After waiting for Jiang Nannan, Zhu Ziyang and she headed together toward the assessment area.
Inside the assessment room, there were only two students, both wearing black uniforms—sixth-year students. One male and one female. When they saw Zhu Ziyang and Jiang Nannan enter, their eyes lit up. A handsome boy and a beautiful girl—who wouldn't be impressed?
"Please come this way!" the two students said in unison, pointing to a yellow-lined circle on the floor.
Zhu Ziyang and Jiang Nannan followed their instructions and stepped into the circle.
Each student picked up a long, rod-shaped device from the table that resembled a metal detector and walked over to the pair.
"Please extend your right hand and place it on the red area of the soul power detector," the female student said. "Then release a bit of your soul power."
They complied, placing their hands onto the device.
The glass screen at the top of the detector lit up as Zhu Ziyang released his soul power. A line of text appeared: "Bone Age: Eleven. Soul Power: Level 35."
The female student holding the device was stunned. She stared at him in disbelief and blurted out, "Heavens! An eleven-year-old Soul Elder!"
"Eleven years old, Level 25!" the male student checking Jiang Nannan also wore a shocked expression, his eyes now filled with greater respect.
"Wang Jian, look at this!" The girl handed her detector to the student named Wang Jian.
"What the heck!" Wang Jian was also startled by the incredible number, staring at Zhu Ziyang in disbelief for a few seconds.
At that moment, the two nearing-graduation Shrek students felt complicated emotions. Their attitude toward Zhu Ziyang and Jiang Nannan had clearly shifted—an unspoken respect and affinity took root.
Having spent six years at Shrek Academy, they knew better than anyone: with such talent, these two were very likely to enter the Inner Court.
The Inner Court—something they didn't even dare to dream of. Every time they walked past the lakeside path, even a glance felt like a luxury.
"Please release your martial spirits and soul rings," they said, this time using a noticeably more respectful tone.
Zhu Ziyang sighed inwardly but didn't hesitate. The Stillness Fate Ending Scythe appeared in his hand, and behind him flickered three soul rings—one yellow, two purple. Jiang Nannan also released her martial spirit; pale moon-colored rabbit ears appeared, accompanied by two yellow soul rings.
The Shrek students were once again shocked. A configuration of one yellow and two purple rings at such a young age was staggering.
"Alright... you may withdraw your martial spirits now."
The two looked at each other, now convinced these were prodigies far beyond their reach. They quickly returned to their desks and recorded the duo's information. After stamping the submitted forms, they handed them back.
"Congratulations to both of you," the female student said. "You're now provisional students of Shrek Academy. Just go to the Freshman Teaching Building to complete registration and you'll officially be Shrek students."
"Thank you both!" Zhu Ziyang smiled as he accepted the stamped forms, letting out a breath of relief.
'So the Shrek assessment wasn't that difficult after all,' he thought, taking Jiang Nannan's hand as they walked out of the assessment room toward the true entrance of Shrek Academy.
As they entered the academy, lush greenery greeted them. All kinds of flowers and trees were neatly pruned, exuding a vibrant, refreshing atmosphere.
They passed the statue of the Golden Iron Triangle and soon came across the statues of the original Shrek Seven Devils. Seeing their various heroic poses, both Zhu Ziyang and Jiang Nannan paused.
Zhu Ziyang's eyes lingered for a while on the third statue. He looked down and smirked faintly.
That statue was none other than the third of the original Shrek Seven Devils—Tang San, the Thousand-Hand Douluo, Sea God, and Asura God.
Because of the memories from his past life, Zhu Ziyang had always held a particular curiosity toward Tang San.
Over the years, he had read every book he could find related to Tang San. Most of them were penned 10,000 years ago, making them highly reliable. These texts largely portrayed Tang San as a messianic figure, praised to the extreme. Only a small portion adopted a more objective tone, though even those rarely portrayed him negatively.
Of course, that wasn't surprising—after all, history is written by the victors.
In one particular volume, authored during a very specific historical period, Zhu Ziyang had found something intriguing—a book titled Xue's Diary. While it looked like a personal journal, it could just as easily be called a confessional.
Based on its contents, Zhu Ziyang could almost confirm that the author was none other than Qian Renxue, the last Holy Maiden of the Spirit Hall. The diary was likely written after the Battle of Jialing Pass, when she withdrew from public life.
The diary recounted her reflections and included detailed records of that climactic battle.
Cross-referencing it with other works of the same era, Zhu Ziyang pieced together a remarkably complete and multidimensional understanding of the events from 10,000 years ago—especially regarding Tang San.
He learned that the Battle of Jialing Pass had evolved into an unprecedented divine war.
At least four gods had participated—Sea God, Angel God, Rakshasa God, and Asura God. Tang San alone had wielded both the Sea God and Asura God divinities. No wonder he could take on two gods and still come out victorious.
As for Tang San's grudges with the Spirit Hall, Zhu Ziyang had a rough understanding, though he chose not to comment on them.
However, when it came to Tang San's character, he had serious doubts.
Many confidential church texts—including Qian Renxue's diary—repeated a crucial rule across eras:
"The gods of the Divine Realm must not interfere in the affairs of the Douluo Continent. Any who violate this shall face punishment by the Divine Realm's enforcers."
Zhu Ziyang believed this to be highly credible.
And that made things interesting.
Because if gods truly weren't allowed to interfere with the lower world, then the ending of Peerless Tang Sect became very problematic.
In those events that may occur in the future, Tang San—then a god—clearly meddled in the affairs of the Douluo Continent. That was a blatant violation of divine law.
So why wasn't he punished?
Oh, right. He was the one in charge of divine order—he was the Asura God.
In that case, no wonder nothing happened.
This kind of "law enforcer breaking the law" scenario, coupled with the way Tang San once threatened a mother with her child's life, made Zhu Ziyang believe that the revered deity's moral integrity was highly questionable.
Now he completely understood that deep contempt and sarcasm embedded in his past-life memories.
And he wholeheartedly agreed.
They continued forward.
Turning left from the statue plaza, they found a broad road wide enough to accommodate five horse-drawn carriages. On the right side stretched an endless sparkling lake. Jiang Nannan admired the beauty, but Zhu Ziyang knew better.
That was the legendary Sea God Lake.
Through the greenery, he could vaguely make out an island at the lake's center—Shrek Academy's Inner Court, Sea God Island.
After leaving the lake, they followed the signs to Shrek Plaza. Behind the plaza lay the academy's core zones: the academic area, residential quarters, and assessment facilities, taking up two-thirds of the academy's grounds.
Up front stood the academic buildings—grand, differently colored structures neatly arranged in white, yellow, purple, and black. These colors corresponded to student levels, determined by soul ring color. White represented the freshman building, akin to the ten-year soul ring. Yellow was for second and third years, purple for fourth and fifth, and black for sixth years. Graduating from the black building meant you'd earned your Outer Court diploma.
The white freshman building was closest to the lakeside path. Approaching from the south side of Shrek Plaza, they entered the teaching hall.
(End of Chapter)
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