Their time of rest ended. Yu Tian stood up and entered the centre arena. Three serious elders focused their attention only on Yu Tian.
One could tell on a first glance: these elders were absolute masters. It didn't look like they did anything, but everyone could feel the pressure growing. Even the three on the sideline.
Yu Tain summoned his Soul Rings. Yellow, Yellow, Purple. The two Yellow Rings were of a deeper colour, signs of being above 900 years of cultivation already.
His second soul ring shone brightly. His shield turned into 10 shields.
The shields started dancing. First forming a dome, then smoothly transitioning into a globe. The globe seamlessly transitioned into a defensive line, the shields overlapping one another to be stronger defensively. In the whole process, not once did the shields hit or disturb one another.
His first soul ring lit up, releasing a Dragon's Roar. This was followed by the shields forming a cage-like dome again and the roar was now centred inward. The sound from different shields overlapped, amplifying each other in turn. This was why getting caught in this was a death trap most of the time.
His presentation was elegant. It reminded one of an organised dance of a well practised group. It had its own choreography and everything.
Finally, the shields became a row, each one in front of one another. His third Soul Ring lit up.
All ten of the shields were enlarged. As fast as he could, Yu Tian then activated his first Soul Ring. He could only keep this up for a very short time.
The Dragon's Roar shouted from the back, and each one of the shields amplified it exactly when the previous one hit it, sending a stronger roar forward. It reached the final shield and the Dragon's Roar made the whole room tremble. It was much stronger than what he released when combining the sound with Karni's own.
That being said, Karni's way of doing it didn't use up nearly as much Soul Power, it was quite conservative actually.
The shields disappeared and Yu Tian looked like all of his blood was drained from him. He stared at the teachers. "There is one more thing. I have a Soul Fusion with Li Tai over there. But I can't present it right now due to my low soul power. Forgive me."
One of the elder's who had a kind face began speaking. "Excellent use of your abilities. Your control over them is immaculate and you're well aware of your perks, including the flaws. Good. If you wish to improve your control, learn to control shields individually at the same time and in a disorganised manner. The more control you have, the better your efficiency in forming whatever shape you might need in battle."
Yu Tian thought about it. That would indeed help him train control, despite controlling the shields individually not being a good tactic in battle. It was an excellent way to train instead. He bowed in thanks.
"Very well. You may leave." The old man waved him goodbye.
"Wait a minute." The leftmost elder said. His eyes and hair felt like a moving flame.
"What is that damaged part on your martial soul?"
Yu Tian summoned it out again.
"When we were fighting in the second trial we faced a Chomping Goat, it was my job to keep one of them busy while the others defeated the first one."
The elder's brows raised for a fraction of a second, before returning to normal. "Hmm. Good. What is your Soul Fusion called?"
"Dragon in the Clouds."
"Thank you. You may return."
Yu Tian did so, not sure if he did well or not. It felt good at the start, but not so much at the end.
Li Tai patted his friend's back in comfort and went onto the stage. Nervous, but confident.
He summoned his Cloud Sword. Much like Yu Tian, his soul rings were Yellow, Yellow, Purple. His Yellow soul rings already showed signs of purple here and there, they were just on the edge of a breakthrough.
He started simple. His first Soul Ring, Cloud Cutter.
He showed his swordsmanship forms. He came from a family of swords. A family of Cloud Swords in fact, their techniques were suitably called the Cloud Swordsmanship. The forms were agile and quick, making light cuts around the same area, before focusing on a final point. Then he did that faster and faster, before it all seemed like a single move.
He breathed in to calm down, deactivating the ability. Then he activated his second Soul Ring, Cloud Change.
The sword turned invisible, and Li Tai started slashing, he purposefully slashed through his arms as well. These two abilities were a staple of the Li Family. The swordsmanship took into consideration the phasing through material objects as well.
Then his first ring shone again. The blade stayed invisible yet he stopped it on his skin and made a small cut that wouldn't hurt anyone. After showcasing the rule of the ability, he went into Cloud Swordsmanship again, which now seemed different. More trickery and elegant, yet just as effective.
Finally he activated his third Soul Ring. He tapped his feet with the sword and began to fly around while showing his balance with the Cloud Swordsmanship. So the basic stances were completed, now effective while moving around with absolute freedom.
He landed back on the ground and bowed. He felt quite satisfied with his performance.
The kind elder was again, the first to begin. "Tell me, what is your third Soul Skill exactly?"
Li Tai told them. "It's called Floating Cloud. It puts a constant fast forward momentum on anything I touch. Our family has learned to control it with our feet to make us fast with our swordsmanship."
"What a waste." The red haired elder on the other side scoffed.
"Pardon?" Li Tai was caught off guard.
"You're telling me the ability is so much more than what you've shown yet you don't utilise that?"
Li Tai tried to argue back. "It has been used this way in my family for generations."
"This isn't your family's house, boy, it's Shrek Academy. If you can only think of using Floating Cloud in such a way, then you have little future in Shrek Academy."
Indignation rose up in Li Tai. He wanted to argue back, protect his family's legacy. But how could he argue against these elders? He'll just bite his tongue and continue on.
"You still aren't convinced?" The red haired elder raised his eyebrow. "Shield boy. Come here."
Yu Tian came up front, feeling uncomfortable for his friend.
"Sword boy. Apply your third skill to Shield boy's arm. Shield boy. Fight against it, but don't dodge out of the way. And you can't use your Martial Soul." The rough elder leaned on the table, looking a bit bored.
Li Tai and Yu Tian glanced at each other. Li Tai activated his third Soul Ring and touched Yu Tian's arm. Yu Tian resisted it, but his arm was clearly being pulled. Sometimes left, other times right. It was a chaotic pull.
"Now apply it to shield boy's Martial Soul. Strike with force and put a good chunk of Soul Power into it."
Yu Tian regained control of his arm, then summoned his Martial Soul. Li Tai swung his sword, which was even glowing slightly, due to a big amount of Soul Power put into it.
The shield started to flow uncontrollably, even raising Yu Tian off his feet at times. Yu Tian had great trouble controlling it.
"You may go back." If the elder had to explain to Li Tai how he was wasting his Soul Skill after this, then Li Tai wouldn't deserve to enter Shrek Academy.
Li Tai went back and sat down. He closed his eyes to meditate. He didn't want to admit it, but it was true. His family has been under-utilising this ability for the sake of tradition and forms. He might cause a change. With this, he has a chance to even upgrade how their swordsmanship was used with this ability in mind.
Their family had understanding and tradition up until the fifth Soul Ring. They had a constant set up of Soul Skills. Fixed Spirit Souls to use. Yet it seems that they have underutilised some things. This made him wonder. What else have they missed?
Li Tai was left alone to mull things over, but the exam didn't wait. Siduo was up next. Her Hell Cat Martial Soul appeared. It had three Purple Soul Rings. The elders finally had a visible change in reaction.
Her first Soul Ring shone, Siduo sped up immediately. While doing so, she began using the Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track, showing an illusionary dance.
At times, her speed allowed her to use air currents she created. Though this came mostly thanks to the Tang Sect technique rather than her pure speed and was rarely useful in battle, where everyone disturbed the surroundings.
Next, her second Soul Ring shone. Hundreds of claw strikes followed, but they were all a misty blue. She was using the Mysterious Jade Hands with them.
The claws began fusing into one another, making them stronger, then they all focused at one point and her third Soul Ring activated. Hundred Hell Claws into Hell Blade. The force of the second skill infused into the third one. Her hand became one giant black energy slash with icy blue light in between.
She slashed downward, then suddenly changed its direction to 90 degrees in an unnatural manner. Karni wasn't the only one who's learned to use the Controlling Crane Capturing Dragon. Siduo trained in it on their way home from Star Luo Continent, while Karni was locked in the room creating his Augmented Reality Glasses. Her mastery wasn't particularly high, but it was decent enough to showcase.
The slash was sent above the examiners, so they could feel the force behind it.
She stopped for a second.
This time it was the red haired elder who was the first to speak. "Very good."
"Wait, I haven't finished." Siduo put up her hand, not allowing the disturbance to break her concentration.
"Oh? Continue then." The elder leaned back, interested.
Siduo called forth her second Martial Soul. Four rings appeared. Purple, Purple, Purple, Black.
The elders' eyes went wide. She's a Soul Ancestor! And has Twin Martial Souls!
Her two big White Tiger Transformations activated. Then she quickly switched and added speed, showcasing she can keep both abilities active. Her body transformed, diamond layers and mighty golden muscles bulged, yet she was light thanks to her Hell Cat Martial Soul skills. The elders weren't actually sure how she was keeping abilities from both Martial Souls active. Theory on Twin Martial Souls was vastly lacking in research even today.
It was all thanks to her ability to do a self-fusion. Normal beast type Twin Martial Souls definitely couldn't both be activated. To that degree, even those with tool types in history had trouble keeping multiple skills active, though at least there it was known to be possible. Xiao Xiao from ten thousand years ago was known to be able to do that.
Siduo's second Soul Ring shone and she threw out an incredibly forceful and fast light wave, the Crystal Light Wave. In mid air, she had no trouble controlling it. Like making a ball spin in a way you want.
Then her fourth and last Soul Ring turned dark. Her body transformed into rock, shining like the sun. She rushed in a single direction, before abruptly stopping, yet the rock originally enveloping her continued as a single meteor.
The eyebrows of the elders changed. What incredible control and understanding over her own Soul Skills!
She caught her breath then focused. Two types of energies gathered around her. One white and one black.
Her two Martial Souls in equilibrium, but not yet fusing. She started switching between her two martial souls in quick succession, though they clearly lacked a little of control like what she showed before. This was why she showed her skills individually first, or showcased the best combinations she had fluid control over. When she did this, her control waned.
The skills' abilities were clearly additive to each other's powers in this way, the only way she could switch between her two Martial Souls so fast was thanks to the fact she had them partly fused, yet kept them at a distance. This was something that any type of a normal Twin Martial Soul Master couldn't even hope to achieve.
The audience looked in awe. The teachers were clearly excited. They finally understood how she kept the skill active before. If she could do this, then of course abilities could stay active in the background with enough practice. Then her two energies finally fused.
Hell White Tiger appeared. Self fusion.
The tiger mixed white and black forming an almost reflective surface on the fur. In the next moment, it grew devil like horns. The outside looked like it was covered by a sea of blood.
Finally, 20 shapes of gold that looked like growing sharp paper appeared around her. They flowed like leaves in the wind, forming shapes, flowers, shields, swords.
The glowing stripes paused and in the middle formed two Soul Rings. The rings fused. Two. Then another two appeared, those two fused as well. A single immense attack was released. Hell Blade, Hell Hundred Claws, Light Diamond Wave and Sun Tiger Meteor were fused together in an explosive manner.
The hotheaded teacher stood up, watching with awe. What a powerful attack! It reached the levels of a Soul Emperor's attack!
Siduo reappeared.
"Excellent!" The kind elder said. "What were those last two abilities?"
"My Soul Bones and Soul Ring fusion." Siduo was honest. This was Shrek, and no one doubted the reputation of Shrek. She wouldn't hide things here.
"Soul Bones? Soul Ring fusion? Was that two different Soul Bones? And I'm guessing the rings can only be fused in your self-fusion?" The flaming elder spoke a bit too quickly.
Siduo nodded. "Yes to all."
"Very well," he sat down, feeling satisfied. "You may go."
Another elder, the one in the middle, the one who had yet to react until now, nodded her head in approval.
Siduo went back and Karni checked on her Soul Power consumption. She just shook her head, saying that it's alright, then started meditating.
Karni's heart now began beating harder. It was finally his turn. He finally knew how the others felt.
He stepped in front of the three elders. They already looked interested. They have noticed the intentions of these children. If everything went as before, Karni would attempt to do something as impressive as Siduo, but because of Siduo's excellent performance, there was doubt about Karni. Expectations were high.
Karni felt the pressure around him. He concentrated on it, losing himself to the surrounding sound.
He breathed deeply and focused. He summoned his martial soul and soul rings with it. Purple, Purple, Purple, Black.
The elder's eyes focused, the same configuration as Wu Siduo.
Karni started with his third ring. Sonic Rhythm. He focused it all on the bo staff.
The room trembled. Waves of sound were released from the staff. Then they started overlapping each other, bouncing off of one another. Everytime sound bounced from a corner of the room, it hit the incoming soundwaves just well enough where it felt like it created a song. Frequencies. He was playing with frequencies.
This itself already showed his control over the Element of Sound. IIt was clear to the elders. Karni understood his Element's Heart.
He sent the sound out, but used the sound of the room itself to amplify it. Then his fourth Soul Ring shone and Karni swung his bo staff.
Just the simple swing felt like it sent out multiple harmonic notes, like a treble.
Then he disappeared and reappeared elsewhere. Where he appeared another series of harmonic notes sounded. Then he Shifted again. He was playing a song through teleportation and control of the sound through his active Sonic Rhythm.
The song sounded mystic. Something one couldn't truly explain. For Karni himself, he was letting the song play itself. The sound he always heard when he focused on the song his Martial Soul released. The song of the Staff of Prediction itself.
These actions were incredibly spiritually taxing, but Karni didn't think about that; he let all of his mind focus on the rhythm of his martial soul.
He channelled his first soul ring, and for him, the sound changed, the future and the present of the song coming together in a beautiful harmony. He could now hear the more complex parts of the song, and made it better.
He then spoke. Even his voice was harmonic. "Elders, if you would please not resist my second Soul Skill. It acts like sharing. If you would please look into my eyes. It is called Vision Bestowal."
The elders nodded. His words went with the flow of the very song. The flow of the room.
Karni activated his second Soul Ring, the elders looked at his eyes and suddenly their world changed. Now they heard the same song Karni was hearing. Yet they saw his future movements as well, in a beautiful golden moving image.
"Future sight? How? With sound? Amazing." The red haired elder said in awe while the kind elder shushed him.
She was right to shush him. His voice didn't fit the melody, but Karni quickly brought it back on track.
He Shifted faster and faster. His movements changed. He started using the Drunken Ghost Dance in rhythm.
His Bo Staff started bending unnaturally using Controlling Crane Capturing Dragon. The sound changed, it fastened, it bent, then bounced, yet still always formed a cohesive whole. Even the future they saw; it fit the rhythm. Everything fit together. This was what it meant for his Sound to come from the source of Space and Time.
Then his eyes shone in a purple light, granting him more control over the intricacies. He saw the soundwaves, felt them. His control changed, the music taking another new turn.
This was the first time in this presentation that he truly started manipulating the sound. Until now, he simply went alongside it.
The song was reaching a clear crescendo, gathering in the middle of the room, just around Karni.
The sound began spinning in a single way, the frequencies forming a spiral around Karni. The spiral pointed sideways, changing the flow in a single direction towards the flaming elder. The elder simply nodded, preparing to take the attack. Seeing the wondrous things this child was doing, this was likely going to be something that can only be felt, but not seen.
Finally a silver crow appeared on his head. It was his Soul Bone. A single streak of invisible light was shot through the spiral of music. Karni was in the moment. He infused the music into the spiritual ray of energy.
The sound was sucked into it. All of it sent into the flaming elder in a fused manner.
A beautiful explosion of harmonies exploded all at once. Ending the song.
Karni tried to keep himself straight, mentally exhausted. He never focused on offence, even that last part. His soul bone was a type of attack, sure, but the infusion was something not at all connected to actually attacking, but control and understanding of the element.
The flaming elder stood still. "Amazing. Music and sounds are running wild in my body, disturbing even my own senses. My soul power was also paralysed for a second there. Must be the skill of the Soul Bone."
The middle elder who's been quiet until now finally spoke. "That attack. You infused all of the sound into that spiritual ray. Your control, as well as the level that the sound can manipulate. I saw space bending every now and then. Child, you have the Ultimate Element."
Karni bowed as if ending a performance before looking back up. He didn't need to confirm such things. Ultimate Element simply meant your element was at the peak of something. Of course Karni's was, since it meddled with space and time. They already knew everything from that single sentence. He had other matters he still wanted to pursue. "I have one more thing to show, but it isn't connected to this Martial Soul."
They looked weirdly at him. He also had a second Martial Soul?
"This Martial Soul has yet to have any additional Soul Rings under the orders of my teacher, but I have developed its Bloodline. The only way to show its peculiar properties is to touch someone, if I would be so shameless as to ask you to allow me to demonstrate this."
"Come." The middle elder offered her hand, for the first time now fully interacting like the fiery elder did before.
Karni took note of her. Calling her an elder didn't feel quite right. She was an absolute beauty. With beautiful green hair and eyes.
Then he realised. Wasn't this person super important to the whole school?
Karni circulated his Bloodline and held her hand, infusing his power of Relaxin Aura.
Shock appeared in the elder's eyes. She used some of her Soul Power.
"Interesting. What a soothing feeling. You actually made me feel as if you were my friend." She looked at Karni, who felt pressured by those eyes.
"Good." She said. "You may return."
Karni looked a bit awkward. "Umm. I do have one more thing to say."
The beautiful elder raised her eyebrows. It now felt a bit unnatural. So much happened already.
"I've had visions of the far future before as well. I think it's connected to my first Martial Soul. When my friends were in danger, or when events deeply connected to those I care about or myself happened, I could see these things by at least a month before. Though I never controlled it before."
"Do you realise what you're claiming right now?" She now had a look of doubt on her. His words were incredulous.
"I wasn't going to tell this, as I know how absurd it is." He took a deep breath. "But these visions have shown me events… bad events at times, which, when happened, I couldn't really change. It has been frustrating, and I feel that greater understanding of this is crucial. It could save lives. My friends lives-"
The green elder raised her hand to stop him.
If this wasn't the wife of the Pavillion Master of the whole Shrek Academy, Karni wouldn't be saying this. But he did think the ability was crucial. If he could control it, or at least influence it, he could do good. Prevent disasters at best, but at the very least, protect his friends and family.
Siduo stood up from behind, knowing his intentions. "He had four visions so far. Two of those were 4 years ago when I was in danger and one was about a year ago when we were on an island. The last was on the Star Luo Continent, but it was his least clear one."
Karni looked back at her, thankful. At least he didn't sound mad.
The elder summoned her Martial Soul. Nine rings appeared on her. 6 Black and 3 Red. Angelic wings spread throughout the room. The pressure Karni felt from up close was… immeasurable.
"Tell me again." She said while softly touching Karni's head. "Don't worry, it won't hurt, unless you lie."
Karni told her everything again. How they felt, and that so far, the visions were either undecided or fixed, and he hadn't actually changed anything yet. In one vision, the song from before was played. And the last one was only images, yet more than half a year has passed since then, and nothing happened.
The woman sighed. "I'm sorry for doubting you. You're quite a good hearted boy aren't you." She could see parts of his memories as well in that moment. To be more exact, his feelings. She could sense the care he had for Siduo.
"Very good. I believe you. Oh, and cherish her." She winked to him secretly and whispered so only he could hear. Karni felt like he was seen through.
"I'm glad I decided to stay a bit longer than usual. Elder Zhuo, Elder Han, I shall leave now. I need to inform the Pavillion Master about this. The boy was honest, and such power indeed begets appropriate teaching."
The two elders stood up in respect and bowed.
"I'll tell Elder Cai to come in my stead. I was filling in as a favour anyway."
The two elder's looked soured a little bit when they heard. On the other hand Karni was happy. They've dodged a bullet. As long as this Elder Cai wasn't here, nothing could go wrong. Though since she was now coming here… Hopefully the next few tests don't go south.
Karni sat down. Siduo approached him. "That song was beautiful."
"Thanks. It took a lot of effort. My Spiritual Power is almost exhausted. But it seemed to also go through a qualitative change just then. I've never gone all out in such an unaggressive manner before."
Siduo chuckled a bit. "It still wasn't as beautiful as your song by the bonfire that day though."
"Oh come on. I had a ukulele and couldn't even play it right. I'll play you that song in the future when I figure out a way around that prideful Martial Soul of mine." He still couldn't play instruments.
"I'm looking forward to it."
The elders then gathered. The beautiful lady was still here. She had to announce the results after all. She put on a beautiful smile.
"Yu Tian: 7 points. Li Tai: 5 points. Wu Siduo: 10 points and Val Karni: 10 points. Congratulations."
They sent the group of four ahead. Li Tai wasn't disappointed in his result anymore. He understood what he did wrong. Karni's song actually helped clear his mind when he was meditating. He had so many ideas he wished to try out at the moment.
They rested for a few moments. This time, everyone but Li Tai were exhausted. Sitting in front of the waiting area of the next room, they heard the rumours of the students.
The next test was regarding their second profession.