The Legend of the Dragon King

The argument ended there. One-third of the people queuing up left immediately. No one wanted to spend money for nothing. Furthermore, the look of this place was truly awful.

Another youth came before the old man for registration with both parents present. With absolute assurance, his mother placed ten Golden Soul Coins into the wooden box while the youth stretched out his hand obediently.

The old man pinched his hand and shifted his murky yellow eyes to take a glance at the boy. He said, “You just turned twelve years old. Alright. Please unleash your martial soul so I can take a look.”

The youth nodded, and faint green soul power was unleashed from his body. A one hundred-year yellow soul ring pulsated up and down around his body.

The soul ring’s aura was obviously quite powerful. His martial soul appeared. It was a thick, long vine that spiralled around his body.

The martial soul was a type of vine, so it was obviously a plant-type martial soul.

The old man shook his head and said, “You’re disqualified. You may leave now.”

The boy’s parents had looks of total confidence on their faces. Their expressions immediately froze when they heard the old man state that their child was disqualified. His mother could not refrain herself from asking, “Why? My son is a top student in his elementary academy. Haven’t you seen his one-hundred-year soul ring? There are not many soul masters in possession of a one-hundred-year soul ring.”

The old man spoke indifferently, “Having a one-hundred-year soul ring as one’s first soul ring is quite impressive. However, he is just an ordinary person.”

The youth’s father frowned and spoke, “I don’t understand what you are trying to say here.”

The old man stood up from behind the desk in a slightly impatient manner. He was speaking not only to the youth’s parents standing in front of him, but also to all the people queueing up behind for registration. “All of you should get to know Shrek Academy’s rules before coming to enroll in our academy. If you’ve come before learning the rules, then you’re here to waste your registration fee. There’s still time to turn back now. Do you know what the meaning of the word ‘Shrek’ is in Shrek Academy?”

The vast majority of registering students and parents had a confused look on their faces upon hearing the old man’s words.

The old man spoke in a cold and indifferent tone, “Shrek is a type of monster. It is an extremely strange creature even among soul beasts. The meaning of our Shrek Academy is that we are a monster academy. In other words, we breed only monsters, not ordinary people. Students over the age of thirteen years old or those with soul power below rank-21, there’s no need to waste your time here.”

Upon listening to the old man’s words, Yi Zichen’s father remained as confused as before. He had no idea what was happening, but Yi Zichen and Teacher Li were left dumbfounded.

‘Breed only monsters, not ordinary people’. Did he just call this place Shrek Academy? How could Shrek Academy be that old and shabby? What…what sort of place was this?

They were incapable of speaking, so they could only observe from the sidelines. On the other hand, the old man acted as if he was paying no attention to them at all.

Meanwhile, a thick, red radiance was suddenly unleashed from the old man’s body. A staff engraved with countless dense and fine striations appeared in his right hand. More impressively, a total of six soul rings arose from underneath his feet. The dazzling light drew all eyes to him at once.

Of the six soul rings one was white, one yellow, three purple, and one black. In other words, there was one ten-year-soul ring, one one-hundred-year soul ring, three one-thousand-year soul rings and one ten-thousand-year soul ring. This old man that appeared to be an ordinary village was actually a rank-60 Soul Emperor-ranked powerhouse.

Rank-60! He was a rank-60 powerhouse! Even in the entire Barak Empire, soul masters of this rank were too few to count.

The old man knocked the staff in his hand against the ground, releasing a deep hum that spread out to the surroundings. Almost everyone stumbled for a moment.

He waved away the bewildered family of three in front of him. “Next.”

A twelve-year-old child whose soul power was at least rank-20? Just like the old man, perhaps only a monster could achieve that standard.

In a split second, only a dozen registering students remained in the queue that originally had over a hundred people.

The old man did not seem to mind the number of students. He continued to engage in his registration tasks.

It was apparent that the remaining students were confident of passing the old man’s screening. The next few young soul masters had soul power that exceeded rank-20 and two soul rings. After paying the ten Golden Soul Coins registration fee, the old man informed them that they had passed the first round of the entrance examination. They could proceed to the second round of the examination in the academy, but their parents were not allowed to accompany them into the academy.

“The academy looks rather interesting, doesn’t it? Especially when the teacher mentioned the ‘Breed only monsters, not ordinary people’ motto. That’s so cool.”

A pleasant voice suddenly attracted Yi Zichen’s attention. He shifted his eyes and noticed that the voice came from a beautiful young maiden with bright eyes and a charming grin. She appeared to be almost the same age as him. Her long hair was tied into a neat scorpion braid. She was chatting to a young man by her side with a sweet smile on her face.

The young man was not especially good-looking. He was slightly less handsome than the three-ringed Soul Elder from earlier, but there was something special about him. Some indescribable quality.

Yi Zichen could only hear him telling the young maiden, “So you won’t doubt the teacher’s advice anymore now, right? Shrek Academy is absolutely extraordinary.”

The Soul Elder seated on the chair had also noticed their presence. His cold face cracked into a wisp of a smile. He nodded toward them and pointed to the old man before spreading his arms out with a helpless expression. It was apparent that he was trying to tell them that they would need to depend on themselves for the registration and he could not help even if he wanted to.

Yi Zichen immediately realized that they were acquainted.

All of a sudden, a soft gasp drew Yi Zichen’s attention.

The old man in charge of the registration had an expression that was a combination of surprise and confusion. The young maiden standing in front of him was pulling back her outstretched hand.

The young maiden was not accompanied by her parents. All by herself, she was dressed in a simple white dress that made her appear neat and tidy. Her hair was in a tidy bob, and she was half a head shorter than the young maiden with the scorpion braid. Since he was standing behind her, Yi Zichen could not see her face.

However, judging by the skin on the back of her neck, he could see that she had a very clean and fair complexion.

“Can you please tell me if I have passed the screening test?” The young maiden’s voice sounded sweet, pleasant and nonthreatening, but soft and fuzzy.

The old man’s astonished expression faded gradually. He said with a frown, “Is your family aware that you’re here?”

The young maiden did not answer his question directly but replied with a smile, “I thought that there was no discrimination in education. As long as I fulfill the academy’s requirements, there’s no reason that you won’t accept me, right?”

The old man seemed to be hesitating for a moment, but then he waved his hand toward the youth with the multiple pupils. “Take her into the academy,” he said.

The youth retracted his strange gaze and regained his usual cold expression. He took the young maiden along as they walked into the academy.

The remaining students soon passed the first round of testing by the old man. It was finally the turn of the young man and maiden who had been chatting away earlier. The youth with the double-pupils had already returned to the old man’s side after escorting a few other students.

Yi Zichen suddenly discovered that the youth’s gaze had changed. He was staring straight at the back of the queue as if he had seen something unbelievable.

The girl with the scorpion braid and the boy by her side turned around and looked instinctively. Although they had not lost their composure as the double-pupil youth had done, they were still stunned for a moment.

Only one registering student remained behind the two of them. Moreover, it seemed like the student had only arrived recently. It was a girl that appeared to be slightly younger than the young lady with the scorpion braid. Her long black hair hung loosely down her back, and her face was lowered ever so slightly. Her height was almost the same as the young maiden in white dress from earlier and her complexion was almost as fair too. However, this young maiden felt out of the ordinary.

Her well-developed figure appeared rather unusual for her age. Without looking at her face, one could possibly mistake her for an adult woman, especially with her voluptuous breasts that would attract every man’s attention. She had the body of a fully grown woman, but a child’s countenance.

Contrary to her fiery curves, the expression on the young maiden’s face was very cold and calm. It was a frostiness that came from the depths of her heart, a cold most pure. Her black eyes did not even carry a wisp of vitality which contrasted with her exquisite facial features.

Her limbs were long, slim and well-proportioned. Her arms hung down naturally by her sides. It was difficult to get used to the death-like chill that came from her body.

“Are both of you going to register? Don’t block the way if you don’t want to register.” The old man’s voice jolted the girl with the braid and the youth by her side back to reality. Both of them walked forward hastily.

“We are going to register together.” The youth placed the twenty Golden Soul Coins he had prepared earlier into the wooden box. He joined the young maiden as they stretched out their arms together.

The old man pinched the scorpion young maiden’s hand first and nodded. He said, “You’re of the appropriate age.” When he shifted his hand onto the youth’s hand, he could not help letting out a soft gasp just like before.

The old man pinched the youth’s hand a few more times as if he refused to believe what he found. The expression on his face immediately turned peculiar. He lifted his head to look toward the youth and said, “Have you been practising some soul skills?”

The youth nodded and said, “Yes.”

The old man frowned. “Raise your calf.”