This isn't the imperial capital, nor is it the capital of a kingdom. For it to have developed to this extent is already quite decent."
According to his earlier plan, he did not carry out any investigation into the destination of the grain shipments.
The two walked toward the center of the city and stopped in front of a massive building.
The Great Spirit Arena.
There were Great Spirit Arenas in Spirit City and Heaven Dou City as well, and those were even larger and more prosperous than the one in Suotuo City.
"Are we starting the training mission this quickly?" Chang Kong muttered.
Within the Great Spirit Arena's badge system, the Gold Spirit badge ranked fourth, above Iron, Bronze, and Silver. Above it were Purple Gold, Sapphire, Ruby, and Diamond.
Being slightly below the median rank, he felt it would be easy to obtain.
Guessing his thoughts, Wu Qi said impatiently, "Have you considered that for ordinary participants, the highest badge they can obtain is the Purple Gold Spirit badge? The badges above that are honorary badges awarded exclusively to powerful Spirit Masters."
When he had been in Spirit City, Wu Qi had inquired about the Great Spirit Arena's system.
Sapphire badges and above were awarded only to Spirit Saints and higher.
There were even rumors that above the Diamond badge, there existed another rank specifically granted to Titled Douluo. Unfortunately, from ancient times until now, no Titled Douluo had ever joined an organization like the Great Spirit Arena.
As for the points required for a Purple Gold Spirit badge, they could only be described as enormous.
Even if one were the strongest among peers and capable of fighting across ranks, participating daily in one-on-one, two-on-two, and team battles, and maintaining a win rate above ninety-five percent, it would still take over a year of continuous competition to barely accumulate enough points.
This was no longer a question of difficulty, but of long-term endurance.
Wu Qi did not intend to spend too much time training in the Great Spirit Arena.
To achieve a good result in the next Spirit Master Tournament, he would need to spend a long time assembling a team capable of winning the championship.
During the day, the Great Spirit Arena did not host spirit battles. They had only come to register in advance for their Spirit badges.
After leaving the Great Spirit Arena, the two found a hotel nearby to stay.
Wu Qi finally understood why, in the original timeline, Tang San and Xiao Wu had found it difficult to secure a guest room upon arriving in Suotuo City.
At first, he thought it was because large numbers of parents had brought their children here to register for Shrek Academy.
But Suotuo City was a commercial hub, with grain merchants constantly coming and going. How could there possibly be a shortage of guest rooms within the city?
The real situation was likely that the nobles who had been "lured" here by the Seven Treasure Glazed Sect were occupying a large number of rooms.
After paying triple the usual price, the two finally secured a place to stay.
"This Seven Treasure Glazed Sect is really shameless," Chang Kong could not help but curse.
"This is nothing more than a small indulgence of power," Wu Qi said with a bitter shake of his head.
While they were speaking, a hotel staff member noticed their youthful appearance and approached them.
"Are you two also here to register for Shrek Academy?"
"And what makes you think that?" Wu Qi asked in return.
Thanks to Flender's successful promotion, Shrek Academy had gained considerable fame in Suotuo City and several nearby cities.
When entering the city, the two had also heard many rumors about Shrek Academy.
At first, Chang Kong paid little attention, but hearing it mentioned again piqued his interest.
"I heard that Shrek Academy only accepts students under thirteen years old with Spirit Power above Rank 21?"
If that were true, then every student at Shrek Academy would have Innate Spirit Power above Rank 6.
Chang Kong had not expected that coming to Suotuo City, which was not part of their original plan, would bring such an unexpected opportunity.
If they could recruit all of Shrek Academy's students into Spirit Hall, what a great achievement that would be.
Moreover, by joining such an academy, would they still need to worry about finding teammates for the Spirit Master Tournament?
Wu Qi lightly patted his shoulder and shook his head.
If such a powerful academy truly existed on the continent, its reputation would likely have spread everywhere long ago, rather than being known only after arriving in Suotuo City.
The city's residents only knew that Shrek Academy's admissions standards were strict, and that it might go a long time without recruiting even a single suitable student.
Furthermore, no one in the city had ever seen Shrek Academy's actual campus. They only believed that the registration site outside the city served as a test.
All these factors made many people regard it with vague admiration.
Even the hotel staff spoke highly of it.
"I think you two are probably over thirteen, aren't you? Shrek Academy may have a great reputation, but if you don't meet the requirements, going there would only bring humiliation. Please consider carefully."
Wu Qi nodded, having lost interest in continuing the conversation. He cupped his hands politely and said, "Thank you for the information. I believe we already have our own plans."
With that, he pulled Chang Kong into their room.
Chang Kong looked puzzled and asked anxiously, "Brother Wu, we hadn't finished listening. Don't you think this Shrek Academy sounds interesting? Besides, our real ages are not over thirteen."
"If we join them, our classmates would all be geniuses. Wouldn't it be easy to form a strong team?"
Wu Qi sat on the sofa in a relaxed posture.
"What we've heard are only rumors. We haven't seen the real situation of Shrek Academy, so we shouldn't jump to conclusions."
"Besides, according to Shrek Academy's admission requirements, only students with Innate Spirit Power of at least Rank 6 can meet their standards."
"How many people on the continent do you think awaken with Innate Spirit Power of Rank 6 or higher? And most of those who meet Shrek Academy's requirements would have already been recruited by major forces from a young age. Who would go to Shrek Academy instead?"
Listening to his explanation, Chang Kong gradually calmed down and carefully considered the issue.
"Brother Wu, could this Shrek Academy actually be a scam academy?"
In truth, Shrek Academy was not much different from a scam academy. The only difference was that they occasionally provided cultivation guidance to their students.
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