At that moment, Li Yusong walked over with a smile, saying, "So you're all here. I guess I won't need to call you one by one. Let's head directly to the fourth test."
As soon as Li Yusong spoke, some of the second test candidates voiced their dissatisfaction. A male candidate stood up and asked, "Teacher, why do they get to skip the second and third tests and go straight to the fourth one? That's not fair!"
Li Yusong looked at the boy with a calm expression and replied, "If your spirit power level was also above twenty-five, you could also go directly to the fourth test. If not, then you'll just have to complete each test as assigned."
"Twenty-five spirit power? That's impossible!" the male candidate exclaimed in disbelief. "How could anyone under thirteen have a spirit power above twenty-five?"
"Thirteen years old and already above twenty-five spirit power? That's not realistic! They must be getting special treatment!" murmurs spread among the candidates, all nodding in agreement.
Li Yusong frowned at the accusations. "Special treatment? Do you think our academy operates that way?"
Turning his head towards Zhao Ming and the group, Li Yusong gestured for them to demonstrate.
Without hesitation, each of them released their martial souls.
Four powerful spirits manifested, and the sheer intensity of the spirit power caused the air around them to ripple.
The students present gasped in shock.
"Look at that girl! She's a Spirit Elder!"
"A thousand-year spirit ring! I can't believe it!"
"That guy's spirit ring is orange! What's going on?"
"Those other two look just as strong! Their spirit power must be above level twenty-five as well."
Murmurs of astonishment spread throughout the crowd, and even the teacher supervising the second test was stunned.
Both Ning Rongrong and Zhu Zhuqing were also momentarily taken aback. They hadn't yet seen Zhao Ming and Xiao Wu's spirits and were clearly surprised.
Now that their strength was displayed, no one had any more complaints. According to Shrek Academy's rules, students with a spirit power above twenty-five could skip the intermediary tests and go directly to the fourth trial.
The fourth test, of course, involved facing Zhao Wuji.
But Zhao Ming wasn't worried.
Since receiving Medusa as his spirit ring, Zhao Ming had yet to test her abilities. This trial would be the perfect opportunity to gauge her power against Zhao Wuji.
After all, Medusa was skilled in snake combat techniques, and her original form as the Sky Swallowing Python indicated immense strength.
Though her abilities would be diminished somewhat now that she was his spirit ring, Zhao Ming's spirit power wasn't weak either. With his level thirty-five spirit power, he figured her power output should at least be at the level of a high-ranking Spirit Ancestor, if not a Spirit King.
Soon, he'd know for sure.
"We've arrived," Li Yusong said, stopping in front of a clearing slightly smaller than the previous one. At its center, a stocky man lounged in a chair, seemingly half-asleep.
"Old Zhao, the candidates for the fourth test are here," Li Yusong called out, patting the man on the shoulder.
"Huh? Already got fourth-round candidates? And four of them?" the burly man blinked awake, looking surprised.
"Yes, so I'll leave them in your hands," Li Yusong said, giving the group a nod before departing.
"This is Zhao Wuji, one of our teachers and the vice-principal of Shrek Academy. He'll be overseeing your fourth test," Li Yusong introduced.
Zhao Wuji's gaze swept over the group, and his eyes gleamed with interest as he stood up. Though short, he had a solid, muscular build that radiated power.
"Four, huh? Not bad for this year's intake. You must all have at least twenty-five spirit power to make it this far so quickly. But don't think my test will be easy," Zhao Wuji said with a sly grin.
"As you may have already heard, I'm Zhao Wuji, a seventy-sixth level Spirit Saint with a Beast Martial Soul. I'll be personally overseeing your trial."
"You don't need to defeat me. All you need to do is defend against my attacks. I'll be grading you based on your performance. If just one of you manages to last through a stick of incense, you'll pass."
"A Spirit Saint? How can we possibly hold our ground against that?" Xiao Wu grumbled.
"Don't worry. I'm here," Zhao Ming reassured her with a smile, gently squeezing her hand.
"Okay," Xiao Wu's mood quickly lifted, feeling safe and protected by Zhao Ming's presence.
With Xiao Wu calmed, Zhao Ming turned to Ning Rongrong and Zhu Zhuqing. "Let's talk about our martial souls and strategize."
"I'll go first. My name is Zhao Ming. My martial soul is the Puppet, and I'm a level thirty-five Spirit Elder."
Xiao Wu followed, "I'm Xiao Wu. My Beast Martial Soul is the Soft Bone Rabbit. I'm a level thirty-one Spirit Elder."
"I'm Ning Rongrong, Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Pagoda, a level twenty-six Auxiliary Spirit Master," Ning Rongrong said.
"Zhu Zhuqing, Ghost Civet, level twenty-seven Agility Attack Spirit Master," Zhu Zhuqing added in her usual cold tone.
The four briefly exchanged surprised glances before all eyes landed on Zhao Ming.
"Zhao Ming, how old are you?" Zhu Zhuqing asked, her curiosity piqued. Shrek Academy's strict age limit meant no new students could be older than thirteen. Yet, a thirty-five spirit power at such a young age seemed almost impossible.
"I'm twelve," Zhao Ming replied with a smile.
"Twelve?!"
Both Ning Rongrong and Zhu Zhuqing were left dumbfounded by his response.
"Alright, let's plan our approach. Ning Rongrong, you're from the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Sect, right?" Zhao Ming asked.
"Yes. I can use my two spirit rings to boost your speed and strength by about thirty percent. I have enough spirit power to sustain the effect for an entire incense stick," Ning Rongrong replied confidently.
"Great. You'll stay at the back and provide support. The rest of us will handle the front line. Xiao Wu and I will take the lead in attacking, while Zhu Zhuqing handles sneak attacks from the sides," Zhao Ming said.
Everyone nodded in agreement.
"All set? Let's get started," Zhao Ming called out to Zhao Wuji.
As they moved into position, Zhao Ming held onto Ning Rongrong's soft hand. "Stay close to me. I'll protect you. Zhao Wuji will definitely target you first since you're our support," he said.
"Okay." Ning Rongrong had initially thought Zhao Ming was trying to take advantage of her by holding her hand, but when she heard his explanation, she relaxed and stopped pulling away. He was rightโZhao Wuji would undoubtedly go after her first.
Although Zhao Ming had no ulterior motives, hearing him say, "I'll protect you," made Ning Rongrong feel a warm sensation in her heart.
Could it be?
She glanced at Zhao Ming's calm expression and realized he hadn't meant anything more by it. It seemed she was overthinking things.
---
๐ ๐ฌ๐๐ฃ๐ฉ ๐ฉ๐ค ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ข๐ค๐ข๐๐ฃ๐ฉ ๐ฉ๐ค ๐๐ญ๐ฅ๐ง๐๐จ๐จ ๐ข๐ฎ ๐๐ง๐๐ฉ๐๐ฉ๐ช๐๐ ๐ฉ๐ค ๐ฉ๐๐ค๐จ๐ ๐ฌ๐๐ค ๐จ๐ช๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ค๐ง๐ฉ ๐ข๐ ๐ค๐ฃ ๐ฉ๐๐๐จ ๐๐ค๐ช๐ง๐ฃ๐๐ฎ. ๐๐ค๐ช๐ง ๐๐ค๐ฃ๐ฉ๐ง๐๐๐ช๐ฉ๐๐ค๐ฃ๐จ ๐ข๐๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ง๐๐๐ก ๐๐๐๐๐๐ง๐๐ฃ๐๐!
๐ฆ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฎ๐น ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ป๐ธ๐ ๐๐ผ:
โข ๐ฝ๐ค๐๐๐๐ฃ ๐๐ค๐ฅ๐๐จ๐๐ช
โข ๐ ๐๐ญ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ฎ
โข ๐ผ๐๐ข๐๐ง๐๐๐๐
โข ๐๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ฏ ๐ ๐ผ๐ฒ๐ฒ
๐๐ ๐ฎ ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐๐ฟ๐ผ๐ป, ๐๐ผ๐ ๐๐ป๐น๐ผ๐ฐ๐ธ:
โข ๐๐ ๐ฐ๐น๐๐๐ถ๐๐ฒ ๐๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฒ๐๐: ๐๐๐ฉ ๐ด๐ฑ+ ๐๐๐ซ๐๐ฃ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ฅ๐ฉ๐๐ง๐จ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ค๐ ๐๐ซ๐๐ง๐ฎ๐ค๐ฃ๐ ๐๐ก๐จ๐.
โข ๐๐ ๐ฐ๐น๐๐๐ถ๐๐ฒ ๐ฆ๐ต๐ผ๐๐-๐ข๐๐: ๐๐๐๐๐๐ซ๐ ๐ ๐จ๐ฅ๐๐๐๐๐ก ๐จ๐๐ค๐ช๐ฉ ๐๐ซ๐๐ง๐ฎ ๐๐๐๐ฅ๐ฉ๐๐ง ๐๐จ ๐ ๐ฉ๐๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ฎ๐ค๐ช ๐๐ค๐ง ๐ฎ๐ค๐ช๐ง ๐จ๐ช๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ค๐ง๐ฉ!
๐ฌ๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐๐๐ฝ๐ฝ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ ๐ป๐ผ๐ ๐ผ๐ป๐น๐ ๐ณ๐๐ฒ๐น๐ ๐บ๐ ๐ฐ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐๐ถ๐๐ ๐ฏ๐๐ ๐ฎ๐น๐๐ผ ๐ต๐ฒ๐น๐ฝ๐ ๐บ๐ฒ ๐ด๐ฟ๐ผ๐ ๐๐ต๐ถ๐ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐บ๐บ๐๐ป๐ถ๐๐. ๐๐ณ ๐๐ผ๐'๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ป๐ผ๐ ๐ฎ ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐๐ฟ๐ผ๐ป ๐๐ฒ๐, ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ป๐๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ท๐ผ๐ถ๐ป๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐!
๐ ๐ ๐ค๐๐ฃ ๐ฃ๐ค๐ฌ: ๐๐๐ฉ๐ง๐๐ค๐ฃ.๐๐ค๐ข/๐๐ค๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ง