How exactly could a chaotic battle involving several tens of people be conducted? Considering that the participants ranged second- to fifth-year students, there was inevitably a large gap in their cultivations. This difference wasn't something that could just be made up with numbers.
Even if five or six people were to simultaneously attack Bei Bei, Xu Sanshi, and the rest, they still wouldn't be able to take them down! As such, almost everyone began to form alliances once the battle had started.
Huo Yuhao didn't form a team with the other Class 1 students. First off, they couldn't be considered to be well coordinated. Second, all of them were only second year students. In a chaotic battle such as this, they wouldn't have any chance at winning even if they all teamed up.
Huo Yuhao's first choice was to find his senior brother, as it was cooling to rest under a large tree.
Bei Bei naturally understood Huo Yuhao's intention, as he growled, "Sanshi, Nannan, let's work together." All three of them were fifth year students with four soul rings; it would be extremely easy for them to be attacked from all sides. Furthermore, their relationship was extremely subtle. A large number of people thought that Bei Bei and Xu Sanshi were rivals, yet in reality they were extremely good friends. At the same time, even though Jiang Nannan didn't have a deep connection with them, she naturally wouldn't make a bad decision considering their situation. Moreover, she was good friends with Tang Ya.
Other than Huo Yuhao's group, who'd decided to make do by themselves, the other students had all looked for companions that were near them. Dai Huabin, Xie Huanyue, and Zhu Lu naturally decided to form a team together. Afterwards, they dragged their classmate Wu Feng and the nearby Ning Tian into their team in order to form a small, five-man team.
The other third and fourth year students formed their own teams, while the Lan sisters naturally formed a team with Huang Chutian. On the other hand, Zhou Sichen and Cao Jinxuan decided to follow Huo Yuhao's trio, and rushed towards Bei Bei. The two of them were extremely clever; when they'd witnessed Huo Yuhao reveal his astonishing amount of talent, they'd naturally understood that, at the very least, no harm would come from following him. Unfortunately, they weren't him, nor did they possess something like his soul thruster. The two of them were immediately left behind as soon as he accelerated with the use of his soul thruster.
Of everyone present, the only person who hadn't found a team was the tall and sturdy He Caitou, who was also the only core disciple from the Soul Tool Department participating in the event.
While the others scrambled to form teams, he stood there like a steel machine. A large number of tube-shaped pieces of metal began to appear all over his body, which caused him to resemble an enormous steel hedgehog. Despite the many tubes that had appeared, the most terrifying things on his body were still the two enormous, thigh-sized cannons on his shoulders. Even if some of the students from the Martial Soul Department didn't know that they were stationary soul tools, they were still able to sense a terrifying sensation of crisis from them.
He Caitou had followed Fan Yu for a long period of time, as Fan Yu was the who'd brought him to Shrek Academy. The instant that the large number of soul tools appeared all over his body, two yellow and two purple soul rings rose up from beneath him and simultaneously lit up. Impressively, he'd managed to become a Soul Ancestor-ranked expert.
After all of the metallic tubes had emerged from his body, He Caitou mercilessly launched a volley of attacks towards the area that held the largest number of people…
Over twenty beams of light suddenly emerged from his body towards his target, and the ripples of soul power that instantaneously exploded outwards stunned everyone present.
Zhou Sichen and Cao Jianxuan were the most unlucky of those he'd targeted, as they had to bear the brunt of the terrifying volley of light. The barrage of attacks he sent towards them came too suddenly, and moved too fast for them to dodge. Furthermore, as an attack launched from a soul tool, it hadn't had any starting signs. This was also their first time facing one, thus they were somewhat stunned for a brief period of time.
The moment they were about to be hit, the two of them felt their bodies suddenly lighten. Immediately afterwards, they felt themselves soar into the sky and vanish from the battlefield.
"The two of you are eliminated." The smell of alcohol assaulted their noses as Zhou Sichen and Cao Jianxuan's found that, to their astonishment, they were now hovering in the air beside Elder Xuan, and a faint halo of light had covered their bodies.
A loud explosion then rang out from the ground beneath them.
The might of twenty soul tools was simply astonishing. Amidst the violent explosions, everyone other than Zhou Sichen and Cao Jianxuan—who'd been directly eliminated—hastily dodged to the side.
He Caitou hadn't launched his attack for nothing. In fact, he'd done it for the sake of his little junior brother. If he hadn't, why would his attack have perfectly collided with Zhou Sichen and Cao Jinxuan? Huo Yuhao made use of He Caitou's covering fire to smoothly reach Bei Bei's group of three with Wang Dong and Xiao Xiao.
"Senior brother He, this way." Huo Yuhao waved towards He Caitou once he'd reached Bei Bei, then immediately began to release his powerful auxiliary abilities.
Huo Yuhao's eyes lit up with a faint golden color as his Spiritual Detection Sharing instantly enveloped Wang Dong, Xiao Xiao, Bei Bei, Xu Sanshi, Jiang Nannan, and He Caitou.
Of the six of them, Xu Sanshi and Jiang Nannan were the only ones who hadn't experienced Huo Yuhao's Spiritual Detection before. As such, the two of them were immediately astonished when they were enveloped by it.
It had to be known that his Spiritual Detection would grow even stronger as his cultivation increased. Even though it couldn't yet envelop the entire battlefield, it could still cover a large portion of it. A three-dimensional image appeared in all of their minds, afterwhich every single action their surrounding opponents were taking or were about to take was transmitted into their minds via the analysis of Huo Yuhao's Spiritual Detection. This wonderful sensation of total control was something that no soul master would refuse.
Bei Bei gave Huo Yuhao a big thumbs up, then took a large step forward. He stamped the ground with his right foot, which caused a loud 'boom' to ring out. The sonorous cry of a dragon rang out from his body as he activated the mighty Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon.
Xu Sanshi also took a step forward, and a dense flow of black air swirled around his body as he raised his enormous Shield of the Xuanwu Turtle. However, when he did so, his expression suddenly became strange.
"Bei Bei, did you use this when you won that Mysterious Water Pill from me? I was wondering how you'd become that fierce. You were cheating."
Bei Bei shot a glance towards the indignant Xu Sanshi, then replied indifferently, "Either way, my junior brother has already eaten it. What're you gonna do about it?"
"I'll settle things with you once we've finished this up," Xu Sanshi retorted angrily.
Next to Bei Bei, who was standing in front alongside Xu Sanshi, stood Jiang Nannan. On the other hand, He Caitou stood behind Bei Bei, while Xiao Xiao and Wang Dong stood next to each other behind him. The last in line was Huo Yuhao.
"We only have seven people, just the right amount." Huo Yuhao's quiet voice rang through the ears of everyone near him. The meaning behind his words was clear; only seven people could pass, and they had seven people in their team. As such, they wouldn't have to distract themselves with any infighting.
"Make your move!" Bei Bei let out a low shout, then took large strides forwards. He had a plentiful amount of battle experience, and it would be impossible for the four Soul Ancestors on their team to not attract any intention. As soon as the others noticed that they'd teamed up, they'ld undoubtedly gather all of their strength in order to attack them. Right now was the best time for them to strike in order to gain the upper hand.
However, every single participant was a core disciple. As such, none of them were dumb. The instant that Bei Bei took a step forward, a fourth year core disciple let out a loud shout, "Everyone, let's combine our strengths to deal with that team of four-ringed seniors!"
The words 'four-ringed seniors' were extremely effective towards getting the other eighteen student's attention. When they heard that person's reminder, all of them immediately came to their senses and rapidly closed in on Bei Bei's team.
Seven versus eighteen? Everyone present was a core disciple! Even though Bei Bei's team had four Soul Ancestors, Huo Yuhao, Wang Dong, and Xiao Xiao were still slightly weaker than them. They simply didn't have any chance of winning.
Bei Bei immediately made a quick decision, stopped his charge, and shot to the right. When he did so, Huo Yuhao's Spiritual Detection transmitted Bei Bei's intention to all of the members in their team.
There were a total of six students from two teams to the right, all of whom were third year students. At that moment, they simultaneously released their martial souls. All of them were three-ringed experts, and all of them had an optimum combination of two yellow soul rings and one purple soul ring.
Their reactions were extremely quick, as each of them attempted to release their respective soul skills concurrently. However, they suddenly felt their minds go blurry for a second, which caused their movements to slow by half a beat.
They couldn't tell who'd made a move, but Huo Yuhao's companions—who were under the effect of his Spiritual Detection Sharing—could sense that he'd released a soul skill.
Bei Bei took the lead and charged mightily into the six soul master's formation, but he was immediately met by two assault-type soul masters.
The long hair of the person on the left turned orange, and his body doubled in size. His martial soul turned out to be the King of the Beasts: The Lion. Immediately afterwards, a pair of enormous palms met Bei Bei's charge. The martial soul of the person on the right was a lance, which turned into a ray of light as it shot towards Bei Bei's chest like a viper. Evidently this wasn't their first time working together. With one person standing in the front and the other person attacking from behind, they were extremely well coordinated. The lance-wielding soul master who was in the back made his move last, but his attack arrived first; his sharp lance shot straight towards Bei Bei's body.
Bei Bei wasn't afraid in the slightest as he faced their attacks. He let out a shout, and countless electric serpents surged from his body. They didn't just envelop the two soul masters in front of him, they also enveloped the other four soul masters behind them.
At the same time, the poignant sound of a flute rang out, which caused the speed of everyone that wasn't on Huo Yuhao's team to decrease. Xiao Xiao had chosen to release her Ninephoenix Worshipping Flute at the most appropriate time.
Bei Bei grabbed the sharp lance that was approaching him with his left dragon claw, which created an intense flurry of sparks. He then swept out with his right claw and sent the three-ringed assault-type master with the Lion martial soul flying.
Jiang Nannan jumped into the air soundlessly as this happened. She was simply too quick, such that even her figure couldn't be seen. She chose to make her move, aided by Huo Yuhao's Spiritual Detection, at the perfect time. The instant that the soul master who possessed the Lion martial soul flew into the air, his neck was clamped between her legs. She then twisted her waist and sent him flying away from their team.
The most important combatant among the six soul masters was naturally the one with the Lion martial soul. He was in charge of taking on Bei Bei's attacks in order to win some time for his teammates to surround them. However, he didn't think that a group of Soul Ancestors would be this strong. He'd been sent flying after trying to use just a single soul skill. Moreover, Jiang Nannan had shown mercy. Otherwise, she could've easily snapped his neck due to the difference in their power. Despite that, he flew into the air and joined the ranks of people standing next to Elder Xuan after being thrown by Jiang Nannan.
Xu Sanshi chose this moment to make his move. He entered the fray from Bei Bei's other side, and his enormous Shield of the Xuanwu Turtle suddenly grew in size and simultaneously blocked the skills of two agility-type soul masters and a control-type soul master. This was done in order to let Bei Bei focus all his power on attacking.
At the same time, the outcome of the battle between the lance-wielding Soul Elder and Bei Bei was revealed. In front of Bei Bei's Thunderous Dragon Claw, his opponent could only last for three seconds before being forced to join his teammate by Elder Xuan's side.
The soul masters in the rear naturally wouldn't just sit and watch while Bei Bei and the rest continued their onslaught. And out of them, the fiercest team was Dai Huabin's temporary team.
The effectiveness of Ning Tian's Seven Treasures Glazed Pagoda revealed itself again. With her support, the strengths of Dai Huabin, Xie Huanyue, Wu Feng, and Zhu Lu were all raised by a single tier. The four of them charged simultaneously, shooting towards Huo Yuhao, Wang Dong, and Xiao Xiao like an arrow, with Dai Huabin and Xie Huanyue spearheading the attack while Wu Feng and Zhu Lu flanked them.
Huo Yuhao and the rest were all at the back, while Bei Bei and Jiang Nannan were currently fighting. As a result, a hole had naturally formed in the rear of their formation.
Huo Yuhao paused, then revealed a brilliant smile towards Dai Huabin and the other people who were charging towards him. Right then, several dozen rays of intense white light shot out to intercept them.
With the accurate aim of Huo Yuhao's Spiritual Detection, every Soul Ray perfectly intercepted the movements of Dai Huabin and the rest of his team.
Among the ranks of these core disciples, the person who was the strongest in terms of combat strength and offensive power wasn't Bei Bei, nor was it Xu Sanshi. Rather, it was the person who'd just stepped through the threshold of a Class 4 soul engineer, He Caitou.
Under the Soul Emperor rank, soul engineers would have an advantage over soul masters of the same rank. Moreover, He Caitou was Fan Yu's first inheriting disciple and was hence one the best among his peers in terms of his attainments in the field of soul tool creation. This could easily be seen from the might of his soul tools. His soul tools were at least 20% stronger than those made by soul engineers of the same rank in both offensive and defensive capabilities.
Even Xu Sanshi wasn't confident that he could survive He Caitou's all-out barrage of attacks head-on. When facing a soul engineer, a similarly ranked soul master could only do one thing, that was, to do their best to consume their opponent's soul power in order to have a chance of winning.
The instant Bei Bei, Xu Sanshi, and Jiang Nannan released their attacks, He Caitou was already aware of them due to Huo Yuhao's Spiritual Detection and had changed his strategy accordingly. Because of this, they weren't worried about the rear of their formation at all. At the very least, for the time being, there was no chance of anybody breaking through the barrage of He Caitou's firepower.
Naturally, he wasn't omnipotent. With his current cultivation, he didn't dare to rashly release long-range attacks. Otherwise, the drain on his soul power would be too large. A soul engineer who had no soul power was equivalent to a tiger with no fangs.
A stationary soul tool was naturally an exception to this but if He Caitou actually dared to use one of them in a test, Fan Yu would definitely not forgive him.
"Form a line and charge!" A fourth-year student made a quick decision and shouted as he took the lead. He was also a defense-type Soul Elder, and he pushed his arms forward, causing them to immediately expand and become unusually thick. A purple thousand year soul ring around his body flickered, and thick scales began to form on his arms. He strode forward and blocked He Caitou's barrage of attacks.
Though this was their first time working together, they were elites of Shrek Academy's outer courtyard. Even a single warning would be sufficient to make them change their plans. The panicked group of people who hid behind the defense-type Soul Elder formed an orderly line and charged forward.
This defense-type Soul Elder naturally wasn't comparable to He Caitou, but he was able to temporarily block the latter's attacks by relying on his defensive skills. All he needed to do was help the people behind him approach Huo Yuhao's group.
Immediately, He Caitou reacted in a composed manner and stopped his attacks. in a composed manner. At the same time, an enormous cauldron blocked the path of the defense-type Soul Elder.
One of the advantages of advancing in single file was the fact that the range of attacks a team had to withstand would be greatly diminished. Even if He Caitou launched an arced attack, the destructive power of that attack would be greatly decreased. However, advancing in single file had its disadvantages as well. For example, the situation they were in right now. The moment the person at the front of the line was blocked, everyone behind him would have to stop as well. Moreover, a chaotic situation involving collisions of the people behind him could occur.
The people who charged forward felt a slight amount of dizziness flood their minds, and it seemed as though their surroundings had become somewhat illusory.
Huo Yuhao had activated his Spiritual Interference once more.
Spiritual Interference was absolutely not a useless skill. Although it wasn't especially effective, the slight dizziness caused by it could often change the situation of a battle. Furthermore, the greatest advantage of this skill lay in the fact that the user wouldn't suffer any backlash no matter what.
An enormous vertical eye soundlessly appeared at the other end of the orderly line and began to flash with a dazzling golden light. As the enormous Radiant Butterfly Goddess embraced and fused with the vertical eye, the golden light blossomed outwards.
The fusion of blue, purple, and gold formed a horizontal halo of dazzling light that left a brilliant Golden Road wherever it passed through. Following that a fantastic scene occurred, the orderly row of twelve core disciples were instantly dyed gold as the golden light passed through them.
Right, they had fallen into Huo Yuhao's schemes from the very start. As a spiritual control-type soul master, merely releasing his Spiritual Detection wasn't enough, he was controlling the flow of the entire match.
Regardless of whether it was Dai Huabin, Xie Huanyue, Wu Feng, Ning Tian and the others who were familiar with him, or the third and fourth-year students who were unfamiliar with him, absolutely none of them had thought that the two-ringed and three-ringed duo would be able to pose a threat.
Their attention had been drawn towards the four Soul Ancestors, Huo Yuhao had relied on this, in addition to He Caitou's powerful offensive capabilities, in order to lure them into a single line. Then, he and Wang Dong released their powerful fusion skill without any hesitation at all.
A Golden Road Amidst Withering Resplendence.
Even the six-ringed Soul Emperor who'd tried to kill them the other day had fallen into his trap, so naturally these core disciples who hadn't even reached the four-ringed rank didn't stand a chance.
As the twelve golden statues stood there, some of the students with weaker cultivations such as the Lan sisters and Huang Chutian began to fall into a critical condition.
The astonished Elder Xuan descended from the air and waved his right hand, causing a pure-white ray to envelop the bodies of every frozen student. Every student the ray landed on softly collapsed to the ground one by one.
The three-ringed students were comparatively better off as they were only left in an extremely disheveled state with their clothes corroded and their martial souls temporarily sealed. A large amount of their soul power had been consumed by the corroding Golden Road. However, the other two-ringed Soul Grandmasters had all fainted. If it weren't for Elder Xuan reacting in time, there was a chance that their lives would���ve been at risk.
Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong never thought that their Golden Road would be this effective and were briefly stunned by its effects. Over on the other side, Bei Bei, Xu Sanshi, and Jiang Nannan had also dealt with their six opponents. Impressively, the Soul Duelling Arena was only left with the seven of them.
He Caitou had his mouth wide open from astonishment, and so was Bei Bei's group of three.
The four Soul Ancestors had never thought that the test would actually end like this. The most decisive move in this battle had actually been Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong's.
Furthermore, there was even a pair of twins among their opponents who could release a fusion skill. However, their glory had all been overshadowed by Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong's 'A Golden Road Amidst Withering Resplendence'.
Dai Huabin was rendered speechless.
Ever since he'd lost to Huo Yuhao, Wang Dong, and Xiao Xiao in the finals of the freshmen assessment, he felt very unresigned. He'd always felt that he was much stronger than the three of them.
However, only now did they realize that Du Weilun's initial evaluation after blocking both of their fusion skills had been impartial. The Golden Road formed by Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong was truly something that their Netherworld White Tiger was unable to compare against. Though Dai Huabin didn't understand why this was the case, he still knew that he had thoroughly and completely lost after experiencing the evaporation of half of his soul power.
Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong glanced at each other. Other than happiness, what else could they see in each other's eyes?
The strength of a fusion skill was intimately related to the synergy between the two parties. Their Golden Road wasn't stronger than the Netherworld White Tiger in terms of the soul skills used, but rather in terms of the compatibility rate their martial souls had. The rarity of a 100% compatible fusion skill was even rarer than an Ultimate martial soul! Only, nobody had asked them about it.
Their cultivations had been steadily rising. Every single one of Huo Yuhao's soul rings had quietly risen to the 4200 year rank while Wang Dong had obtained the Golden Light soul bone. When compared to the day they'd been ambushed, their cultivations had increased by another level. Furthermore, the cooldown period between each use of the Golden Road had decreased to three days. Though all of their soul power would be drained with each use of the skill, the recovery ability of the Golden Light Left Arm Bone was currently helping the two of them recover their soul power as they held hands.
With his cultivation, Elder Xuan only needed a glance to assess the current state of affairs. When he confirmed that no one had been severely injured, he relaxed. He then waved towards the people on the edge of the stage.
Wang Yan, Mu Jin, and rest of the teachers immediately came over.
All of the teachers had witnessed the battle just now. When they gazed at Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong, they felt as if like they were looking at two monsters. Even in this academy of monsters, there shouldn't be someone so monstrous. One of them had two rings, while the other had three. And yet, somehow they'd been able to defeat twelve opponents whose cultivation weren't inferior to their own.
"Those that have been eliminated can head back. You seven, stay behind." Elder Xuan took a bite of his chicken leg when he'd finished. Behind the mass of chaotic hair that covered his face, a strange light flickered through his eyes. He carefully observed Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong.
The students that had fainted were able to regain consciousness with the help of the teachers. Many of them revealed dissatisfied expressions on their faces when they came to. Indeed, many of them hadn't even had enough time to display their full potential before they'd been eliminated.
Therefore, even when they heard Elder Xuan's words, none of them left. Instead, they all silently gazed at him.
Elder Xuan took another bite from his chicken leg, then snorted and said, "Are you all not convinced yet? If you're not convinced of something in the future, you'd better show it with your strength. Do you think that this chaotic battle was unfair? Do you think that it was unfair that you couldn't display all of your abilities amidst all those people, and that you therefore lost in an inconceivable way?"
None of the core disciples replied, but their answer was clear.
Elder Xuan curled his lips and continued, "Was it really that unfair? In a chaotic battle, everyone has to fight for themselves. When you're on the battlefield, do you have the luxury of picking the number of opponents you have to face, or the conditions of the battle? No, you don't. However, in a chaotic battle like this, you all do at least have the same starting point. As such, you won't find yourself in an immediately hopeless situation. With your current mindsets, none of you are qualified to become inner courtyard disciples. To tell you the truth, this 'unfair' chaotic battle is the best way to assess your actual strength. In this short chaotic battle, I was able to see how well each of you collaborates with others, your individual strength, and even your moral character. The saying that 'those that act in accordance to justice and morality will be widely supported' is utter bullshit. If you want someone's help, you'll need to have good relationships with others. Of course, you'll still need enough strength. However, a person who can't communicate is bound to be unsuccessful."
"A test that consists of a chaotic battle is an extremely common thing in the inner courtyard. If you can't even adapt to the situation, what qualifications do you possess to an inner courtyard disciple? Do you know what the most difficult situation encountered the inner courtyard disciples have faced is? Once, twelve inner courtyard disciples encountered a hundred thousand year soul beast when the teacher wasn't present. Eight of them died in battle. However, the four that survived now stand at the peak amongst the inner courtyard disciples. One of them even obtained the soul ring and soul bone of that hundred thousand year soul beast. Don't make mistakenly think that everything will be fine just because you're studying at Shrek Academy. If you want to become strong, you'll have to face life and death situations several times, even while inside the school."
Elder Xuan's tone was very flat. However, his words contained a formidable amount of spiritual power, which pounded into the hearts of the core disciples like a hammer.
"You should stop thinking that you'll become inner courtyard disciples just because you've managed to become core disciples of the outer courtyard. Even if you do manage to become one, don't think of it as something great, as that's just the starting point; a starting point that can decide your life and death. Do you know what the first thing students do when they become inner courtyard disciples is? They sign a contract of life and death. The only way you can become capable of making the impossible possible is by throwing away all regard for your life and your death. Only then will you be able to become a top-level soul master. Regardless of your family background, once you became an inner courtyard disciple of the academy, you'll become a real member of Shrek Academy. That means that, for your entire life, you'll carry Shrek Academy's mark. However, at the same time, it also means that you'll also face mortal danger every day. You might lose your life at any time. While you're still in the outer courtyard, your security can essentially be guaranteed. However, if you manage to enter the inner courtyard, you'll face all kinds of terrifying tests."
"Do you know how Shrek Academy managed to become the number one academy on the continent and how it managed to not fall over the past ten thousand years? It's all thanks to the efforts of the inner courtyard disciples. It's extremely rare for there to be more than fifty inner courtyard disciples. This is because every year, someone dies. Now then, does anyone still have any questions?"
Elder Xuan's voice had become even colder than normal towards the end. Based on his speech, the core disciples of the outer courtyard had come into contact with the world of the inner courtyard for the first time. It didn't give them hope, but rather somewhat stirred them up and gave them a solemn feeling when they thought about Shrek Academy's glory.
All of their previous resentment had vanished into thin air. Afterwards, all of the core disciples who'd been eliminated lowered their heads and left the Soul Dueling Area one after another. Every single word said by Elder Xuan had been deeply engraved in their hearts; they wouldn't forget any of them for the rest of their lives.
Wang Yan bowed deeply towards Elder Xuan and said, "Thank you for teaching these disciples an important lesson."
Elder Xuan took a swig of alcohol and faintly said, "I only explained to them how the world works." At that time, no one noticed that his eyes had teared due to the mass of chaotic hair that covered his face.
When those twelve disciples of the inner courtyard had faced that hundred thousand year soul beast alone, he had been the teacher leading them! Eight of them had died in that battle. This was both one of the saddest and one of the most heroic moments in Shrek Academy's history. Even now, he couldn't help but blame himself for the accident. From that moment on, he'd begun to drink heavily, and had given in to despair. He, who had once been Shrek Academy's number one genius, had fallen into despair. Originally, he was supposed to take over the positions of Dean of the Martial Soul Department and Master of the Sea God's Pavilion. However, given his circumstances, the Sea God's Pavilion had remained under Elder Mu's command.
Even after so many years had passed, the pain he felt was still buried deeply in the depths of his heart.
No one blamed him for the accident. However, he simply couldn't forgive himself.
Currently, only Huo Yuhao, Wang Dong, Xiao Xiao, Bei Bei, He Caitou, Xu Sanshi and Jiang Nannan were left inside the Soul Dueling Arena.
The seven of them quietly stood in a row. None of them bothered Elder Xuan, as they'd all been deeply affected by the sad atmosphere. Even though they'd prevailed over the others, their hearts felt extremely heavy at the moment.
Up until now, Shrek Academy's glory had never had anything to do with the outer courtyard disciples, which a lot of people felt was strange. However, they now realized why that glory belonged exclusively to the inner courtyard: The inner courtyard disciples had used their blood to gain their glory. Currently, a fire had begun to burn in their hearts. This was the so-called 'passing of the torch'. They too hoped to inherit a portion of the inner courtyard's glory.
Bei Bei, Xu Sanshi, and Jiang Nannan—who were already Year 5 students—had all fallen deep into thought. After all, they were very close to entering the inner courtyard.
Elder Xuan slowly turned around and said to the seven, "Every one of you should have heard about Shrek's Seven Monsters, right? In the front door of our academy, you can find the sculptures of the founders of the academy, and those of the original Shrek's Seven Monsters. Do you know how the original Shrek's Seven Monsters gained their reputation?"
At that time, none of them even thought of interrupting Elder Xuan. They chose to keep listening in silence.
"At that time, the head of the Golden Iron Triangle, the Four-eyed Eaglecat Flanders, had just established Shrek Academy," Elder Xuan said in a grave tone, "however, there weren't many teachers, and the number of students was even fewer than the number of teachers. As such, Dean Flanders proposed that the academy only accept monsters, and that they should disregard the average person. Later on, this became the academy's slogan. Nonetheless, finding monsters wasn't an easy task. It was only when the original Shrek's Seven Monsters appeared that the academy had the opportunity to rise."
"They gained the title of Shrek's Seven Monsters for several reasons. One of them was because they were monstrous geniuses that hailed from Shrek Academy. Furthermore, they were also the only students of the academy at the time. However, the most important reason, and also the reason that caused our academy to become famous, is because they represented the academy at the Elite Continental Soul Master Tournament. When the tournament began, nobody thought much of Shrek Academy. Back then, the academy was still unknown. However, Shrek's Seven Monsters relied on their strength to defeat all of their opponents and to barge into the finals. The opponents they faced in the finals came from the then-powerful Martial Soul Hall. And then, even though they were weaker than their enemy, Shrek's Seven Monsters still managed to obtain the final victory under Ancestor Tang San's lead. That day, the foundation that would lead our academy towards becoming the number one academy on the continent was finally laid down. At the same time, the first generation of Shrek's Seven Monsters became famous."
"To thank the first generation of Shrek's Seven Monsters for their contributions, the academy chooses a new group of Shrek's Seven Monsters every five years. These seven will then represent the academy in the Continental Advanced Academy Soul Duelling Tournament, which is held every five years. The Elite Tournament part was changed to Soul Dueling Tournament alongside the appearance of soul tools. However, this great event has a different meaning from the past."
"Originally, the Sun Moon Empire was defeated due to the coalition of our three great empires. However, our three empires also suffered heavy losses. For several thousand years now, the Sun Moon Empire has done its best to research and develop new soul tools. As such, their strength has continuously risen as a result. At the end of the day, the three empires are exactly what their names imply: Three different empires. The three of them aren't of the same mind. If the Sun Moon Empire hasn't made any moves yet, it's because they can't completely assure themselves that they'll win. As long as our Shrek Academy remains standing, they won't dare to act rashly."
"I'm absolutely not bragging when I say this. If the Sun Moon Empire really wants to dominate the continent, the one they'd need to deal with isn't the Star Luo, Heavenly Soul, or Dou Ling Empire, but rather our Shrek Academy. This is because only our academy has the power to rally the three empires together, and to make them resist the Sun Moon Empire. Only we have enough power to deal with the Sun Moon Empire's top-ranked soul tools."
"The Sun Moon Empire wouldn't dare launch a full-scale war just to test our strength either. However, they���re constantly trying to probe it. And the best method for them to do so is exactly through the Continental Advanced Academy Soul Duelling Tournament. Therefore, our real opponent in this tournament is the Sun Moon Empire's Imperial Soul Engineering Academy."