The senior student from the outer court responsible for testing picked up the form that Ji Lin had filled out. His eyes widened as he read the information: age 12, spirit power level 39.
Staring at the exaggerated level in shock, the senior nodded repeatedly, "Qualified, qualified. After the test…"
Before he could finish speaking, Zhang Lexuan interjected, "Leave the rest to me. You can go back to registering the other new students."
She then turned to Ji Lin and said, "Let's go, little Lin. Didn't you want me to give you a tour of the academy?"
Not to mention the heated discussions that erupted at the registration site after Ji Lin and Zhang Lexuan left.
Zhang Lexuan led Ji Lin into Shrek Academy. Contrary to Ji Lin's imagination of a grand and solemn institution, the academy grounds were beautiful and lush with abundant vegetation. Walking along the wide main road, no matter where one looked, there were at least ten kinds of plants in view, clearly all meticulously trimmed and arranged.
After walking forward for about 200 meters, several massive statues came into sight, blocking the road ahead. There were ten statues in total, each ten meters tall, carved from the hardest granite.
In the front row were three statues. The central statue depicted an elder with glasses, a chubby frame, and a friendly smile—he appeared like a gentle and kind old man.
Zhang Lexuan introduced them to Ji Lin: "This is the founder of our Shrek Academy and its first headmaster, Flender. To his left is Yu Xiaogang, also known as the Grandmaster. He developed the teaching foundation for all the departments in Shrek Academy and formulated the ten core competencies of the spirit world."
"The woman to the right is Liu Erlong, Yu Xiaogang's wife. Together, the three of them formed the Golden Iron Triangle. If Headmaster Flender created Shrek Academy, then the Grandmaster is its true soul—he also trained the Shrek Seven Devils behind them."
The statue of the Grandmaster depicted a lean middle-aged man, while Liu Erlong appeared as a graceful and elegant woman.
Behind them stood seven more statues.
Among the seven, Tang San was the most handsome. He had long, flowing blue hair, wore a simple combat outfit, and was entwined with blue vine-like patterns—clearly his Blue Silver Grass martial soul. A subtle smile curved his lips, and his eyes appeared to be looking meaningfully at the fifth statue in the lineup, a young woman with a scorpion braid.
Noticing Ji Lin staring at Tang San's statue, Zhang Lexuan explained, "That's the Thousand-Hand Douluo, Tang San, one of the Shrek Seven Devils. The one he's looking at is the Soft Bone Douluo, Xiao Wu—his wife."
The statues of the first-generation Shrek Seven Devils all had distinct poses. The fact that all seven were Titled Douluo spoke volumes about how powerful they once were.
Zhang Lexuan continued, "This is where the path splits. To the left is the Martial Soul Branch, and to the right is the Soul Tool Branch. These are the two main divisions of our Shrek Academy, both part of the outer court. The Martial Soul Branch is relatively larger, and it has many different departments. We'll register at the Martial Soul Branch first. Only after passing the initial assessment can one apply to enter the Soul Tool Branch."
Though both were divisions, their size disparity clearly reflected how little importance the academy placed on the Soul Tool Department.
Continuing left from the statues, the road remained wide enough for four or five carriages to travel side by side. Signs along the roadside labeled it as the "Lakeside Trail."
Through the dense trees on the right, a vast body of water could be seen—behind the Golden Iron Triangle and the Shrek Seven Devils statues lay an enormous lake.
Seeing Ji Lin's gaze drift toward the water, Zhang Lexuan explained, "That's an artificial lake built to commemorate the Thousand-Hand Douluo, Tang San. It's called Sea God Lake, because legend has it that Tang San inherited the divine power of the Sea God. Sea God Lake is enormous and fed by underground springs. The inner court of Shrek Academy is located on the central island in that lake. Every outer court student dreams of one day stepping foot on that island."
The Sea God Lake was indeed vast. Walking along the Lakeside Trail for nearly fifteen minutes, they turned west, walking another fifteen before the path finally curved inward, revealing a broad rectangular plaza. A nearby sign identified it as "Shrek Plaza."
Beyond the plaza stood a series of tall academic buildings in white, yellow, purple, and black. Looking north past Shrek Plaza, another group of gray buildings came into view in the distance.
Zhang Lexuan pointed to the buildings on the other side of the plaza and explained, "The colors of the buildings represent different grade levels and correspond to the colors of spirit rings. White is for new students, like the ten-year soul ring—the lowest level. Yellow is for second- and third-year outer court students. Purple is for fourth- and fifth-years. Black is for sixth-years. If you make it out of the black building, you'll earn your outer court diploma."
"The gray buildings over there belong to the Soul Tool Department. Based on size, the Soul Tool Department takes up about one-third of the teaching area, while the Martial Soul Department takes up two-thirds. Besides these main buildings, there are also specialized zones for things like combat training, assessments, dormitories, and staff offices."
Ji Lin could tell just how much Shrek Academy undervalued the Soul Tool Department—just by looking at the building colors and territory distribution.
The white freshmen building was located at the southernmost end, closest to the Lakeside Trail. After crossing the south end of Shrek Plaza, Ji Lin and Zhang Lexuan entered the building.
Since it was enrollment season, the freshman building was bustling. Many newly admitted students who had passed the initial assessment were registering.
With Zhang Lexuan's guidance, Ji Lin's registration process went smoothly. He paid his own tuition—an astounding ten gold soul coins per year. Meals weren't included. And if a student dropped out after failing assessments, the fee would not be refunded.
This tradition, passed down for ten thousand years from the original Shrek Academy, remained unchanged even now.
After receiving his dorm key, two sets of uniforms, and a white new student badge, Ji Lin followed Zhang Lexuan out of the freshman building.
As they passed a bulletin board, Ji Lin noticed an announcement.
It listed the homeroom teachers: Homeroom teacher for Class One—Zhou Yi; Homeroom teacher for Class Two...
Ji Lin frowned. Because he had registered early, he'd been assigned to Class One.
Recalling the original story's description of Zhou Yi's personality and her teaching philosophy, Ji Lin felt a headache coming on.
"Oh well." he thought, "As long as she doesn't deliberately make things difficult for me, I won't bother caring. Even the higher-ups of Shrek Academy don't interfere—so why should I?"