"Ge, look—there's a little village over there." Whenever Xiao Wu was being carried on Tang San's back, her tongue was at its sweetest. Right now, she was definitely calling him "Ge" rather than addressing him directly as "Xiao San."
Tang San followed the direction of Xiao Wu's finger. About a li ahead lay a small village. With the enhanced vision granted by his Purple Extreme Demon Eye, he could clearly make out that it contained roughly a hundred households—somewhat smaller than Sacred Soul Village. A ring of wooden fencing surrounded the village perimeter, apparently meant to ward off wild beasts. A crowd seemed to have gathered at the village entrance, though he couldn't tell what was happening.
Tang San smiled. "Let's go ask. Maybe the people here will know where Shrek Academy is. A Soul Master academy should be fairly well known."
Xiao Wu pointed ahead and giggled. "Ge, speed up!"
Tang San reached back and gave her shapely rear a light, exasperated pat, then pushed off with slightly more force, striding rapidly toward the village.
As they drew close, both Tang San and Xiao Wu sensed something was off. A crowd had indeed gathered at the village entrance—most were young people around their age, the majority accompanied by their parents.
A table had been set up at the entrance, behind which sat an elderly man in his sixties. What left Tang San and Xiao Wu dumbfounded was the signboard hanging from a wooden archway at the village gate. It looked rather shabby, bearing five simple carved characters: Shrek Academy. In front of those characters was a green head emblem that looked like some kind of humanoid monster's face—green, and oddly endearing. The old man behind the desk also wore a similar round green badge on his chest. It was presumably the academy's insignia.
"No way." Xiao Wu hopped down from Tang San's back, staring at the signboard in disbelief, then turned to look at Tang San. A sense of disbelief filled both their hearts.
Even Nuoding Elementary Soul Master Academy was far larger than this, and this clearly looked like an ordinary small village. The archway at the entrance was not only made of wood—it wasn't even a third the size of Nuoding Academy's gate. This could actually be called a Soul Master academy?
"Ge, did the Great Master make some kind of mistake? No matter how I look at it, this doesn't resemble an academy at all. It's not a scam, is it?"
Tang San smiled wryly. "Well, we're already here. Let's take a look first."
Ahead of them, roughly a hundred applicants waited in line, and quite a few wore furrowed brows—clearly sharing Xiao Wu's doubts.
A teenager near the front of the line had both parents with him. His mother could be heard saying, "Are you kidding me? This is the so-called Soul Master academy? The one that supposedly makes you an imperial viscount upon graduation?"
The boy's father sounded uncertain. "It was the Spirit Hall people who said so—it shouldn't be wrong. But this academy really is... rather run-down."
The teenager said, "Dad, I don't want to study here—it's too embarrassing. I'd rather go to Soto Intermediate Soul Master Academy. I mean, back at the elementary academy, I was considered a genius."
The father frowned. "Since we've already come this far, let's wait a bit longer. Maybe this is some kind of test. The real academy might not be here at all."
Conversations like this were far from rare among the queue. Most of the young people and their parents wore expressions of deep disappointment.
Tang San's gaze did not linger on these applicants for long. Instead, he looked toward the front of the line—the registration point. Under the enhancement of his Mysterious Heaven Skill, both his vision and hearing were sharpened, allowing him to faintly pick up the conversation there.
The old man sitting behind the table handling registrations looked thoroughly listless. To put it politely, his clothing was plain; in truth, he looked every bit like a village elder—less vigorous even than Lao Jie Ke of Sacred Soul Village.
At that moment, a young man approached the desk to register. The old man said lazily, "Registration fee is ten Gold Soul Coins. Put them in that box."
The boy's accompanying father hurriedly pulled out ten Gold Soul Coins and placed them in a crude box fashioned from several nailed-together wooden planks.
"Extend one hand."
The boy complied, reaching his hand out to the old man, who pinched it twice, then shook his head. "Your age doesn't qualify. You can leave."
The boy froze, turning to look at his father. Teenagers as mature for their age as Tang San were rare indeed.
His father hastened to say with an ingratiating smile, "Teacher, my son just barely turned thirteen. Surely you can make an exception?"
The old man replied with some impatience, "Don't hold up the people behind you. Don't you know the academy's rules? We only accept children under thirteen. Anyone over thirteen is rejected without exception. You can go."
The boy's father said, "Then what about our registration fee..."
The old man said bluntly, "Once registered, no refunds."
Even a clay figure has three parts temper. The boy's father couldn't contain his anger. "You're clearly just scamming people! Refund our registration fee, or we're not leaving. If we'd known this so-called Shrek Academy was such a dump, we never would have come."
The old man glanced at him and said flatly, "Mubai, someone wants their registration fee back. Handle it."
From the ground nearby, a figure shot upright in an instant. "Want your fee back? Fine. Beat me, and you get every coin returned."
It was none other than Dai Mubai. He had been sitting off to the side, hidden by the crowd, so Tang San hadn't noticed him earlier. He looked slightly different from when Tang San and Xiao Wu had last seen him—there was a trace of helplessness on his face.
Dai Mubai wasted no words. He immediately activated his Soul Power, releasing all three of his Soul Rings—two hundred-year rings and one thousand-year ring. His surging Soul Power generated an invisible pressure in the air as his Evil Eyes flashed coldly, settling on the father and son.