Following that interlude, the line was immediately reduced by as much as a third. After all, no one wanted to spend money for nothing, especially when this place was looking so shabby.
Another young boy arrived before the elderly man with his parents, and his mother placed 10 gold coins into the wooden box in a confident manner, while the young boy obediently offered his hand to the elderly man.
The elderly man held his hand for a moment, then said, "You're right at 12 years of age. Release your martial soul."
The young boy nodded, and faint green soul power was released out of his body alongside a yellow soul ring.
His martial soul also appeared alongside the hundred-year-old soul ring, and it was a thick vine that wound itself around his body.
This was clearly a plant system martial soul.
The elderly man shook his head upon seeing this. "He doesn't qualify; you can go now."
The confident expressions on the faces of the young boy's parents immediately stiffened upon hearing this, and the boy's mother asked, "Why? My son has always excelled in his elementary academy; don't you see that he has a hundred-year-old soul ring? There aren't many Soul Masters with such a soul ring at his age."
The elderly man replied, "That is indeed a hundred-year-old soul ring, but he's only an ordinary person."
The father's brows furrowed slightly upon hearing this. "I don't understand what you mean."
The elderly man stood up in an impatient manner before declaring to everyone in the line, "All of you should've done your homework before enrolling at Shrek Academy. Otherwise, you're just wasting your money. Don't you know the meaning behind the name of our Shrek Academy?"
Most of the registrants looked on with befuddled expressions.
The elderly man explained, "Shrek is a type of monstrous existence even among soul beasts. The reason why we've named our academy as such is because this is an academy of monsters, which means that we only accept monsters, not ordinary people. Those who are over 13 years of age or have yet to exceed rank 21 in soul power can leave now."
Yi Zichen's father still had no idea what was happening, but Yi Zichen and Teacher Li both felt a shiver run down their spines.
The old man was declaring this place to be Shrek Academy? But why was Shrek Academy so run-down and dilapidated? What exactly was this place?
They were unable to speak and could only spectate, while the elderly man seemed to be completely oblivious to their presence.
Right at this moment, bright red light erupted from the elderly man's body, and a long staff that was riddled with countless fine patterns appeared in his right hand.
Even more astonishingly, six soul rings had emerged from beneath his feet, comprised of one white, one yellow, three purples, and one black.
This old man had the appearance of an ordinary farmer, but he was a Soul Emperor!
Even in the entire kingdom, there were very few Soul Masters of his caliber.
The elderly man slammed the end of his staff onto the ground, and a dull thump rang out as everyone stumbled slightly.
He then waved a dismissive hand toward the dumbstruck family of three. "Next!"
Just as the elderly man had said, 12-year-old Soul Grandmasters really were monsters, and in the blink of an eye, only around a dozen registrants were left in the line.
The elderly man didn't seem to be fazed in the slightest by the sharp decline in the number of registrants, and he merely continued his work.
Those who remained were clearly all quite confident that they satisfied the elderly man's criteria, and sure enough, all of the next few registrants were Soul Grandmasters of the correct age. After issuing 10 gold coins each, the elderly man told them that they had passed and were eligible to undergo the academy's second round of examination, where they couldn't be accompanied by their parents.
"This academy seems to be quite interesting. That teacher was so badass when he said the academy only accepted monsters, not ordinary people!"
A pleasant voice suddenly attracted Yi Zichen's attention, and he turned to discover a beautiful girl with a pair of bright eyes.
She appeared to be around the same age as him, and her hair was arranged into a long ponytail.
She was speaking to a young boy beside her who wasn't particularly handsome, but gave off a special disposition.
"You don't have any further doubts about our teacher's instructions now, do you? This Shrek Academy is definitely no ordinary place," the young boy replied.
The golden-haired Soul Elder from before had also caught sight of them, and a faint smile appeared on his face before he pointed at the elderly man, then splayed his hands open and put on a resigned expression, as if to tell them that he wouldn't be able to help them in their enrolment.
Yi Zichen immediately realized that they knew one another.
All of a sudden, Yi Zichen's attention was drawn back to the elderly man as he let loose a faint cry of surprise.
He was currently holding the hand of a young girl with a bewildered expression.
The young girl wasn't accompanied by her parents, and she wore a plain white dress. Her short hair trailed down to just below her ears, and she was slightly taller than the girl with the long ponytail.
She had her back facing Yi Zichen, so he was unable to see her appearance, but it was apparent from the nape of her neck that she had very fair and delicate skin.
"Have I passed the initial examination?" The young girl's voice was very gentle and pleasing to the ears.
The surprise on the elderly man's face gradually faded, and his brows furrowed slightly as he asked, "Does your family know that you've come here?"
Instead of answering his question, the girl smiled as she replied, "Why does that matter? I satisfy your criteria, so you have no reason not to accept me, right?"
The elderly man seemed to hesitate momentarily before waving a hand toward the young Soul Elder. "Take her inside."
The slightly peculiar look in the young boy's eyes faded upon hearing this, and he calmly led the girl into the academy.
The rest of the students quickly passed the first examination, and finally, the young boy and girl who had been chatting earlier arrived at the front of the line. At this point, the young Soul Elder had also returned to the elderly man's side.
Yi Zichen suddenly discovered that the young Soul Elder was staring blankly at the back of the line, as if he were seeing something incredible.
The girl with the ponytail and the boy beside her reflexively turned around, and they were also rather taken aback by the sight that greeted them.
There was only one student left behind them, and she seemed to have arrived only recently.
She appeared to be even younger than the girl with the ponytail, and she was roughly the same height as the girl in the white dress from before.
She had a head of long black hair, and her skin was also quite fair, but what was most noteworthy about her was her extremely voluptuous figure that completely belied her age.
If her face were concealed, she could be easily misidentified as a young woman, and in particular, her voluminous chest was especially attention-grabbing.
The young girl currently wore a cold look on her face, and her black eyes were completely devoid of exuberance, creating a stark contrast with her beautiful appearance.
She had a set of long and slender limbs with her arms naturally hanging down by her sides, and the aura of deathly coldness she was giving off was very disconcerting.
"Are you two here to register or not? If not, then get out of the way." The young boy and girl immediately returned to their senses upon hearing the elderly man's voice, and they hurriedly made their way over to the table.
"We're registering together," the young boy said as he placed 20 gold soul coins into the wooden box, then extended a hand alongside the young girl.
The elderly man held the girl's hand for a moment before giving a nod of approval. "You're at the right age."
However, a hint of bewilderment appeared in his eyes as he switched to the young boy's hand.
He then tried to gauge the boy's age a few more times, but to no avail. Finally, he raised his head to look up at the boy, and asked, "Have you practiced some type of soul technique with your hands?"
The young boy nodded in response.
The elderly man's brows furrowed slightly as he instructed, "Lift your leg up."
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