A small smile curved Jiang Mo's lips. But his eyes stayed narrowed, still testing.
"…Continue."
Jun Wuhen bowed slightly again.
"I hope to join the gathering of true geniuses. To learn, to grow—and perhaps, to be qualified to call myself your equal in the future."
The sincerity in his voice was unmistakable.
Chu Yue stepped up beside him, hands behind her back, silver-grey hair swaying, eyes bright.
"And I want to learn too! If there's a chance to grow stronger, I'll grab it."
Her gaze drifted—quite obviously—to Jun Wuhen's back, but she quickly coughed and pretended to look serious.
Jiang Mo observed them both for a moment.
And then—
He nodded.
"You are straightforward. That, I like. Since you've come with sincerity, Spirit Hall won't turn you away."
He said it calmly, but everyone around them understood:
Being acknowledged by Jiang Mo meant you were accepted by the strongest young generation of Spirit Hall.
Even Feng Xiaotian and Huo Wu felt their hearts tighten with urgency.
"So," Jiang Mo said, folding his arms, "welcome to the gathering of geniuses in this era."
This was the gathering of geniuses in the current era, it needs to be seen if these geniuses will create a storm in the future.
----
Soutuo City
Soutuo City—one of the two great cities of the Balak Kingdom. Its granaries were the pride of the kingdom, and its massive garrison made it a fortress few dared to provoke. Merchants moved in and out like a flowing river, and soldiers patrolled with the discipline of a sharpened blade.
After "that night," when emotions ran wild and reason had been tossed aside due to Qian Renxue's psychological cues, Liu Erlong woke the next morning with a storm raging in her heart. Shame, anger, and confusion churned together. Her fists clenched, teeth ground, and killing intent flickered in her eyes.
Flender, who had long admired her from afar, felt as if his chest had been hollowed out.He knew… he knew he had crossed a line he should never have crossed.
Friendship built over decades. Trust forged through blood and fire.All tainted by one moment of weakness.
Unable to face her wrath or his own guilt, Flender fled.He did not even dare to look back.
He wandered in Heaven Dou Emoire for some months—like a ghost drifting without purpose—until an old dream resurfaced, burning faintly in his chest.
A dream he once shared with Yu Xiaogang and Liu Erlong:
To create an academy… a place that could raise true monsters among geniuses.
Even if his heart was in ruin, even if the emotional wound bled endlessly…Flender was still Flender—prideful, stubborn, and resolute.
And so, clinging to the remnants of that dream, he reached out to the only people he could trust, as he had met them before and believed in their character. Zhao Wuji, Li Yusong, Lu Qibin, Shao Xin.These old comrades who still walked the same path of teaching and fighting, and then they all came to Soutuo City
On the outskirts of Soutuo City, where farmland met forest, they found a barren, cheap plot of land.Flender's eyes lit up—not with joy, but with a miser's satisfaction.
"This will do."
The so-called "academy" was little more than a few wooden houses and a bare training ground.Wind leaked through the windows.The roof creaked at night.And the budget… did not exist because of Flenders stingy personality.
Currently Flender had a Soul power level of 77.
He then appointed himself as the dean and Zhao Wuji the second strongest who was at level 74 as the Vice- dean, Li Yusong level 61 was given the responsibility of managing finances because he had the same stingy personality as him. Lu Qibin was to maintain the internal affairs of the academy.
Lastly, Shao Xin who Flender was able to make friends with because of some kind of Dog shit luck. Shao Xin is a Soul Sage of the Food System, he is one of the top 5 in the world with regards to the Food System. Soul Masters having this type of martial soul and to cultivate to higher level is very rare. So Flender put all the responsibility of food for the academy on Shao Xin's head.
Having different positions did not actually improve the condition of the Academy as Flenders had not much money.
It was so pathetic that Soutuo City didn't even recognize it as an official academy.But Flender refused to give up.
And so he devised the admission requirement—one so outrageous that any normal child would be immediately disqualified:
Shrek Academy – Admission Criteria
Age: ≤ 12 years
Soul Power Level : ≥ 25
Pass a combat test
Pay 10 gold coins
Graduation Requirements
Spirit Power ≥ 45 before age 20
Possess a Silver Spirit Fighter Badge
----
Flender's reasoning was simple, even crude:
'If a brat can reach Level 25 before age 12, then even if they sleep every day until 20, they'll still break through to Level 45.'
It would've been better to name it as scammers academy, because Shrek Academy neither gave cultivation resources, neither did they have some kind of training program, they only had a group of maverick strong soul masters.
(Author Notes: In the original story the admission criteria for Soul Power Level ≥ 20, but due to the recent soul beast tide and many low-rank soul masters breaking through while fighting between life and death, Flender "adjusted" the standard to 25. Similarly, the graduation requirement is changed to Level 45)